The Atomic Ant

Spiderman 4: Josten's Revenge

2007-05-04T18:04:00.000-04:00

Photoblog

2007-04-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

After quite some time having fun with this site, I've found something new.
I like to post photos, and while decent, Blogger doesn't provide the best format as a photoblog.
I discovered a great, free photoblog hosting site, and started one of my own.

Check it out: Figure8.

I'll be posting daily photography. Also, check out the community pages. There are plenty of great photographers that use this provider.
You'll still see the occassional post here. You'll see more on the photoblog.

Roofy.

2007-04-04T21:56:00.000-04:00

What? No Barenaked Ladies guy?

2007-03-18T22:03:00.000-04:00

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

After another random comment about looking like Steven Paige, from a recovering alcoholic at Union Station, I figured I'd give this a whirl. The results have surprised the nation, and by nation, I mean me. Maybe I can find work in the Dalai Lama's security detail as his double. Or, just change my name to Chester Bennington, who shares a lookalike distinction with Mike S. I think its the glasses.

And a rockin' St. Patty's Day to you!!

2007-03-16T09:13:00.001-04:00

Her name is RIU.

2007-03-16T07:30:00.000-04:00

And now, back to the wall.

2007-03-14T07:55:00.000-04:00

After a short hiatus (mime drinking motion with hand), this I had to post:

Jerry!

2006-10-11T06:52:00.000-04:00

My father-in-law in 10 days.

I really want one of these.

2006-09-29T07:30:00.000-04:00

Reading through a new book by that science guy, I came across a footnote about this machine:

The ``Ultimate Machine,'' based on an idea of Mervin Minsky, was built in the early fifties. The operation and spirit were well described by Arthur C. Clarke in Voice Across the Sea: ``Nothing could be simpler. It is merely a small wooden casket, the size and shape of a cigar box, with a single switch on one face. When you throw the switch, there is an angry, purposeful buzzing. The lid slowly rises, and from beneath it emerges a hand. The hand reaches down, turns the switch off and retreats into the box. With the finality of a closing coffin, the lid snaps shut, the buzzing ceases and peace reigns once more. The psychological effect, if you do not know what to expect, is devastating. There is something unspeakably sinister about a machine that does nothing -- absolutely nothing -- except switch itself off.''

Apps.

2006-09-27T21:54:00.000-04:00

Gnomosexual.

2006-09-25T07:18:00.000-04:00

Jared and RM Vaughn put this together for a show at SPIN gallery (I think - it was one on the Queen St. strip), and they used one of my stills as part of the flick.

The Terracotta Snail.

2006-09-21T07:58:00.000-04:00

Long Way Round.

2006-09-13T07:37:00.000-04:00

A touch of introspection has revealed that this post is probably unnecessary for several reasons:

- everyone knows I love TV already;
- as with most things, I'm probably coming onto this well after everyone else knows about it;
- I don't think Ewan McGregor needs my help;
- if you read ChampagneMinimalist, then you've heard gush of this before.

That said, Oh.My.God. is Long Way Round one of the best TV shows I've every pointed my `balls at. We're about halfway through the DVDs, and I really want to call in sick so I can watch the rest of them today. I'm going to have to read the book when I'm done with the show. If you like travel/documentaries, motorcycles, movie stars, and adventure, then check this out if you get the chance.

The Year of the Mullet.

2006-09-11T18:13:00.000-04:00

This year's birthday gifts included, among other things, gummy candies shaped like fast food, bottles of wine, a loverly photograph, a bag of 100 balls, and a foam-rubber mullet wig. While it is a little pinchy, it sure is purdy.

Another 1000 Words.

2006-09-07T07:29:00.000-04:00

Check out the new post at 1000 word pictures.

You Say Tomato, I Say Potential Pasta Sauce.

2006-09-06T07:55:00.000-04:00

Long Weekend Wedding.

2006-09-05T07:36:00.000-04:00

Fitto: Karaoke Master.

2006-09-01T07:45:00.000-04:00

Random Photo Offering.

2006-08-28T07:29:00.000-04:00

The Eaton Centre: Mall from the Future, or Artifact from the Past?

It isn't how long the lunch is, it's how many people it feeds.

2006-08-24T07:53:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was the Warkworth Long Lunch, which is only in it's third year, but starting to get quite a following. There was an article in the Toronto Star, several others in the local papers around Warkworth, and Jerry was interviewed by a New York radio station who caught wind of the event.

The day started OK, but by the time lunch started, it was raining, pretty hard. About half the tables were moved into the Town Hall. It did clear up enough for folks to eat outside later, but vittle-space was tight for a while. The event sold out - they were even recycling tickets already handed in by other folks, so essentially scalping their own tickets. Best eats: the corn, and home-made baked beans. Disappointing: oddly enough, the home-made pie, which I'm sure is considered a controversial stance.

