outfoxed: rupert murdoch’s war on journalism-robert greenwald

it’s hard out here for a formal penal colony, isn’t it? i’m interested in the news/media people that i’ve been hipped to from australia lately, and there is no other more compelling than rupert murdoch. this documentary is necessary, and should be required “reading” for anyone in journalism school. i don’t know which is less appealing to me-being in j-school, or not being in j-school. (thank you for obliging me that aside). i appreciated jeremy glick’s prepping for the bill o’reilly show, and that is that he watched the show and taped how long it took for “shut up” bill to cut off his hostile guests, and practiced saying what he needed to say within that time-this is someone who can school spoken word hopefulls, for real. i was surprised to find out that cnn (and the other networks) was pushed to be so wack because it is trying to outfox fox, i mean, really? since when do we try to outwack the wack? come on. let’s counter it, no? i also was hipped to the work of malkia cyril, who is the latest person that i would like to have a conversation with. thanks, s. walter stewart

cbc learning-darfur on our watch

hmm…at this p0int, “UN” can so be substituted into the song, because i’ve been wondering for a long time, “what is it good for?” i’m sure that i’m too simplistically dismissing it with “absolutely nothing“, however, there’s no mistaking that the situation is rather bleak. apparently, being at the UN as an 8-year-old contributed to the damaging of a certain ED of a non-profit organization that pays lip service to engaging youth in their communities, and considering how fucked up she is, i wouldn’t doubt it. i’ve always been suspicious of celebrities trying to save (and adopt) africa, but i guess in the truest form of expression, the principle that people who have influence trying to use it to say and do something that others might not be able to is intrinsically right. i mean, even bruno was advised by those twins to do something about “darfar”. but then, they also came up with the brilliant idea of making a bracelet out of an endangered species. hey world-what’s it like to be faced with yet another massive, international failure? thanks, s. walter stewart.

errol morris’ first person-the complete series

errol morris coulda been my daddy. he’s only a year younger than my actual father, and i swear that he’s probably influenced my thinking just as much as mister leminh (yeah, he spells it like that, i separated it and made it closer to the way it’s supposed to be). but really, it’s morris’ mind that reminds me most of mine, so he’s more like zeus, and i am the daughter athena that he birthed out of his head. he’s still alive, so i made him the “who i want to meet” on my myspace page. i am so great-full that i was introduced to his work at some point during my film studies’ minor. his documentaries are amazing because it seems that he’s obsessed with mad characters, and doesn’t believe that anyone is ever telling the truth, or rather, that nobody is capable of telling the truth, because truth means so many different things to all of us. there are the michael moores of the documentary world, and then there is the errol morris. i didn’t even know that this series existed, but i’m so happy that i got 2/3 discs of the series and got to witness the way that the man can tell a story, or let people tell their stories. it’s kind of weird to hear his actual voice prompting the subjects at times, kinda like the first time i heard evelyn lau’s voice reading her own work-it’s always something to hear work read in the actual voice that it was written in, and not just the one you’ve imagined in your head for so long. from giant squids to freezing and decapitating mothers, serial killer lovers, and parrots as witness to murder-i can’t wait for disc 2. further proof that we share a mind-temple grandin is the subject of the second or third episode, is it an accident that this woman keeps coming into my library tour? i think not. THANKS, s. walter stewart.

evelyn gregory-november 23, 2009

i always liked the concept of block parents, but, in this day and age of mistrust and such, i guess the ideology is like communism or spandex-we are limited by the human interpretations of the ideas. well, the idea behind block parents, of being a safe hub in the community has been translated into my life in the form of the public library. i am so excited to be on this tour, and the calmness that i get from being in these buildings makes it all worth it. in this particular exposed brick heaven, i perused a very entertaining issue of vibe magazine, the second annual tabloid issue (isn’t where things are/should be going for vibe in general? why didn’t they do this instead of folding? maybe they still are?!) i appreciate that they do give solange the love that she deserves, especially since her album was so much stronger than beyonce’s-but that’s what you get when your daddy’s the suge knight of r&b, and he’s mad that his elder cash cow jumped ship when she jumped the broom. i also appreciated the 6 degrees of superhead layout and had no idea-i mean-aaliyah got with dame and jay? damn. and beyonce and mos? beyonce and marques houston? go romeo. chilli and tyson? she likes the young boys, huh? jay and rosario dawson? rosario dawson and prince? and i guess kelis was the second marriage (hip hop’s his first wifey) since carmen bryan and nas weren’t married, though i didn’t know she was trying to get her superhead on by humping and telling about jay, diddy, and iverson. she is pretty, though. oh, celebrity gossip.

