Yard Sale redefined

As expansive as Wikipedia is for some things, I do find some omissions from time to time. Take for instance Yard Sale. Wikipedia offers this entry, which describes garage sales, and is a reference to your average weekend rummage sale that are happening at various homes in your neighborhood.

However, one critical variation is SADLY missing. As such…

YARD SALE (Alpine Skiing)

A Yard Sale is a wipe out of massive proportions, usually executed by a novice skier attempting a ski run that is well out of their ability. As the skier attempts the more difficult run, they lose balance, and fall down to the inclined slope. The force of the impact with the groomed snow will cause (a) a ski or both skis, (b) poles, or (c) various items of clothing to fall off. The impact of the fall is not capable of causing serious injury, nor able to stop the momentum of the fallen skier. As such, the hapless skier continues to slide down the hill, continuing to lose items of clothing, skis and poles as he/she slides to an eventual full stop. A world class Yard Sale will involve both skis, both poles, toque/helmet, goggles, scarf, and both gloves to be lost and scattered along the length of the slope the skier fell and slid down.

(Photo blasted from Kitten Kiss).

Oh I so can’t wait for the winter season now. Why you ask? Because Dawn, intent on celebrating the holidays in December in Banff, has agreed, reluctantly, to allow me to teach her to ski.

I just wonder if I’ll see a yard sale.

That is all.

Ahh, the sheer joys of getting up at 5:30 AM on a Sunday

Yes, the football season is back in full swing. Only two matches in for the Reds (and three for most of the Premiership), and we’re sitting at 4 points. Grrr @ Sheffield United. How could we let those wankers score anyway?

But I’m rambling. I missed the Liverpool vs. West Ham match this Saturday. Not for getting up too late (it’s one of the few drawbacks of living on the west coast… the 8 hour time difference), but rather Sportsnet Pacific decided that Tottenham vs. Everton (to which Everton won 2-0). Well, it was a team from Merseyside, but fuck, it was the wrong one.

As such, it looks like my first look at the Reds retro jerseys could very well be on Sunday, 17 September 2006, when the Reds march into Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. I have high hopes, as on Dawn’s birthday, Middlesborough bested Chelsea 2-1. Guess it’s looking like Steven Gerrard really is the world class midfielder, whereas Frank Lampard is a second rate hack.

That is all.

Not tagged, but doing it anyway

So here’s a reference to The Unseen One that is a little less political than the last post, though I am impressed my viewpoints didn’t spawn a blargument with him. Though it doesn’t surprise me Todd ran with my views and tried to disturb la merde. C’est la vie.

Anyhow, he who must not be seen has done this Meh-me-a-mathingie, which does intrigue me, though I’ve made a mild adjustment to a category.

Anyhow…

“If you could meet and have a deep conversation with any five people on earth, living or dead, from any time period, who would they be?” (Explaining why is optional.) Name five people from each of the following categories:

Saints, Those in the Process of Being Canonized, Heroes from your native country, Authors/Writers, celebrities.

SAINTS AND BEING CANONIZED

Well, seeing as I am as far from religious as one can get, I don’t have any saints that I am either fully aware of, nor terribly interested in having a deep conversation with. The basis of my existence is much more scientifically and academically inspired, so as such, saints now becomes…

SCIENTISTS

1. Albert Einstein.

Who wouldn’t like to have a discussion of the principles of modern physics, relativity, and the duality of matter and energy with this utter genius? Okay, maybe I just proved how much of a dork I am, but you gotta love the hair too.

2. Neils Bohr. Yes my dorkieness continues, discussing his atomic model versus the current probability stylized model.

3. Charles Darwin. I’d just love to chew the fat for hours over many, MANY pints as to how the religious right still, over 100 years later, think he’s wrong, amid the evidence. Then I’ll introduce him to the X-Men comics and films, which the whole science of the story is rooted in his work.

4. Sir Isaac Newton. The father of modern mechanical physics and developer of the greatest math anxiety known to high schoolers: Calculus.

