David Lynch: the Documentary

I love David Lynch. I think he is amazing director who should have won Best Director Oscars for Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive.

His latest film, Inland Empire, is reputed to be the strangest of all his films. The film is centered around an actress (played by Lynch alum Laura Dern) who is cast in a film with a dark history. The tagline for Inland Empire is "A woman in trouble". Details of the plot don't get much more clearer than that.

From 2004 to 2006, during the filming of Inland Empire, Lynch allowed himself to be filmed for over 700 hours by a group of filmmakers. Lynch also allowed the documentary's director to live with him in his Los Angeles home. This documentary will give a much-needed glimpse into the life of one the greatest directors of all time. I'm sure there will be lots of unavoidable talk about transcendental mediation.

I am very excited to see this film... and as it looks like Inland Empire isn't going to make it to Nova Scotia (Lynch is self-distributing), perhaps the documentary can find its way here.

You can read more about the documentary at the filmmakers' blog and myspace.

The Angels Made Contact

Last night's Matt Mays "...When the Angels Make Contact" concert went far beyond my expectations. It was simply amazing. The crowd of 1000 were obviously die-hards. They barely whispered for the entire show.

The Museum Pieces opened up the show with an impressive set -- the drummer had a bum knee, and still managed to play his guts out. Their melodic, hopeful, energetic, almost electronic sound was extremely well-received. Their technical skill definitely sets them apart. I'm looking forward to seeing them again. We met up with the drummer's father, Professor Peter March, during intermission, and joined him in praising their performance.

Matt Mays and his band of about eight musicians (including the Museum Pieces' guitarist) took to the stage in complete darkness while a David Lynch-esque shot of a shadowy highway and a flickering eye played on duel screens behind them.

They played the album in its entirety, in order. Matt Mays and his band should be so proud of themselves right now. Every song was so precise, difficult with such a large group of musicians, and full of energy. The sound at the Rebecca Cohn was perfect, and the lighting created a very intimate setting. They killed it, they really did.

We were granted a few more glimpses of Mays' film project. Images of the Eastern Passage shoreline and downtown Halifax flickered across the screen while the band pressed on.

A big highlight of the evening was the encore. Instead of the usual one to two songs, Mays came out alone with an acoustic guitar and went into story-teller mode. We got to here around seven songs -- pretty much an extra set -- which featured "City of Lakes", and a toned-down, soft version of "Cocaine Cowgirl".

Mays dedicated the show to his grandmother. He was obviously conscious of swearing in front of his, and was heard to utter "frig" in place of stronger language.

I've been to a few Matt Mays and El Torpedo shows and loved them. This was a completely different experience. Not necessarily better, but richer in the variety of music.

There was nothing I would have changed about the show. It was a great experience, and a real showcase of the talent we have here in Canada. I hope Mr. Mays makes it big in New York City.

Surprisingly, MSVU PR students don't like the Internet

CC and MSVU PR Students relax at the U-Turn cafe

What began as a backlash against Second Life turned into a credibility war against the Internet.

Today my Employee Relations class met at the U-Turn cafe with new media guru C.C. Chapman. We asked questions that we had prepared in our team wikis, and sought to gain his insight on how companies can use new media as an internal communications tool.

This conversation quickly turned into a tirade of students' opinions of Second Life, based on their class time assignments. The negativity extended past Second Life and to blogging. Students didn't understand how blogs and bloggers gain credibility, because the Internet doesn't employ gatekeepers to filter content.

Mr. Chapman brought up a good point, in that all media comes from so-called "experts", whether its print, radio, TV, or Internet, and those experts, and the medium they transmit over, carry biases, and at times, nonfactual information.

All students present, without a doubt, use social networks in their personal life as connectors, and yet a good deal of those students didn't value social networks' importance as a professional and/or research tool.

Mr. Chapman gave some great reading recommendations, and examples of how Second Life can be used to host media events. He acknowledged work places' reluctance to embrace new technology, but made it known that as PR students we should be reading blogs and listening to podcasts constantly in order to remain aware in this constantly evolving field.

Lauren, Jill, and DeNel listen to C.C. Chapman's advice to PR students