Catching up with Republic of Doyle on YouTube…

I am not feeling too sympathetic towards CBC Canada at the moment. I am an overseas fan of their show Republic of Doyle. We are in the final season. Fair enough I didn’t expect to see the up and coming episode titled ‘When The Whistle Blows’ with Alan Doyle and Scott Grimes returning as Wolf and Jimmy when shown and is blocked in my country. Republic of Doyle isn’t on Google Play, my preferred methods of buying digital content (due to the absence of country barriers) and only available it seems on ITunes. (I am not sure if the content is available in my country as Season Five is being shown on pay TV). So I went looking for the Republic of Doyle on YouTube to play catch up and see what I could find.

And there Republic of Doyle was in full seasons and episodes diligently recorded by loving pirates available for viewing, in direct competition to ITunes, other pay television content and even a site that looks like the official Republic of Doyle social media sites. What is a fan to do? Buy or watch for free? Even the latest Season Six had been recorded week by week and there was not a DCMA copyright notice in sight. So I am not feeling too much sympathy or the love for CBC Canada right now when they choose to block viewers watching content overseas on their site and then allow pirates to record content and go unchecked. Why should I do the right thing and pay for television content when CBC Canada doesn’t care?

I love Republic of Doyle. I love the amazingly talented, creative and very proud Newfoundlander Allan Hawco. I love the Republic of Doyle’s brilliant and talented cast. I love how the television show presents the exquisite city of St John’s, Newfoundland. I am continually amazed at how many beautiful sunny days they found in St John’s and Newfoundland to film. After six successful seasons I certainly can understand why someone like Allan Hawco and perhaps the cast and crew would want to move onto other projects. Of course all their fans thank them for the hours of enjoyment they have brought to our lives and wish them well.

Being a fan of a television show like Republic of Doyle in another country other than Canada provides viewing difficulties. The preferable place to watch content is on the CBC Republic of Doyle webpage episodes where hits count for something and let the organisation know many people love this show, even in it’s last season. The second choice is to buy legal content on places like ITunes and pretty soon after the episode is watched in its country of origin. I didn’t know until recently the content was available from ITunes including, the most recent episodes, but I am still not sure if this content is available overseas in my country.

The next stop is YouTube. Pirates who film illegal content like television shows and place it on YouTube themselves make content difficult to find by failing to label their illegal recordings properly. Many pirates who illegally record television shows quickly have DCMA notices slapped on them by the legal copyright holders and brought down. Pirates have posted advertisements on YouTube sites stating the content has been moved to webpages which allow interested viewers to download and watch content and pirates to collect revenue from advertising. Alternatively pirates escape the DCMA notices by only recording part of the program, mixing it up with other series content.

Then there are people who advertise content that contain within it a catch in that they direct people to online streaming through Fox2hd television giving them 14 days free trial. They require fans not only to log onto sites, but also to give details such as credit cards even though they wont be charged. Why take credit card details when customers might not like the service offered? Sounds like a right out scam to me when customers have to give over their personal details for something for free. It has taken a couple of days, but finally this episode is being loaded up onto YouTube. There are the opportunistic pirates who record content and load it up. Then there are the diligent pirates who record the show week after week and  have their loyal subscribers. These latest episodes seem to have attracted advertising. 

I have just found a recent copy loaded up onto YouTube about an hour ago as I researched this post. There is a site on YouTube called Republic of Doyle and is consistent with the official social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. The site was created at the beginning of the Season Six on October 15 2014. It has recorded all the episodes for this season. While it is great for a site to put content up so quickly, if it is an official site, it was particularly annoying to watch the episode in a smaller screen and the words Republic of Doyle written across the top of the screen. It is kind of insulting that someone who designed this site doesn’t think I can remember the name of the television show I am watching. Perhaps, it is there to make fans feel so annoyed and uncomfortable when watching that they would go to the official Republic of Doyle site at CBC Canada. I originally chose this site on YouTube to watch this one episode, giving them the benefit of doubt.

After this discovery I am left wondering three things. The first one is why isn’t CBC Canada more vigilant when hunting pirates of its content to the same extend some US television shows are? And the second reason is why should I care about their content if they don’t? The third reason is why are they not regularly searching for pirates on YouTube when television shows like Republic of Doyle are still being sold to pay television syndicates in places like Australia and the United Kingdom for programming. So I am left thinking if television shows are going to compete with pirates at their own game and collect any kind of revenue they can in places like YouTube they should set up then own official sites or pirates will.

The Jimmy and Wolf episodes are my favourites. Wolf is looking really hot with the long hair, full on beard and a thick Newfoundlander accent. Jake Doyle was gorgeous too, as the man who found out he was being scammed by a girl claiming to be his daughter. It is a shame they are both fictional characters in a television series. St John's was spectacular as always. Now, that's real. I have in the past bought four seasons of Republic of Doyle on DVD.

From the official Republic of Doyle Twitter Account "Sweet Baby Jesus, give me strength..." #doyletweets (No copyright infringement intended).


From Torrent Freak…"IIPA: Canada is a magnet for “rogue” sites and persistent pirates". By Ernesto on February 10 2014 (no copyright infringement intended).

The MPAA, RIAA and other entertainment industry groups are calling out Canada for its lack of effective anti-piracy enforcement. The groups label Canada a magnet for pirate sites and also want Internet providers to punish subscribers who repeatedly download copyright-infringing content.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) has just published its latest submission to the U.S. Government, providing an overview of countries it believes should better protect the interests of the copyright industry.

