From the previous post: Synopsis: McGinitys has a disdain for the band Green Day. Reconciles that even though their sound is not original, no one's is. Cuts the band some slack.

So I am at the Green Day concert with my wife. Their opening salvo is a the singer yelling at the people in the audience to get on their feet and enjoy themselves. Something about you aren't sitting at home, surfing the net, sitting in some movie theatre, watching quote unquote reality tv, you are watching a real concert. For once, live, get up and dance, and shout and take the most from this night. Not vicariously through someone else but through yourself. I have to admit, I agree with a lot of what he was saying. A little too much in fact.

Through the next 2 1/2 hours, continually the band pushed the envelope, pushing against apathy of just enjoying the show, to being a part of it, to being the most important part of it. This was demonstrated over and over through the show, with the singer forcing crowd participation. Eventually the crowd was on its own, holding the fervor by itself. And at points of the show, several people were brought up to sing verses and choruses of the shows. One lucky guy got to do that and came up again later to play guitar on an entire song.

Green Day never once assumed they were a great band. By having fans on stage singing, they even showed they don't have a particularly great singer, that anyone can do it. What they did show is that you can accomplish anything if you work real hard and you can remain real and not sell yourself out. Some may think of Green Day as sellouts from their "punk" roots because they have hit the mainstream, but they showed reverence to their roots, especially in an homage video of all the great punk bands that never sold out (i.e. became really famous, which included shout outs to Fugazi, Gwar, No Use for a Name, among others).

Maybe they are keen marketing geniuses or maybe they believe in the punk credoes, but Green Day tickets were half to 1/4 what other bands with their experience and popularity (and often much less popularity) charge. In a market charging (at least where I live) $100 to $300 a ticket in a city that honestly can't support ticket prices that high for every single show that comes through the city, they charged $60.

And I will agree, that was the enticement to see them. To go see a band my wife loves and to have to throw in $60 of my own dollars so she has someone to go with, that was a minor expense.

Now I have paid as much as $150 to see a show. It was a special occasion and it was to see Eric Clapton.

I have not gone to see many performers I really wanted to see because the shows were $100 plus dollars.

I have gone to see several dozen shows that charged $5 to $50, sometimes on bands I was taking a chance on. I will see many more dozen shows in that same range and take many more chances.

The biggest thing that came out of the Green Day show was: you paid good money to see and it is our job to earn it. We are pulling all the stops out, we are going to do everything to make sure every single person in the building is having a great time. We may not be the best band in the world, but we will try our hardest to have a good time with you.

How come anyone thinks they can charge so much for a ticket and do nothing but stand behind their mic stand and strum along in a lackluster performance. How can a band charge up to 4 times as much as a band that works 4 times harder.

It really feels like the bands think they are doing the audience a favor when the only reason they can be on that stage is because we put them there.

And how can I go spend that much money on a band I have never seen before live on the off chance they may suck live. If you buy a stereo from the store and it has shitty speakers, you can bring the stereo back and buy another one.

I mentioned this to someone at work the other day. If I was king, I would force these overpriced bands to take Green Day lessons on making a show work. Force them to be at one of their concerts and see a band work to earn your dollars.

I know when I played, I came from the school of earning the audience's dollars and I put a lot of effort into every show. We weren't always good, but for my part I pushed myself every single show to be as entertaining as possible, to get the crowd going, to have a good time.

First off, I'm not a fan of Green Day. Yes I know a bunch of their songs (because I own a radio), have played a song or two in some band or two I was in, but ultimately, my cocky rock star side of me has always found them incredibly unoriginal.

Now that is just me being mean.

Green Day played at the Albert some umpteen years ago, saw a local band called Propagandhi, and copped their sound. Green Day eventually release Dookie and explode, using their Propagandhi riffs. Propagandhi change their overly poppy sound and go heavy.

No one makes the connection between the two bands.

Yeah that all makes a really good story. Propagandhi once bragged about their songs being rip-offs of Concrete Blonde. They always bragged about their own un-originality. I guess that was why I always liked them. And made me a little proud of the band.

