Deep Too

I’m not sure I fully got this. But it was neat to see what a mixed-genre memoir could look like, especially one from a Canadian author. That’s all I really have to say.

Men’s Volleyball

More about regular things instead of me holding up books I’ve read.. I feel like that would be more of a tumblr thing. Then again, you can do anything you want to WordPress so I really shouldn’t care.

I’ve been watching Men’s Volleyball, particularly our Canadian team, and being so impressed by them. They’ve been so inspirational — although I think it primarily is the game itself rather than the teams — that it’s made me want to take up volleyball again. I haven’t played since high school but I was always decent. I remember being frustrated at my classmates/teammates because I longed to have an actual rally between the two teams but it never got further than one or two hits and then the ball would inevitably hit the floor. I know I can be very competitive and driven, and I think it would definitely help if were I to start playing again. The only thing that frightens me about the sport is having a hard ball come flying at your face at 100+ km/h. And the giant smashes that I’ve been witnessing on TV. Jesus.

I looked up some volleyball drop-ins/courses at the community centres around town and I think I should register. It’d be great to play again, even if it ends up being just like high school where I serve ace after ace (which, trust me, gets boring after a while).

Also, whenever I watch this — and I must’ve watched this clip about 7 times now — I get so pumped, it surprised me.

Leaving on a jet plane

And of course the day I vow to start blogging regularly again, I fail to remember I’m leaving to Halifax for a week. I feel like I’m bringing a lot of stuff, and now I’m paranoid that my luggage weighs too much, so I took out a pair of pants and a shirt which seems to have eased my mind, at least for the time being.

So long, Vancouver! Even though it’s only for a week, I’ll be glad to be rid of you for now.

The Orenda

Didn’t get a chance to finish this book or to get a picture with it, but that’s fine. I was over halfway through and it’s one of those books that I didn’t particularly feel like I had to know what was going to happen next. Meh. Too bad though. I saw that it’s been getting rave reviews lately. I do appreciate the Canadiana of it all though.

Life without Plastic

For my last post for my Earth Day week, I had a bit of a hard time finding something I hadn’t already posted before. I thought I had written about Life without Plastic, but it turns out I haven’t, which is odd because LwP is amazing.

Even before I finished Slow Death by Rubber Duck and read about all the dangers of chemicals in our everyday products such as plastic, I was already very wary of using plastic products. I convinced my mom to throw out our plastic containers and got a new set of glass ones. I saved glass spaghetti sauce jars and re-used them for bulk food. But there are other items, I hadn’t even considered.

Life without Plastic is exactly what it is: a shop as well as a blog that provides information and products made without plastic. If Slow Death was the diagnosis, Life without Plastic is the prescription. There’s a ton of stuff on this wonderful site that I want to buy, like cellulose tape, many things which are exactly the kind of everyday things that we use. Sure, the price may be a bit more expensive (as expected), but I don’t think it’s too unreasonable. I also like that LwP is small, a Canadian company, when there are so many American and foreign companies out there that I’m not sure I can trust or not. Every now and then, they get new products, which make me quite excited (even if I don’t need them, like a new water bottle). I’m just excited at the possibilities and coolness of these new technologies.

http://lifewithoutplastic.com/

Hope my Earth Week resources are some help to those looking for alternatives. And of course, if I find any other awesome things, I’ll be sure to share them here. In the meantime, have fun saving the earth!

Y4Y Reading and Fundraiser

Time for some shameless self-promotion!

I’ve been organizing a reading/fundraiser for Covenant House for the past month, and we have a date!  The Y4Y: Youth For Youth Reading and Fundraiser will be happening on Saturday March 2nd at the Rhizome Cafe (317 East Broadway) in Vancouver.  The night starts at 7:00pm and I’ve planned for it to end at around 9:00 but the folks at the Rhizome have let me know that there’s no rush to wrap up the night, and most likely, we’ll have some time after the reading to chat and have some fun.

There will also be a book raffle during intermission, with the books written and donated by the Creative Writing faculty, and the proceeds thanking Rhizome for letting us use their lovely place.  I have the books with me right now and let me tell you, I want to keep them.  I’d come to the event just for the raffle!

The kitchen will also be open before, during, and after the event, so come and enjoy some delicious food and drinks while you hear the Undergrads from the Creative Writing program read their stuff!

Hope to see you all there!

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/409429542485355/?fref=ts

Saturday Morning Documentary: Eco Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson

It`s been quite a while since I last watched a documentary on Saturday morning, mostly because I always find myself having things to do and write on the weekend because of school.  With some time to spare, I was finally able to open my Documentaries folder and take a look at one of the movies that have been waiting patiently.  I remember when Eco Pirate played at Fifth Ave.  Hardly anyone went to see it, unfortunately, and we only screened it for a week.  It`s a good documentary, and director Trish Dolman isn`t afraid to show some very disturbing, graphic images, like whales being harpooned and killed, and even more terrifying and unexpected, baby seals getting bludgeoned in the Arctic.  But it`s moments like these, this uncensored look at what Paul and the rest of his followers really believe in stopping.  It`s the ugly truth of what goes on in the world, and people, as Paul says, are ”stupid”.  What some people believe to be eco-terrorism, this film examines the injustice of nations who proceed with illegal activity or in some cases, like Japan, blatantly lie about their whaling purposes (they call it ”research” yet others point out that you don`t need to kill whales to study them), Watson looks more and more reasonable in his actions.  He and his crew throw stink bombs onto other boats, clog their waste outlets (ie. the holes near the bottom of the ships where blood from whales pours out), and sometimes even ram the ships, all in the name of protecting animals and the environment.

If you have the stomach and eyes for watching animals getting killed a bit, then I would recommend this documentary.  It may be a little long, but the entire film is a well-made and fascinating portrait of a man willing to make the change no one else will do.

Goodbye, Ridge Theatre

I will always remember you.

Watch me “act”!

Here’s the rough cut of the first short film I wrote and directed, titled Stay.  As I posted in the comments (but not in the description… I should probably do that sometime), the rough cut was filmed first to submit to a film festival (the Vancouver Queer Film Festival) in hopes of buying me more time so I could make the film with Nelson and Minh. It was shot in one afternoon and edited quickly vs. the real film, which was shot in three days. I think Nelson and I did only a couple rehearsals before shooting too, both on the day of.  It’s imperfect and it really is rough and I wish I could’ve acted a bit better (but I’m not an actor so I excuse myself), but what’s there is there, and it’s not all bad.

Enjoy me half-naked!

AMAZING RACE CANADA!!!!!!

Fuck.  Yes.  Sign me up.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/ctv-to-air-the-amazing-race-canada-series-1.1062991