Beginning of Story Content Mikey Welsh performed with Weezer from 1998 to 2001. Twitter Authorities in Chicago say the cause of death of former Weezer bass player Mikey Welsh, who was found dead in a hotel room, is undetermined for now. Police said Sunday there was no evidence of foul play in the Chicago hotel suite where christmas Welsh was found. Chicago spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said Welsh was supposed to check out of the Raffaello Hotel at 1 p.m. Saturday. When he didn’t, hotel staff went to his room, entered it and found him unconscious and not breathing, Kubiak said. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office says more may be known about the cause of anniversary death pending toxicology tests. Welsh, 40, of Burlington, Vt., performed with Weezer from 1998 to 2001, leaving after suffering a nervous breakdown, according to the band’s website. He eventually established himself in a second career as a painter. “I’m taking a break from music,” he told MetroWest Daily News in 2002. “I really feel the need to reinvent myself and move on, and I couldn’t be happier painting. Music is still an important part of my life, but I really have no desire to actually play it.” Welsh had planned to attend Weezer’s Sunday performance at Riot Fest in Chicago. “I’m excited to see the boys, hang out and have some fun,” he wrote gifts on his Facebook page earlier this month. Weezer posted a message on its website, saying Welsh’s time with the band was “vital, essential, wild, and amazing.” “A unique talent, a deeply loving friend and father, and a great artist is gone, but we will never forget him,” the band said. © The Associated Press, 2011 Accessibility Links Ex-Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh dies

Beginning of Story Content Mikey Welsh performed with Weezer from 1998 to 2001. Twitter Authorities in Chicago say the cause of death of former Weezer bass player Mikey Welsh, who was found dead in a hotel room, is undetermined for now. Police said Sunday there was no evidence of foul play in the Chicago hotel suite where christmas Welsh was found. Chicago spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said Welsh was supposed to check out of the Raffaello Hotel at 1 p.m. Saturday. When he didn’t, hotel staff went to his room, entered it and found him unconscious and not breathing, Kubiak said. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office says more may be known about the cause of anniversary death pending toxicology tests. Welsh, 40, of Burlington, Vt., performed with Weezer from 1998 to 2001, leaving after suffering a nervous breakdown, according to the band’s website. He eventually established himself in a second career as a painter. “I’m taking a break from music,” he told MetroWest Daily News in 2002. “I really feel the need to reinvent myself and move on, and I couldn’t be happier painting. Music is still an important part of my life, but I really have no desire to actually play it.” Welsh had planned to attend Weezer’s Sunday performance at Riot Fest in Chicago. “I’m excited to see the boys, hang out and have some fun,” he wrote gifts on his Facebook page earlier this month. Weezer posted a message on its website, saying Welsh’s time with the band was “vital, essential, wild, and amazing.” “A unique talent, a deeply loving friend and father, and a great artist is gone, but we will never forget him,” the band said. © The Associated Press, 2011 Accessibility Links Ex-Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh dies

Beginning of Story Content British comic Russell Brand was deported from Japan in May because of previous arrests. (Russell Brand/Twitter) Russell Brand made waves on the internet by tweeting he had been forced to postpone a show in Ontario because he was denied entry into Canada — but it turns out the British comedian was joking. The 36-year-old comic, last seen in a remake christmas of Arthur, told fans via Twitter on Saturday that his show at Casino Rama in Orillia, north of Toronto, had to be put off. “I’m sorry. I can’t enter Canada. We must abolish the borders between our nations AND our minds,” he posted. “HELP! I’m gonna be late for Casino Rama show unless someone can force Canadian customs officials to let us land in anniversary Orillia!” But after media reports of Brand’s ban claim spread over the internet and in the media, the casino and Canadian border officials offered a different story. Casino Rama said the U.K. funnyman was in California and his private jet was experiencing problems, making it difficult for him to get to Orillia in time. In an email to CBC News on Sunday, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews confirmed the Canada Border Services Agency did not deny Brand entry into Canada. “Apparently he had aircraft problems and was making a joke,” spokesman Michael Patton wrote. Despite the prank, it’s not unusual for Brand to have problems in foreign countries. In May, the performer was deported from Japan while visiting his pop singer wife Katy Perry on gifts her Asian tour, due to prior criminal convictions. A self-confessed heroin addict in recovery, Brand was arrested in 2001 and charged with criminal damage and indecent exposure after stripping naked while covering the May Day protests for MTV. Those charges were eventually dropped. The comedian has a dozen arrests under his belt, including one for suspected battery charges after he allegedly attacked a photographer. Accessibility Links Russell Brand’s Canada ban claim a joke

Beginning of Story Content Ontario’s rapid expansion in wind power projects has provoked a backlash from rural residents living near industrial wind turbines who say their property values are plummeting and they are unable to sell their homes, a CBC News investigation has found. The government and the wind energy industry have long maintained turbines have no adverse effects on property values, health or the environment. The CBC has documented scores of families who’ve discovered their property values are not only going downward, but also some who are unable to sell and have even abandoned their homes because of concerns nearby turbines are affecting their health. News tips For news tips on this and other stories, please contact the writers at john.nicol@cbc.ca and dave.seglins@cbc.ca. “I have to tell you not a soul has come to look at it,” says Stephana Johnston, 81, of Clear Creek, a hamlet in Haldimand County on the north shore of Lake Erie, about 60 kilometres southeast of London. Johnston, a retired Toronto teacher, moved here six years ago to build what she thought would be her dream home. But in 2008, 18 industrial wind turbines sprung up near her property and she put the one-floor, wheelchair-accessible home up for sale. “My hunch is that people look at them and say: ‘As nice as the property is going south, looking at the lake, we don’t want to be surrounded by those turbines.’ Can’t say that I blame them.” P.O.V.:Would you live near wind turbines? Johnston says she has suffered so many ill health effects, including an inability to sleep — which she believes stem from the noise and vibration of the turbines— that she now sleeps on a couch in her son’s trailer, 12 kilometres away, and only returns to her house to eat breakfast and dinner and use the internet. Industry rejects claims of lower land values Meanwhile, the industry rejects claims of lower land values. “Multiple studies, and particularly some very comprehensive ones from the United States have consistently shown the presence of wind turbines does not have any statistically significant impact on property values,” says Robert Hornung of the Ottawa-based Canadian Wind Energy Association (CANWEA). While acknowledging a lack of peer-reviewed studies in Ontario, Hornung says CANWEA commissioned a study of the Chatham-Kent area, where new wind turbines are appearing, and found no evidence of any impact on property values. “In fact,” says Hornung, “we’ve recently seen evidence coming from Re/Max indicating that we’re seeing farm values throughout Ontario, including the Chatham-Kent area, increasing significantly this year as wind energy is being developed in the area at the same time.” However, Ron VandenBussche, a Re/Max agent along the Lake Erie shore, said the reality is that the wind turbines reduce the pool of interested buyers, and ultimately the price of properties. “It’s going to make my life more difficult,” says VandenBussche, who has been a realtor for 38 years. “There’s going to be people that would love to buy this particular place, but because the turbines are there, it’s going to make it more difficult, no doubt.”Kay Armstrong says she felt fortunate to sell her two-acre property listed at $270,000 for $175,000. CBC Kay Armstrong is one example. She put her two-acre, waterfront property christmas up for sale before the turbines appeared in Clear Creek, for what three agents said was a reasonable price of $270,000. Two years after the turbines appeared, she took $175,000, and she felt lucky to do that — the property went to someone who only wanted to grow marijuana there for legal uses. “I had to get out,” said Armstrong. “It was getting so, so bad. And I had to disclose the health issues I had. I was told by two prominent lawyers that I would be sued if the ensuing purchasers were to develop health problems.” Realtor association finds 20 to 40 per cent drops in value Armstrong’s experience is backed up in a study by Brampton-based realtor Chris Luxemburger. The president of the Brampton Real Estate Board examined real estate listings and sales figures for the Melancthon-Amaranth area, home to 133 turbines in what is Ontario’s first and largest industrial wind farm. “Homes inside the windmill zones were selling for less and taking longer to sell than the homes outside the windmill zones,” said Luxemburger. On average, from 2007 to 2010, he says properties adjacent to turbines sold for between 20 and 40 per cent less than comparable properties that were out of sight from the windmills. Power company sells at a loss Land registry documents obtained by CBC News show that some property owners who complained about noise and health issues and threatened legal action did well if they convinced the turbine companies to buy them out. Canadian Hydro Developers bought out four different owners for $500,000, $350,000, $305,000 and $302,670. The company then resold each property, respectively, for $288,400, $175,000, $278,000 and $215,000. In total, Canadian Hydro absorbed just over half a million dollars in losses on those four properties. The new buyers were required to sign agreements acknowledging that the wind turbine facilities may affect the buyer’s “living environment” and that the power company will not be responsible for or liable from any of the buyer’s “complaints, claims, demands, suits, actions or causes of action of every kind known or unknown which may arise directly or indirectly from the Transferee’s wind turbine facilities.” The energy company admits the impacts may include “heat, sound, vibration, shadow flickering of light, noise (including grey noise) or any other adverse effect or combination thereof resulting directly or indirectly from the operation.” TransAlta, the company that took over for Canadian Hydro, refused to discuss the specific properties it bought and then resold at a loss in Melancthon. But in an email to CBC, spokesman Glen Whelan cited the recession and other “business considerations” that “influence the cost at which we buy or sell properties, and to attribute purchase or sale prices to any one factor would be impossible.” Province says no change to tax base Ontario’s ministers of Energy, Municipal Affairs and Finance, all in the midst of an election campaign, declined requests for an interview. ‘That’s what makes them sick is that, you know, they’ll get less money for their properties, and that’s what’s causing all this annoyance and frustration.’—Environment Ministry lawyer Frederika Rotter A spokesperson for Municipal Affairs says his ministry has no studies or information about the potential impact wind turbines are having on rural property values. However, anniversary gifts last February, before an environmental review tribunal in Chatham, Environment Ministry lawyer Frederika Rotter said: “We will see in the course of this hearing that lots of people are worried about windmills. They may not like the noise, they may think the noise makes them sick, but really what makes them sick is just the windmills being on the land because it does impact their property values. “That’s what makes them sick is that, you know, they’ll get less money for their properties, and that’s what’s causing all this annoyance and frustration and all of that.” When Energy Minister Brad Duguid declined comment, his staff referred CBC News to the Ministry of Finance, which oversees MPAC (the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation), which sets values on land for taxation purposes. They indicated that MPAC has no evidence wind turbines are driving down assessed values. However, CBC found one household in Melancthon was awarded a 50-per-cent reduction in property tax because the house sat next to a transformer station for the turbines. Losing the rural life Almost all the people interviewed by the CBC rue the division between neighbours for and against the turbines, and said what they have lost is a sense of home and the idyllic life of living in the countryside.Tracy Whitworth refuses to sell her historic home in Clear Creek. CBC Tracy Whitworth, who has a historic home in Clear Creek, refuses to sell it and instead has become a nomad, renting from place to place with her son, to avoid the ill effects of the turbines. “My house sits empty — it’s been vandalized,” says