Sunday, after grabbing some darker paper at Curry's for life drawing, i had lunch at Licks. I was there for two hours, reading manga - i this case, Tsubasa and the xxxHolic Guide. Tsubasa actually managed to shock me with the twist in its storyline. Apparently, there are only 5 volumes left. And, man, xxxHolic is beautiful to look at.

The movie i saw was The Men Who Stare at Goats, about a reporter from a small-city newspaper getting caught up in a story about an American military unit devoted to psychic warfare (and peace-making - very 70s/hippie-ish). It was funny, enjoyable, but not great. I thought it should have been pushed more - there were lines that were supposed to be funny, but fell flat bcause of the delivery (poor direction). Anyway, a renter.

"Lieutenant Colonel Django used funds from the project's black budget to procure prostitutes..."
"That's a lie!"
" ...and to get drugs for himself and his men."
" That... well, the hooker thing is definitely a lie."

"It's ok we're Americans, we're here to help you! I think I just ran him over. Oh crap."

Busy day Monday - three classes, plus yoga (Shannon was sick both classes last week), Ryan Miller & Suzanne were here to speak to the students, tho' i saw them only briefly.

Saturday, i went into TO to do some shopping - i saw stuff at the Queen St H&M i liked, but they had only one thing in my size. The Eaton Centre store had a few interesting sweaters and a pair of pants. There were black pants with a paisley pattern i liked, but they didn't have my size either.

I had lunch at Spring Rolls (pork chop rice platter, springrollini, chicken-veggie dumplings).

Then i saw A Serious Man, the latest by the Coen Brothers. After a prologue involving a ghost in a Jewish settlement in centuries past, the jumps to the late 60s, and a serious, rational man named Larry Gopnick. Larry is a physics professor hoping for tenure (although someone is writing nasty letters to the tenure board), is bribed by a foreign student who wants to pass his class (or sued for accusing the student of bribing him), a neighbour encroaching on his property, has an unemployed brother living on his sofa, has a wife who want to divorce him (much to his surprise) and marry the widowed neighbour, a pothead son coming up to his bar mitzvah, and a very bitchy daughter. Every time he moves, something else happens to him, and he is slowly having a breakdown. He looks for help from lawyers and rabbis, but no one can give him answers.

It's funny, although dark, and ends rather darkly. The best comparison is Job (from the Bible, being a good man to whom many bad things happen with no explanation - and in that book, it's very much debated about why God was punishing Job). Larry is a good man, tries to be honest, doesn't swear or get angry and so on. Where he differs is that he has no faith in God, he has only faith in the mathematics of physics. One school of thought is that Job was punished for his arrogance (when he was being punished, he said he was not a sinner, but isn't everyone? Though the idea that your prosperity indicates your righteousness is somewhat disturbing). Is Larry being punished for his lack of faith? The biblical connection is also made with the storm, which was a element in Job's story and the movie.

There's also Larry being hounding by the Columbia Record company - Larry Gopnick repeatedly rejects 'Abraxas' (the album by Santana), which a gnostic name for God.

There's the foreign student's father, when Larry points out the contradiction in being sued for defamation of character when he accuses the son of trying to bribe him but wants him to take the money for a higher grade, who tells Larry, "Please, accept the mystery."

And there's the Jefferson Airplane music that kept appearing, "When the truth is found to be lies, And all the joy within you dies, Don't you want somebody to love?" maybe it's talking about Larry's beliefs in math and physics as the answers for the universe?

Maybe all the people hounding Larry are the equivalents of the Adversary from the Book of Job.

Maybe when Larry went to talk to the rabbis, when they talked about God or mysterious messages rather than his family problems, when h thought they were missing the point, it was actually he who was missing the point.

Being embraced by his wife's new love.

"Dad, what's sodomy?"

What happened this week? Gah! Can't remember. Lots of marking. I think i saw Astro Boy again Monday night. No! I went to Kennedy Commons to see A Serious Man, but i didn't want to think, so i saw Whip It again, lol.

Thursday after class i went to TO to met up with Ange, whom i hadn't seen for a few months. We had lunch at Peter Pan - i had some delicious lamb chops, and wine. After, i did a bit of shopping, then saw Where The Wild Things Are again, this time on IMAX. Then it was off to see Cirque Du Soleil's Ovo again. So good. But.... dang, it was cold in the outer concessions tents - not to mntion the water outside the portable toilets.

Friday i had intended to see a movie after our meeting, which was kind of rushed, and got a little heated, ha ha. Anyway, Angelina, Matt and i, and eventually Chris, wnt to Wild Wings. I tried different than my usual, starting with Lemon Pepper (after a while, the lemon got strong). I tried one of Angelina's, with i think was BBQ & Blue Cheese (too much blue cheese is obnoxious), and one of Matt's, which was BBQ and Taco (a little spicy for me). Later on, i ordered a second pound, Wild West, which was BBQ and mustard. It was okay, but eventually i realized it tasted like brown beans, and that kind of made it less interesting, lol.

Last week, on the way to Dar's, i stopped along the way at several spots to take som photos of the leaf colours, and other fall scenery.

Looking down Concession Road 4 (or is it 6 or 7?), west. Pretty sure it's 4.

2009 October 14.

From the first life drawing class this term. I was having a terrible time, my neck/shoulder was really hurting - first time i'd had that from life drawing (and i'd had massage therapy that morning). I left after only an hour, and my neck got worse the next few days. Ugh. Anyway, not much turned out from that night, but i like the energy in this one.

He didn't have glasses, that's just a line for the eyes.

2009 November 4.

I waited until after my next therapy session to start again. I also stood the drawing donkey on its end, and stood while drawing. It was a much better session. These ones i liked were all 15-30 minutes pieces.

On October 20, 2009, i went to see Metric play at Massey Hall. I was annoyingly sick when i went, but i was determined. It's taken me a while to edit the pics, as i had to go through the Ottawa Animation Festival pics first, then my laptop croaked.

Uhhh... nice view, thanks Massey Hall. Thankfully, the seat on either side of me was empty (ha ha, i hope the scalpers got screwed when Metric added the second show... or maybe someone was sick). Also, a lot of people went up to the front to dance. Massey Hall is an odd venue for a rock concert.

Then on came Metric. Amazing, as always!

