Monday, May 14, 2012
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz
On Tuesday April 12th I had the pleasure of joining my lil' CreComm buddies at the Rachel Browne Theatre for a play written by a former CreComm instructor, Armin Wiebe. The play is called "The Moonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz."
The story focuses on a young Mennonite couple who live on a farm and are trying to start a family. They had been married for two years and were not yet fortunate enough to have a child. The man of the house comes across an old detuned piano and brings it home. Shortly thereafter a visitor shows up, a pianist from Russia, who ends up staying with the couple.
The pianist ends up tuning the piano by pulling dead animals and feathers (I call bull-sh#%,) out from the casing where the strings are, and starts to play an excerpt from the Moonlight Sonata over and over again. This beautiful song starts to woo the lady of the house, and eventually she has an affair with the pianist during a night when her husband is stuck in town due to a snowstorm.
Of course the woman loves her husband, but she wants a baby pretty badly, hence the affair.
Being Mennonite myself and having come from a family where my sister, my parents, some cousins and aunts and uncles talk with Mennonite accents, I am quite familiar with how the accent should sound. But there is a difference in the accent depending on where in Manitoba a Mennonite comes from. Back home in Steinbach we would say the people that had accents like the female lead in the play had were from "yant seid," or, the other side. This basically meant that these people were from Altona, Morden, and Winkler. Their accents were always thicker and more pronounced than ours.
The male lead character's accent was poorly done in my opinion. He kept dropping words, and sounded Scottish or Irish to me sometimes. I found that the female lead had a good handle on the yant seid accent, although at times it seemed overdone. It's hard to fault these actors, the accent is very challenging to pull off - I can't even do it that well. But I did find the bad accent moments hard to take after awhile.
I found the dialogue to be spot on as far as typical Mennonite conversations go. When the characters inserted things like nai-yo or oba-yo into their sentences, I was taken back to conversations with my grandmother. I thought the dialogue was very authentic Mennonite.
I myself was drawn to the lighting in the theatre. The set was fantastic, and old log cabin style house with a straw roof. I loved how a light shone through the rear window and the darker blue lights that shone outside the house stage right. With my interests in film continuing to grow more and more, I have been spending a lot of my time looking at lighting when I watch a play or a movie or whatever.
In the artist talkback, I was surprised that Mr. Wiebe was not more well spoken. I mean, he was an instructor here at the college. Maybe he was nervous, not sure. But he should be happy, the show was packed on Tuesday and I heard that they added an extra show.
That's success baby!
j
The story focuses on a young Mennonite couple who live on a farm and are trying to start a family. They had been married for two years and were not yet fortunate enough to have a child. The man of the house comes across an old detuned piano and brings it home. Shortly thereafter a visitor shows up, a pianist from Russia, who ends up staying with the couple.
The pianist ends up tuning the piano by pulling dead animals and feathers (I call bull-sh#%,) out from the casing where the strings are, and starts to play an excerpt from the Moonlight Sonata over and over again. This beautiful song starts to woo the lady of the house, and eventually she has an affair with the pianist during a night when her husband is stuck in town due to a snowstorm.
Of course the woman loves her husband, but she wants a baby pretty badly, hence the affair.
Being Mennonite myself and having come from a family where my sister, my parents, some cousins and aunts and uncles talk with Mennonite accents, I am quite familiar with how the accent should sound. But there is a difference in the accent depending on where in Manitoba a Mennonite comes from. Back home in Steinbach we would say the people that had accents like the female lead in the play had were from "yant seid," or, the other side. This basically meant that these people were from Altona, Morden, and Winkler. Their accents were always thicker and more pronounced than ours.
The male lead character's accent was poorly done in my opinion. He kept dropping words, and sounded Scottish or Irish to me sometimes. I found that the female lead had a good handle on the yant seid accent, although at times it seemed overdone. It's hard to fault these actors, the accent is very challenging to pull off - I can't even do it that well. But I did find the bad accent moments hard to take after awhile.
I found the dialogue to be spot on as far as typical Mennonite conversations go. When the characters inserted things like nai-yo or oba-yo into their sentences, I was taken back to conversations with my grandmother. I thought the dialogue was very authentic Mennonite.
I myself was drawn to the lighting in the theatre. The set was fantastic, and old log cabin style house with a straw roof. I loved how a light shone through the rear window and the darker blue lights that shone outside the house stage right. With my interests in film continuing to grow more and more, I have been spending a lot of my time looking at lighting when I watch a play or a movie or whatever.
In the artist talkback, I was surprised that Mr. Wiebe was not more well spoken. I mean, he was an instructor here at the college. Maybe he was nervous, not sure. But he should be happy, the show was packed on Tuesday and I heard that they added an extra show.
That's success baby!
j
Saturday, April 9, 2011
You can't polish a turd!
After roughly 40 hours of editing, and three nights this week where I stayed up working until 4am, I finally completed my short film - montage assignment for school. I am so grateful for all the help I received from the actors: Andrew Parker, Mike Tanasychuk, Thomas Asselin, Veronica Neufeld, Alex Rohne, Ian Mikita, Bruce Berven, and Tim "Scratch" Friesen. I also want to give a shout out to Chris Gaudry and Robert Zirk for the Final Cut Pro editing tips that they gave me.