There was an estrange parade in the middle of the afternoon - I couldn't tell whether it was some weird community dance troupe, or a high school thing. I was getting the eye from one of the ladies, who, if you believe in stereotyping, was a pretty classic template for that drama/art teacher with radically short hairdos, and who makes her students call her all by her first name. But I digress. Weird Parade: check out the last photo. Whoever this group is, they decided that a colonialist/trapped savage pair was a good idea.

Cot-tage! Cot-tage!

2006-08-20T19:10:00.000-04:00

From a couple of weekends ago, at the cottage. A loverly weekend of hanging, drinking, eating, overeating, sitting, watching the fire, swimming, and much relaxin'. Aaaahhhhh, summer.

No, we're not writing our own vows.

2006-08-18T07:16:00.000-04:00

Live Long and Prosper.

2006-08-14T07:42:00.000-04:00

Ever thought it'd be great to have Star Trek versions of those inspirational and motivational posters so popular at my work? Your long and agonized wait is over!

I wonder if we can register for one of these.....

2006-08-07T20:11:00.000-04:00

We're heading down the street, going to get some Mexican for dinner:

and checking out the trees and flowers on this loverly summer day:

When we came across some new lawn art installed down the street:

- maybe a metal band moved in down the road?
- maybe one can burn incense in it?
- perhaps the Bay carries these, so I can add it to the registry?

Goofin' around with Sunset.

2006-08-06T21:31:00.000-04:00

So, messing with photoshop again, killing time, with some sunset shots from ce soir.

Here, Bloggie, Bloggie, Bloggie!

2006-08-03T07:36:00.000-04:00

Time's been scarce, and I haven't felt inspired lately - the blog has been neglected.

In the interim, check out Law of the Vampire, the photonovella I've been working on with Jared that some of you ended up involved in - it turned out pretty dang well, I have to say.

And, move over to 1000 word pictures for some new fiction.

Otherwise, keep coming back, for soon new stuff will be posted. I have to start carrying my digital camera with me again.

Badger Hound.

2006-07-12T07:21:00.000-04:00

I would enjoy having this doggie. So majestic in the lower picture; could be a press photo for `The Daschund King'. Also, a new post has gone up on 1000 word pictures. Also, Puddy found a weird link. Check it out.

Fishbulb.

2006-06-27T07:20:00.000-04:00

Keep Reaching For That Rainbow!

2006-06-20T18:20:00.000-04:00

Taking a browse through the corporate archives, I found this old poster, used to promote the bank's `services'. Quite a dramatic advert, and an example of the cultural differences between the gay old days, and today's gays. A post in honour of Pride Week!

More Cottage.

2006-06-06T07:38:00.000-04:00

Cottage Time!

2006-05-30T07:37:00.000-04:00

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Cottage Time 2006 is upon us. As I sit in a humid cloud of petrochemicals, sweating gently into my shorts, I look back just 10 days ago, when I was watching it almost snow, drinking a beer and watching the wind whip up whitecaps. Can't wait to do it again!

These are just a small sampling of the photos I took while up there. Don't worry - there'll be plenty more.

Pink Boots.

2006-05-23T08:06:00.000-04:00

Tilty.

2006-05-19T07:08:00.000-04:00

Get out the sunblock.

2006-05-16T14:05:00.000-04:00

They say it is going to be a hot, dry summer. Sunblock, A/C, sitting still, and soothing iced teas, here I come!

Speed 3: The Buffet.

2006-05-15T10:01:00.000-04:00

The Under-Gardiner.

2006-05-12T11:01:00.000-04:00

This was the first part of town I got to know well way back when I was looking to move here. Searching for an apartment, I was driving up from St. Catharines on a regular basis, and staying with some at-the-time friends on the edge of The Beach. The Gardiner/Lakeshore combination became very well-driven for those few months. I moved to TO on Hallowe'en Day 1997, and ended up at a costume party at a Beach pub, at which the aged DJ played that freakin' (I get knocked down, and I get up again, and I want to punch this band in the face) Chumbawumba song every hour on the hour.

Girl On Film + Mini-Rant.

2006-05-09T07:53:00.000-04:00

So, T-bird's probably going to kill me for putting these up: this may be my last post. That said, on Sunday we had our engagement photo shoot out at the Brickworks. In order to help loosen up for the hour of posing, we did a little photoshoot of our own in the parking lot while waiting for Kim. Of the pictures we took, these are my faves:

On another note, a new bit of business-speak has been pissing me off lately. It seems to be very popular with the people on the board of directors I'm sitting on: whenever there's an issue or point that needs to be addressed between two or three people, and not the entire board, someone ultimately says `Let's address this offline'. What the fuck? Offline? When did `offline' become shorthand for `howza-bout we don't waste everyone's time, and deal with this privately after the meeting adjourns?'? Stupid inappropriate word choice - that's really the biggest pisser with business-speak, is how a weak metaphor is turned into concrete descriptors. Sigh.

