He may well be the hardest working musician in the province.

Jerry Stamp entered a contest a while back, as did many a musician from across the great continent of North America. Fan voting distilled the contestants down to a top 50, of which Jerry was one.

A panel of judges then applied their wisdom and narrowed the group down to five. And still there was Jerry.

Now it’s up to you to decide the winner.

What’s on the line for the person with the most votes here is recording time at Tainted Blue Studios in New York and an official sponsorship from Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings. Kind of a big deal.

What you’re being asked to vote on is your favourite video made by each contestant showing them play the Taylor Guitar with Elixir Strings each of them was sent.

Quite fittingly, Jerry produced his video with help from his fans. He played a bunch of gigs and asked his fans to record him with whatever video capable devices they had and then hand him over the footage. From that he cut together what is now his entry into the final stage of this contest.

You can see the video and vote for it by clicking here.

You can vote once per day per e-mail address, meaning if for some quirky 21st century reason you have more than one e-mail address you can vote more than once per day. Just sayin’.

Jerry is currently holding tight in second place. With your help he can surely make it to first.

So, if you happen to think he deserves it, why not go ahead and give him your vote now?

Then be sure to head down to the Bull and Barrel and see him play with special guest Ian Foster tonight!

YouTuber 126Sparkle has uploaded this video footage of orcas doing the dance of death with a minke whale in Trinity Bay yesterday.

A pod of orcas tore apart and devoured a minke whale before the very eyes of a tour boat’s passengers and crew south of St. John’s in Tors Cove just last week.

Time for a sequel, maybe?

Filmed on location in Terra Nova, NL!

Check out this partial video tour of the Avalon Mall, circa when it still had the Liquor Store (what I like to call, the good old days), given by a gentleman on his way to get some Tim’s before he “writes some tests”.

Fair warning: his favourite word starts with f and ends with k, if u c what I mean.

Why this isn’t front and centre on the NL Tourism website is beyond me.

[via @colinpeddle]

Scott McClellan is a homegrown photographer currently based out of Toronto who has developed an incredibly rich and diverse portfolio over the years. His photographs range from meticulously detailed set pieces underpinned by often intense narratives to perfectly captured moments of candor in a variety of subjects.

While many of his photos are clearly the result of a lot of painstaking time and effort, some go far beyond, into the realm of how’d-he-do-that.

Like this photo, for example:

Click to enlarge. ©Scott McClellan

Just your typical holy shit my kitchen’s haunted type scenario, right?

My first thought when I saw this photo was, wow. Which was followed by my second thought, how? I guess Scott must have heard me coming, because he’s posted a video look behind the scenes of the making of this photo.

I never would have thought this was all done in camera. Granted, the images would have had to have been comped together in something like Photoshop, but the plates, glasses, water — it’s all there in the frame.

Talk about keeping it real.

[via 2B1 Inc]

Prime Cut is the first single from Winnepeg-based producer and DJ, Cyclist. Lena Franford, a filmmaker from Winnipeg currently working out of Terra Nova National Park on a Summer project with Parks Canada, co-directed and edited the just-released music video.

Check it out.

They were able to produce this rather spiffy music video without much in the way of a budget thanks in part to the Winnipeg Film Group and their low-cost, no-insurance equipment rentals. I’ve often wished we had such a facility here, but alas.

Lena tells me that Cyclist is hoping to play a gig here in town this Summer, which I’m quite keen on seeing happen. If you feel the same way, be sure to talk to your local area promoter and let them know.

It occurs to me that we have a few things in common with Iceland. Our rugged, natural landscape, our relative isolation from the rest of the world, our familiarity with tough economic times.

But just take a look at this new tourism video from Inspired by Iceland. Same style of stunning cinematic photography over pristine, strangely magical landscapes and fun-loving people that ours have (examples one and two), but they take a markedly different approach in tone.

The distinction here is that while we both sell ourselves as a place of adventure, they spell it w-i-l-d-a-n-d-c-r-a-z-y.

We’re certainly a wild bunch, but in a more rugged, kitchen party, still steeped in tradition kind of way. Iceland gives the impression they still have their traditions, but they’re infused with a future-now eclecticism that we simply can’t match.

Overall I think it speaks to our tendency as a culture to be more weary of change. Perhaps that has something to do with our history, which is marked by more than a few changes for the worst.

What I like about this Iceland ad is that it tells me there’s a place quite similar to us where things are different. I’d like to experience that difference and see if there’s anything we can learn from it.

[Inspired by Iceland Video from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo. Via Mark Bennett, who has traveled to Iceland but was unavailable for comment at the time of posting]

From the uploader:

During a great evening of NDP supporters and members who gathered to offer tribute the to workers of this province and the world around us, Lorraine Micheal, who happened to be celebrating 4 years as the Leader, offered this song as a response to Bob Ridgeley’s comments in budget debate denouncing Lorraine’s share and share alike, everyone should be treated equally and wealth equally distributed point of view.

Lorraine Michael is good people.

[via @darcybutler]

No, that’s not M for Mayor. By the looks of the About page, it’s straight up M for Mark. As in this is Mark’s word, now what’s yours?

The M Word is a new corner of the CBC’s vast website, where Idler’s front man Mark Wilson serves up question-of-the-day type videos with the intention of stirring up debate in the community. After you watch a video – there’s only one up so far, and it’s so bad it’s good – you can share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The M word might as well be Municipal, too, since the harmonious co-habitation of the residents of St. John’s, culturally, politically, and environmentally, seems to be the ultimate goal of Wilson’s quest.

More power to him, and to us all.

Below is a screen grab from the new site.

While most of us are aware of Shaun Majumder’s genius as a comedian, who among us could have predicted he was also an astonishing numerologist?

Several months before the Olympics took place, Majumder caught up with Sidney Crosbey, who we all know by now scored the winning goal in the gold medal men’s hockey game last night, and foretold his gold medal destiny via a dizzying array of jersey numbers, ages, dates, and even an atomic number.

Behold:

While I’m fairly certain in my belief that numerology is bunk, it’s an impressive feat nonetheless!

[photo via CBC]