Category: entertainment

Posted on in arts, entertainment

Take in the best in Canadian film

Yesterday, they announced the line-up for the Kingston Canadian Film Festival.

If you’ve never been to this local homegrown festival that features movies and special events that “spark curiousity, ignite discussion and provide a fresh experience of Canadian film”, you’re missing out. It just keeps getting better and better, with screenings in three downtown theatres and other venues with unique live performances.

There are so many things I love about this festival. First, there’s the films themselves. If you’re like me and want to scream every time you see another Marvel or Avengers sequel or prequel or postquel or whatever they’re calling them, the films you’ll see at the KCFF are a refreshing change. They’ll make you laugh, cry and most of all, think.

Over the years, I’ve seen some incredible films, from the insightful and stirring Scarborough about three families in a low income neighbourhood in Toronto, to the drama Norbourg, the true life story of Vincent Lacroix who defrauded investors of millions of dollars in Quebec, to lovely romantic comedies like The Swearing Jar.  

Then there’s the venues and the city itself. The opening night feature film is shown at the Isabel Bader Centre for the performing arts, an amazing venue and The Screening Room in Kingston has done a super job elevating the movie-going experience in an intimate way. The festival is a wonderful excuse to explore downtown Kingston and grab a bite to eat in many of our excellent restaurants.

My favourite part of the festival hands down is the Q&As and guest appearances by the directors, producers, writers and actors. These segments are always fascinating—to see the inner thoughts and workings of the people who bring Canadian film to life and sadly, the barriers and challenges to making films in Canada.  

I’ll be spending the next few days checking out all the screenings, but here are a few you won’t want to miss:

  • The Queen of My Dreams: this year’s festival opener at the Isabel, a moving story about the complicated bonds between a Pakistani mother and her daughter
  • The Movie Man, the story of the Highlands Cinema in Kinmount, Ontario with a bonus short about our local (and now sadly closed) Classic Video store in Kingston
  • Float: a romantic comedy filmed in Tofino, BC
  • The Sadies Stop and Start concert film, followed by a live performance of the Band at the Broom Factory

This week’s #HappyAct is to come to Kingston and support Canadian film by taking in some screenings at the festival.

Posted on in entertainment, Food and drink, lifestyle, travel

Six winter cures to get you through the rest of January and February

My friend looking at a shark

It’s deep in the heart of January. I look out my window and see dullish grey skies, and a heavy blanket of melting snow and ice from a week of ice storms and rain. It’s the very definition of blah.

If you’re one of the lucky ones, you have a trip booked south to some spectacular warm destination with sandy white beaches, crystal azure waters and breathtaking blue skies.

If you’re one of the unlucky ones staring down another two solid months of cold and grey, I offer you these winter cures guaranteed to lift your spirts.

  1. Grab your swimsuit and the kids, and spend the afternoon at your local indoor pool. If you have some money to splurge, find one with an indoor waterpark or slides—we used to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge and always found an afternoon inside the warm, balmy swim park as the snow gently fell on the domed glass the ultimate cure for the winter blahs
  2. Have a hot toddy or specialty coffee, the perfect COVID cure. Our “go to” in the winter months is an Irish coffee with Bushmills and Baileys—the perfect combo
  3. Channel your inner Scandinavian and have a spa or sauna day. Check out Nordik spa in Gatineau or Stoked Sauna Co., a new sauna experience in Kingston on the patio of the Frontenac Club that offers sauna and outdoor firepits for cooling off
  4. Plan a day at an indoor garden, conservatory or aquarium. The Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara, Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto or Aquatarium in Brockville are all excellent options (read my blog posts Discover an undersea world and Play tourist in your own town for more)
  5. Get creative and sign up for a local arts workshop. We are very fortunate to have a world-class arts facility right in the heart of Kingston, the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning. Check out their line-up of winter workshops with offerings like this one “Make a live edge charcuterie board” with local wood artist Nick Allinson
  6. Splurge on a scrumptious night out. Kingstonlicious is on now and features signature and tableau d’hote meals at some of Kingston finest restaurants. Check out the $60 tableau d’hote menu at Chez PIggy featuring roasted dry-brined chicken with peasant salad or the three-course meal for two for $60 at Harper’s Burger Bar featuring nan’za, lamb curry, and coconut alfajores. 

