Awhile ago writing for Rocco De Giacomo’s then Latchkey.net, I wrote a column entitled “BasketBall Sucks” how in the 90′s I used to be a basketball fan, and now I don’t watch it as much because for me there are aspects of the game that just don’t do it for me anymore.  One of the more passionate comments in retort on that column came from Dave Silverberg, who to this day is a passionate basketball fan, and it’s because of a poem that Dave read a few months ago about his sports addiction that inspired me writing this blog entry. A part of the poem referenced the Leafs and MLSE and alluded to how some teams exist solely to make money.

I have to say I didn’t like what he said, but all summer long I couldn’t shake it, and I have to say that more often than not, even before Dave performed that poem, I have been not only critical of my Leafs, but critical of the game of hockey itself.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the game, I really do, and I know that with time everything changes, but if you ask me, when it comes to professional hockey, there are too many aspects of the game that are used for commercial purposes that can simply be done away with. 

Too Many Teams

Your grandparents grew up with the original six, I grew up with the original 21…remember those days? After the Leafs were finished playing the Red Wings in the Norris Division match-up, the next game would be the Hartford Whalers vs. the Quebec Nordiques.  Man, I miss that, I miss the divisions being named after respective figures that were responsible for conceiving the NHL, and if you ask me I liked the Leafs in what’s known now as the “Western Conference” cause there will be no chance of the Leafs and Habs meeting again in the Stanley Cup final.  But please tell me why we have so many teams, and why are they located in places that people don’t care about hockey.  They took teams away from Quebec and Winnipeg, and now there’s a team in Nashville?  There’s a team in Phoenix? And even though those markets are suffering, Bettman still insists on doing everything possible to keep those teams there.  I remember the last time the NHL went on strike they asked players and former players for their opinions, and if you ask me sometimes I think Guy Lafleur had it right “Blow it all up and start from scratch with six teams.”

The Buildings Have No Soul

Go see a Leaf game at the ACC, and you’ve pretty much seen every building in the NHL.  Well of course the ACC does have something that the other buildings do not….the quietest crowd in all of hockey. But with more teams, came the onset of more of these multi-purpose entertainment complexes adorning the name of some greedy corporate sponsor. Maybe it’s just me but I think it meant something to go face the Flyers at The Spectrum in Philedelphia, to face off against Bruins at the Boston Garden, to feel the intimidation sweep across you at the old Forum in Montreal.  But sorry, there is no mystique left in the buildings anymore.  With the exception of Joe Louis Arena, and Madison Square Garden, I don’t know what would be so special for a player of a visiting team to play at GM Place?

What’s With All These Rules?

I’m sorry, I know that Bettman is trying to pimp out the game to make it that much more interesting to watch, but if you ask me all Americans should keep their grubby hands off of hockey.  Every time they touch something when it comes to our game, it just ruins it that much more.  Remember the time they tried that blue and white streak cause Americans had too hard a time following a black puck on a white ice surface?  I don’t like all of the over officiating when it comes to clutching and grabbing, I don’t like the instigator rule, I don’t like the trapezoid area, I don’t like the delay of game penalty for shooting the puck out of play, and I most definitely do not like shootouts.  I was more than satisfied with a tie when at the end of that fourth five minute period, it was much more entertaining considering teams had the option of picking up two points, and leaving the other with zero.  Now I have to say it just plain confuses me that a team loses a game, and gets a point for it?  Also teams tend to coast in the overtime frame, cause they know the shootout is just around the corner, and yes the shootout is interesting to watch, but it diminishes the fact that you’ve spent sixty minutes watching a team sport, and now you’re seeing one guy going down the ice with a strip of zambonied ice against one goalie….I don’t know but to me something is a little off.  Also because of all the emphasis on clutching and grabbing, and the addition of a second Referee on the ice surface during a game,  I wonder really how much of a game we are seeing.  With two referees on the ice and players not even able to touch each other, penalties are called left, right, and center, there are few even strength goals, more often than not now, it’s a special teams game more than anything. Whatever happened to those games that went end to end?  It seems that when they happen now it’s a rarity

Truly, Are The Best Players Really Playing?

Another part of Dave’s poem that struck me was where he said “Why am I watching millionaires playing sports?”  Indeed, and better still why are they making millions?  I started this column with a quote from rather horrid and campy eightees film Youngblood, about life in the OHL with Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze. In the scene coach Murray Chadwick, is pep talking the players giving them the perspective to just be happy they’re playing the game they love rather than look for the extras. Gordie Howe’s signing bonus was a team jacket, and he wore number 9, not because he got to pick it but because the Red Wings assigned team numbers by the places that they had on the train.  The Leafs could very well be another example of this aspect that for me has tarnished the sport.  The Leafs roster has two players that should be stars but are not, a bunch of middle of the road rookies, and a goalie who did have a couple of moments in the sun but is on the down slope of his career.  Now don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of natural talent in the NHL, I am not taking anything away from the likes of names like Crosby, and Ovechkin, however I left a little puzzled as to when I look at my Maple Leafs team why I am seeing a player such as Colton Orr on the team?  There’s more where players like him came from?  And you know full well, that the NHL is littered with players like him, or middle of the road players that truly make these stars look like some immense superstars.  But as talented as those guys are, gone are the days when being a star truly meant something.  Players like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Gordie Howe, and Bobby Orr gained their notoriety not only for the natural hockey prowess they possessed, but because of the fact that they made the players around them better, and it’s sad to see but that kind of inspiration is sorely lacking in professional hockey nowadays. If I could use my Leafs as an example, the presence of Mats Sundin on the Leafs is truly missed.  I’d love to believe that Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf were worth the price of two first round picks, but those two aren’t even close to the type of player Sundin was, a guy that could turn around the mood of a game on his own.

