Pod About Town

My Blog About Town column appears in today's Sunday Ottawa Citizen. It's about the podcasting of Ottawa-area poets. So, check it out and if you consider yourself an Ottawa-area poet, published or not, get out your recording device, record your best poetry for public consumption, and send your audio file to ottawapoetry@hotmail.com. More info can be found @ http://ottawapoetry.libsyn.com.

Writer, Stephen Rowntree of phrenology1011.blogspot.com [left] records his poetry at the home office of Podcaster, Charles Hodgson of www.podictionary.com.

Night lights on Ottawa River Parkway

Winner of the book give-away

UPDATE:
We have a winner!

With one day to spare, Alison Gresik has correctly identified the following people on the main page of www.johnwmacdonald.com. Congratulations! The book is also signed by Mark Frutkin, "To the winner!"

They are left to right:

Pauline Michel, William (Bill Hawkins), rob mclennan, Riley Tench, Lauren B. Davis, Tamara Podemski, Suzanne Bufram, Jennifer Whiteford, bill bissett, Joseph Boyden, Amanda Earl, Katherine Barber, Elie Wiesel, Jim Larwill, Zachariah Wells, Philip Marchand, Jane Urquhart, Goran Simic, Marnie Woodrow, jwcurry (twice), and D'Janau (DJ) Morales.

[The tricky part was, of course, the two photos of jwcurry.]

Frukin's Fabrizio

Mark Frutkin returned to the Library & Archives Canada on Wednesday evening for the official launch his novel, Fabrizio's Return. Complete with two Commedia dell'arte players to entertain the guests there was plenty to drink and eat...so much I wonder why I prepare dinner at all. It was great to see so many in Ottawa's writing community come out to see the Ottawa launch of the book, like Alan Cumyn (The Soujourn), Elizabeth Hay (Garbo Laughs), Suki Lee (literary curator of Westfest), John Buschek (Buschek Books), David O'Meara (The Vicinity) and even Alan Neal (CBC's Ontario Today).

Just a reminder, that Frutkin's book give-away contest is still on. See my previous post for details. It's easy, just see johnwmacdonald.com, click on photos.johnwmacdonald.com and list all the people you see in the comment section. Good luck!


Faith Seltzer, Mark's "closest reader and favourite editor", gets a spin on the dance floor from the Commedia dell'arte players before the reading.

Brigitte Bardot Protests in Ottawa

The trouble with being 38 is that I am left wishing I was photographing Brigitte Bardot 38 years earlier. Still, seeing her pack a room today I can hardly complain. She drew a media scrum at the Marriott Hotel and undoubtedly got more press if she had met with PM Harper. After the press conference I hiked it up to Parliament Hill to await her delivery of 25,000 signed petition to the government of Canada. After waiting a half-hour for her to arrive, she was a no-show at the Hill but Paul Watson, Persia White and team did arrive with the petitions in tow as expected. They were initially refused admittance to the Centre block but were directed to the Langevin block by security where the signed protest papers were eventually handed over.

Media Release: Brigitte Bardot, the legendary actress who became the first celebrity to use her influence to bring the plight of the harp seals to international media attention nearly three decades ago, is returning to Canada for the first time in 29 years to demand an end to the controversial commercial seal hunt, which resumed in 1995 after being shut down since 1984. Bardot will join her old friend, New Brunswick native and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society(SSCS) Founder and President Captain Paul Watson, and Girlfriends TV star and animal activist Persia White, at a press conference tomorrow.

More photos available on photos.johnwmacdonald.com.

Want to purchase photographic prints of Brigitte Bardot?
Contact me to arrange a sale. Thanks!


Brigitte Bardot: a study in contrast.






Up-in-arms Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) Founder and President Captain Paul Watson, and Girlfriends TV star and animal activist Persia White hand over 25,000 signed petitions to a government official.

Want to purchase photographic prints of Brigitte Bardot?
Contact me to arrange a sale. Thanks!

