Read more in the Toronto Star:  Ontario breaks Temagami pledge at www.thestar.com/news/article/1100528#article.

Les Stroud is about to head back into the field to film and produce NEW Survivorman Specials!

He is upping the ante. Setting out for 10 solid days of lone survival.

The original. The authentic. The only true survival experience.

Airing on OLN IN CANADA, DISCOVERY SCIENCE CHANNEL
IN THE USA and DISCOVERY CHANNEL INTERNATIONAL.

Check Twitter and Facebook for updates!

The Shaw Rocket Prize is an annual prize that is awarded to the best independently produced Canadian children’s, youth, or family program.

Survive This Season 2 is a finalist!

Kids across Canada can vote on the finalist shows online from October 12 to November 15, 2011.

By submitting a vote, your child could win

• A trip to Ottawa for exclusive access to the
  winner announcement event
• An iPad
• One of four $2,500 scholarships!

Click here to Vote! (voting ends Nov 15)

Come out at 8:30AM tomorrow (Tuesday October 25) to City Hall to stand up for sharks!

We are hours away from banning shark fin in Toronto. And we need your help.

Today, the opposition brought in 300+ people to protest against the ban.  We need our voices to be heard in numbers as well.

Tomorrow, Toronto city councillors and the mayor will be voting on legislation to make the city Fin Free. Despite the shark fin ban passing unanimously through the Licensing & Standards Committee, your support is essential and urgently needed – NOW.

What you can do:

Show your support in person. Come out at 8:30AM tomorrow (Tuesday October 25) to City Hall to stand up for sharks!  

Make your voice heard. The mayor and councillors need to hear from you, regardless of where you live. Write them an email today if you haven’t already done so. Call Mayor Rob Ford at +1.416-397-FORD (3673) and ask him to make Toronto Fin Free.

Fuel the campaign. The smallest donation absolutely makes a difference. We’ve done a lot with a little and are ready to do so much more! We’d love to be able to print more signs for tomorrow, not to mention take the campaign around Canada and the world.

Get noisy. Tweet, Facebook, blog – tell the world we need their help. Ask your friends, family, coworkers and neighbors for support.

A ban in Toronto will be heard around the nation and world, and we are certain it will continue to ignite the Fin Free global movement. Please help us make this critical step forward in the fight to save sharks from extinction.

For more information visit the Shaw Rocket Prize website.

The Gala Banquet Dinner on October 20th will feature Robert Bateman and the Wrap-up Banquet Dinner on October 22nd will feature “Survivorman” Les Stroud.

For more information and to order tickets go to gettoknow.ca.

The documentary chronicles Brett Rogers’s 100 day expedition on the Yukon River by raft. Armed with a video camera to capture his personal story, Brett pushed off from Whitehorse with no expectations. What followed could not had been scripted – an Indian Chief’s funeral, an unsuccessful attempt at mutiny, a helicopter rescue for an injured teammate, and the discovery of a dead body in the middle of the Alaskan night.

100 Days celebrates the spirit of adventure, the kindness of strangers, and the often dark realities of life in the north. Narrated by Les Stroud.

Learn more at www.brettonthewater.com.

Les Stroud with many other Toronto residents including Rob Stewart of Sharkwater and Julie Anderson of Shark Angels, have spoken out in support of the Toronto proposal to ban shark fin sale and consumption. Les has seen finning practices first hand and believes that they should be stopped for the health of the planet and the species.

For more information on the proposal visit:
Toronto Sun – Committee Dives in to Shark-fin Debate
680 News – Fighting over shark fin ban at city hall
Ethnic cuisine on trial: Toronto starts the ball rolling on banning shark fins

What can you do?
Visit the United Conservationists web site and watch Les’ video to learn more.

Are you a diver?  A fan of Les Stroud? Looking for the trip of a lifetime?

Spend February 2 – 9, 2012 in the enchanting Galapagos Islands on an Aggressor Fleet Cruise diving, dining and exploring with Les Stroud.

Visit the Aggressor Fleet website for more information.

