This Week at City Hall: Transit Plan Part Two, Utilities Budget and Heritage Awards

Monday, February 22
City Council (5:30 pm): Council will be considering the Transit Investment Plan and the transit fare increase. Former mayoral candidate, Jim Elliott, will be speaking before council in favour of the former and in opposition to the latter.

Also, the water and sewer utility budget will be brought forward so that council can review it and then at their March 8 meeting decide whether or not it should be approved. If it does, it recommends a 8.9 per cent utility rate increase.

Council will also be deciding on whether or not it should pursue funding for a new, environmentally friendlier garbage truck and whether they should use debt incurred for the Global Transportation Hub for capital projects. They will also be reviewing the 2010 Regina Municipal Heritage Award recipients.

Tuesday, February 23
Community Services Advisory Committee (5:30 pm): Receiving a presentation on the Transit Investment Plan.

Wednesday, February 24
Regina Planning Commission (4:00 pm): Considering a recommendation to close an unused laneway and incorporate it into a piece of adjacent city property which would then be sold to the Regina Public School Board to facilitate the redevelopment of the Arcola School site. Also, considering an amendment to the Official Community Plan to reflect the addition to the city of land annexed for the Global Transportation Hub. The new territory will be called the West Industrial Lands.

You knew this was coming

In other news, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is demanding that the Vancouver Winter Olympics be prorogued ... (The Globe and Mail).

Pick of the Day: Playwrights Reading Series

From time to time the University of Regina Theate Department, in conjunction with a handful of partners like the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre, presents a reading by a local or visiting playwright. Now, when playwrights write, of course, it's usually with the goal of seeing their work performed by accomplished actors on an evocative set. But before a script is "stage ready" it usually goes through all sorts of readings and workshops to give the playwright a sense of how the work is translating from the page.

Tonight's guest playwright is Stephen Massicotte (pictured). Possessing a BFA in Drama from the University of Calgary, Massicotte has written several award-winning plays that have been produced by theatre companies across Canada, among them Mary's Wedding (2002), The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion (2007) and The Clockmaker (2008); and the Jedi Handbooks triology. He's also penned screenplays for Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004) and The Dark (2005).

He reads tonight at 8 p.m. at the Shu-Box Theatre at Riddell Centre.

Tiki Detritus

You know the Tiki party was a success when you wake to find an unidentified blob on your couch.

The blob says gin is poison.

The blob is wrong.

It was the tequila.

Pick of the Day: Men's Ice Hockey

That's how the sport is listed on the official website of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. That's to distinguish it from Field Hockey, I guess, which is one of marquee events of the Summer Olympics.


Yes, again I jest. With the summer games, Field Hockey, outside of maybe a few hotbeds like India and Pakistan, does not enjoy a high profile. But when it comes to the winter games, Men's Ice Hockey definitely is one of the top draws. And today on CTV/NBC/Whatever Other Networks Are Involved in Broadcasting the Games at 6:30 p.m. there's a match-up between the United States and Canada that should be the highlight of the preliminary round (although Sweden vs Finland, and Russia vs Czech Republic, which are also on today, should be okay games too).

Lacking cable TV, I didn't see a millisecond of Canada's first game against Norway, an 8-0 spanking on Feb. 16. I did catch the last two periods of their game against the Swiss on Feb. 18 at a friend's place. Canada certainly had the better of the play in their 3-2 shoot-out win, but the Swiss were very definitely no push over. Led by goalie Ryan Miller, meanwhile, the U.S. recorded a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Switizerland on Feb. 16, and then dispatched Norway 6-1 on Feb. 18.

Against the Swiss, the Canadians had trouble finishing, and they also were prone to reckless giveaways on defence. I'm not sure exactly what playoff format the Olympics follow once the preliminary round is over, but regardless of the outcome of today's game both Canada and the U.S. will advance to the next round.

The men's semi-finals are set for Feb. 26, while the gold medal game will be played on Feb. 28. Will they meet again down the road? Perhaps. But both Sweden and Russia look to have strong teams too, so a gold medal appearance by either team is by no means assured (unlike in Women's Ice Hockey, where it would take an upset of seismic proportions for there to not be a Canada vs U.S. gold medal showdown).

