It's been a busy week or two...most of it was spent getting ready for school in September, but the weekends have been spent exploring more of my new country's attractions. On the 16th and 17th I was honored to be one of the invitees to Lynn Johnston's 'farewell and hello' party for FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, in Cottage Country.
A word about Cottages: These correspond to the USA's "cabins in the country". Everyone here in Oakville seems to 'go to the Cottage' on a weekend. So I was thrilled to be able to go to one, myself.
Lynn actually doesn't live in a cottage; it's a full sized, very nicely laid-out house on a pretty lake. Other small houses nearby correspond more to the 'cottage' description than her very comfortable home. Many are located on nearby Lake Nipissing, (pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, thankyouverymuch.) Lynn's friend went into hysterics when I got it wrong.
She kindly drove me up to Lynn's house; and we toured the city of North Bay after the party.
The area is lovely in summer, but in the spring a lot of the dreaded Black Fly and No-See-Ums are about. These legendarily bloodthirsty things bite and generally make life extremely unpleasant in May and June. There's always a catch to a beautiful area...
The North Bay waterfront had two wonderful carousels that Lynn and her husband helped create. This one,
http://www.northbaycarousel.com/
is a loving recreation of the great turn of the 20th century carousels; each handcarved horse is sponsored by a local business or resident. Many artists contributed to this gorgeous work of kinetic art. Lynn's characters are painted on two of the central panels and she sponsored one horse as well. (I wasn't able to ride on it but sat next to it on a horse named "Pearl". All the horses can be seen on the carousel's website.)
Next to this fine carousel was an extremely amusing one that featured Canadian animals. I rode on one of the carriages and photographed the beavers, moose, and other folk-art styled carvings and will try to post some of them in the next blog entry when the pictures are back. It takes a while to get film developed nowadays! but it will be worth the wait.
On Wednesday I went to the Canadian National Exhibition. Blog regulars might remember the ghastly 'cookbook' illustrations I printed from a 1956 CNE handout a while back. Well, the CNE had many more wholesome historical items on display in a special show, right next to the "Quilt of Belonging", which has a square representing every nation on the planet (as of 2003, when the quilt was finished). *Most remarkably, the quilt also has squares representing the First Nations of Canada (called Native Americans in the USA.) The work is superb and the quilt is a very pretty sight.
I took in a Gypsy Horse show performance at the Ricoh Stadium that featured trick riding by a young pair of pigtailed, blonde sisters in addition to some excellent acrobatic work by their elders.
There was also a Farm complete with live pigs, cows, ostriches, horses and chickens; the wonderfully named "Horse Palace", an artist' display, a surprisingly neat midway (Canada seems to have very little litter, which is a good thing) and guest performers including, of all people, Mickey Rooney.
I didn't stay long enough to catch his show but admire his spirit.
My one criticism of the event was that the "Sitting Pretty" exhibit on the history of the toilet was a bit too subdued. If you are going to do a history of the toilet, hyperbole should be the order of the day, not modest, half-hidden little cubicles. Something like the Mr. Rooter Marching Toilets...or the infamous marching toilets complete with the Toilet Bowl Queen from Pasadena's 1998 DOO DAH PARADE, which I had the honor of participating in. But I was marching that year with the Howl-a Lujah Chorus of bassett hounds, walking two of Ron Clements' pets on red ribbons--I was certainly not elected Toilet Bowl Queen!
I will post pictures of the carousel, etc. when I have them back. Meanwhile, another trip is planned for tomorrow...more anon!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
FJORG at Siggraph
SIGGRAPH, the biggest computer graphics and animation show in the world, has just concluded its second FJORG competition in which sixteen teams consisting of three animators each has completed a short animated film to a pre-set story (with pre modeled and rendered characters and supplied dialogue) in just 32 hours.
The contest ended on the 12th and judging is today.
The FJORGERS must create the story, plan the scenes, animate them, and render the finished film with final track while dealing with 'distractions' such as fire eaters, belly dancers and visiting animators (thanks to Tom Sito for the heads-up about the contest ending!)
Two of the teams are comprised of RIT students, all of whom were in at least one of my animation and drawing courses; it'll be fun to see what they do and how they do.
Here are the RIT teams:
Team Rocketpants: Neil Bonsteel, Brianne Francisco, Riannon Delanoy
The Re-Animators: Wes Storhoff, Ignacio Barrios, Brian Monroe
Their topic this year was THE SADDEST STORY EVER TOLD.
Last year's competition was won by this outstanding film from Ohio. (The team was from Bowling Green University.) It's economically told, uses the provided characters and simple elements (no time wasted on modeling new materials) covers the subject matter ("An Impossible Escape") and is very well directed. And it's also very funny.
Watch this space for the names of the winning animators, either today or tomorrow!
Update: You can view each of the films by clicking on the "Animation" link underneath the team name on the left side of this page. http://old.siggraph.org/s2008/attendees/fjorg/
The contest ended on the 12th and judging is today.
The FJORGERS must create the story, plan the scenes, animate them, and render the finished film with final track while dealing with 'distractions' such as fire eaters, belly dancers and visiting animators (thanks to Tom Sito for the heads-up about the contest ending!)
Two of the teams are comprised of RIT students, all of whom were in at least one of my animation and drawing courses; it'll be fun to see what they do and how they do.
Here are the RIT teams:
Team Rocketpants: Neil Bonsteel, Brianne Francisco, Riannon Delanoy
The Re-Animators: Wes Storhoff, Ignacio Barrios, Brian Monroe
Their topic this year was THE SADDEST STORY EVER TOLD.
Last year's competition was won by this outstanding film from Ohio. (The team was from Bowling Green University.) It's economically told, uses the provided characters and simple elements (no time wasted on modeling new materials) covers the subject matter ("An Impossible Escape") and is very well directed. And it's also very funny.
Watch this space for the names of the winning animators, either today or tomorrow!
Update: You can view each of the films by clicking on the "Animation" link underneath the team name on the left side of this page. http://old.siggraph.org/s2008/attendees/fjorg/
Sunday, August 10, 2008
LYNN JOHNSTON SPEAKS
The fourth Doug Wright Awards ceremony was held at the Toronto Reference library on Friday, August 8. The winners are listed in the link; I particularly liked THE MAGICAL ADVENTURES OF LONG TACK SAM, the first 'graphic novel' adapted from a motion picture made by the same artist!
The Doug Wright award is named for Doug Wright, whose strip NIPPER (also known as Doug Wright's Family) ran for over three decades in Canadian papers. It had one strong advantage over most comics of the day--it was entirely without dialogue, an advantage in a bilingual country. And it was beautifully drawn.
There was also a special award called THE GIANTS OF THE NORTH. Lynn Johnston was the seventh inductee to this special panorama.
The logo for the award (and the awards themselves) were beautifully designed by Seth, who is also the book designer for the COMPLETE PEANUTS books published by Fantagraphics Books and a famous cartoonist in his own right. Seth looked rather like he could play Hildy Johnson in THE FRONT PAGE without any costume change; he dresses rather like a newsman of the Thirties complete with snappy fedora and tailored suit.
Lynn Johnston took the stage and looked at the GIANTS OF THE NORTH logo, which features three bearded men flanked by two Castor Canadiensis.
"I wonder which one of these characters is female?" Lynn enquired. There was a general intake of breath.
("The beavers, of course!" I whispered to the man in the next seat, who did not react. Canadians are generally very polite. I'm not acclimatized yet.)
Lynn then proceeded to give an amazing lecture on comics, comic artists, and the future of FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE. The last comic of this famous strip will run on August 31, but that is not the end of the story. Here's a brief summation paraphrasing what she said. Lynn has graciously given me permission to print some exciting news. Any errors in the report are mine.
The Hardest Story
"Story comes from within you. I had a personal connection to most storylines...they were based on people I knew...The hardest story I ever wrote--the best story I ever wrote--was when Lawrence (Michael Patterson's high school friend--n.b) 'came out'.
...I remember the anguish of a small-town editor in the Southern states. He was harrassed. He had to drop the strip...he liked it, but he wrote me 'My kids were harrassed at school, the dog was spraypainted...I have to drop the strip.'"
(The 1992 landmark series where a teenager tells his best friend that he is gay resulted in many American papers dropping FBOFW, but "for every one that dropped it, two more signed on!" There was laughter and applause as Lynn stated this. Here's some of the criticism she received.)
Lynn: "There is a 'code of ethics' for comics. My strip was seen as 'family friendly' but the syndicate approved the story line. Nowadays, they would probably be less upset..."
"...Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury) got away with it...I was nailed to the wall! There were 7000 letters. We made three piles: "Yes" (approve), "No" (rational) and "No" (inflexible). Very few of the 'noes' were rational--most were inflexible..."
"...April (the younger daughter) has been accepted at Guelph University!" (laughter from audience and applause) "You'll have to read about this on the last day."
(The story wraps up on August 31--n.b.)
"...The drawings were becoming stiff. I couldn't move. And I couldn't make jokes about little kids any more. Michael has children...but I have no grandchildren...and I couldn't really see it any more. It's better to end it when it's time. It all comes full circle."
For Better or For Worse: The Sequel
(The Universal Press Syndicate suggested that the strips be rerun, starting from the beginning.)
Lynn: "New material drawn in the old style will be added when the strips repeat. I want to go back and fix things! I draw so differently now...but you do the best that you can possibly do."
"...The comic strip page is called 'real estate'. Other syndicates are going after my papers! (There is only a certain amount of space on the comics page, and every new strip displaces an older one. --n.b.)
"The clouds are gathering! If it is going to run again, it's going to be the best I can make it."
Killing Farley
"...He's coming back. He'll be coming into the strip again, soon....All comics are written eight weeks before publication. Farley died on the same day that Timothy McVeigh blew up the Murragh building in Oklahoma City. You can't judge what the reaction would be...(Lynn told me that she received more negative mail when Farley died than when the grandmother died; she knows now that this was a reaction to the current events, not a mistake in priorities.--n.b.)
"...Farley is appearing in a new children's book, FARLEY FOLLOWS HIS NOSE. There will be a stuffed Farley toy. And a group of Ontario veterniarians licensed him for the FARLEY FOUNDATION, which pays the bills for sick pets when the owners cannot afford to."
"...The Twin Towers came down at the same time as Michael and Deanna's wedding. Deanna's dress designer said, 'You can't have them get married!' But the strips are already in the works, they can't be changed. The response was: "We're glad you didn't stop the wedding...we needed to see something funny."
"...The characters grew as my own children grew. The setup naturally mirrored that. My usual response to a gag is "And then what happened?" It's easier (to amplify the situation) than write a gag-a-day. That will drive you crazy. I developed the characters, but they were fantasy. Real life is BORING! There are times when you think you are brilliant, but how often does that happen? Everything (in the strip) was scripted. The characters developed as individuals; they weren't my own family."
On legacy strips:
Lynn worked with a staff of two other artists; she penciled and inked the main characters herself, one staff artist inked the backgrounds and the other did the color work. This will not be the case when the strip is reissued.
Lynn: "I can do it all myself now. The early style is much simpler....I tried to make it a legacy strip, I contacted an animator and spoke with him about his taking it over. You need to be an animator, have an animator's sense of perspective and body movement...we decided it would not work. 'It's your dream, he said..."
On newspapers and Web cartoons:
"...The newspapers are in trouble. It's not like it used to be. There was more space. There's now talk about the Web. Anyone who wants to test their mettle can put their mistakes on the Web and get feedback...(comic strips) are a little play. Anyone who doesn't work for an audience isn't going to make it. (The Web) is great for comic strip artists and animators."
On the difficulty of drawing cartoons:
"Someone young might not have the determination to do this for 25 years. They drop out."
(Audience member: "Why? Don't they drink as much?")
Lynn: "Six weeks dailies, 8 weeks Sundays. Six weeks dailies, 8 weeks Sundays. Jim Davis (Garfield) wants to put this on a shirt! (You must have strips ready this far ahead of publication--n.b.)
"...A lot of young people will shine for two or three years and then they just can't take it. It's a different era. I'm thrilled they can't make it!" (laughter from audience) I'm extremely competitive."
"...(Cartoonists are) the most generous, kind, warmhearted group of people. There aren't that many of us. We are very supportive, very strong. But it's a hard, competitive job."
On Fame and Cartooning
"...I'd like to take what I've done and do something good with it. The stupid thing about being famous is it's just crap. It's the sugarcoating on the M&M--and the good stuff is inside. It's really not good for you, not good for your family..."