THE SETLIST:
1. Twilight Galaxy
2. Help I’m Alive
3. Satellite Mind
4. Handshakes
5. Poster of a Girl
6. Gold, Guns, Girls
7. Collect Call
8. Empty
9. Gimme Sympathy
10. Sick Muse
11. Dead Disco
12. Blindness
13. Stadium Love
ENCORE:
14. Monster Hospital
15. Combat Baby (Acoustic)

Last weekend i saw An Education, a very different movie, about an about-to-turn-17-year old girl in early 1960s Britain. Both she and the country are about to engage in a social revolution, but at the moment, her prospects are a little limited. She's very smart, and her father pushes her education, but to what end? When she meets a young man who not only charms her but her parents (naively in both cases), her life takes a dramatic turn, dropping out of school, travelling to London, paris, eating in fancy restaurants, going to galleries, all the things she's dreamed of. Something that wasn't mentioned but i found a bit odd was the obvious age difference. Sure, he was supposed to be older than the high school boys she had been seeing, but he had to be at least a decade older than her (the actor is actually 38).

Her 'education' is more about life than school. It was a funny movie, in a witty, and an interesting look at a period and place. The actor who played Jenny was great.

Someone is repressed...

"Do you go to concerts?"
"We don't believe in concerts."
"Oh, I assure you, they're real."

"You seem to be old and wise."
"I feel old. But not very wise."

I also saw Astro Boy, the CGI movie based on the old manga/anime. Overall, it was enjoyable, although not one of the greatest - i liked it more than Shrek, but less than Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Kids apparently love it.

It tries to remain faithful to the original story, but it felt a little by-the-numbers, and also a little not full thought out. There are issues they don't explain, like, is anyone running the surface world? If Metro City jumps dumps its garbage onto the surface, where do they get their resources (to build robots, or just food?). How did Cora get separated from her parents, and down to the surface. The very last scene is set up something similar to the last scene of The Incredibles, but they should have done it the same way, with a break - otherwise it's a weird transition (does this happen all the time, and we just didn't know about it?). Also - if all robots are sentient, doesn't that mean Astro killed some of them?

I didn't really like the adult character voice actors - Donald Sutherland's voice was too soft and muffled to be the militaristic President, and when i heard Dr Tenma, all i could see Nicholas Cage (who is not the right voice for a brilliant and aloof scientist). Nathan Lane was fun as Hamegg, although the character looked much different than the original, he was closer in personality.

Drs. Elefun and Tenma.

Astro Boy.

The Robot Revolutionary Front - the oddly Marxist, English-accented comedy relief.

Nicely designed trashcan-dog hybrid.

Cora, the character not from the books or anime.

One of the movies i've seen (a couple of times, actually) is Where The Wild Things Are. It's dark, unbelievably dark if you're thinking of taking children to see it. I liked it, it's great as an adult fable, about a kid in a newly broken family who uses his fantasies (we can assume) to learn to deal with his emotions. It's interesting, because i didn't find Max all that likeable at the beginning. It's also interesting that Maurice Sendak was involved in the movie's production.

I was kind of appalled at the scene in class, where the teacher tells the small children that the sun will die, destroy the earth, though humanity will probably have destroyed itself by then. What the hell are you thinking?

"Let the the wild rumpus begin!"

The Wild Things - Alexander, Carol, Judith, Ira, Max, Bull.

"It's going to be a place where only the things you want to happen, would happen."

Douglas, Max and KW.

Last Saturday, i went to Lisa & Russ's for dinner, first time in a month or so. I felt crappy after dinner, partly because i ate too much, partly, i don't think some of it agreed with me - not really big on parsnips or cauliflower, and the chicken was kind odd.

On this Friday, i dropped by Russ's place, because i needed a shirt ironed for my Halloween costume, and i couldn't find ours. I'd actually expected Lisa to be there, but it turned out Russ took tyhe day off because Lisa had to catch up on work, and the girls were home, still recovering themselves.

Speaking of Halloween, i went out as a droog again, this time with a better hat, and suspenders. Oh and better eye make-up, but still not as good as i could do with, say, a marker. The first party was at Matt's condo in Toronto. Chris and Rebecca, Miah, Dawn and Matt Jelavic were there, plus a bunch of Matt and Stephanie's other friends. I was feeling tired, and was leaving around 12:30 when some cute girls arrived. Uhh, yes, the self-described 'half-assed vampire' - you could have made me stay, though i decided it would be an effort in futility and left anyway.

Yesterday, i just ran errands during the day, including the suspenders, better yoga equipment, and so on. Polished my shoes, finally. Found the iron to give the shirt another go, lol. Oh, and i went to Dar's old house, and picked up a couple of old boxes from our TSB/Puppets days. Some videos that need posting, lol.

In the evening, i picked up Felicia, Torrie and her boyfriend Adam, and we drove to Toronto for a party at Andrew P's/Diego's/Mo's place (though Mo was not there). Quite a few people were there - Andrew & his girlfriend Gina, Diego, Ryan & Diane, Molly & Justin M, Natasha & Justin G, Mike R and his girlfriend (Ellery?), Jackie, who brought a friend (and eventually the friend brought her boyfriend), aside from Felicia, Torrie, Adam and me. That's 12 of my students. Plus there were a handful of other people's friends/relatives. As a DD, i kept my drinking to a minimum - a couple of Magners, and a handful of jello shots., although some barely knew each other (Torrie was in third year while Molly was in first). Drama was kept to a minimum, ha ha, though there was a lot of crude behaviour, ha ha (Torrie used someone's sword as a substitute penis all night, lol). Also some took advantage of my not being their teacher anymore, ha ha. Got a lot of hugs and such. the four of us left around... i dunno, there was a time change in there. We made it to Whitby and went to a Chinese restaurant (my General Tao chicken and fried rice were not that good). After we parted, i had to stop for gas, and then it was just past 3 EDT, so 2 EST, but when i got home, i went online for a bit.

Woke up at 9/8 this morning, not feeling too bad, just tired, as usual. Cut my hair.

Okay, it's been a while since i posted. Aside from the time it took me to write up all the Ottawa stuff, i've been sidelined with illness. I brought something back from Ottawa, something flu-like. It was worst on last Monday, the 19th, with dripping nose, sinus pain, painfully sore through, phlegm, all the good stuff. So much so, i called in sick to work for the first time in maybe 3 years on the Tuesday, though as it turned out i felt a little better (maybe because i didn't go out?). I was productive though, as i'd brought work home. I've been slowly recovering since, although my symptoms can vary through the day. My throat is okay, and i don't have much of a runny nose, but i still cough phlegm sometimes (sorry). I regret missing last week's yoga.

I wonder if i should get a flu shot? I'm still recovering, and maybe i already have antibodies anyway? What;'s more annoying than the H1N1 hysteria, aside from the fact it's not just H1N1 (which is the most common flu virus), but H1N1-09, is the anti-immunization myths.