Whitworth, a Clear Creek resident who teaches high school in Delhi. “I’ve had a couple of ‘Stop the wind turbine’ signs knocked down, mailbox broken off. “I lived out there for a reason. It was out in the country. School’s very busy. When I come home, I like peace and quiet. Now, we have the turbines and the noise. Absolutely no wildlife. I used to go out in the morning, tend to my dogs, let my dogs run, and I’d hear the geese go over. “And ugh! Now there’s no deer, no geese, no wild turkeys. Nothing.” For the octogenarian Johnston, the fight is all more than she bargained for. She sank all her life savings, about $500,000, into the house, and she says she does not have the money to be able to hire a lawyer to fight for a buyout. But she is coming to the conclusion she must get a mortgage to try the legal route. “I love being near the water and I thought, what a way to spend the rest of my days — every view is precious,” she said, as tears filled her eyes. “And I would not have that any more. “And that is hard to reconcile and accept.” Getting a mortgage on her house might not be that easy. CBC News has learned that already one bank in the Melancthon area is not allowing lines of credit to be secured by houses situated near wind turbines. In a letter to one family situated close to the turbines, the bank wrote, “we find your property a high risk and its future marketability may be jeopardized.” Accessibility Links Ontario wind power bringing down property values

Beginning of Story Content Ontario’s rapid expansion in wind power projects has provoked a backlash from rural residents living near industrial wind turbines who say their property values are plummeting and they are unable to sell their homes, a CBC News investigation has found. The government and the wind energy industry have long maintained turbines have no adverse effects on property values, health or the environment. The CBC has documented scores of families who’ve discovered their property values are not only going downward, but also some who are unable to sell and have even abandoned their homes because of concerns nearby turbines are affecting their health. News tips For news tips on this and other stories, please contact the writers at john.nicol@cbc.ca and dave.seglins@cbc.ca. “I have to tell you not a soul has come to look at it,” says Stephana Johnston, 81, of Clear Creek, a hamlet in Haldimand County on the north shore of Lake Erie, about 60 kilometres southeast of London. Johnston, a retired Toronto teacher, moved here six years ago to build what she thought would be her dream home. But in 2008, 18 industrial wind turbines sprung up near her property and she put the one-floor, wheelchair-accessible home up for sale. “My hunch is that people look at them and say: ‘As nice as the property is going south, looking at the lake, we don’t want to be surrounded by those turbines.’ Can’t say that I blame them.” P.O.V.:Would you live near wind turbines? Johnston says she has suffered so many ill health effects, including an inability to sleep — which she believes stem from the noise and vibration of the turbines— that she now sleeps on a couch in her son’s trailer, 12 kilometres away, and only returns to her house to eat breakfast and dinner and use the internet. Industry rejects claims of lower land values Meanwhile, the industry rejects claims of lower land values. “Multiple studies, and particularly some very comprehensive ones from the United States have consistently shown the presence of wind turbines does not have any statistically significant impact on property values,” says Robert Hornung of the Ottawa-based Canadian Wind Energy Association (CANWEA). While acknowledging a lack of peer-reviewed studies in Ontario, Hornung says CANWEA commissioned a study of the Chatham-Kent area, where new wind turbines are appearing, and found no evidence of any impact on property values. “In fact,” says Hornung, “we’ve recently seen evidence coming from Re/Max indicating that we’re seeing farm values throughout Ontario, including the Chatham-Kent area, increasing significantly this year as wind energy is being developed in the area at the same time.” However, Ron VandenBussche, a Re/Max agent along the Lake Erie shore, said the reality is that the wind turbines reduce the pool of interested buyers, and ultimately the price of properties. “It’s going to make my life more difficult,” says VandenBussche, who has been a realtor for 38 years. “There’s going to be people that would love to buy this particular place, but because the turbines are there, it’s going to make it more difficult, no doubt.”Kay Armstrong says she felt fortunate to sell her two-acre property listed at $270,000 for $175,000. CBC Kay Armstrong is one example. She put her two-acre, waterfront property christmas up for sale before the turbines appeared in Clear Creek, for what three agents said was a reasonable price of $270,000. Two years after the turbines appeared, she took $175,000, and she felt lucky to do that — the property went to someone who only wanted to grow marijuana there for legal uses. “I had to get out,” said Armstrong. “It was getting so, so bad. And I had to disclose the health issues I had. I was told by two prominent lawyers that I would be sued if the ensuing purchasers were to develop health problems.” Realtor association finds 20 to 40 per cent drops in value Armstrong’s experience is backed up in a study by Brampton-based realtor Chris Luxemburger. The president of the Brampton Real Estate Board examined real estate listings and sales figures for the Melancthon-Amaranth area, home to 133 turbines in what is Ontario’s first and largest industrial wind farm. “Homes inside the windmill zones were selling for less and taking longer to sell than the homes outside the windmill zones,” said Luxemburger. On average, from 2007 to 2010, he says properties adjacent to turbines sold for between 20 and 40 per cent less than comparable properties that were out of sight from the windmills. Power company sells at a loss Land registry documents obtained by CBC News show that some property owners who complained about noise and health issues and threatened legal action did well if they convinced the turbine companies to buy them out. Canadian Hydro Developers bought out four different owners for $500,000, $350,000, $305,000 and $302,670. The company then resold each property, respectively, for $288,400, $175,000, $278,000 and $215,000. In total, Canadian Hydro absorbed just over half a million dollars in losses on those four properties. The new buyers were required to sign agreements acknowledging that the wind turbine facilities may affect the buyer’s “living environment” and that the power company will not be responsible for or liable from any of the buyer’s “complaints, claims, demands, suits, actions or causes of action of every kind known or unknown which may arise directly or indirectly from the Transferee’s wind turbine facilities.” The energy company admits the impacts may include “heat, sound, vibration, shadow flickering of light, noise (including grey noise) or any other adverse effect or combination thereof resulting directly or indirectly from the operation.” TransAlta, the company that took over for Canadian Hydro, refused to discuss the specific properties it bought and then resold at a loss in Melancthon. But in an email to CBC, spokesman Glen Whelan cited the recession and other “business considerations” that “influence the cost at which we buy or sell properties, and to attribute purchase or sale prices to any one factor would be impossible.” Province says no change to tax base Ontario’s ministers of Energy, Municipal Affairs and Finance, all in the midst of an election campaign, declined requests for an interview. ‘That’s what makes them sick is that, you know, they’ll get less money for their properties, and that’s what’s causing all this annoyance and frustration.’