Elevator Encounter

As I was saying in my last post, Jim n' I had a brief encounter with Vancouver's seedy side on Friday. The tiny theater where we do our test screenings is on the cusp of what's known as Canada's poorest postal code. I've blogged about this neighbourhood before. Those of you who live in BC are obviously very familiar with this area, but for those of you who aren't, I found this little video to be quite compelling: 





Anyhow, our experience wasn't nearly as traumatic as getting a bottle over the head like the guy in that clip, but it was still one of those too-close-for-comfort reality checks. 


First of all, I'll be honest and say that I don't like sharing elevators with anyone, except people I know n' like. I mean, who doesn't? For that awkward minute, you're trapped inside a box sharing your personal space with strangers... or that obnoxious coworker you just can't be bothered with. :P So my comfort level got a lil' skivvy when I saw two people rounding the corner while Jim n' I waited for the elevator in the parkade. 


The first person was a petite young woman. Her pocked, ruddy complexion appeared to have weathered too many years on the hardened streets, even though I'm sure she was only in her early to mid twenties. Her layers of dirty clothes hung off her thin frame like a hanger, and her curly hair was knotted in two messy pigtails. Hunched forward clutching her bag, she didn't make eye contact, but rather took her place directly in front of us so she could occasionally prop herself up against the wall, her skinny legs struggling to stand. I think part of the reason she had trouble standing was because she was wearing her boots wrong - the bottoms of her soles were facing out to the sides, as her feet tried to balance in the part that's supposed to go up your leg. The other reason she had trouble standing was because she was incredibly high.... obviously. 


Her companion was a white-haired man in his mid 70's, wearing a brown suit. He looked like a grandfather hobbit. He was also pretty intoxicated, but I'd say more drunk than stoned. 


The four of us stood there together and waited in uncomfortable silence. (Or at least it was uncomfortable for Jim n' I... I think the other two were way too out of it to notice or care.) Because the elevator was taking forever, I used the extra time to look around for the nearest staircase. The only one I could find was the fire escape, with a warning that an alarm would sound if opened. I walked a few steps towards the parking lot, and pretended to see our producer. "Hey Jim, isn't that Andria?" When Jim came over to look, I whispered, "Let's just wait for the next one... We have time."  So we waited. And they waited. Umm... did I already mention that the elevator was taking FOREVER?!


Finally the pigtailed girl mumbled, "I'm taking the stairs" and quickly stumbled off. The old hobbit grumbled, "Sure, take my money and leave."


An alarm went off shortly thereafter, so I'm assuming she took off down one of the fire escapes. 


Eventually, the elevator came and Jim n' I got in with the hobbit. We pushed the button because he didn't know what he was doing. The elevator had a kick as it shot down to street level. After we got off, the old guy stood there until the door almost closed on him.  I guess that's when he realized that he was supposed to step out as well... Again, he was really quite drunk.  


Sad as this particular situation may be, I still can't help but think about that Seinfeld episode where the hookers were turning tricks at the Jiffy Park in George's car. Y'know, the one where Kramer is dressed up like a pimp in the technicolour dream coat? It's a classic... Unfortunately, it must have some roots in reality, and the reality of this situation was far less entertaining. 


Whenever we drive through East Hastings, I can't help but wonder what has led each of those sad souls to such a desperate place. Like Jim often says, at one point each of those drug-addicted or homeless people was once a precious baby. Adorable, innocent, and with their whole lives ahead of them. Where did it all go wrong? 


Furthermore, seeing that girl in her seriously strung out condition makes me wonder how she ever survives living in the streets? She could barely stand, how could she ever defend herself from muggers, rapists or murderers like that pig farmer Pickton? I suppose she probably has a pimp to "protect" her. Which then leads me to wonder how many of these girls are forced into the sex trade against their will? 


Gawd, it all seems so hopeless, doesn't it? And also so easy to ignore unless you have to confront it face to face.  


While it's a controversial idea, as I grow older, I find myself more in favour of the legalization of prostitution. From what I've read, there's a growing school of thought that believes it would reduce the demand for trafficking, as well as the exploitation and abuse of sex workers. A lot of these young girls and women are afraid to go to the police because they fear that they will be treated as criminals. Additionally, not only would legalization help to protect them from abuse, but prostitutes would be require them to get tested for STD's, which would help stop the spread of AIDS, etc.


Ah yes, but I suppose I should get off my soap box, as I must admit that this is a subject I know very little about. Because really, while it's easy to write with empathy from the comfort of my living room, I hate to admit that the first thought that crossed my mind at that elevator was "crack whore". Such a foul and easy label for what is obviously a very complex n' horrific situation. I should be SO blessed to have never had to walk in her ill-fitting boots. As she headed out into the cold night to find her next trick (or John... I really don't know the terminology? Is it one and the same?), we were headed off to watch another test screening for our movie. I can say with a certain amount of confidence that our futures look bright, and then I wonder what kind of future she'll have? I only had a two minute glimpse into her life, but I know that it can't be easy to get out of that sort of situation. And the saddest part is that there are so many others like her out there. 

