The Nominees Are...

Well, 'ol Bloggy McBloggerson has been so full of death and despair lately - time for some fun! The Oscar noms are in! I am determined to not get cranky about the over-looked (where are the nominations for Matchpoint? Just writing?!) because I think the Academy got it right for the most part. So, without further ado - here are the noms - get busy and figure out which films you still need to see...decide who you want to vote for in your Oscar pool and enjoy...just...enjoy!

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Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2005 will be presented on Sunday, March 5, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland® and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

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Best motion picture of the year

“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
A River Road Entertainment Production
Diana Ossana and James Schamus, Producers
“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
An A-Line Pictures/Cooper’s Town/ Infinity Media Production
Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, Producers
“Crash” (Lions Gate)
A Bob Yari/DEJ/Blackfriar’s Bridge/ Harris Company/ApolloProscreen GmbH & Co./Bull’s Eye Entertainment Production
Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, Producers
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)
A Good Night Good Luck LLC Production
Grant Heslov, Producer
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks)
A Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures Production
Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, Producers

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Terrence Howard in “Hustle & Flow” (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment)
Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
Joaquin Phoenix in “Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)
David Strathairn in “Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

George Clooney in “Syriana” (Warner Bros.)
Matt Dillon in “Crash” (Lions Gate)
Paul Giamatti in “Cinderella Man” (Universal and Miramax)
Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
William Hurt in “A History of Violence” (New Line)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Judi Dench in “Mrs. Henderson Presents” (The Weinstein Company)
Felicity Huffman in “Transamerica” (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)
Keira Knightley in “Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features)
Charlize Theron in “North Country” (Warner Bros.)
Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Amy Adams in “Junebug” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Catherine Keener in “Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Frances McDormand in “North Country” (Warner Bros.)
Rachel Weisz in “The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features)
Michelle Williams in “Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)


Best animated feature film of the year

“Howl’s Moving Castle” (Buena Vista)
Hayao Miyazaki
“Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” (Warner Bros.)
Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
“Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (DreamWorks Animation SKG)
Nick Park and Steve Box

Achievement in art direction

“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)
Art Direction: Jim Bissell
Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (Warner Bros.)
Art Direction: Stuart Craig
Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“King Kong” (Universal)
Art Direction: Grant Major
Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau
“Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features)
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Achievement in cinematography

“Batman Begins” (Warner Bros.)
Wally Pfister
“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
Rodrigo Prieto
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)
Robert Elswit
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Dion Beebe
“The New World” (New Line)
Emmanuel Lubezki

Achievement in costume design

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (Warner Bros.)
Gabriella Pescucci
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Colleen Atwood
“Mrs. Henderson Presents” (The Weinstein Company)
Sandy Powell
“Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features)
Jacqueline Durran
“Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)
Arianne Phillips

Achievement in directing

“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
Ang Lee
“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Bennett Miller
“Crash” (Lions Gate)
Paul Haggis
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)
George Clooney
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks)
Steven Spielberg

Best documentary feature

“Darwin’s Nightmare” (International Film Circuit)
A Mille et Une Production
Hubert Sauper
“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” (Magnolia Pictures)
An HDNet Films Production
Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
“March of the Penguins” (Warner Independent Pictures)
A Bonne Pioche Production
Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
“Murderball” (THINKFilm)
An Eat Films Production
Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
“Street Fight”
A Marshall Curry Production
Marshall Curry


Best documentary short subject

“The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club”
A Dan Krauss Production
Dan Krauss
“God Sleeps in Rwanda”
An Acquaro/Sherman Production
Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
“The Mushroom Club”
A Farallon Films Production
Steven Okazaki
“A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin”
A NomaFilms Production
Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson


Achievement in film editing

“Cinderella Man” (Universal and Miramax)
Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
“The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features)
Claire Simpson
“Crash” (Lions Gate)
Hughes Winborne
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks)
Michael Kahn
“Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)
Michael McCusker
Best foreign language film of the year
“Don’t Tell”
A Cattleya/Rai Cinema Production
Italy
“Joyeux Noël”
A Nord-Ouest Production
France
“Paradise Now”
An Augustus Film Production
Palestine
“Sophie Scholl - The Final Days”
A Goldkind Filmproduktion and Broth Film Production
Germany
“Tsotsi”
A Moviworld Production
South Africa