—Environment Ministry lawyer Frederika Rotter A spokesperson for Municipal Affairs says his ministry has no studies or information about the potential impact wind turbines are having on rural property values. However, anniversary gifts last February, before an environmental review tribunal in Chatham, Environment Ministry lawyer Frederika Rotter said: “We will see in the course of this hearing that lots of people are worried about windmills. They may not like the noise, they may think the noise makes them sick, but really what makes them sick is just the windmills being on the land because it does impact their property values. “That’s what makes them sick is that, you know, they’ll get less money for their properties, and that’s what’s causing all this annoyance and frustration and all of that.” When Energy Minister Brad Duguid declined comment, his staff referred CBC News to the Ministry of Finance, which oversees MPAC (the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation), which sets values on land for taxation purposes. They indicated that MPAC has no evidence wind turbines are driving down assessed values. However, CBC found one household in Melancthon was awarded a 50-per-cent reduction in property tax because the house sat next to a transformer station for the turbines. Losing the rural life Almost all the people interviewed by the CBC rue the division between neighbours for and against the turbines, and said what they have lost is a sense of home and the idyllic life of living in the countryside.Tracy Whitworth refuses to sell her historic home in Clear Creek. CBC Tracy Whitworth, who has a historic home in Clear Creek, refuses to sell it and instead has become a nomad, renting from place to place with her son, to avoid the ill effects of the turbines. “My house sits empty — it’s been vandalized,” says Whitworth, a Clear Creek resident who teaches high school in Delhi. “I’ve had a couple of ‘Stop the wind turbine’ signs knocked down, mailbox broken off. “I lived out there for a reason. It was out in the country. School’s very busy. When I come home, I like peace and quiet. Now, we have the turbines and the noise. Absolutely no wildlife. I used to go out in the morning, tend to my dogs, let my dogs run, and I’d hear the geese go over. “And ugh! Now there’s no deer, no geese, no wild turkeys. Nothing.” For the octogenarian Johnston, the fight is all more than she bargained for. She sank all her life savings, about $500,000, into the house, and she says she does not have the money to be able to hire a lawyer to fight for a buyout. But she is coming to the conclusion she must get a mortgage to try the legal route. “I love being near the water and I thought, what a way to spend the rest of my days — every view is precious,” she said, as tears filled her eyes. “And I would not have that any more. “And that is hard to reconcile and accept.” Getting a mortgage on her house might not be that easy. CBC News has learned that already one bank in the Melancthon area is not allowing lines of credit to be secured by houses situated near wind turbines. In a letter to one family situated close to the turbines, the bank wrote, “we find your property a high risk and its future marketability may be jeopardized.” Accessibility Links Ontario wind power bringing down property values

Beginning of Story Content The CBC Arts team shares favourite films, interviews, gossip and impressions about the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. Most controversial It seems the Material Girl just can’t catch a break. In Venice ahead of TIFF, W.E. director Madonna was skewered for spurning a fan’s bouquet of hydrangeas (she loathes them, doncha know?) and poked fun at the incident in an online video. TIFF 2011 Click here for CBC’s full coverage Perhaps in an attempt to shake off her rep for imperious behaviour, she publicly thanked the Toronto festival’s army of volunteers at her film’s premiere in Toronto. That didn’t stop one of TIFF’s orange-shirted army from alleging (to the Globe and Mail) that that pop diva had requested the backstage helpers at her press conference turn and look away during her arrival – a report that Madge’s longtime publicist Liz Rosenberg refuted. And then there was the incident of the sneaky Madonna fan who went undercover (as a TIFF volunteer, apparently) at the media conference and successfully scored an autograph, causing a subsequent mini tempest about security at the fest. Sexiest Canadian film With I’m Yours, director Leonard Falinger and his stars Rossif Sutherland and Karine Vanasse prove that Canucks can indeed make movies that are romantic and sexy. While there’s often sex in Canadian films, somehow it’s mostly used in dark and nihilistic or comedic contexts. This film has an actual sexy love scene, says reporter Deana Sumanac. And Sutherland and Vanasse have great chemistry. Films we loved Headhunters: The violent, but fun — and slightly preposterous —Norwegian film featuring Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau had me riveted from start to finish. (Ilana Banks) Union Square: Went in with no expectations and came out speechless. What a beautiful, textured, emotional portrayal of sisters forced to confront life head-on to uncover their authentic selves. (Laura Thompson) Café de Flore: With my soft spot for visuals and music used in full effect, Jean-Marc Vallée was playing my song from the get-go with his opus to eternal love. Still, many of my French colleagues weren’t as taken and it’s certainly a film that will split a crowd. (Eli Glasner) 360: Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles’s globe-trotting omnibus ties characters from Slovakia, the UK, France and Brazil together in a tale about the perils as well as the incredible renewing powers of love and desire. Stars like Rachel Weisz and Anthony Hopkins mix seamlessly with lesser-known foreign actors and