"...I would like to do something for the betterment of society, rather than retire or disappear. Take whatever I've got and push forward....I don't know what I'm going to be doing, but I'm on my way!"
The Doug Wright award is named for Doug Wright, whose strip NIPPER (also known as Doug Wright's Family) ran for over three decades in Canadian papers. It had one strong advantage over most comics of the day--it was entirely without dialogue, an advantage in a bilingual country. And it was beautifully drawn.
There was also a special award called THE GIANTS OF THE NORTH. Lynn Johnston was the seventh inductee to this special panorama.
The logo for the award (and the awards themselves) were beautifully designed by Seth, who is also the book designer for the COMPLETE PEANUTS books published by Fantagraphics Books and a famous cartoonist in his own right. Seth looked rather like he could play Hildy Johnson in THE FRONT PAGE without any costume change; he dresses rather like a newsman of the Thirties complete with snappy fedora and tailored suit.
Lynn Johnston took the stage and looked at the GIANTS OF THE NORTH logo, which features three bearded men flanked by two Castor Canadiensis.
"I wonder which one of these characters is female?" Lynn enquired. There was a general intake of breath.
("The beavers, of course!" I whispered to the man in the next seat, who did not react. Canadians are generally very polite. I'm not acclimatized yet.)
Lynn then proceeded to give an amazing lecture on comics, comic artists, and the future of FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE. The last comic of this famous strip will run on August 31, but that is not the end of the story. Here's a brief summation paraphrasing what she said. Lynn has graciously given me permission to print some exciting news. Any errors in the report are mine.
The Hardest Story
"Story comes from within you. I had a personal connection to most storylines...they were based on people I knew...The hardest story I ever wrote--the best story I ever wrote--was when Lawrence (Michael Patterson's high school friend--n.b) 'came out'.
...I remember the anguish of a small-town editor in the Southern states. He was harrassed. He had to drop the strip...he liked it, but he wrote me 'My kids were harrassed at school, the dog was spraypainted...I have to drop the strip.'"
(The 1992 landmark series where a teenager tells his best friend that he is gay resulted in many American papers dropping FBOFW, but "for every one that dropped it, two more signed on!" There was laughter and applause as Lynn stated this. Here's some of the criticism she received.)
Lynn: "There is a 'code of ethics' for comics. My strip was seen as 'family friendly' but the syndicate approved the story line. Nowadays, they would probably be less upset..."
"...Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury) got away with it...I was nailed to the wall! There were 7000 letters. We made three piles: "Yes" (approve), "No" (rational) and "No" (inflexible). Very few of the 'noes' were rational--most were inflexible..."
"...April (the younger daughter) has been accepted at Guelph University!" (laughter from audience and applause) "You'll have to read about this on the last day."
(The story wraps up on August 31--n.b.)
"...The drawings were becoming stiff. I couldn't move. And I couldn't make jokes about little kids any more. Michael has children...but I have no grandchildren...and I couldn't really see it any more. It's better to end it when it's time. It all comes full circle."
For Better or For Worse: The Sequel
(The Universal Press Syndicate suggested that the strips be rerun, starting from the beginning.)
Lynn: "New material drawn in the old style will be added when the strips repeat. I want to go back and fix things! I draw so differently now...but you do the best that you can possibly do."
"...The comic strip page is called 'real estate'. Other syndicates are going after my papers! (There is only a certain amount of space on the comics page, and every new strip displaces an older one. --n.b.)
"The clouds are gathering! If it is going to run again, it's going to be the best I can make it."
Killing Farley
"...He's coming back. He'll be coming into the strip again, soon....All comics are written eight weeks before publication. Farley died on the same day that Timothy McVeigh blew up the Murragh building in Oklahoma City. You can't judge what the reaction would be...(Lynn told me that she received more negative mail when Farley died than when the grandmother died; she knows now that this was a reaction to the current events, not a mistake in priorities.--n.b.)
"...Farley is appearing in a new children's book, FARLEY FOLLOWS HIS NOSE. There will be a stuffed Farley toy. And a group of Ontario veterniarians licensed him for the FARLEY FOUNDATION, which pays the bills for sick pets when the owners cannot afford to."
"...The Twin Towers came down at the same time as Michael and Deanna's wedding. Deanna's dress designer said, 'You can't have them get married!' But the strips are already in the works, they can't be changed. The response was: "We're glad you didn't stop the wedding...we needed to see something funny."
"...The characters grew as my own children grew. The setup naturally mirrored that. My usual response to a gag is "And then what happened?" It's easier (to amplify the situation) than write a gag-a-day. That will drive you crazy. I developed the characters, but they were fantasy. Real life is BORING! There are times when you think you are brilliant, but how often does that happen? Everything (in the strip) was scripted. The characters developed as individuals; they weren't my own family."
On legacy strips:
Lynn worked with a staff of two other artists; she penciled and inked the main characters herself, one staff artist inked the backgrounds and the other did the color work. This will not be the case when the strip is reissued.
Lynn: "I can do it all myself now. The early style is much simpler....I tried to make it a legacy strip, I contacted an animator and spoke with him about his taking it over. You need to be an animator, have an animator's sense of perspective and body movement...we decided it would not work. 'It's your dream, he said..."
On newspapers and Web cartoons:
"...The newspapers are in trouble. It's not like it used to be. There was more space. There's now talk about the Web. Anyone who wants to test their mettle can put their mistakes on the Web and get feedback...(comic strips) are a little play. Anyone who doesn't work for an audience isn't going to make it. (The Web) is great for comic strip artists and animators."
On the difficulty of drawing cartoons:
"Someone young might not have the determination to do this for 25 years. They drop out."
(Audience member: "Why? Don't they drink as much?")
Lynn: "Six weeks dailies, 8 weeks Sundays. Six weeks dailies, 8 weeks Sundays. Jim Davis (Garfield) wants to put this on a shirt! (You must have strips ready this far ahead of publication--n.b.)
"...A lot of young people will shine for two or three years and then they just can't take it. It's a different era. I'm thrilled they can't make it!" (laughter from audience) I'm extremely competitive."
"...(Cartoonists are) the most generous, kind, warmhearted group of people. There aren't that many of us. We are very supportive, very strong. But it's a hard, competitive job."
On Fame and Cartooning
"...I'd like to take what I've done and do something good with it. The stupid thing about being famous is it's just crap. It's the sugarcoating on the M&M--and the good stuff is inside. It's really not good for you, not good for your family..."
"...I would like to do something for the betterment of society, rather than retire or disappear. Take whatever I've got and push forward....I don't know what I'm going to be doing, but I'm on my way!"
Monday, August 04, 2008
And why not a few more photos?
Erchless (pronounced IRK-less) was the home of Oakville's founder, Mr. Chisolm. The mansion is now a museum. The gardes on Centre Island reminded me of Charlottenberg in Berlin. The Toronto Islands are really lovely, at least in the summer. In winter, they get the gales from the lake. There is also nowhere to buy food on the entire island, but the ferryboats go directly to the quay, and there is a small airport. The cottages are owned by artists who fought the city for years for the right to stay in their homes; a compromise was reached where they stay, and we get to meander all over the islands. The shot of the dog in the bike surrey was taken in front of the island's club. Most of the houses are delightful and very well kept up.
As promised, some pictures of where I live.
Kerr Street, Oakville, was formerly a bit of a dive. There are still a few low rent shops there, but it's safer now than it used to be. There is a jazz club directly behind me and a great little gelato store directly across from the French furniture store in the photo.
The Queen Mary apartments are a little better looking than most 1960s buildings, but the grounds are definitely the most photogenic part of the building. And Gizmo is the most photogenic member of my household. She's standing in front of the stereo, which is on a metal shelf concealed behind the old screen. This was originally a temporary measure; I am going to keep it there permanently since it looks more inviting and has better acoustics than a wooden cabinet.
Friday, August 01, 2008
A Preston Blair Moment
Hello again everyone; it's been a while since I've posted, and since a lot has been going on I really have no excuse not to write.
I have pictures too; and will post a few, I promise.
Thing is, I've been working very hard on a special project for Sheridan and have spent additional time getting my course outlines ready. This was a tall order since it involved working within a planned program; my storyboard classes have to provide a foundation for layout and character design and animation, just as they do in actual productions. Assignments had to synchronize with the ones in the other classes, and this was a bit of a tall order since I'm not familiar with how and when they are given out. Mark Mayerson gave me a rough outline which helped greatly. So it took a bit of rewriting and conferring with colleagues before my course outlines were in a shape that looked reasonable. Naturally they will be subject to change as soon as actual students test drive the assignments; but I'm reasonably certain that the workload is reasonable for them as well as me.
So....I've been doing some more exploration of Toronto, but not too often. The weather has been crazy, with very heavy thunderstorms alternating with bits of sunshine, which kind of discourages me from walking in the forest.
Now yesterday was balmy, lovely and so on; the perfect day for a bicycle ride. Naturally that was also the day that the forty year old plumbing in this apartment jammed so amazingly well that it was necessary to get someone with a fifty foot 'snake' to dislodge the accumulated detritus so that I and my neighbour could use our sinks. It took all day to get a plumber out here, which is good actually, since it's a holiday weekend and no one at all will be available during that time.
As if that wasn't exciting enough, Focal Press's new animation book editors informed me last week that my book PREPARE TO BOARD! was to have a second American edition. Unfortunately they informed me too late for me to have time to get permission from Disney to use four pieces of copyrighted artwork that appear in the first edition. Disney have never denied me permission when asked, but it is an absolute necessity for me to notify them by mail and receive permission for the use of the artwork in any new editions well in advance of publication; *update: Focal have informed me that they will hold the printing until the end of the month so that I can get the letter from Disney. It usually takes about 30 days. So there's a chance that the second edition will contain the four copyrighted illustrations. I don't mind replacing my own work so much--I have adequate substitutions; but I was very sad to note that Ken O'Connor's illustrations for FANTASIA that appeared in the first edition cannot appear in the second one. I have no non-Disney artwork by Ken, and so his interview will have only the portrait with the "Gluteus Maximus" statue illustrating it.
I repeat that this is not Disney's fault. They allowed me to use their illustrations in the upcoming Chinese edition of the book, since I had adequate lead time to get written permission from them. They do not do business over the phone or on email; my request must be in writing. Therefore I need about a month's lead time to get the legal matters settled. There are other changes to the book that are actually for the better. Nina Paley allowed me to get much higher-resolution images off her SITA website, so the color illustrations from this film are much better in the second edition. It makes a difference and keeps a generous art donor happy. I also replaced a very pixelated image from Bill Robinson's senior film with a much better render of his character that was in his project files all this time. And I replaced a typo in the back of the book where Dave Block was credited for a book instead of his brother Bruce. I even asked if they could put in a recommendation for Francis Glebas' upcoming book for them, DIRECTING THE STORY. I helped Francis get this book published and worked as a sort of unofficial copy editor, so I can assure you all that it's worth getting and doesn't duplicate materials in PTB.
You animation geeks out there might be aware that this gives PTB a sort of Preston Blair moment. Blair wrote the first good book on animation technique in 1942. He used a lot of copyrighted characters from MGM, Disney, and Warner short cartoons. The studios made him change the artwork, and while some (like the dancer RED HOT RIDING HOOD) survive in subsequent editions with a new hairdo, and the Owl from BAMBI is intact, more famous icons such as Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, and his own Wolf had to be redesigned and redrawn. The first edition of Blair's book (originally called ADVANCED ANIMATION) is fabulously rare and can be viewed here. Click on the links to see Part Two.
What I don't understand is this: Blair not only removed the famous characters, he also redrew the ones that were one-shot character types that appear in any number of studios' cartoons. Perhaps MGM was hoping that Meathead the Dog would become a star and Warners had plans for Beaky Buzzard, who knows.
I have no idea if PREPARE TO BOARD!'s first edition will become as rare as the Blair. It's unlikely, since the press run of the second edition is half the size of the first. If anything, the second edition will become the rarer of the two.
So the reprint of the book is a bittersweet moment for me. I was really delighted to be able to give Ken O'Connor his much-overdue 'due' as a storyboard artist. Perhaps PTB will have another edition and I'll be able to put them back. Time will tell. Meanwhile, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, I'd like to thank all the people who made this day necessary.
I have pictures too; and will post a few, I promise.