Skyline.

2006-05-08T14:09:00.000-04:00

Spadina Signals.

2006-05-02T07:34:00.000-04:00

Streetlights.

2006-04-30T14:07:00.000-04:00

We put the `mental' in Experimental Theatre.

2006-04-25T09:47:00.000-04:00

Electro-cones.

2006-04-23T19:02:00.000-04:00

Happy Number 3.

2006-04-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

Three years ago today, a plucky young me blew off Easter dinner with his parents, and a plucky young T-bird showed up despite a wicked head cold, to attend our first ever date at the Green Room. Happy Anniversary, Baby!

Balls Falls.

2006-04-18T09:35:00.000-04:00

Went home for the Easter; it was such a nice weekend, we headed to the nearest conservation area for a walk. Of course, this park is called `Ball's Falls' because the family that settled here a couple hundred years ago was the Ball family. They had a couple of mills, lime kilns, and other fun historic things, until the railway was built that totally circumvented the Balls.

Let's Raise a Glass to Not Getting Kidnapped.

2006-04-17T10:04:00.000-04:00

Good Friday party for the Gillian, who'll be heading off to Israel with her dad on Wednesday. Have fun, good luck, and come back to us on schedule, and with interesting stories.

Wine Makin'.

2006-04-13T07:49:00.000-04:00

Big thanks to Chris for the gift of wine - we bottled our Christmas gift this past weekend, and here are some pictures of the momentous event.

Home Show weekend.

2006-04-11T10:15:00.000-04:00

We hit the Home Show this past weekend, out at the CNE, thanks to Sam's cuz who works with the Remax. We had big VIP tags around our necks, and were able to butt in line ahead of everyone else because of it - pretty awesome. A crazy amount of stuff there, including sparkly sinks, a $42,000 shower with about 50 heads, a place for your cans of drink, a TV, and radio, and other fun fun sundries. Not shown: the booth that will render 3D portraits/images into crystal. T-bird and I got a portrait of each other, on a keychain. Worth the price of admission, right there.

Chez Nous.

2006-04-07T12:12:00.000-04:00

When I look at my place from this angle, I get a sense of deja vu, and not just because I've lived here for almost two years. The deja vu comes from a memory that is years old, a drunken evening that found Sam, me, and a few others, walking to a house-party. We passed a house that one of the group pointed to, who mentioned that a friend lived in the upstairs apartment, but this friend was a bit of a weirdo. We yelled her name a couple of times as we strolled by the place, but no one came to the window; it seemed like no one was home. Then we turned the corner, and kept going on our merry way. I can't remember the name, but can't say for sure it wasn't the previous tenant of our place.

The first time we drove by this apartment down Barton, when we were considering moving in, I was hit with my Keanu-Reeves-Internal-Voice saying `Whoa.' I'll never know for sure, and indeed there are probably thousands of houses in the downtown that resemble mine, but I'll always wonder if, co-incidentally, I randomly shouted at the house I'd later move into.

Big Bling B.

2006-04-06T09:11:00.000-04:00

Somehow, Blogger changed this from Gold to Blue during the upload; at least the bling remained the same. T-Bird learned how to make gansta text recently, and sent me this: I immediately saw an eight-foot by six-foot version of this, printed either on black velvet or, perhaps, PVC, hanging behind the head table at the wedding. I will also be wearing a clock around my neck. Seriously, I want a version of this somewhere at the wedding venue - maybe, a la `Where's Waldo?' (Where's Blinged out B?), it will be up to you, the invitees, to try and find it. Extra dessert for whomever locates it.

El Doublo.

2006-04-05T21:49:00.000-04:00

Industrial Etobicoke.

2006-04-04T07:27:00.000-04:00

Now in colour and black and white.

Gladstone/Burlesque.

2006-04-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

Some fun to be had on a Friday night: dinner with Janer, and then a trip to the Gladstone for what was billed as a burlesque show. Seeing the Gladstone complete was a treat, for sure; the show, not so much. Some of the dancing was fun, but the patter in between was something my grade 10 drama class could have written. Still, good times had by each.

Alley Art.

2006-03-31T10:26:00.000-05:00

Tree-Bagged.

2006-03-30T07:23:00.000-05:00

Yet More Trees!

2006-03-29T07:18:00.000-05:00

Looking Up.

2006-03-27T15:12:00.000-05:00

Sunday Shopping.

2006-03-26T18:24:00.000-05:00

Checking out the shoes on Queen Street this afternoon, looked up, and saw a funky skylight.

The Pits.

2006-03-26T17:19:00.000-05:00

Graffito Robotic Surprise.

2006-03-24T09:16:00.000-05:00

Deterioration.

2006-03-23T14:31:00.000-05:00

Window.

2006-03-22T07:14:00.000-05:00

More Photoshop Fun.

