REGINAROADIE

Hey all. This is my first time blogging, so bear with me if I don't have it down to an exact science. Since KaySky wants to know what I've been doing, and in an attempt to do something different this summer, I've decided to do a monthly blog, just to say what I've been up to the past month. I hope at least one person out there actually gives a shit as to what I have to say and finds what I describe as mildly amusing. Summer for me begins April 27th. That was my last day of finals, and it was for the class I paid the least amount of attention in (Intro to Art). Going in, I'm a bit nervous since I tanked the mid-term and only did any serious studying at the last minute. I get some help from this chick Korinn who's also in my Sociology class, although it doesn't really add up to much. I do the test, and amazingly enough, my head doesn't explode and the universe doesn't come crashing down. I'm not totally free from the clutches of niversity though. On Tuesday, May 3rd, I have to do an interview with three of my film profs to see if I can be accepted into the BFA, so that I can get a Film and Video PRODUCTION degree, as opposed to a STUDIES degree. So the next few days is just me killing time before the interview. Here's what happens. I go to Purolator to send off my DV cam to JVC in Toronto. I run a small videography business (mostly weddings), and my first video of the wedding season is on May 22nd. For the last two months, something's been wrong with my camera. It can film perfectly, but when I hook it up through the firewire port and into my computer, the computer won't register it and digitize the film I've shot. I try a number of things, but as it turns out, the problem is with the camera. Luckily, the thing is still under warranty, so I send it to the JVC people to fix it and send it back by the 20th, in time for the wedding. I book an appointment for a haircut, but end up getting sidetracked by the student film fest they have each year. I pop into the uni in hopes to finding out when it is, but as it turns out, it's just started a half hour ago. I end up bailing on the haircut and sitting down to watch the different student flicks, while plugging the meter during intermission. Some of them are amateur, while a few of them are really good. I end up chatting with a buddy of mine, Daniel, who last semester actually did a documentary on me, which I found strange since I think I'm the most boring person I know. And despite a few things that makes me self-conscience, it's actually a really good small doc on me. Anyhow, the flick on me isn't shown, but nevertheless, Daniel actually wins a runner up prize for it, and I get a little mini-Polaroid camera out of the deal. That night, Matt (my older brother) and I go check out THE HITCHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. We both love the flick, which captures the spirit of Doug Adam's book perfectly. During the whole whale scene, I was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face. I can't even remember the last time that happened. We didn't see the SERENITY trailer attached to it, although it gave me an idea for a one off fic. What do you guys think of this? Kaylee is off at a spare parts warehouse, picking up parts for the engine and the ship, and who's there to help her out than Marvin the Paranoid Android? I just think it would be funny to see the most cheerful sci-fi character having a discussion with the most depressed sci-fi character ever? She's be all happy and bubbly, and he'd be all "Life. Don't talk to me about life." When it comes to the Rainbow (second run theatre), I plan on seeing it again. And I'll remember to bring my towel with me.

REGINAROADIE

The next day, I just bum around, not doing much. I work a little more on YOU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN (I've hit a serious bit of writer's block as of late, and with juggling a full time job and the videography business, I'm usually drained by the end of the day. I only have three paragraphs written for Chapter 4), and go for a walk. It's early evening, and I decide on a whim to go to the Cineplex Odeon at the Southland Mall. I decide to see THE UPSIDE OF ANGER for a third time (it's my first favorite movie of 2005 and one of the best) and I decide to kill time by movie hopping. I go to SIN CITY, but it hasn't started yet. I decide to go, but as I'm standing in front of the entrace for it, this guy walks past me. It's only for a brief moment, but the face registers with me. I then quickly realize who it might be, but I'm still not sure. I go back onto the theatre and find the guy. I get his attention, and I ask him if he's Don McKellar. He says yes, I say he's bullshitting me, he says it really is him, and I go "Holy Shit". This is my first ever real celebrity encounter. For those of you who don't know, Don McKellar is one of the bigger figures in Canadian cinema right now. He's an actor, writer and director. Some of the more notable films on his resume include 32 SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD, THE RED VIOLIN, EXOTICA, WAYDOWNTOWN, RUB AND TUG, he's dabbled in television acting in TRUDEAU and was in Regina at the time filming THE TOMMY DOUGLAS STORY. But he's also the mastermind behind the cult tv show TWICH CITY and the real gem in his resume, the Canadian sci-fi/black comedy LAST NIGHT. This is one flick that all of you guys have to find. It has a pre-SIDEWAYS Sandra Oh in it, a pre-GO Sarah Polley, Canadian icon Callum Keith Rennie, as well as a cool cameo by David Cronenberg. And it's about all these people in Toronto as they wait for the end of the world to happen at midnight. Anyways, I chat with him before and during the previews. He's a really cool guy and takes my card graciously. I leave as his movies about to start. I go to the ticket place and find out that his movie gets out before mine. I decide to leave early during UPSIDE so that I can catch him as he's leaving the theatre. I flag him down and I ask that if he's not too busy at the moment, if I could just talk with him about being a filmmaker. He's OK with it and for half an hour, we just talk. I end up doing the majority of the talking, telling him about my ideas for different movies, the videography business, trying to get a job as a grip in the city but only ending up with regular labor jobs. But he does get some words in. He talked about the origin for LAST NIGHT, how he got started, his influences, the various directors he's met (he told me that Quentin Tarantino is exactly like me, which I took as a huge compliment) and some other stuff I can't remember. I tell him about the Cronenberg class I'm taking next semester and he was amused. I asked him what it was like working with Cronenberg the director and Cronenberg the actor. Cronenberg the actor is totally serious and focused and determined. But Cronenberg the director is very loose and funny and energetic. I end up walking with him to the restaurant where he's meeting with some people and chat with him about living on the praries. I ask if theres any way I can keep in contact with him and he tells me about his website for Rhombus Media, his production company. I havn't e-mailed him yet, but one day I will, just to see if he remembers me. I walk home, thinking this is going to be the beginning of a great summer.

