Archive for ◊ January, 2010 ◊

31 Jan 2010 Goodbye January
Author: Gail |  Category: Travel  | Leave a Comment

on the front porch

BRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! January was relatively warm (above freezing), but the past few days have been absolutely FRIGID. Nevertheless, I was very productive and proud of myself for getting so much accomplished in two days. There were lots of good things from the weekend but the best part? I booked my first flight of 2010! It’s a points trip, but I didn’t want to deplete my available mileage because I want to fly to the Atlantic provinces when the weather improves. Also, I wanted a direct flight with specific dates. I’m used to booking flights on Aeroplan, but I usually go to Vancouver with them and that’s not going to happen this time. With the Olympics next month (and the following) Vancouver was impossible to get to cheaply, and I spent part of Friday night searching for other suitable destinations.

My last trip was to Ottawa mid-November and it’s no wonder I’ve been feeling so desperate to take off — this is the longest I’ve gone without a trip since 2006, when Mister Hugh was ill. I need to travel, I need to fly in airplanes on a regular basis, I need to feed my brain with stimuli from a totally new environment, or my chakras get funky and I am out of sorts.

Atlanta, here I come! People have asked me why I chose Atlanta, and there are several reasons. The flight stuff I mentioned (direct/no connections, specific dates, low mileage requirement), but the city itself is a draw because it’s a main city for the American South. I have passed through Georgia, but that was a long time ago (end of 1993) and I don’t remember anything about the city where Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and raised. Time to change that.

After checking flight availability I sent out one couchsurfing request and it was enthusiastically received and replied to within minutes. I was really impressed! I booked the flights right away, then emailed the catsitter in Ottawa. She’s on board, too! Everything’s fallen into place quickly, just the way I like it. Now I can begin my customary research and figure out what I’d like to see. Got any tips for Atlanta? Would love to hear ‘em.

Video for today: “Georgia On My Mind” performed live by Ray Charles

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30 Jan 2010 WinterCity 2010 Preview
Author: Gail |  Category: Out + About, Videoclips  | Leave a Comment

Cosmogonia

“Cosmogonia” by Compagnie Les Passagers (France)

“The Cube” by Peter Jarvis (Toronto)

Much like last weekend, this weekend’s been pretty ambitious, too: after a day of volunteering at The Brides’ Project, I went up the street for a meeting at the pub with prospective wedding clients, then headed to Nathan Phillips Square to catch as much of the annual WinterCity Festival as my extremities could handle with temperatures around -15C… and this is only Saturday! I have a brunch tomorrow, followed by a trip up to Scarborough for a location scout at the church I’m shooting at next weekend then off to North York to scope the reception venue. Let’s see how much steam I’ve got left over to edit the rest of these WinterCity photos tomorrow night. I think some fortification in chocolate form might be necessary!

29 Jan 2010 Cats Have Invaded My Website This Week
Author: Gail |  Category: Critters + Creatures  | 3 Comments

it's Charrrrrrrlie

This is Charrrrrrrlie, the Cat o’ the Day. He’s a super-affectionate tabby that’s about twice the size of my two beasties!

28 Jan 2010 Caught In The Act
Author: Gail |  Category: Critters + Creatures, Videoclips, Xena & Beano  | 4 Comments

It’s taken me more than two years, but I finally got Beano on video drinking with his paw.

27 Jan 2010 Chair Thievery
Author: Gail |  Category: Critters + Creatures, Xena & Beano  | 5 Comments

chair thievery is pretty blatant 'round here

Once I vacate the computer chair, this is what happens. These two are incorrigible repeat offenders.

chair thievery is pretty blatant 'round here

you left it warm, just for us

chair thievery is pretty blatant 'round here

26 Jan 2010 Video Editing
Author: Gail |  Category: Music, Unabashed Geekiness, Videoclips, Working Life  | 10 Comments

editing with Sai

This grainy shot was brought to you by my point-and-shoot, the Canon A520, which is probably less than $30 on Craiglist these days but comes in handy now and again. Wish I’d had it with me on Saturday night for Lisa’s birthday party music jam!

Tonight I went over to Sai’s to finish work on the school concert DVD we shot footage for a month ago. If you’ve ever edited video you will know how labour-intensive this can be, even more than photo editing due to multiple tracks (audio + video). You need up-to-date hardware — a lot of RAM, a fast processor, a big monitor — to run video-editing software, otherwise you will totally give up in frustration before the project is finished. Sai and I picked up his newly-shipped hardware last week, which sped up the editing process tremendously (I posted on Twitter that our experience at the Purolator in Kipling was the worst customer service EVER and I am not kidding). I was in the same boat in November with photo editing, until I bit the (money) bullet and bought the iMac because I couldn’t limp along any longer.

