Showing posts with label justified. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justified. Show all posts

Friday, 15 March 2013

Support your local musicians!

Brea Lawrenson
Yes, we do.

Support our local folks. We write of the brain drain, but the talent drain, whereby Canadian artists go south and become famous, but lose their sense of their roots. Yes, they make the big bucks, but the USA Media influence on Canada is horrible. My former neighbour, Marc Jordan, who married Amy Sky, seldom visits Canada. You cannot tell he is Canadian.

Unlike CBC, especially @CBCRadioQ, which is trying to take the Canadian out of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC),
I believe in rewarding Canadians who remain in Canada.

Jian Ghomeshi's infamous interview with Billy Bob Thornton was a perfect case in fact. An arrogant man, who drew listeners, but took up the time a Canadian musician might need to share his music, Thornton was rude and obnoxious.

Brea's supportive family at O'Reilly's Pub!
Today, as I write this, Ghomeshi is featuring a fabulous American actor, Timothy Olyphant, of Justified, who really doesn't need any Canadian marketing!

Does it ever make me mad. Canadian taxpayers support CBC, and they are going after the US market. They are putting out Q to suck in the US market.
The marketing machine in the US toddles on well on its own.

One of my heroes is Stompin' Tom Connors who refused to go to the dark side. Friends.ca featured him. Nov 23, 2012 — Campaign: The CBC We Want
Canadians from across the country tell the CRTC what kind of CBC they want.
We have many, many Canadian musicians who have not gone to the dark side, and taken their knowledge, skills, talents to the south, where they lose that very thing that makes them Canadian.
Brea Lawrenson

 Our local pub, O'Reilly's, which usually features Brock Zeman on Tuesdays, had a young lady in doing covers of many great songs. A fine, melifuous voice.

Brea Lawrenson
As back-up she has Keith Glass on her CD. Another local man who continues to nurture your young talent.

This is the CD I bought! Somewhere To Go.

Saturday, 26 January 2013

Justified

I am justified, but first, a word from our sponsor!

Do you remember this commercial?
Palmolive, 'You're soaking in it!'
I loved this commercial. The woman who plays Madge, the beautician, is still acting. She was one of the 'bad guys' in one of the shows we watch, Justified.

It's a pretty tough show, based as it is in the coal-mining towns of Harlan, Kentucky. Tough folks, where drugs, weed, and guns are rampant. There is a lot of shooting, and rotation of actors, since they don't hesitate to knock the bad guys off. I rather like that! It *is* justified!

This actor, Margo Martindale (read a longer interview here), created one of the best characters, Mags, who grows pot, and doesn't hesitate to knock off a few folks while taking care of her Bennet clan in a dog-eat-dog world. She is the epitomization of the strong working mother, the mother bear, protecting her flock! Mind you, she'd eat her young if they stepped out of line...


We believe in supporting the shows we like, and purchased the syndicated show, the third season.

Timothy Olyphant, a stud muffin and straight shooter and actor in his 40s, is not only the star, but also a producer. In real life, he is a parent of three 20-something women. According to an interview, he's often confusing the public, who think perhaps he is robbing the cradle! He was a young father, and is in a marriage to Alexis Knief, his College sweetheart.

A good guy with the morals of his sheriff's badge, using his negotiation skills with the perps.
The other supporting actors are fabulous, too. The dude who play Boyd Crowder (Character),  is excellent, too. Walton Goggins stars in the pivotal role of "Boyd Crowder", long-time friend, yet ultimate nemesis of "U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens", played by Timothy Olyphant. Jeremy Egner of The New York Times writes, "Olyphant may embody the steely-eyed, white-hatted hero on "Justified" (2010), but Walton Goggins supplies the show's tortured soul". Elmore Leonard, executive producer and writer of the short story, "Fire in the Hole", on which the show is based, says of "Boyd", "There has never been a more poetic bad guy on television in the way that he sees the world".

They don't use the big name folks, since many are typecast, and would be unbelievable, hubby thinks. I think he is right!

There is a Canadian connection, as well. Graham Yost is the creator and executive producer of the series. Born in Etobicoke, he is the son of Canadian television personality Elwy Yost, the longtime host of the public broadcaster TVOntario's Saturday Night at the Movies. He lives in California with his family.

The show is based on a series of books by Elmore Leonard.

Well you may wonder why I celebrate such a show. Truthfully, we don't seem to be the target audience for many shows. In the ratings-driven big bucks world of prime time TV, despite being in those swollen ranks of baby boomers, people with money to spend, and time to watch TV; they seem to target the youngsters who like the titillation of scantily clad actors, and the blood and gore, without the strength of a good plot, characterization, costuming and dialogue.
As if an officer of the law could show up wearing sleeveless t-shirts, and no bra. Just sayin'!




This is why I like to support the shows we do like. Ratings trumps good writing every time and we must fight that in this world of Cheap-Mart, poor writing, and cheap thrills.

I would recommend renting the first season, as there is much character development, and it helps to know the backstory.


"Justified"  Mags Bennet
    - Bloody Harlan (2011) TV episode, Played by Margo Martindale
    - Reckoning (2011) TV episode, Played by Margo Martindale
    - Full Commitment (2011) TV episode, Played by Margo Martindale.