Speaking of sorry, last Sunday i had an issue where it looked like i had internal bleeding again, like from my ulcer in 2006. I don't know what caused it, as i haven't been using aspirin, though i guess i'd taken a fair amount of acetaminophen, and pseudephedrine. My friend Lisa gave me an herbal supplement, mainly fenugreek. Its possible side effect is bloating and so on, and those were symptoms. So, i don't know. I went to the hospital ER, bringing reading material with me, though it wasn't too slow. They didn't find anything wrong, and my hemoglobin was actually a little high (opposite of what i'd expect). Anyway, i quit all medication, except my ongoing antacid - he actually gave me a different, more powerful prescription (since stomach acid helps to cause ulcers). The symptoms disappeared. Who knows?

I've still seen a handful of movies here and there, some more than once (like, this Tuesday, when i took my car in for servicing), anmd saw a show - more on those later.

Also, the Wednesday before Ottawa, i had gone to the first evening life drawing class, but my neck/shoulder started hurting and i had to quite after about an hour. The pain got worse over a couple of days, though it's faded since. Annoyingly, i'd just had massage therapy that morning. I skipped it next week and this week too. This Wednesday was my first massage session since, and i told her, so she did stuff to calm it down, and it's feeling okay. I'm going to check for a proper easel, instead of a drawing donkey - that should help.

We barely had enough time to make it from the Gallery to the Bytowne to see the final screening of the Festival (for us). Plus, i had to grab a hot dog on the way, as i was starving.

A Recipe For Disaster (Canada - High School) 'The story of a French baker who encounters numerous troubles as he gets ready for work, in stop-motion animation.'

Cute, and again, pretty good for a high schooler.

Runaway (Canada - Narrative) 'What would happen if the world were a driverless train thundering recklessly over bumpy tracks? From the Oscar-nominated director of The Cat Came Back and Strange Invaders.'

Funny!

Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death (UK - Narrative) 'Wallace and Gromit have opened a new bakery and business is booming, not least because a deadly Cereal Killer has murdered all the other bakers in town.'

Great, as always. Perfect way to end the festival.

Then it was back on the road for 5 hours back home.

After packing up our booth, i decided at the last minute to see a couple more shows before hitting the road. I met Miah, and we went to see International Showcase #2. The showcase pieces aren't in competition, but are generally more professional (one was Pixar's) and better on average (which isn't to say there aren't a lot of good ones in the Competitions).

Juiced and Jazzed (USA) 'Wild jazz music and dance overcome a young flapper named Lulu in prohibition era 1920's after she stumbles upon a flask. Her night on the town is cut short when the long arm of the law intervenes. The swinging jazz of Joe Venuti and the wild music of Spike Jones accompany the visuals, inspired by early 20th century animation.'

Fast-paced and fun!

Sunday was somewhat slower for prospective students, but it was packed for interviews, especially with Disney.

I hurried back from the screening to help with the packing up, and wanted to get a copy of My Name Is Dug, illustrated by Ronnie Del Carmen, who was doing a book signing. I hadn't figured on his being so well known.

He was an awesome speaker - used up the whole time, so no questions.

We also got a preview of the new short for the Up DVD, Dug's Special Mission. Amazing!

After, it was late, but we all went out for dinner. We'd planned to go the big Festival party Saturday night, but the line-up was nuts, and some people were feeling tired.

I dropped by the Animarket to make sure things were okay, which they were, and went on to another screening, this time Shorts Competition #4.

Did U See That? (Korea - High School) 'One silent night, a man wakes up and finds himself surrounded by water. Furniture and appliances float around his room while he remains at a loss... He wakes up the next day thinking it's a dream, but sees something strange...'

Funny.

John, Emma and Miah had the booth covered for the afternoon, so i was able to catch a couple of screenings (lemme tell ya, having a festival pass was awesome).

The first screening of the day was a feature, Mai Mai Miracle, a Japanese animation in the style of Miyazaki - actually, the director used to be part of Miyazaki's team. "In the spring of 1955 in a small village in southwestern Japan, a nine-year-old girl discovers she has a family connection with a a thousand-year-old province of legend, known as Suō. Joined by a new student who has recently transferred from the city to her school, they embark on a magical experience."

A very sweet movie, although it gets a little serious in places. The best parts are when the kids are acting like kids. The getting-drunk-on-whisky-chocolates scene was funny.

Saturday morning, John, Emma and i went to set ourselves up at our booth in the Animarket, and it was CRAZY BUSY! I was shocked! Miah and i had been to the Saturday School Fair last year, and it was nowhere near as busy. This time it was at the same place as the Aniboutique (books, DVDs, tees, etc) and ChezAni (coffee, snacks, other refreshments), but especially the 'Animators For Hire' - studios with tables set to interview potential hires.

Some girls checking out Durham's booth.

After The Making of Coraline, Trish and i had just enough time to make it to the Bytowne Theatre (back in Ottawa) to see Shorts Competition #3.

All The Time (Canada - High School) "The animation follows a character whose actions reflect the words of the song All The Time. It is drawn on tracing paper and layered in documentation to produce a fade effect. The only computer work was the cropping of frame length, syncing together of frames, and dropping the music in over the animation."

Another pretty good one for a high school kid.

After lugging the stuff over, i went across the river to the Museum of Civilization, meeting up with Trish, who was able to sneak in on her volunteer pass to see The Making of Coraline.

It was actually a talk, like Inside the Actors Studio, with director Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Coraline - which he also wrote). He talked about his background, the challenges of stop motion (especially in stereoscopic 3D), and Coraline in particular. A great event!

When we sat down in the theatre, you could see they had some dolls set up.

Friday John, Emma and i went over to the National Gallery to set up for the Animation School Fair. We were one of the schools with an Information Table set up, and Peter was doing the School Presentation (Durham was at 2:30).

It was on and off busy, as students flowed in and out of the Presentations.

I forgot what i did last week between Monday and Thursday - other than go to school, that is.

On Thursday, after class, i drove to Ottawa to be ready for the Ottawa International Animation Festival the next day - the first time Durham College is there as a school. I got there about 6, met up with Peter (Peter Hudecki, one of our teachers, look him up on Wikipedia), and we got our adges, i got settled into the hotel and such. Peter met up with someone for an interview, so i decided to see a screening, the Shorts Competition #2.

Roadrunner (USA - High School) "In this fast-paced stop motion animation, a bored young suburbanite dreams of skating through the streets, using only her shoes."

Pretty good for a high school kid!

