Every great saga must end...

So I know that you all have been following the Every Station Project religiously, wondering if I'll be able to make it, whether I'll be able to beat the odds and persevere, and 'why the heck is he doing this?'

Well tonight the story comes to a close. I collected the last 8 stations.

York Mills
Lawrence
Davisville
St. Clair
Summerhill
Rosedale
King
Union

What started out as a crazy dream has become a reality. I have visted all 69 stations in the system, and waited for a train at each one.

Notes on my travels:

-I began with the Sheppard Subway, to get a quick victory under my belt. I completed the whole line in 30 minutes.

-30 out of the 69 stations I have visted legitimately (not simply to get a tranfer, I acutally had reason to use the station)

-the BEST trip I went on was late one evening from Kenedy to St. George, after having done the Scarborough RT (and I needed a good trip to rid my mind of the ugly SRT, so it was well timed). I got on an H-4 (with the SWEET comfy benches) and had a front row view the whole way. I was one of about 4 people in the car. It was comfy, quiet, and relaxing.

-I did the whole system in 28 days.

-I took pictures at Dundas, Queen and King

-5 most visted stations (somewhat ordered from most to least)
College
Queen's Park
Dundas
Bloor/Younge
St George

-Nicest person: The lady who helped me find my direction when I acted like I was lost to make my taking of a transfer at
Lawrence West seem legitimate

-Weirdest person: The deaf man who randomly tried to get a girl's phone number in front of me. It was awkward...

-Scariest person: The VERY drunk man who sat across from me and sang Blueberry Hill, threatened to kill another passenger if he sat next to him, and asked me, "Whatch you lookin' at Red?"

-Pet peeves i developed:
people who stand in front of the Metropass turnstile
people who stand on the left side of the escalator
people who rush the doors and thus hold up the train



All in all, I recomend this experience. It's a fantastic way to pay for your metropass, and a great way to see the city and get to know the different areas.

B&W Photography

I'm having a love affair with photogrpahy currently. I've spent a good chunk of time in the dark room as of late, being that my final pictures are due Friday (well, next friday, but I want to go home early).

Photos

So here they are. They'll only be up till this Friday. One of these days I'll get around to actually making a coherant site for all my film/photography work, but for now, this will have to do.

Consumerism is self-expression for the uncreative.

So another long chat with Kaite at 2 in the morning yesterday.

Being university students, our minds are naturally set on money, or the lack of. Also figuring into this equation is the number of things we both purchase, but really don't need.

Example:

I saw a jacket at the Gap on the clearence rack for 50-some-odd dollars. It wasn't my size, and the design wasn't too exciting either. But it was marked down from 80-something. So I bought it. Why? It was the worst purchase I have made this semester. I didn't really need a jacket too much to finish it all off.

But here's the thing. How many people sit around and talk about this? How many of us talk about the evils of consumerism over a burger at McDonalds, or express how we need to stop spending as we pour out our wallets for clothes, alcohol, food, movies, etc.? Count me in those numbers, becuase I've done it a lot.

So here's the new plan. I will be itemizing all my purchases, from food to film supplies, and making an account of them. Not only that, I will share the account with others who will then keep me accountable. E.g., if I buy a book at Indigo, I have to account for why I bought the book, and how it will serve me.

Obvioulsy some expenses are clear cut. I bought milk today becuase I ran out of milk and need it for my ceral in the morning. I paid for my passport today becuase I need a passport when we go to New York.

Some are not though. I bought a Freshly Squeezed juice yesterday and drank it on the way to get a burrito and coke at Taco Villa. Did I need the juice? Perhaps, but then did I need the coke at taco villa? Obviously I didn't need both, and wasted 2 dollars.


I guess this can be one those 'try this at home' things if you want. If you actually do it, let me know how it goes.

Water water everywhere.

Scott Adams is a genius. Read his blog here.

He does a post on Bottled water. It's brilliant.

A thought response to a lady who was sampling a cheaper brand of bottled water than Mr. Adam's was buying, and questioned him on his market purchase:
"If I'm dumb enough to buy water, then I'm dumb enough to pay too much for it."

As one who currenlty has a case and a half of bottled water in his closet, and has already been through 2 cases in the past 3 months, I can fully comprehend his thought pattern.


On a differnt subject, I've noted how students in a BFA program are completely incapable of doing complex math equations (I, worst of all).