I learned a lot throughout the creation of this project, but the biggest thing was lighting. Obviously you'll see when you watch the video that some scenes are a little too bright, and some a little to dark. I had to trash a bunch of footage because it just didn't turn out the way I had hoped. But that's how we learn.
Although I played around with some filters which I will explain below, if the footage is no good, any amount of tweaking with filters and color balancing just can't polish a turd. You have to start getting great footage right from stage one for it to look really good. So watch your lighting and make sure the Iris is set just right on the camera. If you are shooting at school, pause for a bit and quickly check how the footage looks in an editing suite and then keep shooting knowing that it looks the way you want it to.
In the opening scene when you see Andrew Parker addressing the nations on tv, I used a filter called Bloom to create the effect of creepiness and to take down some of the bright light that shone off of his silver head. I used this effect later in the film during the marionette scene.
In the scenes where the men in black chase Veronica to her apartment, I used an effect called Relief to give the scenes an almost painted brush-stroke look. I tried to stick to themes when I used filters, as I was very concerned about over-doing it.
In the scene where Veronica gets arrested with the mask, the filter that made everything shiny was called Light Rays. I used this filter as my theme whenever someone got arrested or the masks were present and/or worn.
In the scenes where Veronica was writhing with the mask, I copied the clip twice, stacked them on top of each other, and shifted two of them slightly off centre from each other. Then I dropped the Opacity on the top two clips so the bottom third stood out. I had a lot of fun with Opacity actually, maybe a little too much fun!
I had a really tough time matching the interior of the mad scientists house to the exterior where Ian walks up to the door. It was filmed during the afternoon and I had my biggest issues with lighting. I used the RGB color balance filter to match the blue hue between the interior and exterior.
My favourite effect was Dazzle, which is what I used in the scenes with the mad scientist. All these neat little stars just showed up on the wall behind the actors in that shot. This filter takes reflected light and gives it a really cool sparkle.
The last few scenes where Andrew starts morphing from silver to white involve using Earthquake, Bad Film and Bad TV. The very last scene I added Solarize to the mix. Basically a cocktail of ridiculousness.
As far as all the effects go, I believe that covers it. If anyone has any questions just lemme know and I'd be happy to help out. Until then, click the link below to enjoy my short film!
j
I learned a lot throughout the creation of this project, but the biggest thing was lighting. Obviously you'll see when you watch the video that some scenes are a little too bright, and some a little to dark. I had to trash a bunch of footage because it just didn't turn out the way I had hoped. But that's how we learn.
Although I played around with some filters which I will explain below, if the footage is no good, any amount of tweaking with filters and color balancing just can't polish a turd. You have to start getting great footage right from stage one for it to look really good. So watch your lighting and make sure the Iris is set just right on the camera. If you are shooting at school, pause for a bit and quickly check how the footage looks in an editing suite and then keep shooting knowing that it looks the way you want it to.
In the opening scene when you see Andrew Parker addressing the nations on tv, I used a filter called Bloom to create the effect of creepiness and to take down some of the bright light that shone off of his silver head. I used this effect later in the film during the marionette scene.
In the scenes where the men in black chase Veronica to her apartment, I used an effect called Relief to give the scenes an almost painted brush-stroke look. I tried to stick to themes when I used filters, as I was very concerned about over-doing it.
In the scene where Veronica gets arrested with the mask, the filter that made everything shiny was called Light Rays. I used this filter as my theme whenever someone got arrested or the masks were present and/or worn.
In the scenes where Veronica was writhing with the mask, I copied the clip twice, stacked them on top of each other, and shifted two of them slightly off centre from each other. Then I dropped the Opacity on the top two clips so the bottom third stood out. I had a lot of fun with Opacity actually, maybe a little too much fun!
I had a really tough time matching the interior of the mad scientists house to the exterior where Ian walks up to the door. It was filmed during the afternoon and I had my biggest issues with lighting. I used the RGB color balance filter to match the blue hue between the interior and exterior.
My favourite effect was Dazzle, which is what I used in the scenes with the mad scientist. All these neat little stars just showed up on the wall behind the actors in that shot. This filter takes reflected light and gives it a really cool sparkle.
The last few scenes where Andrew starts morphing from silver to white involve using Earthquake, Bad Film and Bad TV. The very last scene I added Solarize to the mix. Basically a cocktail of ridiculousness.
As far as all the effects go, I believe that covers it. If anyone has any questions just lemme know and I'd be happy to help out. Until then, click the link below to enjoy my short film!
j
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Live at 5
So today is the last live at 5. I want to give a shout out to all the Broadcast J students who have worked so hard this semester on that show. It is sad to see the end of an era like this, but on to new horizons.
Best wishes to all.
j
Best wishes to all.
j
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The home stretch
Now that the magazine project has been completed, I can breathe a sigh of relief. The amount of time it took to put everything together is staggering. Thankfully I worked with a solid group, where everyone busted their buns to make our magazine very professional looking. It will be interesting to hear what people say at the magazine trade fair next Thursday.