2006-03-21T07:24:00.000-05:00

What happens when I take shaky, zoom-lens, long-exposure, digital photos of a lamp glowing in a window at night, then run them through Photoshop?

This:

Brunching in Belleville.

2006-03-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

Some random shots from last weekend's adventure in Warkworth - we ended up brunching at Cora's in Belleville on Saturday. The restaurant was in an old hotel downtown, that had some great old Art Deco features, and was in a part of the hotel that could have been an old ballroom, or something.

Weirdness in the sticks.

2006-03-17T12:58:00.000-05:00

For whatever reason, this past weekend out of town was reminiscent of an Abrahams, Zucker, Zucker film, at least in respect to the weird signage and packaging I came across, a selection of which is provided for your slack-jawed amazement:

Weekend in Warkwarth.

2006-03-16T07:36:00.000-05:00

Spent last weekend in Warkwarth, and stumbled across a petting zoo and pony rides associated with the local Maple Syrup festival. Unfortunately, I was bigger than the pony, so no rides for me.

Bedhead.

2006-03-14T20:34:00.000-05:00

I present to you: my bedhead! Can you feel the `80s?

Dial `D' for Deliciousness.

2006-03-08T19:13:00.000-05:00

T-bird loved her breakfast so much on Sunday, that she took pictures of it. Presented for your virtual enjoyment.

Answering Your Question: `Where'd My Freakin' Bird Go?':

2006-03-07T16:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks again to FOUND Magazine.

This Just In!

2006-03-06T13:04:00.000-05:00

The latest 1000 word picture project has just been posted, here. BTW, one of the submissions is from yours truly.

Enjoy!

Downtown at Sunset.

2006-03-03T11:33:00.000-05:00

Sunset over The Pit.

2006-03-01T19:39:00.000-05:00

Chikkins.

2006-02-25T12:29:00.000-05:00

Los Angeles is a very interesting town. Years ago, a chum from university hooked up with a fellow bear that lives in LA, and ended up settling down with him in the City of Angels. I visited them back in the late `90s, and took these pictures while we were driving around; I believe this junk-yard was located somewhere near the Muzak building (I've said it before and I'll say it again: picture how Muzak would look, and you'll get an idea of what THAT building looks like). I was pretty excited at this apparently random photo-find, but was advised that these sorts of sights are a dime a dozen - given the amount of TV and movie production in that city (duh), there are plenty of scrapyards around town that have piles of old sets in them. They mentioned driving by a pile of stuff that appeared to come from a recent Star Trek: TNG shoot. In addition to this sort of stuff, there are used clothing stores entirely comprised of old costumes, from your generic extras-outfits, to items of clothing that are labelled with the star and movie from which they came. The orange jacket, white T-shirt, and blue jeans as worn by Will Smith in MIB was on display when I was there, to be had for about $2,500USD. Yikes! And, where in Toronto your high school/university job was waiting tables, or in the sticks where it might be working on a farm, in LA the work as animators, or extras, or cartoon writers/illustrators, or, as my chum's partner did, theme-park design. He fell into this as a job just out of high school, and now travels the world creating rides. Last year, he was in Toronto as the creative director for the new Italian Job ride at Paramount; it is his voice you hear from the speakers as the ride pulls out of the loading area.

For All I Know, This Is A Picture of My Birth.

2006-02-23T07:32:00.000-05:00

I'm adopted, see. So, while most of you know someone who was personally present when you appeared in this world who can vouch for the process popularly depicted on the Life Network (props to you, Vhill!), I know no witnesses to my birth - my parents were accepted by the adoption people, and told to wait by the phone; when they called, my parents drove to a government office building to pick me up. Could be there's this big plastic pipe out behind that office building somewhere, mysteriously shooting out kids. You don't know.

So, you like artistically re-visioned snowglobes?

2006-02-22T07:18:00.000-05:00

If the answer is yes, go here.

Plus ca change.....

2006-02-19T10:41:00.000-05:00

Well, looks like this rube's been grifted again: it appears, from a comment left on the previous entry from a Cliff House Project staffer, that the stormy cliff house photograph was actually a fake. Unless, the commentor was posing as a staffer, and is really only pretending the photo's a fake.......trying to figure out what to believe on the interweb can be an exhausting game.

At least it is good to know that folks have been attempting to either a) defraud an unsuspecting public; or, b) unleash their creativity in their artistic medium of choice, for longer than green-screens and CGI have been messing with the media.

The same goes for fundamentalists blaming `sinners' on disaster, both natural and unnatural. Check out the text and photograph, here. Seems that one of the only buildings left standing after the SF `quake and fire of aught-six was a whiskey distiller. Sure, it took the US Navy running a hose over a mile from the Bay to save it (how many other buildings that could have been saved did this band of drunken sailors hurry past with their hose in order to get to the whiskey factory?). Regardless, I love imagining that quote on their business card - a nice, tight reply to those who co-opt the finger of God to point out blame, but abandon it when asked to lend a hand to the weak.

p.s. I finally was able to get my digital photos off the old computer's hard-drive, on which I thought they'd be trapped forever. A visit to my own personal Crystal Mountain has resulted in a resolution to the last of my worries about that old clunker, which means I'll be back to posting more photographs.

