Chicago, U.S.A. — Scheduled flight operations within North America will be at their lowest August level for 10 years, according to the latest statistics from flight schedule data market leader OAG, a UBM Aviation brand.

The OAG FACTS (Frequency and Capacity Trend Statistics) for August 2012 reveals that this month there will be 953,083 fewer air seats offered within North America compared with August 2011, with 21,401 fewer flights. For the year to date, decreases of two per cent in flights and one per cent in seat capacity have been experienced compared with the first eight months of 2011.

“Against the backdrop of a slowing economy the North American region is experiencing general consolidation of its internal scheduled air services,” said Rob Shaw, Director Analytics.

“This is partly the natural consequence of the well-publicised airline mergers of recent years, but it also reflects the strategy of individual carriers in a tough trading environment: reducing capacity to maintain fares at a profitable level.”

Only three of North America’s top 10 hubs (San Francisco at 7%, Charlotte at 5% and Toronto at 4%) will show significant growth in seat capacity this month, while capacity at Chicago O’Hare will drop by three per cent.

Middle East shows fastest long-haul growth with Dubai the key hub  

North America’s flights and seats to and from other worldwide regions will both show a two per cent increase in August, offering some better news, but the biggest growth in long-haul traffic is seen in the Middle East – driven largely by the United Arab Emirates and Dubai in particular.

This month will see flight operations to and from the Middle East grow by seven per cent to 64,252, while seat capacity will increase by eight per cent to reach 14,219,564 – nearly 4,000 more flights and more than a million more seats offered than in August 2011. Traffic within the Middle East region is also expected to grow by four per cent (flights) and three per cent (seats).

The Middle East region’s key hubs are all experiencing strong year-on-year growth in August, with Abu Dhabi seeing seats increasing by 248,896 (up 17%), Doha by 244,470 (11%) and Bahrain by 114,560 (11%).  By far the strongest performer in the region however is Dubai, with 782,544 additional seats and 2,694 additional flight operations compared with August 2011.

“Strategically, the Middle East is growing in importance all the time, particularly in terms of its links with Western Europe,” said Rob Shaw, Director Analytics.

“While capacity reductions are continuing on several key routes between Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, more than 400,000 extra seats are now offered between Western Europe and the Middle East. Of these, more than 70 per cent are on services to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, largely reflecting the continued expansion plans of the premier Gulf-based airlines.”

Global flights up by 1% and seats by 3%  

Dubai, with its 12 per cent increase in flight operations and 14 per cent increase in seat capacity, is also showing the fastest growth among the major global air hubs.

Seat capacity at eight of the world’s top 10 airports will grow this month. Beijing’s year-on-year increase of eight per cent brings it ever closer to Atlanta as the world’s largest hub in terms of seats offered, while Tokyo’s offering increased by nearly 375,000 seats, up five per cent on August 2011, securing its status as the world’s fourth-largest hub after London-Heathrow.

Worldwide, airlines have increased flights by 16,948 and seats by 9,608,208, taking the total scheduled flight operations for August 2012 to 2,789,437 and the total of seats offered to 361,193,356. This represents growth of one per cent in flights but three per cent in seats, which is explained by the increased use of larger aircraft. Average aircraft seat capacity is 129 this month compared with 127 in August 2011.

For the year to date, scheduled flights show a growth of two per cent and seat capacity an increase of three per cent compared with the January-August period last year.

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Toronto, Canada – Having hosted nearly every kind of TV show in almost every kind of environment – from studio and junkyard to cruise ship and on location in the Middle East – veteran host Tyler Harcott will bring his 17 years of experience to a new audience as the host of ‘The Bachelor Canada’, premiering this fall on Citytv. Harcott was introduced today as part of Citytv’s annual Upfront presentation.

Earlier this month, CFL free agent Brad Smith was revealed as the first-ever Canadian bachelor. Additional details about the production, including the identities of the 25 Canadian bachelorettes, will be announced in the coming weeks.

A native of Calgary, Harcott, 43, earned a communications degree at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Polytechnic before getting his start in the entertainment industry in theatre, film and television. His first foray into broadcasting was as a radio disc jockey at CKGY FM in Red Deer, Alberta.

 Shortly following, Harcott landed his first hosting job in 1995 while visiting Hong Kong, which led him to various other culture-rich locales, including India, Dubai and Indonesia. Throughout his career, Harcott has hosted 14 programs, including Wired, Junkyard Wars, Guess Who’s Coming to Decorate?, and Miss America: Countdown to the Crown.

“I have never participated in a show that delivers on such an emotional level the way ‘The Bachelor Canada’ does,” said Harcott. “Brad possesses a sense of maturity that defies his years. He’s charming, smart, and funny. From a guy’s perspective, he reminds me of my best buddy. And for some crazy reason, the ladies seem to appreciate his Adonis-like physique.”

