Infinitely More coming to St. Philip's Church September 10

Three-time Covenant Award Nominee, Infinitely More, will be coming to St. Philip’s Church at 25 Brock North in  Montreal West for a concert on Wednesday evening, September 10. 

Husband and wife duo, Gerald Flemming and Allison Lynn, have with a desire to share the love and light of God through song. This year, this full-time touring ministry will travel over 15,000 kilometres,  visiting churches of all sizes and denominations. Combining prodigious finger-style guitar and signature vocal harmonies, the couple creates music that is uplifting, spirit-filled, and cross-generational. 

Blending new Songs, favourite Hymns, Praise & Worship, and a hint of Country, Infinitely More creates a fresh new sound for the church. Their original songs and fresh interpretations of the classics will encourage and inspire both the seeker and the lifelong Christian.

Within a year of their 2006 marriage, Allison and Gerald moved to Nashville, TN, to spend three years performing, studying with music greats, and writing songs. In that time, Allison recorded two solo Gospel CDs and worked with many Gaither Homecoming artists. Gerald wrote songs with Grammy winning and Hall of Fame songwriters, and worked with several Nashville publishers.

In 2013, Infinitely More received its first Covenant Award Nominations. Awarded by The Gospel Music Association of Canada, the Covenants honour the best in Canadian Christian Music. Infinitely More was nominated for Inspirational Song Of The Year, Country Song Of The Year, and Country Album Of The Year.

The year 2013 also brought Infinitely More two nominations in the distinguished Words Awards, celebrating the best in Canadian Christian writing. Gerald received nominations for his songs “You Are…” and “If They Knew It Was Me.”

This fall, Infinitely More is releasing two brand new CDs! “How The Light Gets In” showcases Allison and Gerald’s soulful songwriting and performance style on nine brand new songs and two fresh arrangements of favourite hymns. “Tonight, Everywhere Is Bethlehem” is the duo’s long awaited Christmas project, combining sweeping studio recordings with beautiful live performances.

Combining prodigious finger-style guitar and signature vocal harmonies, Allison and Gerald create music that is uplifting, Spirit-filled, and cross-generational. Whether performing for a secular music festival, a joyous church event, or an intimate house concert, Infinitely More is always entertaining, inspiring, and lots of fun.

Tickets are $10. For more information call 514-481-4871.

Free digital television by antenna still exists in Montreal

Marking an anniversary
While folks like me have drifted towards Fibe TV, there are still those who watch the small screen with the assistance of a good old fashioned antenna. On Monday,  September 1  Kirkland’s John Lancer marked the third anniversary of Canada’s analog-to-digital transition. “Many enthusiasts such as myself mark this anniversary to show appreciation to local broadcasters and raise awareness of free digital television by antenna,” he says. “The benefits of good-old TV by antenna is  still completely legal, free and now in stunning digital HD quality, yet few people know about it!”

According to Lancer, the Montreal over-the-air (OTA) TV community has been progressively growing since the "DTV renaissance" of broadcast TV, especially on social media. “There is a very active and growing community forum on digitalhome.ca, where users share tips and help others find antennas that work best in their area,” he says. “There is even a Twitter account  dedicated to informing Montrealers of the status of local stations and providing other OTA news.”

John Lancer and his antenna.

Lancer points to new products that have come out making it easier for people to cut the cord from Bell and Videotron. For example, new PVR models are on the market that hook up directly to an antenna and provide nice program guides, allowing people to mesh antenna TV with on-demand streaming services. “You no longer need to pay big bucks or subscribe to pay TV just to record your favorite shows in HD,” he insists. “Although existing antennas still work with DTV signals, new digital antennas are much more compact, powerful and discrete. Rabbit ears have been replaced by paper-thin indoor antennas and an outdoor antenna the size of a barbeque grill  will bring in most if not all Montreal and US channels when mounted on a roof.”
 
“People think they have to pay for satellite or cable to get HD television when in fact a modest antenna can bring in most of the major broadcast networks,” Lancer continues. “Free over-the-air channel selection in Montreal has actually increased since 2009 and bit-by-bit more people are going back to antenna TV, and if desired, complementing this with streaming on-demand content such as Netflix over the internet. The people that are going for this more affordable alternative to cable TV are called  cordcutters.  This past year  new devices came out that allow you to add your coax antenna to your home WiFi network. This means you can turn a computer or laptop into a DVR, and watch live TV from your antenna on your mobile devices using downloadable apps or media programs. For example, I watch Jimmy Fallon in bed on my iPad, streamed directly from my antenna-not the internet - so there is no hit to my internet data caps.

Live sports will still be coming to Montreal via over-the-air as Roger's CityTV will be carrying two hockey games per weekend,  as well as NFL football, racing circuits, MLB and the NBA. “The best part of having an antenna for the NFL is getting the SuperBowl American feed directly from the Burlington stations with the  real  Superbowl commercials,” Lancer notes, who says Côte-St-Luc, NDG, Lachine and other areas of the West Island are goldmines for free TV. A modest antenna setup will  easily get 20 plus  channels, pulling in even the American networks from the US border such as CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, PBS, CREATE, PBS+, CW, MeTV and PBS World. All stations are digital and most in either 720p or 1080i HD. All of this is free once you've paid for your antenna setup.