One of the amazing ideas will be brought to life with Les’ help, advice and encouragement.  To find out more or to vote visit:

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanExpressCanada?sk=app_231725600186410

Editorial research is a high-pressure and demanding job. If the facts aren’t straight, the creative vision suffers. Kate was tasked with researching the facts for Beyond Survival and then worked with Les to write compelling and truthful narrative. She sat down to answer our six questions.

Editorial research is a high-pressure and demanding job. If the facts aren’t straight, the creative vision suffers. Kate was tasked with researching the facts for Beyond Survival and then worked with Les to write compelling and truthful narrative. She sat down to answer our six questions.

1. This is your first credit as a researcher/writer for a big television series. How’d you swing that?

Les believed in me and gave me a chance. I was hired as his personal assistant and location PA. When we got back from Malaysia, I submitted some writing samples to Barry Farrell, the Senior Editor, and to Les about my experience of visiting the Sea Gypsies. The production schedule was so hectic, Les knew he’d need help getting all the writing done and asked me if I’d write with him. I am very lucky and grateful.

2. Did you get to go on any of the shoots?

Yeah, I was lucky enough to go on three shoots: the Bushmen of the Kalahari, the Sea Gypsies of Malaysia and to Peru for the ancient Inka festival, Qollorit’i.

3. Which one was your favourite?

They were all so different. I’m a pretty open, spiritual person, so for me I was super interested in the rites and rituals. Visiting the Kalahari was such a unique and foreign environment – I’d never been to a desert before – and the trance dance was very powerful to witness. Les danced for THREE DAYS in the scorching hot Kalahari sun. The stamina to withstand that kind of transcendant experience is inspiring. Same goes for the Qollorit’i Festival in Peru. Performing ancient rituals at 17,000ft is a really tough thing to do.

4. The post-production schedule for this was pretty brutal. How was that for you?

Everybody worked really, really hard. I worked in tandem with Barry Farrell’s stellar editing team. They did such a phenomenal job with such little time. Barry Farrell specifically taught me so much about story editing and the composition of a great television episode. When the crew was in Peru, Les and I were simultaneously preparing to hike up to 17,000ft as we were writing about Devil Dances from our hotel rooms! The schedule was insane, but well worth it.

5.What was your research process? Did you find commonalities in the belief systems of the tribe’s you researched?

Most indigenous tribes around the world have similar hunting and gathering techniques, and their spiritual beliefs tend to centre around communication with a spirit world to ensure their tribe’s continued survival. So, praying for food, water, etc. The challenge for me was that most indigenous cultures have no personal written history. For them, history is not a chronological telling of events but stories that are shared around a campfire at night. Most often I would rely on watching behind-the-scenes interviews with our expert fixers or with locals in the field, which I would then spend hours fact checking. I referenced old sailor’s logs and scoured ancient history texts. Emailing back and forth with fixers was key.

6. What’s next for you?

I’m still writing for Les Stroud Productions as a freelancer, but am currently working on the set of “Paranormal Home Inspectors” (Big Coat Productions/Discovery), traveling to haunted houses and communicating/documenting paranormal activities. I hear “Did you hear that?” a lot.

Twitter @kateheming
#stopthemelanchtonquarry www.ndact.com

Screening in Toronto  *ONE NIGHT ONLY*

Thursday, May 19th at 8pm (Doors open at 7:30pm)
Innis Town Hall
2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto ON, M5S 1J5
For tickets, contact: http://www.utoronto.ca/townhall/contact.html
Includes post-screening Q&A PLUS a first sneak-peak at Rogers’ next doc-adventure, Old Man River!

Screening in Guelph

Tuesday May 3rd at 9pm & Wednesday May 4th at 7pm

Tickets available now at The Bookshelf!

The Bookshelf
41 Quebec St Guelph, ON N1H, Canada
Call 519-821-3311

For more info, visit
www.brettonthewater.com

The Hands-on Biodiversity Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum will be launching the Robert Bateman ‘Get to Know’ Contest on Sat. April 16th & 17th, 12:00 to 4:00pm. ROM facilitators will be on hand to explain what the contest is and set up areas that will help focus visitors interested in participating by giving them tips on photography, drawing and writing.

