Twitterific

I've been tweeting regularly now for almost 6 months. I've become completely addicted to twitter since then and have been tweeting everything from what I'm doing at that given moment, all the way to posting pictures of things I find funny in my daily travels.

Honestly I can't even begin to understand my own fascination with twitter, I just can't go a day without having at least one tweet, and if there is a day I go without I feel bad. (completely insane, I know)

For those just getting started, twitter is something to be valued, especially if you want insight into peoples lives that you wouldn't normally get.

Also I recommend following Roger Ebert (ebertchicago) for those who want some of the best reporting on movies and culture. Ebert is an incredibly smart man and one of the best to follow on twitter.

Follow me on twitter here

Remembrance Day is never over.

Ok so last week all us CreComms did our Remembrance Day assignments. I've been struggling with Journalism for quite some time now and really needed to do well on this one. I worked very hard (as I'm sure everyone did) and came out with an A and a B which I was very happy about, and still am.
But because I'm actually quite proud of myself I figured I'd let everyone else read what got me the A.

Note: Sandy Klowak(Journalism Hero) helped me edit this story, she probably saved me from getting a C. Huge props!

On the day that we remember our fallen soldiers with a moment of silence, the ceremony at the Manitoba legislature honors them with a 21 gun salute.
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month we stand to remember the sacrifice that those brave men made serving their country.
Three C3 Howitzers stand in wait, a single 105 mm shell is loaded into each one. The command to fire is given and by the pull of a “fire rope”, the name given to the rope that triggers the charge, the blank round is fired producing a concussive bang and a large amount of foul smelling smoke from the barrel, that for a moment blotted out the sun.
The powerful feeling you get from being there and feeling the shock wave run right through you, makes you feel as if you were in the trenches about to rush Vimy Ridge, or on the boat about to storm Juno beach. Warrant Officer Robin Everette, the man responsible for putting this year’s ceremony together, explains why Remembrance Day is so important to him, “it’s important to come down and remember everybody before us that made a sacrifice, and to also remember those making sacrifices today.”
Many people, from all different walks of life, came down Wednesday to pay their respects to those lost, and to those still fighting, “todays turnout was fantastic, the good weather certainly helped. Roughly 300 people came out today, I even spoke with a few families who are starting to make this a tradition and I think it’s great,” explains Everette.
With every passing year more and more of our Veterans are passing on, leaving stories untold. As Officer Everette said, “they gave us their tomorrows, for our today’s.”

Will Smith IS a true Actor!

I've heard for quite some time now that Will Smith is a terrible actor, that he isn't worth the money studios spend on him and that he should even quit acting.

These comments are ridiculous. Most of which is for the 2007 movie I Am Legend where Smith plays the character Robert Nevil previously played by the magnificent Charlton Heston in The Omega Man (1971) which was a twin, if not a remake, of The Last Man on Earth where the always creepy Vincent Price played the character Dr.Robert Morgan. Which was all based on the
1954 novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, a fantastic book by the way!


Smiths character Nevil, is a virologist and the only man alive who is immune to the vaccine that was made to cure cancer. This vaccine however turned people in "vampire like creatures" that now prowl the streets of Manhattan at night looking for humans to feats on.

Now Will is completely alone for the first 2 acts of the film, other than his dog, and is left to act alone. He speaks to mannequins to keep his sanity and even develops a little crush on one of them. Acting in a movie with no one to play off of is one of the most difficult things you can do as an actor, and Will does an amazing job. Watching him react to his own surroundings and being alone is fantastic. Probably the most heartbreaking scene in the movie (No Spoilers, for those who haven't seen it) comes close to the end of the second act where Will keeps a promise to his "friend" by talking to the girl at he video store. It's remarkable how well he plays the scene off of no one.

Eventually in the third act he meets up with 2 survivors and struggles to communicate with them seeing as these are the first people he has interacted with in 3 years.

The movie is great if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

What I really wanted to talk about though is where Will got his big break.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a landmark show for him, it's what set his career off.
As anyone who's watched the show knows it's full of humour, jokes and genuinely funny moments throughout the series.

However there is one particular scene in which Will father, who abandoned him at a young age, comes back to try and rekindle the father son relationship by taking Will on a summer road trip. The scene that follows is probably one of the best acted sitcom scenes in history. I don't say this lightly, but it really makes me sad to watch it, no matter how many times I've seen it. Will does an unbelievable job of making me believe that he is truly crushed, and I can't help but feel bad for him. I personally know what it's like to loose a father(but not in this way) so maybe that's why this scene carries a little more weight with it for me but it's still heartbreaking to say the least. Look for a great supporting performance by James Avery as Uncle Phil. It's also important to note Will's entry into the scene, he's very excited to get to spend time with his dad and his demeanor changes so subtly but naturally you really feel like he's devastated. His body language is that perfect fidgety/natural way of moving, that clearly shows he's trying fight back emotions. The way he speaks with a quiver in his voice and even stutters a line. It's all just so real. Anyway watch below and you'll know what I'm talking about.


If you watch that and don't feel bad for Will I'm shocked.
I think this is a pivotal scene for Will Smith and for me, is probably one of his best acted scenes.
Every time I watch it, it makes me feel something, and if an actor can take words on a page and create an emotion in someone watching it on TV, that's EXACTLY what a great actor is supposed to do.

Comic Con 09!

Wow so this was literally one of the busiest weekends I've had in a long time.
First off with Comic Con being in Winnipeg it brings with it tons of great talent and interesting people. This years marquee name being Adam West.
However the event also brought some big names in the Comic Book industry that I was not expecting. The biggest being Tommy Castillo. On Wednesday his plane landed in Winnipeg and he rushed over to the Park Theater and hosted a screening of the original Night of the Living Dead(1968). Tommy had worked with George Romero on a comic book called Toe Tags, so Tommy had a bunch of great stories from the man who literally pioneered his own genre of horror.


Friday night was without a doubt HEAT!
My girlfriend and I went to the premier of a horror-documentary called Cropsey. It was shown in a warehouse on the 5th floor in the exchange district. As we were walking down the street towards the building there was a creepy old guy standing outside who looked at me and asked, “you here to see a movie?” I thought briefly about whether or not to call the police but then decided to go inside. We took a disgustingly small and frightening elevator ride up the 5th floor, where I expected to see some level of decorum. I was surprised to see that the place looked very refined for your average crack den. We sat down and watched the movie, which was actually pretty wicked. I highly recommend picking it up if you can.



Saturday was the first real day for the Con(Khaaaaaaaaaaan!) My girlfriend and I got there around 2ish that afternoon, and of course the first person I run into. Giacomin. Who apparently later got into a heated conversation with the ex pro wrestler Virgil. Heat!

On Saturday I picked up some nerd items, the first being a film cell from The Matrix Revolutions, the scene just as Smith and Neo punch each other in the face. Very cool.

The second being an autographed picture of Sean Connery and a film cell from Goldfinger, which is amazing!

That night we went to see Mode 7 play at the Park Theater. For those who don’t know, Mode 7 is a great video game cover band. They play music from all the classic video games, and they really brought the house down Saturday night, play some new tunes and finishing it off with Ghostbusters, which was actually very well done.

I had planned to spend at least $60 on Sunday at the Con(Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!) but every time I would go around looking at stuff I would just put it back down. I bought a Lime Lemonade for 3.75 which was delicious.

Comic Con this year was a great time, there was more to do and to buy and I think just put together much better. My only complaint was the Adam West autographs were too expensive. $40, yeah no thanks.