Thing is, I've been working very hard on a special project for Sheridan and have spent additional time getting my course outlines ready. This was a tall order since it involved working within a planned program; my storyboard classes have to provide a foundation for layout and character design and animation, just as they do in actual productions. Assignments had to synchronize with the ones in the other classes, and this was a bit of a tall order since I'm not familiar with how and when they are given out. Mark Mayerson gave me a rough outline which helped greatly. So it took a bit of rewriting and conferring with colleagues before my course outlines were in a shape that looked reasonable. Naturally they will be subject to change as soon as actual students test drive the assignments; but I'm reasonably certain that the workload is reasonable for them as well as me.
So....I've been doing some more exploration of Toronto, but not too often. The weather has been crazy, with very heavy thunderstorms alternating with bits of sunshine, which kind of discourages me from walking in the forest.
Now yesterday was balmy, lovely and so on; the perfect day for a bicycle ride. Naturally that was also the day that the forty year old plumbing in this apartment jammed so amazingly well that it was necessary to get someone with a fifty foot 'snake' to dislodge the accumulated detritus so that I and my neighbour could use our sinks. It took all day to get a plumber out here, which is good actually, since it's a holiday weekend and no one at all will be available during that time.
As if that wasn't exciting enough, Focal Press's new animation book editors informed me last week that my book PREPARE TO BOARD! was to have a second American edition. Unfortunately they informed me too late for me to have time to get permission from Disney to use four pieces of copyrighted artwork that appear in the first edition. Disney have never denied me permission when asked, but it is an absolute necessity for me to notify them by mail and receive permission for the use of the artwork in any new editions well in advance of publication; *update: Focal have informed me that they will hold the printing until the end of the month so that I can get the letter from Disney. It usually takes about 30 days. So there's a chance that the second edition will contain the four copyrighted illustrations. I don't mind replacing my own work so much--I have adequate substitutions; but I was very sad to note that Ken O'Connor's illustrations for FANTASIA that appeared in the first edition cannot appear in the second one. I have no non-Disney artwork by Ken, and so his interview will have only the portrait with the "Gluteus Maximus" statue illustrating it.
I repeat that this is not Disney's fault. They allowed me to use their illustrations in the upcoming Chinese edition of the book, since I had adequate lead time to get written permission from them. They do not do business over the phone or on email; my request must be in writing. Therefore I need about a month's lead time to get the legal matters settled. There are other changes to the book that are actually for the better. Nina Paley allowed me to get much higher-resolution images off her SITA website, so the color illustrations from this film are much better in the second edition. It makes a difference and keeps a generous art donor happy. I also replaced a very pixelated image from Bill Robinson's senior film with a much better render of his character that was in his project files all this time. And I replaced a typo in the back of the book where Dave Block was credited for a book instead of his brother Bruce. I even asked if they could put in a recommendation for Francis Glebas' upcoming book for them, DIRECTING THE STORY. I helped Francis get this book published and worked as a sort of unofficial copy editor, so I can assure you all that it's worth getting and doesn't duplicate materials in PTB.
You animation geeks out there might be aware that this gives PTB a sort of Preston Blair moment. Blair wrote the first good book on animation technique in 1942. He used a lot of copyrighted characters from MGM, Disney, and Warner short cartoons. The studios made him change the artwork, and while some (like the dancer RED HOT RIDING HOOD) survive in subsequent editions with a new hairdo, and the Owl from BAMBI is intact, more famous icons such as Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, and his own Wolf had to be redesigned and redrawn. The first edition of Blair's book (originally called ADVANCED ANIMATION) is fabulously rare and can be viewed here. Click on the links to see Part Two.
What I don't understand is this: Blair not only removed the famous characters, he also redrew the ones that were one-shot character types that appear in any number of studios' cartoons. Perhaps MGM was hoping that Meathead the Dog would become a star and Warners had plans for Beaky Buzzard, who knows.
I have no idea if PREPARE TO BOARD!'s first edition will become as rare as the Blair. It's unlikely, since the press run of the second edition is half the size of the first. If anything, the second edition will become the rarer of the two.
So the reprint of the book is a bittersweet moment for me. I was really delighted to be able to give Ken O'Connor his much-overdue 'due' as a storyboard artist. Perhaps PTB will have another edition and I'll be able to put them back. Time will tell. Meanwhile, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, I'd like to thank all the people who made this day necessary.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Green Thumbs and Brown Shoes
I have a thriving colony of herbs growing on the balcony. There isn't much else I can do on the balcony, since the view consists of the building across the street and not much else. A neighbour told me that I was fortunate to have the building there, since it will block some of the effect of the upcoming nor'easter storms.
Yes, winter should be interesting here. I did make a point of viewing the apartment in March, as it turns out during the worst winter since 1939; and I didn't see anything leaking onto the floor through the horribly designed windows then. Next door apparently isn't so lucky.
Anyway I got some basil and chives and sage and thyme at the Kerr street farmer's market. But I couldn't get mint for love nor money. No one seemed to have any, and they seemed a little startled that I'd want it.
Now, mint is essential for Middle Eastern cooking. Possibly no one here does it; all I can say is, fresh mint is really a godsend when you make it, basil nearly as much.
I advertised on the local freecycle and two people answered. One said, come by the house and get the mint any old time. So I took the bus there and identified...spearmint.
Now, I have indelible associations with spearmint: cheap gum, really nasty toothpaste, and so on. In other words, I hated spearmint. But no one seems to have peppermint here and the spearmint literally grows like a weed. It IS a weed to most folks, which is why they must have been startled to hear that I wanted some.
The first person was not at home but he'd given me permission to take as much as I wanted. I chopped one of the plants loose with a spade. None of the neighbours came out to see what I was doing. Good.
I get home to find an email stating that another gentleman has already cut one plant loose and expects me to come and get it. So I get on another bus (did I mention that the bus service here is terrific and I can get to nearly anywhere I want to go? No? Yes. What an improvement on the insulting service in my last town. They synchronize the buses very simply: all of them go to the central train station. And lo and behold, if one is running late and riders need to connect to another bus, the driver will telephone ahead and ask them to hold the buses so the riders can make the connection. And so they do. Consideration of the rider's needs on a bus route! It is positively Un-American! And yes, it surely is.)
I get to the house and find Audrey II waiting for me. It's another spearmint, and it's taller than I am. It's in a pot. I ring the bell and speak to the man just to be sure I can take it. Sure, it's free.
I hop back on the same bus that has just completed its loop and put Giant Plant on the floor. I'm not asked to get it another ticket, fortunately.
And now they are both on the patio. And it turns out that I've been using the wrong mint all these years in my Mediterranean recipes...spearmint is preferred to peppermint.
You know? It really does smell better, fresh. I suppose those gums and toothpastes I disliked so much contained chemical recreations of the smell, and not actual spearmint.
Chemical smells are more prevalent than one would think. They are synthesized in a lab in New Jersey. Some are very expensive. If you are getting 'truffle oil' there is no such thing; truffles don't give oil. It's a synthesized chemical.
I made an expensive dish from a Toronto restaurant for a quarter of the price (and served five people) by the simple expedient of substituting walnut oil with a little sesame oil in it for 'truffle oil'. And the taste was the same!
So, once the spearmint plants have made themselves at home, I will be making some more Mediterranean dishes. I also plan to take the basil and spearmint plants in for the winter, if Gizmo will let me. Neither plant should hurt her if she wants a bit. I am also growing catnip for her benefit, and I'll dry this since she prefers it that way.
Yes, winter should be interesting here. I did make a point of viewing the apartment in March, as it turns out during the worst winter since 1939; and I didn't see anything leaking onto the floor through the horribly designed windows then. Next door apparently isn't so lucky.
Anyway I got some basil and chives and sage and thyme at the Kerr street farmer's market. But I couldn't get mint for love nor money. No one seemed to have any, and they seemed a little startled that I'd want it.
Now, mint is essential for Middle Eastern cooking. Possibly no one here does it; all I can say is, fresh mint is really a godsend when you make it, basil nearly as much.
I advertised on the local freecycle and two people answered. One said, come by the house and get the mint any old time. So I took the bus there and identified...spearmint.
Now, I have indelible associations with spearmint: cheap gum, really nasty toothpaste, and so on. In other words, I hated spearmint. But no one seems to have peppermint here and the spearmint literally grows like a weed. It IS a weed to most folks, which is why they must have been startled to hear that I wanted some.
The first person was not at home but he'd given me permission to take as much as I wanted. I chopped one of the plants loose with a spade. None of the neighbours came out to see what I was doing. Good.
I get home to find an email stating that another gentleman has already cut one plant loose and expects me to come and get it. So I get on another bus (did I mention that the bus service here is terrific and I can get to nearly anywhere I want to go? No? Yes. What an improvement on the insulting service in my last town. They synchronize the buses very simply: all of them go to the central train station. And lo and behold, if one is running late and riders need to connect to another bus, the driver will telephone ahead and ask them to hold the buses so the riders can make the connection. And so they do. Consideration of the rider's needs on a bus route! It is positively Un-American! And yes, it surely is.)
I get to the house and find Audrey II waiting for me. It's another spearmint, and it's taller than I am. It's in a pot. I ring the bell and speak to the man just to be sure I can take it. Sure, it's free.
I hop back on the same bus that has just completed its loop and put Giant Plant on the floor. I'm not asked to get it another ticket, fortunately.
And now they are both on the patio. And it turns out that I've been using the wrong mint all these years in my Mediterranean recipes...spearmint is preferred to peppermint.
You know? It really does smell better, fresh. I suppose those gums and toothpastes I disliked so much contained chemical recreations of the smell, and not actual spearmint.
Chemical smells are more prevalent than one would think. They are synthesized in a lab in New Jersey. Some are very expensive. If you are getting 'truffle oil' there is no such thing; truffles don't give oil. It's a synthesized chemical.
I made an expensive dish from a Toronto restaurant for a quarter of the price (and served five people) by the simple expedient of substituting walnut oil with a little sesame oil in it for 'truffle oil'. And the taste was the same!
So, once the spearmint plants have made themselves at home, I will be making some more Mediterranean dishes. I also plan to take the basil and spearmint plants in for the winter, if Gizmo will let me. Neither plant should hurt her if she wants a bit. I am also growing catnip for her benefit, and I'll dry this since she prefers it that way.
The Slum of Oakville
It's certainly been a while since I last posted. The month of July has gone by fairly eventfully; all the unpacking is done, I've been working on my course outlines for fall, and even had time for some socializing. I've met more people here in one month than I did in Rochester in four years. Toronto stereotypes of 'unfriendliness' are not true. It's amazing how many people will just talk to me on the street. I don't know if it is my honest face or what.
The weather has been strange, to put it mildly; the summer has been hot, humid, and with some of the most amazing downpours I've seen since leaving Savannah. Truth be told, I'd call this a subtropical climate, not a northern temperate as it's listed on the map. Being between a river and a lake probably adds to the humidity but I'm told that the East Coast has been sweltering all summer. New York was over 97 degrees with high humidity--yecch. At least it's bearable with the dehumidifier.
I have visited the
Toronto Islands and got some charming pictures of the cottages there. The Islands were once connected to the mainland til a huge storm washed away the land bridge. People have been going there for holidays for hundreds and possibly thousands of years; the cool breezes are welcome in summer. In winter, probably not so much.
There is a cute little theme park on the Island with old fashioned rides. There is a boardwalk (though this is not my picture, this is what I saw) and delightful houses. But there is no convenience store or grocery on the island. If you live there year round, as many people obviously do, you have to have winter stores. Oddly enough there is an airport there too.
The city once tried to force the owners of the cottages off the Islands so that the entire place could be made into a public park. This was an example of the wrong idea for the right reasons. One homeowner tending her tidy garden told me that the cottages got very run down about twenty years ago since they were forbidden to sell, upgrade, or repair any of them! Fortunately a compromise was worked out and people like me can traipse all over the islands while the cottagers live their lives in their fully-renovated (for the most part) homes. The day I and a friend went, the ferries were so packed with thousands of people that I despaired we'd even get over to the islands. Fortunately this person knew of a yacht club ferry nearby that would take nonmembers over for three Loonies once their members were aboard. So it was a pleasant day indeed. I plan to go back and possibly try the paddle boats on the lake there.
Life in Oakville is more agreeable than I thought. It's really two cities, or mindsets: the old-money, very Scotch-Irish Old Oakville to the south of me and the multi ethnic, lowerclass area on Kerr Street to the west.
