Mike's Bloggity Blog

In celebration of Being Erica Season 2 DVD release next week (September 14th), I’m more than happy to be giving away two copies of this amazing Canadian series.  You hear that Lindsay Blackett?  A show that is far from shit!

You’ll remember that this is the season that Erica met the mysterious Kai, her relationship with Ethan reached a boiling point and we found out a LOT more about Dr. Tom.

So how do you win them?

Two ways:
1) Check out my brand-new exclusive interview with Erin Karpluk about Season 3 and tell me which part of the new season you most excited about! Leave your answer in the comments!
2) Tweet the following message:  “Being Erica Season 2 comes out on DVD September 14th.  But I want it now from @mikesbloggity! http://ow.ly/2xeXZ
”

Contest closes September 8th at 11:59PST.  You can enter both ways, but only once each way.  That sounds more confusing than I mean it. Essentially you can enter a total of two times.

Good luck!

David Usher‘s newest single is really doing it for me, so I thought it would be a great song to share with all of you! It is called Je Repars and no, you aren’t drunk, he is singing in french with his friend and singer Marie Mai. Sure I have no idea what they are saying, but it sounds so pretty. Have a listen. It is the first single of Usher’s new album called The Mile End Sessions which will be out on September 14th.

Such a pretty song for a Tuesday, no?

Remember a couple of months ago when Alberta Minister Lindsay Blackett asked a panel at the Banff World Television Awards “Why does Canada produce such shit?” (watch video) Ugh.  Sure you do. I’m still mad about it.  Apparently so are a lot of people, and thankfully this isn’t an issue that has gone away quietly. It has also been great to see people not asking for the ministers resignation, but instead asking what is Blackett going to do about this so called “shit”.

Well last week on CBC’s The Q, Guest Host Zaib Shaikh moderated a very important panel to discuss Canadian Telelvision with the minister and one of our country’s most respected actors Peter Keleghan from CBC’s 18 to Life.

I would really like for all of you to take a moment to listen to the piece. Click here and then go to August 25th.  It was really good to hear the two sides discuss the pros and cons of our entertainment industry.  Even if you don’t know any actors, writers, directors or anyone else involved in making a television show, it is important to know what you specifically can do make sure that we continue to produce quality shows, which will someday help with the quanity.

You know the debate is going to be good, when Shaikh asks Blackett on the first question: “What shows do you think are *bleep*?”  Blackett coyly responded:  “What I was refering to was a lot of the stuff that we fund that never even makes it to television.“  Can I just going ahead and say that that is a bullshit answer.  Does he really think that everything that gets funded will be a huge success on television or even make it to the airwaves? I mean how hours has his government spent on bills and reforms only to have them never see the light of day.  If Blackett can show me anything in this world that has a 100% success rate from start to finish, then I’ll show him my jaw nailed to the ground.

As actor Keleghan later points out, the States are notorious for making hundreds of pilots, it is called Pilot Season. They are supposed to be trials runs. While it would be great to see every single new show go from development to full-season orders, it just doesn’t happen.

Deep breath, deep breath and one more, deep breath.

But please listen to the piece yourself: Click here and then go to August 25th I can go on forever about it.  And once you’ve listened, make sure you have your say. Either in my comment section or The Q’s.  I really would like to keep this discussion going.

Whether we like it or not, a Canadian version of MTV’s Jersey Shore will soon be hitting the airwaves.  Now I’ve actually never seen an episode of JS (true story) but that doesn’t mean I don’t know that is a festering pile of STDs that comes through your TV each and every Thursday night.

But because this is Canada, we are at least getting the choice of which carriers we will be able to watch.  The producers have just announced the Top 24 for the new show aptly called LakeShore and now it is up to us to pick which eight contestants will get to have their lives filmed and future non-entertainment related career aspects ruined.

Sure it is lame, it is cheesy. But is is Canadian, so I gotta cover it.  Plus if you vote, you should look at it like you are giving eight people incredible media attention.  That way, if they start dating your son or daughter, best friend or cousin, you’ll already know all about them and the police will likely already have a file on them.  Really, you are just expediating the process.

