UPDATE: Shipwreck became travelling museum show and is now morphing into amusement park

WRITER'S THIRST FOR ALL THINGS TITANIC IS OVER. TITANIC WILL SAIL INTO THE SMOKEY MOUNTAINS WITHOUT ME OR MY DOLLARS

THIS STORY WAS POSTED 03/10/09 TO MUCH CRITICISM FROM TITANIC BUFFS AND SMOKEY MOUNTAIN RESIDENTS. THE ATTRACTION IS NOW SET TO OPEN. CHECK OUT THE TITANIC PRESS RELEASE PRINTED BELOW MY ORIGINAL POSTING.

I'm getting set to throw out the five Titanic books I own. We will smash our Titanic wine goblets into the fireplace like we were at a traditional Jewish wedding. I will take down the Titanic poster I got from the Science Centre when the latest Titanic show left port for some museum in Toledo, or was it Mexico City or Rio? I am going to purge my CV so that I no longer brag about doing PR for a Titanic exhibition at the Boat Show (it had authentic Titanic deck chairs and life jackets), assisting with the marketing of the first Titanic exhibition held in the Better Living Building at the CNE (the original artifact exhibition with items recovered by submarine)http://divemar.com/divermag/archives/dec99/around_lks_dec99.html, pre-promoting James Cameron's movie Titanic at Underwater Canada, trying to acquire 3-D underwater footage from Dr. Joe MacInnis for display at the Pier (Toronto's now closed marine museum) and assisting the Ontario Science Centre with yet another travelling Titanic exhibition http://20minutesoffame.blogspot.com/2008/02/publicity-successes-of-titanic.html.
I thought I had an unquenchable thirst for the Titanic. I was wrong. It has reached the end. Clive Cussler. Dr Ballard. Dr. Joe MacInnis. Steve Santini. R.M.S. Titanic (the owners of the travelling shows - http://www.titanic-online.com/), James Cameron. Please take me off your mailing lists. I am not buying another blessed thing about the wreck of the Titanic.
What was the tipping point? Photographer Dave Tollington sent me the photograph shown above. Cedar Bay Entertainment a privately owned entertainment and development company which built the Branson, Missouri first Titanic Museum Attraction is close to finishing another museum attraction, this time in Pigeon Ford,Tennessee. In Branson, the building is shaped like a mini-Titanic, except that it only has two smokestacks. Aside from the museum they also hold mystery theatre nights and weddings inside the replica Titanic state rooms.
Cedar Bay expects to open the Tennessee Titanic Pigeon Forge Museum Attraction this April 2010. According to Mary Kellogg, their media contact, the new attraction is "shaped like Titanic herself. It will comfortably hold 20 galleries to display hundreds of authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts."
Cedar Bay is not affiliated with R.M.S Titanic. R.M.S Titanic has a legal lock on the rights to salvage material directly from the sunk shipwreck, so where are the aforementioned priceless Titanic artifacts coming from? Again according to Ms. Kellogg, the items that will be display were " either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats."
As mentioned, I worked with Linda Crane to promote a Canadian exhibition of Titanic flotsam and jetsam at the Toronto International Boat Show. The collection was at that time owned by magician Steve Santini, who is reported to have recently sold his Titanic holdings. Are those artifacts now in Tennessee? Probably. The new museum attraction will have dive footage showing the ship underwater, could that be the same footage that the Pier Museum in Toronto tried to acquire?
(Actually not. In March 2010 I exchanged email with Rick Laney from Ackerman PR, the firm handling the April opening of the museum. Accordingto Laney the film that visitors can see "is footage shot by John Joslyn – the owner of the new Titanic Museum. He has made 32 dives to the Titanic since the late 1980s.")
But, why is the Titanic being rebuilt in the Smoky Mountains? According to the attraction's website (http://www.titanicpigeonforge.com/), a life-size facsimile of a Titanic First Class stateroom will be constructed in honour the Polk-Carters family. "Polk-Carters, a socially prominent American family—with strong ancestral ties to Tennessee— were returning home (on the Titanic) to Philadelphia following a trip abroad".
Travel photographer Tollington has another idea. When asked why he thought the Titanic was being built in a landlocked state he replied "same reason the upside-down house --"Wonder Works" (www.wonderworkstn.com) in Sevierville down the road from the Titanic was built; the more tourist bullshit around here that has nothing to do with the Smoky Mountains,the better it seems..."
Thirty years on, I've have finally overdosed on the Titanic. When the "unsinkable" ship sails into the Smoky Mountains, she will do so without me or my money onboard. Never mind the 20,200,000 postings on Google for the Titanic, but, isn't time she was allowed to really sink?
Cutline: Still missing two smoke stakes, the new Titanic Museum Attraction begins to shape up. The museum is being built in the Tennessee Smoky Mountarins of the United States. Photograph by Dave Tollington.
Post Script - I lied, there is one Titanic epherma I will continue to enjoy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/3916528250/ (nude painting of Kate Winslow and Storm Trooper on board the Titanic - photo by French photogapher Stéfan Le Dû)