And here in lies the problem, the philosophy behind running a team has drastically changed.   I spoke with a former OHL player awhile back, who had a lot of natural talent, and gave it his all to make the pros, but in the end he said there were a lot of politics, and it turned him off so much that he walked away from the game entirely.  His biggest criticism?  The best players are not playing, there are superstars, goons and middle of the road players, but the ones with talent for some reason just don’t get through.   You could blame it on the Gretzky trade perhaps putting things in motion, or you could blame the further Americanization of the game for it, but it’s rare to see that teams develop their players anymore.  It doesn’t mean much anymore to have a scout with a good eye for a good player, because everyone and their mother is looking for the next Gretzky at the age of thirteen.  So long as the dollars keep rolling in GMs have it in their minds that all they really need is a couple of stars and let any other players coming up the pipeline fall by the wayside.  Even the addition of a salary cap has not deterred from GMs firing that spending cannon to get a star on their team that they think can instantly buy themselves a Stanley Cup, rather than be patient, and let the team build on it’s own accord.  The Leafs are an example of the former.  Brian Burke talked all tough and gruff and squandered not one but two first round picks land two watered down stars that if you ask me can’t even compare to some of the talent that is in the league.  The Chicago Blackhawks, are an example of the latter.  This organization reached an unbelievably sad level with an unbelievably hated owner, and the fans simply didn’t come to the games anymore.  A lot of games in Chicago had empty seats, and bare in mind this was an Original Six hockey club.  They had no other choice but to get good, so they went the route of development, they let the young kids like Kane, Toews, and Keith come up and were patient, and the result of that?  They broke the longest drought in Stanley Cup history and bestowed it to the Toronto Maple Leafs….fourty-three years ladies and gents…soon to be fourty-four.

I know that this blog entry may very well look like sour grapes, but don’t get me wrong, I still like to plunk myself in front of the television for Hockey Night In Canada.  I still like to celebrate a Leaf goal, and call them bums when they go offside or take a dumbass penalty.  I still watch the playoffs religiously whether or not the Leafs are in it, it’s nice to see the players wake up that time of year and actually see what hockey should look like at the professional level.  I haven’t missed a Stanley Cup presentation as far back as I can remember.   I still love to be around the game, I love going to the Ricoh Coliseum and seeing the Marlies take on some unknown AHL team from Peoria, or Hershey, it’s cheap, and it’s good hockey.  If I ever got off my ass and lost fifty pounds I’d consider joining a men’s league again just cause I loved playing so much.   I have to say though, I do indeed acknowledge that with time things change, but I can’t say that when it comes to professional hockey that it has changed for the better.   I am also saddened that a storied franchise like the one we have here in Toronto is pretty well representative of that change.  I like other Leaf fans, season in and season out, have lived and died with them, and I don’t know that I exactly plan on changing that anytime soon.  But if things stay the way they are, and one day pigs fly and southern Ontario gets another franchise….could I be swayed to possibly change allegiances and support a new team from the ground up?….Until then…I guess I’ll bleed blue and white…literally.

I first came across John Leguizamo in the movie Carlito’s Way, being the Pacino fan that I am it was a must for me to see, especially since he was just coming off an Oscar win for Scent Of A Woman. Leguizamo played the brash antagonist character of Benny Blanco from the Bronx.  He was supposed to be a younger version of the Pacino character Carlito Brigante who was infamously known for being a heroine dealer, and was trying to go straight, Leguizamo’s character however, was the up and comer.  I probably saw Leguizamo before, as he was embedded in bit parts like Die Hard 2, Executive Decision, and Regarding Henry. However  I have to say after Carlito’s Way Leguizamo was more than identifiable to me. I very much enjoyed his performances in movies such as Romeo & Juliet. Summer Of Sam, and Moulin Rouge.  It wasn’t until I was up late one night and on the tv guide channel saw a listing that read “John Leguizamo’s: Freak,” and it had me curious enough to check it out.  There was Leguizamo in some New York theater doing a one man show, being as funny and energetic as I am used to seeing him, but also being very honest.  He was talking about his parents growing up in New York, and how he became estranged from his Dad when he had it in his mind that he was going to become an actor, and the conflict it created between wanting a relationship with his father and wanting a career in acting.  I saw this and thought to myself, that as far as I was concerned, I was sold on Leguizamo’s talent….on a side note, if you have the means to watch Freak, please do check it out…also I learned that Freak was his third one man show, he wrote two more before hand.

So when I was brainstorming ideas as to what to do for me and my girlfriend’s two year anniversary, I came across an ad for another one man show by John Leguizamo running for ten nights right here in Toronto at the Canadian Stage company entitled “Ghetto Klown.”  I obviously was a fan, and Angela loved his performance as Toulousse Latrec in Moulin Rouge, we’d never been to a play before as a couple, so I thought a nice dinner before hand and this show would hit the spot.  I can’t say I was that far off.

The show was in the downstairs theater of the Canadian Stage company.  It was a very intimate theater, that much more intimate for Angela and I as were were only three rows away from the stage which was on the same level we were as it was a studio theater, and the set was simplistic, stage left was a lamp post with a table and chairs, centre stage was a stool, and stage right was a little movie screen with a projector in front of it.  I didn’t know how much I was going to enjoy it because I had some asshole sitting next to me, that was going to town smacking his Big League Chew like a cow.