These are a few examples of math problems that have left us stumpped for periods of longer than 3 minutes:

-If each roll of film costs $60 to purchase and develop, how much does three rolls of film cost?
-If I have 200 sheets of paper I need to split up between 6 people, how many sheets does each person get?
-If I pay $70 for a product and split it 5 ways, how much does each person pay?

Sadly, not all of us are as smart and witty as engineers.

I honestly can't think of a title...

Winter has come, and for the first time I'm happy about it.

Every year it comes, and every year it marks a real low point in my year. I generally chock it up to SAD, but of course that's just a shot in the dark. This year, however, I'm almost excited about it. Toronto is one beautiful city, and the snow adds to it. Right now, Dundas Square is all lit up for Christmas, the Eaton's Centre has their giant tree up, the quad is covered in a fresh blanket, and people have all brought out thier winter jackets. I like winter jackets for some reason. I don't know why, but often when I see a person in their winter jacket, it's one of the stronger images I retain for some reason. Couldn't tell you what kind of shirts or pants they own, but I can usually place the winter jackets.

Today was one of those continually brilliant days, where nothing was over-the-top fantastic, but everything just fell into place in a really nice and enjoyable way. I had my history tutorial this morning, which got me up at 10. I wasn't keen on going, but was so glad I went. I love the prof for that class. She's witty and is able to bring out so much in discussion. I think I'm really going to miss those tutorials.

I went to the Hub for lunch, for what I assumed would be lunch by myself, since no one else is in my history tutorial, but everyone was there for some reason (turns out a lot of people have their liberal studies class on friday morning). I think one of things I hate most is eating by myself. Eating is a communal activity, that we are unlucky enough to have to do by ourselves most often. Twice in my life have I eaten at a restaurant by myself (both times they were a mexican restaurant, people just don't like to eat mexican with me for some reason...) I really didn't enjoy the experience. Try sitting there with no one to talk to, and have a person wait on you. It's just weird.

Tools and Apps was a workshop today on printing and enlarging. I didn't do too well at first. My contact sheets were useless, but eventually I got the hang of it. I was in the room with the printer, which really streamlined the process. I really enjoyed doing it though. I was there for an extra hour or so just trying to get 3 solid prints. I think what else I liked was the fact that this was SO new to me. I've never done anything like it, and consequently know nothing about it. This brought me outside my bubble and forced me to (gasp) ask for help!!!

Much thanks to you Karen, by the way!

Dinner was going to be another lone affair at Pitman hall, when I ran into Levi and his floor-mate. So once again I was saved from the awkwardness of having to read the paper while eating. Not sure what the draw at Pitman Hall was, as the ILLC is a much better cafeteria, though that's not saying much, since I can't imagine anyone being drawn to any of the cafeterias out of something other than neccessity.

Finally I went home to work on design a bit, and head to bed. I kinda wanted to go see Everything is Illuminated, but interest was lacking.

All this isn't to say that my life is of any real interest, but just that I love this city, I love this program, and most of all, I love the people here. I'm told I'm a bit withholding when it comes to showing that, but I do. If we eat together, sit together, work together, critique each other, or build each other up, then considered yourself loved.

I think that's a good way to end this post.

So close...

More Stations:

Dundas West
Lansdowne
Dufferin
Ossington
Christe
Wilson
Lawrence West
Glencarin
Eglinton West
St. Clair West

This only leaves me with 8 stations left to go.

A few notes so far:

-While I terms this the Every Station Project, that is perhaps a bit of a misnomer. A true 'Every Stationer' actually does something at each station, takes a picture, makes a sketch, goes outside and grabs a souveneir, etc.

-What I'm doing over 1 month has actually been done in 10 hours once.

-In rush hour and in the summer months, the T-1 trains (the newest) are easily the best and most comfortable, being that they are air-conditioned and have the most room.

-My preference though is in fact the oldest trains on the system, the H-4 trains. They have orange padded benches that are SO comfortable. I honestly almost didn't get off once becuase I loved the seats. They're the best at night if you are crossing the city.

-I have been in the system twice when a person has killed themselves (both times they did it at Ossington)

-I have, on three occasions, been able to enter the system without showing any proof of payment. This is easily done if you carry a large bag and have to use the middle gates at subway stations. Dishonest though, and you should make a point of showing the collector your metropass regardless.