Spooky Old Photographs.

2006-02-17T07:41:00.000-05:00

Fans of my life's history will recall that I've travelled to San Fransisco, back in Sept. 2001. A handful of us needed an excuse to visit, so we got into their Fringe Festival, and ended up having to put on a play while we gawked around town, recoiled from the events of 9/11, and worried about getting home.

Part of our tourist duties required a trip to (the replacement) Cliff House. There's an old vaudeville/funhouse game exhibit there now - essentially the video games of 1912 - as well as a great park, and some beautiful views. The structure, though, is no great shakes, at least not anymore.

The best part of it were the modern day ruins. There used to be a gigantic bath and swimming complex there, called Sutro Baths, at the turn of the century, that was abandoned in the `20s and destroyed in the `60s. The original Cliff House used to occupy a site near the baths, before it was destroyed by fire in 1927. You can still walk around the crumbling walls and foundations of both, and just imagine the size, scale, and beauty of the place when it was new and in full swing.

Cliff House was one of those architectural wonders that folks everywhere talked about. There's a website that is gathering a collection of the old photographs, and some of them are fantastic. The one reproduced below almost looks fake, a special-effect designed for a B-grade horror flick watched in the middle of a sepia-toned Saturday in the `40s.

This one's for you, Flowerskirts!

2006-02-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

It has a picture of a train.

(thanks to crapshoot for the image.)

I Heart You.

2006-02-14T09:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

On an unrelated note, it appears that Purolator can't find valid Canadian addresses. I ordered some product from Apple - half the order came from California with some other courier company, and the other half was sent with Purolator. The other company delivered two weeks ago; Purolator, provided with the exact same address, returned the product to Apple on Thursday as `undeliverable'.

New Blog.

2006-02-11T18:10:00.000-05:00

Check out the new blog Crapshoot and I are doing: Down The Hatch. We'll be posting our thoughts, rants, and theories about what's up with our favourite TV show: LOST.

More Ethics of 24.

2006-02-11T17:18:00.000-05:00

As previously linked, my questions about the politics of 24 are being shared around the interweb. Here's another good article from Alternet.org. I know it is just a TV show, and call this an unfair generalization, but there are plenty of people out there that (may not admit it to themselves, but still) believe that everything on television is real, based on reality, or at least, sponge up political views and attitudes without knowing it, and as a result, slowly come to think that George W. Bush is a reasonable man, because popular TV fiction has manipulated the boundaries of their tolerance for thin rationalizations and manipulation disguised as cliche. These would be the same people that find it difficult to make distinctions between fiction and non-fiction coming from their TVs, a situation not helped by lowered educational standards and the rise of `reality' TV. Increasingly, much of the world is coming off as versions of Fred Flinstone cloned by aliens, copied, and released in the world only able to robotically parrot `Yabba. Dabba. Doo.'

Grandpa Jim.

2006-02-08T14:03:00.000-05:00

Today, a bit about my mom's dad, or, as I knew him, Grandpa Jim. He was one of those big personalities and people that you couldn't help but remember. I remember that he loved to play Gin Rummy. Whenever my brother (at the time, a kid aged 10 or less) would challenge him to play for money, he would gladly play, win all the hands, and all my brother's change, and keep it, saying that if you are willing to play for money, you have to be willing to lose it. He raised his family in Kenora, ON, and was an English teacher, Mayor of the town (during his tenure, he negotiated an end to an Oka-style situation on the reserve just outside Kenora, and he was honoured with the gift of a genuine peace-pipe from the chief, for which he was written up in Time back in the `60s), and when retired, spearheaded the credit union movement both in Kenora, and in Africa, where he travelled several times just before my grandmother passed away when I was a baby. He received a Senior Citizen's Achievement Award from the Ontario Government back in 1986. He passed away of a heart attack, probably purposefully, the night before he was to move out of his house, in which he'd lived for over 40 years, and into an assisted care facility. He was also the reason why, as children, we had an overabundance of Crown Royal bags in which to put marbles, Lego, action figures, etc. So, here's to you, James Noble Davidson!

Brokeback to the Future.

2006-02-03T08:57:00.000-05:00

Thanks to M, and then G, for sharing this (originally from chocolatecakecity.com). You who are fans of hilariously re-visioned movie trailers are going to love this:

This Just In.......

2006-02-01T12:21:00.000-05:00

......an update to 1000 Word Pictures! The Xmas (er, Ground Hog Day) edition is available for your perusal. Some really varied and excellent contributions - I know you'll enjoy. Check it out!