The IIPA, which includes a wide range of copyright groups including the MPAA, RIAA, BSA and ESA, has listed its complaints against a whole host of countries. As in previous years, Canada was discussed in detail with the recommendation to put it on the 2014 Special 301 ‘watch list’.

One of the main grievances against Canada is that the country offers a home to many sites which the copyright industries label as “rogue” businesses. This includes the recently shut down isohunt.com as well as other popular torrent sites such as torrentz.eu and kickass.to.

“Even after the shuttering of Isohunt, Canada is still the home to some of the world’s most popular Internet sites dedicated to piracy, including torrentz.eu and kickass.to, which garnered rankings of third and second place, respectively, on one of the most widely accessed listings of the world’s most popular illicit BitTorrent sites,” IIPA writes.

The copyright holders further mention the linking sites cuevana.tv, free-tv-video-online.me, and solarmovie.so as having Canadian connections, as well as the smaller torrent sites fenopy.se and monova.org. Without proper enforcement action against them, Canada remains very attractive to these allegedly infringing sites, they claim.

“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Canada remains a magnet for sites whose well-understood raison d’être is to facilitate and enable massive unauthorized downloading of pirated versions of feature films, TV shows, recorded music, entertainment software, and other copyright materials,” IIPA writes.

“The largest of these Canadian-hosted sites attract scores of millions of unique visitors every month, and their corrosive effects on legitimate markets are felt worldwide,” they add.

The United States should encourage Canada to take action against these sites, the industry groups recommend. Without proper action the country will not just remain a safe haven for infringing websites, but also a breeding ground for new generations of Internet pirates.

According to the IIPA, current policies have resulted in widespread piracy among Canadian Internet users, with instances twice as frequent as in the United States. “In this environment, it is not surprising that Canadians continue to demonstrate a formidable propensity to patronize illegal online sources of copyright material, thus stunting the availability and growth of legal alternatives,” IIPA writes. “A report released in September 2012 found that, on a per-capita basis, Canadians download more unauthorized music than residents of any other country, and two-and-one-half times as much as Americans,” the groups add.

“Canadians continue to demonstrate a formidable propensity to patronize illegal online sources of copyright material, thus stunting the availability and growth of legal alternatives.”

The industry groups further recommend that Internet providers should partner with copyright holders to tackle the ongoing piracy problems. While some ISPs already forward infringement notices to their customers, they note that repeated infringers go unpunished.

Due to this “glaring weakness” the current copyright infringement warnings sent out by some ISPs are not believed to be very effective.

“Although more and more notices of infringement are sent by right holders and forwarded by service providers to their customers each year, the providers do not even correlate the notices with individual subscribers to know which are repeat infringers,” IIPA writes.

“To treat the first-time violator identically with the serial offender jeopardizes any deterrent effect the notices might otherwise achieve,” they add.

The groups recommend that the U.S. Government urges Canada to implement “strong legal incentives” for local ISPs to take action against these persistent pirates by teaming up with copyright holders.

The above is just the tip of the iceberg for Canada. Among other things, the groups also call for stronger border protections and hefty jail sentences for copyright infringers. This is not the first time that Canada has been called out on copyright. Based on similar recommendations the U.S. Government has placed its northern neighbor on the intellectual property watch-list for several years in a row.

The IIPA’s full 2014 Special 301 recommendation report is available here. This also includes assessments from more than two dozen other countries, including Argentina, Brazil, China, Italy, Russia, Spain and Switzerland.

Sean McCann Sings at the Ship...

I would love to see Sean McCann sing at The Ship in St. John's Newfoundland next week. For those of you like me who can't make it due to geographical location, I have included links to some of the videos I mentioned in previous posts from the most recent shows Sean did across Canada. I will think you will agree he is in brilliant form performing solo, with a few friends or fans who join him on stage.

Some of these videos were retweeted by Sean McCann on Twitter.










 

Jordan Thomas Brewer

Séan McCann - Wish You Well [Live at C'est What S…: http://youtu.be/sT2VUk7W_f4

Séan McCann - Live This Life [Live at C'est What …: http://youtu.be/3Z6BdWI3-pc

Séan McCann & Murray Foster - Safe Upon The Shore…: http://youtu.be/94yUXtZ9muA

Helen Gilbert

Sean McCann, Spirit In The Sky: http://youtu.be/Kj4AKIP9Yps

Sean McCann Help Yourself: http://youtu.be/D3B_6bALdqI

Sean McCann, England, Live: http://youtu.be/iBQruVskXKc

Sean McCann ~ Turn: http://youtu.be/XkSXRFmWbec

Sean McCann & Murray Foster Safe upon the Shore: http://youtu.be/GIo2jQhqmLY

Sean McCann ~ Follow Me Up To Carlow & When Will …: http://youtu.be/fYdjfMml7XI

Bootleg concert videos…I still don’t really understand.

Why do people bootleg and watch bootlegged videos?…I still don’t really understand.

I still don’t really understand why people create and watch bootlegged videos. I certainly can understand why people bootleg as part of the concert experience to keep as a souvenir and share with their friends. I have watched many great bootlegged videos. I don’t understand why people are so interested in concerts they never attended.

Thanks to the reader who logged onto my site and read this post from long ago titled “@lyndahere Music Marketing, Bootlegging and Hypocrisy (revised) published on 9 October 2012, over two years ago there are some reasons.