"Kerr Street is the slum of Oakville!" my friend Jean Pilotte told me. "If that's a slum, then I've been living in one for my entire life!" I said.
It says something for me that I am more at home on the slum side than the tony one. There is a farmer's market on Saturday, and I get a good deal of my groceries right there. I like to walk to the local secondhand stores; since Oakville is a rich town there are some excellent buys in all of them from the tony ones near Lakeshore to the humbler ones on Kerr.
Kerr Street has even got a jazz club, the Moonshine Cafe, with live entertainment every night. You can get a coffee or a nonalcoholic drink without feeling stupid, and listen to good music. The best gelati and sorbet I've ever tasted is sold right across the street. There are Indian, Polish, Portuguese, Caribbean, and Ukrainian markets all along the street. Unfortunately Asian markets are underrepresented; I have to go into Toronto for really good Chinese groceries, but it's a small hardship.
I have had some movie and dinner nights at the new place and it is working out well. The electric stove is better than I expected but I still don't see why they don't have lights for each of the top burners so you know which one is on. I'm going to put arrows up and down so I know which knob to turn...there was a near disaster with a small pot of oil the other night, but fortunately no fire.
I've also been to my first meeting of the National Cartoonists Society chapter in Canada, at the charming home of its unofficial president, the marvellously named Leif Peng, in the nearby town of Hamilton. This is an old steel mill town that lost all its jobs to Asia. Unlike badly-governed cities such as R*ch*st*r, Hamilton is doing just fine-they allowed the artists to take over the downtown area, and it's apparently thriving. People are moving West from Toronto to escape high rents.
Most lakeside Canadian towns make good use of their waterfronts, and I have not seen the sort of decay that is prevalent in Rust Belt American cities. Artists will live in neighbourhoods where regular people fear to tread, and when they thrive, the regular people move back and revive the marginal neighbourhoods. More importantly, the people are committed to helping the people in the marginal neighbourhoods improve their lot. I'm pleased to see this attitude, it's one that should come back in fashion.
There is a Canadian cartoonists' award called the DOUG WRIGHT awards. They will be given on August 8. There are only two: one honors established cartoonists, the other honors upcoming artists, or artists who have gone into new fields. They have a GIANTS OF THE NORTH Hall of Fame that was instituted in 2005; Lynn Johnston, of FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, is the honoree this year. I'll be attending the awards, which are free, and then joining Lynn for dinner afterwards. Watch this space, there will be a writeup.
Yes, I like living in Canada and I'm looking forward to meeting the students in the fall.
The weather has been strange, to put it mildly; the summer has been hot, humid, and with some of the most amazing downpours I've seen since leaving Savannah. Truth be told, I'd call this a subtropical climate, not a northern temperate as it's listed on the map. Being between a river and a lake probably adds to the humidity but I'm told that the East Coast has been sweltering all summer. New York was over 97 degrees with high humidity--yecch. At least it's bearable with the dehumidifier.
I have visited the
Toronto Islands and got some charming pictures of the cottages there. The Islands were once connected to the mainland til a huge storm washed away the land bridge. People have been going there for holidays for hundreds and possibly thousands of years; the cool breezes are welcome in summer. In winter, probably not so much.
There is a cute little theme park on the Island with old fashioned rides. There is a boardwalk (though this is not my picture, this is what I saw) and delightful houses. But there is no convenience store or grocery on the island. If you live there year round, as many people obviously do, you have to have winter stores. Oddly enough there is an airport there too.
The city once tried to force the owners of the cottages off the Islands so that the entire place could be made into a public park. This was an example of the wrong idea for the right reasons. One homeowner tending her tidy garden told me that the cottages got very run down about twenty years ago since they were forbidden to sell, upgrade, or repair any of them! Fortunately a compromise was worked out and people like me can traipse all over the islands while the cottagers live their lives in their fully-renovated (for the most part) homes. The day I and a friend went, the ferries were so packed with thousands of people that I despaired we'd even get over to the islands. Fortunately this person knew of a yacht club ferry nearby that would take nonmembers over for three Loonies once their members were aboard. So it was a pleasant day indeed. I plan to go back and possibly try the paddle boats on the lake there.
Life in Oakville is more agreeable than I thought. It's really two cities, or mindsets: the old-money, very Scotch-Irish Old Oakville to the south of me and the multi ethnic, lowerclass area on Kerr Street to the west.
"Kerr Street is the slum of Oakville!" my friend Jean Pilotte told me. "If that's a slum, then I've been living in one for my entire life!" I said.
It says something for me that I am more at home on the slum side than the tony one. There is a farmer's market on Saturday, and I get a good deal of my groceries right there. I like to walk to the local secondhand stores; since Oakville is a rich town there are some excellent buys in all of them from the tony ones near Lakeshore to the humbler ones on Kerr.
Kerr Street has even got a jazz club, the Moonshine Cafe, with live entertainment every night. You can get a coffee or a nonalcoholic drink without feeling stupid, and listen to good music. The best gelati and sorbet I've ever tasted is sold right across the street. There are Indian, Polish, Portuguese, Caribbean, and Ukrainian markets all along the street. Unfortunately Asian markets are underrepresented; I have to go into Toronto for really good Chinese groceries, but it's a small hardship.
I have had some movie and dinner nights at the new place and it is working out well. The electric stove is better than I expected but I still don't see why they don't have lights for each of the top burners so you know which one is on. I'm going to put arrows up and down so I know which knob to turn...there was a near disaster with a small pot of oil the other night, but fortunately no fire.
I've also been to my first meeting of the National Cartoonists Society chapter in Canada, at the charming home of its unofficial president, the marvellously named Leif Peng, in the nearby town of Hamilton. This is an old steel mill town that lost all its jobs to Asia. Unlike badly-governed cities such as R*ch*st*r, Hamilton is doing just fine-they allowed the artists to take over the downtown area, and it's apparently thriving. People are moving West from Toronto to escape high rents.
Most lakeside Canadian towns make good use of their waterfronts, and I have not seen the sort of decay that is prevalent in Rust Belt American cities. Artists will live in neighbourhoods where regular people fear to tread, and when they thrive, the regular people move back and revive the marginal neighbourhoods. More importantly, the people are committed to helping the people in the marginal neighbourhoods improve their lot. I'm pleased to see this attitude, it's one that should come back in fashion.
There is a Canadian cartoonists' award called the DOUG WRIGHT awards. They will be given on August 8. There are only two: one honors established cartoonists, the other honors upcoming artists, or artists who have gone into new fields. They have a GIANTS OF THE NORTH Hall of Fame that was instituted in 2005; Lynn Johnston, of FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, is the honoree this year. I'll be attending the awards, which are free, and then joining Lynn for dinner afterwards. Watch this space, there will be a writeup.
Yes, I like living in Canada and I'm looking forward to meeting the students in the fall.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Canada Day and the Fifth of July
I've been doing too many things at once, including misremembering my telephone number. I don't know why I do, but I do. I'll send out another message to my friends with the right number, since everyone I've talked to got a 6 in place of the first two.
Senior moment.
I've been exploring Toronto and having a great time. I thought it would be nice to visit Ward's Island on the fifth of July. This is one of the islands in the Harbour with a theme park, a zoo, and many funky little houses in an artist's colony. Unfortunately about ten thousand people decided to do the same thing since this was the first weekend without thunderstorms in a month. I waited for a new friend to show up and was increasingly discomfited when I saw more than a thousand people walk past me to the three open ticket booths. Eventually the sea of humanity completely filled the area to the right of the monolithic Westin Hotel on the Queen's Quay.
This is what Ward's Island looks like, and I despaired of being able to get there.
I am meeting locals through 'toronto linkup' and a Russian girl who'd lived her fourteen years showed me how to get past the ten thousand other people trying to take the ferry to the islands and take a smaller club boat for three bucks. We walked all over the place, and had dinner in Chinatown afterward. I can walk around for long periods and though I have some blisters under my big toes as a result I can counter this problem by wrapping said toes in band aids before leaving, and wearing bamboo socks. These are not only comfortable, they are bactericidal, so said feet don't stink at the end of the day. Not that they ever did. My veggie diet has eliminated body odor and done wonders for my teeth and skin....
I loved the little houses and think that I will have some better photos when I get them developed. I still have Dad's old Contarex, it appears to still work, and people still come up to me and ask me about it. Though I notice that the people are invariably men and they are getting older and older...
Canada Day is celebrated on July 1. It celebrates Confederation in 1867, when they actually became a nation. (apparently Confederation was a direct reaction to the American Civil War; Irish vets were coming to Canada and making trouble with the recent immigrants. They probably chose July 1 to be ahead of us. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October for the same reason. When I once asked animator Shane Doyle why they have a Canadian thanksgiving, he said "We give thanks that we're not Americans!" (joke, but mostly true.)
Before 1867 Canada was, of course, a British colony. They got their Constitution in 1982! And they are still a constitutional monarchy. The practical result is this: The Queen of England is head of State. The Prime Minister is the head of Government. They are not combined in the same person, as they are in our President. This is actually not a bad idea at all.
I have to say that I do think 'what might have been' after having lived in Australia and Canada. The two countries share many similarities, the most obvious of which appears to be a concern for the greater good of the most people, and not quite as much emphasis on 'individual' rights, though of course they do defend them. They don't appear to think that the purpose of life is to make as much money as possible and to hell with the public good. Though the Australians and Canadians love their personal independence, they do observe the rule of law, or did until recently. Had America remained a British colony it might have resembled either one of these countries. And sorry, I think it would have been an improvement over what has developed, particularly in the last fifty or so years. MeMeMe gets really irritating after a while; I like public transport, public places, and don't want to be all by myself all the time.
I spent Canada Day at a gorgeous local estate called Erchless (irk-less) named after an Irish castle that the mayor of Oakville's family once owned.
It's a nice, middle class mansion. The Chisolm family still exists ( a local street near my house is named for them.) But they donated the house to the state since they had prohibitive upkeep expenses and now it is the town museum. The grounds are on a bluff overlooking a charming pier with a lighthouse. I will try to upload pictures, it's absolutely gorgeous.
I told my father that he made a serious mistake not moving to Toronto when he had a chance to do so ten or so years ago. He got erroneous information on the temperatures in the winter; I was here in their worst blizzard since 1939 and it was NOT fourteen below zero! (Someone told him it was like that, and he didn't get a second opinion.) Rochester's weather is usually worse due to something called the Lake Effect.
Then again, some of the venues on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario had seven foot thick ice last winter when the winds blew surf onto the ground. Yes, that's right. It's not recommended to live too close to the lake. This is Bronte Harbour, (bron-tay: not named after the authors) which is actually part of Oakville. The snow is manageable in this photo but that's where the thick ice was seen this past winter.
Erchless had a very moving multimedia installation on the Underground Railway, which actually ended here in Oakville. The local sea captains had fake decks in their ships, and runaway slaves would be carried across the lake from Rochester and brought to Oakville and freedom. Things got worse after 1850 when the Fugitive Slave Act or "Compromise of 1850" was passed by (deservedly forgotten) President Millard Fillmore's administration. Basically, even Northern states weren't safe after that horrible Act. Any black man or woman--even a freeborn one--could be caught by any other American citizen and sold in the South. Some of the bastards even went to Canada to drag people back South. This horrible law absolutely guaranteed a Civil War. It's a sad bit of American history and I really was humbled watching this documentary.
Sadly, Oakville is very whitebread now...though I do know a Black woman who moved here from the Caribbean in the sixties. Canada wasn't good to her then. "I still have the scar on my shoulder where someone came up to me on Yonge Street and burnt me with a cigarette." (She was a child. Yonge Street is like 42nd street, only cleaner.)
"No one came to help me."
Canada had extremely racist immigration policies toward all groups except British and Irish within living memory, but now it revels in its tolerance--at least Toronto does. It's a real smorgasbord of a city and I'm having a great time exploring it. Sadly the pollution is as impressive as L.A.s sometimes. Yesterday I saw this brown cloud with the CN tower projecting out of it. This isn't quite what I saw (think of a brown belt with that tall tower sticking out of it like a toothpick, viewed from about 20 miles away) but after I retrieved my jawbone I took a picture. We'll see what I get.
Gizmo was sick for four days,which is another reason I haven't been posting much. Then I got sick. Both of us are fine now.
