We Will Rock You & Avant-premiere

Took this shot of Sam & Steve in Dundas Square before we headed out for dinner at the Savoy (formerly the Senator) on Victoria St and on to We Will Rock You at the Canon Theatre. I really liked the show: fantastic music by Queen, amazing staging and fun little quips between songs. My cohorts were less impressed and somewhat disgruntled about the lack of plot.


What do you expect? It was way better than Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express which I saw in London in the 80s. Plus, I'm sure I enjoyed it more than I would have enjoyed Blue Man Group. Somehow, I'd rather listen to 3 hours of amazing Queen music & lyrics and see exciting staging than watch 2 hours of drumming by 3 guys who refuse to talk. Maybe it's just me.

Ran 6K this morning - felt great. Tonight is the world premiere of Marathon Women at hot docs. Will update after the screening.

Hot Docs Day & Facebook

Today I took a day off work to hang out at hot docs. What a terrific day! Met Jonathan from current.tv who wants to work with new filmmakers and have them contribute video to their 24hr global news station (and internet site) which is funded by Al Gore. Very cool! I'd love to get involved.


We even met one third (Dana and Laura) of the New School team that created the short doc Blind Faith as part of the same International Documentary Challenge that Tamara and I entered. They're GRRREAAAAAAAT!! Can't wait to meet the rest of Team Blind Faith!

Saw 4 Elements - an interesting experimental doc about Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Very quiet, intriguing and stylistic. The film was quite poetic and took 4 years to make, in Siberia, Alaska, Kazakstan and Germany.

Plus, I have 14 friends on Facebook. So there.

Kathrine Switzer - WOW

Last night we met the the first woman to run the Boston Marathon 40 years ago: Kathrine Switzer. What an amazing woman! She gave an inspirational talk and took the time to really visit with everyone who came to have her sign her new book Marathon Woman - fitting our short doc is Marathon Women. She was absolutely lovely and an incredible role model for creating opportunities for women in sport. It was truly an emotional and motivational evening for me and my fellow runners.

After being with all these AMAZING women I met my WONDERFUL Uncle Wes for dinner at his hotel. He is in town for a couple days so we look forward to seeing him on Wednesday too. Merci Oncle Wes!

Boston Kudos

My friend and JeansMarines coach 61 year-old Jan Conway ran the Boston Marathon last weekend for the second time. She braved the bad weather and did very well. Search her bib number 19464 to view her race results.

Jan, we're so proud of you. You are a real inspiration. Congratulations!

JeansMarines and Marathons

As many readers know, I started running with JeansMarines in February. JM is a women's running group that trains women slowly, safely and sensibly for the ultimate goal of running a marathon. I'm not saying I'm doing a marathon YET (Honolulu is still in the back of my mind from Reunion 2006) but I did complete my first race - Harry's Spring Runoff 5K - in High Park on Easter weekend and I'm signed up for the Sporting Life 10K running downhill on Yonge St on May 6 (who else is in?) and then the Scotiabank half-marathon on Sept 30.

JeansMarines are really training to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC on October 28 but I'm not sure I can do that yet. I just keep saying I'm running the next event. I really like training with these amazing women - they are so warm and generous and the run is a wonderful way to start the weekends early on a Saturday morning.

Next week we will be meeting with the first woman to run the Boston Marathon Kathrine Switzer - here's a link to a recent interview with Kathrine on CBC.ca.

Breast Darn Show Period

I am going with my friend Dori to the Breast Darn Show period on Thurs May 17 at the Distillery.

It's a a great cause and sounds like an exciting event - pink carpet and boobinis and everything!

Check it out and join us!
http://www.breastdarnshowperiod.com

This is a follow-up to the highly successful Breast Friends Forever fundraiser in May 2005.

Marathon Women update & Gmail - SORRY

After painstakingly loading all my friends' contact info into my new Gmail account, I sent a newsy blast to the gang only to realize I hadn't bcc'd people. Profuse apologies folks - but then gmail is supposed to prevent spam anyway, no? (didn't see the bcc in the email window - it's really different from Outlook and again I'm sorry!)

With the world premiere of Marathon Women as part of the International Documentary Challenge (IDC) at hotdocs I can now officially call myself a filmmaker. The screening is Sat. April 28 at 9:45pm - details are on the Productions page of my new website (featuring my photo with Johnny Depp) http://haikugirl.com

We also have a myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/marathonwomendoc

Even my brothers are coming to Toronto for the screening - one from Winnipeg, the other from Calgary. We are also seeing We Will Rock You the new Queen rock musical. Looks awesome!

Hot docs starts Thursday with an exclusive opening night screening and party at the DX. For once I am getting invites to all these parties - very exciting!!

