Friday, April 11, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Online petitions...
...feel about as flaccid as [Republican Senator's member] after they were caught soliciting [sexual act] from [homosexual escort] at [public transit terminal or back alley]!
But this one seems worth a damn, particularly since it is the precursor to a march on April 22nd - aka Earth Day. If you live in Toronto, you may wish to attend.
But this one seems worth a damn, particularly since it is the precursor to a march on April 22nd - aka Earth Day. If you live in Toronto, you may wish to attend.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Cursed uninventive Anglo bastards
Seriously!
I just got back from a short trip out to Etobicoke, which richly reintroduced me to the pale grey wasteland that is a Canadian office park, and along the way I passed through a subway station named "Islington". Seeing it in a subway, a mode of transport I never used much until I lived in the UK Islington, really made my head flip for just long enough to notice.
Meanwhile, I'm going to try silk screening for the first time today. Results shall be posted later!
I just got back from a short trip out to Etobicoke, which richly reintroduced me to the pale grey wasteland that is a Canadian office park, and along the way I passed through a subway station named "Islington". Seeing it in a subway, a mode of transport I never used much until I lived in the UK Islington, really made my head flip for just long enough to notice.
Meanwhile, I'm going to try silk screening for the first time today. Results shall be posted later!
Friday, April 04, 2008
Fire and Gold
Just a couple of things I bumped into recently, which I like. Firstly, I learned of the great Toronto fire in a manner more interesting than playing six degrees of Wikipedia.
And this caught my eye firstly because it is in gold paint, which you don't see often, and then because of it's message.
And this caught my eye firstly because it is in gold paint, which you don't see often, and then because of it's message.
If you can't write and are sick of the computer...
...then drink and paint!
Reference picture - A London "Teddy Girl" I clipped out of Nude magazine.
Sketchy sketch
Gettin' there
I'm not sure if I consider this done, but it's done enough for today.
Reference picture - A London "Teddy Girl" I clipped out of Nude magazine.
Sketchy sketch
Gettin' there
I'm not sure if I consider this done, but it's done enough for today.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Urghhhh
Sorry guys, wrestling with writers block and job hunting doesn't an epic narrative make.
More soon, hopefully.
More soon, hopefully.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Awesome
Al Gore has started something pretty interesting this week.
The project's own page.
And the video, for which they roped in William H. Macy.
The project's own page.
And the video, for which they roped in William H. Macy.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Swans & Garbage
During the temp job I just finished, one of my favorite things to do during my lunch hour was to go down to the waterfront. Soon enough I figured out the specific spot that two particular swans (and two cheeky ducks that follow them to pick at the food the swans often get thrown at them) like to come to.
One swan was noticeably slower than the other and thus, thanks to some half-memory from a Warner Brothers cartoon I saw years ago, I secretly named him "Wilbur" and sometimes provided him with dialogue of the slow-witted mountain person variety. He and his nameless, brighter accomplice would show up at 1pm each day like clockwork and once or twice a week I would take great pleasure and relaxation in feeding them bits of bread that I'd try to save for them. It's not hard to see why seniors enjoy doing this sort of thing. By getting lost in their little world I could take a nice break from the stresses of my own.
It was surprisingly difficult to get a decent shot of the two opportunistic ducks that would always see me feeding the swans and then nip over to try and steal what they could. The smarter, nameless swan often got really pissed at the ducks and once it even managed to clamp it's beak over the neck of a duck and give it a good shake - followed by a honk which I can only assume was Swan for "Fuck off you little bastard". Swan's are pretty foul mouthed eh? Anyways, I managed to get one of them in the bottom right of this picture.
Now, this is right along the waterfront - specifically the waterfront which is supposed to be the shining glory of Toronto with all those million dollar condos that get the Che Guevera T-shirt brigade rubbing their tits in a fury. A lot of effort has been put into the landscaping, architecture and general cleanliness of this place - a rough analogue to my beloved Thames Embankment. Thanks to where I was temping, I've even gotten some interesting glimpses at what is planned for the future of the waterfront along with plenty of Utopian concept drawings and models. All that said and I still caught plenty of this.
Which brought my mind back to things I've been reading in general and specifically about microscopic plastics in the world's supply of water. The mind starts to reel a bit, or at least mine did. I began to wonder how much of the chemical composition of Lake Ontario has been replaced by plastic particles. Then I wondered how much plastic was inside the Swan's stomachs. How much they were taking in with each bite of the bread I was tossing into the water for them to eat. How much of my own body, no matter how tiny a percentage, was contaminated by these particles - given the old 60% water routine. Idly tossing the bits of whole wheat into Wilbur's path, I felt like what I was doing was all of a sudden a bit sinister on just about every level possible. In a word, it felt polluted.