The post describes the reason why @lyndahere bootlegs and that is to "whet the appetite of fans" despite the fact there are multiple copies of the same song already on her site. I still don’t get it, in particular, when there are better quality professionally made concert videos and better videos made by other fans. 

Recently Scott Grimes retweeted a link provided to a fan to new music and song he co-wrote with Alan Doyle called Stay by @lyndahere. It is unfortunate she seems to have the monopoly on bootlegged videos and people don’t really go elsewhere. I have found there are many people who bootleg concerts better than she does and as part of the concert experience with no ulterior motive than to share.

I actually found a better bootlegged version of the beautiful Alan Doyle and Scott Grimes song Stay bootlegged by another fan. I have provided the link here because her recording sounds great. I hope you enjoy Alan and Stickman as much as I did. Even though I believe the musicians should decide when and how it is released.  

Why don't you stay?  New Alan Doyle song!!!: http://youtu.be/PINwQevcsY4

After listening to a digital version of the beautiful sounds from the acoustic version of the Crowe/Doyle Songbook 3 I find it extremely difficult to listen to some bootlegged recordings from The Indoor Garden Party concerts. I certainly would enjoy a professionally recorded live version of the concert. But that is just me. I imagine others feel the same.

 “@lyndahere Music Marketing, Bootlegging and Hypocrisy (revised) published on 9 October 2012.

@Lyndahere to …@russellcrowe @ScottGrimes The videos are supposed to whet the appetite, not saturate it. 14 September 2012.

Indoor Garden Party St John’s Newfoundland 2011

Russell Crowe and Alan Doyle have become my heroes in the fight against bootlegged material. In August of 2011 @lyndahere bootlegged Russell Crowe’s entire Indoor Garden Party show in St Johns with his co starts from the film Robin Hood Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand plus his gorgeous and talented wife Danielle Spencer and Irish duo Size2shoes. @lyndahere put them on Youtube and as consequence had thousands of hits. She seemed to have the monopoly of bootlegged videos as no one else who attended the event put any up. I don’t care how much money Russell Crowe makes in the movies. If he writes a song or makes a video then those involved are entitled to the proceeds of it.

Over the past six months Russell Crowe has released his own recordings from the Indoor Garden Party on his South Sydney Media Youtube site in competition with @lyndahere. Better late than never. Scott Grimes and Russell Crowe have remained firm friends since they made the film Mystery Alaska together. He has high praise for his friend’s music abilities. Russell Crowe has tweeted on two occasions that he has not been impressed by the quality of videos being offered by @lyndahere of the event. He wrote on his Twitter page “Even with shit fanvid sound,you just can't deny @scottgrimes From Here Clear To The Ocean Garden Par...: http://youtu.be/i_liG8Aa0YA  via @youtube “ 13 September 2012.

And @lyndahere was quick to respond to Russell Crowe’s criticism with the following tweets. @russellcrowe @ScottGrimes And if fanvid sound were not shit, people would simply grab the audio& not bother buying the song. Not the goal. 14 September 2012

@russellcrowe @ScottGrimes The videos are supposed to whet the appetite, not saturate it. 14 September 2012.

@lyndahere wrote they were only meant to whet the appetite and if they had quality sound no one would buy the song. Whet means to stimulate. @lyndahere put up not only one copy of each song performed in its entirety but there are TWO copies of nearly each song performed by all the artists in its entirety. It certainly would not make for a pleasant experience watching someone perform through the view finder of a camera. Concert after concert after concert watching musicians perform so brilliantly according to her through a camera view finder. I wonder when she last watched a concert for music. The purpose of buying a ticket to a concert is to enjoy it and appreciate the music. The function of a ticket is that you pay for that event only not a life time of bootlegged videos. Actions and words @lyndahere.

So for what purpose was this filmed I wonder. Actions and words @lyndahere. To ‘whet the appetite’ more like flood and monopolise the market for fan videos on this event. Filming entire concerts and putting them up on Youtube is an interesting marketing strategy I find difficult to comprehend. That shit quality music videos will sell songs according to @lyndahere. I am wondering which marketing firm would promote that kind of philosophy and why if it were true is it is unique to only to music. There is no product and company in the world that would use inferior products to advertise a better product in the store. And no reasonable person would buy something based on an inferior product. If it doesn’t make sense then it isn’t true. There are now quality official videos of the Indoor Garden Party and Alan Doyle songs from his Boy on Bridge album including the song Testify and I Have Seen a Little but she has yet to bring down her bootlegged videos on Youtube.

It does however make a quality product more difficult to find in amongst all the rubbish. A bit like looking for a needle in a hay stack unless you know where to look (Alan Doyle official Great Big Sea official or South Sydney Media official Youtube sites and a range of other sites). The videos on Between the Rock occupy priority place in some Google searches and makes it difficult to find official videos. Whetting the appetite of potential song buyers should be done through official videos where viewers can buy songs directly via links to itunes or other music purchasing sites. @lyndahere provides no links to itunes where viewers can buy the goods.

Testify

Testify is the latest song that Alan Doyle wrote with Russell Crowe. They have produced a video together filmed in Iceland. An excellent video with spectacular scenery and high quality sound and an Academy award winning actor producing and starring in it. The video has had over 17 000 hits in just a couple of weeks. @lyndahere has approximately 10 videos of the song Testify that she filmed on Alan Doyle’s tour, promotion events and the Garden Party. Yet she has not brought down the bootlegged copies of the song Testify of Youtube to support her claims they are there to whet the appetite of potential song buyers.

