Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Strategic Voting? How to find out your riding results and decide how to cast your vote

Strategic Voting? I'm supporting the NDP, but I'm voting against the Conservatives. This CBC site will give you the 2006 results for your riding (just put your postal code into the box at the right and it will bring up your riding) and should give you an idea of whether you can vote from your heart, or vote strategically to make sure the left's vote doesn't split between the Greens, NDP and Liberals and hand Harper a majority goverment.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/riding/202/06results.html

I'm searching the web for a site that will give current polls on a riding by riding level but so far can only come up with nationally and provincially averaged results. If anyone has a link to more detailed results then let me know!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Scratch Nights

SCRATCH NIGHTS




I’ve been performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Fest for a chunk of the summer, (which was an extraordinary experience… read about it at http://bremduthiesblog.blogspot.com ) and after my show I’ve been doing ‘scratch’ nights… an informal session where performers get to workshop new material. They’ve been incredibly useful in getting new work on its feet, and I want to continue the same thing when I get back to Toronto.

So, in October and November I’ll be setting up a space for a few evenings; the sessions will be open to writers/actors/musical theatre or classical singers. I’m looking for performers who want to try out new work or workshop material for auditions. They’re also for writers who want to read their own theatre work, or present it with other actors.

To get it going quickly we’ll start off in a studio space and sharing the cost and, if we have singers, the fee for a pianist. Later we might move into a bar or cafĂ©. While its in the studio it’ll 5 bucks for 15 minutes on stage and a chance to present a piece – monologue, or scene, or song. For singers who need an accompanist then there will an extra shared fee. You can choose to get comments and criticism or not, and you can use the whole 15 minutes or just 5.

This is not an open mic; it’ll be a private studio and we won’t be doing poetry, or singer-songwriter material, or traditional standup, or impro or sketch comedy, and I’m going to restrict it to performers only, though you can be at any level of your work and career. I’ll be setting up the first one in the week of the 6th. Let me know if it might interest you…

For anyone who’s getting this as a forward and doesn’t know me, you can check out my work at www.bremnerduthie.com , and you can reach me at bremner.duthie@gmail.com

And here’s some articles about this kind of work in the british press

http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/features/3088/Scratch_Nights.html

http://www.nightingaletheatre.co.uk/initiatives/scratch.htm


Cheers
Bremner

Friday, September 05, 2008

Drenched

Drenched…




Not me this time. But after surviving the wettest August ever I seem to be carrying the rainy curse with me. I’m sitting in the Barn with the lights on low and the shadows gathering in the corners around and listening to Thunderstorms rage overhead and rain pour onto the slate tile roof overhead. Amazing sound. Furious, but incredibly calming. I’m here working on the next show and normally I have one of Brian Eno’s ambient tracks as my background noise… no such need now. Couldn’t imagine more beautiful sound to work against.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Catatonic in Burgundy




I could have slept all day…and night…and day…. Post festival fatigue…erch! We made it down to Paris and thence to Burgundy and the farmhouse. Managed to crawl to the nearest little town and buy piles of still warm baguettes, a huge square of fresh butter and jars of dark, syrupy honey from hives on the local mountains… intend to live on this for the next several days and spend that time on the couch staring at the roof far overhead. I have good books (Bulgakoff’s The Dog, Complete works of William S., a Scottish Murder mystery) and tea. that’s all that’s necessary for existence till the weekend.