I was in the end able to tune that out, Leguizamo’s show opened with energy and intensity, and pretty much set the tone for the show’s entirety.  He came out in comfortable clothes, addidas track pants, a loose shirt, and running shows.  Before he appeared on stage his silhouette was masked behind the projection screen, he was doing some pretty funky dancing to James Brown’s Sex Machine, when he came out from behind the screen he was met with enthusiastic audience applause, and continued dancing, and saying hello to the crowd.  His one man show format is an unconventional one, where he often times breaks character to in this case give us an intro as to where this is going, other times, responding to a heckler, and a guy that was coming back from a bathroom break.  Leguizamo was pretty casual about how he delivered his piece, when he got tired he would sit himself on the stool, and sip on a bottle of Steamwhistle that was there on the floor for him for when he got thirsty.  I do prefer the one man shows where someone is completely in character throughout it’s entirety, but at the same time, the show was based on him giving us a personal piece of himself, and him breaking character could have been in conjunction with that

Ghetto Klown pretty much picks up where Freak left off.  John has accepted that his parents are not accepting his decision to become an actor, and instead the show focuses on how hard it was to become an actor, and his journey into love, relationships and marriage while becoming even more estranged from his parents. He accentuates how hard it was for his famous Latino peers such as Esai Morales and Benicio Del Toro, and knew how hard a road he had ahead of him. He goes through a list of friends and mentors that got him to where he was.  I have to say Leguizamo has a quick witty humour, and got the room adrenaline going with some serious laughs.  He would use the projection screen to show pictures of people and places from his past as he was describing them, there was always some snide comment inserted as to a place of birth, or a script that was given to him.  He made fantastic use of the stage as he was all over it, and was using different levels at all times.  He has some really hilarious lines like “We definitely lived in a ghetto, we were so poor that when thieves broke into our house, they would leave us things.”

I felt that much more of a kinship with Leguizamo as he was describing the schools that he went to, and the people that he was inspired by, namely, Eric Bogosian, who wrote a one man show called Drinking In America, that as a theater student I had the courage to undertake, and the pleasure of performing.  He also talked about how he met his first wife at the NuYorican Poet Cafe.  I don’t know if his disdain was with regards to slam poets, or to his ex wife but his depiction of his ex-wife doing a poem, was one that was beyond satirical, but I have to say I laughed pretty hard considering I see that depiction at times on the stage at the Drake Hotel underground during the Toronto Poetry Slam.

I have to say though my favourite part of his show as a film buff was going through his cinematic career and hearing him share stories that happened to him while filming certain movies like Casualties Of War, Regarding Henry, Executive Decision, Carlito’s Way, and Romeo & Juliet. Now, I am pretty sure that Leguizamo laid on the artistic license pretty thick during this, but there was some factual information as a film buff that never occurred to me which he was more than happy to bring up.  He told us how he was the only actor in America to have successfully shot Harrison Ford, and how he was the only actor in America to have shot Al Pacino dead.  He had some extremely funny anecdotes about his working relationship with A-List actors on set, but I have to say, and this is where the artistic license may have come in,  with the exception of Harrison Ford, I wasn’t sure if John Leguizamo was difficult to work with, or if every actor he came across was a genuine asshole.  He shared a hilarious story about sharing a joint with Harrison Ford while on the set of Regarding Henry, and I didn’t think Ford could get any cooler but that story certainly put him up a couple of notches for sure. However, outside of that it was nothing but altercations and embarrassing moments from getting into a shoving match with Kurt Russell for ad-libing  a scene from Executive Decision, to throwing up on Bob Hoskins while filming a driving scene in Super Mario Bros. , to pissing off Al Pacino during a scene in Carlito’s Way , you were truly amused to hear these stories and see them depicted that much more by Leguizamo’s stage antics.

So things in his career progressed, but anything good always ends, and of course he goes through the telling of the divorce from his first wife, his long time friendship with his manager falling apart, his parents being that much more estranged from him to the point where his Dad would sue him for material in one of his one man shows, and ultimately his eventual breaking ties with his agent, and explaining why he has been out of film loop for awhile.

But the nice thing about this is that it was headed in the direction of a happy ending.  Leguizamo reflected on marrying the right woman, having two kids, falling back in love with theater again, and being his own boss when it comes to projects.  At the end of the show, as unconventionally as it was delivered you were grateful for him being so honest, and for having this gracious birds eye view into his life and him sharing it with you.  I felt inspired for watching it as I am writing personal spoken word material when it comes to my family and culture, and seeing him do it with such energy, honesty, and intensity just motivated me that much more.

As it was the last night of the show, Leguizamo was signing books in the lobby after the show.  I picked up one of his books containing all of his one man shows, and lined up to meet him with Angela. The line moved at a bit of a snail’s pace as everyone in front of us brought a camera, a guy in front of us had Angela take his picture with him, and he actually went one further having the audacity to pitch a documentary to Leguizamo.  When I finally got to him, I did not have my picture taken with him, I simply shook his hand, and told him how much I appreciated his work and how inspired by him I was.  I told him I was a Theater Grad turned Spoken Word Artist, told him how much I related with Eric Bogosian and the mention of the NuYorican and how much of a pleasure it was to attend the National Poetry Slam and see their slam team do their thing.  Leguizamo said “You got a poets name man, Valentino, you must be good if you went there.” I said I was okay, and he said “Good to be humble man but not too humble.”  I told him thanks shook his hand again and walked away.

