Why one shouldn’t hold subway doors

A few days ago, I was sitting on the skytrain next to one of the doors.  The train was at Main Street/Science World station and the bell rang, indicating the doors were closing.  A few people were running for the doors, but probably saw/heard that the doors were closing so they tried to hold open the doors which would make the doors open again for them to squeeze in.  Unfortunately, they decided to use their reuseable bag to wedge through the door (I suppose because they were able to swing it in) and the bag did go through the door — all of the bag.  The doors closed on the handles of the bag and since the handles were too thin, they weren’t able to detect any objects in the way.

I watched as the skytrain started moving, the bag on the train, the handles on the platform.  The owner tried to pull on the bag, while someone who was standing at the doors tried to pry it open so they could at least get their bag back but the doors wouldn’t open far enough.  Eventually, they were pulling too hard on the handles and it broke off; the bag landed on the floor of the train and the owner was left probably standing there with two cloth handles in his/her hand, watching the train depart in disbelief.

Meanwhile, everyone on the train including me were fairly dumbfounded at what just happened, and then there was whole issue of what to do with the bag.  No one stepped over to pick it up or open it or anything, though in my head, I volunteered to stay with the bag at the next stop (which would be my stop) and wait for the owners to catch the next train so they could pick up the bag.  When the train pulled into Broadway and Commercial, a man also sitting nearby mumbled something and picked up the handleless bag.  As I followed him out the door and off the train, he stood a few feet away from the doors, presumably waiting for the next train and for the person holding two broken handles.

Last run

I found out about a week or so ago that my short film/commercial, Last Text, had been shortlisted in the ICBC 180 contest, which was pretty awesome since my film was 1 out of 10 in the category of Distracted Driving, and subsequently, one out of 30 out of the three categories.  I have to say that though I consider myself to be quite the humble guy, some of the other entries didn’t really impress me.  Maybe it’s the fact that a lot of them had very similar messages and were filmed in a way that conveyed being safe in a different way.  So when I got the email that the film had been shortlisted I wasn’t terribly surprised.  Sure, I was definitely happy but I didn’t feel like we had a slim chance we weren’t going to get picked, let’s say.

So anyway, I got another email today from the folks at ICBC regarding the contest and unfortunately, the film didn’t get picked for the final round, which sucks.  Was I expecting to get into the final round?  Well, I didn’t think it was definite by any means; sure, I was hoping for it but from the feedback I got so far on youtube, it seemed like a fairly significant number of people didn’t like the film, not to mention the fact that other films which I didn’t consider very good were also shortlisted in my category.

It’s all good though.  It was fun making the film in a day, with a great crew (and our one, super duper adorable actor).  Also, the fact that I now have something more on my list of films is a bonus, so it’s not like this whole experience has been all bad. Still, it would be really useful to have a Mac with Final Cut on it so I don’t have to go to Langara and somehow find a computer that might have it.

Thanks to the crew and especially to Joe for letting us film at his place.  🙂  Here’s a link again to the film on the ICBC contest youtube page, if you’d like to have a look.

Last Text

I’m going to use my blog for promotional purposes!  Hurrah!

Here’s a short film/commercial I wrote and directed called Last Text, for an ICBC contest on young drivers and dangerous driving.  If you like the film, please click the Like button, as there is a Viewers’ Choice award that goes to the film with the most number of Likes. I just submitted my film yesterday so I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!

Thanks and enjoy!  Tell me what you think of it too!

Claire de Lune — Claude Debussy

One of the most well-known “Classical” pieces, Claire de Lune has made its way into pop culture with its uses in movies such as Atonement (fantastic movie while I mention it now), mentioned in books like Twilight (apparently, from what I googled just now), and in that car commercial that appeared a couple months ago.  Despite it being overplayed and overused today, I can honestly say it is one of the most beautiful, evocative pieces I have ever heard and it will likely remain one of the few pieces I can listen to over and over again and never get tired of.  I think it is one of the most beautiful compositions ever written and its versatility in how it is used is remarkable as well.

I mainly listen to Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s version from the Atonement soundtrack but I came upon this version just now and thought it was also spectacularly played.  Not sure who plays this one but it’s fantastic, and has clips from Atonement as well.  Enjoy!  (and if you don’t, then there’s something wrong with you — perhaps you’re a cyborg?)