Farmers Markets and Film School

So, oh my goodness - Vancouver Farmers Markets are the bees knees. I had neglected to go, mostly because I'm lazy - and went the first week of September and again this past week.

The first week I went, it was a nice sunshiny day - I bought a couple of buttons to start. Then I perused the fantastic assortment of goodness! I bought corn from Chiliwack, carrots, green beans, all kinds of plums, all kinds of tomatoes, pork sausages, bread and THE BEST PEACHES EVER.

On another note, I've discovered the kind of people who shop at these markets seem the finer kind. I dropped $15 dollars, and after scouring the ground for a few minutes, I mentioned to the info desk that maybe perhaps if anyone might turn some in, that it would be great if it could be returned to me. Needless to say, I was positive I would never see that $15 again. This thought was quite depressing, as I fully intended to spend it on delicious vegetables. Whilst I was deciding which tomatoes looked the most exotic, the kind woman from the info desk came to find me - saying someone had found and returned my $15! I was sooo very happy, not to mention grateful!

This past week I picked up more tomatoes (more different kinds), peaches (so, so good), corn, bell peppers and carrots. This was after a trip to T&T to pick up some steamed buns, which I just can't get enough of apparently.

So, this week was my first week in the SFU film program. I downed a cappuccino (yes, I've finally broken into coffee) and approached the Woodwards building downtown. I walked into that classroom and it felt like my heart had dropped into my stomach. I've been waiting for this for a long time, and it was almost surreal being there. It was both gratifying and nerve wracking, glorious and humbling.  At last surrounded by people who share the same passions, yet who come from so many different backgrounds. There's a fellow from Germany, a fellow from the Czech Republic, folks from Alberta, from BC, from Africa! All with different aspirations and ideas!

My lab time was incredible! We were given black and clear film leader, exacto knives and sharpies to draw, colour and carve into this film... Learned how to splice properly, which was fantastic. And the sheer differential in ideas between 6 people given the same media in the span of 3 hours. I'm excited to see the rest of the class' work next week!

I've found out I'm in the last shoot group in the semester, so I'll be shooting my first semester film the beginning of November. It seems a long ways away, but I have lots of time to formulate my plan. We're each given basic equipment and two one hundred foot rolls of 16mm film, and we can do whatever we want. We can work alone, we can work in groups. Next week we start getting into the nitty gritty with the Bolex's. It'll be interesting to see how I'm actually supposed to use one, instead of just sort of guessing.

In book news, I highly, highly recommend David Mamet's Bambi vs Godzilla. If you have any interest in the film business, screenwriting, film history... it's a fantastic book chalk-full of Mamet's extremely intelligent insights on many of the strange discrepancies in Hollywood and it's politics. I'd say it's one of the better books on film I've read! I've just started to read Steven Pinker's The Stuff of Thought and am so far finding it goes in one ear the out the other, but hopefully I'll find a foothold in this psychology mind-brain mumbo jumbo.

In film news, I've been trying to watch more new films these days. I have a list about 43 miles long filled with films I have yet to see, everything from Citizen Cane to the Godfather Part II to Dirty Harry. I caught up on films like Se7en, Man on the Moon and Juno earlier in the week. Se7en was mentioned about a half dozen times in my first film lecture and lab, so it was bumped to the top of my watch list. Juno was alright. I've heard from lots of people that it's horrible and lame, while others hailed it as brilliant. I'm just going to say it was pretty darn adorable, and that's that.

I watched Fantastic Mr Fox, whose level of detail truly blew me away. Although Wes Anderson irks me a bit (although he does produce superb and unique films), Fantastic Mr Fox is a real piece of work. The detail in each and every character - yet the small reminders of the imperfections of the artist, the shifting of the fur during stop motion, some fingerprints in clay. The styling is just genius. The tall, lanky, awkward foxes; the thin, devlish rats; the bizarre enigma that is the opossum. Wes Anderson and Rauld Dahl might be a good combination after all!