Yesterday i went to see a movie early (saw Whip It again), before festivities began.

When i got back, it was off to my sister's for Thanksgiving dinner. The wine flowed, and there was food (turkey and all the traditional stuff). I ate too much (mainly the cheese, crackers, veggies and dip beforehand). My sister, her hubby, her two boys, my brother, his wife, two of their kids (one's in BC), my Dad and me were there. We played cards (euchre) after (me with my sister and her boys). We were there from 2 until about 8:30.

This morning i went into the city to see the Second Set of Dead Sea Scrolls at the ROM, including the Ten Commandments (which were in a different section, and i didn't have to pay for). Really, there's not a lot to see - most of the scrolls are fragments and very dark, and it's not like i can read Hebrew (or Aramaic or Greek). Still, it's interesting to get all the context, and to say i saw them, ha ha. I didn't realize different groups number them differently.

Many of the scrolls were in large jars like this.

The Ten Commandments (from Deuteronomy) from the scroll, the oldest known list of all (by far). Only showing at the ROM for 80 hours, to October 18.

I was able to park really close to the ROM. As i was about to buy my parking, someone from Parking Enforcement drove up and told me i didn't have to, because it was a holiday. ACE!

After, i went to Yonge & Dundas for a short bit, decided i didn't really need to shop, bought a hot dog and left. I saw another movie (i'm addicted!). I came home for a bit, and then my Dad and i went to my sister's for leftovers.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Interestingly, in Hebrew, it's not 'Commandments', but 'Words' (in Greek, the 'Decalogue'), or 'Terms', and this could be seen less as universal laws, and more a coveneant between the Jews and their God. These are based on the New Revised Standard Version, from Deuteronomy.

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;
you shall have no other gods before me.
Nothing here says JHWH is the only God, or the Supreme God - in fact, it rather implies there are others, and this is just between this God, JHWH, and the Jews.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
The older term is graven image, and the implication was aganst making any kind of image (much like Islam does).
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me,
Not only is there the reference to being a jealous god (jealous of other gods - and it's a pretty petty emotion), but this is the only commandment that mentions punishment. Not sure why great and great-great-grandkids get punished.
but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
This is also the only reward, but it conflicts with the punishment above.
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
How about defining 'wrongful use' (or 'in vain')?
4. Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
For six days you shall labour and do all your work.
But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.
The reference to slavery is unfortunate - apparently it's acceptable.
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
Well, acceptable for some people and not others.
5. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
This is less being rewarded by God, and more a practical guide - that is, you take care of your parents, and in turn, your kids will take care of you.
6. You shall not murder.
Apparently, the original Hebrew denotes murder, rather than any kind of killing. Aside from the fact death is an acceptable penaty for all kinds of biblical transgressions, there are tons of killings sanctioned by God*.
7. Neither shall you commit adultery.
Well, this means sex outside marriage, but definitely not one-man/one-woman. There are plenty of instances of men with mulitple wives. Also, there's an out if you rape her, and then marry her**.
8. Neither shall you steal.
Apparently this would be better translated as 'abduct' (which makes sense, as coveting covers ordinary stealing). However, there's an out when you rape, pillage and steal during war.
9. Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.
But you can lie about yourself (see Abraham pretending to be his wife's brother, to save his ass).
10. Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Obviously this is addressed to men, and not women, since it doesn't refer to woman coveting neighbour's husbands. Also, woves are put in the same category as other property.

*Deuteronomy 2:24-35, where God commands the Hebrews to enter the lands of Amorites, asking for passage through their land, but specifically makes sure Sihon, the King of the Amorites, will refuse, so that they will battle, and the Hebrews kill every man, woman and child ("And the LORD our God delivered him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every city, the men, and the women, and the little ones; we left none remaining").

**Deuteronomy 22:28-29, "If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; he may not put her away all his days."

***Deuteronomy 20:10-14, "As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you."

After the AGO shows (and lunch at Spring Rolls) i went to see the movie Coco Avant Chanel, starring Audrey Tautou (Amelie), a biopic of the early life of the famous fashion designer (born Gabrielle Chanel). This connects to Steichen through fashion!

It starts off with the two girls being dropped off at an orphanage by their father at age 9 (rather than 12, and ignores the fact they spent summers with other relatives). They learn how to sew, and when older become both seamstresses (by day) and performers in cabarets at night. Coco hooks up with a playboy/horsebreeder, who becomes a sometimes lover/life-long friend. She later meets and has an affair with one of his friends, an Englishman nicknamed Boy. In the movie, it seemed like that relationship lasted months, but in real life, it was a decade! All along it shows Coco's penchant for simpler, almost masculine (by that era's standards) fashions.

It was pretty enjoyable, although it felt like it just stopped rather than ending properly. I don't know how accurate it is, as there's some basic info which was changed, like the fact she had 3 brothers, and 2 sisters (only one is shown, with a different name).

Today i went to the AGO to see the newest exhibits.

First up was Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Years, 1923 –1937, an interesting look at one of the top photographers of the inter-war period, especially his fashion work. I especially liked the more stylistic work, with a very art deco feel. It works well with the Vanity Fair exhibit at the ROM, too.

Joan Bennett

Greta Garbo

Joan Crawford.

The next show was Alexander Calder: The Paris Years 1926–1933. Alexander Calder was an American sculptor who worked mainly in wire, and who essentially invented mobile sculpture after he moved to Paris and became inluenced by the abstract artists there.

He did a whole series of circus pieces, which were essentially toys, with moving parts, which he used to create among the earliest 'performance art', live and on film.

I like the more character-based works.

And these 'portraits' were great ! This is Jimmy Durante - too bad you can't see how '3D' it really is.

My favourites were the later, more abstract pieces. This show was about his early period (even had some drawings from when he was a kid) - he went on to create some massive, outdoor pieces.

Not actually part of the exhibit (it's from the Montreal Museum of Fine Art), but a more 'classic' piece.

The last show of the day was Beautiful Fictions: Photography at the AGO Featuring the David and Vivian Campbell Collection. While the Calder show spun off the same period as the Steichen show, this spun off the photography theme.It includes "works from the late 1960s to the present through the lens of some 60 Canadian and international photographers including Candida Höfer, Thomas Struth, Michael Snow, Suzy Lake, and Cindy Sherman. The installation also features three works by internationally acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Mark Lewis." It was quite a varied mix of pieces, well-worth seeing. I especially liked the super-sized photos.

Axel Hutte.

Candida Hofer - i found the subject matter less interesting than the fact they were enormous.

