Wanna dance?

As part of this years festival, we have a contingent from Newfoundland producing a show at The Factory Theatre... if you are trying to fill your dance card at this years festival, add this one... here are the nuts and bolts:

Don’t miss Joel Thomas Hynes in a compelling performance of Say Nothing Saw Wood, a morally complex tale of murder and redemption. Fresh out of prison, thirty-year-old Jude Traynor spins a gothic tale of a brutal murder he committed at the age of seventeen. He’s now making his way back to his hometown to come to terms with the life he’s taken, the lives he’s altered and hopefully to extend a hand to the troubled youth he once was.

Say Nothing Saw Wood originally premiered in St. John’s, NL to sold-out audiences in 2007. Say Nothing Saw Wood is a one-man play inspired by a real-life murder that occurred on the Southern Shore of Newfoundland and Labrador in the early seventies. Playing in Toronto as part of the SummerWorks Theatre Festival at the Factory Theatre Mainstage:

Directed by Lois Brown
Presented by resource centre for the arts theatre company
Featuring: Joel Thomas Hynes

Fresh out of prison, Jude Traynor spins a gothic tale of a brutal murder he committed at the age of seventeen. He’s now making his way back to his hometown to come to terms with the life he’s taken, the lives he’s altered and hopefully to extend a hand to the troubled youth he once was.

Patron Warning: Mature Language & adult themes
Running time: 75 mins.

Date	Time
August 7th	6:00pm
August 9th	12:00pm
August 10th	10:00pm
August 13th	8:00pm
August 14th	10:00pm
August 16th	4:00pm

Venue
Factory Theatre Studio venues and guides information

For ticket information and show times call the Factory Theatre Box Office at 416-504-9971.

Joel Thomas Hynes is the award winning author of the novels Down to the Dirt and Right Away Monday, both available through HarperCollins Publishers. He co-wrote the celebrated stage play The Devil You Don’t Know and his most recent play Say Nothing Saw Wood, won the NL Arts and Letters Award for Best Dramatic Script. In 2008 Hynes was presented with the Lawrence Jackson Creative Writing Award and was also named the Newfoundland and Labrador Art’s Council’s Artist of the Year. Also an actor, Hynes has performed numerous leading roles for stage, film and television. He was a contributing writer and played a leading role in the CBC’s Gemini Award winning series Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, appeared in the Movie Network’s Re-Genesis, the CBC’s Ashore, performed the lead role in the film adaptation of his novel Down to the Dirt, and was featured in the upcoming film Crackie. Hynes is currently at work on a new novel and a new screenplay.

Lois Brown is a seventh generation Newfoundlander. She works in dance, theatre, and film. She was awarded Arts Achievement award by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council for her work in 2004, and short-listed for The Sminovitch Prize. She awarded the Victor Martyn Lynch Staunton Award for outstanding achievement in theatre by the Canada Council in 2005. She lives in St. John’s with her daughter Olivia.

you've got new friends....

Dear Queen Street West,

I miss you.

Remember when I used to skip school and come into town and we would have lunch together. I would usually spend all day with you, sometimes my friend Megan would bring me and show me all your little secrets.

We grew up together. You showed me to the vintage shop where I bought my first pair of bootcut courdory pants, across from Java, where I would get a cup of possibly the worst coffee ever and sit for a couple hours, the pants were blue, the coffee was grey, both were fantastically ugly and perfect with a cigarette. I was 15.

Then there was that time, when I was 17, I brought my fake ID and got my first tattoo, ala Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, a circle design on the left side of my chest, you branded me then, I felt like you really approved of this.

We used to get real drunk too, and had so many parties. it was a blast.

Its funny, cause I know we don’t live far from each other, I’m on King, in Parkdale, and you, Queen Street, are just around the corner, but something is different.

I remember something my brother told me a long time ago, that when you get older you just don’t have the time to hang out anymore, and everyone gets busy doing other things.

