"Bernard Brule Les Ondes, Vol. 2!" #60 - Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes, Vol. 2!" #60 – Playlist

Host/Producer: Bernard C. Cormier

Broadcast: 12-4AM, November 29, 2014 on CFAI

Pre-Recorded Voice Tracks: November 28, 2014

1)      X-Ray Spex – “Oh Bondage Up Yours!”

2)      Teenage Jesus and The Jerks – “Red Alert”

3)      The Shins – “Know Your Onion!”

4)      Red Hot Chili Peppers – “I Could Have Lied”

5)      Katerine – “Musique d’Ordinateur”

6)      Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70 – “Expensive Shit”

7)      Liz Phair – “H.W.C.”

8)      Fucked Up – “Queen of Hearts”

9)      Iggy Pop – “Butt Town”

10)   Interpol – “Obstacle 1”

11)   Mashmakhan – “As The Years Go By”

12)   Marty Robbins – “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife”

13)   John Denver – Rocky Mountain High”

14)   John Cooper Clarke – “Evidently Chickentown”

15)   Jay Arner – “Midnight On South Granville”

16)   Nada Surf – “Popular”

17)   Pink Floyd – “Absolutely Curtains”

18)   Pete Seeger – “Union Maid”

19)   Phish – “Billy Breathes”

20)   Peter Murphy – “Final Solution”

21)   Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra – “Xanadu”

22)   Morrissey – “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Succesful”

23)   Pavement – “Rattled By The Rush”

24)   Nine Inch Nails – “March of The Pigs”

25)   Marcel “Maxi” LaPlante – “Gramma of The Farm”

26)   Nico – “The End”

27)   Nirvana – “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter”

28)   Neil Young – “We R In Control”

29)   The Organ – “Fire In The Ocean”

30)   France Gall – “Quand On Est Ensemble”

31)   The Mars Volta – « Eriatarka »

32)   The Free Design – « Redesigned (Intro) »

33)   The Doors – “The Soft Parade”

34)   The Hidden Cameras – “A Miracle”

35)   The Frogs – “Children, Run Away (The Man with the Candy)”

36)   The Cure – “Just Like Heaven”

37)   The Beatles – “Revolution 9”

38)   60 Lps – “Little Truths”

39)   John Lennon,  Yoko Ono – “Radio Play”

40)   Joel Plaskett – “Sailors Eyes”

41)   Pop Will Eat Itself – “Wise Up! Sucker”

42)   Syd Barrett – “Golden Hair”

43)   Siouxsie and The Banshees – “Fireworks”

44)   Tenacious D – “Drive-Thru”

45)   Sloan – “Waiting For Slow Songs”

46)   Talking Heads – “No Compassion”

47)   Rush – “The Pass”

48)   Serge Gainsbourg – “Ballade de Melody Nelson”

49)   Sonic Youth – “Tom Violence”

50)   Radiohead – “Morning Bell”

51)   The Afghan Whigs – “Double Day”

52)   Stereolab – “Jenny Ondioline”

Due to an unforeseen situation, my radio program, BBLO2, will not air tonight. It will return next week with #45. 

Bernard C. Cormier - "Bernard Brule Les Ondes, Vol. 2!" #42

Bernard C. Cormier - "Bernard Brule Les Ondes, Vol. 2!" #42

Recorded > July 18, 2014
Broadcast > July 19, 2014

CFAI > FM, Internet, Digital Cable

http://www.bernardccormier.com
http://www.youtube.com/bernardccormier
http://www.twitter.com/bernardccormier
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bernard-C-Cormier/144013739003032

Don't Trust a Computer

BBLO2 #41 > Every week, the computer system at CFAI either doesn't play the last song(s) of "Bernard Brule Les Ondes, Vol. 2" or one of them gets an early fade-out.

I've come to expect it.

This week, I expected the last track, Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music, Part 1", to get cut after the first 2 minutes or so. Instead, the whole track played and the usual post-BBLO2 dance music only began at 2:11AM.

It's great that the Lou Reed track was played but the moral of this story is that a computer-initiated fade-out will not be there if you expect it to be.

.... But it will be there if you don't want it.

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes, Vol. 2!" #39 - Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!”: Vol. 2, #39 – Playlist

Host/Producer: Bernard C. Cormier

Broadcast: 12-2AM, June 28, 2014 on CFAI

Pre-Recorded Voice Tracks: June 27, 2014

11)      The Kids – “Sesame Street Theme”

22)      They Might Be Giants – “Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head”

33)      The Lemonheads – “If I Could Talk I’d Tell You”

44)      Morrissey – “Suedehead”

55)      Syd Barrett – “Golden Hair”

66)      Chromeo – “Come Alive”

77)      Gordon Lightfoot – “Summer Side of Life”

88)      Lana Del Ray – “Summertime Sadness”

99)      Genesis – “The Knife”

110)   Ramones – “Pet Semetary”

111)   Alexisonfire – “Pulmonary Archery”

112)   Beck – “Lord Only Knows”

113)   Black Flag – “TV Party”

114)   Goyte – “Eyes Wide Open”

115)   Grover – “Over, Under, Around and Through”

116)   The Velvet Underground – “The Gift”