Achievement in makeup

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”
(Buena Vista)
Howard Berger and Tami Lane
“Cinderella Man”
(Universal and Miramax)
David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
“Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith”
(20th Century Fox)
Dave Elsey and Annette Miles

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features) Gustavo Santaolalla
“The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Williams
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) John Williams
“Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“In the Deep” from “Crash” (Lions Gate)
Music by Kathleen “Bird” York and Michael Becker
Lyric by Kathleen “Bird” York
“It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from“Hustle & Flow” (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment)
Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
“Travelin’ Thru” from “Transamerica” (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)
Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

Best animated short film

“Badgered”
A National Film and Television School Production
Sharon Colman 
“The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation”
A John Canemaker Production
John Canemaker and Peggy Stern
“The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello” (Monster Distributes)
A 3D Films Production
Anthony Lucas
“9”
A Shane Acker Production
Shane Acker
“One Man Band”
A Pixar Animation Studios Production
Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews

Best live action short film

“Ausreisser (The Runaway)”
A Hamburg Media School, Filmwerkstatt Production
Ulrike Grote 
“Cashback” (The British Film Institute)
A Left Turn Films Production
Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager
“The Last Farm”
A Zik Zak Filmworks Production
Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson
“Our Time Is Up”
A Station B Production
Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente
“Six Shooter” (Sundance Film Channel)
A Missing in Action Films and Funny Farm Films Production
Martin McDonagh

Achievement in sound editing

“King Kong” (Universal) Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn 
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Wylie Stateman
“War of the Worlds” (Paramount and DreamWorks) Richard King

Achievement in sound mixing

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (Buena Vista)
Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
“King Kong” (Universal)
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
“Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
“Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)
Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland
“War of the Worlds” (Paramount and DreamWorks)
Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

Achievement in visual effects
 
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (Buena Vista)
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
“King Kong” (Universal)
Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
“War of the Worlds” (Paramount and DreamWorks)
Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick

Adapted screenplay

“Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features)
Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
“Capote” (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Screenplay by Dan Futterman
“The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features)
Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine
“A History of Violence” (New Line)
Screenplay by Josh Olson
“Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks)
Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Original screenplay
 
“Crash” (Lions Gate)
Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco
Story by Paul Haggis 
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” (Warner Independent Pictures)
Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
“Match Point” (DreamWorks)
Written by Woody Allen
“The Squid and the Whale” (Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sony Pictures Releasing)
Written by Noah Baumbach
“Syriana” (Warner Bros.)
Written by Stephen Gaghan

"You look so bored, you must be very bright"

The theatre community has lost a great playwrite today. Wendy Wasserstein has died. She was only 55. Wasserstein's characters, however droll or witty, were always people first - her humour was never mean, her stories always held a deeper meaning. Her writing has been important to women of her generation, women of my generation and I am sure future generations. And her premature death...well, it sucks. Forgive me for not being more eloquent, but it does, it just sucks.

Omnipresent

Last night I took in Richard Greenblat's new solo show Letters from Lehrer at CanStage. I thought it was a great show, and I'll write more about that another time...it was a strange coincidence, because although I have been wanting to see the show, I didn't plan on going last night, I inherited the tickets from a generous friend who couldn't make it. I say it was a strange coincidence because tonight the tribute to my friend Derek Lamb is being held at the National Film Board on John Street. Derek introduced me to Tom Lehrer's songs a decade or so ago. His influence is everywhere. That charming bugger is omnipresent!

I've been working on a slide show comprised of old photos and artwork for the event tonight. Most of the pictures are from Kaj Pindal's personal archive. They are all so wonderful - but I think this one is my favourite at the moment. Derek and Kaj (check out those shades!) in Montreal in the late 1950's. They look as though they could take on the world. Funny thing is, they did.