So for someone to rip off their sound, well really none of that is neither here nor there. Propagandhi changed their sound because, as they say, they became too popular (the largest selling band on the label). Their song Ska Sucks, an anti-anthem about ska music, became a stupidly popular ska song and their most requested song. I've seen the band a number of times, and their disdain about the song is blatantly obvious.

The obvious fact that Green Day were inspired by Propagandhi is really not a bad thing. They took what Propagandhi was doing, repackaged it without all the expletives, and easier to swallow themes and made a mint of "their sound".

Everybody used to rip off the Beatles, and the Stones and Zeppelin (who were ripping old blues artists), and Alice Cooper, etc... Everything is inspired by something else. And throwing something out of left field, Twilight was blatantly inspired by Anne Rice and Romance Novels (which was inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, which was inspired by the legend of Vlad Dracul and old vampire stories).

It's okay to not like something because you love the material it came from. But something is always taken from something else. Something is always unoriginal, a blend of what came before. The only reason something sounds original is because you may not be familiar with the source material.

So, I am apologizing about my statements I have always made about Green Day in the past. I am apologizing about my statements about post Anne Rice vampire novels, I am apologizing to the Emo Kids... okay, maybe I take that back.

That being said Green Day ain't so bad. And I did honor my beautiful wife with going to a Green Day concert with her.

Another strange incident came from this. I'm not as upset with it. In fact, life is so good right now that complaining is pointless. I'm also not so selfish as to make a deal of it.

But an incident happened at my wedding, regarding this.

I have an eye for things. I can sense discord... bad vibes... voodoo... whatever.

I certainly felt a strange emanation.

And at the end of the event, the result was, "Sean got married, meh."

It scratched at the edge of my head a bit. I'm not mad or angry or anything of the like. Just a little disappointed. The biggest day of my life and it got the least reaction. Maybe I disappointed because I joined the club, followed the rules, and did what everyone else does.

I will go on record to say I got married because I wanted to, because it would NOT follow the rules, and because it was THE coolest thing to do. Silver and I had the wedding our way. We added the little touches we wanted, against tradition. The format was definitely not normal.

I wonder if I am wrong in the vibe I feel I am getting, maybe totally off-base. Maybe something else was wrong. Maybe what was happening to that person was so much bigger and overwhelming and that was the vibe I got.

Well, I'm back from the honeymoon.

The wedding was amazing. I know I'm a guy and guys don't gush about that sort of stuff, but I had a great time. Everyone was so generous sharing their time for our day. Thanks to everyone that made it out. And thanks to the people we just couldn't squeeze in. It was the toughest thing in the world making the invite list and we definitely did not invite everyone we wanted to.

I was honestly shaken at all the love that was thrown at us. I really feel like we are the luckiest people in the world. Thank you all for making this day one I will never forget.

The honeymoon was fantastic. We ran around like crazy and did a million things. We also missed out on a million things. We need to go back to Niagara Falls.

Anyway, more later.

...but I think I may have been someone's project. And now that I have everything in some kind of order and am apparently self-sufficient and happy... I may have lost my place at the table.

Has my new demeanor made me boring?

Well, in our extended weekend of gallivanting about, I found a new bench for my gym. I do already have a bench at home, but nothing cool about it. Just a flat bench with an attachment to do leg curls/extensions. It sort of has an incline setting, which doesn't do the proper angles.

I paid $130 for mine back in the day. This new one was $30, with an adjustable bench for various levels of incline AND decline. It also is wider to support longer bars.

It doesn't have the leg attachment, but I already have one on the other machine.

So without further ado... I'm off to work out.

Ahhhh, (sigh)
Well, I took some time for me and the Silver lady this weekend. We both took a day off so we ended up each with a 4-day weekend. We did board games on Friday with friends (Balderdash and Life) and laughed til we cried.

Saturday was a full-on family gathering with both sides of the family. Got to see all the Winnipeg family. Had a lot of fun.

Sunday, Silver and I stayed at the Marriaggi with a coupon we had. It was weird staying at a hotel that's NOT part of a chain. Everything was different but primarily they splurge on everything. Much higher class than a Marriot or a Hilton. Only the best sheets and bedding, mattress, TV, Surround Sound System, waterfall (yes a waterfall) in the jacuzzi tub. Beautiful tile and marble. Expensive sink and toilet... everything was quality. Yes it is pricey, but it was super cool. It was a nice sense of adventure too.