117)   The Beatles – “Revolution 9”

118)   The Free Design – “2002 – A Hit Song”

119)   Neil Young – “We R In Control”

220)   Pink Floyd – “Echoes”

221)   Phish – “Billy Breathes”

222)   Loretta Lynn – “Rated X”

223)   America – “Lonely People”

Free Emma Czornobaj

Free Emma Czornobaj

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!”: Vol. 2, #34 – Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!”: Vol. 2, #34 – Playlist

Host/Producer: Bernard C. Cormier

Broadcast: 11:58PM, May 23 – 1:53AM, May 24, 2014 on CFAI

Pre-Recorded Voice Tracks by Bernard C. Cormier: May 23-24, 2014

1) Katerine – “Il veur faire un film”
2) The Sugarcubes – « Birthday »
3) Queen – « Bicycle Race »
4) Mudhoney – « Touch Me, I’m Sick »
5) Eric’s Trip – “Allergic To Love”
6) Purple Knight – “Fireball 500”
7) Silversun Pickups – “Substitution”
8) Pixies – “Alec Eiffel”
9) Chromeo – “Come Alive”
10) Panic At The Disco – “Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off"
11) The Vines – “Vision Valley”
12) The Strokes – “Hard To Explain”
13) Toad The Wet Sprocket – “Something’s Always Wrong”
14) M83 – “Midnight City”
15) The Grapes of Wrath – “O Lucky Man”
16) The Super Friendz – “10lbs”
17) The Velvet Underground – “New Age”
18) Loretta Lynn – “The Pill”
19) Ciccone Youth – Into The Groove(y)”
20) Daft Punk – “Digital Love”
21) Chad Vangaalen – “Burning Photographs”
22) The Afghan Whigs – “You My Flower”
23) Belle and Sebastian – “Another Sunny Day”
24) Blondie – “Hanging On The Telephone”
25) Blur – “For Tomorrow”
26) Pavement – “Shady Lane / J. Vs S.”
27) Sloan – “People of The Sky”
28) Marty Robbins – “El Paso”
29) The Smashing Pumpkins – “Stumbleine”
30) Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet – “Shadowy Countdown”

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!": Vol. 2, #33 - Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!”: Vol. 2, #33 – Playlist

Host/Producer: Bernard C. Cormier
Broadcast: 12:01-2AM, May 17, 2014 on CFAI
Pre-Recorded Voice Tracks: May 16, 2014

1) The Smashing Pumpkins – “Thirty-Three”
2) Liam Lynch – “United States of Whatever”
3) Alexisonfire – “Boiled Frogs”
4) Aphex Twin – “Windowlicker”
5) Rush – “2112”
6) Elevator – “A Taste of The Great Beyond”
7) Pink Floyd – “Echoes”
8) Kraftwerk – “The Robots”
9) Pavement – “Cut Your Hair”
10) Herman’s Hermits - "I'm Henry VIII, I Am"

Friday night on "Bernard Brule Les Ondes, Vol. 2": Interview - The Pack A.D.

BBLO2 #25 - Shortest BBLO Ever?

It looks like somebody/something made CFAI jump over my radio program this week (except for the introduction). CDs will be given away next week.

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #21 – Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #21 – Playlist

Host/Producer: Bernard C. Cormier
(Broadcast: 23h00, February 21st to 01h00 on February 22nd, 2014):

1) R.E.M. – “Harborcoat”
2) John Lennon & Yoko Ono – “Cambridge 1969”
3) Pink Floyd – “Atom Heart Mother”
4) The Smashing Pumpkins – “Pastichio Medley”
5) Kraftwerk – “Autobahn”
6) Stereolab – “Jenny Ondioline”

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #20 – Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #20 – Playlist

Host/Producer: Bernard C. Cormier
(Broadcast: 23h00, February 14th to 01h00 on February 15th, 2014):

1) The Smashing Pumpkins – “Love”
2) Pussy Riot – “Putin Has Pissed Himself”
3) The Sex Pistols – “New York”
4) Matmos – “Semen Song For James Bidgood”
5) Joel Plaskett – “Sailors Eyes”
6) Teenage Jesus and The Jerks – “I Woke Up Dreaming”
7) Sonic Youth & Lydia Lunch – “Death Valley ‘69”
8) The Teenagers – “Starlett Johansson”
9) Rush – “The Twilight Zone”
10) Golden Earring – “Twilight Zone”
11) Tool – “Schism”
12) Pink Floyd – “Empty Spaces”
13) Radiohead – “Morning Bell”
14) Nirvana – “Tourette’s”
15) The Smiths – “Meat Is Murder”
16) Pixies – “Monkey Gone To Heaven”
17) Some Velvet Sidewalk – “Mousetrap” (Live)
18) The Flaming Lips – “This Here Giraffe”
19) The Moldy Peaches – “Steak For Chicken”
20) Ramones – “Pet Sematary”
21) The Donnas – “Take It Off”
22) The Beatles – “The Inner Light”
23) The Free Design – “Dorian Benediction” (Caribou Remix)
24) Canned Hamm – “Bells of Sex”

