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 →
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 →
This is the first of a series of new posts that explain how you can apply the lessons of jazz to collaborate successfully. Respect “Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.” Duke Ellington Jazz - like any collaborative process - is rooted in respect. Respect for oneself. Respect for others.... Continue Reading →
What does a book mean in Cuba? A cell phone in Iran? What do the millions of miles of fibreoptic cable wound round the earth mean to you, to me? How are those meanings changing? How are our changing tools changing our world? Changing us? These questions concern artists in every corner of the world,... Continue Reading →
Hi. This post lists and links to my first 50 posts on this blog, indexing 50 brief critical essays on contemporary media culture. Topics include The Leveson Inquiry, Occupy Wall Street, Privacy, Music, Food, Economics and more. Try one. 1. Happy Birth Day! my blog is born 2. Gifts and Books, Books and Gifts books as... Continue Reading →
In 1974, Ontario's public broadcaster (OECA) launched a unique experiment in live broadcasting and media criticism. Media Circus was 90-minutes of live commercial-free analysis of 'what is on TV right now'. Until recently it was believed that no recordings of this groundbreaking TV series existed, but recently a copy of the first episode came into... Continue Reading →
This has been a busy time, with some long-term artistic projects coming to fruition and others popping up out of the blue. I like to track these on this blog, although it does seem like recently most of my writing here has been about various artistic projects and less about ideas and current events, which... Continue Reading →
LitLive.ca is a website devoted to Canadian poetry in performance. I wrote a review in the latest issue of a new book and CD by an old friend and fine poet named Fortner Anderson, called Solitary Pleasures. There's lots of other good material on this site too... I met Fortner in Montreal back in 1984... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago I gave a talk at the Toronto Reference Library as part of an excellent series called Treehouse Talks. It was a lovely event, attended by about 100 people and held in the spectacular 5-story atrium of the library. I gave an updated version of the talk that I call Know Your... Continue Reading →
You may have heard of the 7 generations idea or concept or phrase. It is typically understood as being derived from First Nations culture and to mean that when making decisions today we should consider the implications of those decisions on people living 7 generations in the future. As such, it is a useful and... Continue Reading →
YOU ARE YOUR MEDIA 