One Take credits

Matt and I shot the credits for the One Take Super 8 Event this afternoon, following my meeting with William and his team about the Bird People radio dramas (meeting of the minds).  George and Joel dropped off ground beef. 

 

Dunlop opening

 Dunlop group show today with all five artists attending and participating in a talk. While this is great, it did become a sort of panel discussion where each of the five speaks for 2-4 minutes about each of five topics, all before anyone in the audience has seen the work. Interesting but...

Gail Bowen

We attended Gail Bowen's funeral today. She passed on June 25 from cancer. I had only spoken to her a handful of times but she was always friendly and engaged with people and topics around her. Very down to earth and intelligent at the same time. I knew her through her daughter Hildey and her son-in-law Brett Bell. 

After the service, we purchased a new fish friend for our catfish who gets lonely. 

 

Slate and family

Slate opening today for their summer group show. Had to dash in and out. Spoke with Sunny who (after I cautiously asked what was new) confirmed that she's expecting. 

George hosted dinner for their second cousin and her husband who are road tripping from Vancouver Island to Ontario. Pleasant folks. Brought some old photo albums that Margaret hasn't seen. 
 

Locked the office

 Returned to the university to pick up my desktop computer which apparently is now valued at zero dollars so I can request to just keep it. This will inevitably not be my final activities at the university. Regardless, it was today that I also left my keys and will no longer have free access to any spaces on campus. 

Canada Day

 

First day of my retirement. Mom called first thing and wanted to go for coffee. Having no conflicts, we went to French Press (contrary to Margaret's concerns, it seemed like everyplace was open). This afternoon slipped back to the office and looked BEHIND things and found a couple pieces of garbage and removed them. Back home, I edited William's CJTR Sunday Funnies radio show for this week (a task I rarely talk about but have been doing every week for four years). Barbequed ribs. I tried to do some writing but felt a bit tired so didn't get much done. Margaret and William walked down to the Albert Street bridge to watch fireworks but I opted out, started to sort my stuff in the garage instead.I caught a bit of the show from the close bridge. Margaret phoned to say they ran into four of my students and invited them back to the house for a fire. Almost all the wood is damp so it was a struggle to get it going before they arrive, but did it. They hung out until 1:30 then I drove them home. I'd wanted to invite them over today but it was rainy and Dani was moving today, so I thought it was a bad idea. It's so great that it came together in an unplanned way anyway. 

Last day of work

My day started with a TWO HOUR visit to the dentist with my mom to wait for her in the waiting room where they had great art on the walls but played game shows on the tv. I really needed to get back to the office and didn't get there until noon. Dianne helped me sort stuff for a while, until she had to go and I had scheduled to borrow the faculty truck Lee helped me move my carts. I got the keys back to him by 4:45 and then worked with my brother in law Al who helped me box and bag a bunch more stuff. Exhausted and starving, I headed home at 7:00 and ate and returned with Margaret and William who got me over the finish line, emptying the office and studio entirely and getting all my stuff consolidated into the garage. We were home by 11:30 and I think I got drunk by mindnight on one glass of gin and fresca (it was a strong one). I am retired after 27 years as a professor (now emeritus) in the department of Film at the University of Regina. It was quite a ride. 
 

Some lasts

 Office still in progress. 
William developed his one take super 8 film (my last use of the Film Department darkroom).
Our little fish dies. The catfish will miss him. He pushed his body into his cave to take care of him. 

Small treasures

 I have countless things tucked away in my office. Many are surprises to me, having forgot when and why I put them there. This is one that I saved for posterity, knowing that it was not long for the world. 

New cameras atop need to downsize

More office cleaning today (it's Saturday, but an advantage is that I can park right outside the doors all day). . The mess is still gigantic, but is actually coming along. Drawers and shelves are emptying. Much of the stuff is gone. I bought some chemistry at Don's photo and was gifted a bunch of cameras to paint (all non-functioning). 

Mecha-Canister film shoot

Big shooting day in the studio, the last with this team of students. I was mostly Mecha-Canister, a giant robotic version of Canister the Robot, which has been built to protect the city from a series of invading monsters. No plot of dialog scenes, just effects scenes. Threw out a lot of stuff at the end of the day. Cast and crew were Dani Fink, Rebekah Illingworth, Nicte Recinos-Lane, Robert Stevenson, Aiden San Andres, and Katya Shyshenina along with Geremy Lague and William. Nicte brought a mouse costume. Katya played a couple roles. Geremy's daughter was stressed by the possibility of there being too many strangers on the crew so opted out. 

Photos here are mostly shot by Robert. 

Preparing to film

I had hospital tests this morning which left me a bit drained, so when my set up time at the studio will all my students was interrupted by a real fire alarm, I admit I was a bit glad to send everyone home. Half the time was spent emptying things out of my office anyway. I'm giving a lot of 16mm films to Rebekah and and lot of film chemistry things to her and Dani. 

Speaking of fire, thought we didn't see any at the university (fire truck did arrive), we lit our own. Allan came over and I bought his newly printed (and dedicated) second half of the Critters set. 
 

Painting buildings

William and I did a rush job painting windows and doors onto the high rise buildings for the sthoot tomorrow. The eight foot flats will each be about 20 stories high, for those tracking scale. Also, I brought all of the Auricon camera parts together and let Mike and Ron know about it's potential for great cinematic adventure. 
 

Building a city

 Got a layer of paint onto my foam flats last night and William and I put together a plan for the next steps today. I'm feeling very excited yet exhausted by every step I take this month. I'm so happy that I'm doing a bunch of creative projects but at the same time, I am dying to have a bunch of time to just do nothing but stay home. I think that is what led to a bit of a stalled day today. We determined some stencil plans but didn't have the right tools to start, which was fine with me. 

Nicole departs

 Got Nicole to the airport this morning after one mor short visit with mom. 

Sunday activities

Nicole and I played some cards with mom this morning in lui of father's day activities. Later I managed to cram six sheets of styrofoam into my car from Rona to use this week at the university. They are 8 feet by 2 feet and cost about 9 bucks each. This evening we played a new game the William found at the giant book sale a couple days ago. It was a bit complicated and we are unlikely to play it again, but not really bad. 

 

Day with Nicole

 Brunch at a pop-up restaurant turned into an overly sweet sugar fest with Nicole and mom this morning. We ended up back at the house where we played the new Root game. Very nice day. 

On the way to the Globe

On the way to the Globe theatre this evening, noticed that the building that we were insisting that we project onto for Nuit Blanche is now gone. No wonder we didn't get accepted into it this year. Also finally caught the Neutral Ground window show by Grace Boyd and was fascinated by this view from the Globe of the neighbouring building. Wouldn't it be great to film a performance that would take place on that roof from this window? 

 Met up with George at the play, Arsenic and Old Lace, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is our first time at the renovated space. Katheryn Bracht had just moved into one of the lead roles due to someone's illness. I think we knew more people in the cast than in the audience.