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #19 – Playlist

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #19 – Playlist

Host/Producer: Bernard C. Cormier
(Broadcast: 23h00, February 7th to 01h00 on February 8th, 2014):

1) Peaches – “I Don’t Give a…”
2) Pavement – “Shady Lane / J Vs. S”
3) Weezer – “Surf Wax America”
4) Sloan – “People of The Sky”
5) Malcolm McLaren – “B.I. Bikki”
6) The Smashing Pumpkins – “Stumbleine”
7) Phish – “Billy Breathes”
8) Interpol – “Take You On a Cruise”
9) Belle and Sebastian – “Another Sunny Day”
10) Chad VanGaalen – “Peace On The Rise”
11) Hexes and Ohs – “Alive Until Saturday Night”
12) Katerine – “Sexy Cool”
13) Sonic Youth – “Teen Age Riot”
14) The Free Design – “2002 – A Hit Song”
15) The Mars Volta – “Eriatarka”
16) The Organ – “Memorize The City”
17) Thrush Hermit – “On The Sneak”
18) The Velvet Underground – “New Age”
19) Ween – “She Fucks Me”
20) Yo La Tengo – “Demons”
21) The Hidden Cameras – “A Miracle”
22) The Cure – “Lullaby”
23) Talking Heads – Sugar On My Tongue”
24) Pink Floyd – “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In a Cave and Grooving With a Pict”
25) Lou Reed – “Magic and Loss – The Summation”
26) M83 – “Don’t Save Us From The Flames”
27) Jale – “Not Happy”
28) Air – “Mer du Japon”

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!" : Vol. 2, #3 - Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #3 – Playlist

(Broadcast: 23h00, October 18th to 01h00 on October 19th, 2013)(Voice Tracks Recorded: October 17, 2013):

1) The Moldy Peaches – “Steak For Chicken”
2) Leonard Cohen – “The Great Event”
3) The Smashing Pumpkins – “Once In a While”
4) Pink Floyd – “Absolutely Curtains”
5) Air – “Mer du Japon”
6) Kraftwerk – “Autobahn”
7) Sonic Youth – “Green Light”
8) Sonic Youth & Lydia Lunch – “Death Valley `69”
9) Beck – “Lord Only Knows”
10) Lou Reed – “The Kids”
11) The Velvet Underground – “Lady Godiva`s Operation”
12) The Beatles – “Long, Long, Long”
13) John Lennon & Yoko Ono – “Radio Play”
14) The Organ – “Memorize The City”
15) Ween – “Pollo Asado”
16) Talking Heads – “People Like Us”
17) Chad Vangaalen – “Bones of Man”

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!" : Vol. 2, #2 - Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #2 – Playlist

(Broadcast: 23h00, October 11th to 01h03 on October 12th, 2013):

1) Liz Phair – “H.W.C.”
2) The Band – “Acadian Driftwood”
3) Pink Floyd – “Interstellar Overdrive”
4) Serge Gainsbourg & Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Lemon Incest”
5) Jacques Dutronc – « Fais pas ci, fais pas ça »
6) Françoise Hardy – « Message Personnel »
7) Joy Division – « Disorder »
8) Sebadoh – « Showtape `91 »
9) Sonic Youth – « (I Got a) Catholic Block”
10) John Lennon & Yoko Ono – “Cambridge 1969”
11) Ween – “She Fucks Me”
12) Talking Heads – “Memories Can`t Wait”
13) Chad Vangaalen – “Peace On The Rise”
14) The Smashing Pumpkins –“Age of Innocence”
15) Simon & Garfunkel – “Wednesday Morning, 3A.M.”
16) Radiohead – “Fitter Happier”
17) The Organ – “Fire In The Ocean”
18) Les Trois Accords – “Bing Bing”
19) Mounties – “Headphones”

Bernard Brule Les Ondes!: Vol. 2 - When? Where?

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!: Vol. 2" will be available to anyone who wants to listen to it around the world at the following website Friday nights starting at 11PM UTC-4 (AKA: Bolivian, Chilian and Canadian Atlantic Time):

http://cfai.fm/

It's also available in New Brunswick to some digital cable TV subscribers.

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!" : Vol. 2, #1 - Playlist

“Bernard Brule Les Ondes!” : Vol. 2, #1 – Playlist (Expected to air: 23h00 on October 4th to 01h00 on October 5th, 2013):
1) Angelo Badalamenti – "Red Bats With Teeth"
2) The Smiths – “Meat Is Murder”
3) Serge Gainsbourg – “Cargo Culte”
4) France Gall – “Les Sucettes”
5) Soeur Sourire – “La Pilule D’Or”
6) Air and Alessandro Baricco – « Bird »
7) The Beatles – “Revolution 9”
8) Yoko Ono and John Lennon – “Kiss Kiss Kiss”
9) Georges Brassens – “La Mauvaise Reputation”
10) Kraftwerk – « Tour De France »
11) Nico – « These Days »
12) The Velvet Underground – « Murder Mystery »
13) Lou Reed – “Metal Machine Music, Part 2”
14) Daniel Johnston – “Somethings Last a Long Time”
15) Depeche Mode – “Everything Counts”
16) Chad Vangaalen – Burning Photographs”
17) Aids Wolf – “Tied Up In Paper”

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!" Returns

"Bernard Brule Les Ondes!" will be retuning on October 4th, 2013.

