Two Thousand and Feelin' Fine?

Russian Dolls from Made in Mundo on Vimeo.
This...this is just here.

Moving on!

I hate to trot this old trick, but if Present Oliver turned around and told Oliver Circa Dec 31st 2007 that in a years time he'd be where he'd be....he'd be pretty pleased!

Good or bad, 2008 has been nothing if not busy and eventful for me. Despite becoming a "victim of the economy" a couple of weeks ago, I feel really optimistic about the coming year. I have crazy fun plans for more Handful episodes, which oughta come out more regularly when I'm not getting let go just before the holiday season and then moving into a new place right after. Urban Exploration! Nostalgia! Pillow Fight League! Burlesque (finally)! and more? Yes! Why, there is even an episode where I might just get to bully a lot of my friends into wearing one of my shirts.

Oh and uh yeah I am moving into a new place, basically ten feet from my current place. I am greatly looking forward to it, if only because it is a three bedroom that was plainly intended for a family as there are two kids bedrooms and one, huge mummy/daddy room. Guess which room I'm taking? I did some measurements and I will be able to set aside enough space to fudge my own lil' studio for filming Handful - another tick in the "Things Which Will Help More Shows Get Made, More Often" column. I've also recently found my damn tablet again, which will be helpful for when I want to doodle up images either for a regular show or one of these terrifying things.

I also enjoy how Handful is making me get out and not only look for new things but try them. Maybe I would have tried UE regardless of Handful....but I can't say that for sure. I certainly wouldn't have gone out of my way to learn about terrifying lakes or done a fun interview with Ryan North. So hopefully this is a preview of when I will be a Big Scriptwriting Man who gets sent around the world on adventures by studios.

Also, it's incredibly tenative at this point buuuut, I might be writing a musical? And getting the wheels turning to make the feature film of Tonight We Fall In Love? There are other things too, but it's absurd to mention them at this stage. The point is that the fire has some irons in it.

With moving into the new place I am committing to Toronto for at least another year and...honestly, at least another two. Why at least two? This is because I have moved an ungodly amount of times since I first left ma and pa's porch, manfully steeling myself against the sound of my mother sobbing as I strode out into a world which could produce something like this. I'd like not to be thinking about moving or the possibility of moving for a while, so valuable time and energy can be freed up for the important things.

So yes, the results are in: Between London and Ottawa, I find Toronto to be the middle bowl of porridge. Good size, enough interesting stuff and a good group of people to get up to shenanigans with. Let's hope I'm piping the same tune in 356 days time.

To close, here is a great sign that my pal Victor spotted (and nabbed) while we were walking along the street.
I can only hope the person who wrote this will eventually learn the error of their "racism" or at least figure out how " " should be used.

We need more ads like this one, I feel. Also...do you think the wretched bastards who are trying to get people to think coal is cotton candy...well, what would their reaction be to Santa dropping coal in their stocking?

Better than a stickman?

Here's hopin'

More words later, Oliver busy

These are from my first Urban Exploration, over at The Brickworks - a location suitable for a beginner.


I cannot explain this canoe, can you?
Oh look, Hipster detrius....

I cannot get this style of architecture out of my head...

...ever since seeing a big hardcover on the stuff at the AGO when I went.
Yes, I do believe I have to paint this. I've done a pair from that IBM series, which I'll post pictures of when I get a chance, so I reckon it's fair to set a new target.

Special super not so secret mock-up...

...for the new Handful site design, which I did up with my CSS enabled pal last night.The pocketwatch will be cleaned up a good deal, possibly with the chain re-attached to trail off into infinity and the cartoon version of yours truly on the right just MIGHT be of a higher quality. It will likely be faceless, primary coloured dealie with no facial features. I want it to be more of an icon than a false idol of one Mr. O T C B. It occured to me last night that I basically don't need newsposts much longer than the little blurbs Christ Onstad puts up sometimes over at Achewood, since I'm already sharing links on the left-hand side and as for talking with my audience....I'm kind of doing that in the video!

Kind of.

