Tripping all over Western Canada.

The summer's pretty much over, but it's making room for delightful fall adventures - where I get to learn things! I cut all my hair off and bought a pair of shoes that aren't sneakers. I'm a grown up! Or something.

I've been traveling a bit. And by traveling, I mean going to see relatives. I don't get out much. First, I ferried over to the island via a long, hellish bus ride with camera equipment and, as usual, too many books. There I spent some time with my Gran and we went on some adventures. It's a tradition we go to Cumberland and pick up some delicious doughnuts at the local bakery. We went to Seal Bay, saw some seals - or rather, we heard them first, as they kept snorting at each other. We also went "plodging" at this great beach that, when the tide is out, there's this vast expanse of sand with shallow pools of saltwater flowing between eachother. Plodging is when you hike up your pants and plodge through these puddles. I think it's an English thing. My Gran is quite English. We pulled over to this road side cafe nestled in the trees called Becky's. They don't really have a menu. Just tell them what you want and they'll see if they can make it for you. What's better is that the owner is a gentleman with an artificial leg who has an affinity for karaoke. Oh, also the Nanaimo bars are the tallest I have ever seen. We spent a lunch at the Wandering Moose Cafe, who've got great soup and sandwiches and tea and things. For a fancy farewell dinner, we went into town to Atlas, where we shared a goat cheese tart and I had a burger that had regular burger fixings, plus pear and brie.

To Calgary! My mom took me to the zoo and we chatted while we perused the caged mammals. I was disappointed to see that the nocturnal portion had been closed down. The reptile and amphibian section was whittled down to some dwarf caimans and a tortoise, I think. I also obtained a pair of maroon pants that make me look like a 70's pimp. I dig it.

Canmore was hot and gorgeous, I spent some time just basking and reading. My dad took me to the Quarry before whisking me off to my Grandparent's farm for a couple nights. I reburned my sun burn. When I got to the farm I got mosquito bites ontop of my twice burned burn. There are few things as painfully itchy, methinks. We took the dogs out to the pond and hunted in the tall grass for (velociraptors) wood frogs and dragonflies and fancy-pants spiders. I found a friend down at the lake, a dragonfly was struggling in the water and I scooped him out. He hung out on my shirt sleeve for a good half hour before he deemed himself dry enough to fly away. I named him Horatio. It was nice to be up there for a bit. I don't think I've been that way since 2009. Seeing my grandparents and my uncle was great too.

Spent some time at the Paw with a group of friends. I would have liked another night with them all. I miss them quite a bit, especially since John left us. Time didn't permit much between everyone's schedule's though. Canmore lost another super guy last Wednesday quite suddenly. I'm sending all of my love out that way still, especially to his wife and all of his friends. It was such sad news to hear.

Spending time with my parents was pretty fly. Cracking vulgar jokes while drinking and roasting marshmallows, staying up to watch a movie only to have everyone just sort of fall asleep around me, pitchers of sangria for an anniversary dinner. It was pretty super. We all took a hike up to Grassi Lakes with my sister, aunt and rolly-polly dog. I walked into a lake and felt the coldest water on my legs since the East coast. I flew back to Vancouver the next day.

Here's a collection of the least dumb shots I took while I was away. I'm always disappointed that I don't have more/better footage. Le sigh. Try to enjoy none-the-less.

I came back to see that my garden had transformed into a tiny plot of jungle. The tomato plants were vast, when I was under the impression they wouldn't make it. One's even got some tomatoes already started. All of them have flowers. The radishes are MAD. I've got some good start on lettuces, flowers on the melon plant, more blossoms on the pumpkin plant. I've also now got another plot out back, which I might fill with root veggies - carrots and beets and more radishes, most probably.

A book you need to read? The Shadow of the Wind by one Carlos Ruiz Záfon. One of the most intriguing and richly written pieces I've read in a couple years. Now, this could mean I just haven't been reading much fiction. And I suppose I haven't. But I did really enjoy this novel. I went and bought his other book The Angel's Game last week. I can only hope it'll be a fraction as good as his first.

A film you need to watch? Rango! It's been said more than once that I have a child's taste in films, but I really did enjoy it. It was probably 20 minutes too long, but I really enjoyed the character design and the wondrous textures and references and all around awesomeness. I can really appreciate a film that pays just as much attention to it's secondary and background characters as it's protagonist. Also, there are very few human beings in the film. I also like that very much.

