Karim Sumar is the co-founder and CEO of InstaRyde. We would call is a ride-sharing company. Mr Sumar calls InstaRyde a transportation and logistics company focused on the ride-sharing space.
Listen below:
West End Phoenix – Concert
Last night I attended the West End Phoenix fundraising concert at Toronto’s The Great Hall.
Not only was it an opportunity to help fundraise for the local community newspaper that Dave Badini founded, the West End Phoenix, but it was also a great opportunity to experience some great spoken word performances and live music.
First up was a spoken word performance by poet, Nasim Asgari.
Next up was an hour long set by Juno award-winning band, Whitehorse.
Closing out the evening was one of Canada’s most unconventional, yet influential bands, Rheostatics. They were joined on stage by Kevin Hearn (also from the Barenaked Ladies), Alex Lifeson (of RUSH), Don Kerr (Toronto-based band Communism) and Tom Wilson (from Junhouse and Lee Harvey Osmond)
For more information on how to be a patron or newspaper subscriber please visit https://www.westendphoenix.com/.
Book Report: The Marrow Thieves
I just finished reading Cherie Dimaline’s book, The Marrow Thieves. It’s kinda sad that it was voted out on Day Three of Canada Reads.
The Marrow Thieves is a story about a world in which Indigenous peoples are being hunted and harvested for their marrow. Why, because, the rest of world have lost the ability to dream. The book follows Frenchie as he travels north and meets with various other runners.
The Marrow Thieves reminds us of how the European settlers abused the Indigenous people upon contact. I was reminded of the horrors of the residential school system and the “sixties scoop” while reading this book.
This book is must reading for anyone wanting to better understand the continuing Indigenous experience.
Episode #116: Ari Shapiro
In his annual visit to Girth Radio studios, Ari Shapiro, of Jays Journal fame, gives his unedited thoughts and opinions on the 2018 version of the Toronto Blue Jays season.
Some questions we tackled:
– Will Josh Donaldson end this season in a Jays uniform?
– Have we seen the last of Troy Tulowitzki?
– Can Devon Travis stay healthy?
– Can the Jays survive a Russell Martin injury?
– Will be see Vladdy Guerrero Jr and/or Bo Bichette with in the big leagues before the season ends?
– How will Karim do in his Yahoo Baseball Fantasy League?
Listen below:
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Recorded live at Girth Radio.
Music by Afraaz Mulji.
Check out this In Session FB Live concert with my friend, Kristin Fung:
The 2018 Junos
After catching a bit of the 2018 Junos I realized that a few people that I saw on TV have actually been in studio with me!
Anna Hill – Episode #63 – What does Anna have to do with the Junos? Nothing really. Except, I saw her on the TV broadcast! She was sitting beside Jim Creeggan of the Barenaked Ladies. (They’re partners!)
Jim Creeggan – Episode #51 – Now in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame as a member of the Barenaked Ladies!
Maestro Fresh Wes – Episode #100 – Wes was nominated in the Rap category at this year’s Junos.
Mike Downie – Episode #88 – Mike Downie is, of course, the older brother of Gord Downie and accepted (at least once) the awards that Gord won. At this year’s Junos, Gord won Songwriter of the Year, Adult Alternative Album of the Year and Artist of the Year.
Episode #115: Abigail Winter
Abigail Winter is an actor, writer, and film-maker. And she also used to work at the coffee shop down the street from our studio.
Listen below:
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Recorded live at Girth Radio.
Sound Engineer: Adam Zizzo of Blue Moth Creative
Music by Afraaz Mulji.
If you enjoyed this episode you’ll also like:
Episode #33: Huse Madhavji
Episode #101: Kelly McCormack
Check out this other Girth Radio show: Sammy speaks with Strombo!
What Blurred Lines Decision Means for Musicians & Industry
Remember this song?
What about this one?
Yup. One copied the other. This morning an American court of appeals upheld a verdict that the 2013 chart-topper “Blurred Lines” infringed the copyright to Marvin Gaye’s iconic “Got To Give It Up.”