UPDATE: The museum is set to open. This press release went out today (March 26th)

Regis Philbin to host Grand Opening Event in Pigeon Forge
We pay respect to Titanic by telling the story of the ship and her passengers

Titanic Museum Attraction Will Open on April 8
.

Pigeon Forge, TN (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 26, 2010 -- The new Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. will open on Thursday, April 8, 2010 with a star-studded Grand Opening hosted by Regis Philbin. The event, which is open to the public, also will be attended by descendants and family members of those on board the Titanic and includes a christening of the ship.
The weekend-long Grand Opening Celebration at the new Titanic Museum Attraction includes the christening by Philbin, a free concert by country music legend Neal McCoy, a free concert by Beatles cover band Liverpool Legends (hand-picked and managed by George Harrison’s sister), nightly fireworks displays and special events and performances through Sunday, April 11.
Philbin, best known for his television shows including Live With Regis & Kathie Lee and Who Wants to be A Millionaire, will serve as master of ceremonies during the Grand Opening. Philbin’s television career started more than 50 years ago when he was a reporter in San Diego. Since that time, he has become a national fixture with a string of Emmy Award-winning shows. The christening and Grand Opening event, which take place outside of the Titanic Museum Attraction, are free and open to the public.
Titanic Museum Attraction is a half-scale, permanent, three-deck reproduction of the Titanic. The museum houses 20 galleries to display hundreds of authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts that were either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats.
Inside the Titanic Museum Attraction, visitors find full-size reproductions (built to actual Titanic blueprints) of Third-Class quarters, a First-Class suite, dining rooms and – the museum’s centerpiece – a $1 million exact reproduction of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase. The First-Class suite in the Titanic Museum Attraction, which was occupied by Isidor and Ida Straus who founded and owned Macy’s Department Stores, was also the cabin used in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Titanic as Rose’s suite.
“We pay respect to Titanic by telling the story of the ship and her passengers,” said John Joslyn, owner of the new Titanic Museum Attraction. “Visitors learn the individual stories of those onboard the ship as they are learning about the ship itself. We have spent years researching these people and their stories are absolutely amazing.
“In addition to an unparalleled collection of artifacts, we have built Titanic Museum Attraction as a completely interactive attraction. You hear the wonderful stories as you’re going through the museum, but you are also experiencing things the way they were in 1912 when Titanic sailed. It’s one thing to hear about the men who shoveled coal into the boilers – but it comes to life for you when you pick up that shovel and feel what it means to shovel coal into a furnace.”
In addition to being a world class museum in the truest sense of the word, Titanic Museum Attraction is also highly interactive and offers a hands-on experience for children, teenagers and adults. The ship is anchored in water to create the illusion of Titanic at sea, and a 90-minute self-guided tour gives guests the sensation of sailing on the original ship’s 1912 maiden voyage. Upon entry, each guest receives a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member whose fate is revealed on the Memorial Wall at tour end. Along the way, powerful emotions surface as guests:

* Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase
* Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”
* Feel the chill of that fateful “Starry Night”
* Study some of the largest, most detailed Titanic models ever built
* Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands
* Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold
* Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories
* Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room
* Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank
* Watch children eight years and younger explore the special interactive TOTanic Play-and-Learn Room
* Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage

The Titanic Museum Attraction Grand Opening event begins on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 10 a.m. and continues with special events and celebrity guest appearances throughout the weekend. Tickets to the new Titanic Museum Attraction, which will open April 8, are now available online at www.TitanicPigeonForge.com. (Note: The outdoor Grand Opening and christening are free and open to the public, but admission to the Titanic Museum Attraction requires a ticket.)
Cedar Bay Entertainment is a privately owned entertainment and development company headquartered in Branson, Missouri, the site of Cedar Bay’s first Titanic Museum Attraction. Since its April 2006 grand opening, it has welcomed more than 2,000,000 guests.
Editors: For more information about the Titanic Museum Attraction Grand Opening or to arrange for a media visit, please contact Rick Laney at (865) XXX-XXXX. High resolution photos of the new Titanic Museum are available upon request. A complete Regis Philbin bio is also available upon request.

Free Fridays In The Big Smoke - From Flaming War Planes to Sex in the White House Basement

.


FREE IS WHAT MAKES THE PR WORLD GO ROUND
(IS THAT WHY I AM SO BROKE?)
A news bulletin from Media Bistro arrived this morning on my Mac - you know one of those daily mailings pointing out articles you may wish to read (but you don't because who has any free time these days to read?). Just when I finally got up the energy to actually cancel the complimentary service I was sent something that I wanted to read. This morning their mailing was all about the business of free, very apropos, because for me, at least today, it was a free Friday.
From Swag to receiving Critical Information, free is a big part of what makes both PR and Journalism work. Free is not something that is sought out or requested, it is just there, all the time, all over the city. I was interested to see what a US based media news advisory service had to say about it -- this was in part what Media Bistro said about free stuff ... before trying to sell me on a non-free seminar about free.
"Across all segments of the media landscape, entrepreneurs and executives are pioneering online business models that combine a free (... with a paid offering)Free sells" they wrote. In other words? Look for an incoming wall of Free.
In my day-to-day work free is a big part of what I do. Free passes for the media, free books for reviewers, free lunches for contacts and so it goes. Even though there is no cost, somehow my wallet opens up as soon as I leave the house and comes back empty when I return home 12-hours later. No wonder Revenue Canada has me in their radar -- they want their money before I go broke paying for all that free.
Sometimes the tables are reversed and that free is bestowed on me, usually for a reason. Take this morning.
It started at 6.30 am. I headed out to the subway. A man standing outside the entrance opened the door for me for free (with his hand-out). After passing through the turnstile (that wasn't free) I picked up complimentary copies of the Sun, Metro News and 24hours. By 7.30 I had arrived -- well read -- at the Toronto Board of Trade conference room in First Canadian Place. I had a free breakfast - bagels and juice, followed by cup after cup of free tea.

The Breakfast is hosted by the CNW Group - the nation's number one resource for time-critical news and information. The news agency stages breakfast meetings for its clients - PR people for industry, government and institutions - people who use CNW Group to issue their financial news, press releases and media alerts.
This is a popular programme, CNW often gets 400 people in attendance while hundreds of others watch the event from their computers in other Canadian cities.
I find the meetings informative, I network like crazy and hey, it is free.
Today the speakers are Stu McNish and John Stufflebeem. McNish is a former British Columbia TV journalist and Stufflebeem is a former Vice Admiral of the 6th fleet and was President Bush's military voice during the War in Afghanistan.
McNish has gone to the dark side -- he now has a PR company that provides among other things, corporate videos and media training. Stufflebeem left the Pentagon as the result of a sex-scandal and now gives inspirational talks to industry, the military and rooms full of PR types wearing power breakfast suits and noshing on no-cost high cal bagels.
CNW Group bills the pair as experts who "will share the secrets of managing your reputation by engaging the media. Learn how to determine the right message to deliver; how to develop messaging you can own; how to practice; and most importantly, how to negotiate and control the terms of engagement."
Biggest free secret of the morning came from McNish. "If if it doesn't come out of your mouth it won't get in the media". It is a truism I preach, but, I have never said it so well. I plan to borrow that Bon Mot ... often.
As for Stufflebeem, he was able to "negotiate and control the terms of engagement (with his morning auidence)" by talking about his successes in the Bosnian War, in the Pentagon and as aide to the president during the crises in Panama, Iraq, the invasion of Kuwait and the war in Afganistan. He didn't mention what made him so infamous later in his career.
When you are giving free advice, it is your right to keep some information back. While he did talk about piloting a flaming Tom Cat US Navy jet to a safe landing after being hit by enemy fire, he didn't mention how he was drummed out of the service after an anonymous letter detailed an affair he had 18 years ago while in the White House.
According to Navy Times journalist Chris Amos, the letter accused Stufflebeem of carrying on an eight-month affair with a female State Department staffer while the two were assigned to the White House in 1990.
"Stufflebeem, then a 37-year-old commander, pretended to be a widower, telling the woman that his wife had died of breast cancer and that he was raising his two children on his own ... In fact, Stufflebeem was still living with his wife at the time."
"The report says Stufflebeem had sex with the State Department staffer in sleeping quarters in the White House basement and when the two traveled abroad with the White House travel team. The two engaged in “passionate kissing” in a car parked near the White House grounds, and he even sexually propositioned the woman’s close friend on a trip to London," the reporter wrote.