I am doing interviews with other Sheridan profs to find out what I can do in my classes to coordinate with their assignments...Mark Mayerson is very helpful, since he has been here long enough to tell me how things work. I will be teaching one storyboard course per semester, with five sections, one lecture, and 125 students in all. What a change...the storyboard class is required, and the students take it BEFORE they actually start making films!
It has been lovely here for a few days but sometimes this wet sock humidity comes down and makes me want to peel my skin off. The dehumidifier helps.
So that's all for now.
Senior moment.
I've been exploring Toronto and having a great time. I thought it would be nice to visit Ward's Island on the fifth of July. This is one of the islands in the Harbour with a theme park, a zoo, and many funky little houses in an artist's colony. Unfortunately about ten thousand people decided to do the same thing since this was the first weekend without thunderstorms in a month. I waited for a new friend to show up and was increasingly discomfited when I saw more than a thousand people walk past me to the three open ticket booths. Eventually the sea of humanity completely filled the area to the right of the monolithic Westin Hotel on the Queen's Quay.
This is what Ward's Island looks like, and I despaired of being able to get there.
I am meeting locals through 'toronto linkup' and a Russian girl who'd lived her fourteen years showed me how to get past the ten thousand other people trying to take the ferry to the islands and take a smaller club boat for three bucks. We walked all over the place, and had dinner in Chinatown afterward. I can walk around for long periods and though I have some blisters under my big toes as a result I can counter this problem by wrapping said toes in band aids before leaving, and wearing bamboo socks. These are not only comfortable, they are bactericidal, so said feet don't stink at the end of the day. Not that they ever did. My veggie diet has eliminated body odor and done wonders for my teeth and skin....
I loved the little houses and think that I will have some better photos when I get them developed. I still have Dad's old Contarex, it appears to still work, and people still come up to me and ask me about it. Though I notice that the people are invariably men and they are getting older and older...
Canada Day is celebrated on July 1. It celebrates Confederation in 1867, when they actually became a nation. (apparently Confederation was a direct reaction to the American Civil War; Irish vets were coming to Canada and making trouble with the recent immigrants. They probably chose July 1 to be ahead of us. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October for the same reason. When I once asked animator Shane Doyle why they have a Canadian thanksgiving, he said "We give thanks that we're not Americans!" (joke, but mostly true.)
Before 1867 Canada was, of course, a British colony. They got their Constitution in 1982! And they are still a constitutional monarchy. The practical result is this: The Queen of England is head of State. The Prime Minister is the head of Government. They are not combined in the same person, as they are in our President. This is actually not a bad idea at all.
I have to say that I do think 'what might have been' after having lived in Australia and Canada. The two countries share many similarities, the most obvious of which appears to be a concern for the greater good of the most people, and not quite as much emphasis on 'individual' rights, though of course they do defend them. They don't appear to think that the purpose of life is to make as much money as possible and to hell with the public good. Though the Australians and Canadians love their personal independence, they do observe the rule of law, or did until recently. Had America remained a British colony it might have resembled either one of these countries. And sorry, I think it would have been an improvement over what has developed, particularly in the last fifty or so years. MeMeMe gets really irritating after a while; I like public transport, public places, and don't want to be all by myself all the time.
I spent Canada Day at a gorgeous local estate called Erchless (irk-less) named after an Irish castle that the mayor of Oakville's family once owned.
It's a nice, middle class mansion. The Chisolm family still exists ( a local street near my house is named for them.) But they donated the house to the state since they had prohibitive upkeep expenses and now it is the town museum. The grounds are on a bluff overlooking a charming pier with a lighthouse. I will try to upload pictures, it's absolutely gorgeous.
I told my father that he made a serious mistake not moving to Toronto when he had a chance to do so ten or so years ago. He got erroneous information on the temperatures in the winter; I was here in their worst blizzard since 1939 and it was NOT fourteen below zero! (Someone told him it was like that, and he didn't get a second opinion.) Rochester's weather is usually worse due to something called the Lake Effect.
Then again, some of the venues on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario had seven foot thick ice last winter when the winds blew surf onto the ground. Yes, that's right. It's not recommended to live too close to the lake. This is Bronte Harbour, (bron-tay: not named after the authors) which is actually part of Oakville. The snow is manageable in this photo but that's where the thick ice was seen this past winter.
Erchless had a very moving multimedia installation on the Underground Railway, which actually ended here in Oakville. The local sea captains had fake decks in their ships, and runaway slaves would be carried across the lake from Rochester and brought to Oakville and freedom. Things got worse after 1850 when the Fugitive Slave Act or "Compromise of 1850" was passed by (deservedly forgotten) President Millard Fillmore's administration. Basically, even Northern states weren't safe after that horrible Act. Any black man or woman--even a freeborn one--could be caught by any other American citizen and sold in the South. Some of the bastards even went to Canada to drag people back South. This horrible law absolutely guaranteed a Civil War. It's a sad bit of American history and I really was humbled watching this documentary.
Sadly, Oakville is very whitebread now...though I do know a Black woman who moved here from the Caribbean in the sixties. Canada wasn't good to her then. "I still have the scar on my shoulder where someone came up to me on Yonge Street and burnt me with a cigarette." (She was a child. Yonge Street is like 42nd street, only cleaner.)
"No one came to help me."
Canada had extremely racist immigration policies toward all groups except British and Irish within living memory, but now it revels in its tolerance--at least Toronto does. It's a real smorgasbord of a city and I'm having a great time exploring it. Sadly the pollution is as impressive as L.A.s sometimes. Yesterday I saw this brown cloud with the CN tower projecting out of it. This isn't quite what I saw (think of a brown belt with that tall tower sticking out of it like a toothpick, viewed from about 20 miles away) but after I retrieved my jawbone I took a picture. We'll see what I get.
Gizmo was sick for four days,which is another reason I haven't been posting much. Then I got sick. Both of us are fine now.
I am doing interviews with other Sheridan profs to find out what I can do in my classes to coordinate with their assignments...Mark Mayerson is very helpful, since he has been here long enough to tell me how things work. I will be teaching one storyboard course per semester, with five sections, one lecture, and 125 students in all. What a change...the storyboard class is required, and the students take it BEFORE they actually start making films!
It has been lovely here for a few days but sometimes this wet sock humidity comes down and makes me want to peel my skin off. The dehumidifier helps.
So that's all for now.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Some Jokes
Dickipedia is a real hoot.
And THE ONION'S news is better than the real thing. Maybe it is the real thing. I'm one of the people who 'successfully evacuated to Canada'.
And THE ONION'S news is better than the real thing. Maybe it is the real thing. I'm one of the people who 'successfully evacuated to Canada'.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
That's All I Can Stand 'Cause I Can't Stand It No More
I got a dehumidifier today since I could not take any more of the damp, humid heat and I don't want to get an air conditioner.
At least not yet.
The dehumidifier resembles an 'R2 unit' from STAR WARS (this is my friend Jean Pilotte's description, not mine, and it is a good one.) Instead of beeps and meeps, it makes a low drone. So I put it in the living room not the bedroom. The humidity level in the apartment is already appreciably lower, though I don't know if it is the machine or the cooling off at the end of the day that is responsible.
So I didn't get jack else done today. I am not a hot weather person. It remains to be seen whether I am a cold weather person this winter, but from past experience I'd have to say Yes. You can always put on another coat. There is a limit to how much clothing the law allows you to take off.
At least not yet.
The dehumidifier resembles an 'R2 unit' from STAR WARS (this is my friend Jean Pilotte's description, not mine, and it is a good one.) Instead of beeps and meeps, it makes a low drone. So I put it in the living room not the bedroom. The humidity level in the apartment is already appreciably lower, though I don't know if it is the machine or the cooling off at the end of the day that is responsible.
So I didn't get jack else done today. I am not a hot weather person. It remains to be seen whether I am a cold weather person this winter, but from past experience I'd have to say Yes. You can always put on another coat. There is a limit to how much clothing the law allows you to take off.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Ellen Woodbury's Second Life
Disney animator Ellen Woodbury has joined the blogger ranks with this wonderful chronicle of her new 'second life' as a sculptor in stone.
Ellen was the lead animator and designer of Zazu the hornbill in THE LION KING, and Pegasus in HERCULES. She left Disneys two years ago, moved to Colorado, and began seriously working on her new career as a fine artist in stone. Ellen has landed some important commissions and exhibited in shows in the area and her work features stones and techniques I've never heard of. I literally read her blog with my jaw dropping. Who knew there were such things as honeycomb calcite and red travertine in the world?
Well, all right then. So I didn't know. Now, I do. Read Ellen Woodbury's blog to see how she brings an animator's sensibility to stone--her work has a tactile, organic quality that is a joy to behold.
Tonight I'm attending a film festival in Toronto that features 2008 Sheridan BAA graduate Ellie Ventura's senior Sheridan animation project, Crema Suprema. Ellie was one of the first Sheridan students to work in the new stop motion studio at the college, and Crema Suprema has been accepted into several film festivals already. I'll report back on the festival after I attend!
And last night was my first dinner party at the new apartment. Jean and Melinda Pilotte, old friends and new neighbours here in Oakville, attended along with two new friends I met in the past few weeks. Gizmo the cat actually sat on my chair and attempted to join us at the table, but otherwise was very well behaved and seemed completely over her recent indisposition.
The weather continues erratic; just before the dinner, I heard a tremendous clap of thunder. Then another. But the sky was clear, even sunny; not a drop of rain was falling. The storm was three miles to the north, drenching the Pilotte's house and flickering their lights.
Weird, weird weird weather but it's at least not baking.
Speaking of baking, I used my new induction cooker to cook some very nice bean soup. The kitchen didn't heat up, the heater 'turned on a dime' to exactly the temperature I needed, and the pressure cooker stayed pressurized without constant adjustments to the 'flame'. I'm sold on this, and I plan to use it for most things other than stirfries. I'm also a convert to electric kettles; they really do boil the water faster than an old fashioned tea kettle.
Ellen was the lead animator and designer of Zazu the hornbill in THE LION KING, and Pegasus in HERCULES. She left Disneys two years ago, moved to Colorado, and began seriously working on her new career as a fine artist in stone. Ellen has landed some important commissions and exhibited in shows in the area and her work features stones and techniques I've never heard of. I literally read her blog with my jaw dropping. Who knew there were such things as honeycomb calcite and red travertine in the world?
Well, all right then. So I didn't know. Now, I do. Read Ellen Woodbury's blog to see how she brings an animator's sensibility to stone--her work has a tactile, organic quality that is a joy to behold.
Tonight I'm attending a film festival in Toronto that features 2008 Sheridan BAA graduate Ellie Ventura's senior Sheridan animation project, Crema Suprema. Ellie was one of the first Sheridan students to work in the new stop motion studio at the college, and Crema Suprema has been accepted into several film festivals already. I'll report back on the festival after I attend!
And last night was my first dinner party at the new apartment. Jean and Melinda Pilotte, old friends and new neighbours here in Oakville, attended along with two new friends I met in the past few weeks. Gizmo the cat actually sat on my chair and attempted to join us at the table, but otherwise was very well behaved and seemed completely over her recent indisposition.
The weather continues erratic; just before the dinner, I heard a tremendous clap of thunder. Then another. But the sky was clear, even sunny; not a drop of rain was falling. The storm was three miles to the north, drenching the Pilotte's house and flickering their lights.
Weird, weird weird weather but it's at least not baking.
Speaking of baking, I used my new induction cooker to cook some very nice bean soup. The kitchen didn't heat up, the heater 'turned on a dime' to exactly the temperature I needed, and the pressure cooker stayed pressurized without constant adjustments to the 'flame'. I'm sold on this, and I plan to use it for most things other than stirfries. I'm also a convert to electric kettles; they really do boil the water faster than an old fashioned tea kettle.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Updates and Downpours
The weather has been crazy here; a slow-revolving 'pinwheel' has kept the rains and storms alternating with patches of bright (and high UV level) sunshine. But at least it has not been broiling the way it was two weeks ago, when the humidity and heat reached Savannah levels. I almost broke down and got an air conditioner, and will do so if the humidity level returns. Although I may try a dehumidifier first.
The three ceiling fans are doing an excellent job keeping the place livable, and I recommend this type of cooling to everyone, even if you also use an AC. The fans are more efficient at moving the cool air around where it's needed and they won't give you chills or breed Legionaire's disease.