There are a few major assignments left, one of which is my montage. I have shot about 300 clips of material, and so far it is looking really good. By the end of this week I anticipate that I'll have all the material that I need. The home stretch is within reach!
j
There are a few major assignments left, one of which is my montage. I have shot about 300 clips of material, and so far it is looking really good. By the end of this week I anticipate that I'll have all the material that I need. The home stretch is within reach!
j
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Off to Riding Mountain
For an assignment in school, I am required to go on a trip somewhere in either Manitoba, Saskatchewan or even Ontario. My group chose Riding Mountain. It should be a great time, a chance to get to know some of my fellow students a little bit better. I am bringing my guitar along for some campfire sing-alongs. It's gonna be a great time. Hopefully I'll learn something new about Riding Mountain.
woohooo!
j
woohooo!
j
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Twitter vs. Facebook
Although I try to get on Twitter as much as possible, the reality is that I don't use it that much. Facebook is certainly something that I use more frequently, but in terms of my schedule with school and music, I just don't have time to spend communicating through these mediums. When I do find a moment here or there, I use Twitter to hopefully inspire people, I use Facebook to catch up with friends and promote my various musical activities. I notice that a lot of my friends use each medium in a similar manner. My sister uses Facebook to update everyone on what her kids did that day.
When it comes to people I befriend on Facebook, or follow on Twitter, I'll never know how much spam I get from them until I have signed up. If I find that I get spammed too much with useless info, I will unfriend or unfollow them.
Once I have completed school and have more time on my hands, I plan to use Twitter more as I believe it can be a powerful tool to inspire. I'd like to start yweeting song lyrics, I think that would be neat.
Cheerio,
j
When it comes to people I befriend on Facebook, or follow on Twitter, I'll never know how much spam I get from them until I have signed up. If I find that I get spammed too much with useless info, I will unfriend or unfollow them.
Once I have completed school and have more time on my hands, I plan to use Twitter more as I believe it can be a powerful tool to inspire. I'd like to start yweeting song lyrics, I think that would be neat.
Cheerio,
j
Thursday, February 10, 2011
To publish or self publish
Here's what I know about publishing a book. Nothing. Well, almost nothing. My brother in law had a book published one time. The publisher basically took 90% of the sale proceeds of each book in exchange for putting it on the shelves in stores like Chapters. I believe he also got a slightly better deal on printing costs than he would've had he self published. I guess if you want to self publish, you will get much more of the proceeds of the book sale cash, but you would have a tougher time getting access to the masses.
Unless you have lady luck on your side, as well as a solid book, you might hit it big like the author of Time Travelers' Wife. But in some ways that's almost like winning the lottery. Chances are slim, but you can play anytime you want.
j
Unless you have lady luck on your side, as well as a solid book, you might hit it big like the author of Time Travelers' Wife. But in some ways that's almost like winning the lottery. Chances are slim, but you can play anytime you want.
j
Friday, February 4, 2011
Sunny gets shot down
I wrote a script today. Here it is.
SUNNY GETS SHOT DOWN
SUNNY puts the gun in her mouth and to the horror of everyone, the scene ends as she pulls the trigger to shoot herself.
SUNNY GETS SHOT DOWN
Int. Stella’s restaurant
SUNNY SIMPSON, 17, leans forward and whispers quietly to her friend and crush JOHN FRANKLIN, 17. They are seated on the opposite sides of the table, and she is gossiping and trying to avoid eye contact with the waitress, LISA FREEMAN, 18, who walks by their table.
SUNNY
She’s such a slut. (whisper)
JOHN
Really? I was thinking of asking her to the prom.
SUNNY
What? Why? Do you find her attractive? I heard she’s really bitchy.
JOHN
She’s nice to me. What, you don’t think she’s pretty?
SUNNY
Ah-
LISA interrupts the conversation by showing up with a pot of coffee. She glares at SUNNY and then smiles at JOHN.
LISA
Do you need any sugar hun?
JOHN
(chuckles and nods)
SUNNY
I’ll take some cream and sugar, but hold the spit.
LISA
Well isn’t that classy. What’s your problem?
sunny
No problem. I’m just fine.
LISA pauses for a moment, then turns and smiles at JOHN. She puts her hand on his shoulder as she pours coffee into his cup. SUNNY bristles as she notices LISA touching him.
JOHN
Thanks.
LISA
Anytime sweetheart. You just call me if you need anything.
As LISA lingers and faces JOHN who is sheepishly smiling back, SUNNY is mouthing the words that LISA just said in mockery.
SUNNY
That’s all we need for now.
LISA ignores her and walks over to her other tables to serve more coffee. JOHN stares at LISA’s ass as she walks away, and SUNNY looks upset.
SUNNY
I hear that she’s spends her time on the weekends trying to make it with bands that play at the Albert.
JOHN
How do you know all this? Is that even true?
SUNNY
Don’t just take my word for it. Ask Matti and Tiera. They have seen her there, all fucked up on god knows what, parading herself all over these guys. What a whore.
JOHN looks down at his coffee, and then out the window in silence. Some sunlight peers through the clouds and casts light on his face as he starts to squint. SUNNY realizes she pushed things too far and changes the subject.