Another film I just watched was John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China. And although this seems a rather typical 80's kung fu action flick, I've got to say that it was a lot of fun to watch. Kurt Russel's character of the 'hysterical American' just cracked me up. I was also a big fan of his all-American mullet and 'wife-beater'. I may need to invest more time in John Carpenter's films. I believe the only other of his I've sort of seen is Escape from New York, which I may or may not have fallen asleep in.

If you want some amazing classic film fun, I'd recommend checking out this YouTube video, in which classic movie scenes are dubbed over by Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick Starr, Squidward Tentacles and Sandy Cheeks. So, so great.

Anyways, I hope everyone's having a great September/start of their fall semesters. I'm trying to get my hands on another part time job to fill up my weekends, but that search isn't going so well.

Ps everyone, Rainbow Owl is still on sale! He's gotten a tremendous amount of views, but no takers just yet! He's sitting here on my Wii feeling quite lost without a home. Anyone? Bueler?

Via Sponginess Gifs!

Catching up! Pie-Wise!

First up: my pie making adventure! This thing was frigging delish, I'm not going to lie. I got this recipe from the tomb that is The Joy of Cooking!

I did the basic pie/pastry dough:

Blueburries!

Basic Pie/Pastry Dough for one 9 inch or 10 inch double crust pie (page 665)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

3/4 chilled veggie shortening

3 tbs cold unsalted butter

6 tbs ice water

THE MIXTURE.

Bottom shell.

Sift together flour and salt - add half the shortening and the butter, work lightly with fingers until it has the consistency of cornmeal. Add the other half of the shortening and work until it forms pea sized bits. Sprinkle with the ice water! Work it gently into the dough until it all holds together, add a little more if it's not working together yet. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap.

THEN, pie time!!

Blueberry Pie - One 9 inch double crust pie (page 677)

The lattice.

Puking pie.

5 cups blueberries

3/4 to 1 cup sugar

3 1/2 to 4 tbs cornstarch

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

1/8 tsp salt

1 to 2 tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 425 F and position a rack in the lower third of the oven.First, combine blueberries, sugar, cornstarch (use the larger amount if you're planning on doing a lattice top like I did) lemon juice and salt in a bowl and let stand for 15 minutes or so. Pour the mixture into the bottom crust and dot with the little bits of butter before covering the top!

BAKE.

My only supreme mishap with this was the fact that, about 10 minutes before being done, my pie decided to throw up all over the inside of my oven. I opened the door and smoke comes billowing out, sets off my idiot fire alarm and fills my low-ceilinged basement right up with smoke. I'm really glad the people upstairs weren't home, because they probably would have kicked open my door and blasted the place with a fire extinguisher - shooting first, asking questions later. A couple weeks a pork chop I was pan frying caught a little and they came downstairs and made sure I wasn't going to burn down their house, haha.

In other baking news, as apparently I've been doing a lot lately, I made my first red velvet cake, which was pretty delicious. I got that recipe out of Joy of Cooking as well. My plan with this two layer cake was to fill it with buttercream icing and cover it with fondant. Fondant is horrifying. I'm never making it again. I ended up filling the cake with it, just so it wouldn't go to waste, then icing it with basic butter and confectioners sugar icing. Because the butter cream icing didn't ever become anything but a runny liquid in a pan. I call this cake the 'Diabetes Cake'.

Also, made more booze cupcakes for my boss' birthday. They're always a huge hit whenever I bring them anywhere - here's the recipe again if you're behind the times! Unfortunately, I ended up slightly undercooking them, and in my haste, the gnache was still super runny while I was filling and the icing was also slightly runny and they got slightly rained on, so I got there holding a box of cupcake sludge, but they still turned out pretty tasty.

Made banana bread last night, mostly to use up bananas in the old freezer and to warm up my fricking house.

This post is getting a little lengthy, so I think I'll just post more things later!!

OOOWL!

Hello everyone! Behold my first significant felt creation for quite some time! I've been fiddling with the pattern for about a week and in the past couple days the assembly began. Lots of things did not go to plan, but I think he turned out pretty swell!

See a quick progress photo in my last post, here!