Mango Chicken Curry & Screening Follow-Up

The mango chicken curry was quite delicious, and well worth the extra 15 minutes of simmer time and blending. :P

If you're interested, here's the recipe with the adjustments I made. (Not that my alterations necessarily matter, but I'm including them anyway...)

Mango Chicken Curry Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tbsp (or more) of vegetable oil (I recently started learning about the benefits of organic coconut oil, so I used that instead.)
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 to 2 cups) (I only used a cup of onion, because I didn't feel like chopping up a second one. :P)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped (I just used the whole thing)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh minced ginger
• 2 Tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 mangos, peeled and diced
• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (Or 3 President's Choice World's Best Meatless Chicken Breasts. :)
• 1/3 cup golden raisins (I'm not 'about' raisins, so whenever they're called for in a recipe, I always substitute them with dried cranberries.) 
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (can substitute all or partially with coconut milk) (I used 1/2 cup of light coconut milk to reduce the fat content a lil'.)
• Salt and pepper
• Cilantro for garnish

METHOD

1 Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and another tablespoon of oil, cook for a couple more minutes. Add the curry powder and cumin, cook for a few more minutes. The spices will absorb some of the oil, so if anything begins to stick too much to the bottom of the pan, add a little more oil to the pan. Add the ginger and garlic, cook for one minute more.

2 Add the vinegar, water, and a 1/2 of the chopped mango to the pan. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a low simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat. Scoop the sauce into a blender. Purée the sauce, pulsing until smooth. Return the sauce to the pan.

3 Add chicken pieces and raisins to the pan. Return to a low simmer. Cover the pan and let cook for 8-10 minutes. Chicken should be just cooked through. Use a knife to cut open the largest piece to check.

4 Add remaining mango pieces to the pan. Stir in the cream. Let cook at a very low temperature for another minute or two, uncovered. Do not let boil! Or the cream may curdle. Adjust seasonings. If a little too sweet, add a little more vinegar. If not sweet enough, you can add a dash of sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro. Serves 4.

So there you go! 

As for last night's screening, it went very well. The first act has really been tightened up, hopefully making this next set of revisions quite minor. Interestingly enough, despite the increased strength of the film, personally, I felt like I enjoyed it slightly less. Mainly because I found myself jarred by some of the editing choices done in this last round, which made certain moments feel disconnected. Of course, it was another craaaazy-tight turnaround for our editor, and I think some of those disconnected moments can be easily remedied by adding another beat or two back in between scenes (and also by me getting rid of any expectations I had based on earlier cuts). 

I should elaborate that the reason screenings are done is to allow the team an opportunity to try new stylistic approaches to see what resonates and what doesn't. Sometimes moments are removed and then put back in. Other times we discover that we don't need 'em at all. Also, when you cut all your footage in half, (our first assembly was 2 hours n' 20 minutes - and our latest cut is only an hour n' a half), you need to make sure that the audience can still follow the intricacies of the story, and that they aren't missing anything important that hampers their understanding. It's like I've said before - filmmakers make three movies: the one they write, the one they shoot, and the one they cut. 

Overall, audience feedback was excellent. In the surveys, everyone remarked that they really liked the movie, and said that they would either probably or definitely recommend it - which is obviously very important, since that'll impact our distribution. Actually, out of all 4 or 5 screenings we've done so far, there has only been one person who said that they probably wouldn't recommend it - everyone else said they would. I think those are some pretty awesome odds, especially since film is so subjective. All throughout the writing process, I've said to Jim (and in this blog) that I think a lot of people won't like our film, including friends n' family, because it's not popcorn fluff, which is always more of a crowd pleaser. So the fact that the majority say they'd recommend it is a wonderful surprise. 

Jim n' I also found it interesting that in past screenings, we were getting a lot of comparisons to films like The 6th Sense and Memento. Now we're getting compared to more abstract movies like The Butterfly Effect and Primer, which is probably due to the new style of editing done in this latest round, with many more jump cuts and flashbacks. (Again, which is why I think I found this edit a bit jarring in places - I wasn't expecting some of those new cuts. Of course to the audience who doesn't know what to expect, it obviously works just fine.) 

Even though many scenes have been tightened n' changed, I think my two favourite moments are still the nightmare and the end. The nightmare because there's some very cool n' creepy imagery there, and the temp music really sets the mood. Our composer is gonna have his work cut out for him when it comes time to write the music for that scene. Meanwhile, the very last scene is just so beautiful and heart-string pulling. And even though I said it before, I just love the way that sun comes out at the perfect moment... which I know no one would notice except those of us who were there that dreary grey day. Screening after screening, that last scene still continues to bring tears to most people's eyes, which is just friggin' awesome! Nothing makes us happier than to see all those weepy peepers as the lights flicker on. :D I just hope nothing gets changed in the next two weeks that screws with the emotional core, because that seems to be the real strength of our movie.

Anyway, everything seems to be chugging along very well, even though we're all still anxious about the big screening next weekend. Fingers crossed we continue to get the same kind of great feedback!

