Close Encounters

In honour of Pink Shirt Day to stop bullying, and Poetry Month, here's a poem which opens my Interdisciplinary Show and Poetry Chapbook  (In) valid. The show uses a 'patch' I designed with the programs MaxMSP/Jitter to turn music into colors.

Close encounters 

do you remember
that film
from 1977
close encounters
of the third kind
came out when I was 10

where people communicated
with beings from
another planet
with musical notes
and colored lights

it always made me cry
always made me wonder
when my people
were coming
to get me

the truth is
they don’t come in spaceships
they come in ones
or twos

they don’t necessarily
look like you
but you can tell them
just the same
you'll know
when you meet.

MAKE VIA RAIL ACCESSIBLE BY 2012

Integrial Media Launches:  MAKE VIA RAIL ACCESSIBLE BY 2012!
On FACEBOOK 

Canada's train which travels across the country is not accessible to all Canadians. Particularly not to wheelchair users. In March 2010 Catherine Frazee, co-curator of the Out from Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember exhibition, was forced to travel from Toronto to Vancouver via the USA train service AMTRAK. As VIA RAIL could not accommodate her. She was bringing the Out from Under exhibition, to participate as part of the Paralympic Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver 2010. After some publicity around our inaccessible national train service, VIA RAIL sent a letter of apology to Ms Frazee, and the Vancouver Sun. At a reception in Vancouver for the Human Rights Museum, Catherine Frazee, challenged VIA RAIL to be fully accessible by 2012, when the Museum opens in Winnipeg.

Join us on Facebook, tell us about the trip you DIDN'T take because you COULDN'T get on the train or the trip you would like to take, when you can. Or just become a fan of:  

MAKE VIA RAIL ACCESSIBLE BY 2012! On FACEBOOK.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/MAKE-VIA-RAIL-ACCESSIBLE-BY-2012/102639329774496

Kickstart Festival 2010

Doing some work with Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture, community outreach for the opening performance of the Kickstart 2010 Festival - She Laughed She Cried; and coordination for BRIAN, and EarSighted Audio Description Service.

SHE LAUGHED, SHE CRIED March 12 8 PM Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. UBC 

Opening the performance stream of the Kickstart Festival 2010 in partnership with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. Soulful fado music with Sara Marreiros and comedian Jan Derbyshire performing the rollicking Funny in the Head.

Tickets: $22 ($16 students, seniors & fixed income)

www.ticketmaster.ca 604.280.3311

Interview with Jan about the show.

Kickstart 2010 Festival March 8 – 27
Art, dance, music, theatre, workshops.

BRIAN – BC Regional Integrated Arts Network
Meeting March 13.

EarSighted Audio Description of Performances
March 16 SPINE and March 18 HIVE3.

Kickstart is now on Facebook

This very cool exhibition is on March 9 – 21 UBC Robson Square, with a fantastic interactive website

Out From Under: Disability, History & Things to Remember. FREE. UBC Robson Square. 800 Robson Street. Hours: Monday – Friday: 8am – 10pm, Saturday and. Sunday: 9am - 5pm. A groundbreaking, interactive installation that pays tribute to the resilience, creativity and cultural contributions of Canadians with disabilities. Interpretation onsite and online is available in the following formats: Recorded ASL Podcasts. Recorded Full Audio Description. Recorded Plain Language Audio Tour. Print Materials – Braille, Large Print, Plain Text. Touch Display.

To see work by local artists Heroes

Exhibition March 8 - 27 at Pendulum Gallery

Parihaka International Peace Festival

Our 90 minute documentary Towards the day…we are all free, will be screening at the 5th Parihaka International Peace Festival January 8 –10 2010. If you can, go to this wondrous festival, at least once in your lifetime.

Chapbook ( in ) valid

My new chapbook of poetry is now available, ( in ) valid, with the 10 poems from my recent performance - the 'extended mix' versions, and so much more! 26 poems, 40 pages. If you like poems that are sensory, silly, sexy, serious, self-identified or about the south pacific, then this if for you!

Contact megtorwl(at)gmail(dot)com for more information or to order.


Listen to Audio MP3 of Poems - (In) valid and The Best Last Day