Boy, that was quick.

The Sprockets International Film Festival for Children has been and gone. I only volunteered for one theatre shift, although I worked several days before and after. It seemed to go by very quickly as a result. I still enjoyed the post-festival party at the Drake... I only saw a bit of one film, La Citadelle assiégée, a Canadian/French co-production about life within an African termite mound. Lots of interesting microphotography, but even the boys who I thought would love the scenes of inter-species combat were grossed out by it! A volunteer who watched most of the screening said she felt really itchy afterwards.

Sheryl's still in Australia visiting family, so keeping her little dog Barkley has been my main preoccupation. He's getting four walks a day to reduce the risk on indoor poops, which has been mostly successful. I've been keeping up my training, although sometimes it's a bit tricky. Last Wednesday I wanted to get to my triathlon club's Computrainer session but I was working, off and on, at The Shopping Channel all day. A slight last minute juggling of our air times gave me enough of a window to race back into town for the workout. I didn't even change out of my "on-air" gear and managed to forget my cell phone and wallet, but I got the session in! On the weekend I did a half marathon-distance training run, which was tough but satisfying. I need to get my aching calves looked at though, it feels like I might be verging on a shin splint.

Today was busy, two "go-sees" at opposite ends of town, a hope of getting a swim workout in between them, and a ticket for an afternoon screening at the Hot Docs documentary film festival. The first go-see was a really big call and I ran into a bunch of girls from my modeling agency so I had someone to chat with while I waited for the 50(!) people ahead of me to be seen. In the end I was called up ahead of schedule, which I think was a good sign. That shoot would entail two weeks in the Dominican Republic! I was still there much longer than anticipated, so the swim workout got dropped and I had to drive down to the Hot Docs screening rather than enjoy a bike ride there. Hot Docs isn't closely associated with the Toronto International Film Festival, but there were lots of TIFF acquaintances there anyway.

I'd bought my ticket for the screening of Cuban Song, which was being shown with Blood and Incense. Both documentaries had no narrative. Cuban Song was good, but I find those latin beats so fluid and relaxing that I often, well, fall asleep! Interesting footage, and they used six different performances of one song to tie the film together. The other film, Blood and Incense, was a surprise for me. It dealt with cock fighting in Bali, and used a fascinating blend of stills, video and freeze-frame stills to portray the Balinese ceremonies and cock fighting contests. Some pretty gruesome imagery, but the impressionistic way it was presented was very effective. Hot Docs goes on for the rest of the week, I might try to get to another screening.

Listening to: What A Day That Was by Talking Heads from Stop Making Sense.

Dust and Memories

It's amazing how much dust can gather beneath and behind your furniture. It's all being revealed as I keep packing and shifting furniture. So are piles of Chris' old school work and drawings. My friend Adrian came over before dinner to help me move some heavy and unwanted furniture out of the house and into my parent's U-haul. The place is looking pretty spare and I kind of like it this way!

This week is Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children week, which I'd almost forgotten about in the confusing of preparing to sell my house and my father's stroke. I've signed up to help with the Sprockets School Programme sessions at the Canada Square theatre. I spent Monday morning meeting school groups coming up from the subway and helping them navigate through the shopping arcade to the theatre entrance. There were a few crazy moments when large groups arrived at the top of the escalator and... stopped and stood there blocking traffic.

Today I was in theatre 2 acting as an usher, which meant I got to see two films. An Italian film was first, Rosso Come il Cielo (Red Like The Sky). Beautifully told and the kids were really absorbed by it. Red Like The Sky is the story of a boy blinded in an accident and forced to board at an oppressive school for the blind. He discovers a tape recorder and begins secretly making sound "stories" that result it . The boy the character is based on has become one of Italy's top film sound designers and music producers! It was also an interesting illumination of "Foley artists", who create the natural sound effects heard in film.

After an hour spent organising impromptu lunchrooms for several of the school groups we had our second film (there were eight screens in operation today); the Belgian Gilles. Gilles is the story of a boy and his father who are consumed by soccer (err... football). When Gilles' father passes away suddenly Gilles' home life and football ambitions are thrown up in the air. Sensitively told, but pretty straightforward. Once again the kids were drawn into a story that they would never have picked themselves. I wonder if either film will every be screened commercially in North America. Probably not, which is a sad observation.

I'm flying out to Regina on Thursday at the crack of dawn. Time to start a different sort of packing. I'll be bringing along some newly-assembled childhood photo albums of my brother, sister and myself that my mother has created for her own enjoyment. She's loaned them to me to bring out to Regina to share with her ex.

Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech: not much I can really do except to shake my head at the senselessness of it and mourn the loss of innocent lives. I wish we could somehow erase all mention of the killer, I think in their crazed minds the news coverage is partially what motivates them.

Listening to: Say Hello by Deep Dish from George Is On.

The Cat's Away...

Sheryl's job with the Lord of the Rings producers is winding down as they prepare to return to London and plan the West End production. In fact they are both back in England for the week right now. The pool has been cleaned and 'opened' though and the weather has been so nice that, well...

We've kind of moved in during their absence.

With their permission of course! Actually we've just been preparing our dinner in their kitchen and enjoying it on their patio. But tonight and tomorrow night Sheryl's going to have a few friends over to enjoy it with us. Ahh, the good life.

