New Year's eve at

Lynal and Barbara invited us over for new year's eve. It was very cold out but  they only live a few blocks away (and their house is certainly warmer than ours), so we braved the -26 and had a nice time. We played a drawing game - Telestrations - that I didn't think would be fun but was surprisingly very fun.

Erik's father passing

Erik's father, who'd been in the hospital quite a bit over the past couple of years, passed away a few days ago. I never had a chance to meet him but he sounded like quite a character. Erik and Julia came over to scan some photos. 

... in the conservatory, with a cheese knife...

We attended a really cool party at the conservatory. Unfortunately I knew very few people there, but it was warm and seeing green made the very cold weather much more manageable. William spent the day at Emma's, watching and critiquing Griffin's new video. William has been in too much, so we're happy he connected with some friends finally. 

Party with Carle

Carle held a near-new years party to celebrate the new boiler she installed in her building. She had the whole second floor open, making it a grand evening. Lots of Rogerisms. Weather is very cold. Our own furnace sounds like it will take a week due to the part not being in town. 

Pineapple Mickey

I have no idea why Mickey, regardless of how old he is, would be on a pineapple label.

Furnace trouble

Boxing day: Margaret and William went out to the Hobbit play at the Globe. I gave Gertrud my ticket. It was really more to see George's girls than the play so I figured I would catch up with them another time, so I stayed behind. Shortly after everyone left, I noticed how chilly the house had become so I called the furnace guys again. The first thing he noted was how dirty the furnace was (didn't two guys clean in two days ago?) and the warning light told him to keep looking for trouble.. It came in the form of a cracked heat exchanger. The crack is not too terrible and the carbon monoxide levels in the house are not dangerously high, but he's warned us not to keep it on for too long and to have a detector nearby. We warmed up later at Richard and Gerda's then went home to curl up on the couch, conserve body heat, and watch tv. 

Christmas day at Lori's

 We had a great supper with turkey, perogies, and other great stuff at my sister's for Christmas day. Quinn is going on a work study in a few days to Austria. Sean is still in Estivan. William played a rather lengthy game of Settlers of Catan family edition with his cousins and Al.

Christmas Eve with Margaret's family

Christmas even was lovely. George worked hard all week to get the downstairs painted and the bathroom finished. Gertrud made a goose and I had potatoes with it. I brought a cheesecake that was appreciated. Simon's kids were in town too.

Furnace acting weird

The furnace was not turning on correctly today (Christmas eve) so we got the guys in first thing in the morning. It started working again just before they arrived so they cleaned stuff and didn't find a problem. 

crude sex jokes in Hagar the Horrible

I don't know how to read this in any other way than as a rather crude sex joke, more suitable for the margins of an old porn magazine (because even the new ones are likely more enlightened than this). What kind of craving can a good man not deliver than a "horrible" viking can? Good Grief. 

Unappreciated gift giving?

While I am certain that the gift will be appreciated, Aurora certainly didn't appreciate her drive home from daycare to be interrupted by receiving it. Parking lot socializing may have to wait until high school. 

Ginny Flatbed moved

Today I moved the Ginny flatbed out of the basement, giving it to Matt, who will put it to use. I will miss it but am also happy to move forward in my effort to make my house more user friendly. 

William becomes more of an artist each day

From having one-on-one crit sessions with his teach over his drawings (above) to modifying his clothes to reflect his obsessions (below), William becomes more and more of an artist every day.

Ella shows her MFA film

Ella Mikkola showed her MFA film, a mixture of a single shot narrative projected on video along with two 16mm films on either side of the video projection which revealed details, feelings, and subtext to the narrative. Quite cool and well received. Her defense is tomorrow. 

Baking

My day will filled with meetings with more to come tomorrow. I'm feeling very distracted by work thoughts which seem to prevent me from enjoying most normal activities. Trying to bake some cookies. 

Spiderverse

Saw the new animated Spiderman movie (in 3D) tonight. While it conformed laughingly close to the hero's journey in all respects, it had some nice details and variations on the well known characters and designs. More than that, the animation was amazing and it was just really fun to watch. Lots of details to keep the eye busy for at least a couple of viewings.

