democratic hair parting

this morning i made the momentous decision to allow my hair to decide its own part.

usually, i take out my big white comb and path it through my hair to create a perfectly straight part.

but today, i thought i would let my hair choose the part. here's how i did it:
1) bend over at the waist so that hair is hanging down. pretend you're touching your toes. i know, most of us can't, that's why i said pretend.
2) flip (or actually whip) your hair back.

that's it.

let the part fall where it may. the results were not hideous so i went to work with this.

oh and can you create a 30 second commercial in 7 days?

so vaff received some sponsorship in the form of a 30 second commercial shot to be shown during a CityTV show called AZN Lifestyles which airs wednesdays and sundays.

i was asked if i could come up with a commercial in like, oh, 7 days.

my first reaction was: wtf! 7 days!! do i look like a full-on ad agency?

then i realized what a great opportunity and said yes right away. of course, when i say yes, i'm also really saying yes for rob, too. poor rob.

then came the hard part: coming up with an idea.

i begged rob for help on this since he's the ideas guy and he didn't disappoint.

for those of you who have seen the commercial, i've already changed it about 5 times this evening.

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also, please note my DISCLAIMER: although i'm super thankful to rob for coming up with the idea, this isn't the type of stuff i do. i like the mood and tone stuff.

but oh well, here we go......

link to 30 second commercial

casey and rob's scene


diana, terry and me... for the all asian girl scene

food stuffs

the past week has been pretty exciting in my food world.

korean food___________
across the street from Seb's on broadway near fraser is a new korean restaurant that replaces the korean tofu soup restaurant that i had wanted to try but never did.

the new korean restaurant serves skewers, bulgogi, bibimbob, bbq eel on rice, etc.

besides the deliciously prepared food are some other wonders:
1) the entire interior of the restaurant is covered in orange tarp.
2) the middle of the restaurant has these large cauldrons of their version of miso soup.
3) the menus are written on big, old soup pot lids
4) the chairs are blue plastic stools

be warned, the place gets packed by 6:30pm.

oh, also, we were able to order makalee which is rice wine and it tasted home brewed and was waay cheaper and tastier than the soju. btw, the makalee is not on the menu. it was advantageous having rob there to order this drink.






cheese and olive party___________
this past saturday, rob and i attended the swankiest party we've ever been to. the location was a remodelled 1950s house in the dunbar/southlands area.

it was like stepping into an issue of dwell magazine.

and then there was the amazing selection of cheese to be had. the hostess sourced the best and most exclusive cheeses then presented them along with fruit, breads, and olives.

something that surprised me was how friendly this mostly affluent crowd was. everybody smiled as you walked past them. every single one.

you know how people say money doesn't make you happy? well, if i had the money to live in this house, i think i would rather happy.

new max richter album

listening to his music instantly turns me into a romantic of the extreme type and i suddenly have the desire:
- relocate to paris, london or new york
- learn to sew
- have kids
- live in a high-ceiling loft with all white walls and spare vintage furniture
- learn to take photos using vintage cameras and make a living at it
- lose about 20 lbs
- go grocery shopping in a cute bike with a basket on the front

my current life is pretty fantastic but i also have these crazy romantic tendancies which, i think, are fueled by surfing too many design blogs written by women who have these fantasy-etsy lives (see here).

checkout max richter's website, it's so beautiful.
24 photos with samples of up to 1 minute of each song on the album.

24 postcards in full colour

hanging with dad and the fam

during the long weekend, i spent some much needed time with my dad and family.

my dad did some tai chi healing on me, showed me some exercises to do and gave me some seeds from his garden.






then, for thanksgiving, we all babysat ethan. look at rob's mad babysitting skillz

another project underway

with VIFF out of the way and rob feeling better than a piece of used saran wrap, we're committing all our energies to a new project that has sprung out of the cauldron of creative ideas that is rob's head.

we're making a film about people who run an indie rock recording studio.

cinematic influences we're looking to include:
- Last Days
- This Charming Girl
- Day Night Day Night

the crew will be rob and myself. rob is the director and i'm main camera.

we started a blog for the film which is called:
Everything Louder Than Everything Else

we'll be posting all sorts of production notes and notices and communications with the actors. it's going to be so much fun.

VIFF: the final report

# of films watched = 19
# of films i'm glad i watched = 10
# of walkouts (emotional or actual) = 4
# of films with rob in them = 1

# times i saw straw guy = 3
# times i was asked if i was japanese after watching a japanese film = 2
# times i bought popcorn = 2


the worst: Night and Day - i'm still angry i had to sit thru this piece of crap.

the best: Synching Blue - even though i didn't initially give it my highest score (transcendental), the more i thought about the film, the more i loved it.

the most inspirational: Louise Bourgeoise - 90 years old and still passionate about sculpture, creating and art. i should be making films every weekend.

films that made me cry
- Night and Day (cry with frustration)
- I've Been Loving You So Long
- Orz Boyz

films with blow-jobs, 3-way gay sex, hand-jobs or porn
- Synching Blue
- Serbis
- mime-mime,
- Blind Pig That Wants To Fly
- Night and Day cuz it was a total wank-fest of overdone dramatics.

other notables:
film where the korean lead character is visiting paris and is inexplicably wearing a "capilano suspension bridge" tshirt - Night and Day

film with the best pre-film entertainment - The Desert Within where a mariachi band played at the front of the stage before the film started


also, read what rob had to say about viff

VIFF: Night and Day

my rating: walk out - except i was trapped in the middle of the row and rob was there

my blurbie:
i had to close my eyes because reading the juvenile dialogue was making me more and more angry. i hate that i lost 2 hours of my life this horrid piece of melodramatic poo.

i should have known better. i've watched 2 other films by this director and thought they sucked but went cuz rob likes his stuff.

i'm so upset i want to write a letter to hong sang-soo and tell him that he should stop making the same movie over and over and over again about immature korean men and smart women who can be clingy, set at the beach, about relationships between adults that resemble the stupid mistakes of 9 year olds.

i need booze. lots of it. right now

i'm not a real film geek and other stuff

this week so far, there have been 3 (three) whole days on which i did not watch a film at VIFF.

at a screening this weekend, the film introducer asked people to raise their hands if this was their first film, if people have watched more than 10 films, 20 films, 30 films, 40 films, 50 films, 60 films, and i shit you not, 70 films.

there were at least 3 people with hands still up for 70 films. wtf.

.................
in other news, i skipped 4 Nights With Anna tonight since rob has a nasty sinus flu and so i picked up chicken noodle soup, apple juice, green juice smoothy, crackers, and fruit from capers.

capers is very expensive.

i purchased a small container of maple glazed brussel sprouts because rob loves them. a small container containing about 14 of those little things set me back $7.38. that makes the heirloom cherry tomatoes at $4.99 a steal.



you don't even want to know how much their organic turkeys are selling for.

.................
also, i just cancelled our trip to victoria for this weekend's victoria marathon. rob is in no shape to run a marathon and in the past month alone, i've managed to run approximately 20 minutes on a treadmill. twice. so i'm not really ready to run the 8K either.

but that's cool, that means we can stay home and have a nice thanksgiving dinner with my family.

.................
and lastly, i had a day of great hair. look, the proof! it was even more impressive during the day. just imagine it a little more wavy yet not puffy.

VIFF: Blind Pig That Wants To Fly

my rating: walk out (and i actually did walk out this time)

my blurbie:
my first dad grew up in indonesia and so i was intrigued by Tony Rayns' glowing review of the only film from indonesia and had to go.

but it was a BIG PILE OF POO.

it was the worst implementation of ambient, going nowhere style of film. wong kar wai is a master of this genre but the director of this film needs to be punished for creating this boring and useless waste of an hour.

it would take too long to explain the horribleness in detail, instead, if you have the stomach for it, you can ask me in person.

VIFF: I've Been Loving You So Long

my rating: awesome

my blurbie:
kirstin scott thomas speaking french and playing the role of a woman who has just been released from jail. she moves in with her sister who is married and has 2 adopted girls and tries to start her life over again.

i loved that the hows and whys of KST's character is slowly revealed throughout the film; it kept me wondering and guessing throughout. the ending was a little heavy but forgivable.

this was beautifully shot, strongly acted and well directed although the music kinda sucked; the acoustic guitar was heavily utilized.