I'm not sure how big of a deal this is, BUT

I just got invited and then approved to become a Motionmaker over at Dailymotion, one of the several sites I upload Handful to using Tubemogul. Apparently "Several creative users and talents have been discovered thanks to the MotionMaker program.", but we shall see!

MEANWHILE

I didn't do a write-up here on Sunday as I usually do, because I'd thrown myself into a deep well marked "Hedonism" as a way of reconstituting myself. The previous weekend was spent entirely doing errands and filming, the latter of which is fun but still technically a form of work!

More interesting news to report is that the disappointment of not hearing back from my prospective editor when I actually called upon him to back up his positive noises with positive work...was lightened by my discovering that a good friend of mine a) knows CSS like the back of her hand and b)is willing/excited to help me redesign my website so it doesn't scream "AD-HOC BLOG-SITE".

It just screams and screams!

So, that's pretty okay. I reckon I'm going to see if we can't get something which sits in the same neighborhood as www.qwantz.com and www.octopuspie.com as I find they have the most appealing and usuable websites of anything I regularly browse.

ADDENDUM: Here is my new, customized Dailymotion profile. I'll pipe up if this has any result past letting me wank around in Photopaint for five minutes!

I discover the saddest things....

...while cobbling together these fucking Rube Goldberg designed videos I call "Handful".

Horse Dogg Maniac

Today will consist of filming a new episode, finishing editing the previous one I filmed and then putting it online? In case I don't find the time to write a proper update here I just thought I'd share the following, which I couldn't help thinking of while writing a line for what I'm filming today.

Pip Pip

So it seems that the rising star, Scroobius Pip, that I caught in Camden last year has a new and much more professional video out for their song "A Letter from God to Man".

This reminds me....I haven't been to one (music) show all year! WHATTHEHELL

HUH

I didn't know my hometown had had a big UFO story when I was a kid!

With the help of a friend I filmed the first "Season Two" episode of Handful yesterday and, thanks to what I hope is a clever idea on my part, I currently have footage to slap together two new episodes. I still have the number of that editor I met up with a few weeks back and I could certainly do with offloading some of the work - but the control freak in me just wants to do it himself...

I saw the best view I've ever seen in Toronto

from the balcony of an apartment I'll likely never see again while both my cameras sat snugly in their pouches on my bookshelf.

I figured I'd give it AGO

The AGO renovations finally finished and it's free entry for the smelly masses during the initial weeks - so I thought I'd see if I could get my smelly mass in this morning.
The second photo is where I began my line-up journey. It extended forward to the intersection and then left to the front of the AGO, where it snaked a couple of times. Though intimidating to look at, once the doors opened I was inside within about five minutes - so no complaints there. I think there was a pretty capable staff of paid workers and volunteers on duty today.This crucifix/compass really did it for me. I haven't much interest in religious artifacts until you make them double as gadgets.
This is a bad photo (cameras aren't allowed - I'm a dick - so I had to take some shaky numbers while attempting to be surreptitious) of a good subject. There were many, many ornate model boats in the AGO's collection but this and it's contemporaries hooked me in the most due to their being prisoner ships. That is to say they were made by prisoners of the British, mostly French sea men, who would use the bones from their meals for parts.

This inscribed Atlas was also a treat. Fact is though, there were many treats! That is what happens when you have five floors and a basement filled with art.That is what happens.
As for the building itself...it's spacious, mostly white walls and glass...and very trick to photograph from the inside. But a couple of features I can show in a decent fashion are the attractive rear staircase which connects the fourth and fifth floors...
...and one of the rear-viewing seating areas, on both the fourth and fifth floors, which were in constant demand.I read some articles recently which rabbited on comparing the AGO - and by extension, Toronto - to other galleries and, also by extension, other cities. London came up the most often as a kind of competitor/measure of what to aspire for and speaking as a fellow who's been to the Tate, Saatchi and other famous London galleries...I think the AGO measures up just fine.

Some of the articles tried to reposition Toronto as a "more reserved" city, as if "Oh we don't do Greatness here, that's just a little loud for our distinguished Canadian tastes". Well, if that didn't feel like a rationalization for a euro-inferiority complex then I don't know what does!Fuggit, the AGO has a strong collection housed in a well designed building that was a pleasure for me to spend almost four hours in today. Whether you live in Toronto or plan to visit, I'd say it's worth the fee they'll start charging soon.

