SEE.HEAR.SAY: Off-Colour News

Off-Colour News
29 September 2010

So many colours!

Just a little follow up to my blog post about wanting to be more news-literate, I’ve come across another site to help me stay informed.   It’s called Newsmap and it’s a fascinating visual display of news stories across the world, aggregating stories into size by popularity then colour-coding them by the type of news.

It reminds me a bit of this great David McCandless TedTalks video on data visualisation…

HOT OFF THE PRESS: CBC’s infotainment

CBC’s Infotainment
27 September 2010

Don't worry, he's still our boyfriend.

“How was your summer?” our George opened.  “My summer was very busy.  This was the summer where I decided I would get in shape: eat better, lots of exercise!  I don’t know if you can tell, but I’ve lost 30 minutes!” he joked.

I’m still undecided about CBC’s decision to shorten The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos into a half-hour segment George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.  I really valued the extra time for broader, more in depth coverage.  It’s taking a turn to something between the old Hour and The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, with George’s new make shift desk.  Don’t worry, the show still stays true to publicly-funded television:  they couldn’t even afford a chair for George to sit on at his new newsdesk.  Even the set is a darker, grey-blue scheme mirroring what we see down south.  To top it off, they’ve got the Late-Show-esque floor lights and a new snazzy opening theme (Farewell New Pornographers, it was great while it lasted).  The entire set is screaming entertainment in a show meant for information.

At least George stands for something...

The only strange thing is this screen they’re using for interviews that’s semi translucent.  I’m not a fan of how it cuts into the desk a bit in some shots.  But we’ll see, maybe there will be some changes along the way.  It’s only in its second week.  Most news shows are criticised for their use of high technology to distract audiences from content and use diagrams and pictures to lead stories.  I don’t think that will happen, but I sincerely hope it doesn’t become a crutch and detract from content.  What seems to be happening, though, is the use of this screen for “expert” interviews, creating this over emphasis on the elitism of information centred on so-called experts.

Note the "coversation" to a familiar "Camera 3"

I’m curious though as to how the build of the new set will indicate the format of the show to come.  It’s taken a little bit from all the competing late shows down in the United States, but who knows where the content will end up.  It seems so far to be 10 minutes of news and about 15 minutes of interview.  I’m hoping it will start lean towards pure political satire, because This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Royal Canadian Air Farce, an even to some extent, The Mercer Report feel way to dated and targeted to the older generation (think back-end Baby Boomers).  And if anyone can do it, it’s George.  He’s got the CBC knowledge of news but the charisma of a MuchMusic/MTV VJ, and an inherent wit and sarcasm to make it work.  Here’s hoping!

Check out the latest episodes here:

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/videos.html

BLOG: 20 September 2010

Information Stagnation
20 September 2010

The “Back-to-School” season is in full swing and, like the New Year, many students have a couple resolutions:  stay fit, stay healthy, stay up-to-date with the news.  And just like the swift, cold hand of February, October is preparing to smack us right in the face with piles of unread text books, mid-terms, and “group” projects.

So how might us mere students keep up with the latest news and events around the globe?  One of my classes has recently demanded that we stay current with business news.  I remember a day — about five years ago — when I consumed news like lion to a pack of grazing gazelles.  Back then, I was surrounded by cable, news papers, Internet access, and most importantly, seemingly unlimited time with no real consequences for late assignments.  High school:  those were the days.

Now, it’s all about selective information, privileging certain stories over others, and sadly, privileging those stories more relevant to our scholastic discipline than those more relevant on a greater, societal scale.  But there always seems to be a trade off:  How do you balance content and context with variety of stories, all bearing in mind our arch-nemesis: time.

I’ve tried a couple tricks.  I’ve set news sites as my home page, browsed aggregation sites, and occasionally try to play a video clip or two.  Alas, nothing really compares to watching television news that force feeds you stories you may or may not want to hear.

Now, I’ve been brought to my knees.  Is there anyway I can even…catch up with the news at this point?  Five years behind and I’m at my last straw.  I’m going to try to podcast and videocast the news every day.  Podcasts are so tricky because they serve two almost opposing features:  information content and background noise.  We’ll see how this goes.  Fingers crossed!

SEE.HEAR.SAY: CBC Concerts on Demand

CBC Concerts on Demand
10 September 2010

The Malahat Revue (with a side-profile of the ever elusive Peter Carruthers of Said The Whale)

Missed an awesome concert this summer?  Was the CBC a sponsor?  If so, the most of the show can be heard on CBC 2′s website under “Concerts on Demand.” Sometimes, if you catch a great concert recording, songs sound like original versions without the awful fan cheering midway through that so often ruins live recordings.  You can hear some fan cheers near the end of the song though.

One of the only problems is the poor browser support from their website.  CBC Concerts on Demand run on Windows Media Player, which is fine for traditional browsers like Internet Explorer and Safari.  But for those of us avid Firefox supports…alas, no such luck.

Anyhow, have a peruse through these musical treasures.  For those of you folk who missed the amazing performance of The Malahat Revue, check out their live performance:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20100710malah

And have a listen to some of the other artists too!
Po’Girl (I was really hoping to find a recording of Electric Seahorses here…no dice)
Les Gitans de Sarajavo and Briga
Joel Plaskett
Dan Mangan
Juno Song Writer Circle (Including Dallas Green, Bahamas, and Lights)
Hey Ocean! (With some unrecorded songs from 2009)
Martha Wainwright (Her Edith Piaf performance)

SEE.HEAR.SAY: Psych Filming 1

Psych Filming 1
9 Aug 2010

Psych at Hycroft

Psych fans, you’ll probably be disappointed by this picture — my camera phone sucks.  But for today, and possibly the next few days, Psych is filming at the Hycroft Mansion just off Granville and 16th avenue.  No clue yet as to what episode or what exactly is going down, but it seems like an embassy blew up?  There’s a flag.  It looks something like the flag of Vanuatu or Mozambique and it was scorched.  They artificially put some fog into the shot which blurred my already crappy picture.  I think I’m going to loiter there every day until I can find a way into the show.