Cindy Sherman (she creates stills of herself as if they were from fake films).

Thomas Ruff - i really liked this (another person-sized one), this little photo doesn't do it justice.

A still from one of Mark Lewis's films - i like how they weren't really 'movies', per se, more like moving stills.

Another one by Mark Lewis - i liked this too, a split screen showing the same street at dawn and dusk (one side gets lighter while the other gets darker).

Thursday, after sushi and school, i went to see Dragonette at the Mod Club - i'd won a pair of tickets from Now magazine. I offered the second ticket to Shannon (friend and yoga instructor!). We had a nice chat on the drive down there (and on the way back). We met her friend Kat down there.

We missed most of the opening act (traffic was not good), but Dragonette was awesome.

Martina Sorbara has such stage presence - she is mesmerizing.

And she obviously loves being on stage.

Shannon and Kat.

I have video, but it's too big, and the audio is very crappy, although for some reason, the video generally produced better images than just on photo.

It was my first time at The Mod Club - so tiny compared to The Guvernment or Sound Academy, but it meant we were very close to the stage, so it's quite intimate.

Monday night i went out to see a movie, Zombieland again. Held together even better than the first time around - except, i wondered what the girls were doing in the grocery store with all those zombies, ha ha.

I left school early on Tuesday, and saw The Invention of Lying, starring Ricky Gervais (also a writer, director) as a man who becomes the first person to lie in a world where everyone tells the truth. For example, dates start off with people bluntly being told they are not attractive enough. Without the ability to even conceive lies, there is no fiction, He's overheard telling his dying mother she's not going to disappear, but is going to a better, and inadvertently becomes the founder of religion. People will believe whatever he says: "Have sex with me, or the world will end!"

It doesn't really push the possibilities, but just plays it for a sweet romantic comedy. It has enough guests stars and gags to keep it fun.

Thursday morning was stupid - spent a lot of time trying to track down flyers for our programs, and send them off to Ottawa. For lunch, Chris, Matt, Edin and i met up with Torrie and Felicia for sushi (funnily, they had gotten there at 12, rather than 2:30).

Today i had lunch with Lisa at Licks. After, i went to see Whip It again.

Sunday was a more relaxed day, just going to see a movie. The movie i saw was Whip It, starring Ellen Page as a misfit girl frustrated by her controlling mom and small town life, who develops a passion for roller derby. If you've seen the trailers, there's really no surprise, but it's still really enjoyable.

"I like smart girls. That's why I married your mama. Well, that and I knocked her up."

"Has anyone ever thrown up on the track before?"
"Yeah"

!

Saturday night was another Nuit Blanche (or as i heard one person call it, noo-ee blawnsh) - hard to believe it's been a year already. Overall, i was disappointed with the 2009 show. Nothing really grabbed me (and compared unfavourably with ones from 2007 and 2008), a lot of the exhibits were obscure, the meaning only discernible if you read the descriptions, while i think the art should be able to speak for itself. Bay Street between Gerrard and Front was shut down to traffic, but it was barely used, an awful waste (and because east-west traffic could cross it, it was fenced at all the intersections, so couldn't even be used as a pedestrian 'main street'). Then again, it's possible i just went to the wrong exhibits. My plan was to hit all the recommmended exhibits, and as many as i could along the way.

The bus station had Battle Royale - volunteers enter the stage blindfolded, to fight (there were pro wrestlers in there too). Funny idea, though i didn't get the supposed connection to African-American post-slavery bouts, or the artist's "own personal fear of societal invisibility".

Rabbit Balloon by Jeff Koons, who continues to disappoint me - last year's balloon was more fun (it spun around and played with light better).

Beautiful Light: 4 LETTER WORD MACHINE, at City Hall, showing 'codes, DNA sequences and elemental words'.

Wild Ride, a mini-amusement park, the rides reflecting the ups and downs of the financial markets, ha ha.

Imminent Departure, a multimedia presentation of smoke, light and audio (we listen in to conversations of people saying good bye, hello, missing their trips, etc).

It's a shame there's so much, and you can only see a small part of it. Maybe next year i'll get a hotel room, and take a nap - it's on all night.I should also research the exhibits more, try to get a sense of where to go.

Three ideas for exhibits, all using buildings as the 'screen': 1. shadow puppets being projected onto a building (maybe even hands?), 2. using a building as the screen for a giant video game (maybe several?), 3. interactive animation - years ago, a fellow teacher went to a dance club that had animation that was hooked up to music, something like the CN Tower synced music, but more visually interesting - set up mo-cap for that would be interesting too, like you could play Godzilla attacking a building.

This morning i saw Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (Evangerion Shin Gekijôban: Jo), part one of a four-movie retelling of the original anime series (which will have a new ending). Apparently it is, at this stage, mostly a retelling of the first 6 episodes - in fact, it felt somewhat like a bunch of episodes cut together - some redundant scenes, choppiness, yet it's only 90 minutes long (where the episodes should total at least over two hours).

Overall, i was kind of mixed on it. I loved the original series (at least, up to the end), but it did have its issues. It's supposed to be a gritty story set futuristic post/pre apocalyptic world, but then it has this weirdly sentient penguin living with one of the characters (you can do comedy relief with out that kind of nonsense). Rei essentially has no personality, and Shinji's emotions range from quietly depressed to screaming fear. Some real emotional change would be welcome. I understand Shinji's Dad is supposed to be something of a bastard, but how they treat the kids is just bizarre, especially considering the future of the world rests on them. Realistically, you'd treat them as well as you would your top soldiers and star athletes - they should have their own tutors (not placed with the neighbourhood school), doctors, nutritionists, chef, psychologists and so on. They would also spend a lot of their training (with their EVAs, hand-to-hand combat, weapon use, etc), rather than, say, history quizzes. I mean, the movie starts with Shinji arriving alone, wandering around the deserted town, and ending up almost being killed in the middle of a battle - so much for security.

"Where's the saviour of humanity?" "I dunno, has the local train dropped him off yet - anyone got a train schedule?"

A classmate beating up on Shinji. I admit, he's so whiny, i want to be beat him up myself - the character you most want to beat up since Anthy Himemiya.

Okay, tell me again why they built NERV hq in the middle of the city?

The trailer for Part 2 actually promised more fanservice, ha ha.

The other movie i saw today was Zombieland, the dark comedy/buddy pic/love story/zombie movie. It was pretty funny, very good. I liked the narration (the rules of zombie fighting, etc).

Let go of your drink, for pete's sake.

