Staring Out the Window

TdF

2009-07-06T22:59:00.004-07:00

The Tour de France is three days underway and the big story, of course, is the return to the peleton of its undisputed champion, Lance Armstrong. I followed the tour religiously during his reign, not entirely because of him, but because of the stories - nay legends - associated with it. By the sheer scope and magnitude of the race itself, and the physical prowess and mental fortitude required to surivive it, much less win.

Like many fans I've had a falling out with professional cycling in recent years, due in large part to the doping controversies it's embroiled in. Lance has always managed to skirt those controversies without ever being snagged. He is supposedly the most tested athlete in the bunch, yet has never come up with a positive result while nearly all of his contemporaries and rivals have.

Whatever the case, there is no denying that Lance is the protagonist of the great saga that is his life. He's currently in third place, forty seconds behind the race leader, Fabian Cancellara. The story could break either way. But if he goes up the mountains like he has in the storied days of his seven-win run, another chapter will be written.

Pretty Neat

2009-05-27T11:56:00.002-07:00

So I'm having an over-the-fence conversation with our neighbour while our daughters are playing in the sandbox together and he asks me, "What are you working on these days?" To which I replied, "I just finished adapting the first season of Pretty Cure. It just started airing on YTV..." When his ten-year-old daughter jumps in, "Pretty Cure?! I love that show!" Then to her dad, "It's about two girls who are given super powers and have to fight these bad guys from another dimension."

Couldn't have said it much better myself.

Justified

2009-05-11T13:41:00.003-07:00

Vancouverites are often considered smug by the rest of Canadians. I should know because when I first moved out here in '93 I could barely handle the self-aggrandizement and sense of superiority that most people I met seemed to wear like a badge of honour. "Winnipeg? Nice place to be from."

Hardy-har-har.

I even got a few welcome-to-God's-countrys, which is exactly how the first Nova Scotian welcomed me after I arrived in Halifax for what turned out to be a relatively brief stay.

Now that I've been here in Vancouver for much of the last sixteen years, it seems I've finally become one of them. Probably for good. But if we need to justify our smugness, if not neccessarily appologise for it, the Mercer's Quality of Living survey for 2009 gives us what amunition we need.

But, you know, it does rain here an awful lot.

Wolverine

2009-04-26T11:38:00.001-07:00

I was trying to avoid all the hype, but I've gotta say, having just seen the trailer for the first time, I'm in.

Phew

2009-04-24T13:32:00.007-07:00

I sit here at my desk with an odd sensation: I have nothing to do. Not that there aren't a dozen stories waiting to be written in my Idea file, (an expanding manila folder filled with scraps of paper covered in hastily scribbled notes and articles culled from various publications that tweaked a train of thought I didn't have time to climb aboard in the moment), but I have no deadlines. No wolves howling at the door.

I've just come through the most intense season of my career, having written three anime series comprising 105 half-hour episodes, an ultimately ill-fated re-imagining of a beloved animation series, 18 video scripts, innumerable pitches/proposals and a documentary script (shooting this weekend!) for Lank Beach, and major rewrites on two feature film scripts. All of which was accomplished primarily evenings, nights and weekends since I've been a work-from-home dad to a singularly beautiful and rambunctious daughter who was born twenty months ago, just as all of this work was germinating.

I need a nap.

Lost in Translation

2009-03-25T20:52:00.003-07:00

Shut up. I premise that it is hardly for the person who is trying to revenge without a back up of the family to team up with other people.

Who is Harvey Pollock?

2009-03-04T18:35:00.006-08:00

Well, among many other things, (lawyer, art-collector, entrepreneur...) Harvey Pollock is a former world-champion whistler. For those of you unacquainted with the world of competitive whistling, it's a lot like American Idol except, you know, with whistling instead of the singing.

On the heels of his victory back in 1977, Harvey became something of a national celebrity, performing with the Winnipeg and Toronto symphony orchestras and appearing on radio and television variety programs across the country.

But that all came to a shuddering halt in 1982 when Harvey's son, Nathan, was killed by a drunk driver. In Harvey's own words, "In whistling there is no filter between you and the audience, no instrument to hide behind. You are the instrument. You can't fake it. A person who isn't happy can't achieve the transcendence necessary for a winning performance."

This April, after a thirty-two year hiatus, Harvey will once again return to the world stage of competitive whistling.

Why do I know all of these seemingly obscure facts? Because I had the great pleasure of interviewing Harvey in Winnipeg last December, and this week the documentary script I wrote from those interviews was greenlit for production by Omni TV.