I have to say the show still does resonate with me, I went back and looked at some old clips of him in movies, a lot of which I own, and looked up his page on imdb seeing that he is nowhere near out of work when it comes to film, as there are a number of projects lined up for him.  Angela and I felt privileged that we got to see such an honest piece of material, and really it could have made one form an opinion of Leguizamo, to say that he might not have went about things like you or I, but he was inspired enough to share his interpretation with us, and pass on that inspiration to us….and for that I am grateful.

So, if there was one aspect of the film that would not draw me to the movie theater it would have to be Leonardo Di Caprio having the lead role.  Leonardo Di Caprio to me is like Tomas Kaberle of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  When he first came onto the scene, he gave everyone the impression of so much promise, and here we are years later, generally satisfied with the job that he’s doing, but still waiting for the promise to kick in.  Since Titanic, it’s been hard to see many of Di Caprio’s movies, and not be able to say that someone else could have easily played many of those roles.  For his role as Cobb in Inception however, I don’t know that I would be entirely so quick to say that.

The premise of the film involves the central character Cobb, who is an exceptional thief, and uses perhaps one of the most unconventional methods of being one.  Rather than casing out a joint for reconnaissance, he decides to scope out another medium instead.  The psyche of the intended that he is planning to rob.  He invades their dreams, and uses their subconscious to find out the information that he needs. He uses the power human beings have to manipulate aspects of the dream to attain this.  The casting of Di Caprio works because the character also has a flawed side to him as well, being a thief that doesn’t know when to say “when” and also having the reputation for being a deadbeat dad to his kids, whom they believe was responsible for the death of their mother.

In order for Cobb to redeem himself he needs to pull of one last heist, but it’s not going to be easy, as who he is trying to rob is extremely powerful, and the only way that Cobb can pull this off is if he invokes inception…the dream within the dream.  To assist him with this he has the help of Ariadne, played by Ellen Page, who aside from having longer hair doesn’t bare much of an appearance change from Juno, however the snarky sarcastic one liners have gone and she embraces this role fully.  She acts as the architect of Cobb’s dreams.

Now everything seems to be set up for Cobb to pull this heist off, but the problem is, there are dark memories from Cobb’s past (his wife) that interfere with the manipulation of some of the dreams…..so there’s the hurdle, when it comes to the story, truly ladies and gents, it’s best if I don’t say more.

What I will say though is that aside from the story being refreshingly inventive, the film itself has deep and rich intensity.  You know those dreams that you have sometimes, where you want to wake up but can’t do it when you want to? Well, the film gives you the feel of being in a dream, but what’s intense about it, is that you don’t have control of this dream, and the unexpected is pretty much the norm, not to mention the fact that it has that “I can’t look away, and can’t control my nerves” feel to it.

In addition to a roaring musical score provided by Hans Zimmer, I will also say that when it comes to editing and cinematography, I won’t be surprised if this film is one of the front runners in either category at next year’s Oscars.  Nolan could very much be riding on the precipice of being a modern day auteur, as he in fact does pay tribute to Orson Welles with a variation of a similar shot that Welles used in Citizen Kane.  No doubt that there were images that needed CGI to bring them to fruition, but Nolan made that more eye catching than obvious.

There haven’t been many films this year that have resonated with me, but this is certainly one of them.  In fact I wouldn’t be bashful in saying that I’d like to have another gander at it.  The movie is an all-out intense ride, that you can’t help but love and be inspired by.  I highly recommend this one folks, hold on to your seats and enjoy the ride.

I’ve been sick for the last two days. A vicious stomach bug has caught a hold of me and my time has mostly been spent house sitting my Mom’s place and regular visits between the bed and the bathroom. I’m feeling a bit better but not 100%.  My guess was a bad smoked salmon sandwich, but I was told it could have been anything.

Yesterday I went to see my doctor, thankfully it’s nothing serious, plenty of rest, fluids, and all that jazz, should clear up in a couple of days. While I was out because I am taking care of some official documentation that I need, after the visit to my doctor’s office I decided to risk going to the ministry of transportation to update the address on my license.  I figured if I needed a bathroom i was sure someone on the Danforth would let me use one.  I remembered a Ministry office being on Danforth just south of Greenwood and when I got there saw that it was there no longer.

Since I was right in between Greenwood and Donlands station, I decided not to change direction and kept walking to Donlands, nature wasn’t calling but I was feeling week, and was looking forward to just hopping on the subway and heading home.  I got to Donlands and heard a train coming, and rushed as much as I could, I noticed as I was going down the stairs to the platform, that I was heading down the wrong one, I needed to go east, and I was going down the west.  I was half-way down the stairs when I turned around and climbed back up.  I went down the stairs of the eastbound platform, and when I got there, there was a train stopped about 50 meters away from where it was supposed to, and the driver was at the end of the platform cutting the power to the track.

He turned around everyone, looked no one in the eye, and spoke quickly saying, “Go upstairs, there will be no subway service for at least an hour.” I was right near the front car of the train, and saw a young girl emerge from there, with a desperate and fearful look on her face.  She said “It was a woman, I saw her, she jumped in front of the train.” Another girl, said “What?” and I said “This train here?”  She didn’t answer either of us, and started shaking and crying. A second TTC official came downstairs, and in a loud voice said “Everybody upstairs please.” A young guy, walked to the front of the train and looked down at the tracks, but I didn’t share his curiosity, if there was anything there I didn’t want to see it.  In fact I wanted to just get out of there immediately, but I was somewhat concerned for the girl that saw what happened. The other young girl offered her a cab ride home, I offered to buy her a bottle of water, but she wasn’t acknowledging anything. She was on the front car, and saw an older woman throw herself in front of the train.