More details to come...

My Old Articles & Other Things #9

Links To Some of My Videos and Some That I'm Was Involved With #2

"Fuego" (2009): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dezOjlJu78A

"Faim" (2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpe4c2CCbJo

Early-2000s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FGU1PDdfJM

2004> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPLBMOjzhiM

Strange Adventures

The term "strange adventures" has been frequently associated with the DC comic book series "Strange Adventures".

DC Comics has published many series titled simply "Strange Adventures" off-and-on since 1950. There will likely be another one published at some point in the future.

Volume 1: 1950-1973
Volume 2: 1999-2000
Volume 3: 2009
Volume 4: 2011

http://www.comics.org/series/704/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Adventures

Exploitation

People that volunteer for the East Coast Comic Expo or any other organization that exists to make a profit for an individual (or a group) are obviously being exploited.

Volunteering for such an organization would be like donating time to McDonalds or any other corporation.

When these types of groups tell people online “It’s your event! Give us your ideas!” they are once again attempting to exploit naïve individuals to help the organizers make money.

It’s common sense.

My advice: Don’t get fooled. Invest your time into activities that benefit you and not the bank accounts of others.

Transparency

(*Originally posted on May 25, 2012 at http://www.eastcoastcomicexpo.org/2012/05/transparency.html)

"Non-Profit" (or alternately "Not-For-Profit") organizations (or organizations publicly claiming to be) should voluntarily demonstrate financial transparency by making all financial records publicly available online, especially if the people managing them claim that they don't have any interested in making personal profit from such activities.

So called "Non-Profit" organizations like East Coast Comic Expo shouldn't be taken seriously without public transparency and an absence of secrecy.

If the organizers are really interested in making an event in the best interest of the public and not fill their clique-ish pockets with profit, they shouldn't need to read this blog post to publicly divulge such information.... Especially if they are planning to access public money and/or support for the event from any or all levels of Government.

The Government, and all of its branches, are owned by (and as such represent) the people (citizens), therefore everybody has a right to know all of the details about everything the civil servants are getting the public money, assets, and/or other types of resources involved with.

Permanently open the financial books for all to see.

Don't Trust Google. They want your copyrights.

Don't Trust Google.

The company wants your copyrights.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/04/25/google-drive-cloud-storage-terms.html

I Slept with Ivan Daigle and other facts

Here are some more facts presented in the names of History and Truth:

Ivan Daigle (real name: Yvon Daigle), a current contestant on “Canada’s Got Talent”, was engaged to one of my sisters.

He dumped her less than a month before the scheduled wedding in 1992.

(Draw your own conclusions. Did he ever repay my sister and parents for the wedding expenses already spent?)

They dated between 1988 and 1992.

We slept together numerous times during that period. By “slept” I mean the act of sleeping, not having sex, because we had to share either a bed or a couch at my parents’ cottage. Anyway, I was a minor at the time.

Ivan was born in 1970, the same year as Paul Pellerin (aka: Paul A. Pellerin), my politician Moncton City Councilor brother-in-law. They went to the same schools together, including Mathieu-Martin High School in Dieppe, NB. Ivan grew-up on Purdy Avenue in Moncton, NB while Paul’s family lived on Wildwood Court in the area of the city known as Westbrook Circle, named after its principal road.

Since Paul began dating my other sister, Charline Cormier-Pellerin (aka: Charline C-Pellerin), in 1991, there was an overlap period of at least 6 months when they were both involved with my family.

Ivan, Charline, and Paul all worked together at Sobey’s on Mountain Road in Moncton, NB.

Ivan released at least one recording, the song "Making Love Doesn't Make It Love", while he was dating my sister. Paid for by CFQM as part of a prize, it may have only been released on a various artists promo CD sent to radio stations. The song was co-written with Patrick _______. Patrick also worked for Sobey's and was Charline's boyfriend for a period in 1990.

Ivan started using "Ivan" as a stagename instead of "Yvon" (his real one) because he felt that it would sound like "Yvonne" when said in English, which would make his name sound "gay". (That's what he said.)

A Survey's Answers

Comics Buyer's Guide sent a survey to me a few months ago.

Here's my answer to one of the questions (+ what other people submitted): http://www.cbgxtra.com/comics-news-and-notes/what%E2%80%99s-your-favorite-comics-related-find-cbg-1689-may-2012

More Pictures by The Girlfriend

More photos of me getting shot at by a lense.

Photo #1: http://365project.org/dereumetz/365/2012-03-24

Photo #2: http://365project.org/dereumetz/365/2012-03-25

Enough Is Enough

I've heard about violence in the Middle-East my entire life and have come to a conclusion: There will NEVER be peace in the Middle-East because THEY obviously DON'T WANT IT.

If the countries in the Middle-East did want peace, they would have found common ground a long, long time ago.

Since like most, if not all, of you*, I'm fucking annoyed that I've heard about their wars my whole life. Therefore, in my opinion, the rest of the world should say "Go Fuck yourselves, war-loving Middle-Eastern Countries!" and permanently ignor all of them while they keep killing each other for stupid reasons.