Favourite Stations (in no order)
-Eglinton: The original tiles that were installed in 1954 are still there. They are actually really beautiful, white and made of glass
-Castle Frank: The Rotunda is amazing
-St Clair West: It's so dated, but the archetecture is crazy. You decend into the middle of this open expanse underground where busses and streetcars come. I thought it was neat. An elevator in the middle decending into a circle of gates comprising the fare area. It's also one of 2 stations where you can stand above a subway train and see it enter, which I think is neat.
-Bloor: With no poles or barriers between the two tracks, and an deeper platform, this station looks gigantic.
-College: Because it's my station!!!

Leat Favourite (again, no order)
-Ossington: While I can't imagine actually seeing a suicide here, it has a reputation, and I was really uncomfortable on the platform becuase of it
-Scarborough RT (the whole thing): What can I say? It's ugly, it's inefficient, and the stations are crap. It was easily my least enjoyable excursion when I did it.
-Glencarin: It's total 70's, and the brown/orange scheme reminds me of vomiting up carrots. And I don't like carrots.
-Pape: I thought I'd like this one, but it really smelled bad, and was really unclean.
-Spadina: Only becuase I HATE walking the distance between platmorms (it's about a kilometer, the longest fare-paid walk in the system)

Jesus Christ, Superstore

Not a 'hard hitting' revolutionary article, but worth a read:

When Hollywood stopped making Bible movies

It goes into the reasons why such talentless works can be so popular and do so well in Christian sub-culture, using the Left Behind series as an example.


I also want to make something clear, which may not be from reading this blog. I spend a lot of time critiquing the church, Christianity, and religion. My hope is that this isn't confused with critiquing Jesus, or the Bible. For me, the two are very separate. I wish this weren't so, but unfortunately 'Christianity' and religion have not been the better examples of what Christ actually taught. It is riddled with hypocrisy, exclusivity, and an unloving attitude.

But in NO way can I speak out against the actual teachings of Jesus. He wasn't the prude we may think of when we think of Christians, who looks down on all those around him. He was sincere in his love for people, not superficial. Bruxy Cavy spoke on this a while ago, and I think he hit it right on the nose. He came to tear down these religions that hold us in bondage. But not just religion, all these things that keep us down.

So while I often try and bring to light things that are wrong with Christianty (and I confess to being very much a part of these things, I've read a lot of the Left Behind books too, and have purchased my fair share of medicore music), I think it's so important to see what's right about it. And honestly, just look into the life of Jesus. Pretty much all of what's right can be found in what He said.

(And by 'pretty much,' I mean, everything. Beginning and end.)

Do I like Will Ferrell?

That's the question that has been haunting me recently. Sometimes he does great things, other times I want to poke an eye out. That being said, here's some films I've watched recently.

Elf
This made me re-evaluate Will Ferrell. It's such a stock film, unbelievably predictable, but still cute and funny. Will actually brings a lot to this film. He takes a mundane script and does some neat stuff with it.
I watched this one with the TCF crew, and I've always been of the impression that watching movies in a larger group can make them seem better. If I watched this film by myself, first, that would be very sad, and second, I don't know if I'd find it as appealing.

Ocean's Eleven
I actually did watch this movie by myself... I bought it a while ago, when I needed a thrid DVD to get the deal. How on earth can they afford such a cast? I can't believe the names. I was actually really surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. There was a lot of B reel footage in it for some reason. I noticed a lot of useless cuts to useless shots. That aside, the end hiest was well concieved. And that's really all that matter in a movie like this. All you need is a good idea on how to rob a vault, and then build your movie around it. Italian Job did it, the Score did it, it's a standard plot.

True Stories
So we only saw a clip from this movie. But man, I want to see more. It's based on all these stories out of the tabloids. I really can't say much more than that, since I didn't see it all. John Goodman was pretty good from what I saw, and there was a fashion show that blew me away with style.

Garbage in Garbage out

My pastor spoke a sermon on this line a while ago. And that prooves very true. I don't know what I was thinking with the post that this one replaces, but I'm thankful to have people who are willing to be honest with me when they see me stumble.

I went to Passion Toronto this evening. It was an excellent time of learning and worship. The speaker made some really strong attempts to remind how small we are, and how HUGE God is. He took us through a lot of astonomy, and ended with the picture here. It's some odd million light years away in a whir-pool galaxy. But a stunning image don't you think?

