Music in Winnipeg’s downtown

 

I checked out a new restaurant and bar in downtown Winnipeg in the past week. There were a couple warm up acts if you want to call them that before Tim Butler and his players performed. The Modern Restaurant and Lounge at Portage and Carlton hosts a weekly parade of Blues, Rock and Folk Rock musicians from across the city. The place is small but so what. I remember visiting the Baked Potato behind the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles co-owned, I might ad, by a fellow Winnipegger in the 80’s where Don Randy played that bar. The Potato had a few school desks as tables and my heavens,  he had a baby grand piano in the middle of the room, drums, a wicked bass player and a full horn section. People ate it up. The place was popular and they lined up outside. I can’t imagine lining up outside in 20 below here but summers could be cool at the Modern. Don’t wait until summer to check it out. So far. two main players in town are host musicians. Tim Butler is doing it another night while Kathy Kennedy and The Shadow Band is there on Thursday nights. Kathy is a fine blues singer and has a good band backing her. Now, she’s invited people to jam too so I’m not sure how that’s going to turn out. Judging from the other blues bars in Winnipeg we don’t suffer from musicians to fill the bill. I’ll tell you more after I’ve visited Kathy’s show later this week.           

Musicians and Memory

I challenge anyone who's ever thought less of The Rolling Stones or rock and roll musicians of any kind to read "Life" by Keith Richards. It's over 500 pages of real experiences and insight. Who would ever thought a drug scared musician would have so much to say and extremely well said at the same time. We're lead to think memory is the first thing that goes. Not so. Well sure, James Fox gives him a hand but Keith said he kept notes over the years. I imagine if you write songs and are used to writing things down, experiences and daily happening get jotted down too. Keith did that. I've truly enjoyed his passages so far. Hey, I'm still reading the book. It takes time to get through 565 pages. War and Peace man! Delighted to learn he wrote his mom often while on the road or travelling the world in search of one high or another. He kept real in different ways. Delighted to know he's shy with women. He loves the blues. He started many things you will be surprised to read about. Who he befriends might surprise you and if you are a musician yourself, you'll simply tell yourself, " Of course man." He's truthful about his view on drugs. I'm pleased to know that. Well, take my word for it, Keith is worth reading about.   

Former CRTC Chairwoman Comes Out.

By Norm Richards


Today, I read a CP report by Jennifer Ditchburn that former Chairwoman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Francoise Bertrand has come out in support of the CRTC in the wake of the government demanding usage-based Internet billing (UBB) be removed from a regulatory decision to make it legal. She asserts the CRTC must be left alone to make decisions without government intervention. I have news for Madame Bertrand. If the public cannot appeal to government with good data that it’s unfair and damaging to allow UBB, then what is left to us (public) if we don’t agree with CRTC decisions?

No, simply doing interventions at public hearings is too bureaucratic and is seen that way by most people. The so called due process must be overstepped every once and awhile, in the greater interest of the people. For Bertrand to support the CRTC by saying “ What it means for business is that there is no longer predictability in the system,” is taking a side I don't agree with but, she is predictable in this report.

I’m glad for one thing that business is not able to ramrod billing methods through the CRTC which works against internet usage in the long term. I for one, in another story on this Blog, wrote we pay no fees at all. How about them apples? I don’t firmly hold to that but I would like see what is possible and what the “system” is recommending before we are forced to pay.

Manitoba Flood Threat 2011

By Norm Richards

It's early February 2011. Perhaps self preservation comes first but Fargo, North Dakota has begun creating sandbags against possible flood. This action will create a funnel to move water faster up the Red River toward Winnipeg where a half million people live. Although in 1997, the city did not flood, the city was on alert. As a caution I moved my mom north to our hometown of The Pas. She lived in a seniors home in south east Winnipeg. It turned out, it wasn't far from where flood struck.

Then, I was a member of the television production team to cover the flood threat. We knew before anyone else where and when flood was impacting life in the south region.
I remember, though we got the stories on screen quick, residents constantly phoned the studio seeking inside track news. I learned, I was responsible to remain calm and give people assurance not to panic. At the same time, we constantly kept in touch with stories coming in that reflected a change in the threat. Since I had experience as a writer / producer, I volunteered to produce stories for the emergency broadcast. I was otherwise at home developing a movie script on my own time and in charge of my life as I knew it at the time. I could dedicate time to help my community.

