Due South?

So I think I might be moving to the States. Kinda funny, because I remember when I was younger....hell....even later as an adult that I wouldn't move to the states. That may change soon though. As you may or may not know from my previous profile, I've been unsuccessfully seeking work for the last 6 months and am now just a millimeter away from sleeping on a crazy friends sofa. So I finally received an email from a place that seem interested in me but they were just wondering about the legalities and work visas and stuff. As far as I'm aware, it's an easy thing to do if you have a job lined up. And the salary is killer.... over 50,000 US Considering nothing possitive is happening up here, it's my only option at this time. Just frustrating y'know.....spent all this time trying to find work in my own country and nothing. Anyway...I'll let y'know what happens.

I'm the second best man

Today is my best friend, Dave Noel's wedding. I've known Dave since 1995 when I attended the Visual Communications course at Holland College. Hard to believe it's been 10 years. We've both seen the ups and downs in our lives as well as those around us....but it's cool that all of us from those days are still friends. So here I am in Mississauga doing the duties of best man. And I'm up at 6:30 just running through what I'm going to say at the reception (I hate public speaking). I should be fine. I reemember the embarrassing event in which I'm going to tell. So a busy day. Until the next post....

31 and counting

Someone told me when I turned 30, that it's pointless to look back with regrets. It's true to some extent, that you can't change the past, so why worry about it. Still with 31 less than a day away, I can't help but wish I had turned left instead of right on a number of occaisions. But again, you can't bother with regrets. Certain things at 31 are becoming a reality. My desire to own my own business is pretty much all but done. If after 5 years nothing solid has happened, then you have to take another path. My goal now is career climbing...which is something I suppose I've been doing anyway. In general, there's an air of stabilizing my life now....eating better, better job....blah blah blah. My Dad talked to me about this awhile back...mainly because he didn't prepare for the later years, but of course in your 20s your outlook is very short-term. I'm scraping by right now, but when I do level out I think my 30s will be just fine.

Aardman Animation

My history watching Aardman Animation started in 1994 when I saw an animation festival while living in Vancouver, British Columbia. The cartoon in question was Wallace & Gromit's "The Wrong Trousers". It was the last piece on the bill. Let me tell you...I was in tears after that. It was some the best, most original, funny animation I've seen in a long time. Since then I've loved pretty much anything Nick Park has done. It saddened me though, to find out that Aardman's warehouse in the UK burned down a few days ago. The sheer thought of that much history...that much sweat and that much creativity being destroyed in such a brutal blows my mind. Storyboards, models, sets...gone. I'm sure they had it insured, but in the end you can't replace those things. After hearing the news, I felt compelled to go see the new full length Wallace and Gromit movie (was going to see it anyway). It was, as I expected a wonderful piece of creativity. I highly recommend it.

It doesn't rain, it pours...

Well, I've had about enough of this rain...I don't mind rain broken up by spells of dry..but I think it's been a constant wet outside....if not pouring, then misting. The subject matter could also pertain to the last days of October. With about $110 I plan on buying groceries, celebrate my birthday, go to Toronto for my best friends wedding and try to somewhat enjoy Halloween. Neat trick huh? How do I plan on doing this? I've no fucking clue. But I'm sure something will pop up. On the bright news, I have a phone interview with CCL, located in Halifax. Production work....not exactly what I hwas hoping to land, but at this point, I'll take almost anything. I did bug another place that I had applied for an art director position. They seemed somewhat impressed that I took extra interest in the job. I'm currently reworking my promo DVD to send to them. Hopefully that'll push them over the edge on their decision. In the end...I hope i get good news in the next week or so on the work front. I'm currently listening to Metric's new CD, Live it Out. Run, don't walk to get this CD. Mind blowing. And....well....I think Emily Haynes is smoking hot. :D I've also currently cleaned out my contact list. Most of you that may have been deleted, I see almost on a daily basis.....so don't worry too much. The main reason for deleating them is to clean up people who I don't talk to regularly. As well..there are some people who I didn't want to talk to for personal reasons. All in all, I'm just cleaning some space in my aleady stressed life. So that's the update for the day. I'll probably do 1 or 2 more before the "big trip". Until next time kids! J

damn!

Well, I did post a photo before...but as I said a couple posts ago, most of the links in my earlier posts have been broken or deleted. So I'm posting this picture....not only because of that but because it has been close to a year since that last picture. It has been about 14 months since I started getting in shape. I'm surprised I've kept up this long. In past attempts I'd quit after 2 months. In fact I remember thinking I'll be happy or impressed if I make it to 3. There were signs of my sneaking back in to old habits this past spring, but I'm happy to report that not only am I back to good standing, I'm at the gym every day at 7. Harsh...but a routine helps a lot. To date, I've dropped about 95-100 (depending on the day). So....here's an idea of what I look like.....to those who maybe haven't seen me in awhile. I'm not finished yet...but I will be by next summer. Stay tuned.

It's gonna get thick

I like to think I'm on the ball....but this particular topic has taken me awhile to grasp. Or maybe it's my gullible sense of honesty..... whatever the case is, I'm about to become a liar. For the past 4-5 months I've been aiming for jobs left, right and center only to be shot down every time. I'm not getting it. If there's one thing I'm confident in is my ablility to design. 8 years have taught me some great tricks of the trade. These years have brought me to a point where I am confident about my abilities. That being said though, when i look at my resume, I see honesty to the last dotted eye. I was brought up (especially by my Dad) to play the honesty game. But I'm noticing suckers whiz by me in this life by BS'ing to the utmost. Time to join the fray. I'm going to go through my resume and embellish it all over the place. Art director this, designed for this big whig, owned one of the premier agencies in Eastern Canada. Fuck it. When I show potential agencies my resume as is, they see the norm. My resume is a bore in the sea of countless other resumes. I need to fucking blow their minds. I just have to remember that there's some honesty in my embellishing. If I believe it...then it's true. :)

Mark Bragg

Well, I thought...maybe I shouldn't go out twice in a row.....need to save m'pennies these days. But then I thought...fuck it...Pat Deighan and the Orb Weavers were playing so I was sure of a good show even if I wasn't crazy about the opening band. But boy....was I in for a treat. Mark Bragg was the opening act last night at Baba's and he and his band put on a truely kick-ass show. I had heard his name thrown around here and there....I think I remember hearing about him playing the ECMA's one year. But what I saw was hard to pin to any style. If I had to, he'd be a combo of Elvis Costello and.......Hawksley Workman. But really he had his own brand of play. Unfortunately due to my financial situation I wasn't able to pick up his CD.....but he is on Maple Music so if in the near future I become rich and famous I'll consider buying one. I urge those reading to check this guy out.