Also, David Crowder is easily the most talented Christian artist, or even secualr artist, out there. He put on one amazing concert.

The Magic of Hitchcock

Another week of film school. I heard about Tisch from Karen this week. It's a super prestigious film school, costing thousands in tuition, and YET it is modeled after Ryerson apparently. After recieving pretty bad grades in Macleans, it's good that I can be proud of something with my school.

So this week's roundup:

Vertigo
What can be said? It is such a well conceived movie. Well written, well acted, well shot, well lit, well edited. I like this film becuase it doesn't feel like it was made 50 years ago. It looks more like a modren day 'period peice.'

Of particular note are the 'forward zoom, reverse tracking' shots, or the contra-zooms. To me, it's one of the most stunning examples of the technology of film and optics enhancing the feeling of the shot. The shot down the centre of the bell tower is perfect in my mind ($19,000 for that one shot, it better be!). It's a perfect angle, simple, capturing all the details and creating an interesting composition. And the motion creates just the right kinesthetic feeling.

Go rent this film. Seriously. Even if you've already seen it.

Jarhead
Before there is ANY more confusion, this is NOT a comedy. For some reason I was under the impression it was, and then my friend who saw it said 'he laughed a lot' which further solidified this idea. I thought 'Jarhead, that's a funny name. Must be a comedy!'

No. It's about senselessness of the gulf war.

Has some beautiful shots in it, the oil fields in flames being my favourite.

I say, wait for the DVD, and then wait for some 'guys night out' to help disolve the cost of rental

ESP update

Stations since the last update:

St. Andrew
St Patrick
Yorkdale
Dupont
Kipling
Islington
Royal York
Old Mill
Jane
Runnymede
High Park
Keele
Sherbourne
Castle Frank
Broadview
Chester
Pape
Donlands
Greenwood
Woodbine
Main Street
Victoria Park
Warden

72.4% done. What a marvelous waste of time!

Get your tats

I thought this was neat.

I'm a particular fan of the one to the right. If ever I feel the need to get a tatoo, I'd get somehting like that.

This is a tragic story. Plate accidents kill over 1 Americans every year.

(that's not an actual fact, what IS a fact is that pens actually kill on average 6 people every year)

P.S.: New blog layout obviously. I thought this one was a llittle less busy. Sorry I haven't redone the links yet. They're a comin.

Guh.

Article that must be read

“Regardless of what the New Testament says, most Christians are materialists with no experience of the Spirit. Regardless of what the New Testament says, most Christians are individualists with no real experience of community. Let’s pretend that you were all Christians. If you were Christians, you would no longer accumulate. You would share everything you had. You would actually love one another. And you would treat each other as if you were family. Why don’t you do that? Why don’t you live that way?”

He goes on to talk about our incredibly self centred attitudes, not just in daily life and how we as Christians are so reluctant to actually give up our pursuit of objects and possesions, but also in our spiritual lives, somehow thinking Christianity is all about us.

I was at a conference most of this weekend, the Promise Keepers 2005 Awakening, and this could be seen in spades (both in myself and in the nature of the conference). Men from all over Canada go there, buy up a tonne of books, sing a tonne of songs, all expecting to be 'filled,' as though thier spirituality and relationship with Jesus and with others was nothing but a cup that occasionally needed to be topped off. And what does that say? We buy the books for ourselves expecting to be 'blessed' by reading them, and sing songs expecting to get a certain 'godly feeling.'

It's crap.

Worse (or possibly better), was the irony behind what the speakers were saying. Some of them touched on these point exactly. K.P. Yohannan, in his sermon, talked about this directly. He really attacked us for being so selfish and not thinking about others, for only going after this 'godly feeling' and for buying all of these countless Christian Self-Help books.

His words were revolutionary, I thought. But right after he left the stage, the announcer came out and 'directed us to the resource tent where we could purchase our 'dog tags,' stock up on t-shirts and hats, and buy K.P Yohannan's books -- I'll be clear on this though. Yohannan's books are NOT the cheap self-help. They are deeply convicting works that call us to give up our lives. If you want to read one, I've got his "Road to Reality" that I'd be happy to lend out.