Famous Last Words

Two bang-up articles for fans of film critic Roger Ebert, medicare, and the meaning of life. Ebert has had several surgeries to remove cancer which has left him jawless, speechless, and full of beans.

The first is an excellent review of the term 'death panel' in the health care 'debate', where he talks of the beauty of a term that so efficiently shuts down reason, even though it appears to have dropped out of the stupid mouth of Sarah Palin.

Luckily, Ebert was old enough to qualify for Medicare just as his own benefits ran out, exhausted by the severity of his illness, and the multiple surgeries to keep him alive and (mostly) in one piece. One of the many kickers in his article is that every member of the House of Representatives and Senate receives universal health care, no matter what their age. "You should try it some time," says Ebert. (Chicago Sun-Times)

The other is a long, beautiful article on Ebert in Esquire by writer Chris Jones. Totally worth the read.

"I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."

Saturday Morning Cartoon

This the third Oscar nominated animated short film. It's called La dama y la muerte or The Lady and the Reaper. It's written and directed by Spanish animator Javier Recio García.

It's about an old woman who is waiting for death so she can rejoin her departed husband. Things don't go as planned.

Maybe it's my dark sense of humour but I find this one to be pretty funny and surreal.

Pick of the Day: The Oscars

Not the real Oscars, of course. Those will be held March 7 in La-La-Land. Should prove interesting, what with this being the first year of the expansion of the Best Picture nominee list from five to ten to reflect all the fine films that Hollywood and its affiliated independent studios are producing these days.

I jest, of course. Back in 1939 there may have been ten films that deserved serious consideration for Best Picture (with films like The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington released, 1939 is hailed as the greatest in Hollywood history, and is being used now to justify doubling the number of Best Picture candidates). But there's more than a few nominees this year, I suspect, that aren't exactly destined to be remembered as cinematic classics. The Blind Side? Really? Up in the Air? Clooney being cloy. Up? Avatar?

No, the decision to rachet up the number of Best Picture nominees is nothing but a blatant marketing ploy by Hollywood. But enough grousing. Tonight at Conexus Arts Centre, the Regina Symphony Orchestra presents its annual tribute to Hollywood movie music. We're not talking about those soundtracks stuffed with pop hits that some directors rely on to trigger emotion in the audience either. This is music that's been composed specifically for movies.

For years, this type of work was derrided in classical circles for being decidedly low art. But over the decades, plenty of great scores have been written. Here's your chance to hear some of the them performed live by a 60 or so member orchestra.

As an added bonus, people who attend are encouaged to dress up as their favourite movie star. If I was going, here's who I'd be. What about you?

Regina Writer Nominated for Prize

It was announced today that veteran Regina writer Connie Gault had made the regional short-list for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for her 2009 novel Euphoria. Published by Coteau Books, the story is set in Regina in the immediate aftermath of the 1912 cyclone. A young woman named Orillia Cooper wakes up in the hospital with no idea of who she is and how she got there. She's soon visited by a woman named Gladdie McConnell who expresses concern for her welfare. From there the story flashes back to Toronto in the 1880s where we learn about the origins of their relationship.

Administered by the Commonwealth Foundation, the Writers' Prize includes both Best Book and Best First Book categories. In the initial round, six or seven books in each category are nominated in four regions: Africa, Caribbean & Canada, South Asia & Europe and South East Asia & Pacific. Past Canadian nominees include Alice Munro, Austin Clarke and Anne Michaels.

According to the Commonwealth Foundation, once finalists in each region are determined, they will be brought together in Dehli, India where the winners for the Best Book and First Book awards will be announced on April 12.

So good luck to Connie.

Friday Afternoon Kitty!

I used to watch this strangely hypnotic video on a regular basis when I was in university. This would usually result in the song being stuck in my head for days. Years later, I still catch myself singing it to myself sometimes-- saying sexy things to myself when I'm dancing.

It's an internet oldie by now, but nonetheless IT WILL HAUNT YOUR DREAMS.