IMG_9476, originally uploaded by therozblog.
Snapped this gorgeous shot over the weekend in Ottawa, just prior to our bullhorn address at the Prime Minister’s pad. A little r&r mixed with your rebellion is always good. 
Got up this morning, hopped the GO commuter train from Hamilton into Toronto’s Union Station. After the cramped quarters on the GO, let me tell you - I was really looking forward to the spaciousness of VIA’s flagship transcontinental train - The Canadian.
Arrived a bit late into Union due to switch freeze ups on the tracks. Got my luggage off one train and packed off onto another when - horror of all horrors - the train attendant informed me there had been a derailment of a CN train in Northern Ontario. This means we’ll all be traveling the 421 kilometers alongside Georgian Bay - to Capreol, Ontario - by commuter train. Hmmmm. Not exactly the comfort I’ve been looking for.
On the upside though - we do have wi-fi all day and the attendants have been plying us with free booze and great food since 9AM - so I’m in pretty good mood.
Bye for now,
Roz
After weeks of speculation and CSIS-like secrecy, the Vancouver 2010 committee released it’s mascots Tuesday, to the complete delight of a room of more than 800 schoolchildren.
Out of the shadows of the stage curtains at the Bell Centre in Surrey lumbered anime-esque creatures ‘Miga’, ‘Quatchi’, and ‘Sumi’ - the official 2010 Olympic Mascots.
And the Canadian public gasped.
Gone are the stereotypical Polar Bear, Moose and Loon. Not even a Maple Leaf, a Hockey Puck or a Beaver to be seen. For the love of God, couldn’t VANOC have approached Molson and asked for sponsorship of an “I Am Canadian” Beer Can? Or perhaps we could have dressed an eight-year-old in a hockey jersey and introduced “Bruiser the Bully” as our national Olympic icon?
Now THAT would have been worthy of national adoration.
The backlash has already begun. CBC.ca reports that their site has been ‘flooded’ with comments, mostly negative, from frightened Canadians everywhere screaming - among other profanities - ‘what are these things?’, ‘the world’s going to hell in a handbasket’ and ‘Oh Dear Lord, the Apocalypse is Nigh!’
Not since the switch to metric have we seen so much public outcry. Who knew that three cuddly little people dressed up in furry costumes would be cause to incite an otherwise meek Canuck public to riot?
Sure, on the surface these three mascot amigos may not look too ‘Canadian’, but dig a bit deeper and you’ll find interesting AND commercially viable backstories for these characters.
Miga - part sea-bear and part orca whale, is inspired by the First Nations’ legends of the Pacific Northwest. Quatchi - a shy and gentle Sasquatch, is meant to conjure the mystery and wonder associated with Canada’s wilderness. And Sumi - an animal guardian spirit, who flies with the wings of the thunderbird, is described as “a natural born leader with a passion for protecting the environment.”
Call me crazy, but I feel proud. This is commercial multiculturalism at one of its finest moments! Combine Japanese anime cartoon style, First Nations mythology and European capitalism and you get these three amazing characters that deserve their shelf space at Toys ‘R Us just as much as the next Bratz doll. Canada has officially entered the 21st century!
Newsboards at the two national broadcasters are abuzz with video clips documenting the ‘initial response to the mascots’. Otherwise news-hardened reporters are taking on the fuzzy job of ‘meeting the mascots’ and asking of course, the all important question ‘how much do the mascots need to earn in order to be successful?’
And while Canadians everywhere may bitch and moan about the lack of Canuck iconography in these characters - you take a close look at the first Canadian Olympic mascot, Montreal’s beaver “Amik,” or “Hidy” and “Howdy” the ‘88 Olympics’ pair of cowboy hat-wearing polar bears - and tell me that those mascots were any better. Embarrasingly Canadian? Yes. Doing much to change our international image as ‘The Great White North?’ Probably not.
These creatures have been created as a money making venture for what history has shown to be an otherwise money-losing venture. And if marketing straight to the kids is good enough for McDonald’s, then dammit, it should be good enough for us.
Join me as Diana Frances (the self-described Susan Lucci of the Canadian Comedy Awards) gives us the goods on the best THREE things about NOT winning a Canadian Comedy Award.
Love this monument, absolutely breathtaking!! The Terry Fox Monument, just outside Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Lived through a wicked thunderstorm this morning at our campground in Bakers Narrows, near Flin Flon. The thunder in Manitoba truly rolls - it is such a fantastic sound.
The best part is that there’s a great camaraderie that develops between campers at these provincial parks - especially amongst the tenters… you get up in the morning after experiencing one of these thunderstorms and look at each other almost sheepishly… like…. can you believe we made it through that?! And Mr. P is making friends like nobody’s business.. at each campsite he picks up a new chum.
And so do we! Yesterday we met a great couple frm Ottawa and their two children - an MD and his kids - who were trekking their way across the country to Alaska - tenting no less! Brave souls.
A few days in the North with all the bugs and I am SO done. But Flin Flon was amazing and I’m so glad we got to come up here and experience my Mom’s past. Sent her off today with many tears aned will miss her…. she’s on her way back to Vernon and we’re on our way to the East Coast. Happy to be heading south and en route to the blue waters and white sandy beaches of Florida. I’ll keep you posted!
