A collection of digital wonders and some other stuff
My friend Shannon Phillips is a freelance writer and journalist. When she asked me to take some photos for her new story, I jumped at the chance. I’m happy to say, the editors at Alberta Views used two of my images for the October edition article.
You can read Shannon Pillips’s full Alberta Beef article ON ITS LAST LEGS?.
Surrogates: “If robots had to make a movie without human help, Surrogates is what they might come up with. All the parts are visible, but there’s no soul to be found.” —Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
The Invention of Lying: “We cannot tell a lie: This one is missable.” —Rex Roberts, Film Journal International
Fame: “The new remake of the 1980 hit ‘Fame’ is not going to live forever and has clearly not learned how to fly.” —Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com
Love Happens: “More truthful (equally generic) titles might include: ‘Death Happens,’ ‘Psychobabble Happens’ or ‘Lazy Screenwriters Make Love Happen Even If The Leads Have No Chemistry'” —Dan Fienberg, HitFix
Lethbridge is having its 3rd Annual Zombie Walk tomorrow at Galt Gardens at ~6pm.
We’ll meet up at Galt Gardens, like we’ve done before,
at 5:30, once gathered we’ll wait until 6 or shortly after 6 for all you stragglers!Let me reiterate what’s been posted on the wall, you can be any age to participate in the walk and we encourage you under 18 zombie freaks to come out!. It’s only the concert at the Slice afterwards that’s 18+.
The Brains are once again gonna be providing us with entertainment afterwards at the Slice. There is no better band for the occasion! There will be a cover charge of $10 which is more than reasonable for The Brains alone. but we’re lucky zombies this year because we even get our very own Phantom Creeps this year!
Let’s make this one HUGE, tell your friends, tell them to tell their friends.. The Undead will once again wander the streets!
Update: CityTV called me a couple of years ago and I pointed them in the direction of the Zombie Walk. They covered it this year.
Feeling tired after a long day at school, I walk toward the setting sun. I must run to catch the pedestrian light and I jump to safety just as the countdown reaches zero.
I walk another block to my forlorn vehicle. Everyone else picked up their cars hours ago. I feel anxious to get home. I roll down my window to let some of the hot air out of the Jeep and I’m on my way.
I glance at the oncoming traffic and see my opening. I quickly make my right hand turn, rushing out to catch another green light just down the block.
That’s when I notice you. Your blonde hair is glistening in the setting sun. My gaze immediately settles on your bright blue eyes. You are riding toward the setting sun. You are beautiful, but you look like you’re about to die.
My wheels scream as I slam on the brakes. Your jaw drops and you stare at me like I’ve done something wrong. I wonder what that could possibly be.
“Why are you riding your bike on the wrong side of the road?” I yell out the window.
You don’t respond. Instead, you quickly peddle away. I wonder if you’ll opt for the safety of the sidewalk, but no, you are incorrigible that way. I watch my rear view mirror as you continue to slip past oncoming traffic and out of my life. You are someone else’s problem now.
A friend of mine is interning at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. She works next door to 1600 Pensylvania and though it’s only been a few days the interesting stories are already flowing:
“The street right outside of my workplace is closed off because [Prime Minister] Stephen Harper is coming to the White House. There was a little protest demanding that the US not buy dirty oil. Protestors wore costumes resembling dirty oil barrels and one person in particular was dressed like Chewbacca in a hockey jersey wearing a Harper mask. Is Harper, or are Canadians in general, known for their love of Star Wars?
My guess is he was trying to look like a sasquatch, or possibly it was just a long haired hippie protester that only looked like Chewbacca.
Update: Now that I’ve seen the photo, I think the point of the furry custom was to say that Canada’s carbon footprint is LARGE like Bigfoot.
Overheard in my Art History class:
“I don’t like how they teach conceptual ideas at this school. I wish they would focus on the more technical aspects, because I don’t want to be an artist—I just want to teach art.”
In case you’ve ever wondered exactly what to say in a first message, OKTrends (the blog from the dating site OKcupid) has compiled just the data you need to review.
A “Left for Dead” Zombie/Beatles Mashup, with more clever Beatles references than days in a week (at least I thought so Yesterday):
(via)
Author/activist Naomi Klein on Q critiquing the Toronto Internation Film Festival’s spotlight on Tel Aviv. Filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici takes up the other side.
A political and artistic debate is being waged at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. An open letter of protest from the Toronto Declaration protests TIFF’s City-to-City Spotlight, which is focussing on the work of Israeli filmmakers from Tel Aviv. The signatories, which include Q guest Naomi Klein, actor Harry Belafonte, Jane Fonda and writer Rawi Hage, argue TIFF is complicit in Israel’s Rebranding campaign that aims to shift emphasis away from the occupation, especially in a year where the conflict in Gaza resulted in over 1,000 deaths of Palestinians. TIFF denies any ideological pressure was applied. On the other side of the debate, filmmakers like Q guest Simcha Jacobovici, David Cronenberg, Ivan Reitman, and Robert Lantos argue that judging films by their country of origin rather than the quality of the artistic product, is a kind of censorship.
Noami explains that the letter is not about politics and censorship but about trying to separate the propaganda from the films:
“We’re not asking for anything—that’s what’s so amazing. The reports today, in response to the statements from Norman Jewison and David Cronenberg, are kind of amazing to me because they’re all denouncing censorship. I’m against censorship. I’m not trying to censor anything. None of the thousand people who signed this letter are trying to censor anything. Even on CBC, sorry to say, they are reporting that we have a problem with the ten films. We have no problem with these ten films. I have seen some of the films—I think they are terrific and I think they are so good they deserve to be part of the regular festival programming and not politicized as part of this celebration of the State of Israel, of the city of Tel Aviv, because that’s not about art, that’s about politics.
The man behind the counter explains that he’s going to run to the back to get some more chicken for the small sandwich. I shrug and smile but I’m in a bit of a hurry. I will need to eat and walk if I don’t want to be late. I’m not even sure of the room number.
I watch as people of all shapes and sizes collect their various orders of coffee and tea. The petite blond, the tall brunette, then a skinny guy with braces, they are each in their own world. They take their turn, grabbing beverages while I wait. My fascination with people watching begins to lose its appeal; my mouth waters as I stare at the incomplete toasted chicken sandwich.
Finally, the man with the chicken returns. He throws some bacon on for good measure and it’s complete! I decline a bag. I’m anxious to rip into that sandwich that I’d been thinking about since I left the house.
I unwrap the paper, ready to dig in when suddenly, in a moment of gross miscalculation, half the sandwich falls—it’s much smaller than anticipated and the prospect of recovering it vanishes before the thought is fully formed.
I stand dejected amongst a crowd of disconnected people, bacon, tomato, and chicken strewn out before me.
I will have plenty of time to find my class.