Why not make a fence a-la-Mexico/USA around all of those countries and prevent everyone from leaving?

That way, it would be "their" problem and our news stories would finally stop being littered with their violent bullshit.

Enough is enough.

(*Note: "You"= Canadian citizen or other Westerner)

I`m The Girlfriend`s Subject

Here`s 3 photos taken by my girlfriend. I`m in all of them.

http://365project.org/dereumetz/365/2011-12-29

http://365project.org/dereumetz/365/2011-12-31

http://365project.org/dereumetz/365/2012-01-01

Open Letter To Facebook

Dear Facebook:

Go Fuck yourself with your dildo-shaped Timeline that you want to impose on your users!

Let your users use your site as they always have if they`re satisfied!

Why "fix" something that may not be "broken" for some people?

Again » Facebook: Go Fuck Yourself!

The Frogs: An Overview #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTF5GOPNsZ8

He`s "Pas Boddre!"

A short, bald, sweating, somewhat spaced-out man got on a bus that I was on at approximately 8:38PM last night. He sat down and proceeded to examin a zip-lock bag that appeared to contain either marijuana or hashish. Upon opening the bag, he poured half of whatever it was into his hand and then ate it. He then rolled a joint, stuck it in his mouth and pulled the bus-cord to indicate that his stop was approaching. He got off. Awkard and uncomfortable ride to say the least.

From the zip-lock sequence onwards, I kept looking at him thinking "WTF!"

He`s "pas boddre"! (Acadian Chiac)

Everybody`s Doing It, So Why Don`t I? (They`re Asking For Fans)

In this fake-friend world of social networks and associated networking, everybody wants you to be a friend AND a fan (usually on Facebook).

For that reason, along with the saying "if you can`t beat them, join them", I made a Facebook Fan Page months ago and now i`m promoting it on this blog.

Feel free to join and be a fan: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bernard-C-Cormier/144013739003032

R.I.P.: "Bernard Cs Comics"

Times & Transcript has killed "Bernard Cs Comics". They`re no longer interested in printing/publishing comic book/graphic novel reviews.

My Old Published Articles & Other Things#8

My Old Published Articles & Other Things#7

My Old Published Articles & Other Things#6

My Old Published Articles & Others Things#5

My Old Published Articles & Other Things#4

My Old Published Articles & Other Things#3

My Old Published Articles & Other Things#2

Links To Some of My Videos/Videos That I'm Was Involved With #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rESFC9ilJU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V5bBbtTeV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfqvRhJrrFI&NR=1

My Old Published Articles & Other Things#1

FICFA shines spotlight on short films

An annual tradition Metro movie buffs look forward to returns this week.

The Festival International du Cinéma Francophone en Acadie, also known as FICFA, has a mandate to present French-language films, including those made locally, to local audiences.

2010 marks the festival's 24th year in operation and it has grown steadily grown over the years, from the number of films presented to its visibility and cultural importance in the community.

Marie-Renée Duguay, executive director for Film Zone, Inc., the legal entity that owns and organizes the festival, agrees that FICFA has undergone a big transformation since its early years.

"The festival has evolved a lot in 24 years, for sure," she says. "When it started, it was over three days and there was maybe 15 films presented. Now, we have over 150 films presented.

"This year, we have over 35 programs we're presenting in our regular programming. We have a lot of parallel activities also, in the media arts component. That has also grown extensively in the last year."

Unlike most of the previous years, which mostly had short films presented before features, programming at FICFA is leaning more towards short films this year, which Marie-Renée believes is a film format deserving of its own audience.

"What is special about this year is the focus of the festival. We're focusing on short films. Everything we received this year as far as short films, what we had to select from, was such good material and so interesting, that we decided that it was really a good year to put the focus on that type of film to show to people that it's a genre unto itself."

The festival's programming committee divided the short films into many different blocks so that the individual films would be presented with others that share some type of similarity in terms of content or subject matter.

As an example, a programming block on October 1, entitled "Osez les court," will present what Marie-Renée calls "sexy short films" intended for an adult audience.

"They're either about sex or include a lot of sex!" says Marie-Renée, laughing. With titles like "La pilule" and "L'Amour à trois", it should not surprise anyone that these are foreign films. "(None of the) films in that program were made here, Most of them are from Europe or from Quebec!"

Despite a lack of local presence in the sexy programming, there will still be plenty of local short films screening at the festival. This year, many of them are works of fiction, which appears to be a conscious attempt to change the perceived notion that local films are usually documentaries.

"This year, there are a lot of short fiction films from here and that's really a novelty because, for a long time, people have been complaining that there's no fiction being done here," Marie-Renée says. "I think that if you look anywhere else in the world, before you have feature-length fiction films, you'll see the directors directing many short films. Here, it's kind of like nobody does that, really, so it was really interesting to see that finally some people are taking cameras and doing short fiction films."

There will be local short films presented during five different programming blocks.