Gizmo the cat is also much better after her four day illness. I don't know if she picked something up at the vet's or was traumatized by the large and bouncy puppies that shared the waiting room for her when we were there last Thursday but she was sick as a --dog--from Friday until Monday. I tried cooking rice in chicken soup for her as per vet's instructions. She did not eat it. She's back to her rabbit dinner food, which contains probiotics that will help settle her tummy, and I've not noticed anything untoward in the litterbox or on the floor this morning. So fingers crossed, she's better.
July 1 is Canada Day and I have decided to stay in the Oakville area simply because large crowds do not send me. The "Erchless Estate", home of Oakville's founder William Chisolm, actually consists of four historic buildings on the lake. They are holding a strawberry social on the holiday and there are fireworks at lovely Bronte Harbour in the evening that may be just as much fun than the ones in Toronto and possibly less crowded; they are certainly closer to home. I have posted an event on something called Linkup. One person has subscribed. It's better doing this with someone than traveling alone, and most Canadians made other plans long in advance of the holiday. I'm also going to try to take a trip to the Toronto Islands on Saturday via ferryboat if it doesn't storm. If it does, there are plenty of great things to do in downtown Toronto, even on Queen's Quay.
As in New York, there's no excuse to be bored in Toronto.
The three ceiling fans are doing an excellent job keeping the place livable, and I recommend this type of cooling to everyone, even if you also use an AC. The fans are more efficient at moving the cool air around where it's needed and they won't give you chills or breed Legionaire's disease.
Gizmo the cat is also much better after her four day illness. I don't know if she picked something up at the vet's or was traumatized by the large and bouncy puppies that shared the waiting room for her when we were there last Thursday but she was sick as a --dog--from Friday until Monday. I tried cooking rice in chicken soup for her as per vet's instructions. She did not eat it. She's back to her rabbit dinner food, which contains probiotics that will help settle her tummy, and I've not noticed anything untoward in the litterbox or on the floor this morning. So fingers crossed, she's better.
July 1 is Canada Day and I have decided to stay in the Oakville area simply because large crowds do not send me. The "Erchless Estate", home of Oakville's founder William Chisolm, actually consists of four historic buildings on the lake. They are holding a strawberry social on the holiday and there are fireworks at lovely Bronte Harbour in the evening that may be just as much fun than the ones in Toronto and possibly less crowded; they are certainly closer to home. I have posted an event on something called Linkup. One person has subscribed. It's better doing this with someone than traveling alone, and most Canadians made other plans long in advance of the holiday. I'm also going to try to take a trip to the Toronto Islands on Saturday via ferryboat if it doesn't storm. If it does, there are plenty of great things to do in downtown Toronto, even on Queen's Quay.
As in New York, there's no excuse to be bored in Toronto.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
A Day in Toronto
"It's called 'Novy with a schmeer on a bagel!'"
"I've never heard it called that before."
I was describing one of the delicacies of New York --in a strong Brooklyn accent--to a polite, if slightly shocked, native of Nova Scotia at the Waterfront Festival in Toronto. Queen's Quay was sprinkled with tall ships and tall people wearing bright blue kilts striped with black, the colors of Nova Scotia. People were handing out flyers advertising the beauties of the region, which appeared to be considerable. And they were giving away foam lobsters on metal leashes, very Daliesque. I got one.
"I've never been to your province but I've had your lox."
Then I had to explain what lox is. This is not surprising since the word is a variation on the German/Danish word lachs, not English at all. Nova Scotia Lox, or novy, as it's known in New York, is considered the finest smoked salmon in the world. The man in the kilt smiled proudly. "I will have to remember that."
Queen's Quay and the Toronto waterfront is very desirable living space with a great many amenities that I did not have time to properly explore. I had a date, a theatre date. The theatre in question was the last remaining functional double decker theatre in the world, the Elgin and the Winter Garden on nearby Yonge street. I took the streetcar which literally burrowed under Union Station, then switched to a subway. Toronto is the only city where I've seen streetcars going under ground. It makes sense, and it's an easy and free transfer to the subway.
The Elgin and Winter Garden are two theatres that literally sit one on top of the other. Built as a 'high class vaudeville house' in 1913 by American theatre owner Marcus Loew, the lower half was originally called Loew's Yonge Street theatre. The name was changed to the Elgin when it was restored. "Why?" I asked. "And who was this Elgin?"
"There is no historical significance to this whatever," the giude replied. "When they were remodeling the theatre, they were changing the sign and found they had the E, the G, the N, and the L. So all they needed to buy was the "I". it was done solely for cost."
The cost of restoring the two theatres was considerable. The downstairs Yonge Street changed from live entertainment to sound movies in 1928. The upper theatre was closed. Everything in it stayed where it was for nearly sixty years.
When it was inspected in 1981, it was a time capsule of the vaudeville age. Remarkably, over 100 pieces of scenery were still in storage, though heavily deteriorated. The ceiling of the Winter Garden was still hung with the thousands of beech leaves and lanterns that gave the illusion of an actual garden. Everything was intact, but the leaves crumbled to powder upon being touched, and the huge central stairway acted as a funnel for soot and pollution, so all was black and fragile.
The two theatres were restored, complete with new beech leaves, thanks to the Ontario government that now owns the theatres. And what a treasure they are. The Winter Garden is breathtakingly beautiful, with the colored lamps once again twinkling in a leafy rooftop, and the pillars that support the building camouflaged as tree trunks. The original drop front with a country scene is still used as the main curtain. I expected to see Buster Keaton run out from the wings and do a little soft shoe with his double on the stage. And yes, he and his family vaudeville act had played this theatre when it was new.
The Elgin's decor is more conventional, but it too was lovingly restored to its original 1913 appearance, including the misspelled name 'LIZT' on one of the entranceway's commemorative cartouches. (These also commemorate 'Tableaux' and 'Vaudeville'. I don't know what the former is, but would like to see the latter make a comeback.) The Winter Garden has the same fairyland quality as the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, which was ten years older and considerably larger and restored from a similar state of decrepitude to its original glory. How much nicer both these theatres are than the nasty plastic boxes of your average 'multiplex'. Even if the show was mediocre, you could enjoy the theatre. This was in fact the original idea. The entertainment at the Yonge Street (lower theatre) was continuous, and patrons came and went as they pleased. Performers did two-a-day downstairs, with the Winter Garden reserved for one performance per day for the 'class acts'
Over one hundred pieces of scenery were found intact in the theatre. Most of them are in storage still awaiting restoration. Three vaudeville flats, "The Peacock Flat", "The Butterfly Flat" and "The Lane" were restored and hung on the walls of the now much enlarged building. Old retail spaces were converted to modern lounges and additional bathrooms during the renovation. One of the original dressing rooms was restored, complete with old makeup pots and some donated costumes.
As a special treat we were allowed to see the original 1913 men's room, which was clean and contained original fixtures, but was no longer in use. Our guide actually knocked on the door before unlocking and entering the room. "I'm notifying the ghosts that we're coming," he said, with a perfectly straight face.
"Have you seen any ghosts?" I asked him.
"I had someone or something tap my shoulder one day, and when I turned around nothing was there. It was a very firm tap," the man continued, "I definitely did not imagine it. And sometimes the elevators--which must be manually operated with a control--someone must bring it to you when you want to go somewhere, you can't move them by pushing a button--move by themselves when I'm the only one here."
Sometimes the elevator also stops by itself on the third floor of the seven story building. There is no door opening on that floor. "Was there one there historically?" I asked. "I don't know," the man replied.
I ended the day by going to the Toronto Powwow in honor of Aboriginal Nations Day. The weather tried to rain, thought better of it, and the day ended warm and beautifully.
Today I have to work to get more stuff out of boxes and get ready for a meeting on Monday.
And I must look after Gizmo, who had some health issues this weekend, but appears to be doing better now. I think she was annoyed at being dragged to the vets twice in a month and wanted to give the lie to his pronouncement that she was just fine. Maybe she wanted to teach me a lesson about going out all day and leaving her alone, who knows.
"I've never heard it called that before."
I was describing one of the delicacies of New York --in a strong Brooklyn accent--to a polite, if slightly shocked, native of Nova Scotia at the Waterfront Festival in Toronto. Queen's Quay was sprinkled with tall ships and tall people wearing bright blue kilts striped with black, the colors of Nova Scotia. People were handing out flyers advertising the beauties of the region, which appeared to be considerable. And they were giving away foam lobsters on metal leashes, very Daliesque. I got one.
"I've never been to your province but I've had your lox."
Then I had to explain what lox is. This is not surprising since the word is a variation on the German/Danish word lachs, not English at all. Nova Scotia Lox, or novy, as it's known in New York, is considered the finest smoked salmon in the world. The man in the kilt smiled proudly. "I will have to remember that."
Queen's Quay and the Toronto waterfront is very desirable living space with a great many amenities that I did not have time to properly explore. I had a date, a theatre date. The theatre in question was the last remaining functional double decker theatre in the world, the Elgin and the Winter Garden on nearby Yonge street. I took the streetcar which literally burrowed under Union Station, then switched to a subway. Toronto is the only city where I've seen streetcars going under ground. It makes sense, and it's an easy and free transfer to the subway.
The Elgin and Winter Garden are two theatres that literally sit one on top of the other. Built as a 'high class vaudeville house' in 1913 by American theatre owner Marcus Loew, the lower half was originally called Loew's Yonge Street theatre. The name was changed to the Elgin when it was restored. "Why?" I asked. "And who was this Elgin?"
"There is no historical significance to this whatever," the giude replied. "When they were remodeling the theatre, they were changing the sign and found they had the E, the G, the N, and the L. So all they needed to buy was the "I". it was done solely for cost."
The cost of restoring the two theatres was considerable. The downstairs Yonge Street changed from live entertainment to sound movies in 1928. The upper theatre was closed. Everything in it stayed where it was for nearly sixty years.
When it was inspected in 1981, it was a time capsule of the vaudeville age. Remarkably, over 100 pieces of scenery were still in storage, though heavily deteriorated. The ceiling of the Winter Garden was still hung with the thousands of beech leaves and lanterns that gave the illusion of an actual garden. Everything was intact, but the leaves crumbled to powder upon being touched, and the huge central stairway acted as a funnel for soot and pollution, so all was black and fragile.
The two theatres were restored, complete with new beech leaves, thanks to the Ontario government that now owns the theatres. And what a treasure they are. The Winter Garden is breathtakingly beautiful, with the colored lamps once again twinkling in a leafy rooftop, and the pillars that support the building camouflaged as tree trunks. The original drop front with a country scene is still used as the main curtain. I expected to see Buster Keaton run out from the wings and do a little soft shoe with his double on the stage. And yes, he and his family vaudeville act had played this theatre when it was new.
The Elgin's decor is more conventional, but it too was lovingly restored to its original 1913 appearance, including the misspelled name 'LIZT' on one of the entranceway's commemorative cartouches. (These also commemorate 'Tableaux' and 'Vaudeville'. I don't know what the former is, but would like to see the latter make a comeback.) The Winter Garden has the same fairyland quality as the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, which was ten years older and considerably larger and restored from a similar state of decrepitude to its original glory. How much nicer both these theatres are than the nasty plastic boxes of your average 'multiplex'. Even if the show was mediocre, you could enjoy the theatre. This was in fact the original idea. The entertainment at the Yonge Street (lower theatre) was continuous, and patrons came and went as they pleased. Performers did two-a-day downstairs, with the Winter Garden reserved for one performance per day for the 'class acts'
Over one hundred pieces of scenery were found intact in the theatre. Most of them are in storage still awaiting restoration. Three vaudeville flats, "The Peacock Flat", "The Butterfly Flat" and "The Lane" were restored and hung on the walls of the now much enlarged building. Old retail spaces were converted to modern lounges and additional bathrooms during the renovation. One of the original dressing rooms was restored, complete with old makeup pots and some donated costumes.
As a special treat we were allowed to see the original 1913 men's room, which was clean and contained original fixtures, but was no longer in use. Our guide actually knocked on the door before unlocking and entering the room. "I'm notifying the ghosts that we're coming," he said, with a perfectly straight face.
"Have you seen any ghosts?" I asked him.
"I had someone or something tap my shoulder one day, and when I turned around nothing was there. It was a very firm tap," the man continued, "I definitely did not imagine it. And sometimes the elevators--which must be manually operated with a control--someone must bring it to you when you want to go somewhere, you can't move them by pushing a button--move by themselves when I'm the only one here."
Sometimes the elevator also stops by itself on the third floor of the seven story building. There is no door opening on that floor. "Was there one there historically?" I asked. "I don't know," the man replied.
