Tag Archives: Toronto

~ Culture & History, ~ pop culture

John Ridley ~~ Toronto: John Ridley Talks Plans for L.A. Riots Pic

10/08/2026 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

Toronto: '12 Years a Slave's' John

September 6, 2013 | 06:22PM PT

Dave McNary Film Reporter@Variety_DMcNary

Scribe behind ‘12 Years,’ ‘All Is by My Side’ works with Imagine on film about 1992 L.A. crisis

Dave McNary

Film Reporter@Variety_DMcNary

Screenwriter John Ridley immersed himself in the 1800s for “12 Years a Slave” and dove into the 1960s rock scene for Jimi Hendrix biopic “All Is by My Side” (pictured above), both playing in Toronto.Meanwhile, he’s ready to focus on 1992 Los Angeles as he tries to get his “L.A. Riots” script off the ground with Imagine Entertainment.Both Toronto films were in production during the late spring last year, with Ridley directing “All Is by My Side” in Dublin and consulting on the script while shooting on Steve McQueen’s brutal epic “12 Years” took place in New Orleans. “That was a little tricky,” Ridley recalls.

A fan of Hendrix since high school, Ridley years later discovered the Hendrix song “Sending My Love to Linda,” about fashion model Linda Keith, who heard Hendrix perform in London in 1966 and played a key role in encouraging his career.

Ridley, whose writing credits include “Red Tails” and “Three Kings,” did a 2010 show about “Sending My Love to Linda” for National Public Radio and then decided to do the feature independently.

“I knew it would not be a studio script,” he notes. “If Paul Greengrass and the Hughes Brothers are having problems, then it’s not going to happen for me.”

Outkast’s Andre Benjamin, who stars as Hendrix, learned to play like the maestro — left handed with a right-hand guitar strung upside down — to boost the authenticity of the film. Ridley looked to model the Hendrix pic on singular biopics like “Sid and Nancy,” Lenny” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” — films that tell stories that transcend the artifice of the performance.

Ridley’s also been working on rewrites of his “L.A. Riots” script with Justin Lin attached to direct. He’s hopeful that “12 Years” and “All Is by My Side” can generate enough success to push “Riots” toward production.

“It was a Black List script that I wrote on spec and sold in 2007 before the world changed financially,” Ridley notes. “I feel like we’ve got to make this happen now. People often think that it was limited to Rodney King and Reginald Denny, but there are so many other interconnected stories.”

Two decades after the fact, Ridley remains amazed that Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and LAPD chief Darryl Gates had not talked for a year prior to the April 1992 riots, which left 45 people dead.

“It was a systemic meltdown,” Ridley notes. “The city and how it functions is the primary character of the film.”

~ pop culture

Cosmo … 15 things Soul Mates may understand

12/07/2025 Nativegrl77

1. No love is perfect. It has its highs and its lows — and some of them are very high, and very low — but the lows are not a sign of weakness or that you shouldn’t be together. Rather, they’re something that brings you closer to each other.

2. Sometimes you just need to hold your partner’s hand or give them a hug, and not ask questions or give them any advice. Just knowing that you’re there is more comforting than words.

3. You can be mad at someone and still love them senseless. Getting mad at someone doesn’t forecast the end of your relationship, it just means you’re humans who have feelings and screw up from time to time.

4. Someone can come from a broken family or make it through a tough childhood, and show no trace of it. This doesn’t mean they have skeletons hiding in their closet that you’ll stumble upon one day, it just means they’re not who they grew up around.

5. Alone time together is sacred. You reach a point in your life when you’re so busy you feel like you don’t ever see each other, much less get alone time together when you’re doing something other than sleeping.

6. Just when you think you can’t love someone any more than you already do, something happens to bring you closer. It might just be a really hilarious joke that only you two would find funny or taking the next step in your relationship, like moving in or getting married, but passion doesn’t have to fade.

7. Compromises are worth it. Because at the end of the day, nothing beats being with the person you love, even if you have to do something you wouldn’t otherwise do to make the relationship work. Because their happiness makes you happy.

8. Communication solves all problems. You can’t expect anyone to read your mind, even your soul mate. And your soul mate will always be able to tell if you’re upset, so you know it’s better just to tell them why instead of leaving them guessing.

9. A whole day with nothing to do but hang out with each other is the hands-down best. This is why honeymoons are the best best BEST best.

10. Cuddling with the person you love will always make you feel better. Nothing beats crawling into the arms of the person you love. Even sometimes when you think you just want to be alone, your partner will scoop you up to comfort you and you’ll feel instantly calmed. and vice versa -Nativegrl77

11. When you really love someone, you realize you can totally lay bare your insecurities to another person. Even when they feel so personal you never expected to discuss them with another soul. And you feel more secure as a result.

12. When your partner wants to do stuff without you or needs alone time, that doesn’t mean you’re in a fight or things are bad between you two. You know that maintaining lives independently of one another’s is healthy. And chances are, when he’s off with his friends, he’s talking about how wonderful you are.

13. You don’t have to share the same friends for your relationship to work. You just have to be respectful of the people your significant other values.