I wish to thank John for this education.

The Forget twins are eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada

Twin brothers Pierre and Michel Forget from North Shore Terrebonne have become the sixth team eliminated on CTV’s  The Amazing Race Canada and they did not part generating any warm feelings with the only other Montreal team,  the newly engaged couple of  Alain Chanoine and Audrey Tousignant-Maurice.

The August 26 episode saw the teams travel to Paris, France. Starting this eighth  leg in second place, the twins made a tenuous pact at the Bayeux Train Station with Alain and Audrey as fellow Quebecers to not U-Turn (forcing one team to complete both ends of a detour) each other.

From the Pit Start in the medieval town of Bayeux in Normandy, teams made their way by train to Paris. Once there they found their first clue at the iconic monument Arc de Triomphe, which sent them to the little-known Place du Canada, where they chose one of the two Detours, either dressmaking or finding and serving three dishes for patrons waiting in a café in the Marais District. Teams then went to Centre Pompidou and found the Double U-Turn board, where the twins broke their promise and sent Audrey and Alain back to complete the café challenge.

 “I believe their strategy was to kick us out of the race,”  Pierre told me. “Their alliances had collapsed so they tried to save their backs by teaming up with us. We felt the only way to deal with liars and hypocrites is to lie to them as well.  Unfortunately it did not work out the way we planned.”

It was at the Roadblock where the playing field levelled, however, as each team struggled recreating artist Bastek’s creation using Mentos candies. In the end it was Pierre and Michel who would arrive last at the Pit Stop, located on the bank of the Seine, near the breath-taking Notre Dame Cathedral. “This is not  The Amazing Help Canada,” said Michel. “Yet the other teams were helping each other. The challenge looked easy, but it was not.”

 

Pierre and Michel get the bad news.

With their sixth overall first-place win, Canadian Olympic women’s hockey team players Meaghan and Natalie earned a trip on Air Canada’s new Premium rouge service to any of their European destinations, and $3,000 on their Scotiabank Gold American Express card.

Were Audrey and Alain steamed with the twins? They had other things on their mind as Alain dropped to his knees and proposed marriage. “I wish them a happy life together,” said Pierre. “We do not expect to be invited to the wedding. How we acted does not  make us bad people. We reacted to a threat. They were one of the strongest teams.”

The episode will encore  on CTV and CTV GO (Saturday, Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Sunday, Aug. 31 at 5 p.m. ET/PT – and is also now available on demand at CTV GO. All-new episodes air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV GO.

The race next comes home to Canada as teams fly to Montreal (Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV GO) where the competition kicks into high gear. A cheesy Detour causes confusion and queasiness, and teams are challenged to bare it all.

CJAD promotes Kaufman to steer the Exchange with Delmar

CJAD Program Director Chris Bury has always been a pretty good judge of talent. When news came in today that the entertaining weekday evening Exchange programs will become the domains of two hosts - Dave Kaufman and Dan Delmar - I almost stood up and applauded at my desk.

Kaufman (right) seen here with colleague Matthew Ross.

Delmar will remain in the host's chair on Monday evenings and  Wednesdays  while Kaufman maintains his Friday slot, adding Tuesdays and Thursdays. Exchange airs from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. This schedule kicks in next week.

“We’ve decided to go with two Exchange hosts for the time being versus the three that we had a year ago," said Bury. "It’s going to allow us to establish more consistency- night to night- while still giving some mic time to strong, developing, broadcasters. Dave, and Dan, are both compelling to listen to and have a lot of potential. Listeners will have noticed that both filled in for Aaron Rand this summer.”

Kaufman is a true success story, someone who paid his dues and waited for opportunity to knock. It was clear from his weekly The Kaufman Show on TSN 690 that this man had talent. When Bury assumed the controls at  TSN 690 he saw that immediately and  took advantage of Kaufman's talents on Friday nights. What he got was some compelling radio, great guests and co-hosts.

Delmar in the producer's mode.

"I'm so excited to be doing three nights on CJAD," said Kaufman. "I really hope to make the most of this amazing opportunity.The shows will hopefully continue to be a healthy mix of entertaining and informative. I hope to keep getting to speak with amazing guests and do the show with fantastic co-hosts like Dave McGimpsey, Terry Haig, Jay Farrar, Toula Drimonis and Bugs Burnett. "

Will Kaufman continue to do his Monday sports show?   "That's still up in the air.," he said. 

Delmar, who cut his journalistic teeth at The Suburban, was previously employed full-time  at CJAD as a program host and producer. He moved to freelance status when he launched his own communications firm. His talents went to good use though on the noon free for all, guest hosting and of course doing Today's Entrepreneurs and The Exchange on Mondays.

"I've been fortunate to have tremendous co-hosts and guest hosts on this show, which is named after the late Neil McKenty program of the same name," Delmar says. "Dave is a talented, thoughtful broadcaster and has made Friday nights on CJAD incredibly unique. He'll do great things with more airtime, I'm sure."