5. Archimedes. One simple word. EUREKA!

HEROES

1. Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The greatest Liberal this nation has ever seen, who pirrhouetted behind the Queen of England, gained Canada it’s full independence over a pen and a handshake, not a gun, and taught us all to have “reason before passion.”

2. David Lynch. My single greatest influence in the world of film. The discovery began at Dune, the realisation of style at Blue Velvet, and the love affair with his work by the time Twin Peaks hit the air. All this success spawned from his ultra low budget Eraserhead, a sign to all filmmakers that it CAN be done.

3. Gordon Ramsay. Each day I realize my leadership style is more and more akin to his. He strives for quality over all else, a standard which is sadly lacking these days.

4. Maurice Richard. The first ever fifty goal scorer in the National Hockey League, who was able to balance both skill and physical play to a level rarely matched.

5. Branch Rickey. His courage to stand against the blatant racism in Major League Baseball and sign Jackie Robinson is a very rare characteristic I can only hope to strive towards.

WRITERS

1. Sun Tzu. The Art of War is a tremendous strategic guide, wether in war, business, or just life.

2. Lao Tzu. The Tao Te Ching is probably as close as I’ll get to a guideline to my spirituality.

3. Dan Brown. Argue the fact versus fiction in his work until you’re blue in the face. His clever weaving of historical facts within his stories is an art unto itself.

4. J.K. Rowling. Yup, I’m a Harry Potter Dork. Meh.

5. Mick Foley. Pro wrestler and author, this innovator of hardcore is one of the craziest in the ring, and one of the sanest outside of it.

CELEBRITIES

Well, I’m going to limit the list to ones I HAVEN’T worked with.

1. Robert DeNiro. Great in the tough guy roles, but has a solid comedic side also.

2. Rick Mercer. Perhaps the funniest man alive.

3. Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles. Hey, even Ricky is smarter than the stapler. But not the clock. It’s got electricities. Gimme some dressed all over chips now.

4. Kenny Hotz. The creative genius behind his own ego-fest, Kenny vs. Spenny.

5. Larry David. Curb Your Enthusiasm has really grown on me. Now he’s created two shows about nothing.

TAGGED

Well, as I wasn’t tagged for this post, I won’t be putting any tags out. But do feel free to do this one yourself. As always, please leave a comment or trackback so I can read your results also.

That is all.

The one where he finally posts again, and probably starts a blargument in the process

As always, hat-tip to Will for the “The One …” post titles.

And in honour of The Unseen One, whose blog of late has been driving the most traffic to my site, I have decided to respond, in blog post form, to his post about Chicken Pot Pies.

Now just for the record, I do NOT fit the physical description of a Chicken Pot Pie. Just check this stock photo of myself, while inebriated…

However, it is the other elements of the description I would like to address. I do support (in case you don’t actually read this blog regularly) the concepts supported by the left, with the core focus being equality and the progress of humanity, not just the human race. I don’t know if I quite fit the characteristics the Unseen One uses to describe these bald men named after meat filled pastries, but here comes a rough blow by blow.

They drive older, small cars (if they own a car at all), have leftist and anti-Christian bumper stickers on them, and they usually work in the arts or service industry (record store clerks, waiters, gas station attendents), and they invariably smell. They will often also be seen wringing their hands, worrying about how they suffer so much and are so poor, yet have cellphones, ipods, and a stereo system that costs more than my first car.

MY CAR

Well, my car is older (a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier), though I did purchase it brand spanking new. The only bumper sticker I have actually strikes a stronger cord with Spanner Boy Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, which boldly proclaims “I Support Canadian Beef”. It’s too dark for a picture, but if you’re good, maybe tomorrow.

MY JOB

I am a lighting technician through IATSE 891, working in the film and television industry here in ever sunny Vancouver, British Columbia. Since I am still very wet behind the ears as a filmmaker, the frequency of days I get to work on shows is best described as few and far between. And being on call virtually 24/7 (though dispatch really only occurs up to 10:30 PM), I can’t really take a 9-5 day job. Yet another reason why Best Buy was not the wisest of off-season work choices. Meh. Live and learn. But as such, I do temp work (to which until current consists of labour mostly), and am getting my flagging and first aid, so when film dies down in the late autumn, I will have the opportunity to live more comfortably (and actually ski) over the slow winter months.