Grading and other catching up

I spent most of the rest of the weekend catching up on grading, reading and approving syllabi and other grades, and cracking the whip on William to make sure he catches up on missing two days of school. The new issue of Cathedral Village Voice came out with one of William's smaller Beardo comics. Not a feature comic, but great to see anyway. 

Vintage camera

Before we left Saskatoon, we stopped in to see Mike and wish him a happy 50th (a few days early). He's been purging and looking for homes for old stuff that is otherwise useless including this early digital still camera. I recall he bought it (and I envied it) in the mid-90s. It records directly onto 3.5" diskettes - built before memory cards were invented. I will use it in my next painting class. 

Remai Moderni Art Gallery

We finally made it to the Remai in Saskatoon. Very cool space and nice staff (we somehow talked them into comping us in) but the security guards were a bit too aggressive. I was warned away from getting too close to a very sturdy piece of sculpture, even though I was certainly not touching it. They were always staring and scowling.
The Rosa Barba exhibit was certainly the high point. She is using 35mm projections or loops or other devices that just wind and manipulate 35mm film. Hypnotic and beautiful. Worth the trip.

Saskatoon

Up to Saskatoon today. Dr. Allan was surprised at William's (seemingly sudden, but not really) change in attitude about surgery. Can't argue with the math. 102 degrees.
Supper with Mike for Mexican food. I had a mole dish, which was really nice but not much spice. Found out later that the spice is kept at the till because they have too many kids who play with them at the tables.

William and Angie

William presented his test drawing to Angie. The negative text seems to work best, and the torn edges are also working. She's made a few suggestions and ordered three for next week, which will be tough since we're away a couple of days. 

William testing portfolio project

William did the first test drawing for his portfolio for AP art. The drawing, or for the test, a copy of the drawing, was cut and torn and collaged onto text.
Allan was over this evening. Played the Get a Brain game again. 

David Garneau art opening

A sampling of Davids huge new painting project, destined to be a public art installation on an Edmonton bridge next year, went on display in the lobby of the performing arts centre this evening. Many of the works contain clever hidden meanings and messages disguised as pattern or design. 

Photos of 11 sons

We did a photo shoot this weekend in which William posed as each of the 11 sons in a Kafka story so that he can do a drawing project around them. Lots of clothing changes so it took hours.

Margaret's cousin Alex

Margaret's cousin Alex, son of Helmut, came into Regina as an expert witness on a court case. I'd only met him briefly years ago. Great conversations including a story about getting to go into the Vatican basement archives. 

Department lunch

Lunch with the department at Skye following our meeting. Roland joined us. Great to see him. 

David Plummer and Computer Science 50th anniversary

The computer science department brought in a very successful alumni as key note for their fiftieth anniversary gathering. Plummer was a high school classmate of Margaret and Mike's, which was the impetus to go. Margaret was sick and didn't attend. William and I saw Mike and Andy there, as well as my old friend Scott. Dave Plummer spoke very quickly, probably a nervous response to being a bit out of his element, but the talk was entertaining and enlightening. It's true that some luck came into play in his career, but also a shitload of talent and hard work. 

getting "busy"

I did some running around off campus today, buying brushes and paper and shipping some 35mm and super-8 to the lab. I was also caught in a seemingly continuous loop of trying to get stuff done at the office but each step forward was met with a full step back and I believe I left without a single item checked off my list. Got home to find new eggs in my tank.

Huge power outage

About a quarter of the province lost power today, including the university. I was out at CTV setting up a work placement when I heard that the university was closed with the power off. I therefore went home where I knew I had power. However, the internet was down so I couldn't get any real work done all day. Jordan came and figured out the problem with out lights (it was some faulty ground in the socket that hasn't worked since we moved in). We now have light in the basement stairs, making it much safer.

This one was the problem

William, the star...

William, the star in hand, helps decorate the tree. Meanwhile the basement light is not quite repaired. Switch was replaced but something is still wrong. Electrician must return tomorrow with different tools.