dufferin/st.clair-november 23, 2009

yet another breathtaking library that we are blessed to have. the children’s section of this one actually has a dial-a-story station on site, and the stories are offered in almost as many languages as spoken in toronto. the tiles are really pretty, and reflect rainbows in the sunlight. amazing. wifi. great work space. here’s a fun tidbit about the reference library that i learned during an interview yesterday-that there used to be an answer line that people could call for anything (the bringer of this info called for a recipe for sangria). wow. again, pouring out some liquor for philly.

oakwood village library and arts centre-november 23

i had to throw up a stock photo, because i’m not exactly sure what happened to the photo that i took of the beauty-full doors of this centre. perhaps next time i go back, i’ll capture it again. this is a great branch, equipped with wifi and lovely tables as work stations. funnily enough, i ran into the love noter here again, and disappointingly, once again, he really went with that racial angle of his hollerasian, and i cut out pretty quickly. i also read yo’mama magazine, a toronto based initiative for and by young mothers. i was impressed by the range of topics, from blended family situations, health services, and sex toys. bigup once again, toronto.

how to cook your life-doris dorrie

i guess this lot of dvds is all about having things to run in the background, and even so, this movie was a bit long. it is about a zen master (one that finds his entry to the world through bread, and is kind of high strung, but hey, that’s what makes him compelling, and human, right?) but still. the highlight of the entire thing was “sincerity is the emotion where your imperfections show“, but i’m not sure why he was crying over a teapot. whatever. word is bond. thanks, s. walter stewart.

the wedding date-claire kilner

yet another wedding flick starring dermot mulroney. does he kind of have a harelip? i’m just sayin’, he’s fine regardless. there’s just something so “manly” about him. regardless, i don’t think i’ve ever seen debra messing as anything but grace-but she’s kind of grace here. oh, and amy adams is amy adams (long haired princess version, not julie). i did love her in sunshine cleaning though, i can’t quite gulp the haterade. this movie is basically an updated version of pretty woman-since the roles are reversed, this is the extent of hollywood’s feminism. it was engaging and well-acted enough for free-ninety-nine. thanks, s. walter stewart.

gardening confidential

i am really feeling the cbc confidential documentary series. just putting it out there. this one, admittedly, i put on whilst attempting to finish my books so i didn’t really watch it that carefully, but i found it wonder-full nonetheless. the most striking statistic is that 1/5 canadians prefer gardening to sex-that’s serious, man. i don’t know that that’s a stat that we should be boasting about. also, i want to go to etobicoke and visit the garden that caused such a ruckus that its owner had to write a 300-page document describing how important the garden is to him, but at least he got a postage stamp photo out of it. i can’t say that i don’t want to make a button out of that stamp….thanks, s. walter stewart.

city on the move! november 25

the universe truly does provide everything that you need when you need it. today was the day that i performed in the ttc-with so many thanks to the city of toronto, city on the move, and of course, the ttc. i have to shout out the lovely and talented gein wong, who has faithfully been in my corner, my former hair bitching colleagues (nice surprise!), nawfal, and of course, the best ttc bouncer a girl could have. i made some adjustments along the way, got my mic cord pulled out by oh brother where art thou, alex wanted to join in with his rousing rendition of amazing grace, and got mad love and daps from folks underground. it was truly the most electrifying moment of my career as a performing poet. bigup. come check out memo tomorrow night at spadina station from 7-9. LOVE!