[----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Meanwhile I finally got a new video up at Handful Of Minutes and have plans to continue doing so at a reasonable pace. Instead of the weekly updates, however, I'm going to have a "when it happens" schedule until early next year as I know the rest of 2008 is just going to be too chaotic for me to promise any more. I'll still aim for once a week, but shan't go making big promises and raking myself over the coals when events prevent me from fulfilling them.

After a two month break, it felt good to slap something up again!

For those who give a shit

Here's some test footage from that camera I discussed in my last post. I think the sound is good enough for Handful, do you agree?

Talking Cat Author, New Camera and also SWEARS

Tuesday night was special for millions, if not billions, of people all around the world. The reason for this, of course, was that I got to have a brief chat with Chris Onstad while (and after) he signed my copy of the GOF book.The best part of the evening came before this photo was taken, however, when I completely snubbed Onstad because I failed to recognize him walking along with Ryan. This is attributable to two things:

1) Unlike most webcomic authors, Onstad has never done conventions or even much in the way of being photographed. This book tour is his first ever series of public appearances, seven years after he started the comic and with his popularity already well established amongst the usual circles.

2) The one photo I ever saw of him was from an interview with The Onion AV Club, a photo which my memory decided to switch to a high-angle-looking-down perspective which made him appear about 5'6 when he is more like 6'3.

Speaking of The Onion AV club, here's an interview with Felicia Day - who is mostly known for a pair of web series called The Guild and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - which I found handy in the context of Handful.

SEGWAY

So I'm testing another camera, this one being more upscale than the Flip Mino knock-off but still decidedly in the realm of "consumer toy" rather than professional equipment. But for now I only have consumer dollars, though it sure would be nice to get the show to a point where I can sell merchandise and/or solicit donations which could go towards professional equipment!

Inspired by yet more nice comments which have come as a result of that young British fan's showcasing the Great Lakes episode, I have desperately been trying to whip together something for this weekend. Long story short, I seem to have to uninstall and completely reinstall my editing software - rarrrrgh.

But on the other fag, despite the fact that this camera (that links to pretty much the same model, just replace the "SDHC" after the slash with "PC") comes with it's own terrible editing software that insists on being the only way to get reasonable files off the camera....it just might be what I go with. At the very least, it's much closer as there are a reasonable amount of features (i.e. low-light compensation, backlight compensation, a pseudo-directional mike called a "zoom mike") and palatable video/sound quality for what I want to do. Also it is cheap enough that I could stomach going into a little debt for a second one and a tripod.

Assuming I get the editing software thing resolved today I will at the very least be uploading some of the different slices of test footage I've done and if the planets align I'll even have a new episode of Handful up!

Oh wait, I'm not sure I got in the swears I promised (sorry mum).

FUUUUUUUUUCK PROPRIETARY EDITING SOFTWARE THAT WON'T LET ITSELF BE INSTALLED ON ANY DRIVE OTHER THAN "C:" AND FUUUUUUUUUUCK THE COCKSLAPPING SLAPCOCKS WHO WON'T JUST LET ME GRAB THE FILES OFF THE CAMERA IN A REASONABLE FORMAT LIKE .AVI or .MPEG BUT INSTEAD MAKE THE RAW FILES SOME .MOD BULLSHIT THAT HAS TO BE SQUEEZED THROUGH THEIR SOFTWARE'S SPHINCTER TO BECOME A USABLE .MPEG

Count down the seconds until "Software Sphincter" becomes a common programming term! Count'em off!

Erection Day

The election which has more of an impact on our lives than that of our own nation's happens tomorrow.

Finally.

I wouldn't say I'm worn out, but it's been getting hard to remember what I did with some of my spare time when I wasn't obsessively bouncing between the BBC, Crooks & Liars, The Daily Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, fivethirtyeight.com and - when feeling particularly obsessive - any damn news source I can get my hands on.

I read three articles in the Toronto Sun today. The Sun for Christ's sake.