I appreciate that VICE magazine is an amusing and often offensive (though not for the reasons you'd think) source of information - but their Internet television network VBS is a largely different creature in terms of raw quality, particularly their journalistic programs. I've referred to their Toxic Alberta series before and now, in relation to what I'm talking about, I'll refer you to the preview of their upcoming Toxic Garbage Island series that will cover, firsthand, what is going on in the South Pacific Sub-Tropical Gyre. The author of the corresponding article for the magazine had a frank lead-in to the topic which I think, after having read more on this, stands as highly appropriate.
----
I'm not one of those guys who corners folks at parties to rant at them about biodiesal or calls people "fucking idiots" for being skeptical about global warming. But I should also point out that I'm not one of those Andrew Dice Claw "Fuck the whales" types either.
The problem with all the bravado on both sides of the ecology debate is that nobody really knows what they are talking about. Trying to form opinions on climate change, overpopulation, and peak oil hinges on ginormous leaps of faith based around tiny statistical deviances that even the scientists studying them have a hard time understanding. It gets so convoluted with all the yelling and politics that sometimes you just want something huge and incontrovertibly awful to come along for everybody to agree on. Something you can show anyone a picture of and go, "See? We're fucked?"
Well, I have just such a thing. There is a Texas-size section of the Pacific Ocean that is irretrievably clogged with garbage and it will never go away. And I have seen it with my own eyes. Case Closed. Oh, you want to hear more? Ok, fine.
-------
That last hyperlink is, of course, to the full article online. I don't fully agree that the problem rests on understanding tiny variances, the variances are anything but tiny, however the urge to have something which can shock people out of complacency is something for which I have a great deal of sympathy.
Meanwhile the BBC has an ongoing diary that started a few days ago, which looks at the problem from the perspective of the bird population in Midway Island.
I present this information not to lord anything over anyone or to encourage a proper case of Doom to fall about you like a funeral shroud. I'm doing it partly to buck up the old sanity, partly because it's important that as many people be as aware as possible so that when they think about - say - reusing or not reusing those thing plastic bags we use at the supermarket for our fruit and vegetables, they maybe think of this shit and opt toward the more responsible option.
------------
ALSO: LET'S DO THIS AMERICA
One swan was noticeably slower than the other and thus, thanks to some half-memory from a Warner Brothers cartoon I saw years ago, I secretly named him "Wilbur" and sometimes provided him with dialogue of the slow-witted mountain person variety. He and his nameless, brighter accomplice would show up at 1pm each day like clockwork and once or twice a week I would take great pleasure and relaxation in feeding them bits of bread that I'd try to save for them. It's not hard to see why seniors enjoy doing this sort of thing. By getting lost in their little world I could take a nice break from the stresses of my own.
It was surprisingly difficult to get a decent shot of the two opportunistic ducks that would always see me feeding the swans and then nip over to try and steal what they could. The smarter, nameless swan often got really pissed at the ducks and once it even managed to clamp it's beak over the neck of a duck and give it a good shake - followed by a honk which I can only assume was Swan for "Fuck off you little bastard". Swan's are pretty foul mouthed eh? Anyways, I managed to get one of them in the bottom right of this picture.
Now, this is right along the waterfront - specifically the waterfront which is supposed to be the shining glory of Toronto with all those million dollar condos that get the Che Guevera T-shirt brigade rubbing their tits in a fury. A lot of effort has been put into the landscaping, architecture and general cleanliness of this place - a rough analogue to my beloved Thames Embankment. Thanks to where I was temping, I've even gotten some interesting glimpses at what is planned for the future of the waterfront along with plenty of Utopian concept drawings and models. All that said and I still caught plenty of this.
Which brought my mind back to things I've been reading in general and specifically about microscopic plastics in the world's supply of water. The mind starts to reel a bit, or at least mine did. I began to wonder how much of the chemical composition of Lake Ontario has been replaced by plastic particles. Then I wondered how much plastic was inside the Swan's stomachs. How much they were taking in with each bite of the bread I was tossing into the water for them to eat. How much of my own body, no matter how tiny a percentage, was contaminated by these particles - given the old 60% water routine. Idly tossing the bits of whole wheat into Wilbur's path, I felt like what I was doing was all of a sudden a bit sinister on just about every level possible. In a word, it felt polluted.