Four Things, Revisited.

2006-01-31T20:09:00.000-05:00

In response to ChampagneMinimalist's throwdown, here's mine:

Four Jobs You've Had in Your Life
- Haunted House Attendant
- Sub/Sandwich Counter Attendant
- ABM Deposit Envelope Processor
- Dishwasher

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over
- Fight Club
- That Thing You Do
- Run Lola Run
- South Park: The Movie
(runner up: the movie I've seen once but really want to watch again and again: The 40-Year Old Virgin)

Four Places You've Lived
- Montreal, QC
- Vancouver, BC
- Matane, QC
- Guelph, ON

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch
- LOST
- Medium
- Da Vinci's City Hall (formerly Da Vinci's Inquest)
- America's Next Top Model

Four Places You've Been on Vacation
- France (Provence and Brittany)
- Kenora, ON
- Calgary, AB
- San Fransisco, CA

Four Blogs You Visit Regularly
- Postsecret
- Planet Dan
- filmfodder's LOST Blog
- natalie dee (I like to consider this an art blog)

Four of Your Favourite Foods
- Spaghetti (and also, Meatballs)
- Wasabi Flavoured Shrimp Chips
- Tossed Salads
- Sashimi, Assorted

Four Places You'd Rather Be
- France
- Road Trip (destination: unknown)
- stoop of a Muskoka cottage in early autumn
- Jazz Club, circa the early 1930s

Four Albums You Can't Live Without
- Nirvana `In Utero'
- Portishead `Live at the Roseland'
- `My Freakin' Playlist' on my Nano (not technically an album, but `album' is so `70s)
- any CD Rajo has ever burned

Four Vehicles You've Owned
- 2004 Mazda 3
- Norco mountain-bike
- Fluevogs
- Steve Martin's romantic-comedy vehicle `LA Story'

"Hello, Ladies....."

2006-01-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

While I may have been born in the `70s, I take no responsibility for any of it. However, I would like that guy's blue-checkered suit, and/or a glass of whatever Tang-based beverage he's mixed. Who do you think these people are, and what sort of party were they having? Smart-ass comments are welcomed and encouraged. Thanks again to FOUND magazine for such excellent blog-fodder.

Is that a Nano in your pocket, or are you just indifferent to see me (the Nano is so small that this just wouldn't be flattering, see).

2006-01-26T13:32:00.000-05:00

So I'm futzing around with the new Nano on the commute to work today (the thing is awesome!), when I realized (insert Old Man voice) that the first computer I ever owned, the one I was given when I went to university, was a 386 with a 20MB hard-drive and a 16-colour display - that's right, megabytes, and 16 colours, not inches. This was a decent, middle-of-the-road computer back in the day. Now here I'm sitting with a faster computer, better colour display and exponentially larger memory compressed into a wafer smaller than my wallet that is pretty much only used for musical entertainment. Man. Then again, I get impressed by toaster innovations (`you mean this Bagel button will only toast the sliced side of a bagel?!?'), so there's nothing deep or revelatory here, just exposing my age.

I was originally planning a bit of a rant about 24, and the political inferences therein, but discovered a blog that pretty much did it for me. Check this out, if you're interested.

Throw me the Powerbook, I throw you the whip.

2006-01-24T07:51:00.000-05:00

Finally the PowerBook has arrived! I may be scarce in the near future, catching up on a month's deficit of browsing, emails, and podcasting - I also have my new Nano to load.

Here are a couple of random images from around the 'hood....

VOTE! Or, like, uh, I'll TOTALLY mess up your He-man doll. Huh? Yeah, right: ACTION FIGURE.

2006-01-23T12:26:00.000-05:00

Surrender to My Indignation!

2006-01-20T12:30:00.000-05:00

Not yet having the home computer (note: just because the shipping company has the words `same day’ in their name doesn’t mean that should be taken as a literal description of service, stupid 12 days to ship), I haven’t been posting my usual stuff here: I can’t upload or scan my photos at work, so I’m left to other devices. That said, here goes a good, old-fashioned rant, inspired by Crapshoot’s excellent entry about the Supreme Court case that will decide the level of responsibility for guests that hosts have at their house parties. This originally started as a shorter thing to put in the `comments’ of the post, but it got too big. BTW: for high-quality ranting, Crapshoot is the place that will scratch your itch. Check it out.

Here comes the rant.

