Weekend watching...

This weekend I felt very, very lazy. My allergies are kicking my ass and all I felt like doing was couching. I finished the manuscript and sent it in yesterday. Besides that, I watched two episodes of "Lost", which brings me to about episode 15 of season 1. B* and I watched "Rize" which was fairly interesting, and a much watch if you want to learn more about the whole phenomena of krumping. Krumping is the style of dance that Madonna uses in her video "Hung up." She really tones it down for the video, as the krumping in "Rize" is a lot more violent looking and a lot more frantic. Basically, video creator Dave Lachapelle (who is not the same as comedian Dave Chapelle), went into South Central L.A. and did a bunch of interviews with clown troops (dance troops which combine clowning and dance) and krump groups. There's a whole subculture to the groups and tons of interviews with people about how krump is an art form. The documentary could have been edited a little better, but it's still got a decent narrative arc, likeable characters and tons of fantastic dancing. It definitely gave us a taste of some of the experiences of people in South Central.

I also watched "Magnolia" for my class. I saw that movie in the theatre and disliked it. After watching it again, I can say that I still dislike it. I like a lot of the cast, but the movie still feels bloated and I don't quite understand what it's supposed to be about and this frustrates me. I guess the discussion will be enlightening.

(no subject)

Yesterday I attended the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design grad show. It was excellent, but OMG, so much art! I couldn't even give some of the paintings the attention they deserved because I had reached art saturation point and was exhausted.

Aside from the paintings and photography, there were exhibits on industrial design, short animation and new media films. We didn't see the media films, but did see the animation, some of which was quite good. I liked the industrial and communication design, especially the book design (duh). One person had designed a "choose your own adventure" set in East Vancouver. Another duo had created t-shirts which represented scenes of life in Vancouver. I liked the t-shirts so much that I e-mailed them to see if I could buy one. Some of the industrial design creations were ingenious and if they existed, I would use them. One woman created a set of dishes which was designed to control your portions, while another person created a bed which could fold out into an office. One man created a system called "SLEEP" which was a poncho which could fold into a tent and sleeping mat.

Other highlights included ceramics of insects using Chinese teapots, a great painting of a baked potato which inspired me to have a baked potato for dinner and composites called "Distance" about people in Hong Kong and Vancouver. I wish I'd been feeling a bit better, because the potential of a cold/my allergies was kicking my ass and I was quite tired for most of the day, which decreased my enjoyment.

The Ant problem

We have solved the ant problem for the time being. I put some cinnamon in front of the cracks where they are coming in and then sprayed some of the ants that were already inside the house with a healthy dose of Raid. It turns out that ants hate cinnamon and they refuse to cross the line. It's not a bad solution; it smells good and it's inexpensive. Unfortunately, we can't keep cinnamon on the floors forever. Who knows what will happen when we clean it up?

What I've been reading lately...

I just tried on the hottest dress at Jacob. It looked like something out of an old movie. I didn't buy it, but if I keep on dreaming about it, I just might.

1. Mean Boy by Lynn Coady- I thought the first section of the book was absolutely hilarious, but the ending didn't quite measure up. This book tells the story of a guy who is studying poetry at a maritime university in the 1970s. Like many students in creative writing programs, he falls under the spell of his mentally unstable teacher and worships him. This book is so accurate that it's scary. Apparently the teacher character was based on John Thompson, a poet who came to a maritime university to teach. You'll appreciate this book if you've ever taken a creative writing class, been an English major, have studied Canadian literature, or have been around anyone who fell into "the cult of the professor." This is the first book that I've read which accurately depicts Canadian poetry classes, and I could relate to a lot of it. There are lots of Canlit and literary references, and the characters are realistic. I'm sad that the ending fell a little flat, but I did in fact enjoy the ride. I wish I had someone else to discuss this book with.

2. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown- I've sold thousands of copies of this book and just had no real desire to read it, even though my parents gave me their copy over a year ago. However, I started reading news stories about how controversial this book was with the Church, and decided I had to read it. And my opinion? A big fat "meh".
( more )

However, if this book gets people to read, and makes people to pick up other books, then I'm all for it. I am in no hurry to see the movie except to see Tom Hanks yell, "I need a library now." I love that line just a little too much.

3. Waking up American- edited by Angela Jane Fountas. An excellent collection of essays by first generation American women (children of immigrants) about their connection to the United States and to their country of origin. There were some fascinating essays in here about adapting, visiting the home country, and feeling like an outsider. Writers of all different ethnic backgrounds and sexualities were represented. I might recommend it to some of the women in The Colouring Book.

4. Define Normal by Julie Anne Peters- This book started out one way, and then veered another. It's a YA novel about two girls who end up peer counselling another, and learn about stereotypes, passion and truth. Realistic characters and a decent plot, just the kind of YA I like.

5. Pieces of April- The Shooting Script- by Peter Hedges- My film teacher recommended reading scripts to understand screenplays better. I think the only screenplay I've read prior to this was "Chasing Amy". I used to read a lot of plays when I was a child, but had never picked up a screenplay. Fortunately, the library has TONS of them. I chose "Pieces of April" because I love Peter Hedges' work and the way he writes about family. I also loved this movie; it was a simple but very poignant and touching film. In a shooting script, the director makes comments about some of the changes to the original text and how that text changed when it was captured on film. I intend to read the odd script now and then. I've already borrowed "The Crying Game", which actually won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. I've never seen the movie, so I'm looking forward to reading the script and then seeing how the film differs.

Colouring Book video

The Colouring Book was produced with the help of numerous grants. One of the grants we received was a "Get out!" grant. "Get out!" is a project developed in Vancouver to help fund youth oriented sport, art and community projects. In order to showcase some of their projects and activities, the Get Out! team created videos, including a short video about The Colouring Book, which you can see here. (You need Quick Time to play it)

This video was filmed at our fundraising party. I think the film is quite nice and that they picked a lot of good clips from the evening.

I was surprised to see myself in the video reading a poem. Bear in mind that I was quite sick that day and I look kind of crappy. Fortunately I appear to be having a great hair day. (You can also see B* and I in the background when people are introducing themselves in the beginning of the video.)