Today, we treated ourselves, thanks to my cuz to an hour at a Spa. Not my idea of a good time, but nonetheless it was pretty cool.

We finaled out the night at Silver's sister with a new video game she got called Little Big World (I think). I can't believe this game. It is the most detailed game I have ever seen in my life. It is a whole world created out of crafts... everything is interactive... this game could only be released on PS3... it's too big to fit on anything but a Blu-Ray. Super fun, crazy soundtrack music, immensely funny, the most creative game ever made... I keep thinking this is the game made for Skelly. All the creative bones in his body in one game. I won't tell what kind of game it is, but because nothing like it has ever existed. I can't tell you what it's about because it has a lot of everything in it. But super easy to play. And quite revolutionary. It must have cracked people's heads with the complexity of making such a game easy to play and learn.

Wow... it's funny, I think this whole shower thing for the Silver One would be such huge work. Weeks were spent putting this thing together. Just the weekend of the shower alone was countless hours of set-up... all for 2-3 hours of event.

But you know what... it was fun.

Yes it was full of "womens" and I was 1 of 4 men there (dad, bro, and future bro-in-law). But in the end of it all, it was really powerful to have all these people here to wish Silver and myself well. It was beautiful to see all these people watching us with eyes full of acceptance and blessings.

We both must be blessed.

With all that said and done, Silver and I have joined the ranks of the Wii owners. I'm pretty excited. It's really fun. I love it.

Oh... and I know have a ShopVac. Yay!!!!

Well, it should be no surprise I saw this opening weekend.

And some of you are wondering what I, the massive comic nerd that I am thinks of it.

The movie was long... but I didn't notice. The casting was spot-on. Eerily-so. It was violent, but it needed to be. This isn't a movie that's pro-violence. The violence hurts to watch. The violence isn't pretty. It isn't "4-color" violence at all.

This is really the movie that shows what happens when comic book heroes meet real life.

This is what Batman would really be like... or Captain America.

Yes, it is an amazing movie. Yes it stands on its own, outside of the comic book world. This is an epic movie. This isn't Spider-Man or Fantastic Four, or even the X-Men. This is the Shakespeare of comic movies. In fact, this is the Shakespeare of MOVIES period.

In saying that, this is not for everyone. Great movies don't appeal to everyone. Not everyone can watch Citizen Kane.

In terms of faithfulness, you already know that it is the most faithful comic movie ever made. Yes it is missing things (which will show up on the DVD I imagine).

Well, it hasn't been so crushing. It hasn't been so stressful. In fact, it's been all right. I can actually say I am enjoying getting ready for the big day.

It's been an interesting year. I feel blessed. I've done a lot of thinking, a lot of soul searching, a lot of reevaluation, a lot of prioritizing.

I didn't think I'd ever be ready to get married. I didn't ever think I'd want to do it again.

And now I can't wait.

I am so happy, so fulfilled. It's been awhile now and I still look forward to waking up with her in the morning. I still get excited when she gets home after work.

I've had a heck of a lot of indecision in my life, but this... this is real. This is the good stuff.

Last night the Divorcees played for a bunch of industry people here in Winnipeg as part of a showcase for the CMA awards. The whole city was abuzz with the awards and every single venue was overbooked with talent. Last night we took in the Pyramid with the Divorcees and spent a little time at the Times Change cafe for Romi Mayes.

The Pyramid show was 50/50. And please don't take offense. I'm not a country guy in the least. The Divorcees were great as they always are. Cousin Danny Rox rocked. He got a lot more lead time this show and even got to sing a duet with Alex on one tune. Definitely need to shout out to Brock, the Divorcees' drummer, who although always being a solid player, was exemplary last night. He was so tight and driven. All the boys sounded great but Brock gets the MVP.

Wil played last night as well and was amazing. Never heard of him before and had goosebumps. I got to meet both Wil and Jason (the drummer). Great people certainly. The bigger act of the night was a female pop country singer, who looks and sounds like she came right off the assembly line. She looked right, sounded right, dressed right... it was so fucking boring. I kept counting the minutes before anyone else came on stage. Luckily Randy Bachman joined her for a few tunes and picked her up a little. She was completely unforgettable unfortunately, but the sort of talent the industry wants it seems, based on the cheers from the crowd. This sort of "country" (and I use the term really loosely) is why I DON'T listen to country. It's pablum with no heart and soul.