The Dancing Girls Have Arrived!

Happy Birthday to ME! Thanks for all the well wishes, friends!

Reform THIS!

I'm too hung over from all the self-medicating that I did last night while watching the election coverage to do much, let alone make sense. If we were all going the way of the redneck I figured I might as well go down in style, guzzling champagne cocktails. That was probably misguided. What some people would call a bad idea. Destructive, shooting yourself in the foot behaviour...you know, like voting conservative.

Ugh.

Ack.

Bleh.

Of course there is hope. Sort of. This is a minority government and we all know how easily they fall. Sometimes. My real, honest to goodness, don't really want to know the answer cause it's too scary, question is this...if our electorate was so hell bent on change for the sake of change in order to punish the liberals that they went running into the arms of a fraud will they care when he rips off his smiley campaign mask and reveals the Reform Party leader that he truly is? Will they care that the whole country could be headed for the same sort of destruction that Ontario saw under Mike Harris? Will it make them think twice when they see our social programs crumble or will it be enough consolation that they save a few pennies thanks to the GST cut? Yeah, I thought so. The electorate is a short sighted bastard.

Not in Toronto proper though, folks. Nothin' but Liberal red and NDP orange as far as the eye can see. For all the good it does. But still, good for us. Pat yourself on the back, urban bleeding heart bubble, at least you've still got your integrity. It will comfort you when you're busy being disrespected, undermined and ignored by the new Feds.

Okay. Yeah. Lil' Miss Bitterpants is off to get some more Advil.

Tomorrow: Less election talk, bring on the dancing girls!

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"Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear"
~ William E. Gladstone

"Sometimes to have a little good luck is the most brilliant plan" - Woody Allen

From "Crimes and Misdemeanors":

Professor Levy: We're all faced throughout our lives with agonizing decisions, moral choices. Some are on a grand scale, most of these choices are on lesser points. But we define ourselves by the choices we have made. We are, in fact, the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly, Human happiness does not seem to be included in the design of creation. it is only we, with our capacity to love that give meaning to the indifferent universe. And yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to keep trying and even try to find joy from simple things, like their family, their work, and from the hope that future generations might understand more.

From "Matchpoint":

Chris Wilton: I'd rather be lucky than good.
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Woody Allen's latest film, "Match Point" finally opened in Toronto tonight! I feel as though I have been waiting on tenterhooks to see this film since last Spring. I am in love with Woody Allen's style of filmmaking, his comedy, as well as his "not so early, not so funny films" and his point of view. Going into this movie I was curious simply to see what everyone was so excited about. "Matchpoint" has been getting raves from critics and from the general public - even those not fond of Woody's previous work loved this movie. If I wasn't so secure in my complete adoration of him that fact might have almost worried me.

I fear I have no insightful or clever things to say about the film. Roger Ebert, however, is very smart, especially for a guy who spends so much time watching movies. I wish I had said this:

"When "Match Point" premiered at Cannes last May, the critics agreed it was "not a typical Woody Allen film." This assumes there is such a thing. Allen has worked in a broad range of genres and has struck a lot of different notes, although often he uses a Woody Figure (preferably played by himself) as the hero. "Match Point" contains no one like Woody Allen; is his first film set in London; is constructed with a devious clockwork plot that would distinguish a film noir, and causes us to identify with some bad people. In an early scene, a character is reading Crime and Punishment, and during the movie, as during the novel, we are inside the character's thoughts."

Thank you, Roger.

I loved the film. It was beautifully crafted - the acting was engaging all around, visually it was just stunning and the fact that it was shot in London, using primarily British actors and an operatic score only serves to prove that even without the jokes, the Manhattan skyline and Big Noise from Winnetka on the soundtrack, Woody Allen has something to say. Something worth listening to.

Sunshine and the Skeptic

I'm convinced that things like today's Globe and Mail headline "Harper's Lead Takes a Hit" and the eerie spring-like weather we're experiencing are designed to do one thing, and one thing only. Provide me with false hope. It's probably going to snow on Monday and I know that. By snow, of course I mean our country will fall into the hands of a man I don't like and I take it personally. And really, why shouldn't I take it personally? We all should. Enjoy the sun while it lasts...