SUNNY
So I’ve been thinking about whom I’d like to go to the prom with.
JOHN
Oh yeah? Who is that?
SUNNY
Well, he’s a quiet guy who is really cute and sweet. He doesn’t know that I’m into him. But I’ve known him for such a long time, and I know that if we were together, we’d be perfect for each other.
JOHN
(leans forward)
Wow. Who is it?
SUNNY
It’s you.
JOHN jolts a bit in shock. He stares at SUNNY in silence as he gathers his thoughts.
JOHN
Woah! I’m flattered SUNNY but we are just friends. I don’t wanna mess that up.
SUNNY sits up straight and looks out the window, fighting back a tear. She excuses herself, grabs her purse, and leaves to go to the restroom. JOHN slumps in his seat and looks out the window. LISA returns with two plates of banana pancakes and lovingly places one of them in front of JOHN.
LISA
Here you go baby. I’ll get you some maple syrup.
JOHN
Hey Lisa, I have a question for you. Would you wanna go to the prom with me?
LISA
O my god! Are you serious? I’d love to!
JOHN
Right on!
SUNNY comes back to the table and catches wind of the conversation. She is red faced and freaks out. She starts shouting at LISA and pushes her.
SUNNY
You fucking vulture! Stay the hell away from him! He’s mine!
LISA pushes SUNNY back and a fight ensues. The girls start pulling each other’s hair. JOHN stands up and tries to intervene but he trips and falls. SUNNY pulls a small hand gun out of her back pocket and points it at LISA. LISA backs off.
JOHN
SUNNY! Stop it! You and I are just friends. We can’t be together!
SUNNY stops and looks at JOHN in shock. She then gazes at the gun.
SUNNY
If I can’t have you then I have nothing.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Who's gonna sell their soul? Not me.
So the other day I got an email from a financial planning firm offering to give me money if they could advertise on my blog. I guess my buyer beware blog from last semester caught their attention. In the post, I talked a little about my past experience as a financial planner, and spoke diplomatically about the pitfalls to look for when choosing a financial institution.
I decided to let this organization humor me so I asked them what they had in mind. As it turned out they actually wanted to change some of the wording in my blog post to highlight their services, which in turn would have completely contradicted what I was trying to say.
I immediately said no, and sent them on their way, after all, integrity is paramount.
And I will reiterate my point. In the world of investing, the typical winners are the financial institutions. They win most of the time because no matter how your portfolio performs, they still charge you a fee to manage it. The average Joe investor might have a shot at winning so long as he or she does not invest with their emotions. Joe/Josephine should not pay attention to any commercials or media that plays on their emotions. They should stick to their guns, and stay invested for the long haul.
j
I decided to let this organization humor me so I asked them what they had in mind. As it turned out they actually wanted to change some of the wording in my blog post to highlight their services, which in turn would have completely contradicted what I was trying to say.
I immediately said no, and sent them on their way, after all, integrity is paramount.
And I will reiterate my point. In the world of investing, the typical winners are the financial institutions. They win most of the time because no matter how your portfolio performs, they still charge you a fee to manage it. The average Joe investor might have a shot at winning so long as he or she does not invest with their emotions. Joe/Josephine should not pay attention to any commercials or media that plays on their emotions. They should stick to their guns, and stay invested for the long haul.
j
Thursday, January 20, 2011
So hot! Like pizza on the dance floor!
On regular occasion I spend my time playing music with my band mates. Many times when we get together we just spend our time jamming. Someone starts playing something like a drum beat, a bass line, a guitar lick, whatever, and everyone just starts playing along. Through this process we eventually turn really strong jams, or grooves as I like to call them, into songs.
Although it didn't start out this way, we soon began realizing that when we create music in this manner, we tend to forget some of the solid grooves when it comes time to get together again. So we decided to start recording these grooves. One of these recent recordings is called Pizza on the Dance Floor.
The song started off with a funk-disco bass line that Bruce, our bass player, had been playing around with. Tim, our keyboardist, didn't manage to join us for the rehearsal, and so Ian, our drummer, spent his time initially working out some beats on Tim's sequencer, then switched to playing his kit. I started to play guitar along with Bruce's bad ass groove, and within a minute or two we had something really cool happening.
The next thing you know I started thinking about how cold it's been outside, and how great it is to stay inside and warm up to a fine lady. That led to thoughts of dancing in a club with some hot ladies, which led to thoughts of love making which then led to thoughts of being hungry,( I'm always hungry after.)
So I started to sing about pizza on the dance floor, which to much of my band mates delight, elicited a rouse of cheering as well as vocal harmonies. From there both Ian and I started to rap about things relating to dance floors, pretty women, and eating pizza, and it just got ridiculous.
But that's the way I like it!
Although it didn't start out this way, we soon began realizing that when we create music in this manner, we tend to forget some of the solid grooves when it comes time to get together again. So we decided to start recording these grooves. One of these recent recordings is called Pizza on the Dance Floor.