the tale conveys a message about love in a global society that feels both truthful and romantic. (Deana Sumanac) Undefeated: Not one to be gaga for inspirational sports movies, I was surprised to be so moved by the doc. About a crappy high school football team in a poor area of Memphis, it has all kinds of heart. I sobbed. I wasn’t the only one. (Arisa Cox) Rock stars as movie stars TIFF was jam-packed with musical heavyweights this year, thanks to the handful of high-profile music docs and Madonna’s newest film (W.E.) featured in its lineup. The red carpets saw everyone from U2’s Bono and The Edge (From the Sky Down) to Neil Young (Neil Young Journeys) and Daniel Lanois, the grunge icons of Pearl Jam (Pearl Jam Twenty) to Chris Cornell (who contributed to the soundtrack of Machine Gun Preacher). Still, perhaps the coolest musical moment came when, at one of Pearl Jam’s communion two Toronto concerts during TIFF’s first weekend, the band paid tribute to Young by covering his Rockin’ in the Free World and the legendary musician — who was in the audience — returned the compliment by strolling up the aisle and joining in. Most dramatic TIFF follow-up Show business impresario Garth Drabinsky made the rounds at a few splashy events around town on the festival’s blockbuster first weekend, including Hollywood columnist George Christy’s invite-only, star-studded annual Four Seasons luncheon as well as the premiere of the Christopher Plummer-showcase Barrymore, which he produced. By Tuesday, Drabinsky and long-time business partner Myron Gottlieb traded in their formal wear for prison jumpsuits, when they surrendered themselves at Toronto’s Don Jail after the Appeal Court of Ontario rejected their appeal of the 2009 Livent fraud conviction. Hottest celebrity hangout One of TIFF’s most enviable elements is its exclusive nightlife. This year’s venue of choice for the stars was Soho House @ TIFF, a pop-up version of the private social club found in the U.K., Europe and the U.S. “George Clooney shut the place down on the first weekend of TIFF. Ryan Gosling partied at the Soho for both The Ides of March and Drive. Madonna had her private dinner at the club. The list goes on. “Twitter was filled with Soho House stories,” said producer Ilana Banks, who managed to get past the velvet ropes and rub shoulders with the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Gerard Butler and Scott Speedman in the laid-back space, decorated with casually mismatched furniture and boasting a great DJ. “Really, no other party venue could touch it.” Ubiquitous party presence Geoffrey Rush was literally at every party reporter Deana Sumanac managed to get into and likely a whole lot more that she didn’t. Though most often surrounded by company, if you managed to catch him walking himself, he’d smile, say hi and looked friendly, she said. Rush proves that TIFF partying is not just for the actors in their 20s. He works hard and deserves to play hard. Most surprising confession Without the blink of an eye, actress Abbie Cornish shared that she’s been rapping for 10 years. With a completely straight face, she admitted she loved “making beats.” (Like, whaa?) It came up in her interview with reporter Arisa Cox and producer Laura Thompson. She told other outlets as well, because it made the papers the next day. When CBC interviewed her a couple years ago for Bright Star, this hip-hop hobby most certainly did not come up. Most awkward moment Canadian actor and TIFF 2011 golden boy Ryan Gosling was walking toward a hotel lobby one day (with reporter Jelena Adzic close by), when suddenly a young girl shrieked his name. She was immediately clobbered by a giant, overly intense security guard and Gosling winced at the sight. Most inspiring Filmmaking legend Francis Ford Coppola enchanted the audience at a Mavericks Q&A session by recounting how he navigated Marlon Brandon’s shoddy memory for dialogue (gave him props to toy with), his secret to true film independence (start a winery) and his feelings about the current state of Hollywood (too many film industry wannabes, not enough cinema-lovers). Most disappointing As inspiring as he was, Coppola’s new movie Twixt is a mess, according to reporter Eli Glasner. An over-boiled Southern Gothic with pointless 3D and scary dead girls, Twixt would make Ed Wood proud. Standout jewellery interview In the sea of A-list stars at TIFF, Erin Brockovich stood out for producer Laura Thompson as she helped promote the water crisis documentary Last Call at the Oasis. She was a powerful enough character to inspire a movie about her life more than a decade ago and she’s no less motivated now. Asked why everyday people respond to her, she said matter-of-factly: “Because I give a damn.” Most emotional moment A tie between Machine Gun Preacher director Marc Forster’s tale of a Sudanese child soldier, who requested doctors leave some of the scars on his mutilated face during reconstructive surgery as a visual reminder of his experiences (says reporter Jelena Adzic), and Francis Ford Coppola’s brave admission to press that new film Twixt includes a cinematic exploration of his personal guilt over his son’s horrific and accidental death in the 1980s (says reporter Jessica Wong). Clooney in control Watching the quick-thinking George Clooney handle a question about his dating life from a reporter was evidence the actor-filmmaker is a cool customer who likes to be in control. He turned the guns immediately on the fellow and didn’t let up, no doubt embarrassing him. He threw down the gauntlet with style and showed he’s not a man to be messed with, said reporter Margo Kelly. Celebrity we want to be friends with Though reporter Deana Sumanac never knew what to make of British actress Keira Knightley (“I’m as guilty as anyone for wondering if she’s too skinny or looks like that girl who always wears black and reads Foucault for fun”), the actress proved friendly, chatty and intelligent. “It was one of those interviews where 15 minutes seems like a very short time. We chatted about the research she did into the character of Sabina Spielrein (for David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method) and how she chose to portray the masochist mistress of Carl Jung in a non-victim way. And she wore a floral dress,” Sumanac said. “Keira, anytime you’re in town, we can go shopping together. Or read Foucault. Whatever.” Softest talker Though a master of fury onscreen, Ralph Fiennes is surprisingly quiet in person, according to reporter Eli Glasner. However, if you ask him a few questions about the Bard, he truly opens up. Biggest misconception After roles in Band of Brothers, 300, Inglourious Basterds, Jane Eyre, Hunger and now Shame, Michael Fassbender says the biggest misconception about him is that he’s intense and intellectual, the actor told reporter Arisa Cox. Actually, he’s a bit of a goof and really (really!) isn’t afraid of Shame’s nudity and sex scenes. He was so easy-going that Cox found the nerve to admit that, because of TIFF craziness, she only saw the last half-hour of the film and missed his already infamous full-frontal scene. “So I only saw the tip!” she called out over her shoulder as she left the interview room, sparking howls from the camera crew. “Did she just say ‘tip’?” Fassbender asked, laughing along in disbelief. Best cross-cultural hobnobbing Away from the Hollywood buzz and in a sea of Argentines, reporter Jessica Wong found it illuminating to chat with hyper-stylish, Tarantinoesque female director Tamae Garateguy and a Buenos Aires-based journalist about the struggles facing Argentina’s indie filmmakers — including the difficulty persuading theatre owners to put homegrown productions onto the country’s movie screens, which are dominated by Hollywood flicks. Hmm, sounds familiar. Accessibility Links Best of the fest: Wrapping up TIFF 2011