Okay, these are virus zombies, rather than mystic zombies, so don't they need to eat and sleep on a regular basis?What about going to the bathroom (can they take their clothes off)? I wonder if zombies can read?

The bad girl (Emma Stone, cutie from Superbad), the alpha male, the nerd, and the kid.

Time to nut up or shut up!

The first movies i saw today were Toy Story and Toy Story II in 3D - a double feature (with no shorts). Wow, it's been so long, i barely recognized the stories, aside from the very basic plot idea. The 3D was good, although you forgot about it after a while, although i think the AMC's projection is a bit dark. I will say, although they were enjoyable, i don't think they were great, and i didn't have an inkling of what was to come in the form of Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up. Sid was strangely evil for a kid, and i'm not sure where romance leads for toys (or for Cars, for that matter).

"Look, I'm Picasso."

"Laser envy."

"You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity."

A lost opportunity - Woody should've still had that scar so it could be fixed in II.

I realize these were made forever ago, in computer animation terms, but man, the humans were ugly-looking. Looks like they were from Shrek, ha ha. I still think Toy Story should have been done as a live-action/CG mix (switching to CG when the toys came alive).

"So, uh, how long is this gonna take?"
"Ya can't rush art." (Geri from Geri's Game).

"I just wanted to say you're a bright young woman with a beautiful yarn full of hair."

Another week gone by so fast. Monday and Tuesday i had yoga, finally. Had a nice chat with Shannon Tuesday. Had my massage therapy Tuesday afternoon, which has kinda left my neck/shoulder unusually sore/stiff.

Wednesday night was a party for Jelavic getting his Ph.D. Pizza, cake and hot tub (not for me - no bathing suit, plus it was damn cold outside, and the chlorine reeked). I was a little late for the surprise part, as i'd stopped to get a bottle of wine (which was actually much appreciated).

Thursday Matt, Miah and i went to Staff Appreciation Dinner, though the person who pushed us to go (Emma, plus John) ended up not going. Boo! Virtually no one else from our division went, even though some had 20 year service anniversaries (and i had 5). The food was okay -perogies, (but not sauteed), ordinary salad, white bread rolls, mashed potatoes, chicken-like gravy, breaded chicken, breaded over-sized kebabs (pork?), cabbage rolls (which i don't like), black forest cake for dessert (i can't eat chocolate). I guess i shouldn't complain over free food, but the food wasn't the issue, just the fact only 3 of us went. I think it was more non-teaching staff than faculty. Buh.

Today i got up as if i were going to work, but went to movies instead. Grabbed a meatless Egg McMuffin and berry pie for breakfast, and in the middle took a lunch break, with 20th Century Boys, at Licks. I've been home all evening, doing laundry, cutting my hair, reading the papers, and such.

I said last week i wasn't going to do the Friday Five anymore, but the Friday Five for October 2, 2009, is actually pretty good.

Careers, Dreams, and Reality

1. What did you dream of being when you were a little child?
A vet, but not seriously - i just loved my cat, ha ha.
2. What did you think you might become when you were between the ages of 12-13?
I don't remember thinking about it at all.
3. What career choices did you consider as a young adult?
I went to school for Political Science, and assumed i would get into government some way.
4. Did you follow along one of the career paths you considered?
Nope - ended up in retail (UGH!).
5. Have you changed careers since then? Was it by choice or necessity?
Oh yes - ended up in Animation, by necessity and choice. I wanted to do something creative, and kinda fell backwards into this. It works for me!

Life reconstruction of 'Anchiornis huxleyi' - exceptionally well preserved dinosaur fossils uncovered in north-eastern China display the earliest known feathers.

The creatures are all more than 150 million years old.

The new finds are indisputably older than Archaeopteryx, the "oldest bird" recognised by science.

It has extensive plumage covering its arms and tail, and also its feet - a "four-winged" arrangement, says Professor Xu from the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing.

Fossils of 'Anchiornis huxleyi'.

"The first specimen we discovered earlier this year was incomplete," Professor Xu from the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing told BBC News.

"Based on that specimen, we named it Anchiornis; and we thought it was a close relative of birds. But then we got a second specimen, which was very complete - beautifully preserved.

"All over the skeleton, you see feathers.

"Based on this second specimen, we realised that this was a much more important species, and definitely one of the most important species for our understanding of the origin of birds and of their flight."

Then i saw Jane Campion's movie Bright Star, which is the story of poet John Keats's three-year romance (before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 25, a sad but fitting end for a tragic Romantic poet) with Fanny Brawne, told from Fanny's point of view. It's a beautifully done movie, though i think it skips over a lot of detail, some negative (his extreme jealousy, his sensitivity about his height [5'], his other siblings, etc).

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art--
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors--
No--yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever--or else swoon to death.

A pic i took at the ROM.

I went to this year's Word On The Street. Labyrinth is everywhere (but since when did they have cooking books?).

Today i went to the ROM to see the show Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008, which... "explores a glamorous photographic history of portraiture featuring... works by master photographers including Edward Steichen and Annie Leibovitz." Although, it would be more accurate to say 1913-1936 and 1983-2008(+), because the magazine shut down for nearly 50 years. Still, it was an interesting show, comparing the jazz age stars to the modern age. I can only remember one connection (Lionel Barrymore, and his grand-niece Drew), but there were others. Lots of great photography.

Katherine Hepburn, Louis Armstrong, Anna May Wong.

Demi Moore, Madonna

Hilary Swank

Julianne Moore and Ingres' original Grand Odalisque.

Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley (you're not fooling anyone, Tom Ford).

Tonight i saw A Hard Day's Night, the Beatles' first film. I could've sworn i reviewed it before. Or, if i didn't, i should've, because i've seen it before. Maybe i didn't catch the whole thing on TV, and decided not to review it? Funny, though their delivery of their lines is pretty dry. Interesting look at the 60s - for all the hullaballoo about fame getting in their way, it still seems rather innocent compared to now.

"Are you a mod or a rocker?"
"Um, no. I'm a mocker."

Yesterday i was home most of the day - didn't leave until 6:30. I went downtown TO to see a movie at the Bloor. Dropped by Mo's place to say hi, which i did to Diego, Ken, Andrew and Gina (Mo remained shut in his room).

Had a quick supper at Acme Burger (should've gotten there earlier).

The movie i saw was Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Animation 2009. I was actually disappointed. The crowd was loving it though, although it seemed to be one of those crowds who laughed at things more and harder, because they think they should. I think they were probably high. There was one that was just a lame martial arts fight between a cow and a sheep, badly animated, and just not that funny. When the most polished piece is a decade-old music video (Ghost of Stephen Foster), then i think there's a problem. That being said, there were still some good pieces.

