Our Christmas

 

Yes, my mom has kept the noodle ornaments that my brother and I made in Kindergarten.

14 Actors Acting

The New York Times created short films, ranging from 30 to 50 seconds in length, of the 14 most influential actors in cinema of the past year. As each actor takes on their roles silently, they represent a classic screen type. 

I've always been told, from many acting coaches and teachers, that the best acting comes when the actor is doing little to nothing at all or doing the simplest tasks (like shaving; seen in Robert Duvall's short). 

Each short's cinematography is composed beautifully and the musical scores give that extra classic feel. My favourites include James Franco, Tilda Swinton (who doesn't love a good Tilda Swinton?) and Jesse Eisenberg. Anthony Mackie's short reminds me a lot of Cary Grant in North by Northwest when he’s running from the airplane; you can definitely see the classic archetypes in 14 Actors Acting.

 

Miss Indie

I recently read an article that debated what it meant to be 'indie' in the music industry today. It looked at bands such as Dinosaur Jr., Arcade Fire and solo artist, Feist. All of these artists were at one point independent but are now signed to major record labels. So I beg to question, is it not every musician’s dream to make music, get signed to a label, become famous and acquire as many fans as possible? Why are we still debating what it means to be indie? Most indie groups still have a niche and a distinctive fan base anyway. I say stop asking questions and just start to enjoy the music. Who cares if the music you like is ironic, cool, independent, absurd or not - like what you want. I‘ll leave you with this, blog readers - my favourite Feist video:

Photoshop follow-up

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are learning to use some of the features of Adobe Photoshop. Here are the results.

The second set of photos make me laugh. I’m not sure if it’s suppose to look good or if it’s just for practice. Enjoy!

United. Every One. Every Day. Every Way.

My class is doing a United Way Fundraiser; our group has decided to hold a holiday photo booth. We'll be in the front lobby of Mohawk College on Tuesday, December 7 and at The Arnie PUB night on Wednesday, December 8. This works out perfectly because Wednesday's PUB is Ugly Christmas Sweater Pub! So come out and get your photo taken in your ugly sweaters and with your friends. For just $2 you can support the United Way and have a lovely holiday photo. Don't forget to RSVP via Facebook!

Other groups are holding raffles and cookie sales next week too, look for them throughout Mohawk during lunch breaks.

Picture Perfect

My Pod and I (minus Stacey) recently took some portraits for an upcoming project in our Print Design and Application class. We’ll be working in Adobe Photoshop next week.
Here are some of the photos we took during out little photoshoot. Everyone meet Kiya on the left. Isn’t she gorgeous?
The photos were taken in the new wing at Mohawk College. The new addition features a Starbucks. Our class can not get enough of their holiday drinks. Starbucks is definitely a nice break from Tim Horton’s burnt tasting coffee.


This is Bailey. She’s married to a Brit and she's awesome!
 The new wing features lots of seating arrangements for studying but also for our picture taking escapade.



I hope you enjoyed meeting some members of my pod. Maybe I’ll post the outcomes of our Photoshop project.

The Hamilton Music Awards

I'm suppose to be volunteering for the Hamilton Music Awards this weekend. This is a great event that recognizes music professionals in and around the Hamilton community. Hamilton has so much to offer as far as music goes and this event is important to the industry. The HMA's runs over the course of four days. This Thursday they will hold a conference for students, professionals, artists and basically anyone else interested in working in the music industry. Throughout the day there will be workshops and a panelist featuring Max Kerman from the Arkells. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening, the HMA holds a festival with various live bands and artists at venues throughout Hamilton. Finally on Sunday the awards ceremony is being held at Mohawk College. It's even televised on CHCH!

I encourage everyone to check out the HMA's - be it the conference, the awards, or any of the enjoyable bands at the bars throughout the city.

It Gets Better

This video is very telling and motivating. All these LGBT people are seen in their professional positions – including Rick Mercer. The anti-bullying campaign is taking off in Canada and the United States and the way that the It Gets Better Canada video stands out is by having professionals come forward and share their stories. Check it out:

 

No matter who you are or what lifestyle you live - whether it be straight, gay, bi, and so forth, this video provides some valuable insight to how LGBT people experience life and how all people should be treated in day-to-day life.

Check out the It Gets Better project.

spinning, spinning, spinning

I recently joined the Les Chater YMCA on Rymal Rd. in Hamilton. The facility is very nice and clean and the people that work there are pretty friendly. The fitness center is attached to the newest Hamilton Public Library so if you want to read a book or magazine while working out it is convenient to choose from their selection. I got the student rate; their plans don't sign you into a contract with any hidden fees or anything - it's a family gym so i mean, c'mon. The best parts about the membership is that most of their machines (treadmills, ellipticals) have TVs on them so you can watch whatever you want while running. Another benefit is that all the adult fitness classes are included in the membership. They offer yoga, cardio, aquafit, and so much more. Today I participated in their 'Cyclefit' class with a friend.

The class was set up well. The instructor was helpful when we were setting up our bikes and motivational throughout the workout. The class was 45 minutes and it peaked 3/4 of the way through. She gave us a significant time to cool down too - I don't like classes that don't. I would definitely go to the spinning class at the Y again.

Let's hear it for the YMCA

Good times, Good friends, Good food at Papagayo

On Friday night, Jessica, Sean, Parker, and I enjoyed a lovely meal at Papagayo - a Mexican restaurant on King St. E. The atmosphere of the place is small and filled with Mexican kitsch decor. There are paintings on the wall for sale and plenty of parrot figurines. Papagayo means parrot in spanish.