Bruxy Cavey also spoke with another truly revolutionary sermon about how Christ came to abolish religion, and instead we've made a religion out of Him. He talked about the stumbling block that is 'religious dogma' and 'church tradition.' And yet, here we are, at Promise Keepers, one of the most institutionalized conference I've ever been to (and by institutionalized, I mean, they don't stray from a pattern that they feel 'get's them to god' and thus gets stuck in tradition).

If you don't go to church becuase you can't stand the hypocrasy, great! Jesus can't stand it either. If you don't go becuase you can't deal with the all the 'religion' to it, great. Jesus can't either. If you're holding off on the whole Christian thing becuase of the judgementalism, the superiority complex, the ridiculous social cohesion, perfect. You're more Christ-like than many people who are sitting in the pews.

Sleep, no I never get enough

Just had a great conversation with Kaite at 2:30 in the morning.

Those kinds of convos are the best things to fill up the soul.

If you've never had one, call 1-41-NO-HAGIS-1.

More for your viewing pleasure:

I, Worst of All
Don't let the tagline or the rating fool you. This movie has nothing to do with lesbian nuns, and there is indeed no nudity or nothing even 'questionable' about this film.
That being said, it could have used something.
I just finished writing my paper on this film, and I think I've spent all the time I want to with it. It tells the tale of the extraordinary Spanish writer, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. She was a nun who wrote beautiful poetry (I think, I only read it in Spanish).
The film focuses mainly on femminism, which is interesting, since Sor Juana's life, though marked by the usual inequality one may find between men and women in Colonial Mexico, was for more driven by dichotamy between the religious and the secular.
What is most depressing about this film is where the director ends it, after Sor Juana has signed her renunciation of her secular works. We leave feeling angry and upset that she was forced to do this (though historically, it's questionable whether she was foreced). We get no glimpse into the truly exemplary life she led afterwards. She turned in to the Mother Theresa of 18th century Mexico.

But no one wants to hear about that I guess.

Words

"The right word at the right time
is like a custom made piece of jewelry,
And a wise friend's timely repremand
is like a gold ring slipped on your finger."
-Proverbs 25: 11-12



A lot of you may know the story of how I ended up taking film at Ryerson. For those that don't, here's the recap:

My first year of highschool I finally figured out what the Christian thing was all about, and like many new Christians, I was sure that I was going to be a pastor. By grade ten, I'd mapped out my route. I was going to go to U of T to get my undergrad, then to Knox College to get my Doctor of Divinity (I was going to go all the way for no other reason than to have Dr. as my title). I even had the brochures.

In grade eleven however, my friend Kaite sat me down and took me task on it. "You're going to be a minster? Alright... here's the thing. You suck at that."

When I told this to some people, they felt bad for me for some reason, assming I must have been upset at these hurtful words. When I reminded Kaite of it years later, she even appologized. But this was (in my life) the best example of this proverb. Her words were the perfect words at just the right time. And it truly changed the course of my life (after living life aimlessly for a while after that, she told me how film was probably where I should be headed, and once she said that, I realized how that's where I was already headed anyway).

But when I was reading this verse tonight, I began thinking about the reverse of this. The wrong words at the wrong time. Or even the right words at the wrong time. Since if Kaite had waited or told me sooner, I might have actually been upset (for the record, I was never upset or hurt by what she said. It just made sense to me when I heard it. I did suck at it!).

I feel like this is an important issue, since words are so often the majority of our relationships with people. We call our friends up on the telephone, we go out for dinner and conversation, we sit next to each other and talk in class. Are we being careful about what we say to each other? Am I watching what sorts of jokes I make, or what sort of advice I give, or whether I need to say anything at all to someone, or do I need to go out of my way to speak to someone? There are a lot of ifs.

I think I've been made more aware of this the past few days. A few people have just been giving me the wrong words lately. And it's not that what they are saying is 'bad' or even 'good,' Sometimes it's been as simple as a hello at the wrong time, or a lack of hello at the right time.

Even on a slightly larger scale, it is crucial that we think about what we're saying. I witnessed a friend of mine suffer for months becuase he let a joke slip that he shouldn't have. It nearly tore two friends apart, and caused issues among more. He felt bad and continues to fell bad about this one thing he said.