SEE.HEAR.SAY: The Vancouver Folk Music Festival

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival
19 July 2010

Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

One of the big tasks of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VFMF) was to balance the programming for both younger and older generations, while simultaneously diversifying musical genres, stretching the definition of “folk” within workable boundaries.  For a festival based on a musical genre rooted in such a strong, iconic era, the demographic balance 30 something years later is an enormous challenge.  But in the end, the greatest challenge was for audience members, who strategically pick which concerts they would see, choosing between the legends of the past and the new faces of folk.  On the closing night of the VFMF, patrons had to choose between bluegrass buff Ricky Skaggs and the ever trendy Malahat Revue.

Mainstage patrons got a little treat on closing night.  Steven Seagal — movie star, martial arts master, deputy sheriff, and avid blues fan — came on stage to welcome, in his opinion, “the best living bluegrass legend in the world,” Ricky Skaggs.  Seagal came early to hang out with Skaggs and watched the rest of the performance from backstage.

Hannah Georgas singing "All I Need"

On the other end of the park, the Malahat Revue wowed a young crowd taking in the group’s quirky performance.  Hannah Georgas ended the set with a powerful rendition of “All I Need” from her EP The Beat Stuff.

Jeremy Fisher and Peter Carruthers spread out on stage

Jaycelyn Brown provided most of the back-up vocals until the very end when all the male members, who had previously been literally lying down on stage, theatrically moved up to the crescendo and rocked out the final refrain.

Aidan Knight on a Broken Ukulele

Considering the Malahat Revue has been riding bikes for the past two weeks starting from Salt Spring Island, it’s impressive how much energy and enthusiasm they brought and inspired.  Before their show, Georgas and fellow band mate and bike rider Aidan Knight relaxed in the Media Tent and reminisced on their epic bike journey, noting the great physical effects they noticed on their body.  “I was checking out my butt the other day,” joked Georgas.  “Just a Nacho Libre in the mirror?” Knight quickly replied, promptly sticking out his behind in gesture.  Knight also took a little time and warmed up his fingers, playing a few chords on a broken ukulele, belting out notes in tune to the very out-of-tune Hawaiian staple.

But Sunday was nevertheless special than any other night.  The day before, there were amazing bands featured all day in “workshops” where bands are placed together for a formalised jam session.  Typically, the bands are organised in a way that seems surprising and unlikely at first, but nevertheless works seamlessly.  On a cool Saturday morning in the Jericho Beach Park shade, Sarah Harmer, Po’Girl, Luluc, and Ladies of The Canyon joined Matt Epp for “This Old House.”  This performance was a potent concoction of calm, ethereal lightness coming from Stage Left (Matt Epp and Luluc), spunky charm from The Ladies of the Canyon, and soothing rhythms from Po’Girl and Sarah Harmer on Stage Right.  It was a great opportunity for media and fans to get a glimpse of Sarah Harmer before her concert performance on Mainstage later that evening.

Bahamas, after Sarah Harmer opened for him...

Saturday’s Mainstage actually had some of the best acts of the whole festival.  After Sarah Harmer’s exhilarating performance, Bahamas (Afie Jurvanen) transitioned.  He came on with one of the most memorable comments, joking about having Sarah Harmer open for him.  It was only a short set, with maybe three songs, before Bettye LaVette came on.

Bettye LaVette

For a woman nearing her 70s, she’s looking fit.  Tiny body, big voice.  This soul singer soared octaves that night, pushing the limits of not only her own voice, but the sound system as well.  She literally rocked the stage and audience.  LaVette sang a variety of songs from her vast catalogue of music, including a few from her latest album Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook.

Boukman Eksperyans of Haiti

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival has made huge steps on broadening their audience and music for the new demographic landscape of the Lower Mainland.  It’s really the artistic scheduling that does the bulk of the marketing, drawing in crowds to not only see the concerts, but experience the traditions of the Festival: the workshops, the atmosphere, the congenial interaction with artists and crowds.  And it’s that very culture, that community, that keeps people coming back.

Apologies… I don’t have pictures on the finale.   I was too busy rocking out on Mainstage with Tao Seeger Band.
For serious.

What do you think of the audience and artistic programming interplay??

HOT OFF THE PRESS: The Gertrudes on GlobalTV

The Gertrudes on GlobalTV
17 July 2010

For those of you who missed the Gertrudes at CBC, GlobalTV covered them on their morning show at 6:37 am Friday morning.  But, if that was too early, I caught a moment of their impromptu jam session at the break of dawn.  It was only a few members of the group (others were still sleeping recovering from fatigue), but it was quite the performance.  Percussionist Pete Bowers had to tie some shakers to his Birkenstocks, limited by his two hands already playing some drums.

Bowers also shared a story that didn’t make it on air about how he got to see The New Pornographers the other day.  Apparently, some poor sap got stood up and was offering a single ticket up for grabs.  Bowers happened to be looking for a single ticket to catch a show and BAM!  Instant friendship.  Well, more like sudden man-date.  But hey, whatever works.  It’s nice to know there’s still some nice and generous people out there.