REGINAROADIE

Sunday and Monday go by without any real event, which then morphs into Tuesday and the day of the interview. I'ma bit nervous, because this is the second time I've done this. I did this interview last year, but because my grades wern't good enough, I was two away from being accepted. So this whole last year has been me boosting my marks so that I can re-apply and be accepted. I go in, and two of the three profs are ones I'm familiar with. One is Charlie Fox, the prof I had been meeting with about the interview and digging up my old portfolio for re-admittance. The other is Dr. Phillippe Mather, who was the prof for both my Film Theory and Aesthetics, and my Contemporary Film classes. The third guy is someone I havn't had yet, but who will be teaching one of my classes next semester. I know the three questions they'll be asking, and I answer them to the best of my abilities. I tell them that the reason I want to be in the film program is that this is who I am. I show them all my extra-curicular film work, with The Wedding Shooter being my ace up my sleeve, and that I've been improving my marks in order to be accepted. I end by telling them that asking me why I want to be a filmmaker is like asking Mozart why he wants to be a composer. This is who I am. I can't imagine doing anything otherwise. When they ask me what kinds of movies or directors I like, I tell them that for films, I've been finding that the domestic dramas (THE UPSIDE OF ANGER, GARDEN STATE, AMERICAN BEAUTY, CLERKS) are the ind of movies I love because they bring me a spiritual clarity and an understanding about the world and life more than any other genre. And I name drop Werner Herzog as a recent favorite, because he's a Quixote-like filmmaker. Someone who shoots for the stars while others are content to hover. As for one project in my portfolio that I think is the strongest, I tell them the slide narrative one is my best, since it was something spontaneous and came out of two failed projects and ended up being the rabbit out of the hat. I end by showing them the last few minutes of my first wedding video, which is one of the best edited things I've done and thanking them for letting me do this. After some DR. WHO on CBC, we pack up and Matt and I head home.