VIFF: Days In Between

my rating: awesome

my blurbie:
Days In Between is one of the MOST DEPRESSING films i've ever watched. and even though i feel like i need to take anti-depressants, i still loved it.

german and gorgeously filmed, it's about a married woman with a kid who is emotionally distant from her husband and child and has this f'd up adulterous relationship which is the catalyst for more bad decisions. this woman was the perfect example of an ice queen.

i interpreted the multitude of shots of her nicely weathered leather workbag that she took everywhere with her was supposed to represent her emotions which is like excessive baggage that she carries around with her but that are outside of her.

this film would have sucked if not for the great cinematography, acting and direction.

VIFF: Louise Bourgeoise - The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine

my rating: transcendental

my blurbie:
documentary about a 90 year old french sculpture artist living in new york for the past 50 years.

an honest and vocal subject plus great editing plus okay music EQUALS an amazing cinematic experience.

which is saying something because the film started 40 minutes and 2 different projectors later. but the mostly artsy crowd waited patiently and a rather cute venue manager chatted up the crowd during the wait. one woman even asked him to tell us his name.

because i'm totally ignorant about art history and all that, i really appreciated the artist (partially) explaining her work and the seeds of those emotions and ideas. the footage of her work at the Tate, Guggenheim, etc was just stunning.

some great quotes from her include:
- sculpting is an aggressive act
- the purpose of sculpture is self-knowledge

VIFF: A Christmas Tale

my rating: (was meh) walk out

my blurbie:
french movie about a dysfunctional family during christmas starring catherine deneuve. can't go wrong right? WRONG!!!

this was a self-indulgent, video poetry piece of crap. every cliche arty device was used:
- talking directly to the camera
- using crazy music at weird moments
- characters that no one liked
- characters that didn't know why they were always sad
- an unloving mother
- accepted infidelity
- reading prose from a book

ok, so these things seem pretty tame but when it's implemented with a fake artsy hand, it becomes a big pile of poo.

i feel bad that i dragged friends to watch this tonight.

VIFF: When Life Was Good

my rating: awesome

my blurbie:
i've seen 2 previous versions of WLWG and the version i saw this past thursday night blew me away. terry did some major editing magic.

it's a relationship film about people in their mid 20s who deal with hilariously ridiculous people in the entertainment industry including a director who doesn't speak (i.e. my rob).

the screening at the ridge was sold out!! and the cast and crew sat in the middle and had a blast listening to their hometown embrace their work. i filmed the Q&A session which had the entire cast standing at the front of the ridge. it was super sweet.

afterwards, there was a cast and crew and friends party at a super swanky mansion near southlands. holy frack was it nice. i left early cuz i had to go to work the next day (today) and rob got home around 3am.

what a night.

VIFF: Wonderful Town

my rating: okay

my blurbie:
this is the type of film i should love. cinematic looking, slow moving, and ambient. but i just couldn't get into this film about an architect from the big city (Bangkok) who is sent to a beach resort to oversee a resort development and ends up falling in love with the young female who runs the hotel.

i should even love the twist at the end that reveals that this town is anything but wonderful. but i didn't.

overall i thought it was poorly done and was mostly bored by the whole thing.

VIFF: Synching Blue

my rating: awesome

my blurbie:
this film is for advanced arty-fartsy types. here's why: zero dialogue, no plot, lots of scenes of activities that encourage the growth of hair on your palms, porn videos, and scenes that seem to go nowhere. it was gorgeously shot on film.

but i absolutely loved it.

there are 2 characters in this film: an asian guy with no apparent occupation except to masturbate frequently throughout a given day and a caucasian woman who was a synchronized swimmer but now works as a janitor at the local swimming pool.

half way through the film do these 2 finally meet up and have a relationship, of sorts.

the director was in attendance and here's some rather neat things he said:
- cinematic time and space are his characters
- he purposely disconnects people, their actions, their lives, and story because he would rather the audience participate with their own interpretations

so cool.

VIFF: Serbis

my rating: awesome

my blurbie:
a film from the Philippines, Serbis means "service" and it refers to male prostitutes who hang out at porn houses waiting for clients (primarily men) to show up and ask for their services.

this particular porn house is run by a family with lots of troubles of their own. the matriarch is suing her husband for infidelity but her children lie about the affair because they don't want the law to officially recognize these illegitimate children which would result in an inheritance grab.

there are lots of other family dramas going on but that's the main one.

there's plenty of non-discreet shots of oral sex and intercourse. hey, this film is about a family running a porn theatre, what do you expect?

shot in beautiful high-def with a cinematographer's eye, i thoroughly enjoyed this movie despite some bad dialogue and direction.