A Christmas Carol is a Holiday Treat

Last evening I took my mum up to Meadowlands in Ancaster to see Disney’s A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey

The film is the first film developed by ImageMovers Digital, which was created by Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke to develop 3D performance capture films exclusively for The Walt Disney Studios. “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” is produced by Starkey, Zemeckis and Rapke.   Along with the film’s nationwide release in conventional theatres, “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” has been released in IMAX® theatres.

The film is quite true to Dickens’s short novel, borrowing much of the original text.  There are several flight/chase sequences which beg to be incorporated into future ride(s) at Disney World.  Jim Carrey provides the voice of Scrooge  (as the young boy, young man and old man).  He is also the voice of the three ghosts.  Bob Hoskins is the voice of Mr. Fezziwig, Colin Firth is the voice of Scrooge’s nephew, and Gary Oldham is the voice of Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim.

It’s great entertainment, a bit on the scary side for “sensitive” children, and a little cold in emotion, but having said that, it’s well worth seeing.  I would definitely give it four stars out of five. 

What’s your take?

Facebook’s Unfriend is Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year (Globe & Mail, November 18)

Facebook has entered the venerable lexicon of modern language:  the Oxford Dictionary.  On November 18th, it was announced by Oxford University Press that the Facebook word “Unfriend” was the word of the year for 2009.

Unfriend was classified as a verb.  according to the Dictionary, unfriend is “to remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.’

“It has both currency and potential longevity,” SAID Christine Lindberg, the senior lexicographer of the Dictionary.

I must confess that I only started Facebook within the last year and still have trouble with the word “Friend.”  I’ve often thought that sometimes “Friend” was to broad a brush.  Maybe we could have a hierarchy of Friends:  such as Good Friend, Very Good Friend, Reliable Friend, Old Friend, Friend I haven’t seen in a long time, Friend in Need, forgotten Friend, Friend I Want to Forget, Pain-in-the Neck Friend, I Need a Friend, etc., etc.

Sound Friendly?

 

 

Social Media Used for Job Postings

It shouldn’t come as a surprise but social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (Globe & Mail, November 15/09) are replacing not only the classifieds but highly paid recruiters for job recruitment.  Why?  They’re fast, efficient, and cheap!  They get current employees involved as well in that employees can put the postings on their own social media sites.

It looks like employee and customer networks may be th new norm in recruiting.  Of course, there’s a downside.  classifieds are a major source of revenue for newspapers which is one of the reasons newspapers are either closing or scaling back. 

 Can papers play a role in social media and be profitable?  I hope so.  Society needs the skills of professional, paid journalists who can take the time necessary for investigative journalism.  What do you think?

Painters & Potters

 

Laurie Wonfor-Nolan, Still Life (acrylic), Jinni Hartmann, Turquoise Jug with Wooden Feather

 

Jody Joseph, Still Life (oil on canvas), Jane Hill, Bowl

 

Painters & Potters is a new exhibition on view at the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas until November 29th.

  I dropped by last Sunday for a look, and to take in Jody Joseph’s seminar on the curating of the show.  It’s well worth a look.  The exhibition both celebrates and importantly illustrates the symbiotic relationship between artists in various media.  The viewer sees first hand the result of what happens when a painter starts with a colleague’s specific clay creation as inspiration, and how an everyday object can be translated in a painting, collage, ceramic or fibrework  piece.

The show is visually rich, exciting and intelligent.   Curated by artist Jody Joseph there is much to see and  contemplate.  The artistic process is layered, interconnected and multifaceted.  Painters & Potters gives a glimpse into the process.

What is an art buyer?

A friend of mine sent me this link to an internationally known art buyer based in Toronto.  Thought you might like to listen to the podcast of the interview with Heater Morton, art buyer.

One thing that is clear from the interview is that Heather works extremely hard at what she does, and that continual research into new and exiting ways of seeing is pivotal.   Time is critical for the art buyer so website images have to be quick and easy to see (thumbnails are best).  Check out Heather’s own blog too.  She has been blogging for about two years on the topic of art buying.

Parts 2 & 3 of the Globe Incubator Series on Social Media

Panel Discussion Part 2 discusses the various ways companies can, and do use, social media tools.  Basically, there are no rules, it is whatever works and there are no definite answers as social media is constantly changing and evolving.

Panel Discussion Part 3 discusses how  some companies are afraid to use social media internally with their employees due to privacy issues.   The major view expressed is that employees can be the company’s biggest advocates.   Zappos, the online shoe retailer, is used as an example.  Zappos has over 500 employees listed on-line with their images and Twitter accounts.  The employees share their stories with their various publics.  This drives traffic to the site, and sales at the site.  What was not mentioned,  in any of the “rosy” scenarios discussed by the panel,  is the potential for immediate social media damage from disgruntled social-media savvy employees.

Twitter, Facebook et al.: Are they worth it?

According to the panel, (Globe and Mail Small Business, Thursday, October 29), social network platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are tools to develop “trust” with your market(s).  They can be highly effective as personal branding strategies and are great ways to stay connected with one’s various publics.  However,  the actual time element involved can be much longer than initially perceived.  In other words, as in most things, there is very little overnight success and the actual marketing can be long and arduous, and over many years in fact.

A little bit about the Nature Conservancy of Canada

On Partnered Land

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is Canada’s leading national land conservation organization. They are a private, non-profit group that partners with corporate and individual landowners to achieve the direct protection of our most important natural treasures through property securement (donation, purchase, conservation agreement and the relinquishment of other legal interests in land) and long-term stewardship of our portfolio of properties.

Since 1962, NCC and their partners have helped to conserve more than 2 million acres (over 800,000 hectares) of ecologically significant land across Canada.

What I did last weekend . . .

Last weekend I was invited to take part in a walk with members of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.  There were about a dozen of us.  It was cool, drizzly and misty with raindrops slicking leaves, bark, and grass.  We walked for about an hour, traversing the property of two Conservancy members.  These folks had purchased property near the Beaver Valley some twenty years ago.  Each year since they have planted trees to encourage new forestation.

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