I see you’re still at it being the crazy social butterfly that you are, making new friends from all over.

I know we meet up every now and then, but it seems all business, I hang my art, you like it, you show it to all your new friends,

But something has definitely changed. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all that you do for me, maybe I’m just being silly, but

We’re not the same.

I know you got real busy with all the new clubs, and all you’re new friends from Mississauga make it difficult for us to really connect.

And I see you’ve upgraded your available accommodations to condos and some pretty cool slick lofts, which are nice, I guess, maybe I just liked the way things were. You’re just too busy.

Remember when my band used to play, and all the kids would come out and get down?

What’s happened, what has changed?

Maybe it’s just me.

I know the bands still play, and the kids still get drunk, and the shops are still cool….

Maybe we’ve just run our course, out grown each other, you’re still striving for that new sense of cool, whereas I have become content with myself and who I am. I don’t hold that against you though, for as long as I can remember, that’s who you are, you’re like Peter Pan, and I hope you never grow old.

So I guess what I’m saying is thanks for the memories, the good times, and helping to form who I am today, you are my Toronto, you lead me to find many of my loves, and cradled a lot of my losses.

Maybe, for old times, we can meet up this weekend, if the weather is nice, and we can grab a pint on a patio and reconnect a little?

Gregory Serpanchy
www.gregoryserpanchy.com

*Click on the link to see Simon and Garfunkel prepare to sing a special song... which is first interrupted by Paul's friend... we'll call him "Chuck", or "Mississauga"

take Ronzigs tour... a video love letter

I received this link from Ronzig, a former homeless man and current digital photo artist. It is awesome to see him navigate around this area, and his comments raise many questions about the state of our community. I don't want to say much more... click on the title and he will explain how he feels in his love letter.

Thanks Ron!


also check out:
Ronzigs Portfolio

worth a detour... a letter from a king to a queen...

Queen Street West….

When I skipped school; two hour bus ride from Orillia. 14 years old. Hair down to my waist. Pimples on my chin. Dressed like a mod. Black turtle neck. Red Kilt. Knee Socks and Docs. It was 1990. There were punks everywhere. Egg white filled mohawks. Studded Bracelet’s. Dirty clothes. And there was Much Music; the temple of my adolescent dreams. Erica Ehm introducing Depeche Mode videos; learning to dance to Electric Circus. Queen Street was scary, massive, full of fear and excitement. I felt that this was the nexus of the universe. Everything happened here.

Now I live here; but on King. The Queen’s less exciting and somewhat conservative husband.

But, I always walk up to Queen. To experience that feeling. The rushy high of walking down Queen WEST WEST. Where there is an uneasy convergence of yuppies, dogs, addicts, artists, 905ers shopping, skateboarders, squirrels, the mentally ill, sex workers, pigeons, rollerbladers and rock stars all trying to maneuver around each-other. Not stare, not piss each-other off, draw attention, not draw attention. Flirting, screaming, eating running, texting, watching, drinking out of coffee cups or paper bags.

For nine years I have lived here; watching the Gentrification Freight Train push down the street from University to Bathurst. Last night I had a drink at a new restaurant and remembered the massive gallery that used to be there. I walked home and remembered when I couldn’t walk home at all five years ago. Five years ago, Johns would pull over asking for my ‘service’. No more. Now there are hipsters making out. Stinking drunk after their debauchery on Ossington. 905ers flagging cabs after a night of posing at the what they believe is the new sickest bar.

But it’s true. Everything has happened here. On Queen I met the love of my life who hid his horrible coke addiction from me for months. I cried my way home on Queen trying to break my addiction to him. I had my most successful solo show. I had wild and unpredictable jobs in restaurants and bars that catered to Baby Brokers, Mafia, Escorts and Rosedale Glitterati tables away from each-other. I solidified most of my closest friendships at art openings and industry parties in lofts and back alleys. I became desensitized to human suffering; and over-sensitized to my surroundings.