Too bad Vice Admiral Stufflebeem didn't know then the media rules he now imparts routinely as he barnstorms PR meetings across the continent.
The morning session begins at 7.30 and ends shortly after 9am. The clock separates the self-employed from the staffers. Most of the room empties at 9 ... the desk jobs call ... the rest linger to hear the end of the talk.
On my way back to my office I find myself walking up Yonge St. Ahead I see two men dressed as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I ask them if I can take a picture. They agree but on condition that I answer one question correctly.
"Who stars in the new movie Alice in Wonderland?" Tweedle Dee asks?
"Johnny Depp," I answer.
"Take your picture kind sir," Tweedle Dum says in a loud theatre voice. "And, for being so smart, here is a free deck of Alice in Wonderland playing cards."
I took the tin of cards, which it turns out promote the opening of the Alice in Wonderland 3D movie. The two costumed actors posed for the picture and turned to walk away.
Looking over his shoulder at me, Tweedle Dee said "Here is a free spot of Alice advice you can pass along (to Vice Admiral Stufflebeem I wonder?), she says 'I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it'."

CUTLINES:
Top - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
Middle - The Vice Admiral
Bottom - My "free" deck of cards

Sway Publisher Says It Is All For Haiti

.

"Let's Give It Up, For Haiti" says Sway Magazine publisher Alan A. Vernon.The above picture was taken at last week's Sway Magazine issue launch and fund raiser for Haiti. Publisher Alan launches the fund raiser at a Liberty Village recording studio in Toronto. Over the course of four hours over 600 people attended the party.
Performing briefly were: Dan Hill (accompanied by Joe Sealy), Canada’s number one unsigned artist Kim Davis, Juno Award-winner Sean Jones, and popular comedian Jay Martin. Other performers included former Sugar Jones member Maiko Watson, Drake collaborator Aion Clarke, Keysha Fanfair and Saidah Baba Talibah.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15648554@N05/4391512466/
A picture of young Keysha Fanfair performing at the recently held Sway Magazine issue launch is posted on my Flickr account.

The party was attended by a number of key media people (Nneka Elliot, Karlene Nation and Ron Fanfare), Scotiabank Caribana executive members (new co-CEO Denise H Jackson, Marketing Director Andre Newell and Gala director Elizabeth Grimmond) and a few interesting but unknown celebs including a mayoral candidate and a Ghanaian Queen!
Rocco Achampong is young and black and running for mayor in Toronto. Mainstream media have ignored the lawyer's campaign, in part because there is another Rocco in the running - liberal fundraiser Rocco Rossi.
A queen from Ghana? Actually Queen Nana Sika is from Barbados. Better known as Kay Morris, the Toronto based singer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ETLQ4P6MFk) was made a Queen during a music and aid mission to the African country. To climax her 2006 mission in Ghana, the King & people of Ghana decided to honour her for the great work she is doing in Africa -- she was installed Queen Nana Sika of Berekuso, Ghana. Since then the African Queen has pledged to help build schools, clinics and provide support for children and needy communities and to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS and malaria in Africa.
The launch was also a very successful fundraiser for Haiti and Honorary Consul General, Dr. Eric Pierre, was present at the party and acknowledged the support Sway was giving to Haiti recovery work.