Blackout haiku

Our blackout late Sunday night inspired these haiku:

suddenly its dark
no lights in any houses
dim glow bathes the 'hood

fumble for a match
brush teeth and light a candle
bedtime anyway

11:40
50 minutes of darkness
How long will this last?

6K and new websites

What a sweet Saturday. Ran 6K this morning with JeansMarines, then came home to design my new website haikugirl.com - after several hours of edits and reuploads I'm finally happy.

We also need to create a website for our short doc marathon women that's premiering at hotdocs in 2 wqeeks. Unfortunately, someone named Brittany already took myspace.com/marathonwomen so we will use www.myspace.com/marathonwomendoc

Web editing never ends! (but it's so fun ;-)

Genius haiku

Richard and our friend Chris had a haiku dialogue that I HAVE to include on my blog:

Chris started:
work Easter Monday
i have things i should do now
the bunny says not.

Rich replied:
You Haiku master
You are a Haiku Master
I will use "now" now

Chris highlighted the egg hunt scheduled in Goderich for Easter Saturday, then expounded:
eggs under fresh snow
will not be found until May
they do not stink, now

no more work today
soon, Jackie heads to the Grave
Chris travels there, now

FYI dear readers, the Grave is not death, but rather the Hargrave, our local pub (also featured in a cheesy movie with Gerard Depardieu, Renaud and Harvey Keitel which we saw in St. Martin)

And to that brilliant haiku, Rich replied:
have a pint for me
if i walk i will see you
soon may, but not now

Then Chris commented on Rich's new haircut and encouraged his pint at the Grave:
Your short wind blown hair
Yearn for summer breeze caress
It won't happen, now

Guinness is yummy
A reward for ill weather
Very well earned, now

Finally Rich weighed in with final comments about a patron of the Grave:
Crazy chick is gone
Don't leave me alone with her
No one's biking now

And that, my friends, is the document of the haiku exchange at the Hargrave Exchange

The Race Results Are In!

I was #793 out of a total of 961 runners for the 5K in Harry's Spring Run-off on Saturday. Here is the list of 5K results. My final time was 43 minutes, 47 seconds or an average pace of 8:46 per kilometre. I was #414 out of a total of 535 women running and 55th out of 60 in my age group of Women 40 - 44. A very satisfactory showing for my first race with my wonderful running partners Hardish and Jean right along side me.

I also had a wonderful cheering section at the finish line. Richard was there snapping photos and Alison and her daughter Emily were also on hand to cheer me on! THANK YOU LES AMIS!

Next race: the Sporting Life 10K on Sunday May 6!

Mexican directors - No longer confused

Okay, I just need to write down the key works of the three HOT Mexican directors to cement them in my head (I'm a visual learner, what can I say?):

1. Alfonso Cuaron directed
Children of Men
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Y tu mama tambien
He also did the short "Parc Monceau" as part of Paris, je t'aime

2. Guillermo del Toro directed
Pan's Labyrinth
Hellboy

3. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu directed
Babel
21 Grams
Amores perros

Now that I've got it all straight, if only I could figure out how to insert the accents on my Mac...

Long Weekend Movie Fest

I rented a bunch of movies for the long Easter weekend. This afternoon we saw Children of Men with Clive Owen, based on a book by P.D. James. Very intense but very good - amazing cinematography. We almost needed a recovery time afterward to let the knot in our stomachs release. (Haven't felt that sustained tension since Cronenberg's A History of Violence).

More relaxing is A Good Year - Russell Crowe inherits his Uncle Henry's chateau and vineyard in Provence. People have said this isn't great but who cares because it's Provence. It's so beautiful it totally made me want to go back to France. The soundtrack was also great - lovely vintage French numbers. In the DVD extras there are even music videos with Russell Crowe singing with Great Big Sea only they're not called Great Big Sea they're called The Ordinary Fear of God. Those lucky musicians got to travel to Europe to record the video and hang out. Who knew Russell Crowe could sing? (he's actually not bad - and the Great Big Sea people are much more mellow when they're The Ordinary Fear of God - guess hanging out in rural France and Spain will do that to you). The movie was directed by Ridley Scott (huh?!) and based on a book by Peter Mayle (my friend's brother always wanted to write a book whose opening line was "I went to Provence to kill Peter Mayle." - brilliant!)

Saturday night we plan to view The Departed. Looking forward to it after it won at The Oscars. I also bought Jesus Christ Superstar in the spirit of the season (directed, of course, by the inimitable Norman Jewison).

Harry's Spring Run-off

Tomorrow (Sat. April 7) I'm running my first 5K race in High Park. Here is the 5K route map. There is also an 8K race taking place starting at 10am. My race starts at 11am but we have to be there by 10 to pick up our race kits. We have to wear a computer chip on our legs to record our official time. It will be a fun day - I just hope it doesn't snow (the weather for this race is traditionally unpredictable).

