Getting Screwed by a Girl Guide...

Guess it's been a while since I bought some of these. For some reason the girls don't come by the house. Anyway, I was annoyed to find this "rip-off shelf", now a part of the flimsy plastic tray inside every box of Girl Guide Cookies. The box is the same size (that's what you pay for!) but now there are [at least] four fewer cookies inside. Perhaps the girls are concerned about my health?

Calgary International Film Festival - Shorts

a scene from Mime Massacre

We went to see the 10 short films that were short-listed for this year's Alberta Centennial Awards at the Calgary International Film Festival. I wanted to see what else is being produced out there and know if our own efforts are not wasted. The good news? Narrative films are alive and kicking! None of the 10 finalists were purposefully obscure.

The bad news? You have a better chance of making the top 10 in Alberta if you make your film in Vancouver and it seems to be a necessity to have public funding. Gina makes the point that the festival jury probably puts more credence in films that have received government grants because they take comfort in the fact that they have been pre-screened and have met with approval elsewhere. Once again this proves that no one is willing to make the call themselves - things must be decided upon by consensus (if so-and-so liked it, it must be good).

What about those of us that would rather spend their time and money making films rather than filling out grant applications? We've seen the other side of public funding and the reality is, for what you get (if anything!) it's not worth the time. I don't even want to get into the MTV (Montreal Toronto Vancouver) factor.

One other thing to note: I am all for "film" (as opposed to video) making but for first-time movie makers I would recommend video. It's much better for the environment and it allows you to shoot rehearsals, resulting in fewer takes, better performances and lower costs. But of course, if it's not your money then who cares, right?


One Damn Thing After Another (25 min)
Director: Ben Babchishin

Dave says - Not a bad concept but I'm unsure on the execution. While the animation parts were excellent (and a great way to reduce the cost of shooting), I think there were too many "styles" - especially for a short film. It was also painful to watch the actors' extended laugh sequences. In response to the main character saying he's a 'Bridge Architect', Gina asks: don't Engineers make bridges?

Zoot Alors! (7 min)
Director: Tammy Primeau

Dave says - Funny & cute. It was strange to see the eyebrows of the little sock monkey disappear at times but hey, maybe they were going for that!

Fridge Management (3 min)
Director: Lawna Hurl

Dave says - Not funny, especially not "wickedly funny" as the blurb promised.

Mime Massacre (6 min)
Director: Colin Decker

Dave says - Exactly what the title says it is. It was bloody funny and well done. I especially liked the mime who built the wall of bricks to hide behind.

The Janitors (12 min)
Director: Daniel Arnold, Matthew Kowalchuk

Dave says - I was surprised to see "Cancer-man" William B. Davis in a film in this line-up but it was well-done. I think the premise was great and would like to see this expanded to a feature. For 12 minutes long, there was plenty of characterization which you don't usually see. Nice work.

Shipwrecked (10 min)
Director: Devon Bolton

Dave says - Out of the 10 shortlisted films for the Centennial Prize, this one was the obvious winner. Beautifully shot and scored, with a great kid who had no dialogue to work with but pulled it off perfectly. I can't figure out why they made this look like it took place in the 30s or 40s, other than kids these days have no imagination. Still, it works.

The Perfection of the Moment (4 min)
Director: Corey Lee

Dave says - The director was a year ahead of Gina at SAIT and the lead actor was in the first feature that Gina and I ever worked on - Trouble (1995) by Paul Di Stefano. Joel was very good as the man of a thousand "second thoughts". Overall it was pretty good.

The Artistic Taxidermist (5 min)
Director: Sandi Somers

Dave says - Weird - I had a similar script sent to me by an aspiring screenwriter a few years ago. While this has its funny moments, it seems to me that the whole second act (there are only two in this one) was the premise and that the first half was a misguided attempt at working towards that premise.

Missing Person (7 min)
Director: Trevor Smith

Dave says - Good concept. The acting was sub-par but you can overlook that in low-budget shorts, can't you? Speaking of actors, the younger cop was credited as "George Smith" but I'm sure that he's the Geordie Smith I knew in High School. The long, slow dolly shot at the end was very well done.

CEA (4 min)
Director: Robert Prowse

Dave says - "Synchronized Wheat Dancing" could have been the working title for this one. I apologize for not being up on my artisitc dancing but "CEA" is meaningless to me. While it was beautifully shot, Gina came up with a much better ending that would have taken this one to the next level: they should have considered making this an explanation of where crop circles come from.

How Nerdy Am I?