The thing I love most about him is his shape That turned out pretty well. I ended up doing a lot of snipping and extra stitching than originally planned, but that is so with many of my creations. I love his colours and his lidded eyes! What I think I could of done differently is his front feathers - they could have been a little shorter I think. Originally, the pattern had him sitting a lot taller, so it would have worked in theory. He's a little lopsided (again, like most of my creations) and he doesn't sit quite like I wanted. But I think he's still quite handsome!

Side profile, so handsome!

I'm a big fan of how his tail turned out!

Ahoot ahoot?

Top view to see his glorious wings!

His gorgeous amber eyes are from Suncatcher Eyes, here on Etsy.

Such eyes!

See this sweet owl's listing on my Etsy!

Happy September everyone!!

AUGH-ust.

Hey all, I just returned from a trip out to Vancouver Island to visit some family there. It was a very nice, relaxing break after final exams and before school starts, once again, in a couple of weeks. Here's a few pictures from my tiny adventures there. One of the highlights was seeing a little tiny tree frog after an early afternoon rain.

In other news, I chopped all of my hair - resulting in a sort of courage depletion via the loss of the lion mane. It's super short, possibily the shortest it's ever been. Prior to my cut, I pretty much looked like this cheeky fellow here, the Cowardly Lion. I finally found a decent hair dresser in this fair city. Not the cheapest, but every once in a while, we do pay for quality. If you're ever looking for a place to get your hair cut, the Chop Shop's where it's at.

School starts soon, and I've got to say, this is the most excited I've been about school ever in my life! At long last I am a film student - and even a brand new campus. Tuition destroyed my bank account, and textbooks are sort of kicking me while I'm down - but post secondary school is like that.

I've got another favorite TV show to add to my list: Arrested Development. Although it's not as funny as I was led to believe by scores of other people, it is still a fantastic show. Not to mention that Jason Bateman is super adorable. 

Sewing at last! One of a thousand projects I've got on my list: THE OWL. This owl and I have amazing things planned. He may or may not be super complex, but he sure is going to have some of those new, handpainted eyes that I received in the mail from Suncatcher eyes.

Yesterday, (after a short stint of reading spiritual books lent to me by a friend) I started reading Bambi vs. Godzilla by David Mamet. I'm not that far in, but his writing is sharp and intelligent. For anyone interested in film, screen writing, film history or even just the industry itself. He has some very interesting points, well worth the read!!

Favorite artist!?

Jing Wei! Artist of amazing.

Anyways, I've got a house to clean and I'm craving popcorn! Hope everyone's week has been swell!

This just in: Nighty night. With Elmo and Ricky Gervais.

School, stones and film.

The other night I went to the most lavish cinema I know (the VanCity) and sat down to watch a gorgeous print of Dziga Vertov's Man with the Movie Camera with live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra. Seeing this film as it was originally intended blew my mind. My experience with Vertov's (and all Soviet era cinema, I suppose) has souly been through DVDs. I fell in love with Vertov's essays in the film studies courses I took last year.

 

Seeing the brief Q & A afterwards opened up some new avenues of thought for me. The Alloy Orchestra explained why they enjoyed writing soundtracks for silent films so much - they essentially bring silent cinema back to life and forward into the present. I guess there are people against them writing new material for old films.

In other news, I have a roommate now I suppose. His name is Brody and he is a small brown mouse. I saw him peek into my living room late last night (or rather, early this morning), after I had suspected something with tiny feet had been scuttering about my bedroom the odd night. At least I know for sure he's not a cat sized cockroach now. That always makes turning the lights off a little easier. I was considering buying a snap trap, but now that I've named him I've gotten all attached, so a live trap it is.

I harvested my first two wee tomatoes today! Pictures will go up a bit later. Despite my recent gardening neglect, I do have one tomato forming on one of my Brandywine Tom plants, which is delightful. The Micro Tom plants are loaded with fruit and keep budding with new flowers! It's quite wonderful. I've also got some nice flowers going in this square planter. Mini peppers are fattening up on a ledge in my kitchen and I'm thinking of trying my hand at herbs again... who knows!

