SISTER ACT THE MUSICAL: A LITTLE SONG, A LITTLE DANCE, A LITTLE ROSARY DOWN YOUR PANTS

There are a few caveats that I have to follow in my life: Beware of video games based on movies, don't buy wine you see advertised on TV and be leery of stage musicals based on TV or movies. Like most caveats these are wise rules to live by but also like most caveats, there are exceptions.

I enjoyed the video game Tron Legacy, I like the wine Piat D'Or which was once heavily advertised on TV and damnit, I liked Sister Act the Musical, currently running at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in downtown Toronto.

This is a musical comedy based upon the movie with Whoopi Goldberg. As we entered the theatre I couldn't conjure up any strong memories from the movie but I do remember liking it. It was a comedy, it featured Whoopi at the height of her abilities but I couldn't really recall any music from it.

So I took my seat with a bit of trepidation, I do enjoy musical comedy (and yes as a straight man I can willingly say that but please note that as I type this I'm skinning out a wolverine that I caught with my bare hands while running naked through the forest ... and that did not sound the least bit gay) but I had this image of something forced; I know the movie was not a traditional musical, it was a comedy that featured some songs. How would that translate into a full on musical theatre piece? The answer: Pretty damn well

Firstly, this play is indeed a comedy and it's damn funny. The humour comes from several points of inspiration: The traditions of the Roman Catholic church clashing with the secular world, the fashion of the play's temporal setting, 1978 (god, not one of our finest visual eras, I guess that's why there was so much pot available then) the basic tenets of romantic comedy filtered through that time period and much more.

The book, by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner, is not afraid to swing it's comedic portals broadly open and with a fine and brave Toronto cast, it resulted in a lot of flat out belly laughs. There are a few "themes" in the story of dramatic interest but it never forgets that it's a comedy. Yes, a "feel good" comedy that is prevented from careening into a treacle abyss by a few moments of sharp satire

The book follows the basic plot from what I recall from the movie: A Phillidelphia dico-diva-wannabe witnesses a gangland slaying and has to go into witness protection: That being as a nun in a failing Roman Catholic inner city church.

Our Donna Summer-wannabe is Michelle, portrayed in this production by Ta'rea Campbell. Ms Campbell gives the role everything that you could want: She inhabits perfectly Michelle's late 70's "sista" sensability, she can be tough as well as vunerable, sassy as well as still and has a voice that would be perfectly at home on any late 70's disco or soul recording ... and perfectly at home on the stage where she can shake the rafters one moment, and bring us up close and personal the next

She is equally matched by the entire cast. Everyone fearlessly plunges into the broad comedy and everyone has a voice perfectly suited to their role. Hollis Resnik, as Mother Superior has a lilting, expressive soprano that illicits memory of past singing  nuns and tempers her performance with strength and dignity, even as Michelle pushes her faith to extremes

One of the things I love so much about theatre, and any live performance for that matter, is those moments that catch us by surprise; when a song or a line of dialogue is married with a performance that, although we may see it coming, works so perfectly it takes us beyond what was expected. In Sister Act that moment was provided to me by Lael Van Keuren.

Lael plays Sister Mary Robert (all of the nuns have the first name Mary which as you can imagine springs off some pretty funny material) the convent's initiate, a young woman still deciding if she should take the vows to become a nun. She first comes across as shy and tentative and you just know she is going to have a "break out" moment; she does and although I saw it coming, it still took me up, it elevated me. Her song The Life I Never Led is written to be poingnant and Lael delivers it a voice that is clean, controlled and has such effortless power, I could have listened to it all night

As I said, Sister Act is a "feel good" musical so there are very few surprises, everything works out in the end. Perhaps that destination is a bit hackneyed and predictable, but the journey makes it all worth while.

OPEN YOUR BACK DOOR

"Shut the front door" had become a popular expletive ... it replaces something else

But I say it now in it's literal form: Shut the front door and open your back door

It's Fall here in Ontario and many people are jumping in cars and heading to the north or the west or the east to find the colours and the smell and the feeling ... when you can open up your own back door and find those very things

Leaves glinting yellow and red in the sunlight, piled on patio stones; water pooled in overturned lawn furniture or a forgotten toy; vines, almost naked of leaves, clinging to the bricks of the house as if seeking warmth

Stand on the patio with a cup of coffee and watch the dog rolling in the leaves, the mutter of cold soft rain against the drain spout: Autumn is out there

You don't have to go far to find it

ST LAWRENCE MARKET NEIGHBOURHOOD: NIKON D7000 SECOND TEST

An unusually beautiful Fall day: Sunny and warm and dry. A perfect opportunity to go out shooting with our new Nikon D7000

I had actually taken the camera downtown once before but as the old school newsmen say: There was nothing to report. The results were pretty dire; I had issues with focus as well as exposure.

This time I was certain I understood my mistakes so I decided to go down to St Lawrence Market ... and of course I picked the one day of the week the actual market itself is not open. Still, it is a very pretty neighbourhood down there that includes the Flatiron Building, parks with fountain and the market building itself

The results were more successful; at least I acquired footage I can actually show. Focus issues were solved, both auto and manual. The Nikon has a continuous focus mode but I doubt very much that I will ever use it. It is very much like old camcorder autfocus, constantly seeking and adjusting as you move the cam. Now this is not an issue for a still camera (and this, after all, a still camera) because  you would stop, wait for the focus to settle then snap your pic. But shooting video you do not want the lens constantly adjusting as you pan. But the other focus modes worked well enough.

One of the complaints I've read about the D7000 is that you cannot adjust exposure while you are in Live Mode, that is shooting video. You have to exit Live Mode (stop recording) adjust the exposure, then start recording again.

I have a technical response to the that: Bullshit

In the Menu I set the Movie Mode to Manual and then in both Full Auto or Aperture Priority, the two settings I most used, I was able to adjust exposure on the fly as I was recording, a nice feature indeed.

Movement in the camera is an issue. Again, this is a still camera so there is no electronic stabilization in the camera as I have in both my XL1 and my Sony handycam. I was using a little L bracket that screws to the bottom of the came and gives me a handle as well as a monopod; this rig helped but when I hand hold the camera it is extremely difficult to get a steady shot.

Overall I'm pleased with the image quality. I played a little with exposure but pretty much just shot "as is". I know there is more that I can do. There are Scene settings and Shooting Sets still to be experimented with but I was curious to see what the cam could do as if I was shooting with my other HD cam.

The one advantage to the Nikon is the 24 fps shooting speed; in some scenes this gave a more "movie like" feel but in the bright sunlight it was not so terribly different from what I'd get with my Sony. The other advantage to the 7000 is that I shoot with Nikkor lenses and that is defintiely (and here comes a complex technical term) yummy. The 50 mm 1.8 lens is razor sharp and with both lenses (I mostly shot with a 18 - 200 mm zoom) the colour was rich and deep. And I was able to achieve a depth of focus that the Sony cannot match.

I use the Sony as a "run and gun" video cam because of its very small size. It is a great cam to just whip out (steady now let's keep this post PG) set your shot, hit record all in a few seconds. Not so much with the Nikon. It has to be steadied, focusseed, DOF adjusted then record.

Then there is zooming. Recording while zooming in and out is something overused in video (and I am guilty of that) but it is something I like to use. I think of it as a "reveal"; start in tight on some object, like a window pane then pull out to reveal some Gothic building. The Sony has a very smooth motorized zoom that with a difference in pressure in your fingers you can easily adjust the speed of the zoom

None of Collette's lenses have motorized zoom, it is actually something rare on still cams, there really isn't need for it. So I felt very old school, when I used to shoot with tube cameras that recorded to separate video decks and you had to zoom manually; sometimes old school should be called "no school" apparantly

Overall I was pleased with the results. I see the Nikon's potential. There is a lot more I can do to improve and change the image quality. Is it a good field camera or something best ustilized in film making where you have time to set up each shot ... we'll see

In the mean time, you can see the St Lawrence Market video

FIRST TEST: NIKON D7000

As I mentioned in my last post, Collette and I recently purchased a new camera. The Nikon D7000 is a Digital SLR, a still camera like Collette's D80 but with a significant difference; it also shoots video.

The 7000 records HD video in full 1080 p as well as 720 p, the former at 24 fps only, the latter at 24 and 30. FPS refers to frames per second; both my Standard Def Canon XL1 and my HD Sony handycam shoot video at 30 fps. Film is recorded at 24 fps and this is often seen as a superior, more "movie" like video frame rate.

There are of course camcorders that record at 24 fps but DSLRs like the 7000 are said to have other advantages; image sensor size, lens quality, shutter speed, exposure, and something called Dynamic Range, what us old timers would refer to as gamma or contrast.

