Entertainment
shomi Now Available in Beta Trial for Rogers and Shaw Customers #readysetshomi
shomi, the new video streaming service in Canada, was launched last Tuesday, November 4, 2014. It is available in beta trial first to Rogers and Shaw Internet or TV customers. Eligible Rogers customers can sign-up for a 30-day trial, after which will be $8.99 per month. If you only want to test it out, make sure to cancel at anytime before the 30 days are up.
Past seasons of current hit TV shows which are not available on any other streaming service (like Netflix) are available on shomi such as 2 Broke Girls, Revenge, New Girl (a few of the shows I watch). Other shows include American Horror Story, The Blacklist, Modern Family, The Originals, Rookie Blue, Sleepy Hollow, Shameless, Sons of Anarchy, and Vikings. 30% of the content will be Canadian content (both TV shows and movies). If you’re not sure what to watch, shomi has trailers, Rotten Tomatoes ratings, and factoids to help you in deciding what to watch.
So some may ask, what’s the difference between shomi and content on Rogers On Demand (ROD) or Rogers Anyplace TV (RAPTV)? ROD and RAPTV have access to multiple seasons of shows, as well as the currently-aired season, and newly-released movies the same day they are released on DVD. To access these however, customers must be subscribed to those channels airing those shows within their cable TV package, or pay on a per movie basis (for movie rentals). On the other hand, subscribers to shomi will have access to all video content available within shomi. shomi is complementary to the digital TV, ROD, and RAPTV services, not a complete replacement.
If you want to watch/subscribe to shomi on your Rogers set-top-box, it is available on channel 300 everywhere it’s offered, as well as on NextBox channel 100 in Ontario.
For more information on shomi, check out shomi.rogers.com or shaw.ca/shomi.
Related Articles:
Popcorn and Magic, Art and Science…its Showtime! [Rogers Redboard]
“shomi” the new way to watch TV for Canadians
Disclosure: I work for Rogers, however, all the opinions on this site are my own and do not in any way reflect my employer’s.
Nuit Blanche 2014 #snbTO
October 4 from 6:53 pm to sunrise of October 5, 2014 was Nuit Blanche, an annual free all-night contemporary art event. This is the 9th year that this event, which is translated as “Sleepless Night”, has been celebrated in Toronto.
Here’s a little backgrounder from the Nuit Blanche Toronto website:
Nuit Blanche was originally conceived in Paris, France in 2002, in an attempt to bring contemporary art to the masses in public spaces… At its core, Nuit Blanche is a 12-hour event with a mandate to make contemporary art accessible to large audiences, while inspiring dialogue and engaging the public to examine its significance and impact on public space.
Nuit Blanche in 2008 and 2011 was much better, I think, compared to this year’s event. There were more exhibits, projects, street performers in those years that I remember. I still enjoyed the few exhibits that I saw this year though. The coolest project from this year’s event, in my opinion, was the Gap Ecology (Still Lives with Cherry Pickers and Palms) exhibit by David Brooks (New York, USA) at the Queen St. and John St. intersection, which showcased seven “cherry pickers” (crane-like aerial lift equipment) that were filled with palm trees/plants which made it like an “urban jungle” in the city.
One other interesting thing from the event was the Monument to North American Energy Security by the CanAmerican Energy Arts Team (Calgary, Canada) which featured two large oil barrels connected by a pipeline to represent Canadian-American energy independence. The sculpture they had looked like it was oil (or chocolate syrup) coming out of the fountain and floating above the water at the Nathan Phillips Square pool.
I didn’t get to view all the exhibits, so I may have missed some other good ones.
Let me share below just a few pictures I took from the event:
If you want to see more Nuit Blanche pictures from other people, search for the hashtag #snbTO or #NuitBlanche on Twitter or Instagram.
Also, there are ten extended projects that will still be around until October 13th for “Après Nuit”. Check out the list at http://www.snbto.ca/2014-event/extension.html.
The “earth” without “art” is just “eh”.
TIFF 2014
September 4 to 14, 2014 was the Toronto International Film Festival. Each year during this time, celebrities in attendance, especially the A-listers, are what attract people from all over to flock to this city dubbed as “Hollywood North”, of course in addition to the movies themselves. Every year since 2008, I have loved going to the theatres where the gala premieres take place, just to have a glimpse (and maybe a photo and/or autograph) of these famous personalities. I have to say it’s been getting crazier and crazier each year with more and more people becoming “celebrity seekers”. I’ve heard some people have even taken days off from work just so they can become paparazzis of their own.
This year, I watched the Toronto premiere of the horror-comedy movie The Voices directed by Marjane Satrapi, starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick. I love horror movies and comedy movies, so having both genres in one film intrigued me. It was an enjoyable film, although how the movie ended could have been better. A big plus to going to the premiere was being able to see Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick in person.
Anyhow, let me share below just a few pictures I took this year at TIFF 2014, and also from last year’s TIFF 2013.
Tech-Life in Pink 