Kate Jaimet's Blog, page 4
May 16, 2017
Workplace Wellness Coming to Nova Scotia!
You never know where a little writing exercise will take you!
Last year, I took a sketch writing course with Pierre Brault at The Acting Company here in Ottawa. For one of the assignments, I wrote a short comedy sketch about a drug bust that goes sideways when the police force hires a Jungian psychotherapist as a Workplace Wellness Consultant.
I liked the sketch so much that I worked it up to a 10-minute play, and submitted it to the short play festival at King’s Theatre in Annapolis Royal, NS. The play was chosen for the festival, and I’ll be travelling to Nova Scotia with my mom and two daughters to see it on June 18! Meanwhile, Workplace Wellness has also made the shortlist for the Short&Sweet festivals in Kolkata, India and Queensland, Australia.
For an author who’s used to the solitary pursuit of novel-writing, it’s a thrill to see my words brought to life by a crew of talented theatre people — actors, director and stage crew. Break a leg, guys! I can’t wait to see the show!
November 30, 2016
Nutcracker kittens advent calendar
Click anywhere on the picture to open up the advent calendar and see cute kittens tussling to the music of the Nutcracker… just for fun!
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November 2, 2016
October 6, 2016
Ten things I loved about my Bookweek tour in Alberta
1. The Dunce hat made for me by the kids in Mr. Lindsay’s class at Ecole Mallaig School.
2. The Ballad of Ms. Norrie who “danced her way to glory” at the Bonnyville Public Library.
3. The Principal’s Office Scene by the Drama students at Camrose Composite Highschool.
4. Eating Alberta steak at the Lakeland Grill in Bonnyville.
5. Brad and Aiden’s performance of The Ballad of Ms. Casagrande at Hinton Public Library.
6. The Ballad of Mr. Lewis, who “eats his pirogies stuffed with moose” at Calmar Elementary School.
7. The crazy hair kids at Crescent Valley School.
8. Riding the Book Bike at Camrose Public Library.
9. The Cheerleader scene at Camrose Composite Highschool.
10. The performance of Mr. Binkle’s Bagpipes at St. Mary’s School in Lloydminster.
September 28, 2016
Mr. Binkle’s Bagpipes
What do you get when you mix ballad-writing, bagpipes, and a bunch of kids from Alberta? My CCBC / TD Canada book week tour!
The tour kicked off on Monday with a visit to Calmar Elementary school, where the kids in the ballad-writing workshop came up with the following fantastic lyric:
“Mr. Lewis! Oh, Mr. Lewis! / He likes to eat pirogies stuffed with moose!”
Then at the New Humble School, a performance of the bagpipe scene from Dunces Rock by some enthusiastic student volunteers had the audience in stitches.
At Thorsby Public School, the kids wrote a ballad in praise of “Snorin’ Mr. Warren,” while at Warburg school I talked journalism and mystery writing with a group of highschoolers.
On Tuesday at St. Mary’s school, we wrote ballads in honour of new teacher Miss Steeb (who is never a dweeb!) and Drama teacher Mrs. Hill — who saved her friend Bill from a poisonous pill with a concoction of dill.
And the kids gave us this incredible rendition of a scene from Dunces Anonymous.
Can’t wait to continue my tour!
September 18, 2016
Now playing in the Philippines…
After the course was over, I re-worked the sketch into a 10-minute play entitled “The Office of Threats to Western Civilization.”
I submitted the play to the “Short and Sweet” website, which accepts short play submissions, and then passes on those submissions to affiliated short play festivals around the world.
Today, I received an email from the director of Short and Sweet Manila, telling me that my play will be produced this fall as a main stage event in their festival!!
What a thrill. Thanks to Pierre Brault and the Acting Company for giving me the opportunity and guidance to write my very first short play!
August 16, 2016
February 22, 2016
Songwriting winners announced!
After a month of sorting through your amazing entries, I am finally ready to declare a winner to the Dunces Rock songwriting contest.
Well, two winners actually! Since there were so many great entries, I decided to award one prize for video and one prize for lyrics.
In the video category, the winner is Amy Attalla, for her lovely song in praise of her teacher “Ms. Mills is the best” set to the tune of Simon & Garfunkle’s Scarborough Fair. Headcase would love the musical reference. Congratulations, Amy!
