It's 100% official...

HUZAH!: The dollar has now actually become stronger- its fluctuating- but this photo says its more!

PREVIOUS POST: Never thought I'd see the day- but the Canadian dollar is now worth more (slightly) than the American dollar...

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Finding time when you have nothing but...

He sits, secluded at his desk.

The ashen radiance of his computer monitor converts his already pale skin to an almost flat white.

Thin red veins erode the edges of his eyes and his fingers curl as if they're holding a tennis ball, the tips brushing the the alphanumeric keys beneath.

Nervously his right leg bounces up and down in an erratic cadence, keeping time with the gratuitous firing of synapses playing out within his skull.

To an outside observer he may as well have been in a prolonged and inescapable bout of writers block- but, deep in the recesses of his mind he was burning through idea after idea.

So many things, so many thoughts, so many inner dialogues were playing simultaneously that his external shell, all but the leg, had frozen-

He forgets to breathe. His racing mind comes to a halt when the brains stem takes control and forces a breath into his lungs.

Mildly embarrassed by the little grunt he let out, he looks about the room.

He's alone.

He finds the clock in the corner of his screen- work had been over twenty minutes.

The 'Perfect Gift'

Each year around this time our duty as decent human beings (in this society) is to ask our loved ones, whether that be friends, family, co-workers, pets, stuffed animals or... whatever... what they would like for a gift.

...and each year, with the exception of some of your family (they tend to not care what you think of them...) every one of those loved ones tells you, in one form or another, the same basic thing:

"Oh, I don't care what you get me... it's the thought that counts..."

How often have you found yourself in the situation where you have NO idea what to get someone... No matter how well you know them?

or... say you know what to get them, but your budget doesn't seem to coincide with what it is...

How do you decide on the 'Perfect Gift'?

Well... to be honest... the 'Perfect Gift' really does come from the heart. The 'Perfect Gift' is something you truly want to give the person, not just something they ask for.

In my mind, if you're more excited for the person to open the gift then they are... it's probably the 'Perfect Gift'.

A perfect example is my Father: Every year at this time, the tree gets set up, decorated and lit- its always 'Perfect' in its own way- and every year my dad will come down the stairs, survey the amount of gifts under the tree, turn to my mother and say "There isn't enough.".

It doesn't matter how rough a year they've had financially, it doesn't matter what hardships and toils our family had been through, it doesn't matter how much we tell him that it doesn't matter... and that 'it's the thought that counts'... My mum and dad will make SURE that come Christmas morning, the room is filled with boxes and bags of every shape and size and that the youngest (now my nephew, Devon, who's job it is to pass out gifts) is having to crawl into all the nooks and crannies of our living room to find the last present...

In fact, the year my older brother died, my parents decided they wanted to do something big for the family... and as they're gift, they flew us all to Cabo San Lucas to spend as a family- something to take our minds off the events of a few months earlier I guess...

And... EVEN with that truly amazing gift... where none of us expected any more... come Christmas Eve my parents were passing out gifts to us kids... because it "...wasn't enough."

But, this isn't what I remember most about my dad at Christmas... in fact, I could hardly tell you what actual items I've ever been given... that was never the point...

What I remember most, is how every single Christmas morning at 6 or 7 am sharp (depending on how late my parents were up 'helping Santa'), my Dad would come pounding on our individual doors bellowing excitedly about how the big red guy had been there and how we better get down (or up) the stairs immediately if we didn't want to miss out on the mornings activities... and he wouldn't stop until every one of his children (and they're children as the case has become) were awake and waiting outside the door of the living room.

He wasn't doing this because we weren't excited to come open presents... No...

He wanted to see the looks on our faces... he wanted to feel the energy in the air... he wanted us to know how much he loved us, all that much sooner (even if we thought it was Santa who brought some of the presents).

I actually haven't believed in Santa Claus for longer than most kids due to a discovery I made when I was very young. But I kept up the facade because, well... in essence my Dad was my Santa (white beard and all)...

Santa is one symbol that represents the most unquestionable kindness and a love for everyone... and every year around Christmas time (if not more) so did my dad. (But with this Santa, the naughty or nice list was thrown out about a month before Christmas day...)