Fantaisie in Bubblewrap - a kind of horror story.

Katten Mons - a Norwegian one about a cat who is so hungry it keeps eating everything, including people and whole scenes. This is the kind of thing i think of when i think of animation festivals - visually interesting, offbeat, not just a gross gag.

Two Minute Itch - funny, but not actually finished (just drawn!).

Lapsus - funny and visually inventive!

The Ghost Of Stephen Foster, the video for the Squirrel Nut Zippers, from when swing was big in the late 90s.

La Revolution Des Crabes - crustaceans who wish they could move forwards and back, not just sideways, ha ha.

Furious Little Cinnamon Bun - just another one of those which really are non-sensical and violent stuff just happens, made funny by how it ends.

Washington - a funny animated rap about George Washington:

Washington, Washington
Six-foot-eight, weighs a fucking ton.
Opponents beware, opponents beware.
He's coming, he's coming, he's coming.

Let me lay it on the line, he had two on the vine.
I mean two sets of testicles, so divine.
On a horse made of crystal, he patrolled the land,
With a mason ring and schnauzer in his perfect hands.

Here comes George, in control.
Women dug his snuff and his gallant stroll.
Ate opponent's brains, and invented cocaine.
He's coming, he's coming, he's coming.

Washington, Washington.
Six-foot-twenty, fucking killing for fun.
Spread, spread, Delaware.
He's coming, he's coming, he's coming.

Sue me if I go too fast,
But the sons of his opponents wish he was their dad.
Got a wig for his wig, got a brain for his heart.
He'll kick you apart, he'll kick you apart!

Ooh!

He'll save children, but not the British children.
He'll save children, but not the British children.
He'll save children, but not the British children.
He'll save children, but not the British children.

Had a pocket full of horses, fucked the shit out of bears.
Threw a knife into Heaven, and could kill with a stare.
He made love like an eagle falling out of the sky.
Killed his sensei in a duel and never said why.

Washington, Washington.
Twelve stories high, made of radiation.
The present beware, the future beware,
He's coming, he's coming, he's coming.

Did I mention his four nuts?
Well he also had four dicks.
If you took off his boot you'd see the dicks growing off his feet.
I heard... that motherfucker... had like... thirty goddamn dicks.
He once held an opponent's wife's hand...in a jar of acid...at a party.

The Friday Five for September 25, 2009.

Then & Now Five

1. How old were you when you first started your livejournal?
Six years younger than i am now.
2. How has your life changed since then?
Not a lot - except my income is secure. Still lonely and needing to lose weight and move.
3. If you could go back and change one thing from your past, what would it be?
Go to art school?
4. What is one thing you would do to make livejournal better?
More readers? Ha ha.
5. If you joined the spice girls today...what would your spice name be? (ie, baby spice, scary spice, etc)?
Brainy Spice?

I think this will be the last Friday Five i'll do, it's boring me, and i think i'm boring whoever is reading this. Probably no one, ha ha.

Another week flew by. There was no yoga, as the instructor was sick (at least Monday). Not even massage therapy, that was the week before (and next week). We had a tour by reps from Ubisoft. Matt and i went for a drink on Tuesday, and i saw 9 again - Miah was supposed to join but he cancelled. On Thursday, we were supposed to go out, but Matt had to cancel as he was looking at houses, Miah was indifferent. Chris was gonna call (did i give him the wrong number?). I saw Lisa on Thursday too. Almost everyone has seen my tattoo - except my family, and my hometown friends, who i don't see regularly.

What a disjointed update, ha ha.

Oh! One night - i think maybe Monday? - my neck got so tense and painful i couldn't sleep, i was writhing, and it made me so nauseous i threw up. Throwing up didn't help much, since the nausea wasn't created by what i ate. Ugh! I felt like crap the day after.

One of our teachers has been gone the whole week.

The weekend has been pretty quiet - just left the house today to go drop off some empties, buy some more cider, newspaper, antiperspirant. Did a lot of internet stuff (mainly edited Facebook photoalbums, ha ha).

Ha ha - funny story. this weekend i was walking through a mall, when a woman waves some body care product at me - i give my head a slight shake, but as i pass her, she calls out, "Excuse me sir!"

I stop, and she gestures for my hand. In her Romanian accent, she asks me, "Vat do you do ven you have dry skin?" as she traces her crusty dry hands across my soft one.

"I moisturize," i say, and walk away. Ha ha ha!

Speaking of skin... BEFORE.

... and AFTER.

Balding, middle-aged guys with sunglasses. They're so cool. (I have sunglasses.)

In recent years i've become more and more disgusted by the ugliness of the city of Toronto. I don't mean the architecture or landscapes, i mean the general attitude and lack of pride and caring. Toronto has a reputation for being a clean city, but it's a lot dirtier than it used to be (and dirtier than New York is, or at least the Midtown area i was in) . For every street beautification project, there's some other arm of the city cutting up the streets and sidewalks, or covering them in pavement. Urban trees and planters are neglected or cut away. Overall, it just looks like the City just doesn't care. When New York began cleaning up the garbage and graffiti off their subways, they found it made a huge difference in how people behaved - when a place looks like a dump, people treat it that way.

These are just a few samples - the full set is here.

When i was at the University of Toronto in the 1980s, i never saw anyone lying in the streets, and while there were people begging for change, there are a lot more people begging now than there used to be. I never saw anyone lying in the streets, and hardly any begging in New York. Personally, i don't think it should be allowed. It's not for lack of sympathy - if people genuinely need help, they should get it. Toronto (and other cities) needs a lot more low income housing. A large proportion of street people are said to have mental problems, in which case, they should get the care they need. By allowing people to live in the street, we say it's okay for them to live like that, and we become enablers, rather than fixing the problem.

2009 September 18 - On Friday i had lunch at the Queen Mother, yet again. Mmm... the lamb chops were good.

2009 September 18 - I like the name of this store (across from the Queen Mother).

2009 September 18 - Near Bay & Queen, walking from lunch to the second movie.

2009 September 18 - Near Bay & Queen.

2009 September 18 - At Yonge & Dundas.

2009 September 18 - After the movies, i took my own photo at Yonge-Dundas Square, using mainly all the bright lights of the Square.

2009 September 18 - Bay and King (i think, ha ha).

2009 September 18

2009 September 18 - My reflection on Bay near Front.

2009 September 19 - I didn't take many photos on Saturday. This is between the first and second movies, on Yonge near Wellesley. I SOLEMNLY PROMISE TO NEVER BARE MY MIDRIFF.

