Jakob rolls 1d4, 1d12 and 1d20 to select a CD from his collection to review.
Today’s roll: 3 – 2– 5
Result: Standing In The Dark by Platinum Blonde.

As you know, I am a newspaper reporter. Over the past couple of months, I have covered events as diverse as health board meetings, student science fairs and attempted robberies. It’s a busy life, and an eclectic one, but once in a while, an assignment comes along that really lights my fires.

Like the time I was sent to interview a flying serial killer.

I don’t get to actually see him fly, because his studio is kind of small, and he’s not really a serial killer — he only plays one in the movies. But he does make a table levitate for me. It’s fun watching my very tall photographer duck as the table swoops around his head. The outtakes from his camera show a lot of shocked expressions, on his face and mine.

The flying man is Peter Loughran, the Master of Illusions. He’s a Canadian magician, actor and illusionist who, most of the time, works behind the scenes. You’ve seen his large-scale and small-scale illusions on Las Vegas stages and in the shows of some of the top performers in the field, including Criss Angel. But Loughran works on his elaborate magic closer to my neck of the woods, in a nondescript building on the shores of a cold lake in central Ontario.

Inside that nondescript building, though, magic is found. Swords hang from the walls. A bleeding, dripping severed head sits on a shelf. On the wall is a huge poster of Loughran in midair; he invented and sells a device called The Elevator, which allows users to levitate, even when surrounded by a crowd. In other words, flying.

He won’t tell me how it works. In fact, he can’t say much about his work, as it has to remain a secret. At one point, I try to jot down some observations from a secret formula pinned to the wall; Loughran points and my pen vanishes. Luckily, I have another.

The reason I’m here in Peter’s lair, with a photographer, is to talk about Plaster Rock. It’s a new low-budget horror film that was shot in December in New Brunswick, Canada. Loughran plays a key role in the film, as a mysterious magician/villain who prowls the remote forests of Plaster Rock.

“How were you cast in the film?” I ask.

“Well, they needed an actor who could also perform magic, as that’s a part of the character,” he says. “And they needed someone who could double as the magic consultant, and assist with special effects and makeup.”

In other words, it’s a pretty narrow field for casting agents. As soon as the producers started asking around within the illusion community, Loughran’s name kept popping up.

Within days, he was out in the snow, filming the movie. It will be released this spring, with a gala launch in — where else — my living room. No, actually, it’ll be in Las Vegas.

Plaster Rock is loosely based on a true story about a murder case from the 1930s. Adapted to modern-day, the film tells the story of a group of young people on a cross-country ski adventure race who run afoul of a black-cloaked figure who lives in the forest and can disappear in a cloud of smoke. This is, as Loughran calls it, micro-budget horror filmmaking … in other words, right up my alley.

There are days when I thank my assignment editor profusely.

Kennedy, Starbase 66

Visit the Master of Illusions

See the Plaster Rock trailer

Note: Thanks to Global Universal Pictures and Peter Loughran for the photo.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are best known to the masses for their 1997 hit, “The Impression That I Get,” (also known to many as the ‘Knock On Wood’ song), from their platinum album “Let’s Face It.”  You younger kids may know them from their song “Where’d You Go?” in Rock Band 2, or their cameo as the band playing in Clueless.  However you may know them, or even if you don’t, you should know that they have a new album out called “Pin Points & Gin Joints,” which reflects the band’s progression from young kids melding ska and hardcore in the 80’s Boston music scene, to their current status as grownups who still have the passion to put together an album despite being a part-time band, being scattered around the country, and holding down other jobs, like frontman Dicky Barrett’s current gig as announcer for late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live.  I had the chance to reconnect with saxophonist and original member Tim “Johnny Vegas” Burton, who I haven’t spoken to since the heyday of ska music in the late 90’s, when I hosted a ska and punk rock radio show in New York.  We talk about the current state of the band, future plans, and cover the Gunaxin.com 6 questions.  Check out the band and their new album at www.BosstonesMusic.com.  Yes, I know this is Simply READ, but here is a special MP3 interview not available on our show feed, so Simply Listen.  (WARNING- Audio is not the best due to circumstances beyond my control.)