The song started off with a funk-disco bass line that Bruce, our bass player, had been playing around with. Tim, our keyboardist, didn't manage to join us for the rehearsal, and so Ian, our drummer, spent his time initially working out some beats on Tim's sequencer, then switched to playing his kit. I started to play guitar along with Bruce's bad ass groove, and within a minute or two we had something really cool happening.
The next thing you know I started thinking about how cold it's been outside, and how great it is to stay inside and warm up to a fine lady. That led to thoughts of dancing in a club with some hot ladies, which led to thoughts of love making which then led to thoughts of being hungry,( I'm always hungry after.)
So I started to sing about pizza on the dance floor, which to much of my band mates delight, elicited a rouse of cheering as well as vocal harmonies. From there both Ian and I started to rap about things relating to dance floors, pretty women, and eating pizza, and it just got ridiculous.
But that's the way I like it!
Friday, January 14, 2011
NFL Playoff Pool
So I decided to join an NFL playoff pool. I have never entered into a playoff pool for football, mainly because I have never known very much about the sport. This year is the first year that I have really started getting into NFL Football. I just love the strategy of the game, every yardage gained is such a battle.
I am currently learning about video shooting in school and I find the coverage in NFL football is so amazing, I'm learning alot about shooting just from watching football.
The main team I have decided to go for is the Green Bay Packers. I picked Aaron Rogers as my one QB choice. If you actually look at the numbers, he threw for the 2nd most yards of the season behind Michael Vick of Philly, a team they vanquished last week. With the solid defence Green Bay has (another pick I made)Rogers' throwing ability, and their sudden surge of their running game with Starks coming out of no where, this team is looking good.
j
I am currently learning about video shooting in school and I find the coverage in NFL football is so amazing, I'm learning alot about shooting just from watching football.
The main team I have decided to go for is the Green Bay Packers. I picked Aaron Rogers as my one QB choice. If you actually look at the numbers, he threw for the 2nd most yards of the season behind Michael Vick of Philly, a team they vanquished last week. With the solid defence Green Bay has (another pick I made)Rogers' throwing ability, and their sudden surge of their running game with Starks coming out of no where, this team is looking good.
j
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Pseudo-Events - Spanish Clothing Store draws huge crowds with underwear gimmick
It looks like some Spanish people have no modesty when it comes to getting free stuff. On January 4th, shoppers in Madrid waited overnight at outlet store Desigual in their underwear to gain a chance to receive free clothing. The promotion was offered to the first 100 people in line who arrived so scantily clad.
Well this is certainly a promotion that worked, in searching for details on this story, I found links to major news sites like Reuters and the Daily Mail UK, and the story was even reported in our Winnipeg Sun. (See link to the video on the Sun's website below.)
When it comes to pseudo-events, the newsworthiness of the event is a good barometer for how successful it may be. In the world of novelty, this story certainly takes the cake. There is also a human interest factor in that whenever you have a bunch of people running around in their underwear, in slightly chilly temperatures. According to BBC's weather website, the average temperature in Madrid in January is 9 degrees Celsius. No doubt the less than balmy temperature aided the story's legs, and drew media attention.
In the news story the reporter also mentions the fact that Spanish shoppers were cash strapped, no doubt due to their fledgling economy, and their current high unemployment rate of over 20% (Eurostat). This is a country where a mere two years ago the rate was around 10%. These economic conditions would certainly inspire retailers to come up with unique ways to get consumers to open their wallets.
Timeliness was also a factor in the draw for media attention, as the "boxing sale" season traditionally starts around January the 7th in Madrid, and according to the story, this Desigual store got the jump on the competition.
Had I lived in Madrid and heard about this ahead of time, would I have shown up in my underwear for some free designer brand clothes??? Heck yes!
Well this is certainly a promotion that worked, in searching for details on this story, I found links to major news sites like Reuters and the Daily Mail UK, and the story was even reported in our Winnipeg Sun. (See link to the video on the Sun's website below.)
When it comes to pseudo-events, the newsworthiness of the event is a good barometer for how successful it may be. In the world of novelty, this story certainly takes the cake. There is also a human interest factor in that whenever you have a bunch of people running around in their underwear, in slightly chilly temperatures. According to BBC's weather website, the average temperature in Madrid in January is 9 degrees Celsius. No doubt the less than balmy temperature aided the story's legs, and drew media attention.
In the news story the reporter also mentions the fact that Spanish shoppers were cash strapped, no doubt due to their fledgling economy, and their current high unemployment rate of over 20% (Eurostat). This is a country where a mere two years ago the rate was around 10%. These economic conditions would certainly inspire retailers to come up with unique ways to get consumers to open their wallets.
Timeliness was also a factor in the draw for media attention, as the "boxing sale" season traditionally starts around January the 7th in Madrid, and according to the story, this Desigual store got the jump on the competition.
Had I lived in Madrid and heard about this ahead of time, would I have shown up in my underwear for some free designer brand clothes??? Heck yes!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
UFC in Montreal
I just got back from Montreal where I saw my buddy Joe Doerksen fight in the UFC. It was a great time, unfortunately Joe didn't win. In a fight where he dominated from the bottom with his strong guard, the judges gave a split decision to his opponent, Dan Miller.