This week’s #HappyAct is to choose your ultimate winter cure. Be sure to check in next week for #7 on the list!

Girls looking at fish from a porthole

Clare and her friends looking at fish from the porthole at the Aquatarium in Brockville

Posted on in entertainment, pop culture, travel

Bravo for local theatre

Thousand Island Playhouse building in Gananoque

We’re very fortunate to have a true gem in Canada right here in our backyard: the Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque.

I fell in love with the Thousand Islands Playhouse the first time I ever laid eyes on it. A former canoe club, it’s situated at water’s edge on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. CBC Radio once called Canada’s dockside theatre “the most charming theatre in Canada”.

Dave and I went last week to The Sound of Music at the playhouse. We arrived early to enjoy a glass of wine and a beer on the wooden benches overlooking the river and watch the sunset.

The building itself has a wonderful, relaxed vibe. The lobby has swinging screen doors and old wooden floors with boards that creak. As we sat watching the boats on the river, we chatted with people from Gananoque whose neighbours’ kids were some of the Von Trapp children in the play. It is one of the most idyllic venues in Canada.

people on the deck of the playhouse looking at the water

I’ve seen many plays at the playhouse, but I was blown away by the quality of this particular production. I saw the Mirvish production of The Sound of Music in Toronto many years ago and enjoyed this one much more.

There is something about local regional theatre that is so intimate and engaging. You are up close and personal with the actors (there isn’t a bad seat in the house), and you become immersed in the performance.

It was an ambitious production with a cast of more than 40 actors and executed flawlessly. They even had two sets of children who must have alternated nights.

The leads were phenomenal with superb voices. I could have listened to the Mother Superior, Maria and Captain Von Trapp sing all night. The scenes with Maria and the children were simply enchanting. The costumes were impeccable and since you’re so up close, you can see every embroidered detail in the traditional Austrian dirndl and leather lederhosen.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it is one of the most well-known, beloved stories of all time. Audience members were smiling, swaying in their seats and singing to their favourite songs, entranced by the performances.

Often with local theatre, you need to suspend your imagination to make the set design work, but this production was brilliant in its design. It featured majestic mountains as a backdrop and floor-to-ceiling porticos that transported you through the various scenes, making you feel like you were in the abbey, dancing at the Von Trapp estate and attending the famous music festival where the family makes their escape at the end of the play.

The Sound of Music is now officially the most popular production in the Thousand Islands Playhouse’s 40-year history. They’ve extended the run for another three weeks, so if you want tickets, get them fast.

This week’s #HappyAct is to support local theatre and enjoy a local production in your area.

view from the playhouse overlooking the river
author and her husband on the benches at the playhouse
Sound of Music Playbill
Posted on in charitable, community, entertainment, pop culture

Drag yourself to a drag show

drag queens on stage

When I grow up, I want to be a drag queen.

Last weekend, my friend Barbara and I went to the Clark’s Drag Show at the Thornbury Craft Company. It was part of Collingwood’s Pride celebrations which they hold in July instead of June presumably because that’s when the town is hopping with cottagers and summer visitors.

It had been more than 30 years since I had been to a drag show. The last time I had seen drag queens on stage was at a bar on the island of Mykonos in Greece when I was in my 20s.

It was such a fun afternoon! The three queens Katinka Kature, Heaven Lee Hytes, and Mira Fantasy strutted their stuff in their sequined outfits, leotards and stunning wigs, hamming it up for the crowd to their favourite pop tunes. There was a bachelorette party on the patio, and everyone was singing along, dancing in their seats as we sipped on our ciders and stuffed tips down their tops.

As I watched the queens perform, it struck me that to be able to assume an exciting, alter-ego would be so incredibly fun and liberating. It made me wish I was a man who could dress up as a woman. Since I can’t sing a note, this would be the perfect performing outlet for me!

drag queen performing

It also made me wonder why we just can’t accept people for who they are and appreciate them. I must confess I don’t understand and am saddened by the latest wave of 2SLGBTQ+ violence happening in some communities. Humanity is not defined by what we wear, the colour of our skin or our sexual orientation. It is defined by how we act, kindness, acceptance, and love.

As the queens performed their big finale, we raised our glasses in cheers. Portions from each flight were donated to Collingwood Pride.