I have watched some videos by people who attend Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea events who are what not I term professional bootleggers. They are excellent. They are often little watched videos way down the list on Youtube searches with only a couple of hundred hits. They highlight the brilliance of the musicians performing at live venues with just a guitar.

Its Friday by Dean Brody and Great Big Sea

It’s Friday by Dean Brody and Great Big Sea is another song that has been bootlegged by @lyndahere on more than one occasion. On Twitter @lyndahere wrote @alanthomasdoyle @bobhallet join @deanbrody on a downtown St. John’s rooftop to film the “Its Friday” music video. 1 Sept 2012. She put up a video way before the official one was released. She does tweet links to the official version but does not bring down her own versions that continue to remain on Youtube accumulating hits and in opposition to the official videos.

Charity events

Another example of @lyndahere’s problem with actions and words was the benefit concert for Newfoundland musician Ron Hynes who is fighting cancer and the opening of Ronald McDonald house in Newfoundland for sick children with Great Big Sea. @lyndahere always the opportunist filmed both events and peddled them on her Twitter site showing little respect for causes they were helping. I did not watch her videos because I found them totally offensive that she would film at such events and without the permission for those who held the event and then peddle them to the artists involved. What got lost to her was that the concerts were for very sick people.

Not one of the artists responded to her about the videos.

Consequence free E-book piracy?...I don't think so...

Like lots of other people I love E-books mainly because I am able to get content I normally would not be able to get at half the price of a paperback book.

I found this article titled “Top 10 Reasons People Use To Justify Pirating Digital Contents (And Why They’re Wrong)” by Rob W. Hart provides a justification as to why people pirate E-books.

People are under the assumption they can take content from where ever and distribute it for free on the Internet because people should see or hear it. There are consequences for those whose content is pirated whether people are willing to admit it or not. The same reasons that are used to justify e-book piracy can be applied to pirating digital content of any kind.

The writer writes the number 10 reason to justify E-book piracy is “We're only hurting big business”.

“Say you steal a book published by Random House, a company owned by Rupert Murdoch. Yes, Murdoch has a lot of money, and I bet it's satisfying to take a few fractions of a penny out his pocket. But here's who you're really hurting, besides the author (which should be enough): The editors, the layout people, the marketing people, the cover designer... hell, even the maintenance staff in the building where the book was put together. Those are the people who are getting paid from the cost of the book. It takes a village. Murdoch isn't sweating the loss; the people who brought the book to market are”. 

Since this article was written two years ago many things have changed in the way we obtain digital products. For example, I have been getting free digital copies of some of the latest popular television series and movies when I buy DVDs. Today some episodes of the latest television series are being offered in digital format less than a week later after it is screened in the US and can be bought individually or as part of a whole series.

Individual television episodes and songs are really cheap in my country. They cost less than a 600 ml bottle of coke, a 200 gram block of chocolate or a public transport ticket into the city. Legal content is probably cheaper than the Internet data content usage used to download and watch illegal content.

In the article “Top 10 Reasons People Use To Justify Pirating Digital Content (And Why They’re Wrong)” Rob W. Hart provides readers with ten reasons why people engage in piracy. He obtained this quote from the Twitter page of Devin Faraci of Badass Digest “In our culture today people think they deserve their entertainment, not that it's a perk. An eBook is a luxury, not a right. If you can't afford it, too bad, but that's life”.

“Top 10 Reasons People Use To Justify Pirating Digital Content (And Why They’re Wrong)” by Rob W. Hart August 31 2012 (no copyright infringement intended).

1. If you're a writer, you should just be happy to write.
...”Expecting people to forgo payment because you wanted something and didn't want to pay for it? You're an asshole. And if you're an artist, you're an even bigger asshole, because you lack empathy for fellow artists. But, look, if you're utterly convinced that artists should just be happy to create, I'll make you a deal: I'll do my job for free, but you have to do yours for free. We'll circle back in a month and see how that went”. 
 
2. We already own the book/movie/show in another format.
If you have an eBook, you can't go to a bookstore and take the paperback version, claiming that you already own it anyway. I'm heartened to see that some publishers and movie studios are including digital copies with physical media--I'd pay a few extra bucks to get eBook versions of the physical books I buy--but until that's a common practice, this is the system we have. Buying something in one format doesn't give you the right to other formats.

3. We live in a different country so we don't get movies/books/shows until months later.
Distribution methods are not ideal--far behind the capabilities of technology. It's frustrating, and distributors should absolutely rethink how media is disseminated in our global cultural landscape. But it still doesn't give you the right to steal something. Again: Digital content is a luxury, not a right.

4. Everyone else is doing it.
There are a lot of examples of mainstream acceptance of pirating, but the most recent (and troubling) example comes from David Pogue, the technology writer from the New York Times. He wanted to get The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum for his son, but he discovered the eBook wasn't available because of a dispute between Ludlum’s estate and Bantam. Instead of downloading any one of a million other eBooks, Pogue downloaded a torrent and cut the publisher a check for $9.99. Except if the books aren’t available, the estate probably still has the rights, so the check should have gone to them. And he used the biggest and most respected paper in the world as a venue to justify a selfish, petty, and illegal act. Shameful.