This morning, with groceries, I walked home down Queen, as I always do. Because it’s more exciting, more fascinating, more dangerous. And even though I could quietly walk down King; I never do. I walk an extra block north; so I can walk down Queen; because anything could happen and it everything always does.

love,

a secret admirer

you're the one...

Hey Queen St,

I wanted to tell you this in person, but you know how I get face-to-face. I really wanted to get this right, you mean so much to me and I need you to know. You first caught my eye when I was only 14. The way we danced - I never felt so free. I was in love. You were the coolest. You are the coolest. I looked up to you. I still look up to you. I wanted to be with you and now I am.

You changed a lot over the years and some people don’t like you for that. I understand though. I always understood you. And it’s not all bad. I know you’re growing up. You can’t be young forever. Sometimes you need to change, and with good will always come the bad, you can’t please everyone.

Maybe that’s it, maybe that’s why people are getting mad at you Queen. They think you are trying get everyone to love you. What’s so wrong with that? Who wouldn’t want to be loved by everyone? They don’t get it. They’ll never get it. You have so much to offer. You just want everyone to see. That’s why I love you. You’re not afraid to take a chance. You have business tattooed on your left arm and fuck the corporation on your right. You’re not a paradox Queen St., you’re a perfect balance.

I wanted to write you this today so it was clear how I felt. I know you’re getting a hard time with all this 905 and hipster bullshit. You’re so strong to live through that. So strong. You don’t let them walk all over you. When people try to cross you you grab their fixie wheels in your tracks and fuck them up. That’s why I love you.

I will always love you Queen St. One day we will part but you will always have a place in my heart. You’re the one who brought me here. You’re the one who set me free.

Love always,

Michaud Garneau

* Michaud invites you to click on the title for tips to practice safety first. The forum is very interesting, as well.

Meanwhile, Michauds words have inspired me to link to a video that speaks to "the one". I vote it as one of the top ten funniest music videos of the 90's, if not only for the sheer volume of pelvis pumping, the uncomfortable rap insertion or the fact that the set is intergallactic and they are wearing the same outfit in different colors. It is also a karaoke video. Please sing along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WEQdFTXIwA

from that girl...

Dear Queen West,

I don't really mean to address you, I mean, you really had nothing to do with the whole thing, but things have changed and my memories, regardless of their vividness, have been transfered to you. I hope you always remind me of the time in my life where I was vulnerable and naive enough to be in love.

Alas, walking hand in hand I never stopped to inhale the aura of this street. The busy trendiness, people wanting to fit in, to stand out.

Now, walking down this street I notice everything, the way this street speaks to people wanting to be a part of it all. The difference. People who want to be different.

I become a part of this street when I come here now. I gallavant like I own a small part of it. As though my memories have been planted at all those special spots, and they've sprouted little parts of me, of That Girl, and are waiting to bloom.

When I come here I can feel it. It's happening. I can't wait to hold it. To show it off.

I become Queen West, the very Aura of it, and I can still feel him. It reminds me of who I want to be. Who I am.

I remember when we walked hand in hand.

Oh, I was so in love.

-F

*click on title to see Marlo Thomas in her glee

It's not you, it's me...

Queen West between University and Spadina

C\O Dana Puddicombe

Toronto ON

Dear Queen,

We were both coming of age back then, and it wasn't going well for either of us. Now you're all grown up and polished and the indie kids hate you, and I'm a scruffy unemployable malcontent with bad skin and pretty eyes. But I remember when you were a dirty playground with endless electronics shops. Devices that i didn't understand but loved to touch. Toys! broken down and atomized, their component parts naked in my sweaty hands. I remember when I got my first magnet boner. Active Surplus. How i coveted you. How I wanted to live in a warehouse of everything.

But alas, my Queen, it wasn't meant to be. You became a fashion paradise. And I become a conservative dresser. See you in my dreams.

-D

*click on the title for a sexy video.