Here are some fun pictures of the afternoon. If you’re interested in catching a drag show, The Hayloft Dance Hall in Prince Edward County holds drag shows on Saturday nights during the summer months.

man putting money down the top of a drag queen
Man and drag queen
drag queen
drag queen performing
Posted on in entertainment, pop culture

See a legend live–a night with the great Buddy Guy

On Friday night, Dave and I saw the legendary Buddy Guy live on stage at the Montreal International Jazz Festival during one of his Canadian stops on his The Damn Right Farewell Tour.

Let me first state on record, that Buddy Guy is the coolest performer on stage right now. There are some artists that have mindblowing light shows, fancy backup dancers, aerobatics, and elaborate sound effects and gimmicks.

Buddy has a wailing guitar, a distinctive blues voice, and a presence that commands the entire audience. He has soul.

He walked out on stage wearing a black and white polka-dotted shirt with grey overalls, sneakers and a ball cap looking like a hip train engineer. He was dapper, self-deprecating, humble and very, very funny. He was the definition of cool. When he was telling stories of what it was like playing with other blues greats, you could hear a pin drop in the audience.

Born in 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana, Buddy made his own guitar at age 13 and learned to play by trying to reproduce the sounds of bluesmen he heard on the radio. 

He told stories of coming to Montreal as a young musician and playing at a blues club on St. Catherine Street with Mama Cass, BB King and other greats.

In true Buddy Guy fashion, he let his guitar do the talkin’. He wailed through riffs and licks, making his guitar sing and scream the blues. His vocals were as strong as ever, but I was struck by how much he played the crowd as he played his instruments. He had both of us in the palm of his hands.

This is Buddy’s last tour and you could tell he was a bit nostalgic and reflective. He talked about how you don’t hear blues music on the radio anymore and how all his old friends and fellow blues musicians tasked him with keeping the blues alive. He’s made that his life’s passion. He also adjured us to make this world a bit better and love one another.

You can still catch Buddy on tour, but most of his tour dates now are in the US and Europe.

It was an unforgettable evening and I just want to say, thanks, Buddy, for keeping the blues alive.

The blues don’t lie. Damn right.

Buddy Guy on stage in Montreal
Posted on in entertainment, inspiration, mental health

Do it for you

Neil Pasricha's Happiness Equation

I’ve just finished reading two books, Neil Young’s biography Wage Heavy Peace and Neil Pasricha’s New York Times Bestseller from 2016, The Happiness Equation.

Both were great reads and even though they were very different books, the authors shared a common message: to be happy and successful in life, you have to do it for you.

I didn’t know much about Neil Young before I read his biography, other than he grew up in Omemee (pronounced Oh-me-me) outside of Peterborough and of course his music, since I’m a big fan.

To say he’s led an interesting, incredible life is an understatement, but I was surprised to learn of all the health challenges, personal tragedy and struggles he’s shared in his life from polio as a child, to back surgeries, grief and loss.

Throughout, music has been his inspiration, solace, escape and passion. I wasn’t aware of his other passions in life–his love of old cars, model trains and his quest to revolutionize sound by developing technology to restore the purity of records through his company Pona and interest in electric vehicles through his Lincvolt project. What an amazing guy.

Did he pursue any of these things because his record labels wanted him to, or to sell records or ingratiate himself with fans? No, he did it for himself.

Young insisted on festival seating for all his indoor shows, even though it meant less money for the band because he wanted people who were stoked to be there at the front of the stage instead of “rich folk on cell phones”, saying the feeling of the shows and experience for the band and audience was much better. He once had his manager rewrite the contracts for a tour already booked because they hadn’t included festival seating.

A writer once accused him of compiling his archives just to further his own legend “whatever that is”. He writes, “What a shallow existence that would be…” and then in classic Neil Young fashion, “it pissed me off.”

In The Happiness Equation, Parischa openly admits he was a victim of his own success early in his career, equating happiness with more book sales, speaking engagements and the number of hits on his blog.

Parischa talks about intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, saying the happiest people are driven by intrinsic motivation. They eschew the critics, the pressure to do what others want them to do, and they forge their own path. He quotes John Lennon who once famously said, “I’m not judging whether ‘I Am the Walrus’ is a better or worse than ‘Imagine’. It is for others to judge. I am doing it. I do. I don’t stand back and judge…I do.”

