Being a relatively young film lover, I have not been able to experience many films that have changed with me as I’ve grown older.  While I’ve become accustomed to having changing opinions of a certain movie as I’ve grown up and seen it more, this is generally only in the case of films that I loved as a child but found that they lost something upon further review (Goonies being the best example of this). I’m sure that there are films that will become more or less important for me …

A selection of the paintings, photography, and sculpture of Mark S. Gagne. The second of a two-part Interview and Gallery for the Playtime Featured Artist of the Month series.

Adventures in Ambience – An Ambient Music Primer
To some audiophiles, ‘ambient’ is just a fancy, hipper term for ‘New Age’ music. While some may not distinguish between ‘ambient’ and ‘New Age’, or hear the differences between the music of Brian Eno and Yanni, or Harold Budd and John Tesh, and still others wouldn’t give this music more attention than the time they spend in a dentist’s office or a yoga studio, there are distinct qualities that distinguish these two forms of music from one another.
Allow me a chance to …

Prepackaged as a “cult film,” the Wachowski’s latest offering appears at first glance to caution against the evils of capitalism, but upon closer inspection, may actually be the most comprehensive attempt in years by a Hollywood summer tentpole movie to promote a right-wing philosophy.

I Remember…
I remember when I woke up every night trembling and screaming, thinking that something bad had happened to my mother.  I woke up a lot when I was younger, scared that the one who cared and nurtured me as a child was gone. But every time I woke up, sweating, my mother was there.  There to hold me and to soothe me back to sleep.  Always telling me that she wasn’t going anywhere, that I shouldn’t worry about her. Her quiet and kind voice always gave me reassurance. Back …

I say without reservation: it is a fantastic time to be a writer. From the rise of small-print publishing online and off, to the celebration of writers in some of the most influential television programs (Oprah and The Daily Show come to mind), the paths to becoming a published author have never been as varied as they are today. Whether you NaNo1 or AWP; whether you sit down with a strong cuppa in front of a keyboard on weeknights and weekends; or whether you cram pages of prose in at …

The apocryphal moment when baby Jesus was nearly devoured by a cow.
As November draws to a close, I tend to enter survivalist mode.  I may not have a stockpile of dried foods, a wind-up torch, or an assortment of greasy-looking candles, but I do remove my credit card from my handbag as a symbol of my retreat from the outside world.  In the past, I have spent much of December in self-imposed exile from civilization, avoiding shopping malls, grocery stores, the kind of pub that belts out music all night, …

Mrs Santa cringed, knowing what was about to happen
10.  Mud – Lonely this Christmas
If this song isn’t a huge, honking, flashing alarm-lights clue with bells on, I don’t know what is.  And you still don’t know why you’re lonely this Christmas? Dude!
9.   Wham – Last Christmas
We can’t help thinking that George Michael’s logic is a bit flawed.  Last year, he gave his heart to a girl who discarded it like a used tissue, so this year he’s going to give it away again this year, safe in the knowledge that …

“Idyllwild Dreaming” is a series of poems on dreaming and the imagination. New poems from this series will be published every month as a on-going Playtime feature. Featured this month: “Rush Hour at Marylebone,” “views of the city,” “views of the country,” and “the redwood.” The form of “views of the city” and “views of the country” are inspired by Wallace Steven’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”–-a poem that, I’ll admit, have a difficult time finding overarching meaning. “The redwood” is written as an homage to Louise Glück’s …

Decay, dereliction, decline. All words with a negative association that conjure up images of rusty pipes and abandoned buildings. We never appreciate that even there, beauty can be found, until someone opens our eyes and shows us.

One of the beauties of the internet is that it allows you to meet all kinds of people. One of these people, whom I would have otherwise never encountered, is Sudbury resident Mark S. Gagne. I first met him on the Icine forums as Marv, a poster with a penchant for naughty humour, a deep fondness of movies and an artistic streak that became increasingly apparent as I got to know him better. Playtime Magazine sought him out and we sat down for an exclusive interview with this promising artist.