Tag Archives: PopArtsPlace.com

The Ruby Dice – Catherine Asaro

When I discovered The Ruby Dice by Catherine Asaro I was positively entranced.  It was another book in a series (the Skolian Empire) I had been enjoying, and that was why I picked it up, but more than that, it introduced a dazzling concept I had never encountered before.

A means of communicating and exploring ideas through a dice based game.  Elaborate concepts and structures were laid out, described as being somewhere between tremendous dominoes extravaganzas, and those multi-deck card houses my parents would demand I put away before going to bed because a card house simply was not meant to fill the entire carpeted floor of the living room — or so they thought.  But these structures were made up of dice, each of which represented concepts, people, ideas, and the game functioned as a part of the plot and intrigue in the story.

By the time I reached the end of the book I almost understood the dice game, and suddenly I wanted to read the book all over again, wondering if with that new found understanding parts of the plot might play differently.

I have never been one to play the games that require 10 and 20 sided dice, and yet I can not help but wonder if The Ruby Dice is a book that would make even more sense, and hold more meaning to someone who is accustomed to seeing meaning in dice where all I see is painted numbers on an object I roll while praying.

Orphan Black – Podcast Coming

We (John Mayo of ComicBookPage, Kay Kellam of PopArtsPlace, the lovely Erica / TV Heartbeat of MikeTheFanBoy and Linda Chan) have recorded an Orphan Black podcast, which will be going up in the not too distant future.  For those who have not yet tuned in to Orphan Black — take some time and check out the first two seasons, which are currently available to be viewed in a variety of ways, including free video-on-demand on Time Warner Cable Boxes.

For those attending Fan Expo Canada in Toronto next week, we have tried to figure out a list of Orphan Black filming locations that fans have identified that are within striking distance of the convention center.   My original purpose was to give John Mayo and myself something fun to do between the time we arrived and the convention began Thursday, but the more I found and began plotting, the more I thought others might be interested.  (And I should mention it was the Lovely Erica who first mentioned to me that we might be able to see some of the Orphan Black filming locations while in Toronto!  Great call Erica!)

At this point I have come up with a 6 mile tour of down town that takes you in a giant loop ending at the convention center.  Several of the locations are in the general vicinity of the convention center and I am trying to whittle this list down to a much shorter selection that could be a walking tour done Thursday morning before the convention begins.

For those who have not watched the series, there are some spoilers below as I give rough descriptions to identify locations.  You may want to stop reading at this point!

 

The following link should take you to the 6 mile route:  https://goo.gl/maps/3Cp3R

The first 6 addresses make up a shorter ( 3.5 mile ) route

Union Station Rail Station — half a mile from the convention center, is where Beth is seen in her attention grabbing appearance in the pilot episode.

35 Mariner Terrace, Toronto, ON M5V 3V9   — Beth’s Condo  (approximately half a mile’s walk from the convention center)

17 Iceboat Terrace, Toronto, ON M5V  — Paul stands on the Puente de Luz footbridge while talking on the cell phone given to him by Sarah, via the skateboarder

28 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON M5V 2P1  — After the decoy skateboarder girl fools Daniel Rosen and his thugs, Sarah runs to the steel bridge at Front St. W and Bathurst St

1812 Lounge – Thompson Hotel, 550 Wellington St W, Toronto, ON M5V  — Sara goes in with hat and sunglasses

483 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5V 2A9  – Felix’s Loft (Exterior)

59 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 — Helena’s second hideout, Knox College (looks like a church)

83 St Joseph St, Toronto, ON M5S  — House that was supposed to be in Minneapolis

University of Toronto – Saint Michaels College, 81 St Mary St, Toronto, ON M5S 1J4  – Cosima spends a lot of time at the U of T.

130 Elizabeth St, Toronto, ON M5G 1C3  — Leekie meets Cosima at the Toronto Coach Terminal

19 Toronto St, Toronto, ON M5C 2R1  — The restaurant where Cosima and Delphine have dinner, and are joined by Dr. Leekie, is the Rosewater Supper Club

Metro Toronto Convention Centre North, Front Street West, Toronto, ON  — Fan Expo Canada

To create this list of locations I relied on two lists I found online put together by very attentive and resourceful fans at orphanblack.wikia and Torontoist.com  I am indebted to them for sharing their findings with other fans, and any mistakes are entirely my own.  I am in no way attempting to take credit for their efforts or hard work, I merely attempted to arrange for myself and those I will be attending Fan Expo with a Orphan Black sightseeing tour, and realized others might be interested in seeing the maps and having a chance to do the same if they had the time.  I can not thank the fans enough for sharing their discoveries, and helping out tourists like us.