WRITES OF SPRING WRITING WORKSHOP

...will start on Wednesday April 12, 7-9 p.m.at Collected Works Bookstore. $175.00 for the 8 weeks. For more information taylorswave@sympatico.ca

WRITE BY THE LAKE: A Summer Writers Retreat at Lac Brassard, Quebec, 35 minutes from downtown Ottawa will be held from July 17-21, 9 a.m. till 3 pm. From 11 a.m. till 1 a.m. a tasty lunch will be provided along with swimming, kayaking or canoeing in one of the loveliest motorboat-free lakes in thispart of Canada. Beginner, intermediate and advanced writers welcome. $300.00. To guarantee a spot please send $50.00 deposit asap because last summer therewere 14 writers, and this years workshop is filling up fast. Please see Rick Taylor's website www.taylorswave.ca for photos, articles and comments about workshops.

Bill's Sunday Nite Triumph

Railroad Bill (a.k.a. William Hawkins), not to be confused with Boxcar Willie (a.k.a. Lecil Travis Martin), graced Ottawa with another poetry reading last evening. To my knowledge Railroad Bill, unlike Boxcar Willie, has never been invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. But I haven't ruled out this possibility one day.

Yesterday was also a time to reminisce and read poetry as the late Juan O'Neill was in the minds and hearts of well over 60 people who jammed the sweltering basement and part of the upstairs of the Royal Oak Pub for a memorial reading.

Rebranding the Domain

UPDATE:
We have a winner! left to right:
With one day to spare, Alison Gresik has correctly identified the following people on the main page of johnwmacdonald.com:

They are...
Pauline Michel, William (Bill Hawkins), rob mclennan, Riley Tench, Lauren B. Davis, Tamara Podemski, Suzanne Bufram, Jennifer Whiteford, bill bissett, Joseph Boyden, Amanda Earl, Katherine Barber, Elie Wiesel, Jim Larwill, Zachariah Wells, Philip Marchand, Jane Urquhart, Goran Simic, Marnie Woodrow, jwcurry (twice), and D'Janau (DJ) Morales.
[The tricky part, of course, was the two photos of jwcurry.]

_________________________________

Now that sounds randy doesn't it? I had some foto fun with my main page on www.johnwmacdonald.com. Check it out and get back to me with your feedback if you want.

Contest Alert!

How many people are photographed on johnwmacdonald.com's main page and can you name them all? Hint: it is a tricky question.

The first person (not a group effort) who gets it all 100% correct and writes the complete answer in my comment section gets Mark Frutkin's new novel Fabrizio's Return mailed to them. Good luck!

(This contest expires 25 March 2006, or earlier, depending on answers received. Even if you're in the collage, you're still allowed to participate.)

The book launch for Mark Frutkin's Fabrizio's Return is March 22nd at 7:30 pm at Library and Archives of Canada, 395 Wellington Street.

John Watson's Dark Vision

A. John Watson spoke last night about his recent book, Marginal Man: The Dark Vision of Harold Innis at Library and Archives Canada - 7:30 p.m. John Watson is the President and CEO of CARE Canada.

Juan O'Neill Passes

Juan O'Neill of Sasquatch Literary and Arts Performance Series

From Chris Sorrenti's email:
Heather Ferguson has booked the downstairs room of the Royal Oak for this Sunday, March 19, at 2 p.m for a special memorial get-together/poetry reading in Juan's honour. All are welcome to join us in celebrating his life and friendship, and sharing a related anecdote or poem.

Ironically enough, Linda Mondoux, Ottawa Citizen copy editor, had a column in the paper today (Wednesday) in the City Editorial section titled, "Poetry in a Basement Bar" where his reading series was featured.
_______
Mr. O'Neill's obit appears in Thursday's Citizen on page B6.

Poetry Night in Ottawa

(UPDATE:) This page was for the 2006 event.
Click here for the 2007 event at the 4th Stage in Ottawa.

CBC Poetry Face-Off: Ottawa, 7:00 pm. National Arts Centre, 4th Stage

Ottawa's CBC Poetry Face-Off Winner, D'Janau (DJ) Morales!