I thought I'd be more around 50%.

We'll miss you, Mr. Po

"Poet"

1989-2006

a.k.a. po-man, mr. po, tri-po
On Thursday evening, Mr. Po was following Rog while he was taking out the garbage when she was attacked by an off-leash Akita running through the neighbourhood. She passed away en route to the vet.

How I spent the last weekend of summer vacation. . .

You and the Little Mermaid can go f*** yourselves...

I put this on the ipod. It has been touted as the "Greatest Phone Message Ever". Although I wouldn't go that far, it's quite humourous and the This American Life broadcast about it is funny as well, plus it gives context.

The TAL broadcast: http://homepage.mac.com/axo1ot1/littlemermaidlong.mp3

Just the message: http://homepage.mac.com/axo1ot1/littlemermaidshort.mp3

She wore Lemon

TV on the fritz. Second TV, to replace the first. Different issue.

Why are there no complaints about these things on the 'net??

Switch to Sony?

I'm ready for my spanking, Mr. DeMille

I've been away. And when I haven't been away I've been busy. I'm working on so many projects right now I'm worried I might forget something.

Things I need, for the upcoming film shoot:

• one 14-year-old boy
• one location, near a bike path
• if it ain't at the location, a playhouse

Everything else is pretty much set. If you can help us out, let me know. There's a place in the 'Special Thanks' for ya . . .

We had to get a new TV. The one we were babysitting randomly goes to black and then needs a rest.

What's Happening

Autumn, you're the best!

Not much, other than keeping busy working on soapy projects (check out the Classifieds in today's FFWD if you have one handy). A few bike rides - a great start to what I hope will be a long, KM-filled season. Rick Mercer was on my plane to Toronto week before last. Drove by this place and had to take a picture - love the name:

whaditellya, roadwarrior?

Wow . . .

I've really sucked at this lately. Too many things on the plate. Gotta cut back.

Doughnut Holes

Since the Torino medals are the doughnut style, I was thinking how far ahead we'd be in the medal count if fourth place received the "timbit" medals.

post-modern post

Your Score: 90 / 310
90 points is in the 21 through 50 precent
Everyone taking this test has a problem with online quizzes, but your problem isn't nearly as bad as it could be. You take more tests than you should, but it doesn't interrupt your life, at least not as much as the rest of your online habits probably do.

Do You Take Too Many Online Quizzes?

Conquistador Conquistador Conquistador

http://www.wordcount.org/

According to WordCount, conquistador is the least-used of the 86,800 most used words in the English language. I think we should use it more often.

too much time at stumbleupon

Saturday Afternoon Conversation

"Sometimes the ugliest people have the nicest pants."

~Taylor M, age 8

So long, Mr. Nice Guy

I've been in Edmonton all week. A lot has happened during that time, including of course the new minority government. Hmmm . . . WASPy good 'ol boys being in the minority - what a concept. The 17 year-old girl killed on the night shift, the boys playing Need for Speed with daddys' cars, the Palestinian elections.

Plus, more sad news from Hollywood - the passing of Chris Penn:

http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1695239,00.html

Just Add Water

mystery "numbskull move" photo #1

Don't worry, bubba, it's just an homage - not a permanent fixture.

Hint: I forgot to put something important in this early in the morning (too early, apparently).

This page (or even I) may suddenly disappear because of the following . . .

As some of you may have noticed, my google ads - which for a fleeting moment held the possibility of helping to subsidise my various websites - are gone. Magically, just as I was about to approach my $100 (the first payout milestone), Google was kind enough to email me to say "so long, sucker"! They claim I had illegal clicks, though even after opening up my own webstats to them to prove my innocence they denied my appeal. Why? I'm guessing it's all a big scam.

While Google collects money from advertisers (the places you click to), they promise to share the revenue with adsense members (the places you click from). They get you to give your space over free, long enough for them to make some good dough, and then they take away your account - conveniently right before you were thinking you would collect. Of course, they practically own the web so there's no way to prove it. However, I have read about their scheme. While Google is against the use of 'bots' that can be created by adsense users to create false clicks, etc. they themselves use bots to create fake webpages on the fly in the thousands to drain even more revenue from the advertisers.

Finally, they are too big for their britches.

Thanks, Al - now I feel better!

How grammatically correct are you? (Revised with answer key)
brought to you by Quizilla

Happy New Year!

All the best in 2006 to all my friends & family!

I'm going to have a great year! You should too.

Check out this hilarious short film:
http://www.clownana.com/