blah

. . .the past. . .
sylvia filmmaker night: there were 2 showings that night one at 7:30pm and one at 9:30pm. about 15 people came to the 7:30pm and 2 people came to the 9:30pm.
we learned some lessons that night. it was good to see (and hear) it. rob and i have already made a couple of changes to the 8 min cut of the ladyhawk doc.

. . .the present. . .
ladyhawk doc: completed an 8 minute cut of the doc that will become the first 8 minutes of the doc. terry gave us some good feedback on it. also received some good advice about how to approach ladyhawk's record label (jag) about their possible involvement in the doc (i.e. send rob and i large sums of cash). i'll work on an attractive 'delivery vehicle' for the dvd that we send to jag while we continue to log (second pass logging).

. . .the future. . .
vehicle relocation program: rob and i will be driving my brother's rav4 to calgary next saturday then flying back monday night. the cargo will include large plastic items intended for toddler use as well as a spindle of mix cds that rob will have prepared in advance.

marketing 101: will be developing a marketing plan for the wedding video biz. i'm reminded of a saying that one of my IT managers keeps repeating: "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

oh yes, it's freaking gorgeous outside today. why does sunny, warm weather promote hopefulness?

malls are evil

i had the misfortune of spending 2 hours at metrotown today.

i was SUPPOSED to go to a local wedding videographer association meeting in the mall and i thought it was SUPPOSED to start at 6:45pm according to their website. when i get to the appointed "community room" in the mall, the door to the room does not have a window nor does it have a little paper holder so that organized people can put what meeting is happening at what time in this "community room."

no. no sign. just a solid door. it's 6:35 so i think i must be early and this might be the type of crowd that arrives late all the time.

so, anticipating that i would be faced with an empty room, i grab the handle and pull open the door swiftly.

no. not an empty room.

00:01
i see about 40 men sitting around tables that have been arranged so that everyone faces inward. a box. it's the shape of a box. EVERYONE HAS TURNED AROUND TO LOOK AT ME. i also notice right away that there are TENT CARDS infront of everyone. TENT CARDS.

i think: this can't be the same group. would wedding videographers think so highly of themselves that they would print up tent cards with their names on them?

00:02
a male with a goatee sitting and facing the door raises his hand and waves.

00:03
i shut the door.

00:04
i think, hey, a guy waived at me. is that the guy from the video rental place that told me about this meeting?

00:05
i swing the door open swiftly again and stare at the waiver. THEY ALL LOOK AT ME AGAIN. i notice that someone is talking and hasn't stopped talking while i am facilitating the airflow on their behalf.

00:06
no. not the same guy. i quickly scan for the video rental guy. arggg, i don't see him. this is taking too long.

00:07
i swing the door shut again.

i sit down at the nearest MALL BENCH and ponder my choices. i believe one of two things have happened: 1)i've arrived way too early and this group will leave soon or 2)i've arrived way too late and they won't leave for at least an hour.

i can't decide which scenario i'm leaning towards. so I decide to write down a list of things i could be doing at home if i was at home instead of sitting on a MALL BENCH infront of Old Navy.

i decide to wait until 7pm and see if this is the early group.

7pm arrives. no one comes out of the room. i think, okay, maybe I'm so late that they might be getting out at 8pm. i'll wait until then and say hi to the video rental guy and apologize for arriving so late.

but i don't feel like walking around and sit on the MALL BENCH (as couples and families take turns sitting then leaving) until 7:30pm at which time i remember i have a Banana Republic gift card and i should see if there's something I want. Yippee. i have a purpose and am a potential customer and feel legitimate.

no. nothing grabs me at BR. i walk around a little but am overwhelmed by all the lights, and all the hip hop music that EVERY STORE must blast, and the shiny objects, and the look of consumerism glazed over all the mall zombies.

and, I'm tired and feeling like an idiot and i'm hungry since i haven't eaten yet.

i wander unmotivated into Chapters and finally go back to my perch on the MALL BENCH at 8pm and wait for 40 men to exit the Community Room. nothing.

at 8:02pm i finally find the courage to leave. i hate the mall.

night of emerging filmmakers @ the sylvia

this coming up thursday will see the second time that the sylvia (where rob works) will show shorts and trailers for local filmmakers who also happen to be friends with rob.

there will be 2 showings on thursday (apr 26); a 7:30pm and a 9:30pm. you are all invited.

we'll be showing a 10-20 minute clip from the ladyhawk doc so we're putting all our energies this weekend into getting this done.

we're on lockdown this weekend with only the sexy warm glow of our 22inch apple monitor to provide us illumination.

we haven't logged the tofino footage but the total number of clips so far is 1,900 clips which translates into 1,900 entries. above is a snapshot of some of them.

eating habits

i just admitted to rob last night that i've been consuming a disgusting meal for the past couple of weeks when rob's at work and i'm home alone.

okay, here it is. brace yourselves.

i make instant noodles and add the flavour packets. i mix in a raw egg and let it cook a bit before i swirl it to spread out the eggy goodness. then, i transfer the noodles and egg into a bowl and top it with a can of tuna.

i've made this about 4 times and i finally decided last night, while eating it the fourth time, that i don't really like this combination. although i love instant noodles and i love canned tuna, the merging of the 2 loves proved quite vile.

that's a wrap

rob and i enjoyed our wrap party last night at "the hollywood cafe" on hastings near victoria drive. however, don't be deceived. it is neither reminiscent of hollywood nor resembles a cafe.

it is a hong kong style cafe with hong kong style tea, spaghetti with pork chops and fried rice. it was nasty in a chinese version of a greasy spoon.

what a juxtaposition to my first meal yesterday comprised of the BEST EVER granola with thick honey yoghurt at tofino (see picture above). all the granola ingredients were organic, fresh, crunchy and flavourful. i declare it THE BEST IN THE WORLD.

we also had delicious food at rebar in victoria.

but i digress. food always distracts me.

we have COMPLETED PRODUCTION ON THE DOCUMENTARY. this means no more filming and especially no more expensive equipment rentals.

we're supposed to go back to logging the footage but we gotta head right into editing because there's another filmmaker night at The Sylvia Hotel next thursday (april 26) and we must MUST show some ladyhawk stuff. you are all invited.

yah!

roadies

back to more filming in the next few days and i'm really looking forward to it.

thursday night - Ladyhawk in vancouver
friday night - Ladyhawk in victoria
saturday night - Ladyhawk in tofino

the tofino show is their last show for 2 weeks and then they tour again with Tapes N' Tapes for about 7 weeks.

and with news that the band is going back into the studio to record 4 more songs (itunes exclusive ones) in june, this doc won't be completed until early july. plus, their label, jagjaguwar, has decided the new album recorded in kelowna won't be released until spring 2008.

which means we have more time to spend on revenue-generating wedding films. i think i smell the sweat of bridezillas in the air.

more nephew

my nephew came back today and we all converged at my brother's house. i returned my brother's rav4 that i drove while they were in hong kong for the past month and then picked up my mom's integra since she leaves for taiwan tomorrow.

top photo: ethan
bottom photo: my parents, rob and june (aka my mom's real daughter - I'm not kidding)