Postscript: Sunday night was the close of the Sprockets Children's Film Festival, so all the staff and volunteers gathered at the hip Drake Hotel to drink ourselves under the table. We had the roof-top patio set aside for us and fortunately I'd had several "Sprocket Rockets" (think raspberry-flavoured vodka) before I managed to get my middle finger caught in a closing bathroom door. I don't think I'm going to lose the nail...

One final bit of Sprockets news. Last Friday I was Volunteer Captain for the the screening of Emmanuel's Gift at Theatre D. Emmanuel's Gift is a documentary about a young Ghanaian man born with a deformed leg. He received a bicycle and crossed Ghana with it, raising the profile of disabled people there. A lot of wonderful things flowed from that, including this Oprah Winfrey-narrated film. Emmanuel, now an adult and family man, was in Toronto for the screening and he made an amazing connection with the children in the audience.

Listening to: Make It Mine by The Shamen from En-Tact.

Racing and Celebrity

It's been a busy week here on Mars. First, the Sprockets film festival started. I did shifts Thursday and Friday evening at the Ryerson Theatre. Second, the San Marino Grand Prix took place this morning. Finally, this afternoon was my step-father's 75th birthday party.


Sprockets has been fun so far. Thursday was Opening Night, with a red carpet for the star of the new film version of Lassie. I was outside helping with the line-up and red carpet, which was fun. There were 600 kids desperate to see Lassie, who arrived in a black stretch limo with his trainer. (Apparently Lassie the character has always been female, but Lassie the actor has always been male.) Before the screening Mayor David Miller made a short speech and then Lassie answered some questions (the answer was always "woof"). I didn't see any of the film, so I can't give an opinion.

Last night I was Volunteer Captain for the screening of Over the Hedge, a new DreamWorks animated film adapted from the cartoon strip of the same name. The film is a "prequel" of sorts, describing how the strip's two main characters (RJ, a racoon voiced by Bruce Willis, and Verne, a turtle voiced by Garry Shandling) meet. It wasn't quite finished when this version was assembled, so a few scenes weren't fully rendered. The director (who also directed Antz) and two other production people were there and they answered questions for about half an hour after the screening. I saw most of the film; it was entertaining and well received. For the adult audience members there was the usual layer of extra meanings and references including a certain misplaced children's sled.

Which brings us to this morning's Formula One race in San Marino. The Imola track is pretty boring, with hardly any chances for overtaking. The race's interest came from strategy choices and incidents. The first incident was on the first lap; Christijan Albers was bumped from behind going into a corner and his car went flipping through the air before coming to a stop upside down. He walked away from it... Michael Schumacher's Ferrari was on the pole and managed to stay there for the whole race, in spite of having to nurse poor tires for the second half of the race. He was going so slowly that cars he had lapped earlier were catching up again! Jenson Button's Honda started second but needed to stop three times for fuel, which put him out of contention. He also had a scary pit lane incident that saw him pull away before the fuel nozzle had been removed. It ripped from it's hose and he had to stop while his team removed it. Point leader Fernando Alonzo started eighth in his Renault, but by pitting later than everyone else he was able to catch Schumacher and spent the last half of the race all over Schumacher's rear wheels. If Renault had stuck to their planned pitstop schedule he would have got past and won the race. The next race is the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring track.

Listening to: Daddy Wasn't There by Ming Tea from Austin Powers in Goldmember.

The Quiet Earth

It was a lovely spring day today and I had a 9:00 AM meeting about the Sprockets children's film festival. I decided to get there on my mountain bike so I could get a few kilometers of open road under me. I thought I'd take a fifteen minute bike up to the theatre, then scoot back home or join Sheryl for a bite before helping her with a business project she had to finish. The ride up was a bit cool, but sunny with very quiet streets.

I'm a slow starter on weekend mornings whenever possible, so the early morning lack of hustle and bustle can be a bit of a surprise to me. It reminded me a tiny bit of a 1985 New Zealand film call The Quiet Earth, in which everyone has instantly vanished, except those in the process of dying. A great psychological drama with lots of spooky scenes of silent, empty cities with the "sole survivor" wandering around trying to piece things together.

In the end my planning meeting was over faster than expected, Sheryl was delayed and the weather was even more enticing. I decided to take a serendipitous route home and ended up on the paths the follow the Don River. I just kept going until Sheryl called to say she was ready. I rode over 40 km! (So sayeth Google Earth's Measure tool.) Next time I'm not going to wear tight, stuffy blue jeans. And I'm going to get my rusty bike chain oiled.

In other news, Chris' team lost their hockey championship game 5 - 0 yesterday. As is always said in such situations, getting to the finals was a victory in itself. They were second last in the season standings but played their hearts out in the playoffs. They were just out-gunned on the day. Chris played as well as I've seen him though, so I was a proud Dad.

Also, last night while Sheryl and I watched a mediocre black comedy about a mob lawyer scamming his boss (The Ice Harvest) the news broke that eight Toronto-area 'Bandito' bike gang members had been murdered on a farm west of the city. Of course these guys are all just businessmen who share an interest in motorcycles...

Listening to: Little Fluffy Clouds by The Orb from Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld.