New Artist on the Scene - Check out Bolton's Detailed Eggs

Our own Intricate Girl, Lisa Bolton, has branched out into the Fine Arts. Always a dabbling artist (meaning she would create for self, friends, and family) Lisa is now creating art for the general public. As well, it appears she is taking her 'intricate' url name seriously as the egg art she's been creating is breathtakingly detailed. Check out her work online at Lisa Bolton's Art.

Enya' s "And Winter Came" to Be Released November 11th By: Christine Albrecht

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Twenty years after arriving on the scene with her memorable, "Watermark", album, Enya, is set to release her seventh studio album, "And Winter Came". As a well known artist selling 70 million albums worldwide, we can expect Enya's latest effort to garner brisk sales when it arrives in stores on November 11, 2008.

And Winter Came took Enya two years to craft at Aigle Studios near Dublin, Ireland. Once again, she sought partnership with producer, Nicky Ryan, and lyricist, Roma Ryan. The album was originally envisioned as a Christmas themed release, but as recording progressed, it became apparent that a broader seasonal theme had emerged.

During her career, Enya has collected four Grammy Awards, winning Best New Age Album for Shepherd Moons, The Memory of Trees, A Day Without Rain, and Amarantine, as well as three World Music Awards in 2002 for Best Selling Female Artist, Best Selling Irish Artist and Best Selling New Age Artist.

Enya has also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, both in conjunction with her musical partners Nicky and Roma Ryan, for the song, May It Be, which was written and recorded for the movie, Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring. May It Be was written at the personal request of director, Peter Jackson. The song also won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for Best Song and was also nominated for a Hollywood Golden Globe Award.

Check out your local music store on November 11.

Durham County Television show review - by Lezah WIlliamson

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There was once a time when Canadian TV shows were guaranteed to be dull, unappealing, and have a really low-budget appearance.

Then came Durham County.

Six episodes premiered back in May, 2007, on The Movie Network and Movie Central; this year, you can catch the repeats on Global, as well as Showcase (at 9:00). Season 2 is just starting production this month, and the first episodes are set to air in the spring of 2009. I'm predicting a surge in audience numbers by that time: the first episode of Durham County has been nominated for 13 Gemini Awards, including best series, best writing, best directing, best photography, best editing, and best sound (to name but a few). And well it deserves any accolades that come its way.

There is more art to be found in one episode of Durham County than you would find in any gallery in Canada. In scene after scene, there are shots that are just masterful. The images are incredibly evocative.

Most episodes open with, or feature at some point, a shot of the power lines that run through Durham County. Between the images, the symbolism, the mood that is set and the story itself, this is TV that easily tops every that is out there right now. It is almost Lynchian in its presentation, and frequently juxtaposes images and ideas that tell you much more, and much more quickly, than you are learning from the characters themselves. And that is just part of its magic.

Durham County is a police procedural with a family drama backstory; each episode is not resolved, but rather, the story builds as the season progresses.

The show stars Hugh Dillon as Detective Mike Sweeney; Sweeney has left Toronto following the death of his partner, and the near death of his wife (to cancer). Still dealing with the emotional after-effects of both of those emotionally traumatic events, Sweeney is plunged right into the middle of a serial killer hunt in his new hometown, the suburb of Durham County. Complicating matters further, it turns out a nemesis from his youth lives directly across the road; as well, the young woman he fell in love with at the cancer support group turns out to be his daughter's high school English teacher.

In addition to the adult cast, the teens in this film are especially noteworthy. Laurence Leboeuf stars as Sweeney's daughter, an independent young lady who enjoys recreating crime scenes in her doll house during her spare time; her counterpart is the shy, artistic son of his father's nemesis. Rounding out the cast is the youngest daughter, a character who appears in most shots wearing an over-sized Sailor Moon mask.

Altogether, the story is a convoluted, twisting journey through an everyday neighbourhood where good and evil co-exist.

Not to be missed.

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AC/DC’s Latest Release Sold Only in Wal-Mart By Terry Lowe

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AC/DC had announced that its CD would be sold exclusively in Wal-Mart stores in the USA.

With this, their credibility dropped through the floor. AC/DC, in its early days, was a fun band; sort of a guilty pleasure – who couldn’t like the bouncy raunch of “Girls Got Rhythm?"

But Wal-Mart? Say it ain’t so, boys. Wal-Mart may be the world’s biggest retailer of CDs, but...

Wal-Mart is evil. Don’t get me started, or I’ll rant all night. Information on Wal-Mart’s cancerous “race to the bottom” tactics is not hard to find: just Google the term “Wal-Mart is evil” and you’ll find lots. And most of what you’ll find is both sad and nauseating.