REGINAROADIE

The next day, I begin my first job for the summer. Between May 4th and May 19, I drive half an hour there and back every weekday to Cranfields. It's this farm near Limerick, (one of the small towns in the Mossbank area, Mossbank being my hometown), and they build grain bins there. For the first three days, I'm working with this one dude, Nathan, a rocker from Crane Valley, as we build the top cone of the bins. Every day, I end up washing my hands with gasoline to get the silicone off my fingers. The next Monday I get back, I'm being replaced by the boss's son's fiancee (I stick my card in her windshield wiper as I leave that day), and I'm moved to the shop. For the next two weeks, I buff (off the rust and dirt on the cones and the skids) grind (off the metal bumps left over from the welders, as well as the edges on some supports to make them smooth) and wipe (a flammable solution onto the metal that's like a primer for when they paint them that night) the steel hopper bottoms of the bins. Heavy metal blares in my ears as sparks fly around me as I'm reminded of shop class. Everything goes fine, and I'd still be there if I didn't have an interview in the city on the 14th with Sarcan (recycling plant) and ended up with a job there. It's a small pay cut, but it keeps me here in the city, which is what I've always wanted. I do my last week at Cranfield's quietly, although on my last day, I nearly set myself on fire. During the Victoria Day long weekend, my friend doesn't show up, I get some DVD's and I check out REVENGE OF THE SITH. Kick-ass, like all six STAR WAR films and am eager to see it again. I get the camera back from JVC. They say that nothing's wrong with it. I hook it up and it's still not working. I end up burning up my first ever summer paycheck (which is supposed to go to my tuition) and end up buying a brand new camera just so that I can take the footage I shot with the old one and digitize it with the new. I plan on returning the new camera to Future Shop before the 14 day return policy is up. My first wedding of the summer is one fiasco after another. First I end up running across the street to Shopper's Drug Mart to get some film cassettes before the ceremony starts. Then during the ceremony, I end up not getting one of the most crucial shots of the ceremony (the bridal party walking in) and suffering the embarassment of having to do a re-shoot, something I've never done before. And to make matters worse, my August bride, who recommended me to the May bride to begin with, is there as well, watching me at work. Amazingly enough, I end up getting everything else right, and after putting it off for a week, I edit the whole thing on Sunday (this Sunday) and it ended up turning out really well. My business partner saw the video before I digitized it and she said that this is one of my best videos so far (which is high praise from her). After discovering a new brand of DVD's don't work and scrambling to get my hands on some DVD's of my old brand, Memorex, I end up giving them the first cut of the film. On the whole, they're happy with it, although they would've liked that moment in it that I missed, (I'dve like that too). They just wanted me to change the grooms name from Chris to Kris, and to have some more shots of their kid, London in it. I go back, change the name, add another montage at the end, and tonight I finally handed in the final product and got my last check from them (with a $50 pay cut from them.) No time to worry about that, since I have another wedding to do this weekend. On the 24th, I started my second and more permanent job in the city at Sarcan. It's the easiest job in the world. All I do really is take bags and pallets of recyclable material (plastic, aluminum, glass) off of some trucks and dump them into a hopper on a conveyor belt. It's like working at the seed cleaning plant, really. As to other miscellaneous stuff, I got a letter from the film board, saying that I have been accepted into the BFA program. This is both good and bad ne

MANWITHPEZ

Yes, I have five brothers. No sisters. Five...count them all, I just know you won't. But, four of them are half brothers, produced by my family splitting and building new annexes. One, the one just younger than me (I'm the oldest) has been a thorn in my side for more years than I care to count...okay, its 29, the math isn't hard on that one. He got his growth spurts the same time as me, so it wasn't long before he was just as big as I was, and he terrorized me without end. He used to beat the living shit out of me on a daily basis. I love that bastard. He is the one that taught me to tie my shoes. When I was 17, he taught me to shave. I got more driving lessons from him than I did my parents. He was allowed to do what he wanted with almost no supervision. He would come traipsing home at six in the morning on the weekend more like than not, and this was when he was fifteen. When I was 17, I came home an hour late, and found my mother on the phone with the police! He now has three children. They are all lovely, but his firstborn was a girl! I loved it. My parent's couldn't bring themselves to do it, so I placed the curse on him. "I hope she acts exactly the way that you acted." It appears to be working. She's six, you can tell she's going to be a beautiful woman, and just as mischievious as the day is long. She does what she wants, and when he gets on to her, she almost always manages to make him feel guilty. So, to my brother...My revenge is now enacted upon you with my niece. May your sleepless nights rival our mother's!

MANWITHPEZ

As I've said many times over the last ten days, my internet at home is shot. We just had the Sprint guy over today...(Self involved old bastard, if I do say so...and whattya know, I did!) And he sat on my phone for the better part of 45 minutes. Snatches of conversation containing the word PING became almost unbearable to hear. Turns out, Sprint switched us to a new system but didn't bother to tell anyone. My internet is still out, as it looks like the modem may not be able to handle it. So, now they're going to send a PC guy out to look at it, but refused to give me a date or time. The whole time this is going on with the repairman, my wife is muttering about not paying for service she's not recieving. Hey, I'm with her in that regard, but bitching at this guy ain't going to solve anything. So, now she's mad at me. Another unfortunate side effect to this, is that my wife and I have found each other harder to ignore. Sad, ain't it? But, we have settled into a pattern where we try not to annoy each other too much, and the lack of the internet isn't helping. Also, if our cable should happen to shit the bed, we may have to get lawyers on the phone. I was looking forward to playing City of Heroes again too, Damnit!