On last week’s M2M we got to hear Sarah Hyde as we have never heard her before… talking in public…haha, kidding. We got to hear her starring in a production of Herb Gardner’s A Thousand Clowns.

I talked to Sarah about what it was like being in the play, the inner workings of community theatre and she talked to her fellow castmates. We even threw in some clips of the actual play,  including a scene which the audience is led to believe Sarah has no clothes on,  freaks out, loses her job, her boyfriend, has sex with her actual real-life co-worker -who also stars in the play- all in the span of 10-15 minutes.

Pretty steamy.

And funny.

The best part, though, is all the heart that went into it. Yup, that’s the best part, even better than the pretend play sex.

Kudos to all in Merritt’s Live Theatre Society for a stellar, sold out performance.

 

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This week on M2M, Sarah Hyde and I trade woes and wows about the Olympics. We put our red mitts and recorders into the mix and talk about the fine balance between telling Olympic stories and being a part of them.

I talk to John Douglas, a poet activist at the former Tent City on 58 W Hastings who gives me one of the best Olympic moments I could hope for: a poetry reading smack dab in the middle of soggy, red tents.  The Creative Director of Northern House answers a few of my questions as myself along with clusters of people gawk at a volunteers “pin-scarf” (she’s auctioning off about 10 pounds worth of international pins to benefit a youth centre in Inuvuk). And I approach some people on the streets to find out what they think of all-this-Olympics, turns out they think it’s pretty awesome.

take a listen.

 

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My colleague, co-host and radio bestie was one of the stars of Herb Gardner’s play A Thousand Clowns, put on by the Live Theatre Society in Merritt.

That's me taking a picture of Sarah putting the finishing touches on her make up just a half hour before she show starts. The venue was packed and they were looking for more chairs. I thought I was early, but it was hopping. When I first saw her I could have sworn she was Ellen Page.

I hopped on the Greyhound and made the trip up the mountain to see Sarah Hyde shine.

Literally.

Her and her fellow thespians were rocking the stage so hard I thought the furniture might fall through. I was blown away by the audience turn out, too. Although Sarah joked in an interview about rivaling Avatar, (both the movie and the play had sold out shows) the evening I was there, it wasn’t too far from the truth.

What a triumph for theatre!  And they didn’t even need Sigourney Weaver!

Imagine a large crowd of mitton-wearing movie-goers throwing off their 3D glasses for a bag of chips and a wooden seat at the Legion. That was the spirit in the air. Like we were all doing something new together right after rushing out of the house and half-eating supper in the car ride over.

And just as impressive as the acting (which I’ll get to in a second) were the high school students. They did make up, stage direction, raffles, you name it.  I had a sense that a lot of people in the audience had a part in the show even if they weren’t anywhere near the stage. From a perfect prop donation, to food for the crew, to making sure their significant others got to rehearsals, this was a community at its best.

And all for a show.

A good show.

Here’s a little confession. I was worried the play would be boring at best, bad at worst and then I would have to tell Sarah Hyde what I truly thought. There’s a little nagging stereotype that circles my brain about every year or so that gets proven wrong again and again (Hello Fringe Festival!).

Here it is: I figure all community theatre is like Waiting for Guffman… but without the laughs.

And I am wrong.

The actors in Merritt’s Live Theatre Society’s performance of Herb Gardner’s A Thousand Clowns were superb.

Yup, superb.

And you can turn into M2M on CJSF 90.1fm, Thursday from 3-4pm to find out why.

My partner in crime, love, housing and life recently bought me a little treat. A way to say, ‘hey you had a tough week, now look for another job and eat cake’.

(There are good, delicious reasons I’m marrying him!)

And at about 10am the next day I decided to take him up on his offer and took a break from doing up yet another resume and  got out the wee bomb of a cake.

Notice my resume in the background with a very peculiar screen saver...that's Sean Connery from the movie Zardoz.

Note: sean connery's crotch and the chocolate cake, mhm, can mean only one thing: it's monday morning resume blitz time.

I won’t  lie. I ate that cake up in about 3 minutes and felt special to boot. I think I even got that resume finished by noon.  So no matter what your doctor or diabetes chart tells ya, sometimes a little something baked can pack some power.

Just take artist Allison Chamber’s Monster Cookie series.  Her cookies in the likeness of Canadian politicians are delicious and will move you to protest, write a letter or heck, send Harper or Campbell one of her cookies as a treat.

I can’t be the only wannabe do-gooder eating sugar at 10am.

And as a part of Mouth 2 Mouth’s Baking and Politics show, we got to interview Allison Chambers about where her cookies have been and where they just may go.

Eat up, er, listen up, either way it tastes good!

 

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Before you do anything today -brush your teeth, say hello to a loved one or pet, put on pants- go to this website:

http://www.petittrianon.ca

It showcases the work of local artist Allison Chambers.

And in case you’ve already got your pants on and said hello to people then worry not, I’ll wow your eyes with a few pictures from her website.