They include: "Acadie courts" (Sept. 26), "Art sur roues" (Sept. 25), "Ciné-parc des Arts médiatiques" (Sept. 26), "Vues de chez nous" (Sept. 29), "Acadie Underground" (Sept. 30), and, finally, "Tremplin ONF" (Sept. 25), which does not exclusively consist of local productions. Although most don't, many of the presentations at FICFA will include English subtitles. Some can be enjoyed without subtitles, like "Miroir Noir" (2009), which is a documentary about music group Arcade Fire.

Despite existing in a bilingual community, FICFA insists on remaining a film festival mostly focused on presenting films that are intended to be seen in French.

"The festival was created for its francophone aspects so a mandate of the festival is really to serve the francophone community and also to interest the English community to what's going on in the francophone world and what's being created. I think the mandate is still appropriate for the festival because I think there's still a real need in the community to have some French cultural offers, specifically."

"I think there could be space for a second (film) festival," she adds, referring to possibilities of a film festival with more of an anglophone or bilingual programming focus.

FICFA will primarily take place at locations in Moncton and Dieppe between September 23 and October 2.

* Bernard C. Cormier is, among other things, a freelance writer and broadcaster. www.myspace.com/bernardccormier. www.twitter.com/bernardccormier. E-mail: Bernardccormier-gncb@hotmail.com © Bernard C. Cormier 2010

From N.B. to Hollywood and Back

There may be many residents of the Moncton area named "Paul LeBlanc" but only one of them has ever won an Oscar.

That Paul LeBlanc, who is now retired and lives in his hometown of Dieppe, is the only known Acadian to date to ever win an Academy Award. It was earned for his work on the 1984 film Amadeus. LeBlanc had a career that can be seen as somewhat of a reassurance to locals with big dreams that such aspirations may not be as distant as you might think.

The second oldest in a family of six children, Paul became interested in hair while he was in the 10th grade. After graduating, he studied to be a hairstylist at the New Brunswick Community College. Upon completion, he had a business for a few years before deciding to explore the world.

"I decided I wanted to travel", he says, "so I left and, after a few stops in Montreal and Ottawa and stuff, I ended up in Toronto and got involved with wigs. This was in the late-'60s and wigs were very popular and very fashionable. Eventually, I went to Europe as a hippie, just with a knap-sack, long hair and stuff, and ended up in North Africa, and then I ended up in England. At the time, Canada was still under the common market with England so I was able to work.

"Fortunately, I got to work at one of the top wig houses in the world that dealt a lot with show business, a lot with BBC (television) and movies and stuff like that. I got my first beginnings in showbiz there."

After a year, he returned to Toronto and got a job at the CBC. A few years later, Paul worked on The Black Stallion (1979), his first movie credit.

"The Black Stallion people came (to Toronto) and were going to shoot for a month or something and then they were leaving. They weren't going to bring any Canadians with them but I had to work with the horse. I had to put a wig on the horse every day and stuff like that. Francis Ford Coppola, who was the executive producer, came over to see the race part of the movie, which was (the ending, being shot), liked the hair work and he mentioned it to some people. They asked to meet me and I met (Coppola). Then, the next day, a producer asks me if I want to go to Italy to finish the movie. The director liked me and, because of the horse, who was the star of the movie, I got to go to Italy for nine months.

"Francis Ford Coppola's a good friend of George Lucas, so when we got back to (North America), I was asked to go to the States to work for a movie for Lucasfilm called More American Graffiti (1979), which was (a sequel to American Graffiti)."

The doors to Paul's film career swung open from there as he continued to land gigs on high-profile films helmed by Hollywood royalty of the late-20th Century, which included, among others, Steven Spielberg, who hired him for the Second Unit on Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom (1984).

He was also hired to work on the third Star Wars film produced, Return of The Jedi (1983), a credit many people would be envious of having.

"They had brought me in to design new looks for Princess Leia," LeBlanc explains, "because George didn't like the donut and the beagle thing (in the hair). They wanted something softer and more feminine, so I was brought in to do some drawings and designs. I did that and then they went off to England to shoot. When they came back to finish in Arizona, I joined the group there and worked with them on the end of that."

"(The Jedi shoot) was very technical and very, very big. I mean there are a lot of people. There are a lot of departments, you know, and, of course, Harrison Ford's great. Everybody was very good and very nice but it's big. It's a big production. Lots and lots of people.

"My sketches (related to designing Leia's hair for Return of The Jedi) are in the Smithsonian, but I had to sign them off to George Lucas. When you work for Lucasfilm, all your artwork is not yours anymore. You sign it off."

Although, he was involved with that film, he wasn't involved with any of the Star Wars prequels.

"I'm glad (that I wasn't involved with them). I wouldn't have been that interested even though the conceptions and designs were beautiful, especially for Natalie Portman. I love that stuff but I must say that the filming of it (was) all done in front of a blue-screen, green-screen, and stuff, and for (the hairstylists), standing by, watching, it's really, really not very interesting. Not for us. It's interesting for the director, the photographers, you know what I mean but (not) for the people doing costumes and make-up and stuff. You're standing around watching one person acting in front of a green-screen and there's nothing! There's no fun to that. It's not interesting but then when you see the movie, that's not what you see at all! Of course, it's all different but to actually be there and doing it, it's very tedious!"