People wonder why working with digital images (photo or video) is costly and I can tell you, unless you want to edit at the speed of molasses, the computer will need to be upgraded — sometimes more often than the cameras!

And speaking of work, today’s video is from Men At Work: a 1983 live performance of “Down Under” in Dortmund, Germany. I was pretty impressed with the quality of this video.

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26 Jan 2010 That’s What It Comes To
Author: Gail |  Category: Mobile Blogging  | 4 Comments

25 Jan 2010 Weekend Blur: Part II
Author: Gail |  Category: Friends, Music, Videoclips  | Leave a Comment

Lisa and Clint

It was during the Great Thunderstorm of Summer 2009 that I last saw Lisa and Clint and their merry band of musician friends on the beach for “Moulin Rouge”. The thunderstorm rolled in within a matter of minutes and sent us running for cover. It seemed like an eternity ago (Eric was here then, and now he’s in Melbourne, Australia). In actuality it was August 9, but when I walked in the door of the Ben Navaee Gallery at 1111 Queen Street East, Lisa greeted me like long-lost brethren. Apparently with all the activity in the second half of 2009, I really did disappear! But it was Lisa’s birthday, how could I miss this?

After standing and talking to wedding trade show attendees for more than seven hours non-stop, I was more than happy to sit down, shut up, and listen to music. By the time I arrived at the gallery it was after 10pm, but the musicians were still jamming and Lisa was still the Energizer Bunny:

GEF_1925_edit
GEF_1936_edit

There were percussionists and a keyboardist and more guitars in one place than I’ve seen in ages — so much talent in one room. I don’t play any instruments (does the camera count?), and I greatly admire anyone who can. Music is good for the soul. The musicians were local and from all over the world: Russia, Turkey, Sweden, and those are just the ones I know of… I also had the good fortune of bumping into a Turkish guy I hadn’t seen in a year since I carpooled some people up to Horseshoe Valley. I told him about my plan to visit Turkey this year, so now I’ve got the invaluable resource of local information!

GEF_1940_edit

Our gracious host was Ben, owner of the Ben Navaee Gallery, which I’m plugging here because of all the work he does for the community. He hosts benefit art auctions at the gallery, “…fundraising events to help with different issues like poverty, homelessness, disease, devastation of the forces of nature, injustices of the world, or any other problems and challenges facing human beings.” He also hosts the Toronto East Community Arts Program, which is a series of free classes “…to help children, youth and adults develop their visual and performing arts skills and channel their creativity.”

Also from the website:

Ben Navaee… is a painter and a certified yoga instructor specialized in relaxation/meditation. His painting style’s known as Aram art (Aram in Sanskrit means quiet, calm, and taking rest. Aram art is a mellow and non-expressionistic view of life’s phenomena, with immaterial soothing subjects that make the body quiet and peaceful, the mind, calm and relaxed, the spirit, gentle and serene. Aram art promotes positive emotions for an easy and mindful living).

It was a great atmosphere on Saturday night, especially after a full day of wedding-related madness, to be surrounded by art and music and friends and food. I’m posting Lisa’s video, which was shot well before I arrived, to show some of the music:

The photos can be viewed best as a [slideshow] or [thumbnails] or in the Pictobrowser below:

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25 Jan 2010 Weekend Blur: Part I
Author: Gail |  Category: Volunteering/Charity  | Leave a Comment

The National Bridal Show wiped me out! I talked to people non-stop for seven hours on Saturday night, went to Lisa’s birthday party, then returned to the bridal show yesterday. It was quieter than Saturday and there were three of us representing The Brides’ Project, but after we packed up our booth and I got something to eat, it was straight home, fall into bed and I didn’t even take out my contact lenses. (What an awful feeling to wake up with dry eyes and bleary lenses.)

I mentioned on Twitter that our booth was facing a booth for Sugar Models, whose reps were shirtless male models sporting six-packs, an interesting contrast of charity on one side and sex appeal on the other. There was a big “no photography” sign at the trade show entrance, so I kept my photos strictly to our booth… except for that cameraphone shot yesterday of, erm, Miss Leprechaun 2010.

I’ve got a wedding client meeting tonight, which will hopefully conclude early enough to post the photos from Lisa’s birthday party with lots of musicians.

23 Jan 2010 From The National Bridal Show
Author: Gail |  Category: Mobile Blogging  | 4 Comments

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