I sometimes think about the different symbols or, representatives, of love I've had in my life... and there are three that stand out the most- My mom... The man represented in the photo above... and of course... my 'santa'...

I'd have to say it is because of those three that I am who I am today- the three people I hated to disappoint the most...

So! If you're stressing and lamenting about what to get someone for Christmas... or you feel you don't have the funds, remember... that no matter what it is you give, if you do it with love... true and unquestionable love... it is the 'Perfect Gift'.

(photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and my photoshop skills)

Fun times...

This may be the best game ever created... it IS an old one... but who cares!? it's an AWESOME one!

This is my score... see if you can beat it! (try and show photographic proof!)














and here is my low score! (see if you can go lower!)














The Notorious: KITTEN CANNON!!!!!!!

(EDIT: I changed it from the embedded player to the link so the song would BLARE everytime you load this page-)

What's new?

...not these videos!

Oh well, it has been a while since I've posted!

A little nostalgic look at my history: Back in the days of 'Saturday Shorts' we would go out every weekend and produce a short film from conception to final cut in 24 hours... Even if it didn't get finished, it had to be posted on the website (which is now owned and operated by some Germans)

Well, needless to say not everything turned out great... but the whole purpose of the exercise was to learn something new about our craft, whether it was to try a new camera trick - ala : Test Story 2 (named such because it wasn't a short film but a test video) where my good friend Warren Miles throws an empty soda can at... himself.



Sometime, we didn't finish... no matter how much we, and our viewers wanted it to be completed - ala: Fight Scene (My attempt to see if I could shoot a Kung Fu fight with people who've never done stage combat or Kung Fu for that matter... I was also playing with shooting static, not hand held, and there is one part where I play with forced perspective)



Anyway, I'd have to Say Saturday Shorts was one of the MAJOR player in the assembling of my skill sets... and it was an obvious inspiration for my 11in9 project.

I miss it, I wish we weren't all too busy to do it anymore...

Thanks for watching!

The worst day.

Every time I feel my day has been bad,
I try to remember when its been worse.

Every morning I wish I didn't have to wake up,
I try to remember when its been worse.

Every song lyric that reminds me of the time I'm having,
I try to remember when its been worse.

All the tension, stress, tears, fears and chewed nails that come with the day,
I try to remember when its been worse.

Today has been one of those days...
But, I just remembered when it was worse.

Descendant of wolves... or... lunatics... whichever...

A year a so ago I learned something about myself and my heritage that really, spoke to me, really gave me a sense of history and most importantly, gave me a great ice-breaker, party story or "something interesting" to tell about me when introducing myself to a new class...

"Hi, I'm Joel Petrie and I'm a werewolf." some of the class may chuckle, others may roll their eyes, but all are curious as to how I'm going to back-up this most preposterous of claims. "Well, let me explain..." I'd continue, and at this point I'd pretty much have everyone's unaltered attention (except for those of a particular ADHD persuasion.) Pretty good for a one sentence introduction don't you think?

"...as you all probably know, every legend and myth is most likely born from some kind of fact..." They most likely didn't know this, or even had thought of this, but no one is going not going to interject for the fear of coming across uneducated. "...I mean even if that fact is centuries old, right?" at this point one or two would nod in agreement. "Okay, for example, almost every culture in the world has some sort of rudimentary legend of a dragon or dragons, right?" Most everyone nods at this. "Why do you think that is?" I give them maybe half a second to think about it. "Well, most likely it stems from some sort of creature that used to live amongst humans waaaay back in the day." I get a confused look.