Now I have my opportunity to find out for myself. A trip to my local dog park in search of some lost dog tags .. and no, not the military variety .. gave me the opportunity to give the camera its first video test.

For this test I used Collette's 18 - 200 mm lens

Some things were quickly evident; the range of option on the Nikon surpass anything my currrent cams, even my beloved XL1, can give me. The Nikon gives you many options; several customizable white balance settings, over 30 Auto Focus settings, several depth of field settings on auto or semi auto modes and of course, manual whatever the hell you want.

Sometimes more can be a tad confusing. In the video below you will see good and bad examples of depth of field; the dog on the picnic table at 50 seconds bad, the dog in show pose at 1 minute 47 seconds good. What can I say, there's a learning curve.

I fiddled around with the various settings and modes; autofocus, manual focus, aperture priority etc. A couple of the shots came out darker than intended and I had to touch them up in post. Again, it's all about learning. This camera has a lot of options, many of which I am unfamiliar with, eventually they will come more quickly and smoothly. Even on this first shoot I was leaving the full auto mode in the dust but that is not at all surprising.

Handling the D7000 is also a learning curve. This is, at its heart, a still camera, not a video camera and then needs between the two in terms of handling, are different. Some DSLR models have adjustable swing out monitors, this one does not, I was feeling that lack today; I have a penchant for low angle shots (low) and a flip up monitor is lovely but it's nothing I can't work around.

Stablilization is going to be a factor. I shot with my L bracket; it screws into the bottom of the cam and gives me a little handle, this was helpful but you'll still see the camera shake, even when not zoomed in. At the Exposure camera show I demoed the Steadicam Merlin, a relatively small glidecam that you can operate with one hand. The thing was a dream, and I will be dreaming of the 800 dollar price tag for some time. There are other more affordable solutions out there and I'll be looking into them.

One of my concerns about DSLRs is the storage; I love having the freedom of shooting as much as I like and not worrying about running out of storage space. Like all DSLRs, the 7000 records to memory cards. One of the things I like about this cam is that it has two slots. Currently I have two Grade 10 32 GB cards in the cam. I should be able to put about 3 hours of video on each; I have a third card so ideally I can go out on a shoot with 9 hours potential, that may satisfy even me

Overall, I came away happy; the dynamic range is there, the frame rate is there, and the lens quality is there. I hope to very soon take it to a "real world" kind of situation where I will have to be able to record footage on the run, fairly quickly.

The camera will be up to the task, let's see if I can say the same about myself. Well I will the say the same about myself but then, I tend to be delusional.

WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS AND WHAT'S YOURS IS MINE

A funny thing happened to me on my way to the Video & Photo show ...

Well first things first. Exposure is a video and photography trade show that happens in a few Canadian cites and of course I attended the one here in Toronto.

I've been to this show before. Trades like this are a great place to see a lot of different gear, and the vendors, under one roof. There are addresses and demo's and new products .. oh my!

It really is a great opportunity to try out new gear, demoed by company reps who are often of course more informed than some high school grade working for a percentage in some retail store. I got a demo of the Steadicam Merlin, a small camera stabilizer well outside my price range but oh oh oh oh so beautiful and liquid and cam-glidey ...

Sorry, I may need a moment.

Anyway ... I do often buy stuff at these shows. On average, on new products,  you can save between 30 and 50 bucks. There are often used and open box deals at better rates and many tables filled with the crap the store hasn't sold in 5 years for a few bucks.

This show is video as well as photo so I often go shopping for Collette as well as myself.

Which leads us to the explaination of this post. Collette's shopping list for this show included some new photo editing software, a remote control shutter release, maybe some picture frames. Well she got some of that ... and a bit more

Collette has had her beloved Nikon D80 for many years ago and lately has been bumping up against some limitations as she becomes more serious about her photography. I always try to keep an eye open for a new camera for her, one with more up to date bells and whistles.

I have also been curious about exploring video creation on a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera; I appreciate the image quality of these cams but have had some issues with things like media storage, audio, clip limitations etc. Many folks sing the praises of certain Canon models and I own a Canon dedicated video cam but Collette has several high quality Nikon lenses so that was something I need to consider ...

The Nikon D7000 is a camera that addresses both Collette and mine's needs ... and they happened to be on sale at the show. So I bought one, along with a big fat memory card for the video and a 1.8 50 mm fixed focal lens, one of the few that Collette does not already own.

It features a larger sensor than the D90, two card slots, a wider range of focus zones, ability to write in more versions of RAW and a huge range of new photo features. On my side, it shoots in full 1080p HD video at 24 fps as well as three other video settings, an external audio input, ability to shoot video in autofocus and many others.