I went upstairs with everyone else, and when I got to the surface, it became obvious that the girl was telling the truth. Hordes of police cars, fire trucks, and ambulance personnel were immediately on the scene, there were select TTC officials directing passengers to where to catch shuttle buses on the Danforth.  Some people knew, that somebody jumped, others were in the dark, and wondered what was going on, but it soon got around that it was a suicide, and I found it rather disturbing that people were waiting around to see what would soon be brought to the ambulance.

As i was waiting for a shuttle bus heading east, I ran into a poet that I remembered from starting out in the beaches poetry scene way back when.  He was on the train towards the back, and he was telling me how the train stopped abruptly, and how some passengers slumped over, and those that were standing lost their balance.  Other people were talking too, some felt inconvenienced and some wondered why someone would do that.  The poet friend of mine said “At that point they’re past councelling.” An older Greek guy passed the scene asking what has happening and he said he thought he knew who it might be, he said he saw a distraught older woman outside of the Seven Eleven.

I thought about the young girl that saw it happen, and how traumatized she was.  I th0ught about how if I didn’t make the mistake of going down the stairs to the wrong platform, I likely would have seen it happen as well, and thank God I didn’t, it would have been something my stomach couldn’t have handled, and mentally I would have been right up there with that young girl as well.

I thought about the woman that jumped, and what kind of pain she was in to do something like that.  To throw yourself in front of a train means you’re in a world of hurt, the kind of hurt most people can’t even begin to comprehend.  I was told that things like this on the TTC happen frequently, but I still found it awkward that nothing was mentioned on the news about it.  If it happens so frequently that it’s not worth reporting, that is pretty sad.  I am sorry that she is in that long line of people, that were feeling that same hurt.  I don’t pray as much as I like to, but when I do I make my prayers count.  I say prayers for different things, for the existence of certain people in my life, for what I have, for strength that I need, and for people that have passed on.  I’ll say a prayer for all of those things today, and an additional one, for that woman’s pain.

Meeting Angela’s Nonna

I remember receiving the immense privilege of attending Angela’s Nonna’s 85th birthday party on February 2nd.  I had only been dating Angela for a short time, and only had met her parents once, and here I am at this huge family celebration to honour Nonna’s 85th birthday.  I can easily say that from the first day that I met Angela’s family they have been nothing, but vibrant, warm, and loving people, and that has never stopped.  One of the first things that made an impression on me though about Angela’s Nonna was that she not only showered me with a number of compliments that make my head swell, but Nonna is also a poet.  I call her the original spoken word artist, because if there is a conversation that is in thematic line with one of her poems, she will just suddenly break into reciting the poem.  She is a wonderful woman and meeting her was by far one of the most significant experiences of the year for sure.

Valentine’s Day

My name is Valentino, and many of my Italian relatives actually make a big deal out of my Saint’s name day, but when it comes to the North American celebration of Valentine’s Day for quite along time this Valentino spent it by himself.  It was nice to be able to take Angela out for Valentine’s Day.  We saw the movie “Coraline,” went to eat an awesome Italian dinner at Gio Rana’s Really Really Nice Italian restaurant, drank a bottle of Bordeaux at 8 Wine Bar listening to some awesome music courtesy of Blue Venus, and then capped the night off with Scotches courtesy of our friend Glen Fiddich.

Marlies Games

The first time I took Angela to a Marlies game, I never thought that she would have liked it all that much, but it was cool to know that she was more than willing to go other games after that.  She’s cool enough to actually cheer. and get into the game, and at the same time tolerate a loudmouth like me that’s constantly hollering during the game.  I am glad this tradition continues for me, and I am glad that it now includes her.  It’s awesome hockey, and it’s a wicked way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.  We look forward to more Marlies games in the new year.  Here’s to minor hockey.

Performing At The Toronto Poetry Slam Semi Finals And Finals

For anyone that keeps up with my blog, you’ll remember that I actually felt that I let myself down with result of these two performances. I look back though and when it comes to my more significant performances during a slam competition I can’t deny that my showings at both the semis and the finals of the TPS seasons were probably some of my strongest performances ever.  There’s something that’s pretty electric when you’re firing on all cylinders and you reach the type of crowd that jams The Drake and Hugh’s Room.  With or without these events leading to my showing at the Canadian Festival Of Spoken Word, I can safely say that I am proud of those performances.

Throwing The Frisbee To Aries

Angela’s Dad has a big German Shepherd by the name of Aries, and I remember the first time I met Angela’s family, I was more scared of meeting the dog, than meeting her Dad.  When I was 18 years old I was bitten by a German Shepherd in Taylor Creek Park and ever since have been a bit nervous around the breed.  The day I met Aries, to help subdue my fear, I bought a little football squeaky toy, and as it turned out Aries warmed up to me right away, the only problem was the toy was constantly squeaking with Aries playing with it, as I was trying to make conversation with Angela’s family.  As the weather got better, Angela’s parents have a big backyard and one of my favourite new past times has been going back there and throwing the frisbee to Aries.  What’s so cool though is, he identifies me with the frisbee all the time.  Whenever I go there, he will go to the backyard and bring me the frisbee to throw to him all the time.  I am glad I have made a new friend in Aries, and vicariously made peace with other German Shepherds….sort of.