As to the water cooler conversations I have at work, yes we slammed Best Buy on a consistent basis, though the concern was more to the point they are paying more than several mature adults a wage that is completely unliveable (based on Vancouver’s current minimum cost of living). What really startled me was that working at KFC, which invariably requires far less skill than sales at Best Buy, actually pays MORE than the big blue box. Though mind you, more of my water cooler convo revolves around convincing my workmates that football is a game played with a round ball and feet, not an oval ball and your hands, while wearing more armour than a knight of the round table.

PORTABLE ELECTRONICS

I only have a mobile phone of those listed. It’s a pay and talk variety from Telus, which I only use when I actually need it.

The post then continued on to a variety of conspiracy theories that those same bald, meat filled pastry monikered people hold true to their hearts. On a blow by blow…

There is no Al Qaeda, just Bush trying to make it seem like there is in order to make his oil buddies richer.

Well, those who think there is no Al Qaeda have officially had their head in the sand since before 9-11. However, having said that, I do find a couple of things odd.

First, how the search for the man responsible for this act of war got “deprioritized” as the focus became shifted toward Iraq. Imagine if we caught bin Laden with the same persistence we used to catch Hussein. Maybe no London bombings. Maybe no attempted terrorist action on the flights leaving the UK to the US within the last month. But of course hindsight is 20/20.

Secondly, how the line dividing terrorist and muslim seemed to blur as tensions began to rise. I had a friend in Texas during 9-11 (he’s not there now, and I’m not in touch anymore) who, days later, while fueling his car, saw an arab man walking along the sidewalk and a pickup speed up beside him, and the driver and passenger jumped out of the vehicle and pummelled him to an inch of his life, for no other reason than that he was an obvious muslim. Any argument contrary is just a denial that the line has blurred.

Tying in that the oil industry has been making a killing, I think it’s safe to say that once this situation comes to a resolution, many facets should come under serious investigation, as the facts and truth have become very blurred.

Doctors could cure people, but it is more profitable to keep them sick.

This would be blowing my perception of health care right out of perspective. And being Canadian, with the best health care on the planet (which still doesn’t cut it :P), it’s an issue dear to my heart. Doctors do cure people. No argument whatsoever. But in saying that, therin lies the problem. All the focus is in treatment, with little in prevention. And the best way to initiate prevention? Educate and empower people to live healthier lifestyles. I do not blame the government on this one so much as I place the blame on corporations like the evil golden arches.

The car companies could make cars that get 100 miles to the gallon, but they won’t market them because of their long standing relationship with the oil companies.

Well, 100 miles to the gallon may be taking the piss, but I’m sure the manufacturers could push the envelope better. One cannot ignore a simple fact that stares us in the face about cars. They are made to break down eventually. The industry is not focused on making efficient automobiles so much as they are designing a repeat customer environment. As for oil consumption, instead of whinging at the auto and oil industries, I rather just support alternatives to automotive transit. Public transit, bicycling, hell, even walking. No, we won’t save the environment by walking to 7-11 as opposed to driving the 1.2 km, but in the long run we may save a few bucks (which would be much better spent on lift tickets as opposed to oil companies ).

Religion was made up in the middle ages in order to control people.

Well, the Liberals (and a great many they are) that I know are actually VERY WELL EDUCATED. As such, I look at this one and just LAUGH. We are fully aware religion was not “made up” in the middle ages. Though to ignore the controlling influence of religious doctrine on the masses is contrived of pure ignorance. I remember it being suggested that Jewish Kosher Laws had an alterior motive… to engage people in healthy food choice, storage and preperation process. And to assume Christianity had no alterior motives implies the same ignorance, nay naivity. Just over five hundred years ago, Christian leaders convinced us, and the sharp end of a sword, that the world must be flat. When that was disproved, they convinced us that the sun revolved around the earth. Now they are trying to convince us that same sex relationships are the stairway to hell? It’s obvious this is not the core message of peace and understanding Jesus intended 2000 years back.

The Democrats are too conservative.