On Sat. April 16th, 2:30 to 4:00, Les Stroud, ‘The Survivorman’, will be joining us to speak to contest participants about the importance of spending time outdoors and connecting with nature, as well as how Les’ involvement with the outdoors led to his future as Survivorman.

http://www.rom.on.ca/

Barry Clark joined the Canadian Forces in 1985 and became a medic. Traveling around the north, participating in NATO exercises, Barry was soon a member of the Special Service Force in CFB Petawawa where he spent the majority of his military career. When he got out of the military to pursue a career as a civilian paramedic, he was hired by the International Red Cross and journeyed to Rwanda during the crisis in 1994, working there for nearly a year. Since then Barry has worked in a high call volume service in Eastern Ontario, as well as run his own private paramedic business called Event Medics. As Stroud’s paramedic on both Survivorman and Beyond Survival, it was Barry’s responsibility to ensure Les was safe both physically and mentally during his many exciting and dangerous survival adventures.

1.     What was your biggest concern for Les’ welfare during the shooting of Survivorman? Did you have the same concerns during Beyond Survival?

What I worried about the most were things I could not control: weather, in-country issues such as bandits and thieves, security, animals, poisonous reptiles. At first, I would worry Les would be stoic and try to tough through a potentially dangerous sickness such as dehydration or suffer an injury and not tell me during our daily radio checks. But Les is an intelligent guy and is used to using his own savvy to get himself out of trouble. Only once did I nearly step in when Les’ dehydration levels were too low but, then again, Les figured out a way to rehydrate and carried on.

Beyond Survival was a different animal than Survivorman. For Survivorman, I never had more than four people to worry about when it came to the crew’s personal health. For Beyond Survival we had bigger crews, a lot more bodies, so the potential for injury and sickness increased. We were lucky to have only a few instances of serious illness or injuries to cast and crew. Peru was particularly tricky for me when Les was trying different hallucinogenic Shamanic plant medicines. When I would ask the Shamans what was in the mixes, I would get “Oh, a bit o’ this, bit o’ that” (rough translation). For the record, these mixtures have no defined anti dote. Working with a hit or miss poisoning is not fun. I got very little sleep thinking about it, and equipped myself with a variety of different medicines to counteract the myriad of potential problems that could arise. There are too many ways a hallucinogenic drug can go sideways on you. In cases like these, it’s best to be flexible and prepared for anything.

2. How did you keep track of Les’ whereabouts during the shoots? How would you know if something happened and what type of evacuation plan did you have when say, he was trekking at 1700 feet above sea level in the Peruvian Andes?

In Season 3 of Survivorman we used a GPS pager, which gave me a general idea of where he should be, but truly the key was planning.  Prior to each episode, we would go over the maps and try to plan for Les’ movement in the field. If I felt I needed to be closer to him, I would follow at a distance giving at least a 2-mile girth. He was great about checking in on a radio every day. The deal was if I had not heard from him by a certain time, I would go look for him…I never had to. Planning our evacuation in case of emergency was usually the first thing I did when we arrived at a new location. This involved assessing where the nearest hospital, clinic doctor, ambulance or witch doctor (yes, witch doctor) was and how well equipped they were. Quite often, I was better equipped than the hospital. In the Cook Islands, I was asked to help the locals should anything bad happen during the time we were filming. During Les’ Andean trek, if we had needed to evacuate we would have had to carry him to an altitude that would support helicopter evacuation, and then on to an army hospital and out to Lima from there. Satellite phones are a great thing…

3. For both Survivorman and Beyond Survival, what was your favourite location and why?

Favourite location…hmmm, easy: Papua New Guinea. Most shoots were so well organized and Les is so good at what he does, I did very little for a week at a time. In PNG, thanks to our local fixer Bill Thomas, we went in knowing that the locals had not seen a doctor for a month or, in some cases, years. Luckily I did independent duties as an army medic and was ready for what I faced: 50 to 100 people a day for lumps, bumps, colds, pneumonia, infections, a perforated eyeball, urinary tract infections, and more. We take medicine for granted here but in PNG, these types of ailments can kill. We were there for two full weeks, and every day I was in the little clinic area from 7am to sundown. I had a blast and helped a lot of people. One fellow had a small puncture in his jugular vein. I called my medical director (An Emergency Room Doctor on call to me 24/7) back in Canada and we figured out a way to drop his blood pressure with the medications and equipment I had on hand. Eventually we were able to fly him to the main hospital in Mt Hagen, and he lived. The majority of our locations offered me the opportunity to help the locals somehow, and it probably made us more tolerable in their environment. Sat phones rule!!