When UFC judges are really Quebec Athletic Commission judges who specialize in judging boxing matches, something is wrong here. They need to better understand how MMA fighting works, and it seems that in this case, they didn't. Simply because Dan Miller was on top of Joe, they thought Miller had the control. Due to Joe's strong guard, Miller didn't have any control whatsoever, and he looked a lot worse for wear than Joe did after the fight.
Hopefully these judges can gain a better understanding of MMA fighting in the future to keep this from happening again.
When UFC judges are really Quebec Athletic Commission judges who specialize in judging boxing matches, something is wrong here. They need to better understand how MMA fighting works, and it seems that in this case, they didn't. Simply because Dan Miller was on top of Joe, they thought Miller had the control. Due to Joe's strong guard, Miller didn't have any control whatsoever, and he looked a lot worse for wear than Joe did after the fight.
Hopefully these judges can gain a better understanding of MMA fighting in the future to keep this from happening again.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Design Layout
In my electronic publishing class I have certainly been having trouble. I've never been much of an artist or design guy. The project we worked on today is the first one that I'm actually somewhat proud of. Things are starting to catch on and that makes me happy.
cheers,
j
cheers,
j
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
PR Assignment MADD Survey!
Please click on the link below if you are a post secondary student and fill out this awesome survey!!
Click here to take survey
Click here to take survey
Friday, November 19, 2010
The daily news
Check out this article written by Brian Lilley from the Parliamentary Bureau in Ottawa. Wow!
OTTAWA — Iran is warning its citizens not to come to Canada out of fear of widespread Islamophobia sweeping the country.
A story posted on the website of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting news agency states the foreign ministry in Iran issued the warning earlier this week. The agency claims crime rates in Canada have soared recently and Iranian nationals may fall victim to this new crime spree.
The government of Iran is warning its citizens to take extra precautions if they visit Canada.
The Iranian government also claims Muslims in Canada are being denied “social and political rights” and police are not following up on complaints filed by Iranians in this country.
In addition to warning citizens to stay away from Canada, the government of Iran also recently warned its people to stay away from France, also citing Islamophobia there.
OTTAWA — Iran is warning its citizens not to come to Canada out of fear of widespread Islamophobia sweeping the country.
A story posted on the website of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting news agency states the foreign ministry in Iran issued the warning earlier this week. The agency claims crime rates in Canada have soared recently and Iranian nationals may fall victim to this new crime spree.
The government of Iran is warning its citizens to take extra precautions if they visit Canada.
The Iranian government also claims Muslims in Canada are being denied “social and political rights” and police are not following up on complaints filed by Iranians in this country.
In addition to warning citizens to stay away from Canada, the government of Iran also recently warned its people to stay away from France, also citing Islamophobia there.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Do the Kings of Leon have Amy Winehouse to thank for their success?
Formed in 1999 in Tennessee, this family band spent the majority of the last decade touring relentlessly. They broke out in the United Kingdom initially, with their first three albums doing well there. Success in the United States didn't happen until their "Only By the Night" album was released and sold millions.
Caleb Followill, the group's lead singer, has a very unique voice. He has a soulful bluesy delivery, and his inflections are wonderfully emotional. The timing of the band's success in my opinion has to do with the fact that his type of voice was starting to get very much in demand. Soul music had become very popular in the UK, and a few years ago artists like Amy Winehouse opened the door. Popular music tends to repeat itself even though it is packaged in different ways, and the season for soul music has returned.
Followill's powerful voice can pack a punch. Regardless of what genre of music that the band creates, the vocals in this case bring that element of soul music to the table. Naturally writing strong songs and tireless touring sets the stage for the big break, but a tipping point needs to come from somewhere. In this case, it may have come from rehab.
j
Caleb Followill, the group's lead singer, has a very unique voice. He has a soulful bluesy delivery, and his inflections are wonderfully emotional. The timing of the band's success in my opinion has to do with the fact that his type of voice was starting to get very much in demand. Soul music had become very popular in the UK, and a few years ago artists like Amy Winehouse opened the door. Popular music tends to repeat itself even though it is packaged in different ways, and the season for soul music has returned.
Followill's powerful voice can pack a punch. Regardless of what genre of music that the band creates, the vocals in this case bring that element of soul music to the table. Naturally writing strong songs and tireless touring sets the stage for the big break, but a tipping point needs to come from somewhere. In this case, it may have come from rehab.
j
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Jonny from Thunder Bay, the whole story.
I only posted a partial part of my story "Jonny from Thunder Bay," and here's the whole thang. Check it!
As Jonny hopped out of the Mack truck, he could see that the haze in the distance dissolved the road into the sky. The hot autumn sun melted away his desire to start walking, so he flopped down in the tall wild grass and pulled out his map.
Pointing to the south bearing highway he mumbled to himself, “Hmmm, that’s the 11, I’m on the 17, it looks like I might be about twenty miles or so from Thunder Bay. Damnit! Too bad that guy wasn’t heading my way for a bit longer.”