Picnic On The Niagara Gorge

This was one of the days where I learned that there are such awesomely beautiful sights right here in the province of Ontario.  Angela and I went for a picnic on the Niagara Gorge and it was beautiful.  We drove through some cool wineries, and stopped off at Inniskillin which was really nice.  Then we drove through Niagara and I had seen some cool things I had never seen before.  Namely: Laura Secord’s house, and the Niagara Whirlpool which I actually found quite fascinating.  I totally have to go on that boat that actually goes in the Whirlpool next summer, I totally do. But of course enjoying some nice bread, cheese, and olives on the Niagara Gorge, and just chilling reading was damn nice, wished it could have lasted a little longer, but hey capping off the day with a Toblorone Truffle Cake at a Cafe in Niagara On The Lake couldn’t have fit in more appropriately.

Longpoint

We set out in the morning with our hopes rather low because it was overcast, but we wanted to take our chances anyway.  We headed up to Port Dover, and there was nothing but rain clouds massing, our spirits were nearly dashed.  We were determined to get a taste of Ontario beaches.  We asked each other if we wanted to try going to Longpoint even though there were still clouds in the sky, and we decided to do it.  As we drove there we were listening to a friend of ours on CD singing old Italian folk songs, and the sun started to come out.  By the time we hit Longpoint it was blazingly sunny.  Even though it was a little windy, and there were bees flying around, I never thought I’d swim in Lake Erie and enjoy it.  It was a nice chill drive back home, and we stopped off at this famous ice cream place, and sat on a picnic table dessert feasting while the sun went down.

Miniputt, Batting Cages, And A Lightning Storm
You know how sometimes, there comes a Sunday where you wake up, and you just don’t know what to do cause you have nothing planned?  This was one of those days.  We didn’t know what to do.  There was a reading series in Toronto we were thinking about going to, maybe going to visit some family, everything was up in the air.  All it took was someone to say “wanna go miniputting?” And that’s what we did, right along the QEW there was this place where you could go mini putting, and play batting cages, and a bunch of other stuff.  We played eighteen holes, and then I took a shot at the batting cages, hadn’t done that in a while, and I hit nearly everything that came at me….it’s actually a good stress reliever.  Afterwards we went to Confederation Park to just walk round for a bit.  Confederation Park is a lot like Kew Beach with a lot less people, and facing the other way.  We decided to grab a bench, and sit down, and what we saw was unbelievable.  Toronto was experiencing a massive thunderstorm, and we had this awesome view of lightning bolts of every kind going off over the city scape.  The storm was heading our way, but we spent a good half-hour watching it come over the lake and it was magnificent, I don’t think I ever saw anything like it, an endless field of lightning.  Eventually though we felt the air turn from humid to cold, and ran for the car, we thought that we had beaten the storm, but as soon as Angela pulled the car into the driveway, buckets of rain hit the wind sheild.  Yeah we got wet, on the way into the house, but man that was worth it, and it was easily one of the best days of the summer.

Kristan Anderson, Owen Sound, And Words Aloud

In 2009 I had the pleasure of going up to the Owen Sound area, not once but twice.  The first time was when I was featuring at “Sounds.”  Angela and I made a weekend out of it, and Kristan Anderson was generous enough to let us stay at his place.  I remember that weekend we saw this really cool house that was off the grid completely built in the round (A Cord Wood Home).  I performed at this great series called “Sounds” and heavily recommend it to my poet and spoken word folk, it is a really great series.  The next time I got to go to Owen Sound was for the Words Aloud festival, and again Kristan being the guy that he is let us stay at his place again.  I remember the first time I performed at Words Aloud two years ago, I was overwhelmed with how kind everyone was, and the great vibe from the festival.  The next time around in 2009 was no different.  The Words Aloud festival is amazing. By far one of my favourite places to perform, your work is given a lot of attention, and you meet some of the most fascinating people while you’re there.  Kristan Anderson you and your beautiful family are so wonderful, and it was great to solidify our friendship that much more this year.

Having The Best Seats Ever For A Dave Matthews Band Concert

Yeah, I have seen the band something like thirteen times, but I have never had the seats that I had this year to see the band. Thanks to a family member being a musician and having played with one of the band members, I got to sit in the VIP section of the Molson Amphitheater to see them.  It was a great concert. they played most of what I wanted to hear, and it was a loads of fun.  All that aside it was by far the closest I have ever sat at a major concert, and it was phenomenal.

Eden Mills Writers Festival

I had always heard about this festival and was curious to attend it for years, but I actually got to perform at it this year, and let me say it’s one worth checking out for sure.  It’s in this tiny little town, where the residences got together to open their places and put on this great festival.  I got to go there with the Toronto Poetry Slam team to take on the Guelph Poetry Slam team.  Before the slam though we took in some wonderful aspects of the festival such as this great gallery where they served home made peach wine.  The houses there were old and had so much character, it was like you were in a cross section of Black Creek Pioneer village, but there was nothing synthetic about it.  Where we actually performed was amazing too.  To get on the mic you had to cross this little bridge over a river, and there was this little island that you performed on to a hill side of people across the way.  Was a lot of fun, our first victory as a TPS team, and it was great to hang with the Guelph team afterwards at the banquet they had for us.

Canadian Festival Of Spoken Word, Victoria BC

What can I say?  I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to a) be an actual participant in the national festival, and b) see Victoria for the first time.  I realized full well that by accepting being on a team, and going to the festival that it is a heavy commitment, especially when you’re working 40 hours a week, but I wouldn’t have put myself through if the craft wasn’t a second religion.  Working with Lara Bozabalian, Yehuda Fisher, Ariel Platt, and That Brown Bastard taught me quite a bit.  Tbings about the festival that i loved were: Exploring the downtown parts of Victoria that i was staying at, walking out into the halls of the hotel, and hearing poetry being rehearsed left right and center, seeing kick ass performances night after night from some of the best spoken word artists in Canada, and of course getting to perform on the national stage, where I believe I delivered two strong performances.  I think one of my favourite nights of the festival was on the Friday night.  Even though we got eliminated, we got to see CR Avery and The Fugitives perform.  There was plenty of drunken singing, followed by a poetry cipher at the hotel afterwards.  I am thankful that I got to go to the Canadian Festival Of Spoken Word not only for the experience, but also because it puts into perspective the direction I want to head in as a poet and a spoken word artist.