I appreciate that VICE magazine is an amusing and often offensive (though not for the reasons you'd think) source of information - but their Internet television network VBS is a largely different creature in terms of raw quality, particularly their journalistic programs. I've referred to their Toxic Alberta series before and now, in relation to what I'm talking about, I'll refer you to the preview of their upcoming Toxic Garbage Island series that will cover, firsthand, what is going on in the South Pacific Sub-Tropical Gyre. The author of the corresponding article for the magazine had a frank lead-in to the topic which I think, after having read more on this, stands as highly appropriate.----
I'm not one of those guys who corners folks at parties to rant at them about biodiesal or calls people "fucking idiots" for being skeptical about global warming. But I should also point out that I'm not one of those Andrew Dice Claw "Fuck the whales" types either.
The problem with all the bravado on both sides of the ecology debate is that nobody really knows what they are talking about. Trying to form opinions on climate change, overpopulation, and peak oil hinges on ginormous leaps of faith based around tiny statistical deviances that even the scientists studying them have a hard time understanding. It gets so convoluted with all the yelling and politics that sometimes you just want something huge and incontrovertibly awful to come along for everybody to agree on. Something you can show anyone a picture of and go, "See? We're fucked?"
Well, I have just such a thing. There is a Texas-size section of the Pacific Ocean that is irretrievably clogged with garbage and it will never go away. And I have seen it with my own eyes. Case Closed. Oh, you want to hear more? Ok, fine.
-------
That last hyperlink is, of course, to the full article online. I don't fully agree that the problem rests on understanding tiny variances, the variances are anything but tiny, however the urge to have something which can shock people out of complacency is something for which I have a great deal of sympathy.
Meanwhile the BBC has an ongoing diary that started a few days ago, which looks at the problem from the perspective of the bird population in Midway Island.
I present this information not to lord anything over anyone or to encourage a proper case of Doom to fall about you like a funeral shroud. I'm doing it partly to buck up the old sanity, partly because it's important that as many people be as aware as possible so that when they think about - say - reusing or not reusing those thing plastic bags we use at the supermarket for our fruit and vegetables, they maybe think of this shit and opt toward the more responsible option.
------------
ALSO: LET'S DO THIS AMERICA
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
I don't care if it's lame
...I've just put the final touches to my new bedroom. I've said it before, a good bedside lamp makes all the difference in your daily peace of mind (and proper curtains don't hurt either).
Also - magnificent coasters for the planned martini bar in the guest room.
Meanwhile, I had a bit of luck and bumped into another film-maker-in-the-making at my job today. He let me know about the Canadian Film Festival that is going on this week. I'm going to try for the opening gala tomorrow night and if that fails, at least one of the screenings. Meeting this fellow also reminded me that I should make some fuggin' business cards! How else am I ever going to become Mr. Hollywood?
---------------------
Addendum: I'm kind of a dick?
Also, some of you may be familiar with my theory that there is an alternate dimension populated entirely by political satire of this dimension....and shit is spilling over here from there.
Also - magnificent coasters for the planned martini bar in the guest room.
Meanwhile, I had a bit of luck and bumped into another film-maker-in-the-making at my job today. He let me know about the Canadian Film Festival that is going on this week. I'm going to try for the opening gala tomorrow night and if that fails, at least one of the screenings. Meeting this fellow also reminded me that I should make some fuggin' business cards! How else am I ever going to become Mr. Hollywood?---------------------
Addendum: I'm kind of a dick?
Also, some of you may be familiar with my theory that there is an alternate dimension populated entirely by political satire of this dimension....and shit is spilling over here from there.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Street Magic!
I just got back from a meeting with my web series collaborator that was pretty damn productive. I wish it wasn't the height of unprofessionalism to post every step of the process here, but luckily it isn't unprofessional to post the results and today we're a big step closer to doing that.
One thing that I can share is how he said to me that if I wrote something that could be as successful as "David Blaine's Street Magic" then he would throw money at me until I would never need another dollar. The first episode of the series has garnered fifteen million hits on YouTube, so basically only a few million short of something to do with Britney Spears' tits.
That is actually a compliment!
But out of the four online, the second and third are the best - so I've shared them below. All you really need to know going in is that "David Blaine" likes to harass the same two guys with various magic tricks. Enjoy!
One thing that I can share is how he said to me that if I wrote something that could be as successful as "David Blaine's Street Magic" then he would throw money at me until I would never need another dollar. The first episode of the series has garnered fifteen million hits on YouTube, so basically only a few million short of something to do with Britney Spears' tits.