4. In many of the remote locations Les traveled to, the local communities would not have access to Doctors or medical supplies for months at a time, if at all. Any crazy stories about help you gave to local communities while on the shoots?

Well, my previous answer speaks a lot to the needs remote communities have for proper medical care. But Season 2 of Survivorman was really wild. While traveling the South African Plains, we had a vehicle full of tourists roll their van nearby. Four passengers were critically injured and seven were moderately injured. I worked for two hours before a doctor and ambulances could get to our remote location. Also during Survivorman Season 2 while in the Amazon, mid-week of Les’ 7 days alone, a small plane crashed into the village strip where we were positioned. Luckily it wasn’t that critical – broken arms and a closed head injury, but again I was responsible until emergency crews could get in to evacuate those injured. It’s tough because I only have so many supplies and my priority has to be for Les and his crew. I’ve learned to pack heavy. Again, praise for the sat phone…Woo Hoo!

5. Any advice for medics wanting to get into television or film?

The best advice is to have as much information about a project as possible. Have all your equipment in top working order and have lots of it. Be very flexible and do not assume you know everything about medicine. Find a great production company and be loyal. Stay out of the way, but be helpful on set. Research, research, research. Know when you cannot handle a situation and remember if things get hairy, you need to stay calm. It is what you are there for.

6. What’s your next project?

I am currently contracted to provide medics through my company Event Medics (www.eventmedics.ca). We offer services for a variety of clients including the National Arts Centre and Pro Bull Riding. I also work full time as a Road Medic in our Nations Capital. I love my job – 25 years and it only gets better. I look forward to meeting with Les soon and discussing future adventures.

We at Helle together with Les Stroud are committed to the highest of quality standards and are very proud of what we consider to be one of our finest knives.

We’re hosting a real-time video Q & A using Spinnio. On March 24th at 3:30PM EST, ask Les questions in real time via Facebook chat box or by Tweeting your question with the hashtag #lesstroudlive.

Tune in to lesstroud.ca/spinnio and watch Stroud answer your questions live! .

Malcolm Fisher was the first person to purchase the Temagami. He was followed by many new fans to purchase one of the first few knives. For the next 30 days Canada is the only country where you can buy a Temagami.

The interest of the Temagami launch also brought the Norwegian Consul General in Toronto Canada, Eivind Hoff, and Arnfinn Hattrem, the Director of Innovation Norway in Toronto to the event.

The Outdoor Adventure Show was visited by approximately 30 000 people.

1. You did two seasons of Survivorman and then Les Stroud Beyond Survival. In Beyond Survival, it wasn’t just a story focus on Les anymore – it was working with entire indigenous communities. How do you liason with local contacts to make television like this happen? What were some of the challenges?

The key to building a great episode of survival reality television when working with remote tribes who most often don’t even have TVs and don’t adhere to the same time structures North Americans do is to intently listen to the fixers and contacts and hear what they really have to offer. I’ve learnt early that what fixers say and what really happens are two completely different things, worthy of a show called “Beyond Belief”. We’d rely on certain individuals in each community, any of who could decide at any moment that hunting was best – and right then and there, they’d get up and go. At that point, we’d either roll with it or be forced to find another way to make the show happen, safely and on budget.

2. Which Beyond Survival location was your favourite and why?

Baffin Island, Pond Inlet. I was lucky enough to go there twice, both winter and summer. The beauty of the area was unbelievable and the thought that bear, hawk, narwhal, killer whale, mountains and icebergs were around every corner – be it on boat or by snowmachine – added to the beauty and the adventure. Due to the cost and isolation of the area, I always considered myself very lucky to go there. It’s not a very popular destination for many people to choose to go. Add to that the ability to work directly with the generous locals and Baffin Island is an easy first choice.