And certainly I see myself as one of the worst culprits in this crime. A week or so ago, I missed out on spending time with some friends eating curry, simply becuase I didn't even bother to step out of my way to say hello to them. And when I do go out of my way to speak, I don't watch what I say as closely as I should either. A month or so ago, I really hurt someone with the advice I gave. I believe it was good advice, but I delievered it in the worst way.

This is one of those tall order things I think. The Bible says to stop sinning, but we really can't see ourselves doing it, so we think it's alright in small amounts. The Bible says we need to watch our tounges and speak always out of love, but I have such a hard time picturing me do it, that I'm happy just improving for a week or so, then going back to old habits. And I hate complacency.

That's it for now. I hope these were the right words at the right time.

I stumbled across this site today. Kind of depressing that almost all of the shirt designs are just copies of famous brands logos. So not only can I be un-original, I can also support Coca Cola and it's human rights infringements.

In response to a shirt seen at a Christian conference that reads: "I like Christian Boys", my friend Paul proposes a shirt that reads: "I know God has someone prepared for me, so I'm just going to calm down for now."

Stations of the day:
Finch
North York Centre
Spadina

The Every Station Project

A tiny update:

I made quite the killing tonight. Covered the whole Scarborough RT, got the two major transfer stations, the end of the spadina line, and the previous end to the Younge line (Eglinton). I've got the transfers for 29% of the stations. (20 out of 69)

Score Card Update (since last post):

Downsview
Bathurst
St. George
Bloor/Younge
College
Dundas
Eglinton
Coxwell
Kennedy
Lawrence East
Ellesmere
Midland
Scarborough Centre
McCowan

All the things you wanted to know but never asked.

Crucial to this post, is that you copy this and write your own answers in the comments.

1. smoked a cigar - no
2. crashed a friend's car - no, crashed my parents car though, twice, and they are friendly people.
3. stolen a car - not yet...
4. been in love - 'in' love, no, but I like to think I love a lot
5. been dumped - eh, yeah. It's been so long since I've dated anyone, I don't really count it.
6. dumped someone - eh, again, see above.
7. taken shots of alcohol - yes, and have the pictures to prove it.
8. been fired – about a hundred time from Knox Daycamp. I kept coming back though.
9. been in a fist fight - I punched my brother in the face three times during our childhood. Bad call.
10. snuck out of a/your house - I don't think I've ever 'snuck' out.
11. had feelings for someone who didn't have them back- yes
12. been arrested - not yet...
13. made out with a stranger - nope.
14. gone on a blind date - kind of. It wasn't really a date. But she was supposedly the woman of my dreams. She wasn't in fact...
15. lied to a friend - not that I can recall, but I'm inclinced to say yes.
16. had a crush on a teacher- yes
18. seen someone die - I saw someone almost die. That was scary.
19. been on a plane - yes, but only twice.
20. thrown up in a bar - no
22. miss someone right now - yes!! Parents, friends, my dog.
23. laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by - all the time. I love it.
24. made a snow angel - yes
25. played dress up - yes
26. cheated while playing a game - yes
27. been lonely - yes
28. fallen asleep at work/school - I pride myself on having never fallen asleep. There have been some close calls though
29. used a fake id - I was fortuneate enough to turn 19 very early, so never had to.
30. felt an earthquake - nope.
31. touched a snake - gah... no
32. run a red light - late at night, the stoplight by my house takes forever to change.
33. had detention - nope.
34. been in a car accident - yes
35. hated the way you look - yes, in fact just this morning I was thinking how badly I need a haircut
37. been lost - yes
38. been to the opposite side of the country - no
39. felt like dying - yes
40. cried yourself to sleep - I try not to let the sun set on my anger. Hasn't always worked.
41. played cops and robbers - I don't think so...
42. karaoke - once. "Walk like an Egyptian" with Alaina
43. done something you told yourself you wouldn't - all the time.
44. laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose- yup
45. caught a snowflake on your tongue - yes
46. kissed in the rain - no
47. sang in the shower - like pavarati!
48. made love in a park - can't say so yet.
49. had a dream that you married someone - yeah, a few times
50. glued your hand to something - no
51. got your tongue stuck to a flag pole - no
52. worn the opposite sex's clothes - um...
53. Been a cheerleader – nope
54. sat on a roof top - yes
55. talked on the phone all night - not all night, but for a while.
56. ever too scared to watch scary movies alone – I never really watch them.
57. played chicken fight - yes. Great times.
58. been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on - kind of. I sort of did it on my own accord
59. been told you're hot by a complete stranger - actually, I was on the subway the other night, and this older lady began raving about how much she loved my red hair. She had really hariy knuckles.
60. broken a bone - no
62. dipped snuff? - I'm not totally sure what that means.
63. lived overseas - no
64. Ever passed out/fainted? - no, came close once, on a really hot day.
65. blown bubbles in the wintertime - no... but good idea!
66. slept in your car? - I did it a lot when i went to Trent.
67. given money to a stranger? - yeah a few times. more often I give them food
68. forgot your birthday? - never. And I don't let other people forget it either.
69. forgot your best friend's birthday? - nope
70. been in the presence of the Pope or the President? - I met Jean Cretien. He was kinda like the pope.
71. failed a test? - no
72. failed a class? - no
73. accurately predicted a future event? - yes
74. slept overnight in a hospital without being a patient? - yes. it was hard, since we slept on the floor, but reminded me how special the people in that room are to me.
75. realized a dream? - yes

