Dad's tooth

 Dad broke a tooth today. It was on his plate and I initially thought it was a foil wrapper from a candy. No pain from dad, but his teeth are in rapid decline. Not many left. This one has broken from its root so needs attention. 

Lego in Moose Jaw

Left Saskatoon, taking only a short opportunity to wave back and forth with William in the hotel where we had balcony rooms above each other. Drove to Moose Jaw to see Lego. Geremy and his family joined us. 
 

Saskatoon and Shakespeare

Saw As You Like It at Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan. Very entertaining. Mike and Victoria came along and we went for supper afterwards. William recorded a radio show as Margaret and I walked around near the hotel and looked at this brutalist fountain. 

 

Tate's birthday

We didn't want to create unnecessary pressure on new parents so we only dropped in for five minutes on the way into Saskatoon to see the baby (Tate Taylor). Sleeping. Shim was out grocery shopping and her mother was helping out in the background.  

Art and spirituality in Saskatoon

Saskatoon. Trip to Remi Modern with Victoria. Strange space through church grounds on the way seemed like it was trying to be meditative but fails but for the fact that a single small bunny chose to live there.  
 

New member of the family

 My nephew Sean and his fiancé Shim had a baby boy today. I believe the name is Tate. 

Hot day

 I spent some time indoors painting today. Checked on the bird baths and the bees were getting mighty thirsty themselves. We refilled. it. 

Paint

 Years ago we painted our kitchen in a metallic based paint that doesn't exist anymore. The metallic paints now are in smaller containers and much more expensive than the gallon sized buckets. 

Robot and drill shopping

 Garage was broken into the other day and my drill was stolen. The drill itself was easy to replace but the myriad of bits and accessories that I'd stuffed into the small case (and the case itself) have been the biggest hassle and have let me to multiple hardware stops. Today William came with he, in search of robot parts. 

Hammock time

 Spent very little time in my hammock so far this year. Today Margaret is working and William is volunteering at a secret garden, so I kicked back for a while. 

Mooky at Secret Gardens

Mooky was performing as Gloria during the Secret Garden Tour this weekend. Lovely to see her chicken. 

 

Kitchen almost done

 Bit of trim and then painting and a quarter century long reno is done. 

Kitchen update in progress

 Some details and paint to come....

William new glasses

William has a new look. He went hunting for round glasses and eventually found these titanium framed beauties at Spex. 

Our glacial kitchen reno, which we began in 1996, is moving forward. Hired Ariane (pictured below) who is doing a great job. This stag is primarily covering the stack, open for all this time, and completing a couple pieces of trim. 

Dad turns 90

Dad's 90th birthday today. The whole group sang to him before lunch and we served cake, which pretty much everyone ate before beginning their meal. Spent time with mom in the evening. 

Fire pit

 Geremy and Allan came over for a fire. Talked a lot about a game they are trying to design together. 

Katherine visit

 Katherine came to Regina (solo) on a last minute trip to see the Craven music festival with George. We managed to see her this afternoon as they took a break from the crowd and swept into town for the afternoon. 

This evening we went to the RPL to see "Kafka" on VHS. Mooky was there and we tried (and failed) to get french fries afterwards. 

Summer started

While I  have not felt overwhelmed by the heat yet, nor have I spent time on the beach or stayed up all night watching tv or any other summer traditions, I did start having those days that contain a bunch of disparate activities that would not usually happen in non-summer times. I went to an art opening and talk where they hung all the stuff from the ceiling at a good height because they knew I was coming. I painted a bit, but somewhat badly (Auricon again). An incomplete Yeti cup arrived and I spent lots of time trying to complain about it. We have a rabbit living behind our compost. Other stuff too. William and I listened to some records and talked about future sock projects. 

 

Slate opening

Not pictured here, I had a lengthy conversation with Brent Pylot during the Slate summer show opening about painting cameras and his own painting background. Feeling inspired, I went home and painted the Auricon again. 

 

Fringe Festival

 Saw one play on the opening night of the Fringe. It was good but the attendance was poor. Mainly the three of us, Paul, and some performers from other plays. 

Tin "camera"

 Trying to ramp up painting again. Did this unique object which is not a camera but a memento sculpture toy trick thing from Cuba I think. Esperanza lent it to me. When you move the trigger, the front pops open and a face on a spring pops out. 

Background shots

I'm considering the nature of liminal photography as I continue to shoot backgrounds for Gumshoe. I realize that the biggest problem I have is getting ocean shots. Will need to call some people. 
 

Coffee group

Coffee today expanded to include Gertrud and Fred along with me, Lori, Margaret, and William. 
 

BBQ at Barb and Martin's

 Visited dad this afternoon. He enjoyed the Saskatoon berries. Also got visit from Don, who started Audio Warehouse. He is an occupant on dad's floor too. Friendly guy. This evening we were invited to BBQ at Barb and Martin's. William was hanging out with Emma all afternoon. 

Side by side creatively

William and I spent the day at home together, mostly being creative and listening to records. I was painting and was creating hands for his robot costume. Coffee with Kevin later. Got to remember that the donut shop is always overly air conditioned. 

 

Esperanza dinner

Esperanza invited the three of us over for a very nice Columbian supper. She made the enchiladas, salsa, soup, and desert all from scratch. It was a truly lovely experience.  
 

CJTR visit

 Even though William has had a weekly radio show for 18 months, he had not visited the radio station until today. Neil gave a very nice tour and it sounds like William can get trained on the board sometime soon so that he can record or broadcast live some time. 

Asteroid City

Went to Wes Anderson's new film "Asteroid City" this afternoon (5pm show). Small crowd there  at the  Galaxy (the only theatre in town playing it so it is probably ending very soon). Mike Rollo and Amber were there so we had a nice after movie chat in the parking lot. I liked the movie, even though it was sort of an "in the moment" sort of thing where I stopped really thinking about the path of the story or the characters. I just sat and enjoyed it. I feel inspired to write and might dive into the next puppet screenplay in the next few days as a result. 

Image attached above. This was one of a small number of split screen images that Anderson created. It somewhat bothered me that he needed to adjust the vertical position of the image to get the characters to exactly match (if eyelines are off, the split screen feels disconnected). This resulted in edges of the frame appearing on either the top or the bottom of the frame with one of the characters. 

Saskatoon berry picking

Picked 7 buckets of berries. It was windy, but instead of that being a deterrent, it was cooling and kept the bugs away. Drive was good and didn't have the construction we had to deal with last year.