Cutlines: Top - Alan Vernon pledges support to Haiti during the launch of the newest edition of Sway Magazine. Vernon is the publisher.
Second from Top: Dr. Eric Pierre thanks the auidence for their donation to Haitian relief
Middle: Social Media Expert Michael Yarde talks to CFTO Reporter/Diversity Specialist Karlene Nation
Bottom: Dr. Eric Pierre (l) takes names and makes notes at the Sway Magazine Launch.

FEB 25 Launch Party for newest SWAY magazine issue - entertainment, cocktails and lite bites

UPDATE: NEW PRESS RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY/PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

Sway Magazine Black History Month Blowout Party in Liberty Village

February 25th Sway magazine has inspired some of Canada’s hottest performers to show their support for Haiti. Set in a brand new Liberty Village entertainment studio, the line-up includes iconic crooner Dan Hill accompanied by Joe Sealy, top new artist Kim Davis, Juno Award-winner Sean Jones, and popular comedian Jay Martin, among many many others.
Working with the Consulate General of Haiti in Toronto, partial proceeds from the night will create a scholarship fund for Haitian refugees.
The biggest and brightest of local celebrities are set to attend, among which are many of the artists, performers and media personalities featured in past pages of Sway -- including Divine Brown. Tickets are $20, which includes a one-year subscription to Sway.

Date: Thursday, February 25th
Time: Doors open 6pm
Location: WIDEawake Liberty Studios
171 East Liberty Street, Unit 310 (3rd floor)

Please RSVP to rsvp@kimgraham.ca. For more information please contact publicist.



WANT TO ATTEND/COVER? PLEASE LET US KNOW - rsvp@kimgraham.com or stephen@stephenweir.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SWAY MAGAZINE LAUNCH IS A HUGE PARTY AND A BENEFIT FOR HAITI
February 21, 2010, Toronto ON… Sway magazine hosts the blow-out event of the season February 25th at WIDEawake Entertainment Group’s brand new Liberty Village studio. Co-founded by industry icon Maurice Jones Jr., this state-of-the-art entertainment facility is revving up the hip factor in Liberty Village.
Sway Magazine has inspired some of Canada’s hottest performers to show their support for Haiti, with a line-up that includes iconic crooner Dan Hill accompanied by Joe Sealy, Canada’s number one unsigned artist Kim Davis, Juno Award-winner Sean Jones, and popular comedian Jay Martin. Other performers include former Sugar Jones member Maiko Watson, Drake collaborator Aion Clarke, Keysha Fanfair and Saidah Baba Talibah. Among the biggest and brightest of industry VIP’s set to attend are many of the artists, athletes and celebrities featured in past pages of Sway -- including Divine Brown.
As Canada’s national Black lifestyle magazine, Sway is often compared to established Black culture magazines in the United States. Sway is a glossy quarterly publication about the successes, accomplishments and power of Canada’s Black communities. Despite challenging times in the industry, Sway is on the move with revenue growth up 50% year over year, and a recent expansion across the country into all Chapters and Indigo locations.
Sway kicks off 2010 by bringing together this star power in an exciting new venue to benefit Haitian refugees. Working with the Consulate General of Haiti in Toronto, partial proceeds from the night will help to establish a scholarship fund for Haitian refugees.
“What happened in Haiti is a tragedy that we will not soon forget, but I am so thrilled that Sway can, in some small way, do its part to help out. And what better way for a magazine about inspiration and success to assist than by creating a scholarship fund for Haitian refugees,” says Sway Publisher and Editorial Director Alan A. Vernon.
Consul General of Haiti Dr. Pierre, who will also be attending to support this endeavour, agrees: “A scholarship fund will be very important for encouraging students who now face financial difficulties to still achieve their dreams and fulfill their goals.”
Doors open at 6:00pm for this mélange of intimate performances, custom cocktails by Appleton Rum and Steam Whistle Brewery, and exotic-inspired cuisine from neighboring Liberty Noodle and Black community favourite Harlem Underground. Tickets are $20, which includes a one-year subscription to Sway.
For more information please contact publicist. Please RSVP to rsvp@kimgraham.ca.