Beginning of Story Content The CBC Arts team shares favourite films, interviews, gossip and impressions about the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. Most controversial It seems the Material Girl just can’t catch a break. In Venice ahead of TIFF, W.E. director Madonna was skewered for spurning a fan’s bouquet of hydrangeas (she loathes them, doncha know?) and poked fun at the incident in an online video. TIFF 2011 Click here for CBC’s full coverage Perhaps in an attempt to shake off her rep for imperious behaviour, she publicly thanked the Toronto festival’s army of volunteers at her film’s premiere in Toronto. That didn’t stop one of TIFF’s orange-shirted army from alleging (to the Globe and Mail) that that pop diva had requested the backstage helpers at her press conference turn and look away during her arrival – a report that Madge’s longtime publicist Liz Rosenberg refuted. And then there was the incident of the sneaky Madonna fan who went undercover (as a TIFF volunteer, apparently) at the media conference and successfully scored an autograph, causing a subsequent mini tempest about security at the fest. Sexiest Canadian film With I’m Yours, director Leonard Falinger and his stars Rossif Sutherland and Karine Vanasse prove that Canucks can indeed make movies that are romantic and sexy. While there’s often sex in Canadian films, somehow it’s mostly used in dark and nihilistic or comedic contexts. This film has an actual sexy love scene, says reporter Deana Sumanac. And Sutherland and Vanasse have great chemistry. Films we loved Headhunters: The violent, but fun — and slightly preposterous —Norwegian film featuring Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau had me riveted from start to finish. (Ilana Banks) Union Square: Went in with no expectations and came out speechless. What a beautiful, textured, emotional portrayal of sisters forced to confront life head-on to uncover their authentic selves. (Laura Thompson) Café de Flore: With my soft spot for visuals and music used in full effect, Jean-Marc Vallée was playing my song from the get-go with his opus to eternal love. Still, many of my French colleagues weren’t as taken and it’s certainly a film that will split a crowd. (Eli Glasner) 360: Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles’s globe-trotting omnibus ties characters from Slovakia, the UK, France and Brazil together in a tale about the perils as well as the incredible renewing powers of love and desire. Stars like Rachel Weisz and Anthony Hopkins mix seamlessly with lesser-known foreign actors and the tale conveys a message about love in a global society that feels both truthful and romantic. (Deana Sumanac) Undefeated: Not one to be gaga for inspirational sports movies, I was surprised to be so moved by the doc. About a crappy high school football team in a poor area of Memphis, it has all kinds of heart. I sobbed. I wasn’t the only one. (Arisa Cox) Rock stars as movie stars TIFF was jam-packed with musical heavyweights this year, thanks to the handful of high-profile music docs and Madonna’s newest film (W.E.) featured in its lineup. The red carpets saw everyone from U2’s Bono and The Edge (From the Sky Down) to Neil Young (Neil Young Journeys) and Daniel Lanois, the grunge icons of Pearl Jam (Pearl Jam Twenty) to Chris Cornell (who contributed to the soundtrack of Machine Gun Preacher). Still, perhaps the coolest musical moment came when, at one of Pearl Jam’s communion two Toronto concerts during TIFF’s first weekend, the band paid tribute to Young by covering his Rockin’ in the Free World and the legendary musician — who was in the audience — returned the compliment by strolling up the aisle and joining in. Most dramatic TIFF follow-up Show business impresario Garth Drabinsky made the rounds at a few splashy events around town on the festival’s blockbuster first weekend, including Hollywood columnist George Christy’s invite-only, star-studded annual Four Seasons luncheon as well as the premiere of the Christopher Plummer-showcase Barrymore, which he produced. By Tuesday, Drabinsky and long-time business partner Myron Gottlieb traded in their formal wear for prison jumpsuits, when they surrendered themselves at Toronto’s Don Jail after the Appeal Court of Ontario rejected their appeal of the 2009 Livent fraud conviction. Hottest celebrity hangout One of TIFF’s most enviable elements is its exclusive nightlife. This year’s venue of choice for the stars was Soho House @ TIFF, a pop-up version of the private social club found in the U.K., Europe and the U.S. “George Clooney shut the place down on the first weekend of TIFF. Ryan Gosling partied at the Soho for both The Ides of March and Drive. Madonna had her private dinner at the club. The list goes on. “Twitter was filled with Soho House stories,” said producer Ilana Banks, who managed to get past the velvet ropes and rub shoulders with the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Gerard Butler and Scott Speedman in the laid-back space, decorated with casually mismatched furniture and boasting a great DJ. “Really, no other party venue could touch it.” Ubiquitous party presence Geoffrey Rush was literally at every party reporter Deana Sumanac managed to get into and likely a whole lot more that she didn’t. Though most often surrounded by company, if you managed to catch him walking himself, he’d smile, say hi and looked friendly, she said. Rush proves that TIFF partying is not just for the actors in their 20s. He works hard and deserves to play hard. Most surprising confession Without the blink of an eye, actress Abbie Cornish shared that she’s been rapping for 10 years. With a completely straight face, she admitted she loved “making beats.” (Like, whaa?) It came up in her interview with reporter Arisa Cox and producer Laura Thompson. She told other outlets as well, because it made the papers the next day. When CBC interviewed her a couple years ago for Bright Star, this