Tools and Apps (2)

So I did a second shoot for my tools and applications project. These aren't all of the pics I submitted, and I also didn't submit some of these pics. The ones you don't see were too dark to begin with (since it was an exposure test), and I could only hand in a certain number of 'extra' pics, so I had to be selective in what made it into the 'experiment' section.

RIght now, this links to my computer, which the IP address might change. If it does, let me know! And also, let me know if you know of any free web-hosting where I might put pics such as these, or movies and stuff.

The Good Photos

Transit Trouble?

So this is my score card thus far.

I intended to get quite a few more, I had plans to get College, Osgoode, St. Patrick, Spadina and St. George this evening. But there was some kind of catastrophy.

I got on at Wellesley to head for Staples between Osgoode and St. Patrick, made it to Queen station (which *sigh* I already have), when the train stopped. "Track level injury at Ossington" was the cause.

But this deeply concerned me for a few reasons. One being that a 'track level injury' undoubtedly means someone committed suicide, throwing themself on the tracks. This is unfortuneately not an unncommon occurance. This is the second time in two months that I've been in the system when this kind of warning has come over the PA. Naturally, people get a little tense and a little down when they hear this announcement.

But, for those that know the Toronto Subway, I was at Queen Station on the Younge Line. Ossington is on the Bloor Line. The lines don't interconnect (anymore). Normally, when there is something of this nature service is disrupted on the line where the incident occurs. Last time, I was on the same line as the incident, and had to wait about 15 minutes for a train. But the TTC shut down the entire system. We were all told to leave the train and find a bus or streetcar.

So something very bad happened at Ossington, but as per the TTC tight lipped policy, I doubt anyone will ever hear about it.

f-Stop

The slides are back, and this is an example of one of the pictures. Jules is a fanstastic model/actress, and I love working with her. I can make a big deal with her about the placement of her hand, or how I think her head should be tilted about half a degree to the left, or something, and she never complains! And truly, some of the demands I've placed on her are almost unreasonable (if I haven't said it before, sorry for almost making you pass out during our Pandora's Box shoot...). Jules, you are any and every director's dream!

In other news, I actually started my journey towards membership in the "Every Station" club. I wanted to get a big enough victory under my belt first, so I did the whole Sheppard line, stopping at each station to get the transfer of proof. I also got Queen station on the Younge line, but the downtown ones are easy. It's the Bloor-Danforth that scares me. 31 stations in total, and I've only actually been to 12 of them before on rare circumstance (aside from the major transfer ones).

So the official list as of today:

Don Mills
Leslie
Bessarion
Bayview
Sheppard/Younge
Queen

I know what you did...

More and more people are coming to me and saying 'hey, I read your blog!' Which is great, since that's not evident when no one leaves comments (I really appreciate them people!). So I got curious and added a little number tracker.

Some neat stats:

-Everyone who reads this speaks english!
-Chacun qui lit ceci parle anglais!
-Jeder, das dieses liest, spricht Englisch
-Каждое читает это говорит английскую язык
-58.33% of you use Mac OS X (right on baby!)
-70% use cable internet, 50% rogers 20% cogeco
-The most used browsers (from greatest to least): Safari (54%) Firefox (20%) IE (20%) Opera (6%)
-1280x1024 is the most used screen resolution

All for now.