Well, with a spirited debate with The Unseen One, I have come to realize that Canada and the US’s viewpoint of where left and right stand are two different ones. In the Canadian viewpoint, the Democrats would appear to be a little further right than they seem to think. Bear in mind though, in Canada there are four official political parties (based on number of seats held in the House of Commons), to which three hold strong, leftist principles (though the Bloc Quebecois does hold the immeasurable quality of also wanting to seceed from Canada). As such, I do think most Canadians hold more leftist values to heart than the typical American.

Anyhow, I think that will make up for the “few” days I’ve been offline.

That is all.

Oh what an evening

Back in my younger days, such a title would imply loads of drink, some dodgy club with loose women swimming in disease, whom to which I would get nowhere with, all capped off with waking up to the biggest hangover known to man. But not these days. Rather, after a long week at work, Dawn and I went out for the evening. We saw two memorable things to note.

First, the 2007 George W. Bush two years and counting calendar:

Yes, the perfect gift for the Bush hater in your life. How can you recognize a Bush hater? They are either that one third of America who actually regards themselves, openly or otherwise, as a liberal, or they are the rest of the world outside the United States. Why do we hate Bush so much? Because of his unwitting honesty. He says what he means, but doesn’t really mean to say it that way. Consider my favourite Bushism of all time:

If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier… just so long as I’m the dictator.

This coming from the mouth of the leader of the “free” world.

All this is ironic, seeing this at Chapters, waiting to see World Trade Center. For director Oliver Stone, a highly apolitical approach one of the most recent days that brought the globe to a standstill is a definite deviation from his usual conspiracy laden style. The film stunned me and reconnected me with the same horror and awe I felt on the fateful day. What inspires me most about the film is that it leaves the politics and the imagery alone, and focuses on the true tragedy of the fateful day, and the courage America had rebounding from the event. Something, in all the heated debate surrounding the resulting state of affairs, that seems to be lost.

That is all.

Video Blog Wednesday

Not the Owls. That would be Sheffield Wednesday. But rather, not a weekly video post, but a video post none the less. I’ve got to get back into editing. I feel so rusty. I hope this doesn’t qualify as total shite.

Anyhow, I compiled these bits of footage of Dawn and my trip up the Sea to Sky Highway on Sunday, going up to Whistler and back.

Enjoy.

That is all.

P.S. Yayayayay! WordPress now lets us embed YouTube!

What on Earth are they trying to hide?

Now being fully away from the big blue box for a few days now, I can more clearly reflect upon the eight months of a living nightmare which was wearing smurf blue while hocking Best Buy’s wares, accessories and service plan. Some of this may be repetitive, but I must give one last vent before being able to put the matter to rest.

If you ever watch the commercial for the store, you will notice that it ALWAYS has the text NO COMMISSION, NO PRESSURE in a screen all by itself. Now I always wonder why a non-commission retail store has to advertise, ad naseum, as to why they don’t give commissions to their staff. Now fair enough, electronics is a very competitive arena, with many commission based retailers out there, but I shall raise this as a comparison. Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart. Obviously NOT a commission based retailer, and if you notice any of their advertisements, they DO NOT bombard you with that knowledge. Why is that? Wal-Mart operates on one simple principle. Volume. Sell a lot, make a lot. Best Buy, on the other hand, has thin profit margins unless you buy accessories and Performance Service Plan, or PSP. By not paying it’s employees commission, they can legally go around saying it, and thusly lower your defenses as a consumer so that you buy all their wares, at the cost of your pocketbook. But to think nobody makes commission at Best Buy is a slanted view at best (or worst). Supervisors and managers do recieve bonuses based on the store’s overall performance, though not entirely based on sales revenues and profit margins. So it is fair to say that supervisors and managers, who drive performance and numbers from their non-commission, underpaid salaried employees, have a stake in the game in a commission style basis.