I ended the day by going to the Toronto Powwow in honor of Aboriginal Nations Day. The weather tried to rain, thought better of it, and the day ended warm and beautifully.
Today I have to work to get more stuff out of boxes and get ready for a meeting on Monday.
And I must look after Gizmo, who had some health issues this weekend, but appears to be doing better now. I think she was annoyed at being dragged to the vets twice in a month and wanted to give the lie to his pronouncement that she was just fine. Maybe she wanted to teach me a lesson about going out all day and leaving her alone, who knows.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Ten Days that Moved the World (it seems like that sometimes)
Ten days after the furniture arrived, about sixty per cent of it is unpacked. It's a lot easier to take things OUT than put them IN.
I replaced my long lost Savannah sideboard with my first piece of Canadiana. It's a small, Mennonite-built sideboard of some dark stained pine that matches surprisingly well with my existing furniture and fits perfectly into the space near the kitchen. It doesn't overpower the room and provides a suitable storage space for the silverware (which is too large to fit in the minute silverware drawers in the kitchen and so resides in a box on top of the cabinet) and the very lovely place mats.
A local household store is going out of business so I got a lot of material for half price. Not bad timing at all.
And there is so much to do here I am seriously considering taking a day off from unpacking today and going into Toronto to see the Nautical Festival while it's not thunderstorming. Some Newfoundland and Labrador ships sailed into Queen's Quay yesterday and I may just go there today since I love tall ships so much.
Solstice Weekend also features the Aboriginal Day and the largest outdoor Powwow in Toronto and I do not intend to miss that. It's going to be held come rain or shine, probably rain, and I'll be there just after I finish my tour of the splendid Winter Garden and Elgin Theatres on Yonge Street. These are the last surviving 'double decker' theatres in Canada. The Winter Garden is upstairs from the Elgin and is so small that it is best for intimate standup. It was originally a 'high class' vaudeville house. The only other survivor in the world is (no surprise here) the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, which was splendidly restored a few years after the Elgin. But the New Amsterdam's roof garden theatre was apparently portable and only operational at certain times of the year. Toronto's Winter Garden was solidly built indoors, literally upstairs from the Elgin (originally called Loew's Yonge Street Theatre). It was and is designed to look like an outdoor garden, complete with actual beech leaves hanging from the ceiling. It originally had fans in the back of the theatre to rustle the leaves as if you really were outdoors. Fairy lanterns hang among the leaves and tree branches are painted on the walls. The theatre was closed in 1930 due to its small size and the bankruptcy of its owners and miraculously all the leaves were still attached, though blackened with soot, 60 years later. It looks like a magical place and I cannot wait to see it.
What a change from dull, uninteresting Rochester.
Gizmo went to the vet yesterday and was given a good bill of health. She got her Revolution, which is necessary since there are a lot of mosquitoes here. Pesticide spraying was made illegal here six months ago, and there is a price to pay. I'll bear the bites, but won't take the risk with Gizmo.
She was very sick this morning, probably throwing a hairball, but she's taking it easy now and I will keep an eye out for her to see if the vet was right about her good health.
I replaced my long lost Savannah sideboard with my first piece of Canadiana. It's a small, Mennonite-built sideboard of some dark stained pine that matches surprisingly well with my existing furniture and fits perfectly into the space near the kitchen. It doesn't overpower the room and provides a suitable storage space for the silverware (which is too large to fit in the minute silverware drawers in the kitchen and so resides in a box on top of the cabinet) and the very lovely place mats.
A local household store is going out of business so I got a lot of material for half price. Not bad timing at all.
And there is so much to do here I am seriously considering taking a day off from unpacking today and going into Toronto to see the Nautical Festival while it's not thunderstorming. Some Newfoundland and Labrador ships sailed into Queen's Quay yesterday and I may just go there today since I love tall ships so much.
Solstice Weekend also features the Aboriginal Day and the largest outdoor Powwow in Toronto and I do not intend to miss that. It's going to be held come rain or shine, probably rain, and I'll be there just after I finish my tour of the splendid Winter Garden and Elgin Theatres on Yonge Street. These are the last surviving 'double decker' theatres in Canada. The Winter Garden is upstairs from the Elgin and is so small that it is best for intimate standup. It was originally a 'high class' vaudeville house. The only other survivor in the world is (no surprise here) the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, which was splendidly restored a few years after the Elgin. But the New Amsterdam's roof garden theatre was apparently portable and only operational at certain times of the year. Toronto's Winter Garden was solidly built indoors, literally upstairs from the Elgin (originally called Loew's Yonge Street Theatre). It was and is designed to look like an outdoor garden, complete with actual beech leaves hanging from the ceiling. It originally had fans in the back of the theatre to rustle the leaves as if you really were outdoors. Fairy lanterns hang among the leaves and tree branches are painted on the walls. The theatre was closed in 1930 due to its small size and the bankruptcy of its owners and miraculously all the leaves were still attached, though blackened with soot, 60 years later. It looks like a magical place and I cannot wait to see it.
What a change from dull, uninteresting Rochester.
Gizmo went to the vet yesterday and was given a good bill of health. She got her Revolution, which is necessary since there are a lot of mosquitoes here. Pesticide spraying was made illegal here six months ago, and there is a price to pay. I'll bear the bites, but won't take the risk with Gizmo.
She was very sick this morning, probably throwing a hairball, but she's taking it easy now and I will keep an eye out for her to see if the vet was right about her good health.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Monty Python's Moving Circus
Put your life in a box. Better yet, put your life into 147 boxes with another hundred or so smaller ones packed inside most of them. Then take it out again. Moving is sort of like pushing a larger than usual pig that's been broken up into pieces--call it a pigsaw puzzle-- through a dyspeptic python while reassembling the pig as you go. What comes out at the end is supposed to be a furnished apartment with your belongings more or less intact and sort of where they are supposed to be. Moves actually take longer than this; I will be rearranging books and filing stuff and moving furniture and replacing the long lost Savannah sideboard well after the last cardboard box has gone.
I placed an ad in the local Freecycle advertising free moving boxes and three ladies have come, so far, to pick some of them up. This saves the boxes from the recycler and gives the ladies a welcome assist on their own moves. The price of boxes has tripled since I got these (and about sixty per cent of my boxes were actually found at the college or in the recycling bin in the basement--my Christmas presents last year were mostly made of cardboard.)
And shipping the boxes will add 100 per cent to the bill, due to the increased cost of gasoline. So everyone wins.
Most women in Oakville are either retirees or very young women with small children. The ladies who got the boxes all had kids, and two of them brought the children with them. I learned something new about Gizmo today--she is very, very good with very small children. The kids, age 2 1/2 and 6, were fascinated with her and she actually went over to be with them, only meowing when they insisted on petting her while she was eating. She wasn't afraid, never showed signs of anger, and the kids were pleased to be told that 'she likes you'.
Gizmo is a truly Great Cat.
I placed an ad in the local Freecycle advertising free moving boxes and three ladies have come, so far, to pick some of them up. This saves the boxes from the recycler and gives the ladies a welcome assist on their own moves. The price of boxes has tripled since I got these (and about sixty per cent of my boxes were actually found at the college or in the recycling bin in the basement--my Christmas presents last year were mostly made of cardboard.)
And shipping the boxes will add 100 per cent to the bill, due to the increased cost of gasoline. So everyone wins.
Most women in Oakville are either retirees or very young women with small children. The ladies who got the boxes all had kids, and two of them brought the children with them. I learned something new about Gizmo today--she is very, very good with very small children. The kids, age 2 1/2 and 6, were fascinated with her and she actually went over to be with them, only meowing when they insisted on petting her while she was eating. She wasn't afraid, never showed signs of anger, and the kids were pleased to be told that 'she likes you'.
Gizmo is a truly Great Cat.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Best Bad Idea
Do you ever wonder why no one makes animation desks out of those cool metal mesh shelves? You need only put them together according to your own pattern and put a wooden desktop on it. You can add or rearrange shelves when you need them.
I thought it was a great idea. Then I started the project.
The first thing to remember when trying to do this, if anyone else is mad enough to do so: Never buy the metal shelves on Ebay. There is something wrong with them if you do. My shelves were subtly warped. This may be symbolic of animation, or of the owner of the desk, but the upshot of warped shelves were: sometimes the posts wouldn't go together, and the shelves had interesting tilts when they were assembled.The little black sleevey things that are supposed to keep the shelves tight to the posts kept popping off. I swear that once one of them jumped about six feet, projectile style.
The next thing to remember is to put a shelf at the bottom. I did not do so, and my spavined shelves threatened to collapse like something out of a Laurel and Hardy movie until I slipped a shelf up the legs like a pair of pants, held it where I wanted by placing it on a pile of books, and attaching the sleevey things, then kicking the books out. The result was about as pleasant as a public hanging; after retrieving the sleevey things, I managed to stabilize the bottom of the shelf.
My old animation desk top needed to be attached with O rings and S hooks. Trouble is O rings don't self-thread. They would not drill into the desktop, no matter how hard I tried, and since they were designed for metal they wouldn't have held anyway. I wound up using the S hooks and some cup holders. That's right. They're the ones you see hanging down in old kitchen cupboards, except that these had a spring closure designed for California earthquakes. (My tool box has a lot of earthquake picture mounts, etc. left over from my time in LA.) I then tied the whole mess together with aluminum wire. (Update: I changed the cup holders to self threading O rings today and removed the wire, also lowered the desktop by five inches. It's now a really good, functional, desk with a lot of storage space.)
A surprising thing happened. The mess of warped metal actually seemed to straighten up and turn into an--animation desk! and not a bad one either.
And I discovered that the little sleevey things could be forced up from the bottom to make the warped shelves seat more or less tightly. It felt really, really good to use the hammer on them. I hit them very, very hard.
Gizmo managed to get up on the top shelf and peer down at me sweating below. Her fur bulged out between the wire frames for all the world like an old fashioned egg slicer.
I had constructed the thing in the living room and now had to push it down the hallway to the studio. In an act of sheer genius, I had dumped the expensive (and functional) wheels that came with the Ebay find. There were little plastic feet that would, I thought, protect the floor. What I didn't figure on was that they would grip the floor like a limpet and fight to stay where they were.
At this point, the shelves seemed to morph into a living creature with a mind of its own, and that mind was distinctly unfriendly.
I started pushing the desk toward the studio, the feet advancing by a series of shuddering jumps. As it reluctantly slid down the short hall, making a sound like a Wookiee mating call, I saw my idiotic cat sitting directly in front of the oncoming metal train.
"Get the *&@# out of the way!" I screamed. Gizmo did--and went into the studio, and sat directly in front of the thing, which had somehow turned the corner and was pushing a wheeled shelf ahead of it. My next remarks to Gizmo were even less printable, and I backed the shelves out before I ran over her.
Eventually I got the desk where it was supposed to be. It's behind me right now. I'll try to post a picture. It does not look at all bad, and there is plenty of storage space on the shelves. And here's an extra special Martha Stewed hint: To keep the books from falling out of the side of the shelves, I used aluminum wire threaded between the posts in a pattern that I have dubbed "The Drunken Spider". It looks really, really good. If I had the energy, I could thread little pink ribbons or something through it. It worked a lot better than the expensive metal 'side shelves' I purchased--in the wrong size! So yes, it is possible to build a functioning animation desk from wire metal shelves.
But next time, if there is a next time, I won't do this next time.
I thought it was a great idea. Then I started the project.
The first thing to remember when trying to do this, if anyone else is mad enough to do so: Never buy the metal shelves on Ebay. There is something wrong with them if you do. My shelves were subtly warped. This may be symbolic of animation, or of the owner of the desk, but the upshot of warped shelves were: sometimes the posts wouldn't go together, and the shelves had interesting tilts when they were assembled.The little black sleevey things that are supposed to keep the shelves tight to the posts kept popping off. I swear that once one of them jumped about six feet, projectile style.
The next thing to remember is to put a shelf at the bottom. I did not do so, and my spavined shelves threatened to collapse like something out of a Laurel and Hardy movie until I slipped a shelf up the legs like a pair of pants, held it where I wanted by placing it on a pile of books, and attaching the sleevey things, then kicking the books out. The result was about as pleasant as a public hanging; after retrieving the sleevey things, I managed to stabilize the bottom of the shelf.