Calls to get involved and help in any way grew. There were calls for people to go sandbagging. I knew helping a television broadcast on the threat would be more effective for me. A meeting was called for experienced people and even those just interested in being a part of it. The community cable channels combined efforts overnight and teamed up together to create a cablecast team second to none. Experienced people were quickly adopted as leads on the production. I became a producer and found myself thrown into action. Although fun and challenging at the same time, I could not help but think I was on the front line for a whole city.

Those phone calls reminded me, if it had rained for two days or more as the river’s crest approached, Winnipeg would have suffered substantial flooding. I knew that but could not have shared that openly at the time. We learned our story telling was number one around the world in TV ratings for a brief number of days. That felt good.

Can we live without Internet Service?

I think it's interesting where this thing will all go now that government listened and got on the bandwagon for low internet fees. I would like to see a system where large users carry us all. We simply plug into that big black tube that stretches around the world and we pay a small one time fee to be there. Producers of large programs, cable and telecommunication companies cover the cost for us to be hooked up on the internet. Don't you think it's something that could happen. We already think of the internet as a place of free exchange, dialogue and communication world wide, so what's the problem?

The move to charge consumers and pass on the cost for internet access has to be made fair for users. Yes, I read all the recent data including legal arguments on the pro's and con's of services we know and enjoy. But commerce is where the cost is paid. When funds are exchanged for goods purchased is where cost carriers must look. We can't ask government and agencies to rule except to keep things fair and inexpensive. We do buy better devices to remain current and active.  

Conception or Inception?

Internet users are sperm in search of a suitable egg. Conception takes place when positive interactions happens. How rich it is, is not up to anyone else but the participants who score. It's pure and real social and electronic birth. Why change that? Why make money on it? Who should have the right? Is this person or entity worthy?

Do we need government agencies making decisions on how we interact on the internet and open a hell's gate on billings to users?

Here is a story on it today. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/harper-steps-into-web-dispute/article1890567/

Yet, another view - http://mhgoldberg.com/blog/

Here's one for you deep readers - http://www.gstconferences.com/LagOrLead.pdf

Will Facebook Get Better or Worse?

Facebook and Me

By Norm Richards


If you send a request to a stranger, it will be considered spam and your friend request will be blocked temporarily. Please only send this request if you know this user.

The aforementioned is a phrase created by Facebook (FB). It got me thinking. I wonder if FB is doing the right thing creating the phrase for 'Users' who appear to be well known publicly? What motivates this decision to make this phrase available for use?

I began using at FB some time ago. I joined when it was new and interesting. I also wasn’t sure it would take me anywhere. It began during a period when I was writing a book and a few screenplays. I was in search of different ways to promote and expose my book and writing to the public and be on-line with friends at the same time. My school alumni were hardly interested in their own school’s web site. Why would FB be much better? I wondered. It turned out, it was. It reached more people and quicker. Vancouver Film School was not attracting many followers as far as I could see except those who were part of the school. I’ve stuck with FB through many changes. Now, I’m questioning their moves to exclude rather than include.

I think things got out of hand having an open policy while managing the friend or fan file. Well known personalities began inviting fans as friends since it could be done. Yet, FB made a distinction. You weren’t told once you reach an arbitrary count of five thousand fans you were no longer able to continue. Friends were lost! Even if the personalities wanted to continue interacting and remain networking, things changed. Some discovered a place called “Like” page so they went there. But that was not the same as being open to interact. I noticed that some came back by using an altered but familiar name to some who knew them. Or maybe it was just self invented since interacting was as important as having a presence on The Facebook web site that seemed to be growing in leaps and bounds. I think a nice mix of friends, fans and others is not so bad. Why not? What harm is there in that?

I’ve been very public and open. I’m a known writer with a track record as a producer and a performer. I play drums, I‘ve acted and enjoyed being a personable performer wherever I‘ve been. I was a hometown amateur and later, I became a professional. I’ve worked in radio, film and television. Yet, I love the craft of writing over other professional endeavours. I found social networking serves my needs well. I’ve grown to expect social networking to keep me in-touch with a public and make possible for anyone world over to respond. That’s fair and open interaction with no limits and impediments. Writing for the media has never been interactive like social networking. When performers are brought together to raise money for good causes they are asked to leave ego behind and participate. I think the same decorum should be assumed when being social on a site exposing you to five hundred million people around the world in real time. I think FB could sort spam from friends in better ways, don't you think?