"Circe" by Madeline Miller

This book, by very young Madeline Miller, is a wonder.  Beautifully lyric and literary, it is still accessible.  And it does for the Greek myths what Marion Zimmer Bradley did for the Arthurian legend with "Mists of Avalon".  "Circe" takes the feminine point of view and an epic tale and make them human and relatable.  Circe is a child, a young woman, a girlfriend, an outcast, a lover, a parent.  Her life spans centuries but the ache she feels, the distance and loneliness, is real.  She becomes a fully fledged woman by the end but we travel the road with her, seeing the growing pains and the sacrifices.  She is not perfect but she is like us.  We celebrate each step towards her self actualization.  It is one of those books I didn't mind reading slowly because I didn't want it to end.  When it did end, I cried.  Just a bit.  It was the only ending which would bring peace.  Brava.

Oh, Canada

Very few network shows, and a growing number of streaming shows, are filmed in the United States.  More than 60% of what you watch these days is filmed in ... Canada.  Which explains a lot.  But first, the list of projects filmed in Canada.

On ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX

High Potential
Watson
Tracker
Fire Country
The Hunting Party
Found
The Irrational
Brilliant Minds
Doc
Murder in a Small Town

Almost all Hallmark and CW shows are filmed in Canada, as well as streaming shows like Handmaid’s Tale, The Boys, all of the new Star Treks.  Shows on AMC, TNT and others, like the recently departed (pun intended) “What We Do in the Shadows” are also filmed there.  It’s a long list.

So, why?

1.        It’s cheaper.

2.        Canada is wide open – fewer roads to shut down, more places to film with a lot less people.

3.        Canada is diverse.  It can look like places in the US.

4.        It’s not that far away.  Toronto to NYC is only an hour and a half by air, Vancouver to LA is 3 hours. 

5.        Seasons.  Canada is suffering from climate change a tad less than we are.  If you need snow, they have it.  If you need a real Spring, as opposed to a couple of cool weeks, you are good.  And in the Summer, you have a LOT of daylight.

Does it lower the quality of the shows? 

Depends on your tastes.  Lead actors (some of whom are from the US) are just as good, if not better.  They are just a little less famous.  The actors generally look more human and less like runway models and semaglutide addicts.  Diversity with the actors is just like here, but you see more Asians and fewer Hispanics.  My issue (and it is just my issue) – some of the “day player” actors (those who appear in a single scene, for instance) – can be a tad weak.  Canada just doesn't have as deep a pool of actors to draw from, and it shows.  There is also a subtle thing about storytelling.  The Canada “vibe” comes out now and then … a little lower key, a little darker … than in US produced shows.  That’s not a bad thing, but it is palpable (to me anyway). 

So grab your poutine and your remotes and settle in.  This trend, tariffs or not, is likely to stick around.