Vision • Strategy • Impact
The Walrus Talk at the Canadian Museum of Nature on Thursday night took The Arctic as its theme, and the evening was as inspiring and illuminating as previous events in this ambitious national series. It also demonstrated with stunning clarity the conflict between communications cultures that is my main topic on this blog. As usual,... Continue Reading →
It took only 10 minutes for Sheila Barry of Groundwood Books to tell me she loved my story and wanted to publish it, but it has taken 4 years for the final product to arrive in bookstores! Happily Friend or Foe is now out and it has garnered some sweet reviews. "...a simple and utterly... Continue Reading →
This is the third of a series of new posts that explain how you can apply the lessons of jazz to collaborate successfully. * Make Room "Only play what you hear. If you don't hear anything, don't play anything." Chick Corea A collaboration is a set of relationships and as in any relationship both parties... Continue Reading →
Listen to One Cylinder by the Backtalk Organ Sextet https://ia801509.us.archive.org/2/items/backtalk2017-02-10.ca-14.flac16/backtalk2017-02-10d2t08.mp3 Scene Where: Irene's, Ottawa Who: Backtalk Organ Sextet Don Cummings - Hammond Organ and leader Mike Essoudry – Drums Chris Swain – Guitar Ed Lister – Trumpet Zakari Frantz – Alto sax Me – Tenor sax Report Risk Factor: 7 (my first gig with this... Continue Reading →
This is the second of a series of new posts that explain how you can apply the lessons of jazz to collaborate successfully. Listen “My first relationship to any kind of musical situation is as a listener.” Pat Metheny Collaboration is all about listening. Listening for needs, listening for opportunities and listening for cues. Jazz... Continue Reading →
I read with interest this thoughtful article by Diane Ragsdale about the challenges posed by digital tools to arts audiences, as well as the many excellent comments that followed. I added my own comment, which I will post here as it was fairly substantial: This is a fascinating topic, but I would argue that our... Continue Reading →
I just finished binge-watching the fantastic first season of Sense8, the Netflix series written and directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski with Michael Straczyinski. It is extraordinary and totally worth watching. I don't usually write about TV shows on this blog but having watched the series I almost immediately went searching for intelligent critical commentary... Continue Reading →
Madness. SXSW Interactive is utter madness. 75,000 people, 400 scheduled conference sessions a day, just one poor brain and one weak body to drag back and forth, into which only so many ideas and contacts and information and free food and liquor can be poured before you break down and beg for mercy. "Please, just... Continue Reading →
I believe that the most potent social practice in the 21st century is interactivism, i.e. the intentional design and implementation of narrative feedback loops between the material and virtual worlds. I have written about several such feedback loops in previous posts on this blog, including: Array of Words and the Manilla Street Kid Digital Gift... Continue Reading →