5. What about libraries?
Libraries purchase the large majority of books in their collections through wholesale retailers like Ingram and Baker & Taylor. Money changes hands. Authors get paid. All this argument shows is you don't even care to check your facts.

6. We would pay for it if we just had access to it.
This is bullshit of the highest order. Some people would, sure, but you know what? Both season 1 and 2 of Game of Thrones are available on DVD, and through a variety of digital download services, and it's still pirated at a huge rate. If this was true, as soon as something was available for sale in another format, it wouldn't be pirated ever again. It's ridiculous for people to pretend they'd be noble, if only the circumstances were right. (As someone pointed out in the comments, season 2 of Game of Thrones is not available yet. Plenty of digital content gets pirated even though its for sale elsewhere, so the point remains).

7. Digital content is too expensive.
I will acknowledge that pricing on eBooks is not ideal, but pricing is a different conversation--you can't just take what you want, when you want, because you disagree with what's being charged. If you go to Target and they have a flatscreen television you like, but you can't afford it, can you just take it? No. Same rule applies.

8. The distribution method sucks.
Just because you don't like how something is distributed doesn't mean you can steal it. Game of Thrones is pirated at a huge rate, and sure, getting HBO shows can be tough--if you don't have cable and a subscription, you have to wait until the show is released on iTunes or Amazon Prime or on DVD. People like to say, Well, if they just offered HBOGo for $15 a month then I would pay for that. Except that doesn't work. HBO is an exclusive service for cable customers--if that service is no longer exclusive, cable companies might not carry it. HBO may be "leaving money on the table," but it's not.

9. Authors already have a plenty of money.
J.K. Rowling may not notice a loss in income, but what about the self-published author? What about the author who’s counting on a royalty check to cover the rent? Publishing a book isn’t a path to fame and fortune. There are plenty of mid-list authors, or authors whose books are out of print, who don't see a dime from their work. And it doesn't help them if their books are pirated, obviating any need to buy them. Enough money to justify losing the support of cable companies. Then they won't have enough money to make Game of Thrones.

10. We're only hurting big business.
Say you steal a book published by Random House, a company owned by Rupert Murdoch. Yes, Murdoch has a lot of money, and I bet it's satisfying to take a few fractions of a penny out his pocket. But here's who you're really hurting, besides the author (which should be enough): The editors, the layout people, the marketing people, the cover designer... hell, even the maintenance staff in the building where the book was put together. Those are the people who are getting paid from the cost of the book. It takes a village. Murdoch isn't sweating the loss; the people who brought the book to market are.

"That Little Room -The Story of Erin's Pub" documentary...

Erin's Pub - "...a place where music matters...where this music is treasured and preserved." Bob Hallett co-owner of Erin's Pub from the documentary "That Little Room - The Story of Erin's Pub- Newfoundland".

This is an amazing documentary full of great characters with wonderful stories, music and photography.

The image is from the Twitter account of Chris Andrews Congrats @CatsEyeCinema great job! @erinspub @ bobhallett @markganock @alanthomasdoyle @shanneyganock @greatbigsea
 

If you are not taking a flight in the near future and have not seen this fabulous documentary a copy is available on the Cats Eye Cinema YouTube site.

'That LITTLE Roomb' -:

Russell and the Anzac bicky...

“Eating Anzac biscuits links Australians to what is regarded as the birth of the Australian nation: the landing at Gallipoli in 1915…The biscuits have come to represent the courage of the soldiers at Gallipoli and signify the importance women played on the homefront.” (Supski date unknown).

Information has been circulating on social media about Russell Crowe and his movie the Water Diviner, and in particular his souvenir tins of the Aussie favourite Anzac biscuits. With over 1.6 million followers on Twitter, Russell has the power to promote a lot of things and fans jump on board with many of them including Australian culture. Despite their good intentions their interest often leads to cultural and social misunderstandings and perpetuated stereotypes through no fault of their own.

The Anzac biscuits in the lovely The Water Diviner tin are made in Australia by an Australian owned company Modern Baking with part of the proceeds going to the RSL who support veterans and their families since 1916. There is a story and tradition behind the tin and the biscuits inside. Some fans have even been making Anzacs and posting pictures on Russell Crowe’s Twitter account.

Being one never to miss an opportunity to research, I decided to go in search of the great Aussie myth sounding the creation and origins of the Anzac biscuit. (For those overseas fans who don’t know what ANZAC means. ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This question seems to be raised by new fans every ANZAC day when Russell makes a post).

I remember my mother making Anzac biscuits when I was growing up with a recipe from the CWA cookbook. I loved Anzacs because they contained one of my favourites, coconut. They are made from oats, coconut, flour, sugar, bi carbonate of soda, butter, boiling water and the magic ingredient golden syrup. Ingredients most Australian households would have in the pantry. The dry ingredients are measured and mixed with the wet (bi carbonate of soda and golden syrup) plus butter then spooned into little balls onto a greased tray and baked in the oven until golden brown. The recipe seemed to make enough to feed an army and never spoilt. Today the homemade Anzac biscuits are replaced with a commercially made packet (made in Australia with part proceeds going to the RSL) and still part of the pantry.