After the completion of The Terminal (2005), LeBlanc returned to the Moncton region and semi-retired. During that era, he opened a hair studio in Dieppe which he eventually decided to close after having a stroke and also realizing that, for him, cutting hair is not nearly as exciting as designing hairstyles for movies. He expects his last Hollywood credit to be for the upcoming film Black Swan (2010), which was shot during the Christmas months. As for advice for local people interested in having a career in the film industry, Paul recommends that they realize Moncton is far from the film industry and, not counting TV shows and documentaries, nobody can make a significant living in that field if they're based in the city. They would need to move away.

"You couldn't do what I did here. It's just not possible."

Paul also believes that there are behavioural differences between people living in Moncton and those who live in film centres like New York and L.A.

"People around here wait for something to happen, they don't make it happen themselves. You've got to make it (happen) yourself because nobody's going to do it for you."

* Bernard C. Cormier is, among other things, a freelance writer and broadcaster. www.myspace.com/bernardccormier. www.twitter.com/bernardccormier. E-mail: Bernardccormier-gncb@hotmail.com © Bernard C. Cormier 2010

NBer Conquers Green Gables

Photo: © Bernard C. Cormier 2010

Since 1965, Charlottetown annually becomes a Maritime hotspot for enthusiasts of musical theatre with the appropriately titled Charlottetown Festival.

From roughly May to October, people who dig such entertainment can sit back and relax to sights and sounds usually associated with Broadway in New York. The plays are usually performed for the public in the Confederation Arts Centre, an impressively large building facing the Charlottetown Mall, which was built in 1964.

If you're an actor in the Maritimes, there's a good chance that you want to eventually be on the festival's payroll at some point in your career.

The musicals presented may have changed over the years but Anne of Green Gables - The Musical has been a mainstay on the schedule every year since the festival began.

The musical's source material mostly lies in Anne of Green Gables, a 1908 novel written by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942). It was the first of nearly a dozen books written by Montgomery featuring protagonist Anne Shirley, who can be almost seen as a Canadian Pipi Longstockings. In 2008, a century after the first book was printed, another author, Budge Wilson, wrote Before Green Gables, a prequel to the original novels.

Because Montgomery lived in the province and people don't usually buy souvenirs of potatoes, PEI has largely publicly adopted the character as tourism figurehead and mascot since the early 20th century.

The book series was so successful that many adaptations and spin-offs in other media were made, these include (but not limited to) two theatrical films (1919 and 1934), two animated TV series (1979 and 2000), a half-dozen television miniseries, a spin-off TV series titled Road To Avonlea (1990-1996), and most importantly (in relation to the musical) a 1956 TV-movie.

The 1956 TV-movie, which aired on CBC, played an important part in the development of the theatre production because it, too, was a musical. The material developed for the TV-movie was used as the foundation to what became Anne of Green Gables - The Musical in the following decade.

As anyone can clearly see, with such a long and successful history attached to it, Anne of Green Gables - The Musical can be good on a CV if you're an actor.

Such is the case for Quispamsis native Andrew McAllister. It's the second year that the 24-year-old, who now calls Toronto home, has been performing in the production. Last year, McAllister played the role of "Charlie Sloane" in the ensemble. This year, however, he's been promoted to "Gilbert Blythe," Anne's love interest and, in some sequences, antagonist.

"(It's) fantastic to play an icon role, like Anne or Gilbert. I feel that it could really be a defining credit on your resume, so I feel like this is my chance to maybe be looked at in the eyes of a casting director more seriously or taken more seriously and get better opportunities," he said.

McAllister's story proves that it's possible for New Brunswickers to succeed in show business if they're willing to work for it.

After finishing high school in 2003, McAllister enrolled in Sheraton College, where he graduated in 2007. Although it's usually recommended for actors to join a union, which he eventually did, he consciously didn't for a while so that he could gain additional experience by playing non-union roles.

"I did a cruise ship right after I graduated just to get some money and get some experience. Then I was finding that I had a few job opportunities to become (a union member) but I didn't take them because I figured that, once I'm just out of school, I want to build a name for myself and maybe do shows that I may not get to do if I was a (Canadian Actors Equity Union) member because," he said. "The thing is that if you're non-Equity there's a lot more opportunities, really. Once you join a union, there are only so many union spots and there are so many people who are "union" and if I'm 21 years old and I'm already a member... I just find that I see so many people that just struggle to get work. So, I wanted to do as many shows as I could so I did about 10 shows as non-union then the right things happened at the right time. Now I'm working as a union member.

"I've been a member of the Canadian Actors Equity Union for a few years. It's nice to know that (the Charlottetown Festival) mainly hires Equity members. I find the standards great, whether you're Equity or non-Equity but I find it adds a sense of professionalism and you know that you're well taken care of and, if you have injuries or what not, you'll be in good hands."

Another advantage for him associated to his gig at the Charlottetown Festival is the proximity its location is to his friends and family from the Saint John area.

"I'm very close to home! It's only like three hours away. It's just so refreshing that my friends and family can come see me in shows. Some of them haven't seen me in anything since high school. To be known as a working actor from Quispamsis, sometimes people don't really get what that entails and the hard work. They just think it's like you're singing and dancing and whatnot. It takes a lot of effort."

