Rogers follows Hulu’s footsteps
The grand magnate of Canadian television, Rogers Communications Inc., is proposing a video platform that will have the same accessibilities and features as the American streaming video website, Hulu, which is run by NBC/Universal. Rogers plans to give viewers access to free Canadian content and programming. The term “free” is used loosely in this case as only subscribers to Rogers’ services will be able to access the site. Representatives at Rogers (who have admitted to a decline in cable business since the beginning of the recession) hope this will increase the incentives of current subscribers to stay on with them as well as attract new viewers.
Cameron gives audiences a chance to talk Avatar before they see it
MTV teamed up with director James Cameron and stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, to participate in an interactive Q&A on Thursday. Questions were submitted for them by fans via email and Facebook. The trio talked for 30 minutes about the highly-anticipated film and previewed an exclusive sneak peek. Avatar will open in theatres on December 18th. You can check out the interview at http://moviesblog.mtv.com/
The man behind 2-D announces new Gorillaz album in the works
Damon Albarn of the band Blur has revealed details of an upcoming project for his virtual group, Gorillaz. The band, known as four bizarre cartoon characters and voiced by Albarn and a variety of guest vocals, will be voiced by an impressive roster of singers this time around. The album, tentatively called Plastic Beach, will feature Bobby Womack, Barry Gibb, Mos Def, The Horrors, and Lou Reed among several others. Albarn (who was inspired to start up this project after Blur’s reunion) has stated that the new music will have strong pop elements, which will converge with the diverse styles of the guest musicians. Plastic Beach is slated for release early next year.
Imagine Snoop Dogg reading the directions for your next trip … it could happen
TomTom, the European manufacturer of portable navigation systems, has found the element to set them apart from all others — the smoky-smooth chops of rapper Snoop Dogg. For $12.95 US, you can buy his VoiceSkin for your TomTom GPS device. You can purchase this and other celebrity voices (including one of Homer Simpson) at the Voice Skins website. Whoever you choose, getting up to the cottage can now be a whole lot cooler.
On a final note:
Canada Reads has announced its reading list for 2010. The “battle of the books” in the coming year will be fought by the following panelists:
Olympic gold medalist hurdler Perdita Felicien for Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Vancouver broadcaster Simi Sara for Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott
Edmonton's poet laureate Roland Pemberton (Cadence Weapon) for Generation X by Douglas Coupland
War Child Canada’s executive director Dr. Samantha Nutt for The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy
Author Michel Vézina for Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner, translated by Lazer Lederhendler
Bring on the debate!