Been loading music onto my iPod nano all afternoon. Last night had a lovely impromptu evening at Ivana and Antonio's place. What a treat to be able to relax after a long, hectic week. Race results to follow!

Harry's Spring Run-off
snowy, windy Saturday
5K will be FUN!

WE MADE IT!

We just got the good news today - team haikugirl is one of the 12 finalists for IDC 2007. We'll be screening at hotdocs on Saturday, April 28 at 9:45pm at Innis Town Hall (wherever that is) You can buy tickets online at hotdocs.ca - See you there!

What a THRILL it was to receive the following email at 4:53 today:

Hello IDC Teams,

The moment you have all been waiting for: Our Round 1 Judges have completed their voting which determined the 12 Finalists for the 2007 International Documentary Challenge. There were many, many great films in the competition. Many more than just 12: in total, 83 films were finished by the deadline and eligible for awards. But, alas, decisions have to be made. Here are the finalists (in alphabetical order):

1. "Begging for Grace"
Genre: Social Issue/Political
Sawbuck Productions, Inc.
Oak Park, Illinois, USA

2. "Blind Faith! A Film About Seeing"
Genre: Social Issue/Political
New School Doc Certificate Team
New York, New York, USA

3. "Getting Eve Off"
Genre: Biography/Character Study
Team T.E.D.
Missoula, Montana, USA

4. "Growing Up Metal"
Genre: Experimental
The Ktizo Collaborative
Erlanger, Kentucky, USA

5. "In Your Faith"
Genre: Biography/Character Study
Team Nexus
Hirakat, Osaka, Japan

6. "Marathon Women"
Genre: Experimental
haikugirl
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

7. "Outside the Box"
Genre: Sports
Team 72hundred
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

8. "Portraits of Hope"
Genre: Art
Team Tessa
Mountlake Terrace, Washington, USA

9. "State of Mind"
Genre: 1st Person
Team Plasticine
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

10. "Tears of the Motherland"
Genre: Biography/Character Study
Sofia Film, BG
Sofia, Bulgaria

11. "Unfettering the Falcons"
Genre: Sports
Kissel-Vollmer Productions
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

12. "Yesterday's News"
Genre: Experimental
Intuitive Eye Productions
Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

These 12 finalists will screen on the evening of Saturday, April 28 at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto where the Grand Prize Winner will be announced. The winner will receive $1,000 and a one year membership to the International Documentary Association. In addition, other awards (such as Best Cinematography, Best Editing, etc.) will be announced on April 28. These awards are based on the judge’s nominations and are not limited to only the 12 finalists.

The 12 finalists will also be screening at film festivals and film series' across the world. Additionally, ALL of the IDC films, whether finalists or not, will be screened by several television broadcasters. So don't be discouraged if you aren't a finalist. Last year more non-finalists were acquired than finalists! I will send more information on this later.

Congratulations to all of the finalists! And to all of the other filmmakers who finished their films by the deadline - a heroic feat in and of itself.

Cheers,

Doug Whyte
IDC Producer

Fauteuils d'orchestre

Saw this lovely movie on Saturday night with Mary and Pavlina as part of Cinefranco, Toronto's annual French filmfest (even ran into Donna from the Pilot!) Directed by Daniele Thompson (who also wrote/directed Jet Lag which screened at TIFF in 2002), Fauteuils d'orchestre is a charming ensemble film about the interconnected lives of people on a chic Paris street, Avenue Montaigne (which is the film's English title, rather than the literal Orchestra seats). It centres on the life of adorable young Jessica who comes to Paris from Macon where she was raised by her delightful grandmother. Jessica finds a job working at the local Bar des Theatres - a popular haunt for the artists in the neighbourhood since it is conveniently located across the street. Jessica meets a famous pianist who is fed up with the performance circuit and wants to quit, a high maintenance actress who is appearing onstage but she really wants to do movies and get out of her lucrative TV contract, and an aging art collector who is selling off his entire collection for millions, despite his son's protests. (FYI the collector's son in the film is played by the actual director's son Christopher Thompson who is also co-writer of the screenplay.)

This is a delicious behind-the-scenes visit to one of the most elegant quartiers in Paris, and with all the twists and turns the story comes together beautifully, although in my experience sometimes the director can't resist overdoing the schmaltz. That said, see this if you want to spend a couple of wonderful hours dreaming of your next visit to Paris and laughing through the ridiculousness of the Cesar-winning actress' onstage debut - she gives North American divas a run for their money. Young Jessica's exuberance is infectious and she is so lovely with her grandmother, (the actress sadly passed away after filming was completed). Sydney Pollack even puts in a funny cameo as (what else?) an American director. For your breath of fresh air and an armchair visit to Paris in the Spring - see Fauteuils d'orchestre (Avenue Montaigne)! MMMM