This week’s #HappyAct is to take it from the Neils and do it for you.

Posted on in entertainment, inspiration, pop culture

The Summer Side of Life

This week, a part of Canada died. Gordon Lightfoot passed away at the age of 84.

A troubadour and master storyteller, his soothing voice and spellbinding lyrics captured the essence of life, love and everything Canadiana, making him one of our most beloved national artists of all time.

Here are songs and lyrics from my favourite Gordon Lightfoot songs of all time to add to your playlist, a tribute to the man and legend. Even now, as I read these lyrics and listen to the beautiful strains of his guitar, my eyes well up.

Song for a Winter’s Night

The lamp is burnin’ low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still in the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you

Christian Island

I’m sailing down the summer wind
I’ve got whiskers on my chin
And I like the mood I’m in
As I while away the time of day
In the lee of Christian Island

Minstrel of the Dawn

The minstrel boy will understand
He holds a promise in his hand
He talks of better days ahead
And by his words your fortunes read
Listen to the pictures flow
Across the room into your mind they go
Listen to the strings
They jangle and dangle
While the old guitar rings

Canadian Railroad Trilogy

There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
Long before the white man and long before the wheel
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion

Pussywillows Cattails

Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses
Rain pools in the woodland, water to my knees
Shivering, quivering, the warm breath of spring

Don Quixote

Through the woodland, through the valley
Comes a horseman wild and free
Tilting at the windmills passing
Who can the brave young horseman be

Beautiful

At times I just don’t know
How you could be anything but beautiful
I think that I was made for you
And you were made for me

The Last Time I Saw Her Face

Her eyes were bathed in starlight
And her hair hung long
The last time she spoke to me,
Her lips were like the scented flowers
Inside a rain-drenched forest
But that was so long ago
That I can scarcely feel
The way I felt before

Here’s a clip of Lightfoot performing That’s What You Get For Loving Me with Johnny Cash in 1969.

RIP Gord.

Posted on in entertainment, health and wellness, Technology and social media

May the force of sleep be with you

Darth Vader meme, "Worst case of sleep apnea ever"

Every night, I get to sleep with Darth Vader.

A couple of years ago, Dave got a CPAP machine. When he sleeps, it sounds like the white noise through a stormtrooper’s mask. I keep hearing “Luke, I’m not your father” in my dreams. The good news is I don’t have to listen to him snoring anymore.

But the machine has helped him sleep which is a good thing.

You see the problem is, we’ve become a nation of insomniacs.

Experts from the Royal Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research estimate that half the population in Canada now struggles with some sort of sleep-related problem. This week, we’ll all feel the pain of sleep deprivation thanks to the time change.  

March 17 is World Sleep Day. While most Canadians will be focused on the luck ‘o the Irish and swilling back green beer, we’d have far more luck in life if we took steps towards better sleep health.

Sleep is one of the three pillars of good health, along with nutrition and exercise.

The guidelines recommend adults between the ages of 18-24 get 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep a night and 7 to 8 hours for adults aged 65 and older. 

The worst part is we all know the drill on what we should be doing to get a good night’s sleep: go to bed at the same time every night, limit alcohol, caffeine consumption and screen time before bedtime, get plenty of exercise so we’re naturally tired. So why are so many of us up at night and exhausted all the time?

A century ago, we were a far more active society. There were also no screens in the early twentieth century. You don’t need a research study to confirm the obvious: sleep disorders have burgeoned with the use of electronic devices.

Just as modern devices are hindering our ability to sleep, some devices are helping our ability to sleep. It seems every Tom, Dave and Harry these days has a CPAP machine (I say Tom, Dave and Harry because sleep apnea is overwhelmingly diagnosed more in males).

CPAP machines actually have only been around for 40 years and came about thanks to man’s best friend.

In 1980, Dr. Colin Sullivan noticed his dog was having breathing issues. He used a vacuum cleaner motor and hose contraption attached to his dog’s snout to increase the airway and breathing for his pooch when it was sleeping. Sullivan later did research at the University of Toronto on SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, surmising the cause of death of infants was related to interrupted breathing.

CPAP machines have become a life saving device, so I’ve resigned myself to sleeping on the dark side of the bed, one with the force beside the man behind a mask.