But enough dissin'. Hung with the band afterwards. Had a lot of drinks. Had a lot of fun.

Cousin Danny was in town as part of Canadian Country Week. His band the Divorcees are doing their best to pimp the band this weekend.

Anyway, Dan, Silver and I decided to check out some local blues at the Windsor,

We had a great time watching Deano Dean's band play. We really liked the venue. And I got to catch up with Dan over what's been going on in his life the last little while.

Tonight the Divorcees play the Pyramid and I get all the VIP treatment being kin gets. Whoo-hoo! Should be a hoot of a time. If you're free tonight come see them at the Pyramid in Winnipeg tonight.

While I have been hiding out in my costumed identity online, ranting and carrying on, I have left this LiveJournal... pretty much left behind. But as things are cropping up I might just be coming back here a little more. I have some major plans coming up with my new comic project (more of a little old with a little new), I might very well be keeping this here LJ going.

So, what have I been up to? I saw Batman, I saw Hancock, I saw Iron Man and Hulk.

Some quick reviews:

Dark Knight - really dark and gritty. Joker was awesome but film suffered some of the X3/Spider-Man 3 curse, just at a much reduced toxicity. The movie was supposed to be about Batman but focused far too much on the additional cast. It was great to see more Gordon. Rachel Dawes seemed real tired. Dent was great but really didn't belong in the movie to the extent he was. SPOILER

They rushed through too much, the whole Two-Face angle didn't need to be here. This is a Batman film and should have had more focus on him. Still a far better film than most anything out there, but not quite deserving of the box office records it's achieved.

Hancock - Far more interesting than I expected. I like that Will Smith is doing what he wants to do, not staying with the safe fluff. I Am Legend was far better than it should have been (which, interestingly enough is why people didn't seem to like it as much). Hancock too was really good. And what is up with Jason Bateman? The new go to guy or what? He was great.

Iron Man - yeah, it's been out for a while. It was real good. Everything people have been hyping about it. This is a real superhero movie done right. More solid than Dark Knight... sorry DC.

Hulk - Very good and even better after repeated viewings. Completely different than Iron Man, but equally as good in different respects. A notch or two above Dark Knight.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Great fun, great visuals... a great popcorn flick.

What else is new... really digging Brand New Day in Spider-Man. As much as I find myself angry over how Marvel basically pushed J Michael Stracynzki off the title, and how stupid it seemed to wipe away all the continuity, the writing has been solid on the title, and the rotating creators and the 3 times a month schedule is mysteriously working quite well. Credit needs to go to the editorial team for keeping this all together without it unraveling and for Marvel taking a chance. Good for you.

Also super excited over Violet Army coming up in the new year. It's a new title you've never heard of but should be launching in the new year. I've been lucky enough to know the writer on this and blown away by the style and story.

Also, for those of you that haven't read Fade to Pale by James Cheetham, a local MB writer, do yourself a favor and pick up the book. Great story and the writer is a helluva guy to.

Also been reading A Fine Balance which has been amazing book this far. Only a couple of hundred pages so far but needed to talk about it. I really dig the writing style and have been taking mental notes on pacing and the back and forth between characters. I'm been trying some of that style on a story I am working on right now.

Also, last but not least, Winnipeg Folk Fest was an amazing experience. Some great music, crazy all night partying Saturday Night and some really horrible weather made for a really interesting weekend.

Oh, and totally missed the Fringe Festival this year. Just too much going and I had to drop something this year. I've heard some great things this year and a shame make it.

Peace out, all.

I've already noticed that this hasn't yet received too much media so I am giving him his due right here now.

Stan Winston was a genius. He made special effects cool and mainstream. He was one of the first big fx guys for me, unafraid to make anything and to make it seem real. There wasn't any project he wouldn't take on.

When I was a wee one, I marvelled over his work on Friday the 13th Part III and The Thing. Back then because of him I really wanted to work as a makeup artist. The most stunning for me at the time though was the first Terminator movie. I watched that one in fascination at what he created, so lifelike.