"...okay... many myths and legends are stories that are passed down from generation to generation, from father to son, mother to daughter, etc. etc.... well, going off the same principle as the 'telephone game' what was once a story of a man killing a large... say... crocodile, now, after generations of exaggeration, mis-interpreting and just plain taking liberty... has become a story of a knight in shining armor rescuing a fair maiden from the clutches of a fifty foot, stone-scaled, acid breathing black dragon!" Now, after this rough explanation, most of the room understands what I'm trying to say (except for those with a particular narrow minded persuasion)


"Well, that same principle applies to me being a werewolf." Again, confused looks. "Well, the story of werewolves started waaaaay back in the day... ever heard of 'lunacy'?" Nod(s). "well it isn't just a fancy name for crazy, it's actually named for a specific bout of crazy that only seemed to happen around a full moon." At this point, one, or if you're in a particularly bright crowd, two faces light up with the realization of where my story is going. "See where I'm going?" Confusion. "My ancestors on my dad's mom's side were known for a few things ... they had a tendency to become rather 'aggressive' around full moons... and they were hairy." Chuckles. "King George III, the one that went crazy? Yeah, related to him. Most people don't know that he was a hairy sunuvagun to boot!" Now even more faces light up. "Our family also has a hereditary leaning towards fangs... my little sister got to keep hers, but my mom, in an effort to hide my proud bloodline, had the dentist remove mine..."

"Anyway, things back in the day were explained by the supernatural, and less by science, so when an abnormally hairy and crazy guy would run around at the time of a full moon, the only explanation people could come up was lycanthropy... 'shorely brutha mahtin, brutha fransiss t'were poisoned verily by the fangs of yon wulf who howlest at yon lunar disc...' Then comes the 'telephone' part of it and of course hollywood and voila! You know what werewolves have become..." This is the part of the story where everyone is nodding in agreement and someone starts asking asinine questions which I do my best to blow off, the teacher seems a little annoyed because I took up 15 minutes of class with my explanation... you know... "Well, that's my something interesting about me..."

P.s. have I mentioned the other side of my family helped originate the term 'blackmail'? That's probably another story for another time...

Change of plans...

Things change so often in my life that I'm not even sure what to expect anymore...

Anyway, after some extensive contemplation and constant debate with myself I've drawn a few conclusions... the first of which is I need to do what I can to finish up school now.

That's been the eternal internal struggle I've been having with myself for the past... well... forever... I've always felt it unnecessary, or cumbersome... and now I realize the opportunity is almost past, so I better act fast.

Now, for the second conclusion... I need to make more films. So... I'm going to. I've come up with an amazingly ambitious project and well... it seems fate is saying it's what I'm supposed to be doing.

Check it out here

Well... that's it for now... talk to ya's later!

Life in the balance...

Okay...

As it turns out, I only have 3 people total signed up for my two classes so far... Which causes problems. (My teaching job was going to be my main source of income...) If I don't have a certain amount of people signed up for the class, they drop the class, which makes me stuck in this shit job I've been in for the past couple months.

Well, if I was anyone else, that's what would happen.

If this turns out to be the case, I'm out of here, moving up to Vancouver. Work is in abundance there and I can't stay any longer if there is nothing for me here... If that makes sense.

While in Vancouver, my brother and I would be in the throws of planning and putting into works an action trilogy that we'll be shooting in Hong Kong. (I'll tell you more about that later) I'll also hopefully be working for one of the studios out there.

If I end up teaching, that's great, that gives me income and tons of time to actually go to school and get my Multimedia degree and I'd end up filming a couple shorts... But, the big thing is I'd also direct another play, and probably end up directing for the Scera and/or Hale too (which is also extra income... Just a little but extra) and getting my foot in the door to move on to professional theatre producing/directing. Plus, I'd be working on writing a major stage play with two of the state's most prolific and professional theatre producers...

So here I am. My life is at a professional crux. Theatre or Film (I mean, obviously there is plenty of room to do both, but for the time being it's one or the other).

My future for the next few years is all sorts of dependent on whether or not people take an Intro to Film or Intro to Theatre class. Kind of scary, quite exhilarating...

But I won't know for sure about all this for at least 2 weeks... Maybe a couple weeks after that... Still, this is all happening rather fast.

This of course is all developments that have happened in the past day and a half... Love how life works, don't you?

Now, here's the thing: Barring all the wrenches that could be thrown into the gears of either of these plans; I will be happy with either outcome. I'll be content with whichever of these directions my life decides to take... so... the only thing I can do is sit back, hold on and see where I am in a year!

Anyway... I don't know why you should know all this, but now you do!