“Tyler is an incredibly affable and genuine person – everything we were looking for in a host,” said Claire Freeland, Director of Original Programming, Rogers Media, and Executive Producer of ‘The Bachelor Canada’. “With his vast experience, he’s a natural in front of the camera. His personality and sincerity will resonate not only with Brad and the bachelorettes, but also with viewers across the country.”

Currently residing in New York City, Harcott is the proud father of a four-year-old daughter. He cites Dick Clark, Johnny Carson and Don Rickles as the biggest influences on his career. When not hard at work, he enjoys playing hockey, learning Spanish, travelling, and being the guest of honour at his daughter’s tea parties.

‘The Bachelor Canada’ is the Canadian version of the perennially successful The Bachelor franchise on Citytv and OMNI Television. The series is produced by multiple award-winning Force Four Entertainment. Sean De Vries is the supervising producer, Joyce Sawa is the series producer, and John Ritchie serves as executive producer for the series. Claire Freeland is the director of original programming for Rogers Media and an executive producer of ‘The Bachelor Canada’.

Image Courtesy of    TYLER HARCOTT

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Maryland, US – The Maryland Summer Jazz Festival returns on July 14 for its eighth exciting season of workshops and jams for musicians and public concerts for jazz lovers. Events take place through July 27, 2012.

Drawing adult learners and listeners from coast to coast, the top-rated event features jazz recording and performing artists on stages and in classrooms. Events can help avid adult learners raise the bar on their singing and playing. Some are inspired to go on to professional music careers, others become solid weekend warriors.

Headlining the festival this year are three Canadian jazz artists known internationally as cutting edge performers and charismatic educators energizing the jazz genre. They are trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, guitarist Matthew Stevens and saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk.

Raised in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Jensen attended Berklee College of Music. The trumpeter soon became known for her pursuit of excellence. She performed in the New York subway (long before the Joshua Bell experiment), and has appeared in numerous festivals around the globe, working with greats such as Maria Schneider, George Garzone and Terri-Lynn Carrington. Marian McPartland said Jensen plays “with all the brilliance and fire of a true virtuoso.”

The career of guitarist Matthew Stevens is soaring. The Toronto-born musician was uncommonly dedicated as a teen and, like Jensen, went on to study at Berklee College of Music. He graduated in 2004, Summa Cum Laude and was given the coveted Jim Hendrix Award. He has been recognized by critics at the New York Times, LA Times and Billboard Magazine and been featured in the jazz press. Touring extensively, he has shared the stage with Christian Scott, Jason Moran and Esperanza Spaulding.

Raised in a large Ukrainian family, internationally respected saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk grew up in Nigeria and Western Canada and worked the overnight shift in a factory to earn tuition for the renowned jazz program at University of North Texas. He was touring other continents even before he was awarded a master’s degree in jazz performance and West African ethnomusicology.

Antoniuk has won accolades as a composer and modern jazz musician. A recipient of grants from both the Canada Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, he is a major figure in the Washington, DC jazz scene. He has appeared at the Annapolis Jazz Festival, Juneau Jazz & Classics and the Edmonton International Jazz Festival. He is a master teaching artist with Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) and is the artistic director of Maryland Summer Jazz.

Jazz Camp

At the heart of the festival is a three-day jazz camp. Each day includes intensive instruction for students from 16 to retirement age. Instructors are performing and recording artists, including many university jazz professors. Attendees can hear these fantastic players in concert, and then work directly with them in small group combos grouped by ability level.

Classes help gifted amateurs and semi-pros bring their skill and technique up to the level of working musicians. Playing with others provides critical networking opportunities. Over a dozen popular jazz bands have come together through the camps.

The program also nurtures gifted high school and college students intent on music careers. Scholarships and internships encourage young talent. Electives on such topics as Latin Jazz, vocal styles and rhythm section techniques allow them to progress instead of falling back in the summer.

By popular demand, attendees have a new option this year to take a pre-camp clinic on “The Music of Maryland Summer Jazz” on Saturday, July 14. Participants will get a head start on the camp repertoire of beginner through advanced tunes.

Concert Highlights

The world-famous Blues Alley jazz club in Washington, D.C. traditionally hosts a Maryland Summer Jazz concert on the eve of jazz camp. This year the concert takes place on Tuesday, July 24. Guest star Ingrid Jensen joins Jeff Antoniuk & the Jazz Update for two riveting shows. Another major concert occurs on July 27 at the conclusion of jazz camp. Held on the campus, at Saint Mark Presbyterian Church in Rockville, Maryland, the event includes a student concert at 7:00 p.m. and an All Star Concert at 8:30 p.m. For additional events, visit the website.

Stellar Guest Artists

Nine artists will teach and perform this season. Maryland Summer Jazz welcomes back bassist Tom Baldwin and vocalists Felicia Carter and Alison Crockett to the faculty. New to the festival lineup are multi-woodwind artist Pete Baren Bregge, pianist Fred Hughes, and drummer Marty Morrison.

