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Time for another curling casting call… this time for the Toronto area.

Jigsaw Casting Ltd. is looking for male curlers who fit the following characteristics to be featured in an upcoming Tim Hortons Brier print campaign:

• Men between the ages of 30-45 of Caucasian ethnicity
• Must have some curling experience

Those who secure a role in the advertisement will be financially compensated with approximately CDN $750.

Must be available for these key dates:

• Friday, November 6 (20 minute committment only)
• Tuesday November 10

You must book an audition if interested, by emailing the following:

• PHOTOS – head shot and full body shot (candid snapshots will suffice, 100kb max per photo, please put “Curling” in the subject line)

• All primary and secondary contact info

• Brief description of your curling experience, years playing, tournament wins etc.

Questions or concerns: contact Erika at 416-360-0336 x230

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China’s defending world women’s champions were in Toronto last weekend before heading to the Shorty Jenkins Classic tour stop in Brockville, Ontario, which began last night (with an 8-4 Chinese win).

The purpose was a video shoot with the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) which took them on a jaunt to Niagara Falls, the Toronto Islands, the Bata Museum and, of course, many stores for much shopping.

And, as the Jeff Speed photo indicates, they visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, and gave the venerable Stanley Cup a giant hug. To the viewer’s left of the Cup we have Yin Liu (above) and Qingshuang Yue, and on the viewer’s right we have Yan Zhou (above) and the skipper, Bingyu “Betty” Wang.

Betty’s father, Da Jun Wang, was also flown in from China to take part in the mostly urban-exploration TV shoot.

“Our big mandate within the Olympic Games is that this really is Canada’s games,” explained the CTC’s John Parker-Jervis.

“The goal is to get this footage into key travel markets through the media. It’s a human interest story, filmed in High-Definition, and this (team China) footage will go to their state broadcaster, CCTV.”

Parker-Jervis said the campagin focusses on nine key markets: the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, Mexico, Japan, China, South Korea and Australia.

“We have (targeted) two countries as emerging markets, India and Brazil,” he added.

For a non-curling example, Parker-Jervis told the story of Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, the only African athlete set to compete in Vancouver. The skiier has become a celebrity in the UK, where he lives, and as such, that particular CTC footage will be sent to the BBC.

“We’re excited to have curling’s world champions travelling in Canada,” said Michele McKenzie, president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission.

“They have become big stars and having them here helps spread our tourism message to their fans in China and around the world.”

As regular readers of The Curling News are aware, Chinese teams compete in Canada extensively each year from September to November, and again in January and February, prior to the major global competitions.

There are two other Chinese teams in action in Edmonton this weekend, Fengchun Wang’s men’s Olympic team and a women’s development squad skipped by Xindi Zhang.

For the official CTC news release on Team China’s visit, click here.

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This was one of the first questions directed to Vancouver 2010 golden hopeful David Murdoch, during his recent radio interview with BBC Radio 5.

We note that this wasn’t really a question. But “Muddy” handled it with his typical media smoothness.

The interview highlights his team’s training schedule, and Murdoch makes particular mention of his appearance at the Capital One Grand Slam at Mississauga (Toronto) in October.

The two-time world champion also points to his summer training, in which both the men’s and women’s UK Olympic teams cross-trained at a camp in Cyprus.

Sure, the weather was lovely… but the training was somewhat rocky, as this video of the women’s team shows.

The Murdoch interview is posted here.

NOTE: the GB women, skipped by Eve Muirhead, are in Canada far earlier than the men… this week, in fact. They start Thursday at the Ontario Curling Tour Championships in Oakville, with a match against Lynne Middaugh of Orillia.

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Rockin’ the Gold is a fundraising event to support the Canadian Curling Association’s ongoing quest to encourage and develop the sport across Canada.

Sounds good to us!

On July 17, participants will gather to compete and have fun at Toronto’s High Park Curling Club for the Rockin’ the Gold Bonspiel ($80 per team includes three indoor games, door prize ticket, plus dinner and drink) while guests/attendees can also drop by (at $10 a ticket) to enjoy the fun.

Waitaminute… did we say “indoor”?

Yep, we’re talking about the dryland version of the sport, “Kurling”, which is sweeping across Canada after originating in the U.K.

The “stones” are used in the Capital One Rocks & Rings program (you remember this story, and this one, right?)

This interesting day is organized by Sport and Event Marketing students from Toronto’s George Brown College, each of whom is a self-declared curling enthusiast.