More soon.

A Brief Oscar Wrap-up

2009-02-21T08:40:00.005-08:00

As predicted, it was Slumdog Millionaire's night. The only big surprise was that Sean Penn beat out Mickey Rourke for his vivid portrayal of Harvey Milk. I love both actors, and even though I was routing for Micky I think Sean Penn deserved the accolade. Sean gave the better performance (even from what little of Milk I've seen - previvews, clips) while Mickey had the best backstory, coming from career self-imolation to a podium-topping awards season, (Golden Globe, Screen Actor's Guild Award, Independent Spirit Award...).

Two other standout moments were when Heath Ledger won posthumously, and when Penelope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Vicky Christina Barcelona, the best Woody Allen movie in recent years.

The best acceptance speech of the night, in my humble opinion, came from writer Dustin Lance Black, who adapted Milk from his own stage play. In my ignorance I always assume that the issue of gay equality is pretty much a battle won. But when you discover that there were pickets protesting Milk outside Kodak Theater last night, you realize that just isn't the case.

And regardless what you think about the Oscars, they are about movies, and movies matter. Not all movies, but some. They matter to guys like thirty-five-year-old Dustin Lance Black. And to the people he wrote Milk for. From his acceptance speech:

"But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures who have value. And that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you."

Lost in Translation

2009-02-20T11:25:00.001-08:00

It's been a while so...

Once card of this permits limitless entries for up to five persons during the auction period. However, the number who can actually participate in bidding is limited to one person regardless that you are private or a team.

Things That Make Me Smile

2009-02-20T08:48:00.003-08:00

Saw a kid maybe twelve, thirteen years old, walking to school this morning with a full size Kevin Staab pirate skateboard (circa, I dunno, 1989?!) under his arm. Don't know what kinda wheels it had, but they were big, and neon green.

Seems like only yesterday...

My Perspective

2009-02-17T09:31:00.002-08:00

Well, my segment aired on Perspectives last night. And I gotta say, I came off pretty well. It didn't look as frenetic as it felt during the taping. I was able to articulate myself even though most of the questions weren't vetted before hand.

I've been told that I talk with my hands a lot, and had to make a conscious effort to keep them still. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because compared to the host even my most erratic gestures probably would've gone unnoticed. Peg's a force of nature. He's one of the most passionate people I've ever met, and it was an honour to be asked to appear on his show.

Since it's an Oscar-themed show it will re-air on Friday night (the Oscars are on Sunday). And it will probably show up on YouTube at some point. If and when it does I'll post the link.

Stellet Licht

2009-02-03T19:24:00.007-08:00

I finally got a chance to see Stellet Licht, which is, to my knowledge, the only motion picture in history to be filmed entirely in Plautdietsch. If I'm wrong about that I'd be more than happy to be corrected.

This film escaped my notice until it won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2007, after which it was reviewed in the New York Times. I missed it when it screened in Vancouver a few months ago, but now it's out on DVD. I wish I had seen this one in the theatre though, because it is exquisitely rendered. From the languorous opening shot of the sun rising to the closing shot of the last morsel of light disappearing from the screen over the horizon at sunset. It is gorgeous.

Before I worked as a subtitler I always assumed that subtitles were the best available translation. Actually, I never gave subtitles much thought. And while my Plautdietsch tongue is a little rusty to say the least, my ear for it is good. There were times when what I was hearing and what I was reading didn't quite... stemme. (Note: Spelling of 'stemme' from the Pautdietsch Dictionary. I would've probably spelled it schtem.) Having said that, the film takes place on an unspecified Mennonite colony in Chihuahua, Mexico, and the dialect is closer to that spoken by E's family, who came from Paraguay, than my own.

The story itself is pretty straightforward and not all that incendiary, but I'm sure, as was the case with Miriam Toews' A Complicated Kindness, certain people will still find lots to take exception to. Basically a long-married man finds true love in a woman other than his wife (the incomparable Miriam Toews, by the way - who knew she was an actor?). This is not a mid-life crisis story. He's not looking to get laid by a younger more beautiful, funner woman. He's fallen in love with a woman whom he would've chosen over his wife had he met both of them at the same time. The other interesting departure from the usual plot is that he hides nothing from his wife, he's completely transparent about it. They suffer together.