Laugh through your tears...

Rick Mercer has revealed his "picks" for the potential Conservative Cabinet. Read this, have a chuckle, and think....really think about what you want for your Country's future before you cast your vote next Monday.

Rick Mercer's Blog: Conservative Cabinet Revealed

Night

Looks like housewives all over North America will be as angst ridden as I was all through grade 12 lit class. Oprah has chosen Elie Wiesel's "Night" for her next installment of the book club. I suppose we can trust the accuracy of this particular memoir more than James Frey's...

Let Freedom Ring

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.



And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Repeat!

The Clayton/Scott Group receives the Canadian Smooth Jazz Award for Best Group or Duo in 2005:




For the second year in a row, Jim Clayton (aka the Robeau) and Andrew Scott's recording act, The Clayton/Scott Group have been nominated for Best Group or Duo at the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. You can help the boys repeat their big win this year by rocking the online vote at

CANADIAN SMOOTH JAZZ AWARDS

The Clayton/Scott Group's current album, So Nice, was released by Boomtang/Koch, and is a staple of Canadian radio. Their debut recording, August, was released in 2002, and has received both critical acclaim and substantial local and international airplay. One of the tracks from August was included on the soundtrack of the Don McKellar film Child Star, which made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2004.

The first annual Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards took place April 10, 2005 at The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. Among the other artists celebrated at the festivities were international sensation Diana Krall, former member of 80’s rock band, Triumph, guitarist Rik Emmett and Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient George Benson. This year's ceremony which is set to take place April 7th at Missauga's Living Arts Centre includes lots of familiar faces as well as first time nominee Michael Buble and George Benson Lifetime achievement Award recipient Bob James!

Andy and Jim were also recognized with a win at the 2004 Canadian Urban Music Award for Best Jazz Recording, an event that was televised nationally on CBC television and a nomination for Best Electric Group at the National Jazz Awards in 2005.

For more on The Clayton/Scott Group:

CLAYTON/SCOTT GROUP

JIM CLAYTON

ANDREW SCOTT

Wash Me

Shot at Queen Street East and Carlaw Ave, 9:30am. Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Ya gotta love living in a city with an eye for irony.

What are you doing New Year's Eve?

The holidays are officially over and after all the activity of the last month I have to say that the normalcy of the post holiday season is starting to feel like a holiday itself!

We closed out the season in style on New Year's Eve when the Robeau took me to the Metro Toronto Zoo. What a good time. The Zoo had an entire evening planned which wrapped up in a family friendly countdown at 9pm instead of midnight. I'm not sure that I can accurately convey just how funny it was to watch the myriad of children's performers on stage (including Doo Doo the International Clown) exclaim "I can't wait till Nine O'Clock!". Hysterical. I kept wondering about all the kids in the crowd who were calling bullshit in their heads. "Nine O'Clock?! Who do they think they're kidding?" I'm quite sure we were the only childless couple on the premises, but the truth is watching the little kids running around in their snowpants all hopped up with excitement was just as fun as watching the monkeys and the naked mole rats. That's right, naked mole rats. I was repulsed at first, and then, somehow, drawn to them. Go figure.

Charles the Chimp is probably the most famous resident of the Metro Toronto Zoo since they sold his "Abstract Expressionist" art a few years ago to raise funds. I wasn't able to get close enough to snap any pics of Charles and his two women and their children (Charles gets around) but I was fond of these artist's renderings of the big guy:





The gigantic fish tank was also a big draw - much more colourful than the one at my local Loblaws.





After the new year began unofficially at Nine O'Clock we stopped by "Chez Zee Noixy and To" for some good company and Chinese take out. We arrived home just in time to see the ball drop in Times Square and down a bottle of champers. A lovely way to ring out '05.

Here's to 2006 - hope it's filled with laughter, music, health and happiness for all of you!