In the lyrics category, the winner is Mia Herman, whose irreverent song “Rules” exemplifies the sassy spirit of the Dunces. Congratulations, Mia! I’m reprinting the lyrics below. I’d love to hear it set to music!
Each winner will received a signed copy of either Dunces Anonymous or Dunces Rock!
Rules
By Mia Herman
Rules rules rules
No running in the hallwaaaaaaay
That’s what you always saaaaaaayyy
If you need ice, go alone
You don’t need all your little friends with you.
Cuz no matter what I do-ooh
It just ain’t good enough for you-ooh
No el-ec-tronics at schooooool,
Yup, that’s definitely your rule
What is the point
Of schoooooool?
Rules rules rules
No running in the hallwaaaaaaay
That’s what you always saaaaaaayyy
I asked to sit with a friend at lunch
But guess what the answer was?
No no no no noooooooooooooo!
Cuz no matter what I do-ooh
It just ain’t good enough for you-ooh
No throwing snowballs during winter
What’s the point of that?
Once you’re out the door
You can’t come back in!!!!!
Rules rules rules
No running in the hallwaaaaaaay
That’s what you always saaaaaaayyy
January 27, 2016
A launch and a rant
I hadn’t meant to turn the launch of my book Endangered into an opportunity to go on a rant. But on the very day of my book launch, Postmedia threw 90 people across the country out of work, including my friend Stephanie Coombs, a very fine editor who lost her job at the Edmonton Journal.
I wrote Endangered when I was working as a daily news reporter and the main character is a daily news reporter and the book is really about the practice of daily news journalism as much as it is about anything else. So I had to take the opportunity to say a few words about the sad state of the profession that I love.
The digital revolution has been very tough on traditional print media. That’s true. But it’s also an excuse that’s been repeated, frankly, ad nauseum by corporate owners and their executive flaks to deflect attention way from the role of financial mismanagment and corporate greed in the decline of once-great newsgathering institutions.
When I say financial mismanagement, I could point to the ownership of the Ottawa Citizen and its sister paper as far back as the days of the Aspers, who in their drive to expand their media empire burdened the newspaper chain with a billion dollar debt that continues to drag down the company today, while at the same time granting themselves and their top executives multi-million dollar bonuses.
When I say corporate greed, I could point to the American hedge fund GoldenTree that is both a major owner and a major creditor of PostMedia. Instead of ensuring that the company prospers, as a responsible owner should do, GoldenTree is mainly concerned with cutting costs and jobs to squeeze its usurious 8-12 % interest payments out of Postmedia’s nine-figure debt.
And while I’m ranting, I would like to give a little shout-out to the Competition Bureau of Canada, which allowed the merger of the Sun and PostMedia chains to go ahead, believing the promises of PostMedia executives that they would keep both Sun and PostMedia newsrooms open and editorially independent. Now that the newsrooms have merged and journalists have lost their jobs, I have only one question for the the Competition Bureau: Were you people born yesterday?
They say that digital technology is disruptive and I can only hope that this will be a good thing in the long run. I know there are lots of young people who are keen to become reporters and to break great stories. I know that lots of them are digitally savvy. And I hope that they can find disruptive ways to tell those stories and to wrest the power of the media out of the grasp of corporations who for the past ten years have been very poor stewards of our – my – much cherished Fourth Estate.
January 4, 2016
Endangered Book & Film Launch
On Wednesday, January 20, join me and filmmaker Melanie Willis for the premiere showing of our documentary film on the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, an inspiring organization of conservationists working day and night (literally!) to save hawksbill sea turtles.
Melanie and I were fortunate enough to travel to Barbados last August, where we accompanied volunteers of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project on their nightly beach patrols, monitoring the nesting activities of female turtles and rescuing the tiny hatchlings from wandering into dangerous roadways and seaside resorts. Ancient creatures who have existed since the time of the dinosaurs, hawksbill sea turtles now struggle to survive in the modern world of beachfront development, overfishing, and ocean pollution. But with the help of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, the number of nesting females is increasing, offering hope for the future of the species.
Along with the film, we’ll also celebrate the official launch of my Young Adult mystery novel, Endangered! Praised by Kirkus Reviews for its “energetic sleuth, fast-paced plot, and convincing, atmospheric Nova Scotia setting” Endangered follows the adventures of teen reporter Hayley Makk as she chases the story of a mysterious murder, a botched drug deal, and a blackmarket smuggling ring that traffics in endangered species.
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