The silence in this film speaks louder than the words, of which there are relatively few. There's no score and no music, other than the unaccompanied three-part harmony of a funereal hymn. Despite my Mennonite heritage, I don't necessarily relate to to the film or the setting, and I'd hesitate to recommend it, having precious few hours to see films these days myself. But I can safely say it's a film unlike any I've ever seen before. And worth two hours of my time. Which is more than I can say for many of the films I've seen in the last year or so.

In Makeup

2009-01-28T13:54:00.006-08:00

I just got back to my desk after spending the morning in the studios of JoyTV for a taping of the show Perspectives with my friend Randall Mark (a.k.a. Peg).

I've always said that one of the things I like best about being a writer is that when the phone rings anything can happen. Which is how I ended up sitting in front of the camera next to Peg, (in makeup for the second time in ten months), pontificating about the likely outcome of the Oscars, sharing my picks for Best Actor (a toss up between Micky Rourke and Sean Penn), Best Picture (Slumdog Millionaire is a lock) and how my perspective as a person of faith affects the work I do.

All in, like, six minutes.

The show airs the Monday before the 81st annual Academy Awards, which would be February 16th. Channel 11 in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, channel 10 in Winnipeg.

There are a million stories in the naked city...

2009-01-09T09:18:00.003-08:00

The population of New York City has grown significantly since those immortal words were uttered in the film noir The Naked City.

One In 8 Million is an interactive feature which gives a few of New York's characters a chance to tell their stories. The latest entry, Joel Carp: The Corner Druggist, is outstanding. This is why I love the New York Times. It's also why I love New York, and old neighbourhoods like the one we live in in Vancouver, where there seems to be a story on every corner, a character on every park bench. The kind of place where the man behind the deli counter knows everyone who's lived in your house since the day it was first occupied in 1945.

Is it a Wonderful Life?

2008-12-22T12:38:00.006-08:00

The holidays seem like as good a time as any to deconstruct one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Not that I have the time for it, but fortunately those dutiful reviewers at the New York Times do.

My favourite critic, A.O. Scott, starts his video review/retrospective of It's A Wonderful Life by saying, "Everybody knows this movie as a uplifting, heartwarming holiday tale, but if you look at it again a very different kind of picture emerges. It's a Wonderful Life is a dark disturbing fable about greed, exploitation, misery and disappointment."

Elsewhere, in an article entitled, Wonderful? Sorry George, it's a Pitiful, Dreadful Life, Wendell Jamieson offers a similar analysis.

"Lots of people love this movie of course. But I’m convinced it’s for the wrong reasons. Because to me It’s a Wonderful Life is anything but a cheery holiday tale. Sitting in that dark public high school classroom, I shuddered as the projector whirred and George Bailey’s life unspooled.

Was this what adulthood promised?

It’s a Wonderful Life is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife. It is also a nightmare account of an endless home renovation."

He goes on, in some detail, about the prescience of the movie, given the current financial collapse of the banking system, and the waning livability of small towns like the film's centrepiece, Bedford Falls.

And while I've always felt many of these things while watching the movie, as I do with E every Christmas, it was interesting to see this negative sentiment in print. It almost felt like sacrilege.

But as A.O. Scott concludes his thoughts he, like us toward the end of the film every time we watch it, turns sentimental.

"And this, I think, is the secret to this movie's enduring appeal: Every year around Christmas time we can gather around the televison and watch it with our friends and families and go visit a lovely place called Bedford Falls, a small American town where everyone looks out for one another. It's a welcome, if temporary, respite from the greed, exlpoitation and meanness that we face every day here in Pottersville."

Posttersville, of course, being the hell on earth Bedford Falls would've become if not for George Bailey.

And while Jamieson's piece is far more cynical than Scott's, he nonetheless ends on a sacchrine note.

"It’s something I felt while watching the film all those years ago, but was too embarrassed to reveal. That last scene, when Harry comes back from the war and says, 'To my big brother, George, the richest man in town'? Well, as I sat in that classroom, despite the dreary view of the parking lot; despite the moronic Uncle Billy; despite the too-perfect wife, Mary; and all of George’s lost opportunities, I felt a tingling chill around my neck and behind my ears. Fifteen years old and imagining myself an angry young man, I got all choked up.

And I still do."

As do I.

Does Winnipeg Really Exist?

2008-12-19T20:00:00.002-08:00

A little Hollywood validation for those of us who need it.

Sound Investment

2008-10-07T10:39:00.002-07:00

In these times of uncertainty, finally some sound financial advice:

If you bought $1000 of stock a year ago, you would now have:

$91.28 if you bought Washington Mutual

$37.50 if you bought Neomagic

$21.29 if you bought Freddie Mac

$20.79 if you bought Fannie Mae

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the recycling refund… You would have… $214.00 in cash.

