A mother and her young daughter are stuck in Montreal, unable to return to their home in China as the local consulate refuses to give them a Visa. This is all the more frustrating for Cibele Câmara Rosen given the fact the Chinese Foreign Affairs Office in the Jilin Province has approved the…

When I was young, before I got a driver’s license, I used to take the 161 bus from my home in Côte Saint-Luc to Van Horne and Côte des Neiges. My friend and I would then walk a few blocks to see a movie at Plaza Côte des Neiges. My dad was friends with the manager, Len Lauer. I even remember…

Up until a few days ago I was not too familiar with the NDG raised brother and sister musical duo Just Costa. But when I got a copy of their new feel-good summer anthem “Peachy,” I was eager to hear more about their back story.

Usually about now the hype would be underway for the annual Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 edition has been rescheduled for the fall when organizers hope they will be able to present live shows.

I have known Barry Nashen for a very long time. Friends and family merely refer to him as “Schmidt,” for reasons I never understood. Nonetheless, I always great him warmly as “Schmidty Boy!” By day he and his brother Jeff run Nashen Technologies , a go to source for IT solutions and consulting.

The arts community has been slammed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have already seen the Jazz Festival cancelled and Just For Laughs moved to the fall (I have no faith that will ever occur in its usual form).

Nancy Wood has decided to take a break as of July 1 as the late night anchor at CBC Montreal TV News. If, by summer’s end she likes her move to the digital team (while still filling in occasionally for supper anchor Debra Arbec), then she will make that permanent. Weekend anchor Sean Henry w…

Gabrielle Fahmy is the newest member of the CTV Montreal team. She joined them as video journalist last week.

As someone whose main profession is in the communications world, I was naturally attracted to get an advance copy of the new documentary Influence. Concordia University alumni Richard Poplak, and Diana Neille, offer an answer by looking at the morally slippery spin doctor, the late Lord Timo…

Paul Zakaib, better known to radio fans as Tasso Patsikakis, wants to get back in the game.

The restaurant business is taking an awful beating during this COVID-19 pandemic. Most places remain shuttered indefinitely while others are trying to remain relevant via take-out and delivery services. The latter is not necessarily an easy task.

Over the last two months, since the COVID-19 pandemic took over our lives, simple things like attending an interesting lecture have become off limits. Any sort of gatherings, from talks to concerts or sporting events, may be banned for well more than a year as we wait for a vaccine.

While everyone remains hunkered down at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, television has become our most welcomed distraction. So the timing of Ethiopian-Canadian filmmaker Tamara Mariam Dawit’s riveting documentary called Finding Sally could not have been better. It will have its world bro…

Amanda Kline has officially be named the new weekend anchor for CTV Montreal. Since Annie DeMelt left the station in January to become part of the MUHC’s Communications Department, Kline has been doing most of those newscasts and was clearly a very good fit. She starts on May 2.

What is the immediate future of the airline industry? The COVID-19 pandemic has halted leisure travel while  most businessmen I speak to are not going anywhere either. Quite simply, airlines have gone into a complete tailspin as closed borders and travel controls crater demand. The Internati…

Please do not consider me an eternal pessimist, but at the present moment I do not believe we will be part of any large gatherings  for at least a year. Only a vaccine will make us safe and that is 12 to 18  months away. Even if social distancing regulations are loosened somewhat between the…

It looks like it will be a long time before any of us will get to see a live concert or anything on stage for that matter. Evenko has rescheduled Cats for the Place des Arts in August and Fiddler on the Roof in January. It is unlikely the former will occur and the latter is no certainty eith…

CTV Montreal anchor Paul Karwatsky and Annie DeMelt, who worked on the same newscast until recently, have been hired by Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) to provide webinars on fake news and news literacy to anyone who is interested. Since the project is covered by a federal government gran…

As the COVID-19 pandemic crisis keeps us all indoors, Secondary I Herzliah High School student Rachel Dara is using her musical talents to keep herself busy and entertaining others. In addition she has launched her own "Covid Concerts" on Saturday nights (7:30 to 8:30 pm) to help alleviate t…

I have been a loyal listener  to Sirius XM Satellite Radio for more than seven years now. Whether it is in the car, on my computer or via the app on my phone I consider it an “essential service,” especially as the COVID-19 pandemic crisis takes a toll on us emotionally.

At his daily 11 am COVID-19 news conference today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will make a major announcement related to fundraising.

As we live through this miserable COVID-19 pandemic, I think we can all agree how television shows and streaming services have become the salvation for our sanity. With that in mind, Friday night’s episode (9 pm) of the marvelous Hawaii Five-O reboot on CBS and Global TV will be the series f…

The 16th edition of the Strangers in the Night Gourmet Gala, originally set to take place on Sat. June 20 at Pierrefonds-Roxboro Borough Hall, has been postponed until sometime in September due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

As the COVID-19 pandemic crisis deepens and we all find ourselves virtually locked into our homes, I have heard from so many people who are already going stir crazy.