In my research about the little Aussie biscuits we hold so close to our hearts I found out that my interpretation of the myth was challenged. The myth I always believed was that Anzac biscuits were made for soldiers fighting at Gallipoli with love from the women and families they left behind in Australia. The research completed by Supski titled “ANZAC Biscuits – A Culinary Memorial” at the Australian Research Institute of Curtin University of Technology investigates the importance of the Anzac biscuit, the role they have linking women on the homefront and celebrating Anzac Day. The author writes…

… ‘The biscuits have come to represent the courage of the soldiers at Gallipoli and signify the importance women played on the homefront. However, within this narrative is also a sleight of hand: Anzac biscuits link Australians to a time past, to a time that is regarded as “the birth of our nation”. In this sense, Anzac biscuits link Australians powerfully and instantly to a time and place that is regarded as the heart of Australian national identity. In the words of Graham Seal, ‘Anzac resonates of those things that most Australians have continued to hold dear about their communal sense of self’. Importantly, women are at the centre of the story of Anzac biscuits…

In a recent radio program — Radio National’s Saturday Morning Breakfast (23 April 2005) — Alan Saunders interviewed Kirsten Wehner about Anzac biscuits. Along with other writers, Wehner suggested that the recipe for Anzac biscuits was developed from a Scottish oatcake recipe. As with oatcakes, Anzac biscuits do not use eggs to bind the ingredients. However, unlike oatcakes, the originality of Anzac biscuits is the use of golden syrup. Eggs were not included because of the need to keep the biscuits fresh on the long journey. The packages sent to troops at Gallipoli and the Western Front took several months to arrive because of the slow-moving Merchant Navy ships….

The ANZAC Day webpage page explains their understanding of the origins of the Anzac biscuit … “During World War 1, the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers were concerned for the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men. Here was a problem. Any food they sent to the fighting men had to be carried in the ships of the Merchant Navy…

A body of women came up with the answer - a biscuit with all the nutritional value possible. The basis was a Scottish recipe using rolled oats. These oats were used extensively in Scotland, especially for a heavy porridge that helped counteract the extremely cold climate.

At first the biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits…

 As the war drew on, many groups like the CWA (Country Women’s Association), church groups, schools and other women’s organisations devoted a great deal of time to the making of ANZAC biscuits. To ensure that the biscuits remained crisp, they were packed in used tins, such as Billy Tea tins…

Other sources dispute this claim although it is commonly accepted Anzac biscuits were not the same biscuits made for the soldiers at Gallipoli but rather for those in World War 1 and renamed after the campaign. In an article on the Australian War Memorial webpage Anne-Marie Conde wrote in 2008…”The biscuit that most of us know as the Anzac biscuit is a sweet biscuit made from rolled oats and golden syrup. These must not be confused with that staple of soldiers' and sailors' rations for centuries, the hardtack biscuit.

To deal with these rather unpalatable objects first, hardtack biscuits are a nutritional substitute for bread, but unlike bread they do not go mouldy. And also unlike bread, they are very, very hard. On Gallipoli, where the supply of fresh food and water was often difficult to maintain, hardtack biscuits became notorious. So closely have they been identified with the whole Gallipoli experience that they are sometimes known Anzac tiles or Anzac wafer biscuits. Hence the confusion with the sweet biscuit…

The origin and invention of the sweet Anzac biscuit is contested. Conventionally it is an eggless sweet biscuit made from oats and gold syrup but these sweet biscuits are not the same rations that were supplied to soldiers in Gallipoli…

The Unibic Anzac Biscuits (who make the Anzac biscuits in The Water Diviner tin) official webpage describe the history of the Anzac biscuit and the history of their recipe… “Our recipe is based on a competition run by The Australian Women’s Weekly more than 40 years ago that aimed to come up with a definitive recipe for the iconic biscuit. As such ours have the traditional taste and crunchy texture that generations of Australians and New Zealanders have grown up with. Wholesome oats and coconut, and with a warm sweetness from golden syrup and brown sugar”.

It is difficult to prove the origins of the Anzac biscuit. The recipe may be different than those biscuits sent to the front in World War 1. However, I do believe the women of Australia sent food parcels to their loved ones on the front.  The Anzac biscuit serves the same purpose in my view for World War 1…“The biscuits have come to represent the courage of the soldiers at Gallipoli and signify the importance women played on the homefront”.

References

Anzac Day, 2014, Anzac Biscuits. At http://anzacday.org.au
Conde, M. 2008. Anzac Biscuit History. The Australian War Memorial at http://awm.gov.au/anzac/biscuit

Supski, S. (date unknown) “ANZAC Biscuits – A Culinary Memorial” Australian Research Institute of Curtin University of Technology.

The Water Diviner, 2014, ‘Support veterans with The Water Diviner Anzac Biscuits’, 10 November 2014 at http://thewaterdivinerfilm.wordpress.com
Unibic Anzac Biscuits, 2014, About Anzac Biscuits at http://unibivanzacbiscuits.com




 (unibic ANZAC biscuits picture heraldsun.com.au)

Rick Goes Cod Jigging...Legal YouTube video link

Please don't believe the rumours started by @lyndahere (to justify her piracy and to encourage people to visit her site and view videos) that this content not can not be viewed legally outside of Canada.

Help support the creation of content legally, either by viewing on CBC or the official content distribution sites like this one on YouTube.

Here is the link to a legal copy of Rick Goes Cod Jigging from the Rick Mercer Report YouTube site which can be viewed by anyone inside or outside of Canada.

