UWO President Makes Appearance at Rotary Club
The University of Western Ontario’s President Amit Chakma was greeted as a guest speaker today at London’s chapter of the Rotary Club. Their weekly meeting, held at the London Convention Centre, provided a platform for the President to talk about his first year at Western and his vision for the years to come. His appearance was followed by an announcement of 3.1 million dollars in federal funding for Rotary’s international work.
ReForest London Celebrates 5 Years This Weekend
ReForest London is a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging Londoners in naturalization projects involving tree planting and care in the Forest City. This Saturday will mark the organizations’ 5th anniversary, to be marked with a tree planting event in Gibbons Park where its first project took place. Julie Ryan, Executive Director of ReForest London, discussed some of the organization's projects that have taken place so far. The trees planted this weekend will also mark the twenty-thousandth tree planted by ReForest London. Londoners wishing to volunteer are welcome to join the ReForest London Staff, Board of Directors and London Life staff in this celebration. The event starts at 9 at the park entrance off Victoria Street. The day will be rounded out with crafts and games for volunteers, a seedling give-away and a barbecue hosted at the London Life Recreation Centre with local food provided by Garlics. For more information about ReForest London, visit their website at http://www.reforestlondon.ca./
Blue Flag Designation Announcements
Environmental Defence is a Canadian non-governmental organization with a mandate to green cities, protect people and save species. It is also the national body operating the International Blue Flag program in Canada. This program awards Blue Flag status seasonally to applicant beaches and marinas if they meet high standards for water quality, environmental education, environmental management, and safety and services. Today, fifteen beaches and three marinas were granted the designation, including local Grand Bend Beach on Lake Huron and Port Stanley Main Beach on Lake Erie. Nick Rolfe, Blue Flag Coordinator with Environmental Defence explains what earned Port Stanley’s designation. (quote 2) These beaches are now part of more than three thousand four hundred locations certified in forty-one countries around the world. For more information about the Blue Flag Program, visit http://www.blueflag.ca/. For more information about Environmental Defence, visit http://www.environmentaldefence.ca./
MTV Movie Awards Highlights
The MTV Movie Awards were held Sunday night, hosted by goofball comedian Aziz Ansari. Sandra Bullock stepped out of the shadows and made her first public appearance since the Jesse James sex scandal. The actress gracefully accepted her award for MTV generation winner, with a slice of her usual comedic charm. Claimed the "anti-Oscars," the night was filled with shocking performances and not so shocking results. Tom Cruise took the stage reprising his role as Len Grossman in Tropic Thunder accompanied by sexy singer Jennifer Lopez. Some colourful categories included Best WTF moment, Best Fight and Best Kiss. Ken Jeong from the Hangover took the coveted best WTF moment, I'm sure all those who've had the pleasure of watching this movie, can rightfully assume exactly what moment. Predictably, Twilight captured the bulk of the prizes, winning best movie, and star duo Stewart and Pattinson were awarded best female and male performance as well as best kiss. "Up and the Air" Anna Kendrick, the "Hangover's" Zach Galifianakis and "Harrys Potter's" Tom Felton are among the winners this year. Although noticeably scripted, the night modelled all expectations, a fun event meant to give proper recognition to blockbuster favourites who fail to be acknowledged at the Oscars.
Short Film Festival in Toronto Highlights
It was a busy week in the film industry. The Canadian Film Center hosted the Worldwide short film festival in Toronto. The largest of its kind in North America, the event wrapped up Sunday with the presentation of 10 awards. Several Canadian films captured top prizes, including Jean Malek's Les Poissons, who is a fairly new face in the industry. The film shows three women making a pact. Six-minute Canadian film "Slip" by Chelsea McMullan, shoots the unique dance performance taking place in the women's changing room, was awarded best cinematography and best experimental film. The festival had a total screening of 281 films from 34 different countries.
The Cove Under Fire
Award winning documentary The Cove is once again under fire, the victim of several Japanese protests. Two movie theatres in Tokyo and Osaka this week had to cancel their screenings of the documentary, following protests outside the offices of the film’s local distributor, angry phone calls and threats. The Cove, which nabbed an Oscar earlier this year, reveals the shocking slaughter of thousands of dolphins in the small town of Tiji. Since the premier, the film has aroused a series of debates and controversy. A small portion of the population in Japan is offended, believing the film was an outside attack on Japanese culture. Director Louie Psihoyos disagrees, cheekily calling the film a national love letter to Japan.
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