At a time when funeral services are being scaled back and attendance discouraged because of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, two giants in our community have passed away and they sadly will not get the sendoff they deserve.

The Covid-19 pandemic crisis has done irreparable damage around the world. When Quebec Premier François Legault banned gatherings of more than 250 people, casualties varied from the Canadiens, the Impact, the Blue Jays Olympic Stadium exhibition games, cultural presentations and of course th…

After the 1998 Quebec ice storm I thought that I had survived one of the worst natural disaster situations ever. Could anything coming my way ever be worse?

Downsizing and layoffs have put journalism on the most endangered careers list. But savvy journalists are starting sites and Facebook pages to continue covering their familiar beats. Some are capturing an even bigger audience. Domenic Fazioli is one of them.

Excitement is building for a two day ball hockey tournament March 7 and 8 at Le Rinque in TMR.

The transformation of the former PF Chang’s location at Rue des Jockeys/ Decarie is now complete and the newest La Cage: Brasserie Sportive (previously known as La Cage Aux Sports) officially opened on February 27.

Lisa Rubin is a true visionary. This has become abundantly clear to anyone who regularly attends productions at the Segal Centre for the Arts. As the Artistic and Executive Director she always has to work well ahead of time to scout possible shows.  

There are more changes at Virgin Radio.

The team at Bell Media has yet to formally fill the void  of play by play man for Impact and Alouettes broadcasts on TSN 690 left by Rick Moffat’s dismissal a few months ago.

I just got back from We Will Rock You (WWRY) at Place des Arts and if I was not already previously booked, I might have returned for the final show Wednesday evening (Feb 12). Yes it was that good.

If you have not seen the Laval Rocket play a home game at the beautiful Place Bell, you are really missing something special. This is the third season for the Canadiens American Hockey League affiliate here and to say the move has been successful is an understatement.

More than a decade ago I got to see the Queen-inspired musical We Will Rock You  in Toronto and yes I loved it! When I saw the outstanding motion picture Bohemian Rhapsody last year, I was hoping one day I could see Queen live in concert. Well, while that might not be happening any time soon…

Anorexia and Bulimia Québec (ANEB) is a non-profit organization based in Pointe Claire that guarantees free, immediate and specialized help to people with an eating disorder and to their loved ones. It has offered specialized services for 30 years and maintains its presence in various places…

It was six years ago that Katie Markham first made a name for herself as a performing artist when she became one of the seven finalists in the X Factor UK television show in London, England. But what came next was totally surreal for her, being hand-picked by international recording supersta…

Is Laurentian Bank abandoning the West End of Montreal and its primarily anglo clientele? It certainly seems so.

The Sad Music, Sad Comedy Tour, featuring the collaboration between comedian/actor Nick Thune and singer songwriter/legendary musician Damien Jurado, stops in Montreal at L’Astral on Friday night, January 24

In the same week that Annie DeMelt announced that she will be leaving CTV Montreal as a reporter and weekend anchor for a new career in communications at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Elysia Bryan Baynes has confirmed with me that she is retiring from Global News Montreal.

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) has scored quite a coup with an announcement today  that  popular CTV News Montreal reporter and weekend anchor Annie DeMelt will join their communications team, effective January 27.

When I interviewed the lead dancer from Riverdance, Jason O’Neill, over the phone from Ireland a few weeks ago he shared with me what a grueling process it is for performers to do one or two shows on a given day.

The chills are still rolling down my spine after getting an advance viewing of Toxic Beauty, which will air on documentary channel on Sunday, January 5 (9 pm). It follows an enormous lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, linking their baby powder to ovarian cancer.

Catherine Verdon-Diamond, one of the most delightful personalities on the local media scene, will replace Frank Cavallaro as the regular weather forecaster for  the CBC Montreal television newscast and on Sabrina Marandola’s radio drive home show.

Watch out for Dollard des Ormeaux native and Riverdale High School grad Jesse Stone! This rocker knows how to put on a show. Before heading out to Saudi Arabia to perform at the Dakar Rally on New Year’s Day with Dawn Tyler Watson, Angel Forrest, and Jonas Tomalty, he and his team organized …

I am no doubt among those in complete shock today with the news that prominent gastroenterologist Dr. Ernest Seidman has passed away.

Isn’t it interesting how opinions continually change about the Montreal Canadiens?

Dinah Shuster is an extraordinary woman. Thanks to the Magic Moment Program, organized by the Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation in Côte Saint-Luc, I got to witness that on Sunday, December 8.

On Wednesday I attended the media call for the world premiere of Jesse Stong’s Winter’s Daughter at the cozy Studio of the Segal Centre. I was intrigued enough by the story line and the presence of one of my favorite local stage actresses Michele Di Cesare to come back on Thursday evening to…