The most interesting (and balanced) item I found was from the Markulla Center For Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, who considered the question “Is It Ethical to Shop at Wal-Mart?” and concluded:

It is unethical to shop at Wal-Mart. However, refusing to shop at Wal-Mart is an insufficient response to its gross effects on the values of shared prosperity. You could do more, such as: Support local efforts to keep Wal-Mart out of communities. Support legislation that levels the playing field and prevents Wal-Mart from forcing down standards for wages and benefits.

AC/DC joins has-beens John Mellencamp, James Taylor, and The Eagles in the “Wal-Mart only” new release sales brigade. No further comment should be necessary, apart from noting that Bon Scott must be whirling in his grave.

Rumour has it that AC/DC had been in Vancouver this past August, putting the finishing touches on their CD. Did anyone manage to track them down and call them out on the Wal-mart monopoly? If so, please share your experience with me.

Ruby’s Chicky Boil-Ups (Radio Nowhere) By: Terry Lowe

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I love well-made radio almost as much as I love print media, so Internet podcasts are catnip to me. I found Ruby’s Chicky Boil-Ups by following a link from my favourite podcast, The Bike Show, broadcast from London by Jack Thurston on Resonance 101 FM (link below). The Bike Show, not surprisingly, focuses mainly on cycling. Ruby (who, it turns out, is Jack’s cousin) focuses entirely on music.

She chooses a loose theme for each show, then chooses a surprising range of music to fit each theme. She also finds a well-informed someone to talk to about this theme, and includes music that this person chooses. The result is eclectic, unusual, and wonderful.

How surprising? How eclectic? A few themes and playlists are shown below. Scroll down and have a look...

Sunday Service

Gospel Train - Sunbury Junior Singers of the Salvation Army
Heaven’s Radio - Molly o’Day and the Cumberland Mountain Folks
Female Jesus - Men in Gray Suits
Dominique - The Singing Nun
Saved - Lavern Baker
Jesus in His Pomp - The Chimps
Six and Seven Books of Moses - The Maytals as The Vikings
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho - Paul Robeson
Soul Train - Judith
Angels Laid Him Away - Mississippi John Hurt
Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet - Gavin Bryars

Tour De France

Rockin’ Bicycle - Fats Domino
En Bicicleta - Manuel Jiminez
La Troisième Roue De Ton Velo - Antoine
A Bicyclette - Yves Montane
Motorcycle - The Rumble Strips
Gravel Rash - Cookin’ on Three Burners
Pedal Pusher - Abdominal
Tour De France - Kraftwerk
Bravo Eddy - Jean Narcy
Blood on the Saddle - Tex Ritter
Henkie de Fiets - Henkie
The Highway Code - The Master Singers
Waiting At The Bus Stop - Kay-Gees
La bicyclette - Annie Duparc

The Great Outdoors

I Came Out of the Wilderness - Pete Molinari
Arizona Yodeller - DeZurik Sisters
Building a Boat - The Rumble Strips
Run Rabbit Run - Harry Smith
Country Death Song - The Violent Femmes
Moonlight & Roses - Tommy Sanderson Francis, Day & Hunter
The Valleys - Electrelane
Inakano Musume - Ban Ban Bazar
Goodbye California - Jolie Holland
Puszta-Fox - Orchester Barnabask von Geczy
Roam - B52s
La Montagne - Choeur des Armaillis de la Gruyère
Whispering Grass - The Ink Spots
Lord Blow the Moon out Please - Hem
Down by the Riverside - Lesley First
Man Walks Among Us - Jonathan Richman

Architecture

The Smoke Comes Out My Chimney Just the Same - Skeets McDonald
Do The Whirlwind - Architecture in Helsinki
This is the House that Jack Built - Willy Whyton
London Calling - The Clash
Luton Bungalow - John Hegley
First Row Balcony - The Gaylords
Love Breaks Down - Prefab Sprout
Home is where the Hatred Is - Gil Scott-Heron
I Wish to Build a Mosque - Markos Vamvakaris
In Your House - The Cure
Crying in the Chapel - Elvis
Living on the Ceiling - Blancmange
Maison Rose - Emmanuelle Parrenin
Underneath the Arches - Billy’s Banjo Band
My Head is My Only House Unless it Rains - Captain Beefheart
Lara’s Castle - Yann Tiersen
Come on Feel the Illinoise! - Sufjan Stevens
Build - The Housemartins
Christopher Robin at Buckingham Palace - Anne Stephens
We Built this City on Rock and Roll - Starship

Enjoy! I certainly do, and hats off(!) to Ruby.

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