He said he has also had good support from his family.

"They understand that you can fall on hard times or you could be successful. I mean I've made a good living for myself since I graduated from college and I've continued to work, so I mean they're supportive in that but I think they also realize that if I were to be trying to survive in this industry and I was 30 years old and I still wasn't a member of a union or working that consistently, then they would probably say maybe it's time to think about teaching or doing some other form of being in the same industry but just (doing) something that's more certain."

Although he knew of its title character because he grew up in a province neighboring P.E.I., McAllister didn't know the story of "Anne of Green Gables" before joining the production.

"I've never read the book, I've never seen the miniseries and I live in New Brunswick. Obviously when you audition for a show you want to research it and you want to understand what it's all about," he said. "I didn't know a lot (about Anne of Green Gables) before I came but now, since I've been here for two summers, I feel like the 'World of Anne' is special. People would be doing themselves a disservice by not seeing (the production). Now, I feel like I missed-out growing up (without knowing the story or seeing the production)."

If anyone ever spots McAllister in public, they shouldn't hesitate to ask him for an autograph. In fact, people are invited to ask him.

"(If they ask for autographs), it means I'm doing my job!"

Anne of Green Gables - The Musical runs until Aug. 28 with showings at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at the Homburg Theatre. Tickets cost between $39.10 and $75 and there are also family packages available. To order tickets, visit www.charlottetownfestival.com or call 1-800-565-0278.

* Bernard C. Cormier is, among other things, a freelance writer and broadcaster. www.myspace.com/bernardccormier. www.twitter.com/bernardccormier. E-mail: Bernardccormier-gncb@hotmail.com © Bernard C. Cormier 2010

Celebrating Baroque

Some people say that certain things never go out of fashion. If that saying is a reference to Baroque music, it's entirely accurate in the eyes of many people, proof of which can be seen with the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival.

Established and incorporated in 1976, the festival has been bringing the world of Baroque and Classical music to the tiny northern community of Lamèque. The festival's 35th edition takes place tomorrow through Sunday.

For enthusiasts and academics, the history of music is filled with labels and classifications based on style and when any piece of music was written. Many of them overlap each other.

As an example, musically speaking, we are currently in the Contemporary period, which began in 1975, and the 21st Century period.

Based on its definition, Baroque covers all music (but mostly pieces originating in Europe) written between 1600 and 1760. The Classical music period began in 1730 and ended in 1820. Since both periods existed at the same time for 31 years, the Lamèque festival also includes classical and, to a lesser degree, the Romantic period (1815-1910) which had a similar but smaller co-existing situation with Classical.

According to Montreal resident Mathieu Lussier, a bassoon player and the festival's artistic director, such strict parameters inspire creativity in modern players, composers, and the festival in general.

"No one will write new Baroque stuff but we can write in the style of Baroque music," he says. To stay true to the Baroque period, all musicians performing at the festival will play either original instruments used during that period or modern reproductions.

"In Lamèque, as with many other Baroque festivals around the world, we play that music with the instruments that they were using at the time," Mathieu says, "using original instruments or copies. For instance, my bassoon, instead of the big modern shiny metal bassoon with like 28 silver keys, is made out of soft wood with only five keys!

"The violins (used at the festival), instead of big loud with metal strings that can play huge halls, have gut strings made of animal guts. So, it's a totally different sound. It's more demanding in a way because the instruments (then) were are not as refined with their sound as they are now but we're recreating the sounds of the orchestra of the time. That's the exciting thing about the festival!"

Mathieu has been heavily involved with the music scene since he was 16 when a high school instructor helped him land his first gig as a performer. He considers the early-1990s as the period when he became a professional. Since that time, he has performed on approximately 50 albums.

His experience as a performer eventually led him to the Lamèque festival in 2000. He continued to perform there each year. Eventually, he became its artistic director.

Ever since his first performance, he has been blown away by the atmosphere and lack of separation between the performers and the audience. It encourages fans to communicate and meet with the artists between performances.

"It's extremely open and that's what musicians like about Lamèque - the human experience," Mathieu says. "It's so different than the usual festivals. (Usually,) you're invited somewhere. You arrive at the airport, there's a driver that brings you to a hotel. Then, you go to a concert hall, play a concert and maybe sign a few CDs, then go back to the hotel and then leave!

"The artists are going to stay for a full week in Lamèque in a bed and breakfast or staying at someone's house. They're going to meet people. It's a unique culture and landscape. We all share the meals. There's a group of women who will be cooking the meals for all of the artists. It's so much more fulfilling (than the usual performances). It's not a gig. It's something special."

Among the artists performing at the festival this year, there will be two performers who have been creating a buzz in recent years: Croatian mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupic and French organist Benjamin Alard. Mathieu encourages anyone to attend the performances.

"You don't need any type of background to enjoy Baroque music!"

All performances at the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival will occur at Sainte-Cécile Church in Petite-Rivière-de-l'île, near Lamèque.

* Bernard C. Cormier is, among other things, a freelance writer and broadcaster. www.myspace.com/bernardccormier. www.twitter.com/bernardccormier. E-mail: Bernardccormier-gncb@hotmail.com © Bernard C. Cormier 2010