STRIKE ONE

Best Buy promotes, at least from within, that they are a customer-centric retailer. Walk into a Best Buy store. All the employees wear a black pin with the phrase Customers First on it. However, the first part is actually an acronym. You as a customer are not first. Your wallet is. The “first” protocol is designed to make you more likely to purchase that day, as well as increase the average revenue taken in from your sale. But it doesn’t stop there. Everything is an acronym. Everything from shrinkage to inventory to sales all has an acronym (several in some instances) to define the protocol. Most employees can recite the acronym verbatim, as managers run around with clipboards all day, quizzing employees, and if they pass, they get a candy or a sweet (nothing like treating smurf blue dressed people as pets). But the sad thing is that the employees do little or nothing in actual action to live up to said protocols or values.

What is even more sad is that little to none of the employees know anything about the products either. Working in home theatre, it had become common practice to sell surge protection to people in order to clean up the fuzz created when you watch a standard definition television signal on a high definition set. For those technically challenged, it just can’t happen. There’s no quick fix. You must get high definition programming for your set. But alas, in this last ditch effort to attach something, the “average” sales associate will sell the filtering power bar to get some revenue, not to help the customer. Seems the customer is not first in the English language version of first, but rather F.I.R.S.T., in the Best Buy newspeak version. The more I look at it, the more Orwellian the retailer seems.

STRIKE TWO

Just like any other retailer, Best Buy’s long term success is in having repeat customers. So, as many retailers do now, they have a loyalty survey, to which if customers participate, they may win a $500 gift card for having done so. Well, this in one instance became an achilles heel for my dark time in hell. With a high level of employee pressure to sell accessories and PSP, it rubbed off on the odd customer the wrong way. One in particular decided to write a four page complaint about how I used tactics (to which I was asked to) to pressure them into buying things they didn’t want, to which I nearly got written up for. Talk about entrapment.

But this last strike (this strike analogy shouldn’t be a surprise now) isn’t about that comment. Rather, just like the “loyalty” survey, employees twice a year get to participate in a “viewpoint” survey. Most stores, prior to the survey, tend to spend money on cool things, like barbeques and movie nights, to guilt the employees into giving the managers a high score. If it weren’t for my damn morals on two questions, I would have scored the store all ones (the worst possible store). But in the comments section, I had only 500 characters to create a comment with. That lady who complained about me gets four pages, and I get 500 characters.

Talk about censorship.

STRIKE THREE

So concludes my litany of misrepresented non-commission retail, the Orwellian newspeak conundrum, and censorship of a supposedly open environment. Though I will say these fuckers are right desperate. In my last few days before leaving, the managers were making last ditch efforts to take my quitting from a full quit to a “leave of absence.” Not that I’m coming back. Aside from my aforementioned and obvious beefs, once the film season dies down and work becomes sparse, I fully intend to have my traffic control and first aid tickets, so instead of making under $10 per hour in the off season, I can make $15-20 easily. Will these gits ever take no for an answer? They can’t win this fight.

And it is with this I end my condition as a Best Buy employee.

That is all.

Unseen Blogger’s Book Meh-me

Well, yesterday I posted along the terms of MCF’s take on *Name Hidden*’s Meh-me. I was just as intrigued about this one, though I was right knackered when I made yesterday’s post, so as such, I’ve saved this one for today.

Now to it…

1. One book that changed your life:

You can definitely understand my career path with this one. In the Blink of an Eye, by Walter Murch, the post production genius who went to film school with the likes of George Lucas, Steven Speilberg, and Francis Ford Coppola. Typically those who work in the film industry are not classic intellects. Murch definitely breaks that mould. Instead of discussing the equipment, systems and process, Murch rather discusses the entire psychology of why a frame to frame discontinuity, or a cut, works. I’ve never seen film the same again, and have faith that intellects CAN succeed in this industry.

2. One book that you have read more than once:

The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. It’s obvious historical importance does not need to be rehashed, though it is a great tome of wisdom, which lends itself not only to military conflict, but sets a good guideline to business and personal endeavour also. There is a lot of wisdom that strives from the far east, and I have only begun to scratch the surface of it.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:

Oooh. That’s a tricky one. My gut would say Leading With The Heart by Mike Krzyzewski (yes, I’m a Duke fan, stemming back to the mid-80’s, so :P), but all of Krzyzeski’s stories about his family and those he cares about would compound the lonliness I’d feel being on a desert island, to which I’d be deserted. As such, I would pick the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, to help keep me balanced and sane in such an extreme circumstance.