Stan was a master at what he did and brought a spotlight to that side of the camera, raising the bar on what could be done. He made people give credit to fx and showed the importance of using it to tell a story.

Stan we will miss you!

Now I've ranted about this before and I will again, but some things can sometimes gain legitimacy. I've attached the link, but like the UFO crash in Steinbach, MB last year that every major news team came out to see AND DID NOT REPORT, I fully expect the headline to be changed or deleted. So I've also included the pasted the news story as well. Of note, as this story is getting squashed, Ellen Degeneres (a gay woman beat out Oprah for the most popular television celebrity just recently, finally the world is changing for the better, but that's a whole other blog) reported it as well. Not good for the government who buries stories to have the most popular person on TV reporting it. Will Ellen back down and change her story, will this episode not be shown as a repeat? Only time will tell.

http://www.encyclocentral.com/18505-Stephenville_UFO_Texas_January_2008.html

A small and calm town in Texas was astounded by the sight of an amazing phenomenon on 8th Jan 2008. It is considered to be another one of Stephenville’s UFO which was noticed in the clear sky. Stephenville residents were amazed by the sighting and immediately reported it to the authorities. This isn’t the first time that this town has witnessed history repeat itself.

The Stephenville UFO case is not the first sighting. Several dozens of people have witnessed it, including a pilot flying among the clouds. They define it as a large silent object with bright lights which flew extremely fast and quite low. Some say that they witnessed a fighter jet plane chase after the unidentified flying object. It is highly uncanny to observe the UFO in the morning but for the resident it is quite usual.

The Stephenville UFO unlike the other UFOs was said to be smaller and maneuvered in a sophisticated pattern which proves it’s out of the world engineering. People seem to be seeing half mile long and a mile wide UFOs but this particular UFO was definitely seen for the first time. It was positively not from this planet and many speculated that it was a craft launched from Area 51 for testing but there was no evidence for that matter.

The Stephenville UFO surprised the local authorities and the federal official insisted on a logical explanation. Despite of the suppression from the authorities the residents still argued on the fact that it was highly eerie for a man made craft to fly so low and with extreme precision and with intricate maneuver. They were baffled by the fact that the crafts light changed configurations which was not done by any other crafts in this world.

The Stephenville UFO was defined as flat, metallic object which soared about 300 to 400 feet in the air above the roofs of many homes. The Stephenville Empire Tribune reported the story due to which many residents phoned in to make their statements. Michael Sorrells reported on seeing the object but was humiliated by the fact that his friends might think he is crazy. But as many residents in the area reported the same he had no doubt as to what he witnessed.

The Stephenville UFO sighting was shocking due to the fact that the Naval Air Base in Fort Worth mentioned that they had no fighter planes and other crafts in that area on 8th Jan. Apart from that the airport authorities said that no flights were scheduled to go over Stephenville on 8th Jan. around 200 UFO sightings are reported in the areas of Texas and California each month but all of them are left uninvestigated.

Here's another one, too, unless it's been changed
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/15/wufo115.xml

Well I think it is getting time to retiring the old blog. When I started this thing years ago, it was to show opinion, be open and show a side to my creativity. As my career(s) has progressed along a few things became perfectly clear: some people don't care what I have to say AND some people care too much about what I have to say. I've been maintaining the blog here and on MySpace (parallel blogs) and there have a been a few times where I got flogged for ideas presented. Overall, my experience has been great online and received a lot of great input from my online friends. That ends up being for my public stuff. But I still need a place to iron some... different laundry online.

But I have been censoring myself, too much as of late. And much like the superhero with the secret identity I think it is time to assume one, one which I will only share with my closest friends. If I have a rant about something, I want to be honest and not censored. Unfortunately (or is that fortunately) opinion can offend some. Opinion can also change people's view of you because of their own education, upbringing, social and political standings, or religious views.

I've always been a free thinker with an extremelly open mind but I've noticed I'm the only one who hasn't hidden behind an online name. I feel cheated they have expressed their open opinions while I have censored my every word the last few years.

Does that mean that I will stop posting? No. Not at all. All my news of my career, my works, my band and all that sort of stuff will still flow through here or my MySpace. My opinions and philosophies will end up somewhere else. If you want in, and have an open mind, you can contact me and I will hook you up.