I enjoyed how they folded their napkins. We were seated at a nice table for four and given complimentary nacho chips; they were pretty tasty. The wait time to order and to get our food was a little long; our waitress had a short term memory or something. This left us plenty of time to catch up with each other and share life stories. When our food finally did arrive it was delicious and hit the spot just right.

Parker and I each had the Chimichanga - I had mine with chicken and he tried the beef. It is stuffed with beans and rice and I also chose to have vegetables in mine. The Chimichanga is served with a nice light caesar salad. I really enjoyed it, especially the deep fried tortilla. Jessica tried the Combination Plate; it was served with a half Chimichanga and half beef burrito along with beans and rice. Sean had the Enchilada platter, also with beans and rice.

We all thought the serving sizes were slightly small for the price on the menu. Each of us also tried a dessert (no pictures were taken of the desserts because we each ate them so fast - they were really good). Sean had deep fried ice cream, Parker and Jess tried the Lime Tequila Cheesecake, and I had the Chocolate Chili Cheesecake. The cake that I had had a slight 'zing' to it which was obviously the chili. Did I mention how good the desserts were? Overall, it was nice to spend some time with friends and despite the slow service, the meal was pretty appetizing. I would give Papagayo a 3.5 out of 5. To check out the rest of Papagayo's menu, go here: Papagayo!

Good eats!

Check it out.

Here is a link to the blog I wrote for our PR@Mohawk blog. My Post

Been Sitting On This for a While: Broken

I recently saw the Broken Social Scene movie, This Movie Is Broken, at the Art Gallery of Hamilton's World Film Festival. Now, for anyone that knows me they know that I am genuinely addicted to all things BSS. Unfortunately though, the movie fell short of my expectations.

The film, directed by Canada's own Bruce McDonald, is a love story meets concert footage movie. It was filmed during the Toronto garbage strike in the summer of 2009 at a free Broken Social Scene concert at the Harbour front centre. Originally BSS was to play a concert on Toronto Island. Due to the strike, the concert was rescheduled because no ferries were going to and from the island. I attended this concert (did I mention it was free?)

The narrative of the movie follows two twenty something year olds - Bruno and Caroline. Caroline is Bruno's childhood crush and after they finally hook up he becomes obsessive about becoming exclusive with her. The problem is, Caroline is only in town for one night before she returns back to her studies in Paris. This one night is the night of the Broken Social Scene concert. Caroline and Bruno attend the concert along with one of Bruno's friends, Blake. As the concert goes on, you can barely make out what Caroline and Bruno are trying to say over the music and eventually it is clear that they have argued about something. Caroline rushes away from her 'favourite' band and wanders the streets of Toronto instead. Bruno is left sulking as he tries to enjoy the rest of BSS. Bruno and Blake also mysteriously end up at an after party with the band. The narrative spirals out of control and Bruno and Blake end up making out in Bruno's dirty apartment. (Sorry I gave away the twist but it's not like any of you will see the movie after this review). Eventually Caroline shows up at Bruno's apartment (with naked Blake in his bed) and they somewhat make up. There is also a strange short film at the end of the movie which seems completely separate from the rest of the project.

As much as I love Broken Social Scene, this movie was not worth the price of the AGH ticket. The narrative to the movie was completely pointless. The film had so much potential of being an 'art' film in which they could have incorporated concert footage with band interviews and maybe some fan submissions of why BSS inspires them.

After the screening, the actor who played Bruno (Greg Calderone) came out to answer a few questions from the audience. It was clear that I was maybe one of three people in the audience who had known about the film and the band before entering the theatre. I was also probably one in three who has a film degree (not to sound pretentious or anything) because some girl asked Greg how he felt about kissing another guy (gee, thanks, we really want to know). Aside from telling us that sometimes actors have to do different things, Greg informed us that he was cast just ONE day before shooting was to start. I asked Greg about the script and if any of the film was improvised. He admitted that some of it was. From this, I feel as if the twist of the film was just thrown into the movie because the makers of the film did not know what to do with the already pointless plot.

Despite the lack of intriguing narrative, the film does create an exceptionally exciting concert experience. (But did I mention that I already attended the actual concert?) Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Leslie Feist, Emily Haines, Amy Milan and the other 13 plus members of BSS bring so much energy to the stage and the silver screen. Included in the footage was an exclusive duet played at the concert (it was my favourite part) and you can see it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6NLkioP3ks During this duet, Kevin and Leslie cleverly combine two of their solo songs. It was lovely but as a whole This Movie Is Broken is not.

This Movie Is Broken - it truly IS broken.

Stumbled upon this...

I love the way fall looks

I love fall. The feeling of change is most apparent in the fall season. The leaves change colour and fall off trees, school season is back in action and family holidays are most celebrated. This weekend, I spent time amongst the fall at Parker's family cottage in McKellar. Here are some outdoorsy pictures from the stay.

Other than admiring the colours, eating, and studying, the weekend was uneventful but relaxing.

I was experimenting with this picture - I took it through the hole of a garden statue. I enjoy it.

They say that the longer and thicker the black part of a caterpillar is, the longer and colder the winter will be. This one's more deep orange though, perhaps a short winter? Let's hope so!

Delicious Discovery

Today I 'stumbled upon' a way to pop popcorn that  I can't believe  I didn't think of myself. I normally pop popcorn on the stove because I prefer it over the microwavable bagged popcorn. Here is what the trusty internet has taught me:

Put kernels in a paper bag and stick the bag in the microwave for about 2 to 3 minutes. Let pop and stop when kernels pop with more than two to three seconds between each pop.

Voila! It really works! It's a healthier option - there are often harmful chemicals and ingredients in bags of microwave popcorn. It's also faster than doing it on the stove top.

Thank you stumbleupon.com for this delicious idea!