Yah, these amazing images are cakes. Cakes! And on this week’s M2M on CJSF 90.1fm Sarah Hyde and I will be talking to Allison about cookies, specifically political ones.  Tune in Thursday from 3-4.

Wesley Salter (left) and Kevan Funk (right)

A few months ago I got had the fine chance to meet  up with independent filmmaker Kevan Funk.  What an incredible force he is.  Mixing humility and talent with an unswerving arty vision that’ll get ya in the heart plus the gut.

And he can do that all on 47 bucks.

I was expecting to interview Kevan Funk for 20 minutes or so and ended up asking questions for over an hour. We aired an excerpted version of that interview on Christmas Eve on Mouth2Mouth on CJSF 90.1fm.  But I wanted to get  more of the interview out there because, well, I left it feeling changed.

And that’s exactly how I hope to leave every movie I go see. (Changed for the better that is…I’m still angry about seeing The Village in 2004).

But back to Kevan Funk.  Two things struck me right away about him: he is talented and real.

His grasp of reality and art left my fantasies of winning a karoke Dolly Parton competition while sharing a keyboard with Stevie Wonder wriggling on the floor. He made real life sound beautiful, intriguing, heart breaking and worthwhile.

I guess it is. (Pause the Dolly solo…)

So in the interview, Kevan talks about making films in Vancouver and how various limitations can actually help fuel some creative leaps and bounds.  We talk about his short  film Weight which was an official selection of the 2009 Vancouver International Film Festival and is currently an official selection of San Francisco’s Indie Film Festival.

Still image from Kevan Funk's film, Weight

We talk about what inspires him and what gets him out of his head.

If you believe in film, humility, art, possibility and making a budget  stretch far enough to make a fantastic film than you’re going to want to listen to this.

And of course I had to take a cheap shot and ask about his favourite film.

 

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Sarah Hyde and I talked miracles on Mouth2Mouth on CJSF 90.1fm before the holidays and we swapped air time over what it meant to be good after the holidays.

So for your pleasure and ease, I’ve posted both shows below.

And while listening or not, you can ask yourself this:

What would I rather most in my life- a miracle or feeling like a better person?

Because maybe you can have both.

(I’d rather a visit from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and a hot caramel soy sundae … but that’s not in the shows).

Enjoy!

 

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Good!

We all want to be good.

Especially after the indulgences of December, waking up in pajamas -and if you were really lucky staying in them until long after supper- the Family Guy marathons or Battle Star Galactica sagas, the homemade cookies you kept buying for that fundraiser at the office, the long Skype chats with old friends with new babies, the colourful lights on people’s front lawns or their balconies or in their tiny windows… December is meant to slow you down, make you laugh more, re-connect, eat, celebrate, play Parcheesi with your parents and then  January comes along, blows its whistle, whips off your pj’s and throws on some work clothes.

January means business.

And this week on Mouth2Mouth on CJSF 90.1fm, we’re talking about the business of being good.

Specifically...Tales of Good Vancouver (say this in a booming cartoon-god voice).

We’ll have full interviews with local goodies Loretta Cella from The Passion Foundation and Maughan Mariani from The Bavubuka Foundation and find out what they’re up to right now. (Empowering 100 young women in Uganada and Kenya and you can help them here: http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s98869).

Then we’ll feature a song from Jessi Nicholson (also say this in a booming cartoon-god voice, but one that sings so well your soul floats around in glee).

And lastly, we’ll play something so good from someone so good that I think he should be a new city representative and be paid to perform and summarize important political meetings, non-profit calls for help and organization and other cool goings on in V-town, er, Vancouver.

You’ll have to listen to find out.

But you can click right here to hear Jessi Nicholson’s dazzling song Freedom.

It’s just plain good.

 

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This week on Mouth2Mouth on CJSF 90.1fm Sarah Hyde and I will be talking miracles.

I find this time of year infinitely more fun when every little thing that works out, every green stop light, every line in the grocery store that moves forward an inch is a Christmas miracle.  And so do advertisers. Never does a piece of chicken or shiny technology become so imbued with peace on earth and the end of a 25 year family rivalry than at Christmas time. So, Sarah and I take what we consider to be miracles, throw some Christmas in there and you’ve got m2m for xmas eve.

We interview first-time Director, longtime singer/songwriter Danielle French and play a couple of her songs, including Time to Kill which if you go here, you can see her  kick a** short film of the same name.

Then we talk to local independent film maker Kevan Funk and I can’t talk enough about Kevan Funk.  All I will say here is: remember his name. Because I have a pretty darn good feeling we’ll be hearing it a lot in the future. (and be really really thankful for it, as though it’s a… miracle!)

His short film, Weight, premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival and has recently been accepted to San Francisco Indiefest.

Here are some behind the scenes shots of making that film on YouTube.

So tune in xmas eve at 2pm to hear about  more things we are calling Christmas miracles!

m2m is up close at cjsf 90.1fm broadcasting from Burnaby Mountain

Sarah Hyde and I talk ghosts on M2M this week.

What motivates a ghost to haunt someone? Why would someone want to be haunted? What would Madonna do? All these ghastly questions answered and more!

 

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