Launching “Mske Our Peace With Rattlesnakes”

It took two and a half years to write, and piece together, and finally in mid November it came out.  My fourth chap book of poetry, and my second with Lyricalmyrical Press.  I dedicated the book to one of my very best friends Joseph Battista, because the poems surround memories of friendship, and how friends have been there for me in hard times, and he certainly has always been one of those friends.  While I am proud of having four chap books of poetry, my latest project is now a full length book of poetry, and I hope can achieve the goal of one day having that published.

Top Five Movies Of 2009
1) Avatar

2) Capitalism: A Love Story

3) The Wrestler

4) One Week

5) Slumdog Millionaire

Most Memorable Spoken Word Performances

1) Toronto Poetry Slam Finals Night – April 25, 2009

2) Canadian Festival Of Spoken Word – November 12, and 13, 2009

3) Bam! The Toronto Youth Slam – August 12, 2009

4) Words Aloud – November 7, 8, 2009

5) Hot Sauced Words – February 19, 2009

Thanks to all of my family and friends for being so amazing, and being such a huge support network.  I look forward to working, and sharing with you all in 2010, and wish you all the very best.

The night started out wonderfully honouring two amazing spoken word artists for their contribution to spoken word throughout Canada.  The honourees were CR Avery and Andrea Thompson, who both performed two short, but memorable sets.  CR Avery did my favourite of his pieces, a tribute poem to Pierre Elliott Trudeau.   Also before the actual competition three teams that did not make the final performed a highlight piece from the festival, and it gave myself, Yehuda, and Ariel a chance to reprise the “Coming Out Bi” piece which went over well yet again.

The competition itself brought forth some extremely powerful individual and team pieces, and while all teams gave a valiant effort, the night clearly belonged to the Ottawa slam team, who each and every time performed a memorable power piece that sent them way ahead of the competition that night.  Their themes included, a memorial piece to a sister, a child that was killed, and the highlight of the night for me was a very powerful piece about a ballet dancer that met with a horrible demise.

They completely owned the final, and completely deserved the title.  It was great to be a part of this festival, there was a lot to be learned for sure, and it definitely is making me re evaluate things, and I can see it definitely impacting my writing, and the direction I am headed as a poet and spoken word artist.  It was great to see old friends, and make some new ones, see you later Victoria, thanks for being so nice.

Let me say this much, for a team that was put together two months before this thing, we finished fifth overall there is absolutely nothing for us to feel bad about.  We went down, but as Rahul said,  “you did your jobs,” and yes we did, we went down with guns blazing, and it’s safe to say all of us have left Victoria, and the Canadian spoken word community with a more than affable impression of all of our collective works.  Sean Mcgarragle liked us so much, that he asked us to reprise the team piece tonight on the final stage, and each and everyone one of us got several heartfelt compliments from a variety of audience members, and colleauges which meant the world to us.

The other thing for me though is, that it’s not that hard for me to be humbled by the amazing work that was displayed here thus far.  I mean it’s artists like this that show you the bar can be raised as high as you want it to be. 

The rest of the night involved seeing the second bout between Montreal, Lanark County, Halifax, and Winnipeg.  Montreal won their second bout by a pretty great margine, but let me say that one of the more memorable poems of the night was from Winnipeg’s Leif, it was an astounding epic, and got the longest and loudest cheer from the entire room.  Kevin Fortnum was so impressed that he sauntered over to the merch table to buy his book immediately.

After the bouts we were treated to some more wonderful inspiration with CR Avery, who performed my favourite of his pieces about Jimmy Hendrix, and following CR Avery were the awesome fun sounds of The Fugitives, who had more than just a few people knowing their songs inside out, and singing out loudly with them on each and every one…..at the end of one song Barbara Adler said “That doesn’t happen in Brandon Manitoba.”  It was great to take that in and sing, and dance with all the spoken word peers throughout the nation, and I have to admit, I had more than a couple pints so the buzz was that much more accentuated.

After they performed I had not taken in a poetry cipher yet, and of course one started up back at the hotel in the exercise room of all places.  A bunch of spoken word artists from all over Canada scattered around a fitness room either sitting against an eliptical, or standing on a treadmill while delivering a poem.  I was tagged, and because I missed my girlfriend Angela so much, and knew she would dig a lot of the events that were happening, I performed my most recent poem inspired by her entitled “What We Haven’t Said” which was superbly received, and a lot of people were touched. I didn’t stay for much longer after that, I was exhausted and the buzz was wearing off by still there.  I got in the elevator with Brendan Mcleod and Lara Bozabalian, and it didn’t take long to hit the sheets and fall asleep.

Sitting early in the morning on this hotel lobby computer, in need of a coffee and bagel from Tim Horton’s.  Looking forward to the day, looking forward to tonight, and seeing Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Slaughterhouse 4 in the final, I can only imagine the amazing poetry people are gonna hear.  And even though the buzz from the extra pints has worn off, I don’t know if the buzz from the awesome vibes from last night ever will, I hope it doesn’t, I really hope it doesn’t

The time leading up to our bout last night for all of us was spent with a lot of nerves and being pensive.  We all dealt with it in our own way.  I have to say that for all of the intensity that went along with the preparation, we felt ready.  I had it wrong in my last post by the way, the teams we took on were Halifax, Winnipeg, and Victoria.  It was nice to go for a sushi dinner with Lara and Rahul before we showed up at the venue, that really hit the spot and helped calm me down a bit.

