Coral Andrews - Independent Media Professional
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The Wild Rover.....

12/16/2013

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Picture
Peter O 'Toole was my all time favorite actor.  
So now with Alan Bates, Richard Burton, and O'Toole sharing libations in The Great Hereafter, there is only one of the My Fab Four British Lions left ..... Albert Finney. 
It's funny because I have stories about Bates, O'Toole, and Finney from the same source - Lynn Redgrave, but that is for another time. 

In 2006, I was so damned hopeful that Peter O'Toole would finally win his second Best Actor Oscar that I fashioned this little blog. 

"…..Like good pal the late Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole's lost the Best Actor nod seven times and he is now running his Eighth Tinseltown race! Is O'Toole destined to become the Susan Lucci of the Oscars? Zounds! Why does this damnable statuette continue to elude County Galway's most imfamous imbibing son? 
Peter O'Toole, is being recognized for his role as Maurice, a cynical septuagenarian actor who falls for a much younger woman, in 2006 British comedy/drama Venus. Critics are saying this is the performance of O'Toole's career. O'Toole, 74, “and proud of it,” wanted to “win Oscar now” and not for an entire body of film work. (Persuaded by his daughters, O'Toole
begrudgingly accepted a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2003.) 
If O'Toole were to “properly” win, it would be 44 years since his first Best Actor nod for 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia!
There have been so many Best Actor nominations in between -
Goodbye Mister Chips (1969),The Ruling Class (1972),The Stunt Man (1980) My Favorite Year (1982). O'Toole has also been nominated for the same role twice - King Henry II in Becket (1964) King Henry II in The Lion in Winter (1968). 

So right from the horse's or “Pig's”mouth (as Lion in Winter co-star Kate Hepburn aptly nicknamed him) Peter O'Toole and his pithy screen alter-egos explain why he deserves to share a wee dram with The Golden One. 
1)"I want to win the lovely bugger outright." - PT
2)"Damn you, I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star."- Alan Swann - My Favorite Year.
3) "Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere." - Anton Ego - Ratatouille. 
4) "For what I am about to receive, may I make myself truly grateful." Jack Gurney, The Ruling Class. 
5) "My dear boy, I should have won them all." - PT
6) "I don't like premieres and things like that. I'd just rather do my acting and then piss off." - PT
7) "You dare to damn me, do you? Well, I damn you back." King Henry II, Lion in Winter. 
8) "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, my foot." - PT 
9) "Am I the strongest? Or am I not?" - King Henry II, Becket. 
10) "I'm a working stiff baby, just like everybody else." - PT.  

The Oscars were broadcast Sunday Feb 25, 2006. And sadly, The Last Thespian King of Ireland lost his Best Actor nod to Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland. ...... "

I own The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man, My Favorite Year, The Lion in Winter, King Ralph, Dean Spanley, and my all time O'Toole favorite, Becket. In glorious tribute, I shall pop some kernels, grab a Pimms with a dash of ginger ale and cucumber and settle down to re-experience Peter O'T's fabulous tapestry of celluloid characters. - a mighty playbill of electricity filled performances that soared across every generation. I shall miss those many potent yet often michievious movie portrayals.
Slainte Pig. 
I shall be sad to see you play The Wild Rover, no nay never no more... 


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Winning....

12/3/2013

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PictureMe and Denney
On May 26th 2013 my mind was a thousand miles away when I heard CBC's Craig Norris call my name at this year's Arts Awards Gala. You see, earlier on that day, there had been a fire right beside the video store that I work at.
Yes, in addition to being an independent media professional, I am also a filmeesta aka video store sales clerk at Far Out Flicks. 


And I love it. Because the people I work with are like family to me. Thankfully the store did not suffer very much, in fact we opened later that day, but the apartments above the stairwell next door did. In fact, my manager who lived in one of those apartments lost everything. 
Hours before the ceremony I was at home having a nice quiet day. This year I was nominated for an Arts Award in the Event Volunteer category. This was my sixth nomination and third consecutive year having been nominated in other categories including  Literary, and Community Supporter over the past 25 years. 
I decided to check out the latest news on Facebook and as I scrolling down I saw my video store manager pal clutching his somewhat traumatized cat. They were both standing outside a burning building right beside the video store.
I leapt up and tore down the street to see what had happened. 
My store manager and his pal were sitting in a van in a parking lot near the store. They had two cat carriers. And two very frightened cats. The fire started in the stairwell  and because of the street smarts of an adjacent business owner, who immediately called 911, the fire was quickly dealt with but not before it destroyed and smoke damaged my friend's homes. I walked around the yellow tape and into the
store. Everyone was okay and safe. So greatly relieved, I went back home. 
I was getting excited now, all gussied and glammed up in my best frock ready to tally forth to the awards, when I got a text from my manager asking me if I had a litter box, and some litter for his poor cat Sip (short for Siprio) . It was 6:45 and the Centre in the Square pre-Arts Awards mingle had already started. I instantly went down to my storage locker and foraged through it about to see if I had anything that would help. As the previous owner, of two cats myself, I discovered that I had indeed saved a litter box. My cat Squonk had passed away a few years back and I guess I kept some cat things just in case I decided to get another cat. (Which in fact, did happen because I looked after little Sip while my manager sorted out a new place to live, and she is now my cat.) I went down the store, dropped off the cat stuff and went to the awards. By the time, I got in there was no time to mingle, so I just went to my seat thinking about the day's events. And how lucky everyone had been. 
When I won, it felt surreal, like a delicious blur. I think I thanked the right people but I know that I did talk
about how much the Arts Awards has grown. And I was so chuffed to stand on the stage, look at all the amazing talented artists of every age and every arts genre, and speak about the value of this signifciant cultural event in Waterloo Region.  
Since winning the Denney, which sits proudly on my office shelf, I realize the best thing about winning this
little gold statue, is knowing that the work you are doing really is  making an impact and that it does have value. Because so many of us work alone and then we send the work out there into the atmos hoping it is going to land somewhere important be it a painting, a play, a song or a even a concept.
Being recognized as a Nominee, gives every artist the drive and confidence to create something  extraordinary. And so many careers continue to soar these 26 years on....
  






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    My skills include writing, editing, 
    blogging, social media, interviewing
    and radio broadcast aka The Afternoon 
    ​Drive 985 CKWR 

    "The hardest thing about writing...is writing." 
    Nora Epfron

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