Saturday, May 20, 2023

Bank time

 


Was sorting through receipts in my wallet to submit expenses for my class (we need to build sock puppets and props). In my search, I discovered that I've accumulated seven cheques. Figured I should deposit them while running around buying more sock puppet socks. 

Friday, May 19, 2023

Documenting with light


 Did some documenting of a couple of Judy Anderson's works at the Dunlop this morning. Light is strange there and difficult to get it even, so I did everything in time exposures. 

I compiled the first full draft of the script for this term's puppet project (Gumshoe) today. 69 pages. 

This evening William wrote to say he wanted to talk. Bit homesick I think. We tried to zoom but that was rough. Long phone conversation. 


Thursday, May 18, 2023

Frans at Slate Gallery

Amazing exhibition with Frans and his metal miniatures at Slate today. 
My allergies seriously triggered from some plant inside the gallery so I snuck out and ended up having a great chat with Mooky who was just arriving, and with Frans who was having a smoke. 

 

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Painting with Lori


 My sister was away for the past three classes but is back this week to paint. I did this polaroid from Gertrud's garage - I believe from her sister's estate. 

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Chrystene teaching workshop

Chrystene did a great puppet workshop for my class over zoom today. In included her personal history, a history of many types of puppets, some tips about how puppets move, and an exercise in making a puppet. Later I went cloth shopping and got some patterned cloth and some fun fur hair. Prices have really gone up. 

 

Monday, May 15, 2023

Should I paint


 Very busy teaching this week, but if I have time it would be great to paint William's room while he's away. Figured I better document where stuff goes. 

Sunday, May 14, 2023

William going to Japan


 William's first big trip on his own starts today. Kyoto with 20 people from the university. 

Saturday, May 13, 2023

Early mother's day

As William is going away tomorrow, he gave Margaret a mother's day gift today. Replace her woefully missing Yeti coffee cup. The day was mostly spent packing. Main suitcase is maximum 50 pounds but he is only at 22. Covered it with 70 bucks worth of stickers. 
 

Friday, May 12, 2023

Thursday, May 11, 2023

VIewing more Sockvile


 I showed the second of the three parts of Sock-Vile to my class today. Not mixed yet. Don't get too much reaction. Ran it near the end of class so no time to discuss. 

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Painting box camera


 Painted a box camera that Deb Potter lent to me. I had to do some research because it had absolutely no brand/model marks on it. It seems to be a Marksman camera, made in Canada, but without the front plate on it that would identify it. 



Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Chicken


 Changed up my bbq chicken recipe a bit. The pieces were very large but it worked well. 

Monday, May 8, 2023

Visit mom


 With William heading out on his big trip in a few days, mom wanted to have supper and see him off. 

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Gertrud's computer


 Gertrud moved her computer and desk into her bedroom. I suggested a larger monitor but she's happy with this one, as it is bigger than a laptop monitor. I connected everything together. Might look at upgrading a few items later in the summer. 

Saturday, May 6, 2023

Kevin McKenzie at DAG

Kevin McKenzie's solo exhibition at the Sherwood branch of the Dunlop opened today with a conversation between him and Sherry. Very interesting insights into his work which has gotten away from fabrications out of plastics and artificial substances, and is rather a set of hockey gear made out of leather and other animal parts. 

Visited dad this evening. We had to look for him. The staff call him the magic man. He had gone into someone else's room, locked the door, and gone to sleep in their bed. 


 

Friday, May 5, 2023

Puppet supplies


 Chrystene will be doing a workshop for me in a couple of weeks and asked me to collect some supplies for the students to use. Some of this stuff should also be useful for the big project. 

Thursday, May 4, 2023

Sockvile course reboot


 Today I started the class which will (might) create the sequel to Sock-Vile. Class size is smaller, only 8 (possibly only 7). Spent number of months working on the story bible with a huge amount of time this week. Still lots of flaws in it. Overall I'm very nervous. 

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Plumber in


 Plumber in today to check for possible leaks. Probably mostly the calking that needed replacing. 