2009 September 19 - Yonge just north of Gerrard. I was trying to shoot the truck going by, except it stopped there, right where i was standing.

2009 September 19 - Oh, the Zanzibar... What's that?

2009 September 19 - Back to school special? Is that a discount for teachers, or students, or....

Today i needed to get some shopping done, though i still couldn't find a new hoody (why are they not in my size?), while i did get some new tees for yoga.

Then - you know, i remember a time when hardly any new movies came out during the Toronto Film Festival - then i saw another movie, this time Jennifer's Body. It's gotten mixed or average reviews, but i was pretty disappointed. The first hour really dragged, and overall the whole thing was a mess of direction. Characters kept veering between over-the-top and more natural behaviour, you were never sure what tone it was trying to strike. How do you go to science class with your friend when the night before you saw her drenched in blood and vomiting black fluid? Like, oh, it's back to normal? Some of the dialog was just plain bad. It could have been much better. And not nearly enough sex for it to be described as a sexy thriller (or tension, for that matter).

Nerdy girl? Know why? Glasses.

"Oh, hey, i know people are on fire behind me, but i'm gonna go with these guys."

"Hey, can i borrow your chem homework?" (Aren't you like 23?)

.
"I will finish you if I have to."
"Ok, you can barely finish gym class." (She's obviously out of shape.)

After my appointment, considering i'd already gone over my parking period and was into another, i decided to stay and see a regular movie at the AMC. This time it was The Informant!, a comedy about a man who turns informant on price-fixing in the company he works for, even going undercover for more than two years. The real story and how it panned out for the informant isn't funny, but here it is played for laughs, and is very good. We get to hear the man's internal monologue, and it's a fun portrait of a man who is both stupider and smarter than you think.

"0014, because I’m twice as smart as 007" (actually a quote from Gilligan's Island).

I had some time to walk down to the AMC, and made an appointment (more about which later).

My final movie of the Festival was an animated one, stop motion, called A Town Called Panic(Panique au village - 'panic in the village'). I'd actually seen a short from the series, which is the adventures of Horse, Cowboy and Indian, plastic/plasticine toys, all of whom live together in the same house. Cowboy and Indian decide to build Horse (who is the smart one) a brick barbecue for his birthday, but accidentally order fifty million bricks, instead of just fifty.There's also a plotline about undersea people who steal walls, and a love interest for Horse. The best advice i could gather from this is to not store 49,999,950 bricks on your roof, hoping no one will notice.

Actually, there's no message here. It's just silly fun, as the animators keep pushing the characters into ever more ridiculous events. It's like watching little kids play with figures, if they were the children of Monty Python and Lewis Carroll.

Horse, Cowboy and Indian relax at home.

What to do when merpeople occupy your house? Fling cows at it.

Madame Longrée runs a music school.

They escape to... the Arctic?

Horse reminds Cowboy and Indian to stop playing tennis and get back to work.

Saturday was the final day of the Festival, and had the one movie i wanted to see but wasn't able to order a ticket beforehand for. Sadly, there was another i'd wanted to see (Kamui), but its time conflicted with another.

The first movie was Symbol (Shinboru - quite literally the English word 'symbol'), from the director of Dai-Nipponjin ('Big Japanese Man'), the mockumentary about a Japanese monster fighter past his prime (which i thought was painfully slow), which i saw at TIFF two years ago. Symbol is something else altogether.

The first two thirds or so of the movie has two storylines. One part is set in Mexico, as we follow a family whose father ("Escargot Man") is in a wrestling duo - compared to the others, he's somewhat out of shape and we can't imagine how he'll be able to compete.

The second part is about a Japanese man waking up alone in a white room with no doors or windows. No one responds to his shouting. As he explores the room, he notices a small phallic-looking bump on the wall. When i presses it, a bunch of giggling cupids/angels appear, and then fade away, leaving their little phalluses poking out of the walls and floor. He discovers, as he pokes each one, that each has a different consequence. One releases water, another releases sushi, another a toilet plunger - another a little cupid bum that farts on him. He eventually discovers one that opens a door (only to shut when he releases it) - he has set up a series of them (swinging from a rope, grabbing a plunger, showing a key) in an attempt to escape.

The programmer who introduced it called it this years's "What The F" film, and i would agree. It starts off very funny (the first part is called 'Education'), as we (and the Japanese man) try to figure out what is going on - why is he imprisoned, and what is the connection with the wrestler. What we're expecting is perhaps some take on The Prisoner, when it suddenly becomes bizarre ('Implementation'), and then goes all cosmic ('Future'). I think i understand what it's all about (it reminds of Neil Gaiman's Sandman), although you could also see it as being about unintended consequences and unknown connections.

It would be interesting to split the first part of the movie into its two halves and show them separately, and gauge people's reactions when they are put back together.

The crazy nun driving the wrestler to his bout.

WTF!

WARNING - SPOILER:

I think the man in the room actually becomes God - he is sent there to learn how to make things happen, and how to connect a complex series. Once done, his actions have real consequences (when pressing an angel causes actions in the real world). Later, he begins climbing and aging, when finally presented with the giant penis, which i suppose is the Big Cause of everything.

The final movie of the night, since i didn't want to embrace the evening traffic jam, was a Hollywood movie, appropriately accompanied by popcorn. It was Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, the latest 3D animation (and i saw it projected in 3D) from Sony (makers of Open Season and Surf's Up). None of their work really compares to Pixar's, but they are a cut above average. If you've seen the trailer, you pretty much know the story, but it is very well-done. I think the character designs are attractive, and most importantly, it's pretty damn funny. If you can't push the art form, just keeps the gags per minute up high and i'll be happy. I liked the comment about disasters hitting famous landmarks first, lol. And yes, no lame pop references!

"You may have seen a meteor shower, but you've never seen a shower meatier than this."

I had a couple of hours before the next movie, so i could have a relaxing lunch and walk over to the AMC.

The final TIFF movie for the day was My Dog Tulip, an animated movie from England. It's an adaptation of a book about a man's love for his dog. He's an older and lonely gentleman, someone who doesn't much like other people, when he ends up rescuing a troublesome Alsatian. It's a very funny and sweet story - a good chunk of the movie is devoted to getting Tulip mated, ha ha. I liked the sketchy style - apparently it's the first feature which is drawn in a classical way, but done digitally (i would guess each frame was drawn and painted in Photoshop).

Tulip is excitable.

The neighbours don't appreciate Tulip.

Tulip doesn't like vets.

We don't know what the deceased thought of Tulip.