“Hurt” is now in the can!

That’s right people, this past weekend we did all the filming (except for a couple of scenes which will get picked up in September). It was a grueling but super fun shoot. I came not knowing anyone, other than the director whom I met only 3 months ago. At the end I made some great friends and some very interesting professionals.

In the last three months, SKJ and I created the screenplay from scratch based upon a loose idea he had. By the time shooting began, we had a pretty serious script written riddled with philosophies on life, death and love. Much more than I expected going in. I was very happy once we finished and we saw the vision made reality in front of a camera.

We started filming late Thursday/early Friday. Up to that time, it was rehearsals for the actors, last minute script changes, and makeup tests. The first night of shooting we got hit with a massive storm that threatened to ruin our outside shoot, but someone watched over us and the skies cleared. At 3am, the makeup process started and we waited for the golden hour between dusk and dawn. It was a beautiful morning sun that greeted us and we captured an amazing shot of our lead Jason. We got to see some great work between Steed and Jason which I think everyone was really looking for.

We had a great break between Day One and Two. Thankfully because we had some really difficult work to do. We shot the dream sequences which were a lot of neat work. Natalia in her red dress looked beautiful yet scary (it was the scene – she can be a mean woman). Jenny and got to run around in the woods and be silly (you’ll understand when you see the movie). Raj was on set that day taking pics of everything and pulled some video duties.

The night shoot was crazy. For those that don’t know, night scenes are a bitch to shoot, because of lighting issues. I won’t give away our secrets, but let’s leave it at that Devon organized a production line to keep the lighting right that worked thanks to Alex, Tonia, Jenny and Charles. It took a long time to get ready but I think the footage will speak for itself, enhancing what the actors put forth.

Day Three, Jenny and I organized some pick-up shots for continuity purposes. We also filmed a scene we didn’t have the time for the day before. It was also Steed’s and Amber’s last day on set.

Day four was the day for interior shooting and the weather finally gave out. Thankfully. These were the heavy makeup days and our makeup team did some scary work. I got to lose my home for the entire day/night but everyone was gracious enough to put everything back before they left. Because of space issues I had to miss out on a lot of the shooting for the bedroom scenes, but I did get to kick Jenny’s ass at Wave Race on the 64 (or rather, we kicked each other’s asses). Great way to kill some time. It was strange transforming my place into the “den” of the movie and seeing it transformed. The props that were so handily donated to the film worked out real well.

Finally everything was done and we all bid each other farewell. Hugs went around and we were all happy to be done. It was a lot of work and we were all tired. But damn, this is going to look good.

So I want to give a thank you to everyone involved. Coming in knowing no one and working with these complete strangers… well it sure didn’t feel like we were all strangers by the end. I can honestly say I met some of the most amazing, fascinating and incredibly talented people I have ever met. I will easily jump in and work with these people again. How could I not?

FRINGETASTIC

Another year, another Fringe.

Saw many more plays this year. Although things started out not quite as good as I would have liked, the last few plays were very good. I realized you can’t rely on the main reviews off the CBC website (is it just me or is CBC getting a little too self-important?), but you can scroll down and read what is sometimes the review on the reviewer which helps out iron out the good from the bad.

Highlights, other than the company I was keeping, were Bye-Bye Bombay, Dishpig, and the Amazing Platypus Variety Show. I also saw some others, but they were spots of great and tepid, but this isn’t the place to trash anyone. There were a number of plays I DIDN’T see, but purely for lack of time, money, and stamina.

I did run into some people but didn’t have the time to hang much. This year I made it a priority to see the shows I wanted to see first and foremost, and that mingled with the people I ran into, so be it.

This will probably be the last hurrah before production starts on the movie, so from here on in, it’s work, work, work. I’ll see you all on the other side…

Captain Absent is back with more updates...

Again, I apologize for the lack of returned emails, but once I finish off one of the many projects on the go, I will start having more time.