Monday, May 1, 2023

Lunch with Esperanza and Trevor


I took Esperanza out for a celebratory lunch for having defended her MFA last week. We had to do the defense over zoom so she never got a chance to meet her external examiner, Trevor Grant face to face. There were great follow up conversations today as Trevor is well traveled and spend two months in Columbia at one point. Also some advice about Japan and the etiquette of chopsticks. 
 

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Coffee with mom


 William and I had coffee with my mom. She wanted to ask about William's Japan trip but he doesn't know enough to really talk about it yet. He'll start hitting the books now though. Coming up soon. 

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Cara's Gallery - new art



 Attended an opening of a new gallery above Bushwakkers called Cara's Gallery. Very mixed exhibition of paintings, photographs, and most notably a number of hand made guitars by Alex Crease. 

Friday, April 28, 2023

Cost of film festivals


 Entering a film festival. First off, there are numerous good arguments for film festivals not having fees, but if they do have fees, those fees should simply cover necessities like returning materials. Big fee festivals, ie over $10, should be avoided. However, I wanted to enter this local festival (RIFF) so accepted that it has a whopping $40 fee. On top of that, there is some sort of $2 service fee. Gack. BUT THEN, the entire fee is in US Dollars!!!! WTF!!! I am in Regina entering a Regina festival and paying in US$ Ridiculous. 

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Hardware shopping


 Trying to figure out what to outfit the garage with. This workbench with wheels and locking drawers seemed pretty solid. 

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Cube painting


 Painted this camera a second time, this time with the flash cube. Camera still has batteries which will trigger and auto rotate the flash. I used the last of the four sides testing it with Deb. 

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Esperanza Sanchez Espitia defense



 Esperanza defended her MFA successfully today. She spoke very emotionally and powerfully about her work and process. Trevor Grant was the external examiner. 

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Visiting dad and Lori


 Visited dad for a while. Watched some tv. Left just in time for Lori to arrive later. She dropped in to house afterwards and lent me her tax software. 

Saturday, April 22, 2023

Antique market



 Wandered the annual antique market this evening. Bought an Iron Butterfly lp and a stereoscopic card with four mirrors in the image. One of the best I've ever seen. 

Friday, April 21, 2023

Fourth year film student screening


 Screening went well. William and I went. The room filled about 30 minutes in, but by the end wasn't full any more. Much of the work was very earnest. Well done. 

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Vaccine

 

Vaccine shot #6. Some pfizer version this time. No appointment or waiting. 

Monday, April 17, 2023

the survey


This event I answered the phone, the land line, even though I didn't recognize the number. It was a survey and I agreed to answer it (of course). After a dozen questions I had basically told them that I was white and over 50. I'm pretty sure the survey was to determine who answers their land lines (hint, it is white people over the age of 50). 

Sunday, April 16, 2023

Dad after lunch


 Saw dad after lunch. This were messy so I called for some help. Dad was tired. I told him an old story he used to tell us about his father, the story that ends with "That'll be the day". He laughed but didn't seem to remember the story himself. 

Saturday, April 15, 2023

Saturday without cartoons


 Got up and wanted to watch some Saturday morning cartoons, but the only company I had was the cat so I watched The Recruit instead. 

Friday, April 14, 2023

New art


The craft gallery that used to be at the airport now is close to the Southland Mall. Terry is featured this month with her potery. 

After some time at Rumour, we went to Judy Anderson's opening of her solo exhibition at the Dunlop. Great crowd and lots of nice people. 



 

Thursday, April 13, 2023

New coffee maker


 We make a lot of coffee. A lot. Really really really. We buy this fairly high end drip maker with insulated carafe and we have purchased three of them now (or is it 4?) because we use them to death. Margaret does regular cleanings of them but they still cannot handle how many pots she makes per day. This replaces the identical one we bought two years ago.

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Painting class


 I've not been able to do my painting class in a year due to work schedule but it looks like Wednesday mornings are free again. I did a rush job on this because I had an appointment booked with a new doctor so had to leave early. Good to be back with people again though. 

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Melting snow


 Snow melting. As with previous years, we end up with water standing in the yard, but with the new garage being higher than the previous driveway, it looks like it will be worse. 

Monday, April 10, 2023