This week’s #HappyAct is to take care of your sleep health. Just be careful not to choke on your aspirations.*

Happy dreaming.

*famous Darth Vader line from Rogue One

Posted on in entertainment, Food and drink

Hail to the Shamrock Shake

They’re back. Nothing says green and spring than sipping a minty, delicious McDonald’s Shamrock Shake®.

The Shamrock Shake was created in 1967 by Hal Rosen, a Connecticut McDonald’s owner and operator who made the delicious, minty shake to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It became a staple in the McDonald’s menu in March when it rolled out across the nation in 1970. Here are six fun, interesting tidbits you may not know about the Shamrock Shake that will make you want to zip into your local McDonald’s drive through faster than a leaping leprachaun.  

  1. The Shamrock Shake helped build the very first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia and has strong ties to the Philadelphia Eagles. The daughter of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill was being treated for leukemia in 1974. The Hill family were camping out in waiting rooms in hospitals and saw other families doing the same. They contacted their local McDonalds owner to see if they could come up with a promotion to help raise money for a place to stay for out-of-town families visiting a sick child in a hospital. The campaign raised enough to buy a four-story house in Philadelphia, the first Ronald McDonalds House. (Ronald McDonalds’ houses are now in 70 countries around the world).
  2. Some of the marketing campaigns for the famous green St. Paddy’s Day beverage have been “a bit of Irish luck in every sip”, “tis the first green of spring” and my favourite, “They won’t be around for long, and that’s no blarney” from this 1983 TV commercial.
  3. McDonald’s introduced the “Shamrock Sundae” for a limited time in 1980, a version of their classic soft serve sundae with a minty green topping, but it wasn’t successful and lasted only a year.
  4. On March 17, 2010, the world’s largest Shamrock Shake was poured into the Chicago River in honor of a donation to develop a new RMHC house. The shake was 24 feet tall.
  5. In 2017, McDonalds added chocolate to the iconic shake and called it the “McLeprechaun”. For the launch, it introduced a revolutionary limited-edition straw designed by a team of aerospace and robotic engineers. The straw was optimally designed to suck 50% chocolate and 50% mint in each sip.
  6. The Shamrock Shake is offered in Ireland, but with mixed reception, mainly due to McDonald’s marketing efforts. In 2017, McDonald’s had to apologize to the entire country for one commercial that featured a man with red hair wearing a tartan (which is Scottish) playing the milkshake like a set of bagpipes (which are also Scottish) in front of Stonehenge (which is in England), while sheep roam around in the background. 

This week’s #HappyAct is to pay homage to the frosty green of spring and make your way to McDonalds today. Here’s another classic commercial from the 80’s showing the short-lived Shamrock Sundae and one of the child actors wearing a t-shirt saying, “Kiss me I’m Irish”.

Posted on in entertainment, inspiration, pop culture

Five inspiring Netflix picks for February

There’s something about watching a great film that can brighten up even the dreariest of winter days. Here are five Netflix movies to inspire you.

  • Blinded by the Light: an endearing British film about a Pakistani teenager who discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen. A story about family ties and values and following your dreams.
  • Eddie the Eagle: if you watched the Calgary Olympics in 1988, you know the story of Eddie the Eagle, the British ski jumper who captured our hearts with his determination to jump despite all the odds (and little training!) With Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton.
  • The Fundamentals of Caring: I loved this quirky tale of a teenager with muscular dystrophy who bonds with his caregiver on a cross-country journey to see a big pit. Terrific cast, including Paul Rudd, Selena Gomez, Craig Roberts, and it took me a minute to place the Mom, but Jennifer Ehle from Pride and Prejudice fame.
  • The Swimmers: full disclosure, I haven’t watched this one yet, but it’s next on my list. A true story of two Syrian sisters who escape war to pursue their dreams of being competitive swimmers.
  • My Octopus Teacher: a documentary by diver Craig Foster who develops a unique bond with an octopus while filming off the coast of South Africa. Beautiful, inspiring with amazing underwater cinematography.

There you have it. Happy viewing!

Ed. note: If you’re a movie buff and live in Eastern Ontario, make sure you get tickets for the Kingston Canadian Film Festival in March. The line-up will be announced on February 2 and tickets go on sale February 6. Last year, I saw the amazing film Scarborough at the festival.