That this case made it to the Supreme Court is a symptom of a paradoxical trend in society today, the trend toward increased individualism and self-acknowledgement on the one hand, and on the other the need to subcontract responsibility out to anyone else but yourself; to be a victim. We have the freedom and ability to focus on our own lives and interests and choices with little to no regard for societal norms or other people, at least other people who may not think the same way. This freedom is leading many to find specialized groups of like-minded individuals that only serve to further self-validation, not development or acknowledgement of diversity. Add to this the twisted and apparent need to stake a claim on the wrong end of a power imbalance, to thrust the responsibility for a given situation onto everyone else in the hope that it will stick to someone, in order to cultivate the fruitless idea that someone else should have stepped in, because we can't take karma or fate directly to task, or at face value. Now, what does that sound like to you? That’s right: children. Children rely on external sources for their care and well-being. Whenever their world is upset, the blame is directed externally, because their safety and security are almost exclusively provided by these external sources. Children are also selfish, at the beginning of a process of development that naturally starts with exploration and acknowledgement of the self before an expansion into the recognition that the people in their lives are more than just part of their physical reality, that more sophisticated and abstract relationships are possible with those people. As our culture delves further and further down the age ladder into youth culture for trends to popularize and mass produce, this tendency towards youth culture is permeating cultural attitude: simplified, the world revolves around me, but anything that goes wrong is your fault.

That aside, bad shit happens for no reason, from out of the blue, to everyone. Maturity leads people to bear it, to learn to accept and live with it, and move on, especially when it is hard. Immaturity leads people to try and turn back the clock, to deny what happened, to hold onto what no longer exists; the anger that comes with the unfairness and realization that everything has changed fuels irrational backlash.

Rant: complete. I still have some questions about the potential decision about liability, so bear with me.

a) Can party hosts be held liable if they are also intoxicated, and unable to make a reasonable decision, or will this decision render hosts unable to enjoy their own party, but become hyper-alert, sober lifeguards?

b) Some folks are able to hold their liquor really well; personally, I know there is a certain point in a party at which I still appear sober from the outside, but cultivating a creamy, booze-filled centre that is legally drunk. How is a host supposed to measure drunkenness in a guest that may appear stone cold sober? Will breathalyzers become a household accessory? Or will hosts need to resort to police tactics, and have guests touch their nose while reciting the alphabet backwards successfully before leaving?

c) What criminal acts will apply to this liability? What about a pissed-off sociopathic crank that shows up at a party, gets into an argument with another guest, ends up even more riled up, and then decides to vent by beating down the first person encountered on the walk home? Could hosts be asked to become responsible for any subsequent criminal behaviour that can even indirectly be linked back to the party?

d) There have been recent articles about studies that at a certain point, the tiredness that comes from even minor sleep deprivation can cause a state of incapacity that is the same as drunkenness. What about a party guest who stays until the bitter end, leaves sober, but has to get up for work the next morning in, say, four hours after leaving, and on the way to work the next day runs over a pedestrian. Will hosts become responsible for the sleep deprivation associated with their party?

e) If the Supreme Court does find the hosts responsible, what’s next? Will I become liable if, say, a delivery-person with an undisclosed peanut allergy arrives at my house, brushes up against the doorknob on which my child smeared a small amount of peanut butter, and shortly dies thereafter from shock?

This drive to up the ante on how legally responsible we are for our neighbours is a step towards the professionalization of our personal space, personal relationships, and personal time. We might be forced to become experts in biology, medicine, law, mediation, and social work, in an attempt to ensure that someone else’s actions don’t cause our own financial and legal ruin in the comforts of our own home, stealing the freedom to simply relax and enjoy life.

Front Teeth ARE a Luxury.

2006-01-17T14:52:00.000-05:00

FOUND Magazine is devoted to posting and publishing all the random notes, photographs, and letters found by their operatives. Some of the notes are hilarious, others scary, and the photographs are to die for. This is one of today's finds from the online magazine:

This is a fun, random site to check out, if only for the little glimpses into other people's heads and lives, essentially the artifact-based version of looking through windows on a night-time walk of the city, as discussed in a previous post.

This also reminds me of theatre school, specifically an Intro to Directing course taught by Canadian Theatre Superstar Judith Thompson. We were supposed to create a performance based on `found text', essentially using words randomly `found' in everyday life as the script for a scene, so that we could focus our creative energies on the whole of the piece, and not the words of the text, as most of us with extensive acting backgounds would tend to do. My friend Brian based his scene on the instructions found on the inside of his washing machine lid. I based mine on the Miles Davis version of `Summertime'. The key to getting a great mark in this class was to bear an emotionally-torn, tragedy-stricken soul to the light of the stage, and critique of the class, and cruise to an A+.

Election = YIKES!

2006-01-16T11:16:00.000-05:00

One more week until the Election, and Harper's Conservatives are in the lead.

YIKES!

See Rick Mercer's blog for some scary information about some of the more socially conservative members of the party - some interesting quotes, to say the least (as well as a wicked photo contest. See below for two of my fave examples; see the blog for photo credits, as these aren't mine). And, check out Sam's blog for some quality personal rants about how frightening a Harper government could be.

One can hope that, as with the 2004 election, people will change their minds en masse the day of the election.