Always eager to feel sorry for himself, Jonny shakily drew a slender cigarette from his breast pocket, and lit it with his Bob Marley lighter. He started out on the perimeter highway of Winnipeg at four in the morning. Over the course of the last 12 hours of traveling and waiting, and the three different rides he had managed to score, he had not had a chance to sleep yet. And the previous overnight from Regina was no picnic. "I've never met such a scary trucker in my life," he mused aloud,"I mean that guy was right fucked up."
Jonny was a tall, slender fellow with long blonde dreads. He had the gait of someone who looked like he soiled his trousers, which painted a large target on his back at school when he was growing up. Like many children with certain physical differences, he was bullied to the point where it messed with his self esteem. As he got older he realized that he could fight back, but this tended to get him into trouble so he just kind of avoided people. Being a bit of a loner soon became his identity.
As his goal was to reach Thunder Bay by sundown, he knew that he would have a tough time making it by then, especially if he was walking in this heat. He decided to wait it out and hitchhike and see if his luck would continue to ride, so he continued to relax for a bit. As he lay down in the grass, he thought he'd just rest his eyes for a bit.
Jonny awoke to a loud screeching noise. He looked for the source and saw a large 18 wheel Feedrite truck start to topple over onto its side as it plowed into the ditch on the other side of the highway. As if still in a dream, he could see it all happen in slow motion. He started to turn his head and look around to see if anyone else was catching wind of this strange sight, but no one was around. "What the hell?" he said in shock.
The large truck was fully flipped onto its side and murky oil was gushing out from the inside of the running engine onto the torn up grass below. The 18 wheels were all still spinning violently. There was no sign of the driver, at least from what Jonny could tell from his vantage point. He second guessed whether or not he should make a move toward the possibly dangerous vehicle, so he surveyed the scene closely to look for any signs of sparks or fire. As smoke billowed from the underbelly of the engine, he rounded the front of the truck and saw the driver of the vehicle in a daze and pawing at his seatbelt.
Second guessing himself, Jonny decided it was too dangerous to even try. "Luckily the driver didn't see me," he mumbled to himself as he picked up his belongings off the ground and started to head eastward down the highway to Thunder Bay. Minutes later he heard a loud bang, stopped for a moment as his mind wrestled with turmoil, and then slowly started walking again.
As the next several hours rolled by, Jonny was so transfixed on what he had just witnessed that he didn't even try to hitch a ride. He kept replaying the image of the driver desperately trying to free himself over and over. He peered at the scar marks on his wrist and noticed that they were bleeding again from all the scratching. Suddenly realizing that he was also clenching his teeth, he stopped to have a cigarette. After a few drags, the setting sun reminded him to start hustling to get a ride. After all, he didn't want to be caught out in the dark.
As the blue Hino pulled to the side of the road, Jonny climbed up into the cab. "Where ya headed?" the pudgy and splotch faced driver gurgled.
"Thunder Bay" Jonny replied sheepishly.
"You can hop in but I got one rule, if you bitch about my tunes then you can hoof it. The name's Doug." snorted Doug.
"Uh ok, ahh… I'm Jake," Jonny lied.
"Well pleased to meet you Jake." Doug grinned as he turned up the stereo.
'Shit, rarely do I ever tell someone my actual name,' Jonny remarked to himself as he leaned back into the cracked leather seat and simmered on the George Thorogood song that was blasting through the pristine speakers. 'I always liked Jake because it was to the point. Plus I've never known a Jake that I didn't like.' His internal conversation was interrupted as Thorogood belted, 'I drink alone, YEAH with nobody else!'
Jonny smiled to himself as he soaked in the lyrics, 'Fuck there's nothing like sitting on the docks and drinking some fucking Moosehead.'
The miles drifted by as the sun continued its downward spiral into the horizon. Doug's animated armchair dancing to the classic rock music was interesting to watch as Jonny kept to himself, but soon the amusement wore off and he started to nod. Through the nappy haziness he noticed the Welcome to Thunder Bay sign near the turnpike. "I'll stop at the Husky and let you off there." Doug stated as he turned the volume down.
The tractor trailers were lined up in a community of diagonal silence underneath the autumn dusk. The littered and cracked parking lot was teeming with weeds and cigarette butts. Without a word of thanks or goodbye, Jonny opened the door and hopped to the ground several feet below. 'Too bad convenient stores here weren't like the states,' he wished.
Jonny stopped in at the liquor mart on McNaughton St and headed straight for the McKellar Island. After about an hour of walking he reached the mangled docks. As he stepped over the creaky floorboards, he gazed at the burgeoning stars. Jonny slumped down and cracked open a barely chilled Moosehead beer.
"Well I missed sundown but the stars sure look fuckin-A," he said as he started to swig several large mouthfuls of golden nectar.
“Damnit!” Jonny spat the awful results into the dark water and yelled, “skunk-ass beer!”
As Jonny hopped out of the Mack truck, he could see that the haze in the distance dissolved the road into the sky. The hot autumn sun melted away his desire to start walking, so he flopped down in the tall wild grass and pulled out his map.
Pointing to the south bearing highway he mumbled to himself, “Hmmm, that’s the 11, I’m on the 17, it looks like I might be about twenty miles or so from Thunder Bay. Damnit! Too bad that guy wasn’t heading my way for a bit longer.”