Posted by Jay from the Masters Of None podcast.  Follow Jay on Twitter.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:00 — 9.6MB)

ROSE GRAY 28 JANUARY 1939 – 28 FEBRUARY 2010

Sunday 28th February saw the sad passing after a prolonged battle with cancer of Rose Gray, a bona fide legend in the world of catering, and indeed modern British cuisine. I won’t treat this article as a formal obituary, but simply a mark of respect and gratitude from a chef aspiring to follow the example of Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. The pair opened a decidedly ramshackle, unassuming Italian cafe on Thames Wharf in the London borough of Hammersmith, initially as a canteen for the local business community. The striking difference to this canteen however was the emphasis on honest, ingredient-led cooking as experienced by Gray during stints living and working in Tuscany. This sounds like the credo of every London restaurant now, but in 1987 it was a revelation. As Gray said, Italian food at that point was “all Spaghetti Bolognese and Tiramisu”.

The River Cafe changed all that, and more. At that point, London dining establishments were in the grip of Nouvelle Cuisine fever, the epitome of Emperor’s New Clothes 80’s tackiness. Flavour profiles and the showcasing of wonderful ingredients were eschewed in favour of competing to see who was ballsy enough to put the weirdest combinations of car-crash flavours together in miniscule portions, with a horrifying price tag to solidify the soulless “greed is good” trend of the city. As for the rest of the country – you really don’t want to know what the general level of dining was in 1987. Trust me. Thank the Food Gods, then, for Rose and Ruth and the shimmering oasis of the River Cafe. Dishes were served that sometimes only had two or three ingredients. Platings were simple. The ingredient was the king, the lure, the dangling carrot was, well, very often a carrot. The Cafe soon became massively popular, an institution to food lovers. The pair were approached to write a book. They declined, explaining that they were cooks, not writers. Eventually they were won over, and again, I give thanks that they did. Of all chefs who publish cookbooks, and I mean ALL, the biggest testament to the impact of these two ladies I can impart is that the River Cafe Cookbook, not to mention it’s progeny, has been present in every single kitchen I have ever worked in. More than Larousse, Escoffier, even the college-issued “Practical Cookery”, the Ramsay and Oliver ouvre (and more of the latter in a moment) – if the chef had a love for food, you could bet there would be a dog-eared, splattered copy of TRCC somewhere in the dry store. Everything in those books, as long as you followed the recipes, both worked and tasted delicious. And I’ve cooked the first book from cover to cover. Spaghetti with Crab and Chilli, Amarone Risotto, Zuppa di Pesce, Sea Bass with Lemon and Fennel…I learnt a lot about respecting the things you cook from their recipes. Another great point of admiration I have for Gray is the total lack of desire to become famous outside of the kitchen. Make no mistake, there was no celebrity in this chef. She took her pleasure from the undeniable buzz that is to be had from working a stove, running a pass, and in training youngsters. This last aspect is legendary when talking about the River Cafe. In the near two and a half decades of trading, the Cafe produced a good percentage of Britain’s best young chefs, most famously the now for better or worse ubiquitous Jamie Oliver. Look through an Oliver cookbook, then bring up the current menu at the River Cafe to see the difference made by Gray’s teaching. She may not have had a show on the Food Network, a range of signature pans or a raft of annoying TV commercials, but in my world, in the circles I move in, we have lost a true national treasure in the incomparable Rose Gray. The legacy she leaves is the most perfect tribute.

Rose Gray (front) and Ruth Rogers at work in the River Cafe

Casey – (Here Goes Nothing)

Jakob rolls 1d4, 1d12 and 1d20 to select a CD from his collection to review.
Today’s roll: 1 – 7– 9.
Result: Horse Rotor Vator by Coil.

Hi all

My posts on here have been extremely limited so far and comes down to one simple fact. I am a lazy git.

I find it much easier to talk into some method of audio recording device than to sit and type out my random meanderings onto a computer.But as I think Simply Read is such a fine addition to the Simply Syndicated site, I was inspired to come up with a more regular contribution.

Now deciding what I could write about was not easy, in fact it took some guidance from my eminently brilliant co host to get me to this point.

Some of you may know that I do a rather massive amount of driving in my job and over the years have been to countless places. My little corner of simply read is going to be experiences, impressions, recollections and as I said before meanderings about my travels. The places, the people and er………… the local takeaway amenities?

I am sure at some points it will enter rant territory and much will be with my tongue firmly set in cheek. There may well also be some bashing of local customs, enforcing of stereotypes but on the flip side there will be some that I dispute. I hope that in doing this I get across to those not UK based some of the vast differences here between places so geographically close on such a small island.