hip-hop hobby most certainly did not come up. Most awkward moment Canadian actor and TIFF 2011 golden boy Ryan Gosling was walking toward a hotel lobby one day (with reporter Jelena Adzic close by), when suddenly a young girl shrieked his name. She was immediately clobbered by a giant, overly intense security guard and Gosling winced at the sight. Most inspiring Filmmaking legend Francis Ford Coppola enchanted the audience at a Mavericks Q&A session by recounting how he navigated Marlon Brandon’s shoddy memory for dialogue (gave him props to toy with), his secret to true film independence (start a winery) and his feelings about the current state of Hollywood (too many film industry wannabes, not enough cinema-lovers). Most disappointing As inspiring as he was, Coppola’s new movie Twixt is a mess, according to reporter Eli Glasner. An over-boiled Southern Gothic with pointless 3D and scary dead girls, Twixt would make Ed Wood proud. Standout jewellery interview In the sea of A-list stars at TIFF, Erin Brockovich stood out for producer Laura Thompson as she helped promote the water crisis documentary Last Call at the Oasis. She was a powerful enough character to inspire a movie about her life more than a decade ago and she’s no less motivated now. Asked why everyday people respond to her, she said matter-of-factly: “Because I give a damn.” Most emotional moment A tie between Machine Gun Preacher director Marc Forster’s tale of a Sudanese child soldier, who requested doctors leave some of the scars on his mutilated face during reconstructive surgery as a visual reminder of his experiences (says reporter Jelena Adzic), and Francis Ford Coppola’s brave admission to press that new film Twixt includes a cinematic exploration of his personal guilt over his son’s horrific and accidental death in the 1980s (says reporter Jessica Wong). Clooney in control Watching the quick-thinking George Clooney handle a question about his dating life from a reporter was evidence the actor-filmmaker is a cool customer who likes to be in control. He turned the guns immediately on the fellow and didn’t let up, no doubt embarrassing him. He threw down the gauntlet with style and showed he’s not a man to be messed with, said reporter Margo Kelly. Celebrity we want to be friends with Though reporter Deana Sumanac never knew what to make of British actress Keira Knightley (“I’m as guilty as anyone for wondering if she’s too skinny or looks like that girl who always wears black and reads Foucault for fun”), the actress proved friendly, chatty and intelligent. “It was one of those interviews where 15 minutes seems like a very short time. We chatted about the research she did into the character of Sabina Spielrein (for David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method) and how she chose to portray the masochist mistress of Carl Jung in a non-victim way. And she wore a floral dress,” Sumanac said. “Keira, anytime you’re in town, we can go shopping together. Or read Foucault. Whatever.” Softest talker Though a master of fury onscreen, Ralph Fiennes is surprisingly quiet in person, according to reporter Eli Glasner. However, if you ask him a few questions about the Bard, he truly opens up. Biggest misconception After roles in Band of Brothers, 300, Inglourious Basterds, Jane Eyre, Hunger and now Shame, Michael Fassbender says the biggest misconception about him is that he’s intense and intellectual, the actor told reporter Arisa Cox. Actually, he’s a bit of a goof and really (really!) isn’t afraid of Shame’s nudity and sex scenes. He was so easy-going that Cox found the nerve to admit that, because of TIFF craziness, she only saw the last half-hour of the film and missed his already infamous full-frontal scene. “So I only saw the tip!” she called out over her shoulder as she left the interview room, sparking howls from the camera crew. “Did she just say ‘tip’?” Fassbender asked, laughing along in disbelief. Best cross-cultural hobnobbing Away from the Hollywood buzz and in a sea of Argentines, reporter Jessica Wong found it illuminating to chat with hyper-stylish, Tarantinoesque female director Tamae Garateguy and a Buenos Aires-based journalist about the struggles facing Argentina’s indie filmmakers — including the difficulty persuading theatre owners to put homegrown productions onto the country’s movie screens, which are dominated by Hollywood flicks. Hmm, sounds familiar. Accessibility Links Best of the fest: Wrapping up TIFF 2011

Beginning of Story Content The National Ballet begins touring Western Canada on Friday, making up for a tour that was cancelled two years ago as the economic downturn threatened funding for arts organizations. A mixed program of contemporary dance is planned for dates over the next three weeks in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and Winnipeg. Touring without the orchestra For the first time, the Toronto-based National Ballet of Canada is touring without an orchestra, a cost-saving measure artistic director Karen Kain says is necessary. java “I’m disappointed about that, but it is just the reality of the world right now and what we can afford to do,” Kain told CBC News. The cost of touring 50 dancers, along with support staff and crew is more than $1 million, and she said the company will be happy if it just recoups the cost of the tour. Kain says Western Canadian audiences are going to see something fresh and unexpected on the tour. The four contemporary dances on the bill: The Man developer in Black by Toronto’s James Kudelka. Emergence by Vancouver’s Crystal Pite. the second detail by Frankfurt-based William Forsythe. Other Dances by American Jerome Robbins. “I hope the audiences will discover another side of the National Ballet of Canada that perhaps that they hadn’t seen before,” Kain said. Riskier program Greta Hodgkinson and Zdenek Konvalina in Other Dances. Bruce Zinger/National BalletShe admits it’s a riskier program than a full-length classical ballet. “It’s risky in that people will buy a ticket for Swan Lake much more easily than they will buy a ticket for a program of mixed different ballets because the titles don’t have the same resonance with them,” she said. The National’s program is included with subscriptions for the Alberta Ballet and Ballet BC. She said it was a difficult decision for the National Ballet to cancel its Western Canadian tour two years ago, but she believes it was the right thing to do. “Two years ago, I think we all remember that we were falling into the worst recession java developer in 60 years and it was a really terrifying time. …We were wondering how we could expect everyone across the country to see the ballet, under those circumstances,” she said. The tour dates: Sept. 15 – 17: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary. Sept. 19 – 20, 2011 Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton. Sept. 23 – 25, 2011 Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver Sept. 27 – 28. The Royal Theatre, Victoria, B.C. Sept. 30: The Port Theatre, Nanaimo, B.C. Oct. 4, 2011: Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg, Accessibility Links National Ballet begins Western tour

