Anglais

It will be a ‘low-carbon wedding’ — but will the bride wear green?

Published

6 années ago

décembre 29, 2018

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Elizabeth May heads into 2019 with hopes of gaining some new, Green Party company in the House of Commons by year’s end.

But May is already gaining some extra company in her personal life this year, even before the election. On Earth Day in April, the Green Party leader will marry John Kidder in a big wedding at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria. Yes, May says, it will be a “low-carbon wedding.”

The two have known each other for years and have many mutual friends, but the romance and engagement happened in a whirlwind this fall. It’s the first marriage for May, 64, who has a daughter, Cate May Burton, and an extended family of stepchildren; it’s the second marriage for Kidder, who has three children and four grandchildren.

“I’m a happier person, that’s for sure,” May says. As for Kidder: “I’m energized. This has energized me,” he says.

When I spoke to May and Kidder for this column, they were happily soaking up some time in Sicily after attending international climate-change meetings in Poland earlier in December.

Kidder, 71, has been a tech entrepreneur and a Green Party candidate, and has a hops farm in Ashcroft, B.C. He bought the farm after the death of his wife in 2009, fleeing Vancouver for a quieter life. The next few years saw him shedding at least one other relationship too: Kidder abandoned the Liberal Party the day after Justin Trudeau entered the campaign for the leadership in 2012, disgusted with Trudeau’s open outreach to the oilsands industry in Alberta.

Trudeau has, however, wished the couple well. When May told him that she was dating the brother of Margot Kidder, who was romantically linked to Trudeau’s father in the early 1980s, the prime minister told her, “I loved Margot!”

This May-Kidder romance began, as some do in politics, at a political convention — the Green Party holding its big annual get-together in Vancouver at the end of September.

At dinner, Kidder was seated next to Sylvia Olsen, a good friend of May’s and the mother of Green Party MLA John Olsen, who represents roughly the same area as the national leader in the B.C. provincial legislature.

Sylvia Olsen had been urging May to find a man for several months before the convention, and had assigned herself the job of matchmaker. May was not entirely an enthusiastic proponent of this scheme. “About a couple of years ago, I’d decided it’s not worth having this delusional notion that I’m going to meet somebody. I have no time to date, no time to think about it,” she said.

But Olsen was sure she could find a good man for her friend. So when she was seated next to Kidder at the Green Party convention, the dinner turned into an interrogation — though Kidder seemed to enjoy it, and he definitely passed. Olsen wanted to make sure, for instance, that he didn’t have “ego issues.”

“Some of them were questions, some of them were statements,” he said of the interview.

Even before dinner had ended, Olsen ran over to the Green Party leader and reported she’d found the guy for May. When she told her who it was, May immediately brightened. She’d even told Kidder’s daughter at one point in the past that she had a “crush” on her father. That statement yielded zero in the way of contact, as Kidder was still getting over the death of his wife; they’d been together 32 years.

But this time, May and Kidder did connect. Kidder got May’s email address and the two spent the rest of the convention trying to snatch a few moments together, here and there in the corridors and the hotel coffee shop. They even posed for some photos together, with Kidder’s arm “chastely,” as he put it, across May’s shoulder. The Green Party leader joked that this was “rehearsal” for being a couple. Jokes aside, both came away from that convention knowing that something big was happening.

“It was so like high school, it was astonishing,” Kidder laughed.

They began to talk via email and then by telephone nearly every night. “John replaced Netflix in my life,” May said. “I used to finish work in Parliament around 11 or whatever and I’d go to my apartment to watch Netflix to fall asleep. Instead I started calling John. We’d talk for an hour.” Then they started to figure out how to fit in visits during May’s frenetic work schedule and travel.

After a few weeks, Kidder was convinced he was in this for the long term and decided to tell May so.

“Both of us had people telling us to go slowly now, this is risky territory. And my response was, I’m way too bloody old to go slow. That’s ridiculous,” he said. So Kidder asked May whether she’d heard of a planning technique called “future perfect,” in which you imagine an ideal situation and plan backward from there.

He wrote her an email, which he initially worried was too bold, but ultimately decided to send it anyway. “I suggested that we just operate on the working premise that we were going to be together forever,” Kidder said. “If things come up in the way, they’ll be like speed bumps rather than roadblocks or detours.”

That sealed it for May. She began to tell people (including this journalist) that she’d found a forever mate. “Yeah, I was pretty much toast, gone, after that,” she said.

Together, they started planning any occasion they could to see each other and by November, they were engaged. Kidder asked first by telephone and then made the proposal more formally in the Library of Parliament (naturally) in person in Ottawa.

Their life now is another whirlwind, trying to figure out how to plan a wedding and then an election campaign within the space of one year. Kidder isn’t sure he is going to run again as a candidate. He said he will be happy to help May whatever it requires, even “schlepping her bags,” and has joked with the Green Party office that his official title in the database can be “consort.”

They haven’t even worked out where they’ll live. Both divide their time already between two homes — May in her Saanich-Gulf Islands riding and at work in Ottawa; Kidder keeps a place in Vancouver as well as his farm in Ashcroft.

I asked May whether she thinks she’ll be a different kind of politician when she’s married, and what having Kidder by her side will do to her approach to politics.

“I am naturally a positive and happy person,” she said. “But I didn’t know what it was like to be really happy. This is the first really solid relationship I’ve ever known. I don’t know what kind of politician it will make me, but it definitely makes me a happier human being, which should translate into more energy and a better way of communicating a positive future.”

We won’t know until October whether that means more seats in the House for May, but we do know that she’s setting one more place at home in the meantime.

Susan Delacourt is the Star’s Ottawa bureau chief and a columnist covering national politics. Reach her via email: sdelacourt@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @susandelacourt

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Anglais

Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

Published

3 années ago

août 10, 2021

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline.

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors.

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity.

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement.

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level.

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet.

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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Anglais

MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.