New series offer comfort of escapist fare

A new lineup of recommended viewing leans heavily toward escapism. Except for the latest from Baby Reindeer creator and star Richard Gadd, from which some further escapism might be welcome. Onward!

YouTube documentary archive collects Manitoba films on topics from hockey to local haunts

Many of us remember when Kelekis closed in 2013.

But the iconic North End diner lives on in myth and memory, including an almost forgotten 1981 documentary called Kelekis — 50 Years in the Chip given second life thanks to a new initiative by the Documentary Organization of Canada’s Manitoba chapter.

The Manitoba Documentary Archive, launched on YouTube this fall, showcases regionally made docs from across the decades. Some have been dusted off from the back shelves of the province’s filmmaking annals and are still gaining traction online.

Others are already doing a victory lap, such as Merit Motion Pictures’ popular Ballet Girls, directed by Elise Swerhone, which tracks a handful of young hopefuls as they strive and compete to join the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. It’s gained hundreds of thousands of views in the past few months.

In the world of dynamic pricing, here’s when you should buy concert and game tickets

Your favourite artist is coming to town, or your favourite team is heading to the playoffs — you want to go, but don't want to pay top dollar. Here's your dilemma: do you buy tickets now or wait until closer to the show in hopes prices will fall?

Major ticket companies increasingly employ dynamic pricing models, which allow prices to change in real time based on factors like demand. As a result, consumers looking to get a good deal may not know the best times to buy.

“At the end of the day, when we're talking about prices, it is just consumer demand and so almost always when there are groans about ticket prices, it's just because the event is super popular and a lot of people really want to go to it,” said David Clement, the North American affairs manager with the Consumer Choice Center.

He pointed to high ticket prices for Blue Jays games during the World Series last year, when “everybody and their uncle wanted to go.”

Fact File: Justin Bieber’s Coachella performance not limited by catalogue sale

Justin Bieber's stripped-back performance at the Coachella music festival on Saturday saw the Canadian star focus on his recent albums, while he gave a nod to past hits by singing along to short clips on YouTube.

Some social media posts claimed the clips were Bieber's way of getting around restrictions on his right to perform his old music, since he sold his catalogue to a music rights management company in 2023. But entertainment lawyers say the festival would have obtained a standard public performance licence that ensured Bieber could sing as much of his old material as he wished.

THE CLAIM

Justin Bieber's performance at the Coachella music festival in California on Saturday included a nostalgic throwback to his early days of YouTube fame, as the Canadian star pulled up videos of his past hits and sang along.

Two plights unfold, two stories told in new Yann Martel novel

It’s been 10 years since Yann Martel’s last book, The High Mountains of Portugal, hit bookstore shelves, and 25 since Life of Pi, his breakout novel which sold millions of copies and was made into an Oscar-winning film (and stage production).

Here are the finalists for the Donner Prize, the $60K public policy book awards

TORONTO - Followups to two Canadian bestsellers have made the short list for this year's $60,000 Donner Prize.

The Donner Canadian Foundation announced the finalists for the public policy book award on Tuesday, and the prize is due to be handed out at a gala dinner in Toronto on May 14.

The finalists include Bob Joseph's "21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation About Dismantling the Indian Act," which expands on his 2018 bestseller "21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act."

Also in the running is "Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk" by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson, from the authors of 2013's "The Big Shift," which outlined how Canada was becoming polarized.

Late teen’s dealings with London’s criminal underworld unpacked in riveting, remarkable account

The latest page-turner from New York narrative non-fiction writer Patrick Radden Keefe (Say Nothing, Empire of Pain) manages to do many things well.

London Falling is an expertly paced true-crime mystery, a vertiginous plunge into London’s criminal underworld, an infuriating exposé of a weak and incompetent justice system and a heartbreaking portrait of parental grief. It’s also an ode to old-school investigative journalism, and to the author’s ability to patiently unwind a tale that is truly stranger than fiction.

Keefe is a decorated New Yorker staff writer who is drawn to big topics and big personalities. He excels at reporting on crime and corruption, yet is also capable of great empathy and poignancy. His vivid world-building, eye for detail and irony and masterful grasp of structure make his books read like novels.

London Falling chronicles the death of Zac Brettler, a precocious 19-year-old from a loving, upper-middle-class home who, late one night in 2019, plunges to his death from the fifth-floor balcony of Riverwalk, a luxury residential tower located directly across the River Thames from MI6 headquarters, whose security cameras capture Zac’s anguished final moments.

B.C. tables treaty legislation after 30-year negotiation with K’omoks First Nation

A First Nation in British Columbia is one step closer to a fully ratified treaty after the province tabled implementation legislation on Tuesday, about 30 years after negotiations began.

The treaty would confirm K’omoks First Nation ownership of about 3,442 hectares of land scattered around Vancouver Island with an additional 1,592 hectares available for purchase from the province over time.

The document would replace an Indian Act-imposed band administration with a government authority for all K’omoks members and give the First Nation of about 350 members the ability to make laws around issues including taxation, child protective services and the administration of justice.

It sets out a process to co-develop shared decision-making agreements on several topics, including stewardship of wildlife, parks, fish and water, and includes plans for two public tribal parks, one made up of three small islands off of Denman Island and the second in the Wildwood forest.