Some of the finalists in a girl named Kalifornia who flaughts to be original, yet looks like everyone else. Robby Simpson, Mark Sybydlo and Manuael Deon look like your father’s worst nightmare.  So if that is your cup of tea, you could vote for them. The cast-geek Vonny will definitely be getting in.  The site has been promoting him since the start. Obviously having never owned a TV, Karolina Czaja this she can use the show to promote her career and her love of the Arts. There are even twins Easton and Dana who promise double the trouble.  I’m assuming they mean in the judical system.

Voting closes on September 3rd.  Do you part Canada, do your part.
Let’s just cross our legs and hope that none of these guys become terrorists!

It turns out that Theo Tames wasn’t the worst thing ever to come out of Canadian Idol!

Just two days ago, RCMP raided two houses in the nations capital and ended up arresting three men on the very scary charges of terrorist offenses.  Sadly one of these people wasn’t Ben Mulroney.  Instead it was a former contestant by the name of Khurram Syed Shur.  Don’t worry if you don’t remember him, it was four years ago, it was on Canadian Idol and he didn’t even make it past the judges.

But thanks to the power of Youtube, you can re-watch his audition.  Personally, based on this audition, he should have been arrested four years ago!

I think I’m just suprised that it took this long for someone on Canadian Idol to be arrested. It happens yearly on the American version.

So now that we are talking Canadian Idol. Anyone got any updates for me?  I know Melissa O’Neil is singing with God Made Me Funky. But what about the rest of them?  Kalan Porter? Eva Avila? Theo Tame?  Ryan Malcom?  Anyone?  Hello….is this thing on?

(Story via yesterday’s weirdness)

So I have a bit of a problem and I was wondering if you could help.   You see, I’ve been in Chicago since Monday and I am supposed to leave.  The only problem is I really don’t think I can.  Not because of passport issues or anything yet, but because I’ve fallen in love with this city as quickly as a reality star with a camera.  Honestly, does everyone else know how cool Chicago is?  Because it is pretty freaking cool.

Just yesterday alone, I had the absolute luck of seeing two amazing shows on two very different spectrums.  The first was the broadway production of Billy Elliot.  I had always heard really great things about it, but I never saw the movie and I thought maybe the whole thing would have been lost on me.  But after posting it on Twitter, I was convinced that I could not be in Chicago and not see the show.  And boy am I glad I did.  I actually have to apologize to the audience who watched Billy Elliot with me, I was the bawling mess who was laughing hysterically the whole time.  Honestly, I was shocked at how good the entire production was. I really gave it some thought before I said it, but I really thing this was the best show I’ve ever seen.  Sure Lion King and Les Mis are bigger and more grandeur, but what Billy Elliot was able to do with relatively small production and some unbelievable kids was absolutely remarkable.  I feel like a better person for having seen the show.

The second show I saw on Wednesday was one that came at the very last minute.  I found out that David Gray and Ray LaMontange were performing at Millenium Park with Serena Ryder as the opening act.  I thought I was screwed because tickets had been sold-out for a long time, but as always, Erikson at MapleMusic Recordings came through for me BIG TIME and I was able to get tickets.  So I must thank him and the BEST, COOLEST, MOST AWESOME record label in all of Canada: MapleMusic Recordings, MapleMusic Recordings, MapleMusic Recordings, MapleMusic Recordings.

I don’t really have to tell you how good the show was,  It was David Gray, Ray LaMontagne and Serena Ryder, you know how good the show was.  It was actually funny because Serena only played four songs and everyone was so curious to who she was, they were shocked when I told them she regularly played sold out shows in Canada on her own. As always, Serena represented Canada perfectly!