Image Courtesy of   Jeff Antoniuk

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While the schedule may say a home game for the Bills, the teams are traveling north to Toronto for the Bills annual “home” game in Canada. Buffalo is 0-3 since signing the five year deal with Toronto-based Rogers Communication in 2008 to play one home game in Toronto each year.

“It’s not a home game,” safety George Wilson said. “The fan support in Toronto is a night-and-day difference from what we have in Buffalo (at Ralph Wilson Stadium). For the most part, it’s a show. You see just as many jerseys for the opposing teams as you do the Bills. They cheer for any big play regardless of whichever team makes it.”

Buffalo is coming out of a bye that couldn’t have come at a better time. The team is ravaged by injuries and has dropped 2 of 3 since starting 3-0 and needs all the help it can get. So far their No.2 receiver Donald Jones is out, defensive tackle Kyle Williams is out indefinitely, and linebacker Shawne Merriman was placed on the injured reserve Tuesday with an injury to his Achilles.

Add to that starting LT Demetrius Bell is doubtful after missing two straight and this is a team that needed its bye week more than ever. The Redskins are in the same boat without the help of a bye week.

Their best receiver and down field threat Santana Moss broke a bone in his left hand last Sunday and will be sidelined for a few weeks, and their leading rusher Tim Hightower is out for the season after tearing his ACL in the same game.

They also placed tight end Chris Cooley on the injured reserve this week, and its possible London Fletcher will be out with a hamstring injury. For Fletcher this might be the first missed game of his 14 season career and would be a big loss for the Redskins defense which has been struggling as of late.

The Bills have one of the worst defenses in football ranking thirtieth in pass and run defense and has surrendered 414 yards in five consecutive games so the lack of offensive weapons for John Beck whose making his second consecutive start will help the Bills though Beck did play a good game last week going 22 of 37 for 279 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

They’re doing well due to quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and running back Fred Jackson who have helped turn this into one of the highest scoring offenses in football. They are averaging 31.3 points a game. The downside is that, in the two games they’ve lost, they’ve failed to score 30+ points.

The Bills have the fourthbest rushing attack averaging 141.0 yards and they’re going up against a Redskin defense that has surrendered 367 yards in the past two weeks, both losses. Jackson had a big game putting up 82 yards on the ground and 69 receiving a few years ago the last time these two teams met, which was a 17-16 win for the Bills in Washington.

With the Bills’ offensive power and Washington’s lack thereof, the Bills should get their first win in Toronto over the Redskins to move to 5-2 and stay at least 1 game behind the division-leading Patriots, who don’t have an easy game going into Pittsburgh. Final Prediction: Bills 31 Redskins 17

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/redskins

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Does your gender define who you are? If so, does being labeled a male or female result with certain treatment of children, which will then effect their development into adults?

Kathy Witterick, 38 and David Stocker, 39 from Toronto, Canada seem to believe so. Witterick and Stocker became the proud parents of their third child, Storm, on Jan. 1 of this year. The parents of three have decided to keep this baby’s gender a secret, until Storm is ready to disclose it.

“This is not a secret without consequences,” said Mike Brody, a child psychiatrist in Washington, D.C., and instructor at the University of Maryland. “This seems more controlling than the helicopter parents.”

The parents justified their decision, “we’ve decided not to share Storm’s sex for now  a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime (a more progressive place? …)” Witterick wrote in an email to love ones.

Only a few people know the baby’s gender, the midwives who delivered the baby and the child’s two older brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2.

“When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, “‘Is it a girl or a boy?’” Witterick told the Toronto Star. Her husband Stocker, a teacher at an alternative school, added: “If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs.”

Does concealing a person’s gender change the way people view them, and in little Storm’s case, will it change the way people treat him or her? With the parents concealing the child’s sex people will not have the ability to label the child as a girl or boy and buy them things associated with that gender, such as dolls for girls and trucks for boys.

“What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children. It’s obnoxious,” Stocker told the Star.

Witterick and Stocker believe children can make meaningful decisions on their own and when it comes to their two sons, the boys have already exercise that ability;  Jazz and Kio pick out their own clothes and choose not to cut their hair.

The children do not attend school, but instead are taught by their mother through “unschooled,” which is a type of home schooling that occurs based on a child’s curiosity.

The idea to keep their child’s gender a secret came to the parents from a book Stocker came across, “X: A Fabulous Child’s Story,” by Lois Gould. In this book, the child is raised with no gender and grows up to be happy and grounded. “It became so compelling it was almost like, how could we not?” Witterick told the Star.

But, regardless of how many times people ask, ‘when will this end?’ the couple simply asks the same question, “Yeah, when will this end? When will we live in a world where people can make choices to be whoever they are?” they told the Star.

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