- 30-

Media Contact:
KG&A Kim Graham & Associates
Trisha Lepper
416 537 5645
trisha@kimgraham.ca

Issued by:
Stephen Weir
stephen@stephenweir.com

March Break Fun at the McMichael

March Break Fun at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg.
February 22, 2010 Kleinburg, ON —It's the week children look forward to the most each school year and the one that sometimes has parents struggling to find activities to entertain their children. This spring the McMichael Canadian Art Collection will be offering special March Break programming for children from March 14 to March 19—including a weeklong art camp!
The March Break festivities begin on March 14 with special Family Sunday March Break Celebrations programming, which runs from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is free with general admission to the gallery. Families can tour the Woodland School exhibition, touch artifacts, and listen to Anishnabe (Woodland) legends in the Discovery Space storytelling room. Children will learn about contemporary art of the First Nations, and participate in a special artist-led workshop featuring visiting students from the Ontario College of Art and Design, Aboriginal Visual Culture Program.
For those parents looking to enroll their children in an invigorating and fun art camp, from March 15 to 19, the McMichael is offering a full day March Break Art Camp, for 6 to 12 year olds, running from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended care until 5:00 p.m. Students will enjoy drawing, painting, sculpting, and printmaking in a nurturing teaching environment led by instructors and assistants who are experienced artists and educators. The cost for this program is $250 for the general public and $225 for McMichael members.
For those parents looking for fun activities to do with their children, Bonus March Break Days programming will run daily from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from March 16 to 18. Visitors will be able to make art, take a family tour of the Collection, play in the Discovery Space, and meet a special guest artist. On St Patrick’s Day, March 17, visitors will enjoy live Irish Music and Irish Fairy tales, and young artists will learn how to make Celtic Art. All Bonus March Break Days activities are free with general admission to the gallery.
About the Gallery
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Culture. It is the foremost venue in the country showcasing the Group of Seven and their contemporaries. In addition to touring exhibitions, its permanent collection consists of more than 5,500 artworks, including paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, First Nations, and Inuit artists.
The gallery is located on Islington Avenue, north of Major Mackenzie Drive in Kleinburg, and is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors/students and $30 for families. There is a $5 fee for parking. For more information about the gallery visit www.mcmichael.com.
-0-
Issued By:
Stephen Weir
Publicist
Stephenweir@mcmichael.com
905-893-1121 ext 2529
416-489-5868
416-801-3101 cell

Watch BRAVO! Arts & Minds Special – The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction broadcast Saturday to Wednesday

Watch BRAVO! Arts & Minds Special – The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction broadcast Saturday to Wednesday
Coverage can be seen nationally Saturday, Feb. 20, Sunday, Feb. 21, Tuesday, Feb. 23 & Wednesday, Feb. 24
TORONTO, Feb. 19 - The fascinating story of this year's Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is the subject for this week’s Arts & Minds show. The show will air nationally on BRAVO! at various times a between this Saturday and next Wednesday. Broadcast journalist conducts an emotional interview with Ian Brown, the winner of this year’s Taylor Prize.
Devoted to capturing the suspense and excitement of the prestigious national book prize this special edition of Bravo's Arts & Minds will air Saturday, Feb. 20th, Sunday, Feb. 21st as well as on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd and Wednesday, Feb. 24th.
Viewers will see an interview between Todd and Brown that Bravo! Director Bernard Gauthier describes as “ an interview that is beyond riveting, the likes that arts TV has never seen!” Ian Brown, a columnist for the Globe and Mail wrote a book about Walker, his disabled son.
The show also highlights of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction Author Luncheon, which capture the excitement and drama of the event, which was held in Toronto on February 8th. The special also includes comments and reaction from prize founder Noreen Taylor.
The Winner of the 2010 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Ian Brown (Toronto) for his book The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search For His Disabled Son, published by Random House Canada. The $25,000 prize was awarded Monday, February 8, 2010 at Toronto's Le Meridien King Edward Hotel. The remaining CTP finalists - John English, Daniel Poliquin, and Kenneth Whyte - each received $2,000.
Arts & Minds airs on Saturday February 20th at 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m; Sunday at 7:00 p.m; Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m and Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (All are Eastern Standard Times).
The prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing. Since its inception the prize has fostered a growing interest in non-fiction, engaged Canadians in the genre of literary non-fiction, and boosted sales of the winning authors' books.
Founded in commemoration of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada's foremost essayists and a prominent member of the Canadian literary community, the prize is awarded annually to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception.
The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation with the generous support of its partners: Ben McNally Books, Bravo! and Book Television, Canada Newswire (CNW), Event Source, Le Meridien King Edward Hotel, Quill & Quire, The Globe and Mail, and Windfields Farm.
Check www.bravo.ca for the complete listings. This program will also be available online at: www.bravo.ca/events/CharlesTaylorPrize/ To download high-resolution images of the Charles Taylor Prize winner and finalists, and their short listed Book covers please go to: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2010/photogallery_10.asp For more information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca, http://www.twitter.com/taylorprize
For further information: Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates, Stephen Weir: (416) 489-5868, cell: (416) 801-3101, sweir5492@rogers.com; Linda Crane: (905) 257-6033, cell: (416) 727-0112, cranepr@cogeco.ca