David Gray was touring in support of his newest album Foundling.  I could be very wrong, but I think he only played one song from it.  The rest of the show was filled with David Gray’s best songs.  And even though I saw him in Calgary just a few months ago, thanks to Calgary’s uber-conservative concert-goer ways, it was waaaaaay better seeing him the second time around.  The entire audience was on their feet the whole time.  Any Calgarian will tell you that this is a huge no-no in our fair city.  Gray is one of today’s most consistent performers.  Luckily for us, that consistancy is usually absolutely perfect.When I got back to my hotel, I posted this message as my facebook status: “I’ve never been married or had a child, but I don’t see how either of those things could top my day today!!!”  I don’t know if Chicago is supposed to the city where dreams come true, but save from not having a bath in a tub full of McLobsters, today was pretty damn close.

So what do you got for me Canada?  Chicago’s made a pretty strong showing this week!  Oh that’s right, McLobsters.  See you tomorrow!

It is not secret that Being Erica finished its second season with the mother of all cliffhangers….would it come back for a third season.  Luckily CBC did the right thing and renewed the most buzzed about show in Canada.  Sure the ratings have never been through the roof, but the show is good and has lots of story to tell.  Me and all of Being Erica’s fans were relieved that CBC felt the same way.

A couple of week ago, I got the chance to visit the set and chat with Being Erica’s star Erin Karpluk.  It was during this interview that Erin spilled a lot of secrets about the upcoming third season.  Check out what Erin has to say about returning characters, this season’s big changes and why she doesn’t want Erica to have a happy ending!

So many people wanted Being Erica to be renewed for a third season, but it wasn’t a sure thing. What were your thoughts leading into this season?
You know what, I was hopelessly optimistic. Based on things that you here through the grapevine. But I always have a little safety-guard on myself from previous experiences. And I like to be a realist and prepare for the worst and if it does happen, then I’m somewhat prepared for it. But obviously it is doing great on CBC and SoapNet and we’ve been picked up by over thirty countries, so we were hoping we’d get another shot at it.

Despite all the buzz, the ratings for Being Erica have never been through the roof. Are there things that we can expect in hopes of brining in bigger ratings?
Honestly we just keep wanting to better and better and better. But this year it feels there is more of masculinity to it. It kinda got “man-ed up” a little bit. It just isn’t a show for girls.

How so?
Certainly by the new characters that are introduced. With the last two seasons, the first halves always felt like we were warming up to the second half, but the third season just starts off with a bang! And it is a darker Being Erica. I don’t want to offput people who might think it is a different show, there is still comedy but the writers have gone darker.

Is it harder to play darker?
I prefer to play the comedic beat, but that said, Erica is a really well-rounded character and the highs come with the lows. It is definitely a balance, the darker we go, the lighter we go too and it pushes the envelop more. I think some of this year’s storylines will shock people, but in a good way, much like in the past.

Will there be lots of big changes this year?
Goblins is still around, the coffee is really good. There will be renovations to the shop too. And we get to meet Dave who has a business partner and significant other and it leads to a lot of comedy.

A huge aspect of the show is Erica’s family. What can we expect from the Strange family this year!
We just finished an episode about Leo. Yup Leo is back! And it isn’t like the first season finale. I’ve made amends with the death of my brother, there is no way you could tie that into a new show. So we are doing one with Leo and it is a little darker, but it helps Erica answer some questions about her brother’s struggles in school. It is very intense but I think people will identify with it. And we get a lot more into Barbara Strange and my sister Samantha. But there are some dark things that happen to Erica’s family that brings us together.

And how about Erica’s new business with Julianne?
Business is good. They are still struggling to make her way up in the world. But at least she is in a better place then she was.

And what about Brent?
Yup Brent will be back! I love working with Morgan Kelly!

Ethan and Erica have finally broken up, have we seen the last of him?
There will be a whole episode devoted to Ethan! But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is in it either. And Clare comes back too. There are some pretty cool things that happen between Claire and Erica.

Will Erica find love this season?
I think so. Where just getting to the point in the season where I’m like: “Where is this going!?!” I don’t have the scripts yet, but it is nice to her single because she hasn’t been single for the past two seasons.