I hope you enjoy Rick Mercer and Alan Doyle and the people of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland as much as I did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJlHTTQ-3fA&feature=youtube_gdata_player




CBC Look who's hanging out with Rick Mercer tonight....from Twitter
(No copyright infringement intended)

Despite the acknowledgement of a legal copy of the Rick Mercer Report with Alan Doyle in Petty Harbour @lyndahere has known for over two weeks that the comments she made on her Facebook page that the video could not be seen legally outside of Canada were not true, she has made no attempt to remove them and continued to collect hits for YouTube site approximately 2263 hits she was not entitled to for content she did not create.

On her Facebook page she wrote on 6 November 2014 “Alan post this link for an online clip and Rick Mercer’s Petty Harbour fishing (and eating and singing) trip for CBC’s Rick Mercer Report.

It’s gorgeous…and only can be seen inside Canada (and provided the link).  

Slightly less gorgeous – but considerably more accessible to all – is this recorded-from-the- broadcast (sorry, non-HD) version (and provided the link).

Canadians – Be smart (an as Alan’s Mom would say Be Good) and watch the CBC clip Alan shared. Not only is the quality better, the website traffic should go to CBC from the people CBC is letting see the clip”.

Lyndahere and more piracy...revised

@Lyndahere from Twitter

Hard Rock’s Loving Son’s @alanthomasdoyle @rickmercer on a Petty Harbour fishing boat on CBC’s Rick Mercer Report cbc.ca/player/shows 5 November 2014

@alanthomasdoyle @rickmercer And the recorded (sorry, non_HD) version of the clip that can be seen outside Canada 5 November 2014

Note: This interview is available on CBC Canada for overseas fans and I have just watched it. However, the links provided by @lyndahere are not correct. When I accessed the link she provided by mobile phone the contact with CBC disconnected my phone for over 30 minutes. When I accessed the link via a computer the link lead me to a blank CBC page. After entering search terms for Alan Doyle and Rick Mercer I found it and viewed overseas beautifully.

The RMR Rick Goes Cod Fishing interview with Alan Doyle is available on the Rick Mercer official YouTube site and available overseas. This copy was available a day before  a pirated copy by @lyndahere.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJlHTTQ-3fA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I have been trying consciously not to write anything about @lyndahere’s piracy and bootlegging out of respect for Alan Doyle, Great Big Sea and their friends. I am sure there will be consequences for me for saying this as they validate her activities even more. But I am going to say it anyway. @lyndahere has moved up in status as a big name fan as Alan Doyle acknowledges some of the questions she asks, the information she finds as well as a couple of bootlegged videos she made earlier this year. He has encouraged and rewarded her presence at concerts, events, taking photographs and finding information but not her bootlegging and piracy.

@lyndahere just seems to be waddling on taping and recording whatever she wants and distributing via her YouTube account Between the Rock. This is done without much thought to the morals or ethics of what and when she records or the wishes of the content creators. There is no thought that her endless bootlegging and piracy may derail projects like movies, an audio book or an album from the people we love and affect the creation of future content. The list of @lyndahere pirated content in opposition to professionals is long indeed and mentioned in previous posts.

@lyndahere has made an assumption if there is a pirated copy and a legal version then people will watch the legal version (if the correct links are provided). Most of the legal CBC content is available overseas even if for a short while. But pirated content with @lyndahere is easier for fans to find than finding a direct link and waiting for a commercial. Often @lyndahere doesn’t provide the correct full links to content advertised and leaves fans to find it for themselves as I did with this interview. The commercial that is on the official site of this Rick Mercer interview helps fund content at CBC Canada and her pirated copy takes away viewers as they go elsewhere to watch it, whether in Canada or overseas. Of course she is not the only pirate in Canada pirating content from CBC Canada. The lack of viewers of the commercials on the content in these circumstances will impact on the future of content creation. There is no doubt about that.

Perhaps I am the only fan who is not happy if there is a pirated copy available. If there is no legal copy of content outside of Canada then that should be that. If we don’t want to live in Canada (as glorious as that country is) then fans are going to miss out on content. Part of life is missing out and as an adult we should be able to deal with it. (Although missing out on anything Alan Doyle is obviously not for her). The answer to address the lack of available content isn’t piracy. Neither is taking whatever content we can get our hands on and doing with it what we want. Because @lyndahere gets away with piracy and bootlegging doesn’t make it right. While she thinks her illegal activities will promote Alan Doyle and others, piracy is not a victimless crime as she indicates. Piracy will impact on content creation now and in the future.

Alan Doyle...So Let's Go Tour Poster revised

The new poster for Alan Doyle's So Let's Go Tour beginning in January, 2015. Beautiful photography (hense the post all on its own). (No copyright infringement intended.)

Please note I try and acknowledge all of my sources including photographs and articles. Please note the words no copyright infringement intended.

'Music and Friends' a music evening in St John's NL.

A community in Newfoundland comes together to help one of its own.

'Magical' fundraiser held for music mainstay Gord O'Brien by CBC Canada published 4 November 2014

A who's-who of Newfoundland and Labrador's traditional music scene turned out Sunday night for a man whose store helped launch their careers.

About a thousand people crowded into the ballroom of Delta Hotel in downtown St. John's for the event, which raised money for Gord O'Brien, the proprietor of O'Brien's Music Store.

The small but venerable Water Street business closed last month due to bankruptcy.

"Last night was just magical," said Shanneyganock's Mark Hiscock, who helped organize the benefit to help cover some of O'Brien's bills.

Emceed by Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle, the concert featured Ron Hynes, the Masterless Men, the Navigators, Ray Walsh and numerous other performers, with the concert closing with songwriter Bud Davidge leading the crowd in a singalong of Music and Friends — the title of which was borrowed for the concert itself — and The Mummer's Song.