3. Which Beyond Survival shoot was the most difficult to coordinate logistically and why?

To be honest, Survivorman was far more difficult for me logistically. With Beyond Survival, I knew where we were going beforehand and what the location was going to have in store for us. It is a lot easier to budget a show knowing fixed costs: trucks, boats, porters, hotels, flights – and knowing there wasn’t much we could do if the light looked like hell (you can’t move the village). On Survivorman, we’d land a week before crew, find two or three locations and make a show happen with the proper look, permits and logistics within budget. Two very different games.

4. Your career in Canadian television has spanned nearly 20 years. What’s a significant change to the Canadian television industry you’ve noticed?

20 years ago, we picked up actors for our show and loaded them into our vans. Today we pick up people.

5. Recently you’ve worked on two seasons of CBC’s Battle of the Blades. Any gossip from behind the scenes?

All the athletes that work on Blades are truly great with incredible guts. You have to remember, these guys (the hockey players) aren’t used to lifting anyone over their head – let alone doing tricks at 25 miles an hour! And the gals never flinch and bounce right back from any fall! The best are the stories of what is said after the skate and away from prying eyes and ears. If the drivers could sell their stories of what they’ve heard in their vans, they would be authors of bestsellers. On that note, I’m going to grab a notebook…

6. What’s your next gig?

Looks like Canada Sings, the Junos, Top Chef Canada (if it’s renewed) and then back to the rink for Season 3 of Battle of the Blades. I hope to position myself on to shows with more travel as I have really caught the bug in the last few years. Hold on to your air miles!

Catch Part 1 on Monday at 7:10AM. Part 2 will be Tuesday at 7:30AM. Part 3 airtime TBA.

The Stroud interview will be available post-airing on the Gonzo Show website. Check it out at thebear.fm.

Saturday March 26 The Explorers Club Annual Film Festival presents

Beyond Survival Les Stroud

Stroud returns to the wilds of Papua New Guinea with special permission to carry out the Cumoutin death ceremony with a tribe called the Hewa. Ingesting betelnut and hiking treacherous mountain jungle terrain, this ceremony has never been filmed, photographed or even seen by an outsider before. Until now.

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm: Road Stories, Les Stroud will take part in a discussion with filmmakers on the art of documenting exploration.

TO REGISTER

Phone the Arts and Letters Club at 416 597-0223 extension 2. Leave your name and phone number. Staff from the Arts and Letters Club will phone to confirm your registration. You must supply a valid credit card to Club staff at the time of registration. The Arts and Letters Club must be notified of cancellations before March 23.

Read Marnie Jackson’s article “How it Feels to be Guided by Survivorman” in Explore Magazine’s 30th Anniversary issue – on stands now.

Friday, April 8th Survival of the Indigenous Spirit: An Evening with Anishnabe Spiritual Leader Dave Courchene & Les Stroud

7-9PM Innis Town Hall (UofT) 22 Sussex Ave., Toronto, Ontario

Tickets $30.00. For ticket purchase, visit eventbrite

Friday, April 15th at 10:30PM EST Watch Les Stroud host MTV Cribs at his Off the Grid home in Northern Ontario.

Les Stroud is the most recent celebrity to endorse acclaimed artist and naturalist Robert Bateman’s inspiring conservation program, called the Get to Know Program (www.gettoknow.ca).

Joining an impressive list of celebrity endorsers such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve Nash, Jane Goodall and Roberta Bondar, the program is designed to inspire connections between children and nature.  Students learn local species’ names and characteristics in hopes of increasing their awareness and understanding of wildlife, which in turn encourages empathy for the well-being of our wild neighbours.  This is an important first step towards raising a generation who will care for the Earth and all its creatures.