My old animation desk top needed to be attached with O rings and S hooks. Trouble is O rings don't self-thread. They would not drill into the desktop, no matter how hard I tried, and since they were designed for metal they wouldn't have held anyway. I wound up using the S hooks and some cup holders. That's right. They're the ones you see hanging down in old kitchen cupboards, except that these had a spring closure designed for California earthquakes. (My tool box has a lot of earthquake picture mounts, etc. left over from my time in LA.) I then tied the whole mess together with aluminum wire. (Update: I changed the cup holders to self threading O rings today and removed the wire, also lowered the desktop by five inches. It's now a really good, functional, desk with a lot of storage space.)
A surprising thing happened. The mess of warped metal actually seemed to straighten up and turn into an--animation desk! and not a bad one either.
And I discovered that the little sleevey things could be forced up from the bottom to make the warped shelves seat more or less tightly. It felt really, really good to use the hammer on them. I hit them very, very hard.
Gizmo managed to get up on the top shelf and peer down at me sweating below. Her fur bulged out between the wire frames for all the world like an old fashioned egg slicer.
I had constructed the thing in the living room and now had to push it down the hallway to the studio. In an act of sheer genius, I had dumped the expensive (and functional) wheels that came with the Ebay find. There were little plastic feet that would, I thought, protect the floor. What I didn't figure on was that they would grip the floor like a limpet and fight to stay where they were.
At this point, the shelves seemed to morph into a living creature with a mind of its own, and that mind was distinctly unfriendly.
I started pushing the desk toward the studio, the feet advancing by a series of shuddering jumps. As it reluctantly slid down the short hall, making a sound like a Wookiee mating call, I saw my idiotic cat sitting directly in front of the oncoming metal train.
"Get the *&@# out of the way!" I screamed. Gizmo did--and went into the studio, and sat directly in front of the thing, which had somehow turned the corner and was pushing a wheeled shelf ahead of it. My next remarks to Gizmo were even less printable, and I backed the shelves out before I ran over her.
Eventually I got the desk where it was supposed to be. It's behind me right now. I'll try to post a picture. It does not look at all bad, and there is plenty of storage space on the shelves. And here's an extra special Martha Stewed hint: To keep the books from falling out of the side of the shelves, I used aluminum wire threaded between the posts in a pattern that I have dubbed "The Drunken Spider". It looks really, really good. If I had the energy, I could thread little pink ribbons or something through it. It worked a lot better than the expensive metal 'side shelves' I purchased--in the wrong size! So yes, it is possible to build a functioning animation desk from wire metal shelves.
But next time, if there is a next time, I won't do this next time.
Canadian Capers
"What are you doing in the elevator?"
The questioner was one of two arrogant-looking twentysomethings standing in the hallway of a 1924 Rochester apartment building. I had loaded my 'accompanying' goods into the ancient machine while waiting for my neighbour who was to drive me and Gizmo to Canada. He was late. Yoga session. Which would not have been a problem if it weren't for the pair trying to get me out of the cab.
"I don't see what gives YOU the right to use it," the blond whined.
"I'm moving and I announced this move several months ago."
"Well, I'm moving!"
"Well, I'm NOT moving until my neighbour gets here," I said, privately imagining a scenario that began with them trying to forcibly remove me and my things, and ended with my landing a punch on a snub nose. The blonds left.
The neighbours arrived. We manhandled the huge computer box, cat box, document box, spare pots, small suitcase, cat and me into the rented "time share car", a Honda Element SUV, if that is not an oxymoron. Its name was actually Eastman. This was somehow significant. One of the seats had to be removed to accomodate Mr. Computer and Mrs. Monitor. Damn computers anyway.
Somehow everything fit, just. Gizmo, dumped unceremoniously into her cat carrier, howled as I shoehorned her and me into the remaining back seat. The howls were repeated at hourly intervals on the way to Lewiston. Since there was nothing else I could do, I picked her up and held her so that she could see the drivers (her old friends) and some of the outdoors. She quieted for a while after each session.
"Don't you want to even see the cat's rabies certificate?" I asked the customs agents at Lewiston.
"No."
They showed no interest in any of my documents other than the work permit. They were surprised that I already had it. I'd gone to Buffalo to get it a few days earlier, to prevent standing in line with Gizmo at a border post and minimize the stress for her.
There was no line in Lewiston. In fact, there was only one other person asking for border clearance.
"Do you need to see my contract or lease or degrees?"
"No. You already have the work permit. Do you have a car following, or plan to bring one in the future?"
"No."
"Then get out. Welcome to Canada."
The moving truck with three tons of stuff cleared Customs in about five minutes a week later. The clerk said my papers were so well put together, she could find nothing to change.
The truck driver informed me that he deliberately chose that particular office since the clerks were generally pleasant. "Nine times out of ten you will get someone like that clerk. The tenth time will be a dragon. If I'd taken you to one of the other posts, there is a 90 per cent chance that your goods would have been impounded and gone over with a fine toothed comb."
The new apartment at Queen Mary Drive was a real change from the Rochester apartment in more ways than one. I formerly thought the closets were ill planned and located. They swallowed the books easily and will take the shelves that I have yet to build (once I get them out of their boxes.) The super and his wife and their grandson have been extremely helpful, even cat sitting for Gizmo when the movers came. They wanted to keep her too, but they had just bought a small Siamese kitten and Gizmo promptly slapped it upside the head. Once the two were kept separately, Gizmo was a neat and considerate house guest.
"She's part Siamese," they told me. And when the kitten mewed at me in Gizmo's voice, I believed them. This explains her 'talkativeness', her gutteral growls and occasional babylike wails, her high intelligence and slim figure (no pet owners are NOT all like our pets! I only wish I had Gizmo's build and turnout.)
Things are starting to change, though. I got a medical exam before leaving and the incredulous doctor told me that I'd lost ten pounds. "Get out of a job, get a new job, leave the country, pack up three tons of stuff," I suggested. I guess packing is sort of weightlifting with a reward.
The welcome has been great across the board. On June 7 I attended a party at the home of WE MOVE TO CANADA'S blogger and author Laura Kaminker and Allan Wood in Port Credit. The Oakville resident's association can count me as a member and I'll attend their picnic next weekend at Foster Park. I have been to Friends Meeting in Toronto and took in the "Woofstock" dog show afterward near the St. Lawrence Market, copping enough free food for Gizmo to keep her in cat chow til September.
The studio and printer will be set up today, and I have a little work to do with hooks and so on before the animation desk top can be attached to the metal shelving. The Mighty Wurlitzer will make an admirable control center for teaching materials.
And my boss has asked if I could do some extra work this July, so there may even be a little money coming in.
The three ceiling fans are working hard, but the heat hit 100 for two days (40 C) and I was actually about to knuckle under and get an AC when the most violent lightning storm I've seen in years broke and washed most of the yuck away. The humidity level rivaled Savannah's for a day or so.
Now that I have the bicycle (which fits neatly into the storeroom along with the shelves!) I plan to do some exploring. Watch this space.
Canada is a lovely country and I'm happy to be here. I was surprised to hear that some Americans do not like living here and go home after a while. Whatever for?
The most obvious difference I've noted is that people here are a lot more polite. Strangers say Hello to you in the street just the way they do in the American South. This is a custom that I enjoy.
And there is, how do I say it...less tension here. As if I crossed through a curtain of it when crossing the border, and now I'm on the other side. It's not Heaven, but it's what used to pass for normal.
Maybe I'm just reacting to not having to plan for the move. It's done. The unpacking will take most of the rest of June, but at least everything is here.
I'll try to post when things happen. Lots more will be happening here than in Rochester, that's for sure.
The questioner was one of two arrogant-looking twentysomethings standing in the hallway of a 1924 Rochester apartment building. I had loaded my 'accompanying' goods into the ancient machine while waiting for my neighbour who was to drive me and Gizmo to Canada. He was late. Yoga session. Which would not have been a problem if it weren't for the pair trying to get me out of the cab.
"I don't see what gives YOU the right to use it," the blond whined.
"I'm moving and I announced this move several months ago."
"Well, I'm moving!"
"Well, I'm NOT moving until my neighbour gets here," I said, privately imagining a scenario that began with them trying to forcibly remove me and my things, and ended with my landing a punch on a snub nose. The blonds left.
The neighbours arrived. We manhandled the huge computer box, cat box, document box, spare pots, small suitcase, cat and me into the rented "time share car", a Honda Element SUV, if that is not an oxymoron. Its name was actually Eastman. This was somehow significant. One of the seats had to be removed to accomodate Mr. Computer and Mrs. Monitor. Damn computers anyway.
Somehow everything fit, just. Gizmo, dumped unceremoniously into her cat carrier, howled as I shoehorned her and me into the remaining back seat. The howls were repeated at hourly intervals on the way to Lewiston. Since there was nothing else I could do, I picked her up and held her so that she could see the drivers (her old friends) and some of the outdoors. She quieted for a while after each session.
"Don't you want to even see the cat's rabies certificate?" I asked the customs agents at Lewiston.
"No."
They showed no interest in any of my documents other than the work permit. They were surprised that I already had it. I'd gone to Buffalo to get it a few days earlier, to prevent standing in line with Gizmo at a border post and minimize the stress for her.
There was no line in Lewiston. In fact, there was only one other person asking for border clearance.
"Do you need to see my contract or lease or degrees?"
"No. You already have the work permit. Do you have a car following, or plan to bring one in the future?"
"No."
"Then get out. Welcome to Canada."
The moving truck with three tons of stuff cleared Customs in about five minutes a week later. The clerk said my papers were so well put together, she could find nothing to change.
The truck driver informed me that he deliberately chose that particular office since the clerks were generally pleasant. "Nine times out of ten you will get someone like that clerk. The tenth time will be a dragon. If I'd taken you to one of the other posts, there is a 90 per cent chance that your goods would have been impounded and gone over with a fine toothed comb."
The new apartment at Queen Mary Drive was a real change from the Rochester apartment in more ways than one. I formerly thought the closets were ill planned and located. They swallowed the books easily and will take the shelves that I have yet to build (once I get them out of their boxes.) The super and his wife and their grandson have been extremely helpful, even cat sitting for Gizmo when the movers came. They wanted to keep her too, but they had just bought a small Siamese kitten and Gizmo promptly slapped it upside the head. Once the two were kept separately, Gizmo was a neat and considerate house guest.
"She's part Siamese," they told me. And when the kitten mewed at me in Gizmo's voice, I believed them. This explains her 'talkativeness', her gutteral growls and occasional babylike wails, her high intelligence and slim figure (no pet owners are NOT all like our pets! I only wish I had Gizmo's build and turnout.)
Things are starting to change, though. I got a medical exam before leaving and the incredulous doctor told me that I'd lost ten pounds. "Get out of a job, get a new job, leave the country, pack up three tons of stuff," I suggested. I guess packing is sort of weightlifting with a reward.
The welcome has been great across the board. On June 7 I attended a party at the home of WE MOVE TO CANADA'S blogger and author Laura Kaminker and Allan Wood in Port Credit. The Oakville resident's association can count me as a member and I'll attend their picnic next weekend at Foster Park. I have been to Friends Meeting in Toronto and took in the "Woofstock" dog show afterward near the St. Lawrence Market, copping enough free food for Gizmo to keep her in cat chow til September.
The studio and printer will be set up today, and I have a little work to do with hooks and so on before the animation desk top can be attached to the metal shelving. The Mighty Wurlitzer will make an admirable control center for teaching materials.
And my boss has asked if I could do some extra work this July, so there may even be a little money coming in.
The three ceiling fans are working hard, but the heat hit 100 for two days (40 C) and I was actually about to knuckle under and get an AC when the most violent lightning storm I've seen in years broke and washed most of the yuck away. The humidity level rivaled Savannah's for a day or so.
Now that I have the bicycle (which fits neatly into the storeroom along with the shelves!) I plan to do some exploring. Watch this space.
Canada is a lovely country and I'm happy to be here. I was surprised to hear that some Americans do not like living here and go home after a while. Whatever for?
The most obvious difference I've noted is that people here are a lot more polite. Strangers say Hello to you in the street just the way they do in the American South. This is a custom that I enjoy.
And there is, how do I say it...less tension here. As if I crossed through a curtain of it when crossing the border, and now I'm on the other side. It's not Heaven, but it's what used to pass for normal.
Maybe I'm just reacting to not having to plan for the move. It's done. The unpacking will take most of the rest of June, but at least everything is here.
I'll try to post when things happen. Lots more will be happening here than in Rochester, that's for sure.
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