What’s the fan reaction been like in the States?
I haven’t had as much time down there as I would like. But the ones I’ve had are very similar to Canada. But what I didn’t realize was that a lot of the show is edited. A lot of the more risqué stuff is chopped out. It is a lot tamer there. The bad words and of course the orgasm in the canoe were all cut out. There is going to be a lot of stuff they’ll have to edit this year too!

Heaven forbid this is the last season. What do you think will happen to Erica?
I hope it is not happily ever after, because it never is in real life. I’m not saying that to be pessimistic. But we have highs and lows in life and there is good days and there is bad days and it is what we choose to do with those obstacles that come in our way. I would love to see Erin fall in love and have children. We just a scene where she wonders if she could see children in her life. And I think that is a question that we all ask ourselves. Especially our generation.

Being Erica’s third season premieres September 21st.  To catch up on the show, picked up the season two DVDs on September 14th.

When the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) kicks off next month, there will be hundreds of films that will be making their big screen debuts. Some will never see the light of day again and others will leave people with no other choice but to tell their friends and that will hopefully lead to the movie being a huge hit.

One of those movies will probably be Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

The film stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as rival ballerinas.  But somewhere between Natalie’s reflection look back at her and Portman’s blood shot eyes, you know this isn’t going to be your typical rival dancer movies.  Look up Step Up, this shit is about to get real.

Watch this trailer and tell me you don’t get the chills.

TIFF runs from September 9th-19th.

Four years ago today, I was sitting in my office working the most boring job of my life.  I don’t know why, but I decided right then and there to start a blog.  I didn’t really know what it was going to be about or if anyone was even going to read it.  It was orginally called Mike’s Bloggity Blog Blob and was a play on words from Sex and The City’s Carrie Bradshaw when she said she was “Drunkity, Drunk, drunk.”  It was four years ago today and I can hardly believe it!

2804 blog posts later, today is Mike’s Bloggity Blog’s blogaversary! Wow!  Four years!  That is a degree in blogging!  Do they even have those yet?  They should, I would be an awesome Dean…okay fine, assistant professor. Assistant to the professor.  I would at least be something.

Either way, I just wanted to take moment to say thank you to anyone that has ever read the blog.  Even if you’ve only read it once.  Even if you read it because you hate it.  Even if you are related to me and you are terrified that I’m going to write something about you. Either way, thank you.  Thanks for coming by, thanks for leaving comments and thanks for telling your friends.

I’m so proud that this blog has become a place that supports Canadian entertainment.  Sometimes I get confused because we are such a patriotic country, yet we find it so easy to dump on our own entertainment industry.  I don’t always love our shows, movies or music, but I always respect them.  I hope this blog is an indication of that. I hope you find this blog a place to learn about great new music or a hilarious TV show.

Being a writer is one of the coolest things in the world.  I honestly never thought it was possible and now I get to do it each and every single day.  For a guy that has been bald since high school, I feel so lucky.

So celebrate the blogaversary as you wish!  My suggestion would be to eat a McLobster while watching Being Erica with a nice cool Molson 67.  I’m still in Chicago, so to you a raise a slice of Deep Dish Pizza and say thanks again!

For the next couple of day’s Mike’s Bloggity Blog is going to be turning into an American blog!  Okay, well not really, but I’m going to be writing it from Chicago!!!

I’ve always wanted to go to Chicago and when the opportunity came up last week, I jumped at the chance!  I’m so freaking excited to be here and taking in all the architecture….and the deep dish pizza.

And no, I’m probably not going to Oprah, but I might go see Shrek: The Musical, so it is like the same thing!  I kid, I kid!

This is actually the first of a whirlwind trip for me!  Today Chicago, next week I’m in San Francsico, then off to Vancouver, back to Calgary for a week, then I’m going home to Fredericton for another week.  Ahhh the life of a blogger!

Happy Monday everyone, I’m off to explore one of the coolest city’s I’ve ever been too!