The Get to Know Contest launches April 10th. Check the Get to Know website to catch Les’ upcoming videos and for complete contest details. http://www.gettoknow.ca/ca/contest/

Les Stroud will be at the Outdoor Adventure Show (Toronto International Centre, Hall 5) on Saturday, February 26th, 2011 for the world wide premiere of his new signature knife, The Temagami – a knife you can actually use in the wilderness.

In addition, at 1:15PM EST, Les will host a Q&A and autograph signing at the Great Ontario Outdoor Adventure Theatre.

Designed in collaboration with Helle, an 80 year old knife producing factory in Holmedal, Norway, each knife is painstakingly hand crafted for the ultimate in quality and outdoor durability.

Only 500 limited edition carbon steel laminate knives will be available for sale at the Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto. Buy yours at booth #501 Canada Outdoor Equipment starting at 3:00PM or purchase online at www.lesstroud.ca after the show. Helle will release a second version with a laminated stainless steel blade in late February. Thereafter, both versions will be available for purchase world-wide.

The Temagami has a Curly birch handle that’s oiled with linseed and designed to fit snugly in your hand to prevent slipping. The leather sheath is fit to be used for both right and left side carry. Custom grooves on the back of the blade are fit to strike a better spark when using a fire steel.

Hotly anticipated with only 500 limited edition carbon steel knives available for sale at the Outdoor Adventure Show, get there early to get yours!

1.You were often the only camera operator Les took on sensitive over-night stays in remote indigenous villages. You’re an avid traveler and pretty easy going guy, but were there any living circumstances that really surprised you?

There were many. Traveling with Les tests all of your senses and sensibilities – and certainly living conditions was one of them. What blew me away was the Sea Bajau, the nomads of the South China Seas.  The Bajau live literally on sandbars in these tiny elevated wooden shacks. You realize very quickly that Bajau living is exposed and at the mercy of Mother Earth. The sight of a single shack surrounded by nothing but water is very surprising.

Papua New Guinea was interesting, as well, because the living conditions were very, very bare. If you are in the interior, near the highlands, there is nothing really to eat. I mean a very, very restricted diet. It’s crazy.

I also have to mention the Inuit of Baffin Island because they seemingly have nothing, and as far as I’m concerned they have the hardest living conditions of any indigenous peoples on the planet. They use everything at their disposal and were the most reliant on hunting and fishing that I have seen. I mean, what the heck are you going to do surrounded by such a harsh environment? They are amazing, incredible people.

2. You have a diverse and impressive resume shooting film, television and music videos in countries all over the globe. Did your creative approach to capturing Les’ adventures change as the ten month shoot progressed? Did you hone or acquire any new skills?

Our creative approach probably morphed more than changed per se. We were creating a new series, a new look, yet we needed to make sure that Les maintained some of the things that made Survivorman so successful. It was a hybrid of the best of Les and the best of our crew. It was organic and never forced and never repeated. Les likes to play it out. We had to be on our toes because you only get “one chance to record history” as Les would say. He was right.

You know, I think you’re always honing your skills to a certain degree. I believe everybody did. We had a great team: Peter Esteves, Andrew Sheppard, Laura Bombier, Bryan Potvin, Kate Heming, Dan Reynolds. Nothing great happens without monster collaboration, and everybody just really cared and pitched in. The editing team led by Barry Farrell did an amazing job with the material they were given. It truly was a team effort from the field to the production offices, managed by Wendy Turner all the way along.

3. What hit you harder in the field – physical or mental exhaustion – and how did you overcome it?

For me, it would be the physical exhaustion. Mentally, I’m always good and stable. I’m so passionate about what I do, so I never feel exhausted that way. Every day is a sunny day, if you know what I mean. That being said, one of the challenges of this type of extreme documentary/adventure filmmaking is that you have to make a TV show but at the same time filter your own water, pitch camp and block those crazy noises at night. At times we were really testing the limits of exhaustion. Lack of sleep, seemingly endless hiking with heavy camera gear, being tossed about in a jeep, a boat, the sea swells – believe me, this can wear on you.

