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Showing posts from March, 2009

Making Myths, Fighting Myths at the Mythical McMichael Canadian Art Collection

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. Early version of a piece written for Sunwings' inflight magazine, summer 2009 edition There is a myth about Canadians that just won’t go away. It says that we are a nation of hewers of wood and drawers of water. Truth is, most Canucks live in urban communities within 150kms of the American border, our trees are for shade and the water comes right out of the tap. A visit to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario (just north of the City of Toronto) shows, however, that the myth has done some good things for the country. The publicly owned gallery is the only major art gallery in the country that solely collects and exhibits Canadian Art, and its most prized works were created by the Group of Seven, painters who painted the myth! In 1920, seven artists – Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson – decided, for the first time, to exhibit as the Group of Seven. The Group’s first exhib

Stars on the water compete for Bacardi Cup

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. Canadian Star teams sail against the world's best off Miami Beach in March Bermuda's Peter Bromby and veteran Star Class crew Magnus Liljedahl of Miami won the 2009 Bacardi Cup Star Class Regatta Friday March 13th on Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. Bromby and Liljedahl sailed to victory on the final race in the six race regatta to finish with a commanding six-point lead over Floridian Mark Mendelblatt, the 2005 Bacardi Cup champion, and crew Bruno Prada (BRA) who finished second overall. The Bacardi Cup Regatta, hosted by the Coral Reef Yacht Club on Miami's Key Biscayne, attracted sailors from around the world. There were 128 sailors in 64 teams representing 15 countries competed in the race. Eight of the competitors were from Canada including four-time Olympian Hans Fogh and the Queen City Yacht Club (Toronto Island) team of Terry Hofkitchner and Jeff Imai. According to Queen City Yacht Club Vice-Commodore and Diver Magazine photographer Pat Whetung, the r

Diver Magazine at Volunteer Driven Festival - Shipwreck 2009

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. Diver Magazine at Volunteer Driven Festival Welland, Ontario Shipwreck Symposium marks its 15th Year - Niagara Diver’s Association For the third year in a row, Diver Magazine will be at the day long Shipwrecks Symposium in Welland, Ontario. The Magazine’s travel editor, Stephen Weir will be at the annual conference to meet subscribers and to take pictures of the popular dive conference for Diver. The Niagara Divers' Association’s 15th Annual Shipwrecks Symposium, "Shipwrecks/2009" will be held Saturday, April 4th at Welland’s Centennial High School. This year the volunteer driven event features nine multimedia presentations given by both world-renowned wreck experts and local divers. Jonathan Moore is one of the headline speakers. Moore is an underwater archaeologist with Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Service. He will be showing never before seen pictures of the government protected wrecks of Lake Ontario’s Hamilton and Scourge (War of 1812 shipwrecks