You may want to look at the link to google maps that shows all of the locations, and see if any of them are near the hotel you are staying in, or convenient in some other way, or break up the sight-seeing into more than one jaunt.

Additionally fans of the TV show Flashpoint should be sure to take a moment to go into the Royal York Hotel, and check out both the lobby and mezzanine which were used nicely, and obviously. in the episode Broken Peace, the first episode of Season five.  Aside from the filming that has taken place at the Royal York Hotel, the hotel has a fantastic history, and is well worth taking some time to see while in Toronto.

Another site we are hoping to fit into our time in Toronto is Casa Loma.   Like the Royal York Hotel, Casa Loma has a rich history, and has been used in the filming of many projects, including as Xavier’s Institute for gifted children in the 2000 X-men movie.  (Yes, that would be the Patrick Stewart Xavier.)

Outlander – Castle Leoch

Claire and Jamie in Outlander S01E02 Castle Leoch

Claire and Jamie in Outlander S01E02 Castle Leoch

STARZ Outlander‘s second episode, Castle Leoch, incorporates large portions of the chapters 4 through 9 (about 4 pages into chapter 9, or approximately pages 81-162) of the Diana Gabaldon novel Outlander, but begins to feel less like an attempt to precisely translate the novel to the screen, and more like an effort to capture the most powerful and dynamic pages of the book, and present them in the best possible way in moving images.

In episode two it feels like scenes are shifted in position, aspects and conversations changed.  Where in episode one minor characters from the novel did not appear, here it felt like a minor character or two was added to facilitate tension, drama, and keep both characters and the plot on track and focused.  And yet, even as I was aware of all of these subtle and nuanced changes, none of them felt as though they were in violation of the book, or characters, but rather like I was simply being exposed to a different and equally compelling edit of the same story — making me glad I’ve already read these chapters, and am now enjoying the STARZ presentation.

Outlander is an epic story, set at this point predominantly in the 18th century, but the show uses a nice technique of flashing back to Claire’s twentieth century memories as she tries to adjust to her life, and use what knowledge she has, in every respect, to survive in this new life.

Watch Outlander on STARZ to catch up, and tune in each Saturday night at 9 PM ET/PT

Anti-Bullying Coalition at San Diego’s Comic-Con International

Jane Espenson & Brad Bell (Husbands) at the 2013 Anti-Bullying Coalition Mixer

Jane Espenson & Brad Bell (Husbands) at the 2013 Anti-Bullying Coalition Mixer

This was the second year in a row the Anti-Bullying Coalition made an appearance at San Diego’s Comic-Con International.  Last year they had a mixer for members of the media, and content makers, discussing ways we could all work together to both create content that put out messages about the negatives of bullying, the basic moral it is wrong, and how to cover stories on bullying to re-enforce the message of what a negative it is in our society.

After attending the mixer I recall talking to a friend in another country and he remarked that there had been some picking on kids and some hassling of younger kids ‘back in the day’ but now, with more and more international content coming in, the problem had increased noticeably.  It was a wake-up call to me, because I realized in that moment that we may not be putting in messages that were pro-bullying in our shows, but as we drift away from making shows with morals in every episode, and away from programming designed to teach lessons and present the rose-tinted view of how we want people to behave and our culture to be, we are no longer specifically setting the example that bullying is bad, and harming another, or hurting their feelings should make the person doing the harming feel bad.

Does that mean we need to return to the days of Leave It To Beaver programs?   I do not believe so.  But if you watch shows like Melissa and Joey, The Fosters, or some of the more provocative ABC Family shows, for instance, I at least find that while they have a lot of the drama and intensity of a lot of other shows, they also have consequences, repercussions, and they hit you where it hurts, and tug at your heart when someone is hurt — leading the audience to dislike the person doing the bullying and not wanting to ever be that person.