Last time I posted I said I may have had a kidney stone, and that might is still a might. The theory is that I passed it by the time the ultrasound was preformed. Which is good, as whatever was bothering my abdomen was a great deal more painful than anything I've ever experienced.

There's a midnight double bill of Mad Max and The Road Warrior in the next couple weeks, and I intend to be there and enjoy the future dysotopia that is Australia with a young and dashing Mel Gibson. Inception is on my list of things to see this week - after papers of course.

Class registration is done. On Mondays I get to scamper between three different campuses, which is going to get tiresome pretty quick, I think. But I feel a little more like a film student now that I'm all enrolled and ready to go. Although I'm taking only one film related course (as I've taken all of the lower division ones I possibly can already), I think September's going to be a bit of a blast.

I've just finished reading Dune by Frank Herbert and I wasn't as fond of it as I thought I would be. A friend pointed out that it is written very much like a play, a style I often have a hard time enjoying. However, I am glad I've read it - it is a classic after all!

Sorry, not much craft news these days - I've been so busy! I purchased some key rings from CLBeads on Etsy and a variety of hand painted glass eyes from Suncatcher Craft Eyes from Etsy as well. I'm quite excited for the eyes, I had been anxious to try something more complex than a button for some time. This should add a little touch of personality.

I hope everyone's summer is illin'!

Favorite Artist of the Week!!

DREW FALCHETTA! I was stumblingupon things, passing time, and found this most delightful depiction of a gnome riding a turtle. I fell in wuv.

Check out the other wonders of his watercolour work HERE!

In other, unfortunate news, I may have a kidney stone - which is awesome! Not. This was determined after I sat in a hospital for 5 hours. There goes my Sunday. I get to go for an ultrasound in the next couple days. Delightful! Stay TUNED for more news about that craziness.

Have a swell Monday, everyone.

Is it July 17th already?

It seems there's so little to update on, and it's been so long! Anyways, moving happily into my new basement cave - wondrous as it is! The kitchen and the living room are all cleaned up and livable. But there are still piles of things in most other rooms of the house. However, I did just get a storage space freed up today - so in some boxes go! Here's a bit of a nostalgia binge: I went through all of these boxes my parents brought out for me that I had packed up in the summer of '08 before I went off to University. It was pretty awesome going through them. I was trying to get rid of some things, but basically all I did was pack them more tightly into the boxes so it seemed like I had gotten rid of 4 boxes worth instead of two.

Today I decided to do a little sewing, when I was probably supposed to be catching up on bio, but whatever. I drew up a bunch of patterns for fruit&veg keychains (!) and ended up making this tiny little fellow I have called Wee Blue Bunny. He ended up a little more lopsided than I would have liked, and I should have stuck with felt for his belly - the fabric I used is sort of weird and stretchy, which makes it hard to keep even.

In other sewing news, I'm thinking of making Big Buckaroo more interesting. Since I made him I have continuously said to myself, "He's not quite 'alive' enough, he needs something more!" So the answer? I think a neckercheif and some chaps are in order! It'll make him look like a real buckaroo from the west. It'll sure make his boring felt torso a lot more intriguing. Maybe I'll give him big Brezhnev eyebrows too.

My garden has shrunk quite a bit since I've moved. It's been a bit neglected lately. But one tomato on my micro tom plants has started to turn red at last! They are LOADED with tomatoes. The back yard gets sun all day and my plants are just loving it! My Brandywine toms are chest high and started flowering a few weeks ago. Hopefully I'll be able to get some huuuge tomatoes off of them!

I think I'm going to go to a park further north tomorrow and get some nature shooting in. I haven't been out with my Sony in a very, very long time, so it's time to delve into nature for some gorgeous shots again! It'll be a bit of a haul by transit to get up there, but hopefully it'll be well worth it. I was going to go up there today, but my mom, dad and puppy left today and after that, I wasn't feeling up to too much of anything (except A LOT of Star Trek: Deep Space 9). Azn's coming to visit next week for 4 or 5 days and I may have a hot date the week after (?) busy busy busy.

Hope everyone's summer is going swell!