There will be little or no research, no accurate historical facts, just whatever comes out of my head. So er………..sorry in advance. Continue Reading…

The makers of Tron 2 are raising the bar for nerdgasmic marketing events. Check out the video in the “Flynn Lives Meet-up” post for proof. I think the line “I’ve been waiting since I was 12 to play Space Paranoids and there it was” says it all. These guys know their target demographic like the back of their hand.

At 4pm EST today, tickets are being released through the Flynn Lives site for some kind of secretive IMAX pre-screening events worldwide. Nerds in the know will be on that.

How many times have we all uttered that phrase when we hear of the next reboot or remake coming out of Hollywood? An American Werewolf in London; Short Circuit; Poltergeist, Logan’s Run…how many more of our treasured memories are they going to destroy? I know I’ve been guilty of saying such things more than once on Starbase 66, and in ‘real’ life, but I’m starting to think that we are aiming our vitriol in the wrong direction.

When we interviewed Herb and Harrison Solow last year they both said something that took a while to sink in. In both conversations the question of the apparent addiction to crap in Hollywood was brought up, and they both pointed out that if people wouldn’t buy tickets to such things, then film makers would stop making them. We are like the bloated, stuffed to bursting patron of the all-you-can-eat buffet who, after gorging himself, shouts insults at the chef on his way out to his minivan. We decry the multi-million dollar detritus being foisted upon us by Tinsel Town, yet line up like the sheep we are every time Michael Bay or James Cameron squeezes out another formulaic blockbuster. Continue Reading…

Jakob rolls 1d4, 1d12 and 1d20 to select a CD from his collection to review.
Today’s roll: 4 – 4 – 10.
Result: Black Power: Music of a Revolution by Various Artists.

The DeGrassi brand is a big one in Canada, and in parts of the States, too. It can refer to four or five TV series, some movies, books, even pencil cases and glittery nail polish. Today, though, I’m talking about just one facet of the franchise: DeGrassi Jr. High.

This 80s teen drama fooled a lot of people who thought they were watching a funny little show about kids. Instead, they got kick-assed by actual relevant topics: right off the bat, a 13-year-old girl announced she was pregnant. Later, characters would drink, use drugs, experiment with sex, question their sexuality and basically do things that real kids were really doing. This was possible because Canada has always had a much more mature attitude about television than America.

Do you remember when Brandon got drunk (on his first sip of liquor) and crashed his car off-camera, later to swear he Would Never Drink Again? That kind of 90210 heavy-handedness was largely absent from DeGrassi Jr. High. Later, when the show became DeGrassi High, the writers started dumbing things down, and by the end of it (a TV movie) it was a full-on Melrose Place tribute.

DeGrassi Jr. High was unabashedly Canadian, even after it started appearing on US TV in the late 80s. There was never any attempt to disguise dirty old Toronto as anything but. One episode features an attempt to buy beer at one of our Brewers’ Retail outlets, and nails it perfectly, stubby bottles and all. And there was a lot of sex-based humour; in one episode, Wheels thinks he might get lucky with Stephanie, but when he tried to buy condoms, the pharmacist is Stephanie’s mom. D’oh!

The show gave us some memorable characters. Joey Jeremiah, Caitlin, Snake, the twins, Spike, BLT (did you see BLT on the Lost episode What Kate Does? Yeah, that was him), Liz, Arthur, Yick … These were children first, actors second, and they looked it. Shot without makeup, in natural light, in a real school on a real street (a popular tourist stop in Toronto), DeGrassi Jr. High looked like a bad documentary, but felt like real life.

We all knew kids like the kids on this show. I’m a few years older than the actors, and by the late 80s I was out of high school and off to college, but even then, Monday nights meant everyone stopped what they were doing and tuned in for some DeGrassi. And we all knew someone who reminded us of someone on the show. There was a rock band called The Zit Remedy that knew exactly one song, and there was a band like that at my elementary school. We were called The Rhythm Method, and I am not making that up.

There’s a new series. I’ve never seen it, but I understand that it’s a direct sequel, with the original characters now the parents, and a new crop of young’uns. But every commercial I’ve seen makes it look slick and Hollywoody. Somewhere around here I have a DVD of the Kevin Smith appearances on the new DeGrassi: The Next Generation (love that title), so I guess I’ll have to watch at some point.

I found old DeGrassi DVDs, five episodes apiece, for a few bucks at a local store. I think I’ll pick them up for my kids, because as they get older, TV gets stupider, and I’d like them to watch something with heart.

– Kennedy, Starbase 66