J. Michael Keyes is a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney.
“In the closely watched music copyright infringement case, a panel of the 9th circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld a jury verdict that Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (the world’s best-selling single from 2013) infringed the copyright in Marvin Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up” from the 1970s. The Court’s decision is noteworthy in a couple of respects.”
“Upholding the jury’s verdict (and the ultimate damage award) could very well mean we see a new wave of additional music infringement lawsuits and claims. The 9th Circuit majority decision was quite explicit in opining that musical works receive broad protection and that “there is no one magical combination of factors that will automatically substantiate a musical infringement suit.” That standard is rather noteworthy and leaves quite a bit of play in the joints for future litigants to cobble together a music infringement claim. In fact, as the dissenting opinion points out, the majority decision seems to give copyright protection to a “musical style” as the two works “differ in melody, harmony, and rhythm,” Keyes says.
“One important but rather technical issue that the court did not decide (and that is directly relevant in the Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven appeal pending before the 9th Circuit) was whether the “scope” of copyright protection is dictated by the notes on the printed page (the sheet music) or whether the sound recording can be considered as defining the scope of protection The trial court ruled that the scope of Gaye’s copyright protection was limited to the sheet music because that is what was submitted to the Copyright Office and what was ultimately registered. The 9th Circuit assumed, without deciding the issue, that the trial court made the correct decision. We will need to wait and see how the court deals with this same theme in the Stairway to Heaven case,” Keyes says.
Keyes is an intellectual property attorney with extensive trial and litigation experience in cases involving trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition and false advertising. He has tried several cases in federal courts across the United States. Keyes has a piano performance degree and has written on the issue of music copyright. One of his law review articles was cited extensively in a case in Chicago federal court in a music copyright case brought against Lady Gaga. Before going to law school to work with copyright law, he studied piano and composition at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.
Image: https://beardedgentlemenmusic.com/2015/03/17/where-do-the-blurred-lines-get-drawn/
Episode #114: Our Lady Peace
For upwards of 25 years, Our Lady Peace has been one of Canada’s pre-eminent rock bands. Fronted by lead singer and main songwriter, Raine Maida, OLP has sold millions of albums worldwide. They’re still touring and making new music after all these years.
Our Lady Peace is currently on a cross-Canada tour with Matthew Good. I sat down with lead guitarist Steve Mazur and drummer Jason Pierce in between Toronto shows to talk about recording new music and their current tour.
Listen below:
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Recorded live at Girth Radio.
Sound Engineer: Adam Zizzo of Blue Moth Creative
Music by Afraaz Mulji and Our Lady Peace
If you enjoyed this episode you’ll also like:
Episode #51: Jim Creeggan of the Barenaked Ladies.
Listen to other Girth Radio podcasts like The Creative Imbalance with Sean Sirianni.
WireIE Partners with W Dusk Group to Enhance Broadband Services for Underserved Canadians
Toronto, Canada – March 16, 2018 – WireIE, a Canadian wholesale network operator specialized in the deployment of MEF-Certified Carrier Ethernet networks to Canada’s underserved markets, is partnering with W Dusk Group, an Indigenous-owned technology company, to deliver environmentally-friendly, enhanced fiber network solutions to underserved Canadian enterprises and communities.
Underserved communities in Canada often face a situation of poor (or no) Internet coverage, which is exacerbated by a lack of reliable electrical energy. Through this first-of-its-kind partnership in Canada, the two companies will work with these communities, including Indigenous Peoples, to mesh alternative energy technology with WireIE’s high-availability network solutions. The goal is to ensure individuals living and working in underserved areas avoid unplanned, costly downtime.
“For over 10 years, WireIE has been connecting Canada’s underserved markets with high-quality, robust, secure networks,” says Rob Barlow, CEO of WireIE. “By partnering with W Dusk Group, we are ensuring that we can deliver green broadband, increased uptime and enhanced service assurance to our partners in underserved areas. We are proud to be leaders in meeting Canadians’ demands for renewably-powered digital infrastructure.”