As to the audio issue, the one thing I know about DSLRs is that you don't want to use their built in mics for much so I took advantage on the deals at the show and bought a Rode shotgun mic. I've worked with several audio pro's and it seems that every one of them had a Rode somethingorother in their kits so that's a good enough reccomendation for me

Damn, the mic looks enormous in that pic. Is that a black dirigible in your pocket or are you just excited to see me...

Anyway.

Here's the deal on all of this. Collette needed a new camera. She knows she wants to take advantages of all the new and improved features. I'm curious about shooting video with a DSLR but haven't been convinced enough to buy one for myself. So this is Collette's camera and I'm going to use it as well.

So Collette is going to share this with me ..

Collette .. sharing ...

I should be afraid, very afraid.

OK now it's time for a little distraction. I took my palmcorder to the show, I shot a little video, so let's not waste it, here's a very quick video of the show, complete with cheesy effects.

WHAT IS A CITY

What is a city.

Is it the concrete, or the people who drive on the concrete walk on the concrete draw images on the concrete

Is it the glass, or the building made from the glass the people watching their reflections in the glass watching other people through the glass

Is it the brick, or the feet that step on the brick the wheels that sigh across the brick the birds that search for seeds in the bricks

Is the city the buildings or those who built them or those who use them ...

What is a city

Recently events in my city have had me a bit disheartened. From lack of vision when it comes to Toronto's waterfront, to total confusion about how to develop our transit, to interesting neighbourhoods being destroyed to make ways for the private homes of the rich

I know my city is not unique, many cities, particularly large cities have these issues. We think of cities sometimes for their buildings, for the brick and mortar ... at the same time we may think of a city for its people.

When you think of New York City you may think of the Empire State Building but you may also think about some colorful character you met on the subway

Toronto is the CN Tower but it's also the doorman standing outside of the King Edward Hotel who, even in the bitter cold of winter, smiles at you and tips his hat.

I grew up in a city that reveres its past and I now live in a city that seems to think the past can be replaced by another billion dollar condo building.

A city is the past, the present, the future, the lack of a future, a city is defined moment to moment by everyone who lives in it, dreams in it, passes through it, is born in it, who dies in it.

We are the city. The city is us.

This is my city. This is your city. This is our city.

This city.

THE COLOURS OF THANKSGIVING

A pink sky at sunset, red leaves twisting in air, water sparkling blues as the sun hits it, ancient rock rippled with colour from ages of transition; this is autumn on the Georgian Bay.

For our annual Thanksgiving sojourn to Nares Inlet, Collette and I were able to squeeze in an extra day for the visit. That meant more time for the family and more time for me to explore the bush with my intrepid explorer and amateur (very amateur) animal tracker Miss Terra. They say dogs have a limited perceived colour spectrum, well so do I but we were still able to enjoy the fall colours

There are many critters in the bush around Springhaven Lodge and if you are patient and quiet you may be able to entice one of them to come right up to you ... or just have her daddy bring her into your cabin.

We had excellent weather over all. At one point Terra and I got caught in a brief rain and sleet storm; I'm not sure she even noticed. With the inlet right outside our door and many bogs and culverts along on the road, she spent very little of the weekend actually dry. All worth it of course when you can wake up, step out onto your porch and see the inlet, still as dark glass and wreathed with early morning mist.

A big part of this weekend is always gathering together as many people as possible (this year it was over 50) loading them into boats and going out to a rock island in the Georgian Bay to nosh, have a few beers, explore and play a silly game just for the fun of it. So many people and so many boats, one wonders if it showed up and was flagged on certain NSA satellite feeds. One wonders what the analysts made of this floating shoe box .. what we all like to call the house boat

Once we moored on the island I demonstrated my enthusiasm for the upcoming Aquaman movie by doing an impression of the aquatic superhero ... well, something similar. No need to dwell on that, let's move on

Ahem

It was a cool yet sunny day and the infamous north offshore wind was fairly sedate, making it a perfect idea to crack a few beers, share some food, tell some tales and explore this island that is like the expression of Canadian Shield machismo, thrust up as it is from the cold deep waters of the Bay

All in all a good day and a great weekend but it's always nice to fold up the plastic tables, load up the boats and head home. By the end, even Terra was tired, and that is always saying something.

So while she's napping and I'm wringing out my jeans, enjoy the video.