To be honest, I never overcame it: I just sucked it up. With Les, one has to “go and go again”. But even my positive mindset couldn’t help me shooting in Peru. After 5 days of gruelling hiking in the Andean Mountains 17,000ft above sea level we were climbing the last glacier to the height of the ancient Inka Qollorit’i Festival, and I just couldn’t continue. Keeping up with the Q’eros meant hiking at an incredible pace. We’d walked more than 90 miles to get there, and we were climbing in the dark at 2am. I told Les “Dude, I can’t go on at this pace. My heart will explode.” Les told me it was no problem, and that they would get the footage they needed.

This kind of work is not for the weak of spirit or heart. It tests you all the time.

4. Les explored several themes of indigenous spirituality in this series, participating in ancient ceremonies and trance dances, all of which you filmed. Were you affected by the ceremonies you were filming? Did you recognize any commonalities in the spiritual beliefs of different indigenous tribes?

It was very hard not to be affected by these ancient rituals and ceremonies. It was difficult at times just to maintain focus because I had never laid witness to any of it before and it was fascinating. Certainly traveling with Inkan Priest Don Humberto in the Andean mountains was an incredible experience because every day we would be going through what only a handful of people have ever seen, let alone gone through.

I suppose the main thing I recognized was the spirit of community and love that surrounds these ceremonies in all cultures. The other thing is that as a general rule they weren’t worshiping Gods or figureheads per se, but instead were seeking guidance from Mother Nature or Pacha Mama.

5. There must be hundreds, but do you have a story or Behind The Scenes moment that really stands out?

Quite frankly, all the days and moments were incredible and stand out vividly. But, that being said, in random order: tiny ants marching in and out of my nose at night in the Mentawai Islands;
Les getting scope eye in the Arctic; being thrown from my horse in Peru; eating a seal eyeball in Baffin Island; traveling with the Andean Priests through the mystical mountains of Peru; being in 35 foot sea swells in the Mozambique channel with nothing but a camera, mask and snorkel: it was all wild, scary and fun.

6. Tell us about your last few projects and upcoming ones as well.

In the last few months since Beyond Survival, I have finished work for the US Army, shot a theatrical feature called Breakaway, shot a movie of the week called Another Man’s Wife, a music video for Ludacris, and 3 commercials. I am currently writing a feature and gearing up to shoot a feature film to be shot in Afghanistan in March 2011.

Find Johnny’s work on his website www.johnea.com You can reach him there. He’d love to hear from you.

Musician, filmmaker and outdoor survivalist Les Stroud will be at the Outdoor Adventure Show (Toronto International Centre, Hall 5) on Saturday, February 26th, 2011 for the world wide premiere of his new signature knife, The Temagami – a knife you can actually use in the wilderness. At 1:15PM EST, Les will host a Q&A at the Great Ontario Outdoor Adventure Theatre.

Designed in collaboration with Helle, an 80 year old knife producing factory in Holmedal, Norway, each knife is painstakingly hand crafted for the ultimate in quality and outdoor durability.

Only 500 limited edition carbon steel laminate knives will be available for sale at the Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto. Buy yours at booth #501 Canada Outdoor Equipment or purchase online at www.lesstroud.ca after the show. Helle will release a second version with a laminated stainless steel blade in late February. Thereafter, both versions will be available for purchase world-wide.

The Temagami has a Curly birch handle that’s oiled with linseed and designed to fit snugly in your hand to prevent slipping. The leather sheath is fit to be used for both right and left side carry. Custom grooves on the back of the blade are intended primarily to be a small grip for the index finger when skinning game,

Hotly anticipated, the knife will be on display at the new product section and in the Blueridge booth (822) at the Shotshow in Las Vegas from the 18th to the 21st of January. It will also be on display in the Sport Hansa booth (BR527) at the Outdoor Retailer Exhibition in Salt Lake City from the 20th to the 23rd of January.

For Media Inquiries, please contact:

Laura Bombier

Ph: 705-784-0639 x221

Email: laura@lesstroud.ca

Official Website: www.lesstroud.ca

Here are the winning submissions for the Best Fire Starting Spooferman Contest 2010. Thank you to all those who submitted, and congratulations to our winners who will be receiving up to $8,000 in prizes from Sony and Algonquin Outfitters!

See the winners!