Bird People "Meeting of the Minds"

William invited a number of people to come together this evening to talk about developing and writing  a "Bird People" radio drama series, based on his comic: https://bird-people.thecomicseries.com/ . Geremy and I were there, along with five others closer to his age. It started off rough but quickly everyone started adding nutty ideas into the mix, just like he wanted. Image above is for Groundhog's Day. In the middle of the meeting, we took a break to go outside and watch the hail fall. 

 

Filmpool sign

 Filmpool has a new sign. I remember when we used to have lengthy debates about design and group images. I have no idea how the all caps thing was chosen. Are you supposed to say it louder? 

William art

 William's art for my mom somehow broke (she moves around artwork daily). I'll need to find a replacement frame. Meanwhile at home, William needs a backdrop for the shoot next week. Starting with a literal blank canvas. 

Gin party

 Really happy that the gin party tradition continues this year. I talked with Norm for quite a while. William had a good conversation with Joanne with some business advice.

Canister and Frenemies shoot

 

Geremy, William, and I applied for a spot in Nuit Blanche again this year but were unsuccessful. Regardless, with the studio available, we spent the day shooting about eight new  (Weldebeast, Guy D'Bus-inesse, Fairly, Sssssteam, El Luchadora, Hey Zeus, Captain O'ur Board, and The Great Unknown) and two old characters (Canister and Delusia) to use for the next adventure of Canister and Frenemies. 

William big fall

Last night, William was shooting his super 8 film and decided to run with the camera down the "rocket run" tobogganing hill. Suffice to say, the wet grass was unkind and he took a huge tumble and landed hard on his right arm. We iced it last night and gave him a load of pain killers, but he continued to be in serious pain so today (with almost no sleep) we took him to the clinic for x-rays. Ends up he's okay. 
 

Broken camera part

 I painted this busted out part of a disposable camera in class today (along with a toy cameras, I was quite focused. I'm pleased with how it turned out. 

Biscotti

 First time I've backed since December. I felt calm and worked slowly, butting the cookies smaller but with greater care. 

Gazebo time

 Weather is finally nice, more often than not nice. 

Two Lego heads

 We picked up a bag of random Lego at a garage sale (I was looking for toy cameras and didn't find any). The old heads had a solid nub on the top but the newer ones have a hollow one (which allows for stuff to be inserted in). These two seem to be the same age/fintage based on face and overall age/wear of the plastic, but they have different tops. 

Shooting super-8

 Shot my super 8 film as well as two rolls of 35mm towards the Gentleman Farmer project with my student research assistants as crew and cast. 

Star Wars

 We went to the new Star Wars Mandalorian/Grogu movie at the Imax (in 3D) this evening. Kevin and LeeAnne also came and ended up having bought tickets right behind us. Movie was entertaining. As others have said, it is like an upscaled version of the tv show, but I appreciate that. The francize gets new attention and viewers of the movie, which will likely include many people who were not watching the tv show, are more likely (and will be empowered to) begin watching the show starting with the next episodes without the need to go back and catch  up. 

Painting another non-camera

 This ia a 3D viewer Margaret and William gave me years ago. I thought it would look good on the dark background so I painted it. It is not a camera and doesn't pretend to be one. 

Cat photos

 Window shot is from a few days ago. The bird bath is from today. Sylvie eats many meals a day and drinks a lot of water. Her fur is in good shape but she's loosing weight and is very thin now. She is 16 I think. 

Empty spaces

Drove around a bit today. The new Filmpool space looks mostly ready but no sign yet and nothing moved in until next month. The Country Corner is also partially gutted, which I hope means that restoration will happen soon. 
 

Mom's card playing improved

 Played cards with mom today. I usually beat her the first 6-8 times before she wins a hand. Some of that is luck obviously, but the numbers suggest that she just isn't able to concentrate like she  used to (we have played Gin for years,so I know that we will usually be evenly matched). Today she beat me the first five hands. Again, some of that is luck,but it also suggests that she is having a good day (or I am not). 

Gerri Ann Siwek at Last Mountain Lake Cultural Centre

Terrific turn out for Gerri Ann's opening at the LMLCC today. The paintings, which span a number of years, are vibrant and wonderful as always, but seeing a span of time with the similar themes was cool. The work gets looser but the narratives become more distinct. THis is also reflected in teh animated films that she made during our mentorship two years ago which are playing on a monitor int eh gallery. Headed to the Blue Bird for fish after. 
 

Cathedral Festival

 I took in the street fair today, but didn't buy anything. William and I ended up fencing against each other in the park. Later we went to the Screening Under the Steeple.

Moose Jaw art gallery

 Margaret was busy, but William and I went to Moose Jaw without her and attended an opening at the art gallery where we ran into a number of people including Erik Sirke's mom, as well as Gordo and his wife. 

William's open studio

 For the Cathedral Festival, William was part of the tour of artist studios today. We had about 35 people come by, most staying for over an hour, so it was a busy evening. Some of my students came too and I took the opportinity to give away a film projector, some films, and some cameras. 

Picture pleasures

 Tim showed us a photo he took of the baby ducks leaving the Balkwill courtyard today. I painted a video camera. After lunch I took mom to the MacKenzie so she could see the Maia Start exhibition since she purchased one of Maia's works a couple months ago. Mom really loved the collaboratios that Sylvia and Yuji had on display. 

New robot shelf

 I built this shelf in the garage to display, and get out of the way, William and Emma's robot costume. 

Cathedral Festival begins with parade

Big Bad Mooky the Wolf

 During the parade, in which Margaret and William participated and I also saw Mooky as a wolf, we went to the Balkwill where I drew my first Canister comic in a couple of years and I collaborated with Gerri Ann Siwek on a couple comics, something which has now solidified into a tradition. 

Preparing puppets

 William is doing some modifications to the puppet designs so that he'll have more to show on his open studio day later this week. 

Rania's play

 We attended Rania Alharthi's play "Checkpoint" at the ShuBox with Q&A with her and director Kathryn Bracht afterwards. 

Snow!?

 And in the next few hours, snow fell. This is supposed to be a warm weekend. 

What is the weather doing?

 May long weekend is about to start, but strange white material is hitting the deck.