Cheers,
Roz
Hanging out at the Weskuko Falls in Northern Manitoba today - last night was my introduction to the notion of a Manitoba Social, and today we hit the Canada Day celebrations at the arena here in Snow Lake. Northern MB is an interesting, beautiful and buggy place… I’ve already fought swarms of horseflies and sprayed myself with enough Off to deter a whole family of mosquitos. But its craggy rock faces and vast expanses of boreal forest, pulled tight across a bedrock made of Canadian Shield - is uniquely gorgeous to be sure. As I sit in the CRV, watching Mr. P learn to fish within eyeshot of a local pelican flock - I’m inwardly giggling at the dichotomoy of this place.
So beautiful but you have to fight tooth and nail with the insect population to enjoy it.
My Aunt lives in this tiny town, and so does her daughter, and her daughter’s family. It is almost off the map - looking at my Canada road atlas, Snow Lake sits at the end of highway 392 - and there’s nothing beyond it. It’s been a town of firsts for me on this journey - first time I haven’t had cell phone service and the first time I’ve ever seen a sign that says “Highway Ends”. Houses go for around $65,000 here and my Aunt has proudly boasted that “you can’t even buy socks” in Snow Lake. A can of Off costs $12. You get the picture.
I love being off the grid but I have to wonder - what makes people spend their entire lives in a place like this? I go stir crazy after 2 days. No Tim Hortons? Whaaa?
Ciao for now all,
Roz
Hey guys!
Just wrapped up our two day stopover in Drumheller, Alberta. Have you ever been? It is the most amazing place. You’re cruising along the wide open prairie (running out of gas.. more on that later) and all of a sudden the ground opens up and you descend below the flatlands into this Grand Canyon-like valley in the middle of nowhere.
It was great to see the old Tyrell Museum doing some much needed upgrading. I’ve been coming here every seven years or so since I was a kid, and I was so happy to see some new exhibits.
The T-Rex skeleton in his onwn dramatically lit room, complete with beautiful gleaming teak floors is something you have to see to believe. And the dry, intense heat of the place is such a welcome relief after the grey rainy days of Vancouver. Aaahhhhh! Like walking into a desert. Tomorrow we pack up and head out for Northern Manitoba - I’ll keep you posted!
Cheers,
Roz
Just got back from the Banff World Television Festival and all I can say is it was absolutely amazing and surpassed even my wildest notions of coolness.
Over the four days I was fortunate to spot and meet Mike Clattenburg, creator of the Trailer Park Boys, Greg Daniels, executive producer of The Office, Laszlo Barna, executive and CEO of Barna-Alper Productions, Jon Plowman, Head of Comedy at the BBC, Charlotte Odelle, Commissioning Editor for CBC Television’s The Lens, Anton Leo, Head of Comedy for the CBC, Brent Haynes, Director of Programming at The Comedy Network, and Megan O’Neill of AtomFilms. It was an absolutely amazing roster of talent and an overwhelming few days.
Upon our arrival at Banff, Leanne and I found ourselves stunned by the sheer scope and scale of the event - walking into the Ballroom for the Opening Night Soiree was a spectacle unto itself. The acoustics of the century old building only served to amplify the buzz happening in this place, with new relationships being made and deals being struck in nascent corners. Any anxiety Leanne and I felt was quickly quelled by the sight of familiar faces - and the race was on to shake as many hands as possible during our oh-so-brief four day stint.
This year’s BWTF was a hit for comedy makers and the panel discussions were fantastic, highlights being Greg Daniels (‘The Simpsons’, ‘King of the Hill’, ‘Saturday Night Live’, ‘The Office’) discussing the success of The Office and letting aspiring writers in the room in on his process, as well as the risky decision to hire reality tv camera operators to give the American version a documentary style feel. Appointment TV with the BBC’s Jon Plowman (think ‘Little Britain’, ‘Ab Fab’ and ‘The Office’) was a very intimate discussion with the creative mind behind the most successful BBC Comedy programs of late - and to cap it all off, Trailer Park Boys creator Mike Clattenburg discussed the genesis of Ricky, Julian and Bubbles with the Globe & Mail’s John Doyle, as part of a Master Class session held in the theatre at the Fairmont.
The biggest hit of the festival for Leanne and I, though, came during our meeting with Anton Leo, where we crafted the beginnings of our show, ‘Citizen Janes’ and left with talks of a three segment trial run floating wonderfully in the air.
Banff was a huge success for my sis and I, and a wonderful introduction to the international television production community at large. It’s a fantastically wide world out there, and this year we took the first steps towards fully realizing our potential within it. That’s the most exciting thing of all.
Cheers,
Roz
Wow. I can’t believe the Banff Television Festival is already upon me. Craziness! Doing some last minute DVD burning and business card printing, then packing up and heading out. This year I’ll be pitching OCTV - and my sis and I will be using the drive time to develop our new project, “Citizen Janes”. Taking my laptop, my iPod with audio recorder and my still camera - so I’ll be doing real time posting from the festival. Check back for updates!
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