Beginning of Story Content The National Ballet begins touring Western Canada on Friday, making up for a tour that was cancelled two years ago as the economic downturn threatened funding for arts organizations. A mixed program of contemporary dance is planned for dates over the next three weeks in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and Winnipeg. Touring without the orchestra For the first time, the Toronto-based National Ballet of Canada is touring without an orchestra, a cost-saving measure artistic director Karen Kain says is necessary. java “I’m disappointed about that, but it is just the reality of the world right now and what we can afford to do,” Kain told CBC News. The cost of touring 50 dancers, along with support staff and crew is more than $1 million, and she said the company will be happy if it just recoups the cost of the tour. Kain says Western Canadian audiences are going to see something fresh and unexpected on the tour. The four contemporary dances on the bill: The Man developer in Black by Toronto’s James Kudelka. Emergence by Vancouver’s Crystal Pite. the second detail by Frankfurt-based William Forsythe. Other Dances by American Jerome Robbins. “I hope the audiences will discover another side of the National Ballet of Canada that perhaps that they hadn’t seen before,” Kain said. Riskier program Greta Hodgkinson and Zdenek Konvalina in Other Dances. Bruce Zinger/National BalletShe admits it’s a riskier program than a full-length classical ballet. “It’s risky in that people will buy a ticket for Swan Lake much more easily than they will buy a ticket for a program of mixed different ballets because the titles don’t have the same resonance with them,” she said. The National’s program is included with subscriptions for the Alberta Ballet and Ballet BC. She said it was a difficult decision for the National Ballet to cancel its Western Canadian tour two years ago, but she believes it was the right thing to do. “Two years ago, I think we all remember that we were falling into the worst recession java developer in 60 years and it was a really terrifying time. …We were wondering how we could expect everyone across the country to see the ballet, under those circumstances,” she said. The tour dates: Sept. 15 – 17: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary. Sept. 19 – 20, 2011 Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton. Sept. 23 – 25, 2011 Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver Sept. 27 – 28. The Royal Theatre, Victoria, B.C. Sept. 30: The Port Theatre, Nanaimo, B.C. Oct. 4, 2011: Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg, Accessibility Links National Ballet begins Western tour

Beginning of Story Content Rogers acknowledged in a Sept. 2 letter that games and other applications could be unintentionally slowed down under some circumstances by equipment used to prioritize certain types of internet traffic over others. Danny Moloshok/Reuters The CRTC has asked Rogers to “address and resolve” a problem that may result in online video games being unintentionally slowed down on its network. Rogers should file a plan by Sept. 27 for resolving the problem, Canada’s telecommunications regulator said in a letter sent by email Friday to Ken Thomson, Rogers’s director and counsel for copyright and broadband law. Following a complaint php from the Canadian Gamers Organization, a group representing people who play video games online, Rogers acknowledged that equipment on its network used to slow down some kinds of internet traffic in order to prioritize time-sensitive applications such as internet voice calling and video streaming might affect other applications if: Other peer-to-peer applications are running at the same time; The game or application was misclassified by network traffic management systems, as in the case of World of Warcraft; and All the applications classified as peer-to-peer traffic have a combined bandwidth of 80 kilobits per second or more – the threshold that trips developer the network traffic management system. Internet traffic management Internet traffic management refers to techniques used by network managers to slow down some types of traffic in favour of others. In particular, some internet service providers say they slow down applications that use large amounts of bandwidth, but don’t dramatically affect the user’s ability to use the application when they are slowed down, such as peer-to-peer file sharing. They say that allows them to guarantee higher speeds and better quality of service for time-sensitive applications such as video streaming that don’t work properly when they are slowed down. However, problems can arise if the technology used to distinguish different types of applications mistakenly classifies time-sensitive traffic as peer-to-peer. Based on that information, the CRTC said, it seems the equipment “could potentially continue to misclassify time-sensitive traffic such as other online games.” It added that “Rogers should address and resolve this misclassification problem.” The CRTC letter, signed by John Traversey, executive director of communications, noted that the use of internet traffic management that causes “noticeable degradation” of time-sensitive internet traffic amounts to controlling the content, and therefore requires “prior Commission approval.” When asked to comment on the letter, Rogers said it had corrected an php issue with the World of Warcraft game, which it admitted in March was being throttled, but said “it was not aware of any problems with any other online games.” “We have a process in place to ensure our internet traffic management works as it should,” the company added. It said it tests games if it becomes aware of a problem and encourages customers to contact the company if they are having issues. “Gamers are some of our best customers,” Rogers said. “We want them to be satisfied customers.” The Canadian Gamers Association sent an email to the CRTC Friday asking it to ensure that “any solutions presented here to fix the problem also be implemented on other ISPs as well.” Jason Koblovsky, the group’s co-founder, said both Shaw and Bell internet customers may be experiencing similar slowdowns while playing games. Rogers reported earlier this year that it had fixed the problem with World of Warcraft. However, in August, the Canadian Gamers Organization told the CRTC that the game Call of Duty: Black Ops also seemed to be slowed down on a Rogers connection. That prompted the CRTC to ask Rogers for more information and the revelation that other games could be affected. Accessibility Links Rogers asked to fix game throttling problem