4. One book that made you laugh:

Foley is Good and the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling by Mick Foley. He hits the nail on the head. The artificial world of pro wrestling, where matches have predetermined outcomes seems to be more footed in reality than many things out there today. Plus Foley’s hardcore attitude in the ring, combined with his well grounded common sense out of the ring makes the book a very enjoyable and funny read.

5. One book that made you cry:

Books haven’t made me cry. Films have, but books, no. Odd, but true.

6. One book you wish would have been written:

A Step by Step Guide to Dancing Pirouettes Behind the Back of the Queen of England, with a Public Audience, by Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

7. One book you wish had never been written:

Wow. It’s a very revealing question. My knee jerk reaction would be to say Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. I could mention religious texts to which large groups of people have gone to war over based on slightly different interperetations. But in retrospect, I think back to the advice of one of my film school profs. The advice he gave? You have to watch all types of movies, BOTH good AND bad, the good to see how they make things work well, and the bad to see what mistakes are made so you as a filmmaker can dilligently not make the same mistakes. So bearing that piece of advice in mind, I don’t wish anything unwritten, as even the bad, evil, or undesirable texts still will shine insight into the human condition, provide historical reference to avoid the repeating of mistakes, and allow us to grow socially at a rate comparable to how we have grown technologically.

8. One book you are currently reading:

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. I’ve been on a science kick lately, so I’ve been reviewing the field of science I always was weaker in: Biology.

9. One book you have been meaning to read:

No specific title, but more texts involving Chaos theory. What fascinates me is the duality of it. On one hand of the theory, nothing is predictable. On the other hand, it also discusses how patterns on small scales are revisited on larger ones. Plus, my mate from Best Buy (which I’m done with today… YAYAYAYAY!!), Ray, is going to Teacher’s College at UBC, so it gives me two reasons to visit the campus, the other being to pick up a book.

10. Tag some others:

Really, I can’t think of anyone specifically, and mind you, my tagees of past, less my babe, tend not to be consistent doing these. So as always, whoever feels compelled, please link back via comment, or link back in a post so I can have a trackback.

That is all.

1980’s Cartoon Meh-me

Well, *NAME HIDDEN* tagged MCF for a Meh-me involving books, and as such, MCF modified it to cartoons from the eighties. Then he tagged me.

So as such…

1. One ’80s Cartoon that changed your life:

Simply put: Robotech. If you are a consistent reader of this tripe blog, I think it goes without saying at this point that I was not the popular kid at school, which should really read I was the brainy git who got his block knocked off on an almost daily basis in the schoolyard, and as such had few friends, and those few friends I had lived bloody inconveniently far enough away to make my weekends boring and lonely. Enter September 1985, 11:00 AM on Saturday mornings. Despite the obvious Sci-Fi appeal to the show, Robotech had a strangely odd hold on me, as it became a ritual to watch prior to my league 5-pin youth bowling. Yup, not that I mention it, but I bowled. Robotech had that pull on me like the melodrama in soaps do to their watchers. From the early episodes I hated Minmei and thought Rick Hunter would do better with Lisa Hayes.

The show gave me two insights into myself. First, it directly co-incided with my initial discover of girls, that wonderful yet awkward period in an adolescent boys life, which was not fun being very lonely. Second, it began a long period where I was able to accurately deduce mysteries in film and television that grabbed the attention of many. I figured out who killed Laura Palmer four episodes into Twin Peaks, who Keyser Söze was less than halfway through The Usual Suspects, and have accurately guessed the winner of every contest of Kenny vs. Spenny. Creepy eh?

2. One ’80s Cartoon that you have watched more than once:

Robotech once again fits the bill. I fear it may dominate these answers. But after watching the great series, it has completely broken the mould. Though I enjoyed Transformers, GI Joe, Voltron, Thundercats, Tiny Toon Adventures (okay, Tiny Toon Adventures was 1990, so sue me :P), and the like, Robotech singlehandedly changed all the rules I had for animated programming, began my love of anime and martial arts films, and marked a milestone in my maturation.