14. Emotional intimacy and physical intimacy feed each other. It’s a never-ending cycle that brings you closer and closer together, and you feel like you can’t have one without the other.

15. Your soul mate will make you a better person. You’ll want to be kinder, more understanding, more supportive, and more empathetic not just to be the best significant other you can be, but because your S.O. inspires you.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell Congress: Support pregnant workers … a repost

05/17/2016 Nativegrl77

by Emily J. Martin

Mother’s Day is quickly approaching — but for some moms, celebrating is the last thing on their minds.

Because Congress has failed to act, some pregnant women might be spending this holiday facing an impossible choice between risking their health and risking their family’s economic security.

Tell Your Members of Congress
to Support Pregnant Workers

No mom-to-be should be forced to choose between risking her health and risking her family’s economic security this Mother’s Day. Write to your Members of Congress now.

Lots of pregnant women don’t need any changes on the job, but some do, and for them the stakes are high. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is commonsense legislation that would require employers to make reasonable accommodations when workers have a medical need for them because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions — just as employers are already required to do for people with disabilities.

Over the next several weeks, we’re turning the pressure up to raise awareness and take action in support of pregnant workers. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will be re-introduced in Congress soon. But to give it a strong start, we need to make sure we have as many co-sponsors on the bill as possible.

It’s time we turn it up a notch and push for what moms really need. Please take a minute to honor the mothers in your life by supporting the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

Thanks for all that you do.

Sincerely,
Emily J. Martin
Vice President and General Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell your Senators to protect southern resident orcas and Chinook salmon today!

07/12/2015 Nativegrl77

Less Than 80 Left

Southern resident orcas have lost 10% of their population since being added to the Endangered Species List.

Tell your Senators to protect southern resident orcas and Chinook salmon today!

by Elizabeth Ruther, Defenders of Wildlife

Endangered southern resident orcas could soon be starved to extinction.

Known as the “fish-eating orca,” these whales have relied almost exclusively on Chinook salmon for thousands of years to survive. But increased human activity has disrupted this balance and decimated the Chinook salmon population – and if we don’t act soon, southern resident orcas will be in real danger of running out of food.

ACT NOW: Tell your Senators to save the last of the southern resident orca whales!

Hydroelectric dams, over fishing and habitat destruction have all contributed to the endangered status of Chinook salmon. The Columbia-Snake River basin once produced more salmon than any other river system in the world. But today, less than 5% of the historic number of fish returns to the watershed to spawn. Without a healthy population of Chinook salmon, it is doubtful that the southern resident orca population will ever recover.

These whales are struggling against pollution, marine noise, vessel traffic and a shortage of food. With their population in jeopardy, southern resident orcas were finally added to the Endangered Species List in 2005 – since then, they’ve lost close to 10% of their population with fewer than 80 of these whales left in the wild.

That’s why it’s so important that we defend the Endangered Species Act (ESA), for animals like the southern resident orca and the Chinook salmon. Because of human activity, these two species are now forced to rely on ESA protections to survive.

Tell your Senators to take action before it’s too late!

Scientists agree that restoring abundant populations of wild Columbia and Snake River Chinook salmon must be our top priority to help save and recover the southern resident orca.

Orcas are culturally and economically important to Washington State. Southern resident orcas attract between $60-$75 million dollars per year in tourism, and healthy population levels have been linked to maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem. Yet despite their significance, not enough is being done to ensure the survival of the remaining population.

It’s up to Washingtonians like you, who care so much for our wildlife, to stand up for these amazing creatures.

Ask your Senators to step up and fight for our southern resident orcas!

Thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Ruther
Northwest Program Representative
Defenders of Wildlife

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Thank a Teacher

05/08/2015 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Three Policies To Support Teachers For Teacher Appreciation Week

We all know teachers in our lives who helped us more than we could ever fully appreciate. Well, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week, the time for all of us to let our teachers know how much they are valued by their students and the communities they serve. For the occasion, the Center for American Progress released this video showing what happens when you ask principals and administrators to thank a teacher.

But we can do more than just say thank you. We also must pass public policies that support and empower teachers to do their jobs well. Here are three such suggestions:

1. Pay them more: The average starting salary for teachers across the country is $36,141, 40 percent lower than the average starting salary of workers with college degrees, which deters younger teachers from staying in the field. We should boost teacher pay so they earn what they deserve, and so that students can learn from the best teachers we have to offer.

2. Give them meaningful leadership opportunities: Teachers should always feel valued in the work they are doing, but we should strengthen that by creating more teacher leadership roles in classrooms, schools and districts. A collaborative approach between management and teachers is crucial, especially for development new teaching materials and implementing reforms such as the Common Core. And student learning will improve as a result.

3. Reauthorize a federal education bill that supports teachers instead of failing them: The federal government has an important role to play in education by insuring that our students and teachers get a proper level of support. However, early versions of the federal education reauthorization bill would have opened the door to severe budget cuts, diluted targeted funding for teachers and cut $163 million of federal spending on Title II, funding designed to support teachers. Policymakers need to make sure that isn’t the case.

BOTTOM LINE: Be sure to take a moment thank a teacher this week. But also remember that a great way to thank our teachers is to support them with policies that give them the tools to help every student succeed.