Always eager to feel sorry for himself, Jonny shakily drew a slender cigarette from his breast pocket, and lit it with his Bob Marley lighter. He started out on the perimeter highway of Winnipeg at four in the morning. Over the course of the last 12 hours of traveling and waiting, and the three different rides he had managed to score, he had not had a chance to sleep yet. And the previous overnight from Regina was no picnic. "I've never met such a scary trucker in my life," he mused aloud,"I mean that guy was right fucked up."
Jonny was a tall, slender fellow with long blonde dreads. He had the gait of someone who looked like he soiled his trousers, which painted a large target on his back at school when he was growing up. Like many children with certain physical differences, he was bullied to the point where it messed with his self esteem. As he got older he realized that he could fight back, but this tended to get him into trouble so he just kind of avoided people. Being a bit of a loner soon became his identity.
As his goal was to reach Thunder Bay by sundown, he knew that he would have a tough time making it by then, especially if he was walking in this heat. He decided to wait it out and hitchhike and see if his luck would continue to ride, so he continued to relax for a bit. As he lay down in the grass, he thought he'd just rest his eyes for a bit.
Jonny awoke to a loud screeching noise. He looked for the source and saw a large 18 wheel Feedrite truck start to topple over onto its side as it plowed into the ditch on the other side of the highway. As if still in a dream, he could see it all happen in slow motion. He started to turn his head and look around to see if anyone else was catching wind of this strange sight, but no one was around. "What the hell?" he said in shock.
The large truck was fully flipped onto its side and murky oil was gushing out from the inside of the running engine onto the torn up grass below. The 18 wheels were all still spinning violently. There was no sign of the driver, at least from what Jonny could tell from his vantage point. He second guessed whether or not he should make a move toward the possibly dangerous vehicle, so he surveyed the scene closely to look for any signs of sparks or fire. As smoke billowed from the underbelly of the engine, he rounded the front of the truck and saw the driver of the vehicle in a daze and pawing at his seatbelt.
Second guessing himself, Jonny decided it was too dangerous to even try. "Luckily the driver didn't see me," he mumbled to himself as he picked up his belongings off the ground and started to head eastward down the highway to Thunder Bay. Minutes later he heard a loud bang, stopped for a moment as his mind wrestled with turmoil, and then slowly started walking again.
As the next several hours rolled by, Jonny was so transfixed on what he had just witnessed that he didn't even try to hitch a ride. He kept replaying the image of the driver desperately trying to free himself over and over. He peered at the scar marks on his wrist and noticed that they were bleeding again from all the scratching. Suddenly realizing that he was also clenching his teeth, he stopped to have a cigarette. After a few drags, the setting sun reminded him to start hustling to get a ride. After all, he didn't want to be caught out in the dark.
As the blue Hino pulled to the side of the road, Jonny climbed up into the cab. "Where ya headed?" the pudgy and splotch faced driver gurgled.
"Thunder Bay" Jonny replied sheepishly.
"You can hop in but I got one rule, if you bitch about my tunes then you can hoof it. The name's Doug." snorted Doug.
"Uh ok, ahh… I'm Jake," Jonny lied.
"Well pleased to meet you Jake." Doug grinned as he turned up the stereo.
'Shit, rarely do I ever tell someone my actual name,' Jonny remarked to himself as he leaned back into the cracked leather seat and simmered on the George Thorogood song that was blasting through the pristine speakers. 'I always liked Jake because it was to the point. Plus I've never known a Jake that I didn't like.' His internal conversation was interrupted as Thorogood belted, 'I drink alone, YEAH with nobody else!'
Jonny smiled to himself as he soaked in the lyrics, 'Fuck there's nothing like sitting on the docks and drinking some fucking Moosehead.'
The miles drifted by as the sun continued its downward spiral into the horizon. Doug's animated armchair dancing to the classic rock music was interesting to watch as Jonny kept to himself, but soon the amusement wore off and he started to nod. Through the nappy haziness he noticed the Welcome to Thunder Bay sign near the turnpike. "I'll stop at the Husky and let you off there." Doug stated as he turned the volume down.
The tractor trailers were lined up in a community of diagonal silence underneath the autumn dusk. The littered and cracked parking lot was teeming with weeds and cigarette butts. Without a word of thanks or goodbye, Jonny opened the door and hopped to the ground several feet below. 'Too bad convenient stores here weren't like the states,' he wished.
Jonny stopped in at the liquor mart on McNaughton St and headed straight for the McKellar Island. After about an hour of walking he reached the mangled docks. As he stepped over the creaky floorboards, he gazed at the burgeoning stars. Jonny slumped down and cracked open a barely chilled Moosehead beer.
"Well I missed sundown but the stars sure look fuckin-A," he said as he started to swig several large mouthfuls of golden nectar.
“Damnit!” Jonny spat the awful results into the dark water and yelled, “skunk-ass beer!”
Kings of Leon
It is interesting to see how the KOL had a great opening week in Canada, hitting #1, but not quite getting there in the US. Sugarland took the top spot. I guess Canadians have better taste than Americans. Are you surprised? I'm not! Here's hoping that the KOL album has legs!!
j
j
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