Partners include the CCA (of course), George Brown College (of course), Wellington Brewery, Boston Pizza, Generation Go and Rock Solid Productions.

Sounds like there may be a couple of team spots available, so hustle on over to the website. You can also follow the action on Facebook (must be a member) and on Twitter.

What else?

• World wheelchair curling champion skip Jim Armstrong looked simply fabulous on Canada Day (see second photo, below the first)… but the serious news is that he has a shoulder injury that will require surgery. And thus brings the big question: does he go ahead with surgery now, or tough it out until after the 2010 Paralympics in March?

The story is here, with over 20 comments so far …

• Still with wheelies and Vancouver, 2006 Paralympic champion skip Chris Daw is relocating, again, this time from Newfoundland all the way across Canada to the left coast. Daw has been hired as the new General Manager of the Vancouver Curling Club, which of course will be moving into its new digs just 100 yards away within a year or so following the Olympics and Paralympics.

Apparently, Daw will also be continuing his work for the CCA as the Development Coordinator for Wheelchair Curling (under the Discover Curling program).

This is all good news, considering Daw was tempted to leave the country just a few years ago.

Oh… Daw will also be a father, again… he and wife Morgan are expecting a child in early March, 2010. Congrats Chris, on numerous fronts!

• DID YOU KNOW: that venue construction for the Sochi 2014 Olympics is definitely underway?

• Wanna buy a curling book? You can get “Saskatchewan Curling: Heartland tradition 1882-1990” for 10 bucks …

• And finally, welcome to a new curling blogger, who describes himself or herself as an Average U.S. Curler. No pressure now, having been linked by The Curling News Blog …

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Toronto’s Breakfast Television morning show – on City TV – includes some live hits from the East York Curling Club tomorrow AM.

The Toronto Curling Association is involved in the production, which will talk up the GTA curling scene and also the legendary Energizer Men’s Bonspiel (formerly the Canada Life).

Check it out between 6:00am and 9:00am ET, although we guess that highlights might be available on the show website later on Tuesday …

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A cool little newspaper called The Curling News has an exclusive on the cover of its new December issue.

A new study by the City of Toronto has numbered the amount of “lost” curlers through club closures over the years. That shocking number is over 8,000.

However, the city is making a new kind of commitment to the sport, through the Toronto Curling Association.

National Curling Development guy Danny Lamoureux weighs in, among others.

You don’t have to be a resident of Canada’s largest city to see how important these developments are – both the acknowledgment of a disaster-in-the-making, and the promise of some real solutions. Toronto stands alone with rather unique curling problems as compared to other urban markets, which are all allegedly “booming” in terms of development. As such, this story is a big one for each and every curling fan.

This story is only available in the print edition of the December issue. You can try to grab a copy at your local club, but as most of you are aware, we don’t send many club “complimentary” copies out. The key is to subscribe.

When you subscribe to The Curling News, you get your copy first – ahead of any other comp copies – and you get it via first-class mail, and in a protective polybag. That’s premium service.

Subscribe today and you will get this December issue, which also includes:

• Brazil? Shmazil… Spain is just one European round-robin away from the Ford Worlds

• The TCN Book Sale: just in time for Christmas, we are offering five classic titles at awesome prices

• Report: The Masters of Curling

• The Dominion Club Corner: Windsor rebuilds in the east; Monsanto offers cash for clubs in the west

• Al Cameron ponders eight separate subjects, including a Kleibrink/Bernard combination

• The Curling News TV Guide for December/January

• Can you hit the Million Dollar Button? You might be able to, by registering online …

• Larry Wood mulls December’s “final” Continental Cup in Camrose

• Capital One Grand Slam Star of the Future: Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers

• Québec City is ready for The National

• Rodd Odds and Sods from Teri Lake of Halifax

• Young Canadian artist uses curling in Acadian imagery

• Katja Kiiskinen picks up at the Masters

• 2010 championships: Juniors to Québec; Scotties to the Soo; Brier to Halifax

• Manitoba wins Arctic Mixed

• TCN Photo Contest update – with samples!

• 30 Years Ago: an exclusive report on Paul Gowsell’s infamous on-ice pizza delivery

AND MORE!

In addition, be sure to check out our website for a link to order the 2009 Women of Curling Calendar (club edition), as well as the latest TCN Top 15 rankings.

It’s pretty clear who is number one among the men, but the Top four women is an honest-to-goodness crapshoot …

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