THIS FRIDAY!!!!

The INFLAMMABLES will be performing at the MASC. fundraiser at The Gift Shop on Friday - come and see the ridiculousness!

MASC magazine fundraiser!
art, performance, share ideas, mark your calendar

Host: MASC magazine

Time and PlaceStart Time: Friday, February 22, 2008 at 7:00pm

Location: The Gift Shop Boutique 1550 Queen West toronto, ON

info: mascmagazine@gmail.com

It's a gathering because we want to see and hear from people who share our excitement about this magazine. It's a fundraiser because we want to start spending money and making this all happen. It's a party because a party is never a bad idea when you've got 100 cool people together on a Friday night.

From 7pm to late, the evening will be a combination of participation and performances.

masc is a magazine providing space for young men between the ages of 15-22yrs old to express themselves and their realities. masc magazine presents positive, alternative examples of masculinity and is a catalyst for discussion, particularly around ideas of gender, stereotypes, sexuality and health. masc magazine supports and challenges young men to be better, more whole human beings.

still confused?
see this:
http://citizen.nfb.ca/blogs/masculinity/1041/

oh dear

well.

it's been a while since i put anything up. YIKES! i have been busy, working on gearing up the Islington Junior Middle School Giant Puppet Pageant and keeping going on various things with The Gathering Space. I'll be telling you more about the puppet pageant as it progresses, and you can always go to the Gathering Space blog at
www.gatheringspace.blogspot.com - Many happy surprises there!

really, tho - these days i'm excited about iceland. saw a wonderful film about the band Sigur Ros and their tour of their home doing 10 free concerts in remote areas. It's called Heima and i'm jazzed by it, and by them, and by their amazingly beautiful country.

check these out - sigur ros videos on youtube:

hoppipolla - www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDxMQaMqsig
glosoli - www.youtube.com/watch?v=okLCurB1lJw



found this beautiful photo on the internet, by a man named Marc Isberg. That's what Iceland looks like! Wow!

more soon...

a little catching up

HOwdy folKS!

Well - i have a wee bit of catching up to do - things have been flying feirce and ferocious, and only in the best possible ways.

alleyjaunt was a GAS!! Not only did we all have a really great time - not only were our hosts super-wonderful, with four great kids who helped us set up - not only did the folks who came to visit us seem to have a good experience - we were awarded the MOST FUN award by the Children's Choice awards!!!
YES!!
What a treat. We received a trophy made of mostly of chocolate, wax and pipe cleaners, which we positioned in a place of honour in our garage. We'll put up some photos, as soon as the kooks distribute them.

+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*++++*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

Then after that, Leah Houston and Cardboard heart's very own Junior Assistant Imaginaut noah Kenneally put together a kick-butt community arts project out in Etobicoke. Called Lantern Garden, It was an outdoor art project for kids and families in a little parkette that is in the middle of the Toronto Community Housing Neighbourhood known as Mabelle. Noah and Leah have been working there with Jumblies Theatre for the past few years and put this great little project together with the help of Jumblies and the Lawrence Family Foundation.

We made lanterns, drew pictures, planted herbs and flowers, drew on rocks, repaired and decorated one of the park benches, repainted the wading pool, told stories, did some sidewalk chalk art, ate snacks and generally had a good time. Here are some pictures from that.


Leah took this photo - Qadar, Osama, Farrah and noah putting the bench back together.


Leah also took this photo - this is the wading pool, freshly repainted by us and the kids.


Noah took this photo - the lantern festival, a celebration of our project - almost 150 folks showed up! We lit the lanterns we'd made, ate cookies and drank lemonade together.

OK! So that's caught up now! Stay tuned for more wild and crazy stories, y'all!

come one, come all to ALLEYJAUNT!!

OK, folks at home, hope you're all well.

ALLEYJAUNT is fast approaching and i wanted to let you all know how much fun it's going to be.

The answer is: LOADS!!!!

check this out - click on it to view it in all it's gigantic splendour :



The Lab is going to be positioned in Garage #24, in the alleyway between Montrose and Crawford. We wanglers will be offering two make-yer-own-box-that-tells-stories workshops a day and a chance for all folks to perform their toy theatres, either on our daily performance parade or in our garage/workshop/theatrespace.

It's going to be fun. It's going to be great. We'll be there from 11pm - 6pm Saturday and Sunday, having fun and making art with anyone who wants to. Remember, IT"S NOT JUST FOR KIDS! Come along and tell some of your own stories, glue things together, have a ball.

We like you. Hope to see you soon!
For more info on Alleyjaunt go to the website - www.alleyjaunt.com

ALLEYJAUNT

Hey there folks at home

Next thing the Lab will be doing, (other than learning how to relax) is the wonderful fantabulous Alleyjaunt, the garage and alley art festival that happens in the alleyways surrounding Trinity-Bellwoods park.
Over the weekend of August 11th and 12th, from 11 am to 6pm, folks'll be able to come and check out the newest incarnation of GLIMPSES OF EXTRAORDINARY LIVES, an ongoing community engaged toy theatre project. You may remember the project from last year's Art Crawl, or from the RED Cabaret - GLIMPSES has been running for almost four years now and is still going strong!
We'll be offering workshops in how to make your own toy theatre and show, and we'll also have a parade every evening to show off our creations and there's even rumour that there'll be nightly puppet shows!
Participating Imagination Re-calibrators and janitors of the collective unconcious will be:
Sir Joel Brubacher
The Lady Lisa Pijuan-Nomura
Dr. Doctor Professor/Philosopher leah houston
and
The Learned Mister Sean Frey.
Of course, noah kenneally, Assistant Imagination Chiropodist and masseur-of-the-unconcious, will be on hand as well as on foot.
Check this blog for more detailed info soon, and the delightful AlleyJaunt website at www.alleyjaunt.com.
Wahoo!

photo by Melanie Gordon
Alleyjaunt logo by Alleyjaunters

in my language

wow.
the world is an absolutely amazing place.
so hard to understand and different and complicated, way more complicated, beautiful and heart-wrenching than we can begin to imagine.
my brilliant housemate shelly, who is a talented dancer and choreographer and who also has worked and makes art with people in the disabilities community, showed me this wonderful film posted on YOUTUBE.
Go here and get ready to have your mind and heart opened wider - www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnylM1hI2jc
A M Baggs lights up the world with her perspective.

photos of bridge of one hair

a very nice person, a friend of one of the adult choir members, posted a bunch of photos of the show on her flickr site, including this one of Somali superstar Faduma N'kruma.
to see the rest of the photos, go to the flickr site www.flickr.com, and do a search for 'bridge of one hair'. there are also a couple up there by Trevor Schwellnus, our genius technical director.
The show was an incredible experience, and an avalanche of details to coordinate. Now we're winding down - will post news of the Lab's coming activities soon.
best - enjoy the springtime!