“Our core passion is providing our underserved partners with the energy solutions and connectivity they need to take full advantage of our digital age,” says David Isaac, CEO of W Dusk Energy Group. “As a Canadian Indigenous-owned firm, we employ local community resources wherever possible to undertake the last-mile management, planning and technology integration services needed for our clients to enjoy broadband access in a sustainable way.”
Broadband access has been formally recognized by the Canadian Radio and Television Corporation (CRTC) as an important tool for fostering economic development in areas that are not served by Canada’s major telecom carriers. WireIE is strengthening its legacy of providing the low latency and reliability needed to support the socio-economic development of businesses and communities in remote environments.
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About WireIE:
WireIE is a Canadian telecommunications carrier, specialized in the deployment of MEF Certified Carrier Ethernet 2.0 networks to underserved markets. WireIE’s proven network performance, backed by industry-leading SLAs, has been established as the provider of choice for mission critical network requirements, across all industry verticals. Believing in a strong partnership model allows WireIE to focus on building missing components of broadband network solutions while keeping the costs down and dramatically reducing delivery times.
sales@WireIE.com WireIE.com Twitter.com/WireIE LinkedIn.com/WireIE
About W Dusk Energy Group:
W Dusk Energy Group Inc. is an Indigenous owned firm that has the privilege to work in beautiful communities throughout Canada and soon Internationally. We are a team of like-minded professionals operating in tandem to strengthen community development initiatives such as planning, local economic growth, policy, food systems and infrastructure development. Our core passion and focus is assisting communities to become self-reliant through renewable energy empowerment with a systems based, community-driven approach. We provide project management, planning and technology integration services. W Dusk can assist in most, if not all stages of projects through its trusted and expansive partnership network. W Dusk is actively developing large and small-scale projects throughout Canada involving solar, wind, hydrokinetic and newer, harmonic energy solutions. We source, design, build and develop our projects with the community. We believe that the built environment and physical infrastructure should reflect the values, culture and natural beauty of community. All of our work aligns with an agreement to honour and respect Nature. It is all connected.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA)
+1.866.6953629
jsa_wireie@jsa.net
Ronda Rousey: 2018 Wrestlemania Impact
Has Ronda Rousey made a real impact on WWE? What about Rousey’s impact on WWE’s flagship pay-per-view, Wrestlemania?
One of the ways to understand this is by looking at Rousey’s impact on betting. I asked international betting expert, Jim Murphy, if Rousey has had an impact on betting for this year’s Wrestlemania.
Negligible if any. The WWE might be trying to change course on how they’re promoting her midstream. She cut a promo last week that wasn’t really good. They had originally scheduled her for every RAW until Wrestlemania but that plan has changed. She was originally announced for last night’s RAW but wasn’t there and they showed a video of her instead. Meanwhile, she was on the ‘Ellen’ show this morning.
Here’s what I’m thinking–they’re going to keep her out of situations where she has to ‘cut a promo’. They can show her training in the gym and she looks like a badass. I’ve always thought she does well in the talk show format but doing a scripted pro wrestling promo is a different deal entirely. Besides, she can open up promotional channels that no one else on the roster is able to (eg: talk shows like ‘Ellen’). They’ll likely have Stephanie McMahon bury her in promos on RAW for the next two weeks. She’s scheduled for the final pre-Wrestlemania episode of RAW.
Otherwise–it’s still a little early for significant betting on Wrestlemania 3 1/2 weeks out and it’ll definitely be an afterthought until after the first weekend of ‘March Madness’. The WWE hasn’t really gone into top gear promotionally for Wrestlemania and it might end up being that Rousey doesn’t draw the mainstream interest they thought she would. She hasn’t produced any ratings bump in her TV appearances so far. There’s not really a ‘buzzworthy’ match on the card so far. AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura is a big deal among hardcore fans but not really in the mainstream. They’ve been teasing a John Cena vs. Undertaker matchup and that might end up being the biggest match on the card.
For more information on this year’s Wrestlemania betting visit Sports Betting Experts.
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Ep15: Steve Hulford