"The roof went off the building," Hiscock told the St. John's Morning Show Monday morning as he described the finale.

O'Brien did not attend the event, which also included a silent auction.

'Everybody donated everything'

Organizers are not releasing totals, on request of the O'Brien family.

"We made sure that every cent possible went into Gordon's pocket," Hiscock said. "This show cost us less than $1,000 — everybody donated everything."

Angela O'Brien said the outpouring of support for her father has meant a great deal to the family.

"It's absolutely amazing and incredible and heartwarming to see everything come together and see all the people come out for it," she said.

"Words can't express how much love we feel from the music community. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."


While the store will remain closed, O'Brien plans to continue the instrument repair part of his business, albeit from his home.

(from the Twitter page of Iceberg Quest Tours 2 November 2014 No copyright infringement intended)

 

Where I Belong by Alan Doyle...Interviews and book reviews...

This post is a collection of my favourite Alan Doyle interviews, newspaper articles and book reviews from the book tour to promote “Where I Belong”. There have been plenty of interviews on radio and television, newspaper articles, writer’s festival appearances, meet and greets in book stores, fan stories and photographs. My favourites have been professional interviews either on the radio or in the newspapers where he has spoken for himself and/or with his family and are included here. These are from the east coast Canadian section of the tour.

“When the job came for the some dude to sing in a band like Great Big Sea, it turned out I was ready…you know…all the other stuff I loved doing and worked hard doing…it turned out that I was the right guy for the job, one of the right guys for the job… and I had no control over the opportunity that came my way and when it came I was ready…that was luck…” Alan Doyle to Shelagh Rojers at the Writers of Woody Point Festival.

My favourite interview is the Alan Doyle and Shelagh Rojers radio interview from the Writers of Woody Point Newfoundland. This was Alan’s first appearance as an author in his home province of Newfoundland. Alan provides a beautiful description of Petty Harbour and some of the changes that have occurred there since he was a child. He talks affectionately and with humour about friendships, first kisses, Catholic and non-Catholic girlfriends, the characters of Petty Harbour, working in the fishing industry and his early years in Great Big Sea. The interview was a long wait for fans between the actual event and the airing on radio but well worth it. This interview is available as a mp3 podcast from TheNextChapter website.

(From cbc.ca Canada.No copyright infringement intended.)

Adam Walsh @adamfwalsh @alanthomasdoyle “Mom; When he quit his job to go with the band I thought “Oh my god” #doyleAM

Another favourite was the radio interview on the SJ Morning Show on CBC Radio, St Johns which also featured his family including his mum Jean, dad Tom and his sister Kim on the 10 October 2014. As I live overseas I couldn’t find the links to access the interview, however, the radio station provided one of the most brilliant social media Twitter feeds with comments and photographs as the interview occurred. There were lots of laughs and love as the family shared stories from their days in Petty Harbour, raising children and growing up. There was Jean Doyle’s famous home-made bread and preserves.

(From @sjmorning Twitter #AM Doyle tweets. No copyright infringement intended.)

There was the professionally filmed interview between Alan Doyle and a well-respected Canadian journalist Peter Howell. The interview was conducted in front of a packed house at the Toronto Library on the day the book was released October 14 2014 and was exceptionally good. The interview is approximately an hour and twenty minutes long and is available on the Toronto Library official YouTube site soon after the launch. 

“Usually the smell of something roasting in our oven started in the late afternoon. By five, we’d all be salivating at the thought of that roast and the gravy Mom would make from it to pour over boiled potatoes and some canned peas or corn”. Alan Doyle in the Globe and Mail.

Throughout Alan Doyle’s book tour there have been a number of newspaper reviews and articles. There was an article in a national Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail titled “A hot, buttered slice of fond memories from Alan Doyle” published on 27 October, 2014. The review was a section of the book about food and meal times, his mother and a wonderful conversation between a son and his mother about making bread. There is a lovely black and white photograph of Mrs Doyle in her kitchen in St John’s cooking. The article has been copied with permission from the publishers.

 

 

(from www.theworldofgord.com at the Toronto library. No copyright infringement intended.)

“I miss how busy Petty Harbour and other fishing towns like it were in the later ’70 and early ’80s. With fishing boats coming and going, processing plants running two shifts, six days a week, trucks humming in and out of town, the place was bustling. I loved the energy of so many people in a tiny place all working on the same thing”. Alan Doyle, National Post, The Afterword Reading Society: Where I Belong by Alan Doyle. 29 October 2014

In the Canadian National Post Alan Doyle answered questions submitted by the readers about growing up in Petty Harbour, how being a child is different today than it was back then, his music idols, what to do if you find yourself in Newfoundland and future projects including acting and music. When asked about providing advice Alan suggested young people should figure life out for themselves. However, he also said young people should be ”good” and “be ready…you’ll love yourself if you are”. Great advice.

 

Meet and greet at Chapters book store in Dartmouth Nova Scotia Canada on 21 October 2014

(I didn’t watch any bootlegged videos. Alan Doyle has stated he is making an audio book. In my opinion bootlegged recorded read passages without permission from the book tours are in direct competition to this. They also may breach the copyright  act. ‘Where I Belong’ is copyright to Skinner’s Hill Music. The copyright notice on page 6 and states “All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication, reproduced, transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher-or reprographic copying, licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.”).