The way I see it is this, yes I can end up being pretty OCD with my interests but this is something else. Bush Jr came into power not long before I left home and his reign kicked into overdrive as I'd barely begun my University degree. So he has basically been the U.S. President of my adult life thus far. Say what you will about the coming end of American dominance, this has been and will continue to be one of the most influential individuals in the entire human race. And though he's a far cry in deeds, I can't say much more about our own slide from Chretien to the breif bit of Mr. Mediocre to Prime Minister "Fuck the arts, fuck the environment, fuck you" Harper.
It's been an adult-hood where I've witnessed the bar just sink lower and lower and lower. Where I've repeatedly felt like the satirical warnings of yesterday have become the terrifying realities of today. I'm not some naive twat that thinks Obama is going to fly around the world dropping "Solve all your problem" vouchers.
But good gravy, I think that he'll be a breath of fresh air after the last eight years. I even think there is a good chance he'll put as positive a tone to the next eight as W. has put a negative one to the last eight.

Turn off your cynicism for a moment and just try to imagine such a thing. It's rather pleasant and uplifting, isn't it?

I'm going to go to an election party at the Bloor Cinema tomorrow night and expect to get as wound up as I've often seen others get while watching the final game of the World Series or the like. The stakes are certainly high enough!----

In other newz, lord but I kind of want this but must pinch pennies for a camera or two and also other important things that are not an internet reference in shirt form.

Hallowed Weiners

Hooo boy Halloween was good this year. My buddy Victor saved me from coming to our party as "Jerk Without A Costume" by whipping up this little number.Alas, the nearest dollar store was all out of toy guns I could have done up to help complete the look, but I ain't complaining.The past week has been something of a blur thanks to the latest in my favorite video game franchise of all time. Once more I am reminded of a friend's suggestion that I look into writing for video games, given the overall trend to graft a cinematic storyline onto even the dumbest, most straightforward 'tard-with-gun simulators being produced. It's an interesting thought but:

1. I know very little about how to get to the point where I'd help write a game.
2. It would involve collaborating with an entire team of writers, not something I'm sure I'm keen on.

But who knows what the future might bring?In Handful news, I succeeded in finding an editor only to have a different rug pulled out from under me. My cameraman is, quite fairly, taking six weeks paid work on a production which will render him incommunicado for that period (for those who don't know how these things tend to go, my pal is due for days that will average ten to twelve hours and which will frequently go for longer. Understandably he will want to use his small amounts of free time to rest!).

So I am leaning even more towards accepting some debt and investing in a pair of cameras along with a pair of clip-on microphones. I desperately need to get more control over the means of production if I'm going to get the show coming out on a regular basis when I get into season two, instead of fits and starts.

But I am feeling encouraged today, thanks to a very kind gesture by a British fan who gets piles of traffic. A couple of days ago he set my "Not So Great Lakes" to be the featured video on his youtube channel page, which has resulted in it's views going to 1,826 as of five minutes ago. This in turn has led to some more subscribers and some kind, thoughtful comments - which are basically as rare an occurrence as air turning to gold.

Seeing London, Seeing Toronto

Look up.


So I followed through on my desire to take more pictures, but I guess I mostly got the desire to literally try a different way of looking at the city.
Not to be mean to Toronto, but in London I could just spin in a circle, tap the button and get an interesting picture - if I put myself in the right neighborhood. I find that isn't the case here.
But I don't want to give up on finding a little wonder where I live, just because it's more familiar.
I haven't spent as much time here as I did in London, but we're getting there. In a little over two weeks time it will have been a year since I returned from London.
To myself I have fairly frequently thought "A year ago I was doing X in London, today I'm doing Y in Toronto". No one comparison is enough to answer "Did I make the right call coming back? Did I make the right call to go in the first place?". So I keep checking and I guess I won't stop until November 14th, a year from the day I dragged my life down the Northern Line and into Gatwick airport.
Trying to answer those kinds of questions is fairly asinine in my opinion, but necessary all the same. Between having received something of a steady kicking for the past couple of months and seeing several projects and working relationships change shape recently...I'm feeling that urge to try and draw out on a piece of paper the perfect diagram of what I'd like to make happen in the months to come.
So take a picture why don't you.