Remember, Downtown Toronto voters, that almost all of the tight races are Liberal-NDP, not Conservative-Liberal. In my riding, Ianno won over Chow by 804 votes in 2004, the result of traditionally Liberal suburban voters moving into the new condo developments near the waterfront, and `strategic voting' done to prevent the non-existent-in-downtown-Toronto Convervatives from winning. Whoops.

In the end, whatever you do, just VOTE, dammit. You can't have a say if you don't take the time to vote.

PowerBooks and Picture Windows.

2006-01-12T12:33:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to say that my home computing issue will be soon a thing of the past: a new PowerBook was ordered on Monday, expected delivery early next week. Yippee! Can't wait to get the new machine, and also the ability to surf in the comfort of my own home; work-surfing requires a `look out behind you' tension that isn't always comfortable.

That aside, to today's picture: urban living has many perks and enjoyments, and one of the big ones for me is getting to look into people's windows (in passing, of course, and never in the fogged-up-face-print-on-glass kind of way) while walking around at night. I love the look into an aspect of someone else's life: wall-colours, art, books, etc., etc. Rarely are people glimpsed, just rooms and decor, but each window frames a lifestyle like a painting, leaving only imagination to fill in the story, and create the characters. There's also the thrill of unseen observation, and a tingle of impropriety and misunderstood motivations. I can't help but look and wonder.

The Toronto Retrospective

2006-01-05T14:38:00.000-05:00

As many of you are aware, my home computer crapped out on Boxing Day, hence the lack of recent posts. Within the week, or so, I'll be getting something new to use at home, but until then, I'll be a little scarce online. That said, I'm posting this series of shots of Toronto I put together a couple months ago. American Apparel was asking for submissions of urban landscape style shots from amateur photographers for their website gallery, a request that was taken down shortly after I'd emailed them. Ah, well. Some of these shots you've seen before, but not in the context of a complete series of my Toronto photographs. This should tide everyone over for a bit, until I get back on my virtual feet. Thanks to Mike for the use of a free laptop to get me over my internet jones!

Merry Effin' Christmas.

2005-12-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

A repetitive selection of Xmas cheer, shot a month ago, in Warkworth:my gift to you this festive season! Hope Santa is good to you!

CSI: North Pole

2005-12-22T15:47:00.000-05:00

So, I'm killing time today providing witty rejoinders over email, when I came up with a new CSI show idea, or Movie of the Week special, just in time for the holiday season. Here's how the show would open:

CSI: North Pole

Establishing shot:
The scene opens on an elf party - it is Christmas Eve, their work is done, and they are celebrating the day as they usually do, with plenty of sex, booze, and rave music.

Medium shot:
Quick cut to two elves, one M, one F, doing some sexy dancing. They are obviously very `into' each other, if you catch Santa's drift. A second F elf storms up behind them, pulls them apart, and proceeds to b*tch-slap the first F elf - obviously some tension over the dude. As the first F elf storms away in the direction of the reindeer pen, the second F elf slips into her place, and proceeds to `dance' with the M.

Close shot, later the same evening:
The first F has been trampled to a bloody pulp in the reindeer pen. All of the reindeer have bloody hooves. Santa finds the body as he tramps out towards the pen with his sack full of toys, getting ready to leave on his annual journey.

Medium Shot:
Reindeer pen with yellow police tape around it. Gil Grissom in a parka taking pictures. He looks up, gestures towards Santa, who is sitting off to the side, obviously in shock and pulling from a whiskey bottle, and says `Whoever did this is definitely on his naughty list'.

Quick cut to open sequence and music.

Alley.

2005-12-21T12:23:00.000-05:00

Walking around the neighbourhood the other day, through the alley to the Fiesta Farms, I stumbled across this tired-looking garage. I find that anything deteriorating like this makes for an easy shot: visually interesting, palettes in both colour and grey-scale are pleasing with good contrast, and photographs of deconstructed/deteriorated relics of society have been an accepted convention of fine art and beauty since the American Farm Securities Association hired a pack of incredibly talented photographers to document the Depression back in the `30s.

I Love You, Swingie!

2005-12-19T13:10:00.000-05:00

Nothing beats the love of a boy for his swingset.

Where It All Began.

2005-12-18T12:23:00.000-05:00

As today is our `monthiversary', I wanted to post a photo of Tanya's old stoop, at the house she was living in on Delaware, the place where it all began 32 months ago. If it weren't for this stoop, who knows what might have happened....

Stoop. Stoop. Stoop. Stoop. Keep saying it; it sounds hilarious!

Number 2 Fan.

2005-12-16T09:53:00.000-05:00

Who's A Happy Baby? Sailor-Baby!

2005-12-15T07:10:00.000-05:00

Why my mom dressed me up as a sailor, I don't know. Whatever the reason, I do seem to be enjoying myself. And, it beats being dressed up like a squirrel - someone I knew back in high school told me that her mom would dress her up like animals when she was a baby because it was `cute'.