3. One ’80s Cartoon you’d want on a desert island:

Okay, it’s now officially becoming a Robotech festival. It’s just too near and dear to my heart.

4. One ’80s Cartoon that made you laugh:

The Simpsons. Now a distant fourth behind Family Guy, King of the Hill, and of course South Park. Though bear in mind the series started as brief animated sketches on the Tracey Ullman Show, and evolved into such a groundbreaking series. Long live Captain Whacky.

Wow. A break from Robotech.

5. One ’80s Cartoon that made you cry:

Robotech. Again. Once Rick and Lisa finally patch things up and get together, the Macross story arc ends, leading to a new generation of freedom fighters, led by Dana Sterling.

Auuuggghhhhh. Why? WHY? WHY???

6. One ’80s Cartoon you wish would have been made:

This is an oddly worded question, but I will answer this as my wishful dream of a cartoon I desired to see in the 1980’s. Robotech, the Sentinels storyline. The continuation of the story of Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes, only told via the novelization of the series, and the continuation thereof. I remember seeing pilots for the story, but nothing complete. Sad.

7. One ’80s Cartoon you wish had never been made:

Pac-Man. It is the cartoon variation of my hell. Unlike product placement ‘toons like Transformers and GI Joe, this video game revenue booster and waste of space made the aforementioned seem like Shakespeare in comparison.

8. One ’80s Cartoon you are currently watching:

Currently none. When I lived in Windsor, I had my whole set of Robotech stolen from my apartment, which was ransacked. But I’m sure by the theme of my answers, this would still be no surprise. Thankfully money is rolling in again, so maybe, if someone will let me, I can replace this series.

9. One ’80s Cartoon you have been meaning to watch:

Actually, not Robotech. Rather, Star Wars: Droids, if for any reason, to nitpick the lack of continuity with the films now that the prequels are out.

10. Tag some others:

Though I can’t think of many others who pine to ‘toons, let alone ones from the eighties, two people would have results to intrigue me.

First, being Todd, as we grew up best mates, and as such I’d like to see how his remeniscence holds now so far removed from such ‘toons.

Secondly, Will, just to see if he watched anything other than Rainbow in his childhood.

To all those who wish to partake, please either leave a comment so I can see your answers, or link back (the trackbacks are pretty good on WordPress).

That is all.

Nothing much to say

I haven’t been posting the last few days. Meh. As from my previous post, I have given notice to Best Buy, so that my availability for film dramatically increases. Also, bearing in mind the economics of the Vancouver film industry in the winter (ie that there really isn’t any work for someone as low on the totem pole as myself), I’m also gearing for my OFA Level II (well minimum, level III afterwards depending on circumstances), flagging (so I can PA on the side as well), and forklift (as this will help to also apply to the Construction department at IATSE).

You see, upon leaving the IATSE office last Wednesday (has it been a week already), I refound (is that a word) charge for film. The door was open. Then the following day I went to Best Buy. And the big blue box tapped all the energy out of me. Though I have recovered from it, the economic situation still is gripping. I have yet to fully recover from the trip up to Quesnel (that is financially). To which I find it mirrors the bane of my existance. Does money always have to corrupt art? Being in a state of flux until I go full tilt back in IATSE, one would figure the creative juices toward writing (both on this blog and screenplays) would work. I even have sources of inspiration. Consider this:

I worked with a guy last week (on the temp labour front), who, through a highly irritating conversation, found out he hasn’t worked an eight hour day in YEARS. And I don’t mean 2-5. Try 10-15. Easily. He also wonders why nobody hires him. He’s fixated on Disneyland in southern California, as the sole reason to travel there. Eventually, the truth came out.

He’s forty years old. Unemployed. And lives with his parents. He makes George Costanza look successful. Chris Peterson (from Get a Life) hardworking. And Seymour Skinner like he has a life.

But I shouldn’t beat up on the lad. Though I will say such a character has not inspired me to write fully about him.

God I hate this funk. I need my groove back.

That is all.