Caribana Festival performers extend Olympic stay to do it again on Canada AM tomorrow

Performers wrap up their Olympic show on Tuesday afternoon - but more to come tomorrow with CTV's Canada AM.

Eleven performers from Toronto appeared on the Ontario Pavillion stage for the last time today at the Olympics in Vancouver. However, the show is not over just yet! CTV's Canada AM breakfast show has asked the performers to return to the Pavillion on Wednesday February 17th to do it one more time for their television viewers. The Canada AM segment begins tomorrow at 8.30 Pacific Time.
Audiences in Vancouver are experiencing some of the exciting entertainment that make the 3-week Scotiabank Festival Canada’s biggest tourist draw -- next to the Olympics. This year Scotiabank kicks off Tuesday July 13th at the Yonge Dundas Square. The parade will be held along Toronto’s waterfront on July 31st. The festival ends on Sunday August 1st with the DeScotiabank Caribana Lime at Ontario Place.
Even after the Scotiabank Caribana performers have left Vancouver, visitors to the Olympics will see breathtaking images from the annual Toronto festival. Last summer The Canadian Tourism Commission, in association with the Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, sent a film crew right onto the Scotiabank Caribana parade route and shot high definition footage to be used in a video postcard about the Festival.
The Caribana video postcard (one of two dozen made for the Olympics) has been reproduced into four lengths (2.5 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, and 15 seconds), dubbed into several languages, and provided to over 200 official Olympic Games’ broadcasters around the world to be seem by a potential cumulative audience of over 10 billion people.
The Scotiabank Caribana Festival is an exciting three-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. Now in its 43rd year, it has become a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America. As Scotiabank Caribana is an international cultural phenomenon, the great metropolis of Toronto and its environs will come alive as the city explodes with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Chutney, and Steel Pan music. The Festival Management Committee oversees the running of North America’s largest outdoor festival. www.caribanafestival.com
VANCOUVER TEAM
Ontario Pavilion “CARIBANA”
1. Denise Hererra-Jackson ---- Festival Director
2. Roborta Atkinson ---- Manager
3. Martin Scott-Pascall ---- Artistic Director/Choreographer
4. Tara Eulith Woods ---- Calypsonian
5. Hameed Shaqq ---- Pannist
6. Denise Chang Kit ---- Masquerader/Dancer
7. Lysha DeFreitas ---- Masquerader/Dancer
8. Danielle Edwards ---- Masquerader/Dancer
9. Danielle Ramjattan ---- Masquerader/Dancer
10. Nicki Ramjass ---- Masquerader/Dancer
11. Catrina Ziesman ---- Masquerader/Dancer
12. Sakita Boodhoo ---- Masquerader/Dancer
13. Christiane Tetreault ---- Masquerader/Dancer
Cutline: Derrick Chan www.xpats.ca took the above photographs today at the Ontario Pavillion. Top photo - pannist Hameed Shaqq, second top photo shows the last dance of the performance. The second from bottom photograph shows the 11 performers and Festival director Denise Hererra-Jackson (sitting at left) and show manager Roborta Atkinson (sitting at right) out front of the Pavillion. The last photograph is again showing the last performance in progress.