So the best investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

It’s called the 401-Keg Plan

Quotable

2008-09-10T18:44:00.008-07:00

Movie quote of the day (wherein I highlight great writing from great movies, or something like that):

Terry:
Conscience... that stuff can drive you nuts!

From On the Waterfront.

P.S. I'll write something resembling a real post soon, I promise!

Summer

2008-08-15T09:45:00.003-07:00

Maybe it's the fact that it's supposed to reach thirty degrees Celsius in Vancouver today. Maybe it's because I've been reflecting on youth and freedom and summer holidays... I'm not sure. But this made me smile this morning.

KRAZY!

2008-08-12T09:44:00.003-07:00

I don't get out to the art gallery nearly as often as I'd like too, or nearly as often as I should. But when I caught wind of the latest main floor exhibition, I knew it wasn't to be missed.

Krazy! The Delirious World Of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art is the first exhibition of its kind, a groundbreaking project that offers unique and dynamic insight into the world of comics,animated cartoons, anime, manga, graphic novels, computer/video games and visual art. Spanning a century of artmaking, the works in this exhibition reveal an extraordinary history of production, one that is poised to redefine the scope of visual culture in the 21st century.

Of particular interest to me was the Anime stuff, since I'm at least peripherally part of that world now. The presentation of classic, groundbreaking work like Akira, and newer stuff like Paprika, projected on the walls at bizarre angles, as opposed to movie or television screens, seemed to transcend the genre.

Of course it was good to see my old friends Wallace & Gromit on the way out, too.

If you're in Vancouver between now and September 7th, you outta check it out.

Season Two

2008-07-28T10:01:00.004-07:00

Having taken it on the chin a bit from Plett in the comments of my last post, I have to admit that I, too, detest AMC for claiming to be the 'Future of Classic' while it edits the guts out of said beloved 'classic' films.

To wit, I happened to land on The Usual Suspects on AMC late last week. It was the line up scene where each of the suspects has to recite a certain line that I won't reprint here. Suffice it to say, the line was not: 'Hand me the keys you fairy godmother!'

If that's the future of classic, I'll stick with the past of classic. Or whatever.

However, AMC did have the cajones, and the foresight to pick up Mad Men when HBO refused even to get back to Sopranos producer Matthew Weiner when he handed in the pilot script. What sweet justice.

The second season premiered last night, and it was brilliant. Of course the New York times says it best.

The very first time the hero of “Mad Men” appeared on the screen, this ad executive was in a swanky New York bar, smoking and drinking manhattans before heading downtown to look in on his sexy, free-thinking girlfriend — before going home to his wife.

Season 2 puts Don Draper (Jon Hamm) in his undershirt in a doctor’s office, where he is chided for his blood pressure, two-pack-a-day habit, five-drinks-a-day lifestyle and other forms of dissipation.

And a little further down, the distillation of the second season.

“Mad Men,” which returns to AMC on Sunday, distills the moment in the American century when the buoyant certainty that came with winning a war and running the world was beginning to crack.

And just a couple more reasons to love it, and watch it.

“Mad Men” beguiles like a Christmas catalog of all the forbidden vices, especially smoking, drinking and social inequity. Yet the series is more than a period piece. It’s a sleek, hard-boiled drama with a soft, satirical core.

Okay, enough gushing. It's just a tv show.

Mad Men

2008-06-20T10:40:00.005-07:00

I've never been a dedicated television watcher. I prefer movies. Probably has a lot to do with my absolute revulsion of television advertising - I mean, come on, those station identification logos are onscreen through the entire show now?! Guess I should invest in a PVR. But I caught wind of a new show last year called Mad Men.

Unfortunately by the time I heard about how good it was, the first season had already run its course. Fortunately ACMtv ran the entire season again in Fall for those of us that were late getting on the bus. It's some of the best drama I've ever seen anywhere.

Lost in Translation III

2008-06-12T19:56:00.003-07:00

From the same episode, same character:

I will never do something like looking for a secret path. No way. No thanks.

Lost in Translation II

2008-06-07T16:01:00.004-07:00

Maybe not technically a Lost in Translation moment, but this line made me chuckle today:

Now, when I look at it with my own eyes... it gives me a creep!

That about does 'er

2008-05-27T15:20:00.004-07:00

Came across this 5-second version of one of my favourite movies of all time over at Dead Things ON Sticks. I couldn't resist. Enjoy!