That is actually a compliment!
But out of the four online, the second and third are the best - so I've shared them below. All you really need to know going in is that "David Blaine" likes to harass the same two guys with various magic tricks. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Optimus Sup-Prime
I knew the sub-prime housing thing in the U.S. had had plenty of unfortunate consequences, but I guess I didn't stretch my imagination far enough as the above video caught me off-guard.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
DinoDayDreams
The building I'm currently working in is rather tall and I'm up on the 13th floor, so it's very unusual to see something move past the window. But yesterday afternoon a very long crane came by a window in my peripheral vision and, probably due to the odd loping motion in which it did so, for one brief and shining moment my brain interpreted it as a friendly brontosaurus going about it's business.
In modern day Toronto. I am sure that he would teach us all a lesson about our common humanity before his tragic death at the hand of overprotective but well meaning parents.
For those of you who have yet to give up on me as a decent human being (and were hoping for that one last thing to help push them over the edge), I should mention that I pounded out a detailed treatment for a three minute short based on that loverly quiz.
In modern day Toronto. I am sure that he would teach us all a lesson about our common humanity before his tragic death at the hand of overprotective but well meaning parents.
For those of you who have yet to give up on me as a decent human being (and were hoping for that one last thing to help push them over the edge), I should mention that I pounded out a detailed treatment for a three minute short based on that loverly quiz.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Finally..
...a stupid Internet test I can get behind.
My Results
30And while we're looking at silly things, why don't you come here and help me feed my Simcity fetish?
My Results
30And while we're looking at silly things, why don't you come here and help me feed my Simcity fetish?
Meaty Posts should start with Meat
These are the boys, the meaty boys, which have my back this week.
Last night Roberto and I finally saw "There Will Be Blood". I went in with high expectations which were completely met and then met some more. Daniel-Day Lewis earned that fucking Oscar! For those of you have either seen it or don't care about SPOILERS, here is that final scene which made me have to work very hard not to pump my fist into the air and scream "EEEEEE...YYYYUS!". It was not the only scene to have this effect!For those of you who didn't already know, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood composed the entire soundtrack and did a magnificent job. During the very few shots where my attention may have wandered - namely broad California scenery shots - his soundtrack kept me absolutely riveted and contributed to the feeling that if I looked away, even for an instant, I would miss yet another magnificent example of What Film Should Do. Here's a clip of the music.
And if you feel like watching one of the horrors I came across in my failure to find my favorite scene, then go on ahead and do that to yourself!
Armed with what I knew going in, I very much expected the film to be evenly split between Eli the young pastor and Daniel the oil man. I should have paid more attention to the poster! This is a Daniel Day-Lewis marathon and though other actors put in strong performances, this really is all about him. He owns every scene he is in (about 90%) and you are always curious as to what he'll do next, even if it seems obvious. The charisma of his performance is such that you find yourself looking at the world through his characters own willful, misanthropic, pragmatic eyes and thus your opinion of his two more despicable acts has a way of being more sympathetic than it might be otherwise.
It's a shame we had to wait five years for another Paul Thomas Anderson film, but it was a wait that was richly rewarded. His cinematography took a film which may appear to have no need for the big screen and made that size screen borderline mandatory. Columns of oil, gritted teeth, bible thumping and other things which are not CGI muppets are presented with an intensity that matches Daniel Day-Lewis's frequent outbursts - including a part about halfway into the film where he just slaps the shit out of the sniveling young priest (which, frankly and a little sadistically I admit, I could watch on a continuous loop for some time).
So yes, this kind of plays to my "beliefs" at times and thus the final facet which the film maker has little control over - whether or not the story plays to your personal views - also fell into place. Grab your wallet and run to the theater as fast as you can!
Speaking of the imaginary beast brigade, the second big Scientology protest happened yesterday in 'celebration' of L. Ron Hubbard's birthday. The Toronto protest got a decent crowd and I nabbed a few photographs. Good on the three hundred plus got out there and gave these odious shit-merchants a poke in the eye. Another protest is already planned for April 12th and I think I'll finally participate.
Finally, I've recently learned of a real-life fellow who seems every bit as driven and strangely admirable as Daniel in "There Will Be Blood". His name is Joaquin Balaguer and I strongly suggest giving his wikipedia entry at least a little perusal, as he is just about the best example of a literal enviro-fascist as I've ever come across in my readings on history and politics.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
More Sweding
You may recall my rambling about "Be Kind, Rewind". Well, here is a particularly fun Swede of Star Wars that my room mate bumbled across. Enjoy!
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