Now for some angst! There's been a funny, deep seated doubt I've seemed to have grown over the summer. After scraping all of that horrible sadness and lack of worth off my skin, I've seem to uncover something just festering away in a less accessible place, say a kidney or a spleen. I can't seem to shake it quite so easy. Hopefully some film work will drive it away. I don't like the feeling much. A future that once seemed boundless is now this slightly-too-small box that I'm destined to sit in with my knees under my chin and my ear pressed up against the top. I shudder at the prospect.

Here's my most recent Kingfisher Says post. Pretty much talking about what I just talked about in this post. But you get to see my weird face and hear all of my poorly chosen phrases and hums and haws! Yay! (Note: by far, the most convincing thumbnail to date proclaiming my sanity)

Choch!

I've got to say, getting to know Brendan Prost over the past 8 months has been inspiring. He was making feature films before he even set foot in the film program at Simon Fraser University. Generation Why, Prost's second feature,  premiered in Calgary last summer and I nabbed a DVD of it this past fall. I was blown away by the fact that a fellow student had already achieved such a standing in the film community, with numerous screenings and DVD sales, not to mention the fact that it took home the Rising Star Award at the Canada International Film Festival. The drive and determination needed to complete a feature are two things I have yet to muster as a filmmaker - but seeing is believing, and with Prost's feature-per-summer game plan, it's quite the motivation to get off your keester and make some films of your own! It is possible, ladies and gentlemen, you've just got to have the drive and ambition to do it!

Screening this month in Calgary Prost's next feature, Choch, gives us some mulling over to do about that image in the mirror we preen and obsess over every day.

Via Brendan Prost's Flickr Photostream

I was lucky enough to see Choch at it's premier in Vancouver on April 15th (such a late review, I'm such a horrible person, apologies). Choch is a conversation in identity and the trials we put ourselves through to fit into a clique or a culture. Tyler is a choch, stoked on Jagerbombs, decked in Ed Hardy, and surrounded by friends who are rowdy and obtuse. We've all seen these stereotypical 20-somethings wandering the malls and prowling the clubs with popped collars. Our protagonist Tyler, we discover, isn't this insensitive, chauvinistic husk of a young adult we have come to expect from that caricature. He finds himself conflicted - unable to feel quite right in his social group. Putting up this tough exterior has become commonplace, but Tyler develops an acute, conscientious doubt concerning his identity. The things he has said and done start to disgust him and he begins to reevaluate this persona he has created. He can drop the charade, become an outcast to that social circle and have to look for new companionship, or keep it up - maintaining that group of "friends", perpetuating that stereotype, but retaining that safety net/comfort zone.

Not only was the identity of youth under scrutiny, but the masquerades that parents put on were also on trial. Choch presents the facades that adults find themselves putting up to impress, say, a date with a new woman - case in point: Tyler's father. The remoulding of one's interests to cater to that of another, in this case an internet date and a sudden interest in jazz, becomes just another face to put on in the morning to maintain that relationship, however strained and uncomfortable.

I felt Choch added a sort of middle ground to these stereotypical conflicts we are so familiar with - these social groups that seem so black and white. The Greasers and the Socs, the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies, the territorial lunchroom tables in high school. Culture cliques whose elitist dispositions always end in naive misunderstandings. In Choch we see Tyler strive to maintain an awkward friendship with an old friend, whose own social qualms manifest themselves in skinny jeans and obscure bands you've never heard of. Both characters are limited by the identities they have spun around themselves and the safety they feel they have in their cliques.

Choch was leaps and bounds ahead of Generation Why both technically and from a storytelling perspective. Prost coaxed some amazing performances out of his leading man, Zach White, and used a considerable amount of ad-libbed dialogue that provided smooth and believable conversations. Shot on a couple of Sony HDR FX-1000s on a shoestring budget, Choch develops a distinct visual style via handheld camerawork, black and white footage and tight, rapid cuts. Prost's filmmaking abilities improve astronomically with every picture - the sky's the limit. Keep your eye on this one!

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again - independent films rely on word of mouth and shout outs to get their names out there. Become a fan, invite your friends to an event, write a review - anything and everything helps! Support truly independent film - spread the word!

A trailer! For you!

Choch - Trailer from Brendan Prost on Vimeo.

A personal invite! To you!

Choch - Screening Series Invitation from Brendan Prost on Vimeo.

Also, check out the films review at The Independent Critic!

I'm sort of really horrible at writing reviews/critiques. I accept this. Go see Choch.