First one, Skelly and Carimiah dragged my poor ass out to Folk Fest. As much of a music junkie that I am, I have been the biggest snob in missing out on Folk Fest my whole life. Not big on the camping thing and the cost of Folk Fest and a million other useless reasons had kept me away all these years. Well, my two great great friends had finally had enough and made me come. And it was amazing. I saw things, I did things, I heard things, and I made friends. It was so unlike anything I had ever come across. You know I always talk about vibes and feelings about things and I got overwhelmed with the sense of peace there. Had a lot, no a ton of things bump into and through me all weekned as well. It was so BIG. Everything was on a different scale, the fun, the people, the music, the experience... out of this world. If I had to make a list of the highlights, it would take me all day, but here are a few of the ones I can talk about here:

- People - I got to hang with "the fam", Skelly's little network of very close friends. I made a great connection with their friends from Neepawa which I now have a special place for. Amazing people with interesting lives. It's not often you meet real people. They were as real as you can get. Besides the newbies, I really got to hang with my soul bro Skelly and the lovely Carimiah. They are two of the most amazing people you could ever meet. Genuine and real. And yes, little Kitty, you and me are on with working out. We'll even drag Skelly along if we have to. I love you both closer than family. I also met a host of other people, all of whom I can never all name, but thanks for making the experience such a great one. Also ran into some other people, none of which I was really introduced to, just the occasional hello, having fun and chatting about something silly or deep or really out there. Even had Uncle Donny choke me and swear at me and then forget what the hell he was talking about. I spun around a couple of people who were trying to fly and had a crazy wacky conversation with that crazy cat that had me rolling in the aisles.

- the music - I knew this was going to be the big 'un. Saw lots of amazing stuff. Highlights were (and I am sure I am missing tons of other stuff) Cat Empire and That One Guy (who I got see perform 3 times on the weekend). I forget half the names of the other bands/performers I saw, but a lot were great.

- The Saturday night party - This was the cat's meow. It was a massive rave at Pope's Hill with That One Guy and the Hummers. Fucking awesome. I danced all night long with everyone else until some time around 5 in the morning and then chatted with The Neepawas for the rest of the time. Even had a early morning badminton match before going to bed.

The biggest thing was the communal spirit. There weren't any bad vibes (except for Uncle Donny). Every thing was so cheerful, everyone was so nice, and everybody was so friendly. You could stop by at anyone's campfire and sit down and hang out, no questions asked. I love meeting people and am generally the friendly person to blindly introduce myself to people. And I was outfriendly-ed.

MTG (Meet the Geeks for the uninitiated) has been moving along. More writing, more formatting, more figuring out the arcs (yes there's story arcs). We're back in the thick of things tomorrow for another brainstorm/meeting.

"hurt" (tentative title right now until we figure out the full title) is also moving along well. My worries over the script I had had are gone and the piece is turning into this strong story. Casting is pretty much out of the way and we have found some rather amazing talent. Hopefully we'll make some casting announcements soon. Much higher than my original aspirations for the film anyway. We start filming in August on a tight 4 day schedule. Lots of pre-production work until then but we are moving along schedule.

Whew. And I haven't even mentioned the band yet. We've been on a hiatus for summer holidays (which is why I've been able to cram so much other stuff in). I think we are still planning 2-3 shows between July and September. I'm still practicing on my car rides to and from work. Been working on some new vocal tricks to try and add another dimension to the voice. It's fascinating how the voice can develop, how you can shape it into so many different forms if you only have the curiousity. The singers who always sing the same style, who never get outside their comfortable range... they are missing out on so much. You can sing so much if you keep at it. And the more you can do, the more you can try. Every had the capability to sing. Even this measly drummer.

What’s been going on?

Well, some crazy times in the life of the comic writer. I've been working heavy on the movie project, revising and revising the script with my writing partner. The process that we've taken is one very alien with me, but has been incredibly educational. I've watched our story start with a vague concept and develop into this whole other beast. Sort of interesting to be sharing the creative process with someone else. Always love the new experiences, because in the end it makes me a better writer.

We've just received an interesting write-up from one of the writers that shaped my own writing way back in the day. I was neat to come full circle.

We've had a few people take a peek at the work and offer great criticisms. Actually, real nice to see some honest constructive criticism, when the reviewers in most of the trades couldn't review their way out of a paper bag. So, thanks out there to those that offered honest input to the project.

Anyway, off to write some more...