The first of us to go up was Lara Bozabalian performing her poem “Alarm Clocks” and it was everything we could have expected.  It was well delivered and for the fact that she went first we had to give her mad props because she scored rather well.  Next up for us in the next round,  was Ariel Platt, and she delivered her piece in the wonderful firecracker fashion that she always does, also scoring very well.  In the third round we sent up Yehuda Fisher, who I could easily say was the highlight of our bout.  He delivered his piece “Isreal/Ghaza” and it went over swimmingly well, scoring high and making intense impressions on several of the audience members.

I went in the fourth round, the consensus was to start strong, put the strong pieces out there first, we wanna be there with guns blazing.  So I performed “Variations In The Sea.”  I can say with some pride that I think I performed it pretty well, there was one slight hiccup, it was rather miniscule, but the way the crowd reacted to it afterwards told me that I nailed it………the judges scores however told me otherwise.  I was treated to at least three seven point somethings, and then I basically tuned out anything I got after that.

I know that it’s wrong to focus on the scores, and it was great to hear people come up to me and tell me how much they liked my poem, but there was really no way to shelter the fact that I was disappointed…..no scratch that I was outright pissed off.  It could have been because I was told our teams standing with me going up on stage before hand and that we were in the running for the lead.  It could be the fact that all of my team members scored well, and my scoring low, may very well have put us under.  I tried to tell myself that perhaps it’s because it was not a political piece, thus that is why it scored low as judges have really been responding to political pieces, but then thought of Lara’s piece and that it did well despite it not being political.

The one thought though that really put me under for the night though of all of these, and it still resides in the back of my mind, is that the judges were not judging the poem, but the guy delivering it.  I know it may seem wrong and bitter of me to think that way, but I am in a competition, I am part of a team, and while everyone left, right, and centre could tell me not to be disappointed, that’s just the way I’m built and that’s just the way I feel. 

I was quiet for the rest of the night, I really didn’t say much to anyone, and if any members of my team are reading this, I apologize, you guys did awesome, and collectively as a team, I think indeed we did pretty well.   I was just dissapointed and I could not help feeling that way.   When the dust settled, Victoria finsihed first, Toronto second, Halifax third, and then Winnipeg.   We scored fairly well, and placed fairly well, but tonight is bascially the do or die night for us, as the possibility of proceeding to finals is up in the air depending on how we do. 

I have to say though it’s been awesome to take in all of the other teams from the other bouts.  One of my favourite teams is Saskatoon, they have really left an impression on me and my team mates for sure. 

So here goes folks, another day of rehearsing, and competing, no guts, no glory, just guns blazing.

The one thing of course we did take in last night was the first round of bouts.  There were two bouts last night.  Bout one had Vancouver, Slaughter House 4 (Last Chance Slam Team), Ottawa, and Calgary.  They all brought a heavy armament of amazing poetry, but the judges, were not so easily swayed.  For the majority of the competition numbers hovered from 6 to 8 only going above 9 occasionally.  Another trend that was noticed is that several pieces went over time, and time penalties were handed out left, right and centre.  Vancouver ended up taking the first bout, with Slaugherhouse 4 finishing second, Ottawa finishing third, and Calgary finishing fourth.   There was a lot of memorable poetry from that first round, for me what stuck out was a brilliantly beautifully crafted piece about swearing courtesy of RC Weslowski.

The next bout had Saskatoon, Montreal, Lanark County, and London.  There was a heavy concentration of brilliance in this round, and have to give massive props to Saskatoon, they really impressed me.  When the dust settled Montreal won out the bout with Saskatoon following closely behind in second, followed by London, and Lanark County.  As I said Saskatoon had some extremely strong and memorable pieces about rape, the beauty in aging gracefully, and things about American society that freak us out.

Overall the night was amazing.  The venue was packed, and the crowd was unbelievably responsive.  It really has put it into perspective to me what this is all about, and it has me really being mindful about our showing tonight as we start our bouts, taking on Victoria, Slaughterhouse 4, and Lanark County.   We have a rehearsal in a little bit, and we are going to be extremely mindful of what we saw, but are excited to be on that stage tonight and hope we can do Toronto proud.

The flight over to Victoria was pretty nice, even nicer when I ran into Wakefield Brewster at the Calgary Airport waiting for my connecting flight. We dropped in on Victoria with the rest of the rain at around 1.30 pm.  Interestingly enough I arrived ahead of my team, who had actually been in Vancouver the day before and were taking the ferry over.  While I was waiting for them Wakefield and Josh from the Calgary team were kind enough to let me chill with them.  We killed some time by looking around the vicinity, and checking out the actual venue where we would be performing The Victoria Event Centre.

Eventually my team arrived and we headed over to the venue for registration, and orientation.  It was so nice to see some old friends from other provinces that I had not seen in awhile, and meet some cool new people.  We also stuck around for the Last Chance Slam, which totalled out with a team of Truth Is, Zaccheus Jackson, Magpie Ulysses, and Made Wade.  Wicked to see two Toronto cats on that team, and let me tell you our team and a few others are nervous about that combo.

Anyway, during the day today there are open mics and workshops.  Planning to take those in as well as doing some Victoria exploring.  Competitions begin tonight, will keep you all posted as to how that all goes. Stay tuned.