Chase Masterson (known by many as an actress on Deep Space Nine, and Dr Who) and author Carrie Goldman are on to something powerful here, encouraging content creators to think about subplots, and characters, who bring out the best in our society, our children, and our future.

If you are at a convention where the Anti-Bullying convention has a panel, take the time to attend.  They have great ideas for how to help kids support one another, instead of feeling like powerless bystanders.  As Chase Masterson says in their press release, “We all love superheroes, so why not be one?”

The Pop Culture Anti-Bullying Coalition brought the United Nations Association to San Diego Comic-Con, the first-ever pop culture panel event for the global organization.
“We all love superheroes — so why not be one?” asks Founder Chase Masterson. “We’re working to inspire, enlist and excite pop culture fandom to join us in strategies to end bullying. Partnering with the United Nations Association is both a natural and powerful choice, and we are honored to have them onboard.”
United Nations Association San Diego Chapter President Bettina Hausmann stated, “The painful effects of the preventable “disease” of bullying are wide spread, knowing no country borders, and deeply felt, often lasting for a lifetime. Rededicating ourselves and our efforts toward eliminating this poison in our homes, schools, workplaces, and communities is the social justice issue of the 21st century.”
“In our digitalized, media-driven society, pop culture has a constant influence on the way that both children and adults interpret the world. When kids see celebrities take action against bullying, it resonates strongly and sends the message that cruelty is not acceptable,” remarked Founder Carrie Goldman.
The Coalition’s panel, “End Bullying! Responding to Cruelty in Our Culture” was touted as one of the top ten events at Comic-Con and moderated by author Carrie Goldman (Harper Collins’ Bullied: What Every Parent, Teacher, and Kid Needs to Know About Ending the Cycle of Fear). Panelists included Bettina Hausmann (President, United Nations Association, San Diego), Brad Bell (Executive Producer and Star,Husbands), author Anthony Breznican (St. Martin’s Press Brutal Youth; Senior Writer, Entertainment Weekly), Ashley Eckstein (Her Universe; Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Jane Espenson (Executive Producer,Husbands), Dr. Andrea Letamendi (The Arkham Sessions), Alice Cahn (VP Social Responsibility, Cartoon Network), Tina Malka (Associate Regional Director, Anti-Defamation League, San Diego) and Masterson(Star Trek: DS9; Doctor Who: Big Finish).
Panelists discussed strategies to overcome bullying and create witnesses and allies out of bystanders; topics included geek bullying, LGBT bullying, cyber-bullying, and analyzing how media and entertainment affect our attitudes toward bullying and aggression
.
“Cartoon Network’s STOP BULLYING:SPEAK UP Campaign is proud to support the actors, writers, and artists who use their talent to create characters and worlds that embrace diversity and acceptance,” saidCartoon Network VP Alice Cahn. “Entertainment media has an important role to play in speaking up for youth.”
“Educators and administrators are reaching out to the ADL to help them navigate the growing problem of bullying. This provides the ADL with an important opportunity to not only address these concerns, but to deepen people’s understanding about the connections among bullying, bias-motivated behavior and hate activities,” said Tina Malka, Associate Regional Director, ADL San Diego.
“I wrote a book about the tragedy of bullying in a fictional school where such harassment went overlooked and unchecked. Unfortunately, that happens in real life more often than we want to believe,” said Anthony Breznican, author of the dark coming-of-age novel BRUTAL YOUTH. “At the ‘End Bullying!’ panel Sunday, we met real people in the audience who have been scarred by that kind of torment. They only ever needed a friend, and hopefully this panel was a place where they found many. Their heartbreak definitely broke mine, but we discovered that our pieces fit together to make something that beats much stronger.”
President Hausmann concluded, “It is a human right to live lives free of hate, violence, and ignorance — the three legs of the bullying stool. The United Nations as a global body enacted in local contexts supports efforts not only regarding anti-bullying, but pro-openness, pro-understanding, and pro-empathy. It takes dedicated individuals like Chase Masterson and Carrie Goldman, who tirelessly volunteer to promote this important cause, to unite us to stand up against bullying and discrimination. We, the UNA-USA San Diego are proud to support their invaluable works with and through the Pop Culture Anti-Bullying Coalition.”