P.S.
That is some product placement on the back of her left hand for the Ottawa Poetry Podcast. (ottawapoetry@hotmail.com) The writing reminds me of the kind of advertising seen in prime-time boxing where a boxer may have 'goldenpalace.com online casino' written on their bodies for advertisement. Golden Palace is infamously known for buying this kind of schlocky yet high-visibility advertising whether it be from a renegade 'fan' leaping into an olympic diving pool or buying a piece of burnt toast with a religious image emblazoned on it on eBay.

In any case, more photos of the evening's poetry event can be viewed here: photos.johnwmacdonald.com

All proceeds from the entry fee went to the English Language Tutoring for the Ottawa Community. ELTOC provides free home tutoring for adult immigrants who cannot attend regular English programs.

Michael Helm

Michael Helm, author of The Projectionist and In the Place of Last Things, chats with Nigel Beale of CKCU's Biblio File at the Manx Pub this past Saturday.
Next up on the Plan 99 Reading Series is Tamas Dobozy. He is scheduled to read next, March 25th.

Irving Layton’s last interview

Martin C. Barry sent me a link to his article that appears in The West End Chronicle:
http://www.westendchronicle.com/pages/article.php?noArticle=23335

Pauline Michel, Parliamentary Poet Laureate

Josh and Ben interviewing Pauline Michel, Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate. I was invited to take some stills for the interview that was held at the Lord Elgin Hotel. Graciously, the hotel gave the filmmakers a room for the interview. I posted some photos from the shoot in my gallery.

Katherine Barber's Porcine Words

Katherine Barber, Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Dictionaries at Oxford University Press. Ms. Barber spoke this evening on the word history of various pig-related words. She delivered a blazingly fast-paced lecture with an enthusiasm seldom seen when discussing porky word origins. She is currently on a cross-Canada tour promoting her book Six words you never knew had something to do with pigs: and other fascinating facts about the language from Canada's word lady. It's published, coincidentally enough, by Oxford University Press. Convenient how that works out, eh? Ottawa's stop was hosted by Collected Works Bookstore. She's in Montreal at the Westmount Library Thursday March 9th (7pm); and on Friday night she will be at the Bookroom in Halifax from 6:00 – 7:30pm.

Jean Chretien, Bill Clinton and Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong motivates the 5000 in attendance in Ottawa's Power Within event.


Aline and Jean Chretien make their way to see Bill Clinton at the Ottawa Congress Center Monday afternoon. More photos in my photo gallery. (Thanks for looking!)


Former US President, Bill Clinton in Ottawa 6 March 2006.

An Evening with Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer

UPDATE: The Ottawa event with Kathryn is cancelled.

___________________________

Kathryn will read from her debut novel The Nettle Spinner. It has been described as “…stark,
vigorous, and sophisticated….” She is also the author of the short story collection Way Up:
Stories. Wednesday, March 15, 7 pm (1.5 hrs.) Ottawa Public Library (Main Library)

Bill and Lance

Some pretty impressive VIPs are going to be in Ottawa on Monday for the www.powerwithin.com event: Bill Clinton, Lance Armstrong, Steven D. Levitt, etc.
Sorry, no Blog About Town column today in the Citizen.

More Lance Armstrong, Bill Clinton and Jean Chretien photos here! Contact me for details.

5 minutes with Fabrizio

Ottawa author Mark Frutkin reads from his new book, Fabrizio's Return in the Globe & Mail.

Blog About Town, Online

Normally, my Blog About Town column is not found on the Citizen website. But I did find one column that was published here:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=021700cb-6b03-4f0a-9c37-f24769d80cb3&k=13948

Ottawa-based writers win $30,000 in prizes

copied from today's paper:

Two writers linked to Ottawa are among the winners of $133,000 in prize money from the Writers' Trust of Canada.

Journalist and filmmaker Nelofer Pazira, who has lived in Ottawa, was awarded the $10,000 Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize for her memoir A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan.

Janet Lunn, whose books include The Hollow Tree, Amos's Sweater, The Story of Canada and the biography, Maud's House of Dreams: The Life of Lucy Maud Montgomery, was awarded the $20,000 Matt Cohen Award for her body of work as a writer whose work has been dedicated to writing as a primary pursuit.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2006
Published: Thursday, March 02, 2006

Max Middle @ Tree Reading Series

Max Middle performed at Royal Oak yesterday.