And now, on a much less positive note, pre-screening as Jim n' I waited for the elevator in the parkade across the street, we had a little up close n' personal taste of the harsh realities of the downtown east side. It left us feeling uncomfortable, icky n' sad. The story itself will only take two seconds to share, but I have a few comments I want to add, which I know will take me more than a few seconds to tap out. So I'll be back later this weekend to share our little story with you and my pile of thoughts.  

Killin' Time...

Y'ever have one of those moments where you're cooking up a storm, and then you suddenly realize that the recipe is a lot more involved that you originally expected? Well, I'm in the middle of that little dilemma right now.

I suppose this could've been prevented had I read the recipe through before I jumped into it... but now I'm standing here waiting for my curry sauce to simmer for 15 minutes before I begin to blend it. I guess that's not the biggest thing to go wrong in the kitchen. The recipe could've said "let marinade overnight", or I could've burned everything to a crisp. Still, I was hoping to eat in the next ten minutes or so... not simmer for 15, blend, and then proceed to cook everything even longer once I add the chicken. Thank goodness I use fake chicken, so the remaining cooking time shouldn't take as long as the recipe requires.

Oh well, in the meantime, it sure does smell good. And besides, Jim is still busy on the phone with the editor, so he's not ready to eat anytime soon. They're scrambling to finish this latest cut before tomorrow's night test screening. Yes, another one. There can be as many as a dozen test screenings before a film is released. I believe once everything is said n' done, our film will have had 5 or 6 test screenings.

The "BIG" screening will be in another week or so, which will be split between two large audiences in Toronto and Vancouver.  That one will determine what kind of release we get. I think either way, positive response or not, we'll get a very limited release, simply due to budget constraints. But the outcome of the screening could be the difference between a Toronto/Vancouver release or a straight-to-video Blockbuster release.

Anyhoo, looks like it's almost time to begin blending my mango chicken curry. If the recipe ends up being any good (I'm sure it will), I'll share it on here.

Klepto Kitty

I thought that this article was pretty nifty. If there's such a thing as reincarnation, I'd like to come back as a dolphin... just not in Japan.

To Talk With Aliens, Learn to Speak With Dolphins

• By Danielle Venton  
• February 15, 2011  |  
• 1:00 pm  |  
• Categories: Animals, Miscellaneous

The Kepler Space Telescope announced a new bonanza of distant planets this month, reconfirming that solar systems, some possibly hosting life, are common in the universe.

So if humanity someday arrives at an extraterrestrial cocktail party, will we be ready to mingle? At theWild Dolphin Project in Jupiter, Florida, researchers train for contact by trying to talk with dolphins.

Behavioral biologist Denise Herzing started studying free-ranging spotted dolphins in the Bahamas more than two decades ago. Over the years, she noticed some dolphins seeking human company, seemingly out of curiosity.

“We thought, ‘This is fascinating, let’s see if we can take it further,’” Herzing said. “Many studies communicate with dolphins, especially in captivity, using fish as a reward. But it’s rare to ask dolphins to communicate with us.”

Dolphins have large, sophisticated brains, elaborately developed in the areas linked to higher-order thinking. They have a complex social structure, form alliances, share duties and display personalities. Put a mirror in their tank and they can recognize themselves, indicating a sense of self.

When trained, they have a remarkable capacity to pick up language. At the Dolphin Institute in Hawaii, Louis Herman and his team taught dolphins hundreds of words using gestures and symbols. Dolphins, they found, could understand the difference between statements and questions, concepts like “none” or “absent,” and that changing word order changes the meaning of a sentence. Essentially, they get syntax.

Easier Language Through Math

Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, also studies animal communication in preparation for extraterrestrial contact. Doyle uses information theory — a branch of math that analyzes the structure and relationships of information — to analyze radio signals, hoping to better detect intelligence in space.

“Information theory is an example of an intelligence filter we can use to sift the signals we get from space,” Doyle said. “Otherwise, we might miss them.”

Using information theory it’s possible to separate binary code from random 0s and 1s, for examples. Byanalyzing dolphin sounds, it’s possible to know that adults send information when they whistle, but not babies. Like human babies, they just babble until they’ve learned language. Information theory also shows that humpback whales have rules of grammar and syntax.

“At SETI meetings we always ask ‘Are we alone?’” Doyle said. “No, we’re not alone. There are many animals communicating right here that we don’t understand.”

Doyle is interested in applying information theory to bees. Social bees are capable of complex group decisions, it seems, but their intelligence is a product of the hive. He also plans to study the communication between trees, because they share information about pests and threats via chemicals.

“Who knows? Brains might not be necessary,” Doyle said.

Some tantalizing studies even suggest dolphins share their own language (see sidebar, “Easier Language Through Math”). All are qualities we’d hope to see in an alien, and no daydream of contact is complete without some attempt at communication. Yet with dolphins, our attempts have involved teaching them to speak our language, rather than meeting in the middle.

Herzing created an open-ended framework for communication, using sounds, symbols and props to interact with the dolphins. The goal was to create a shared, primitive language that would allow dolphins and humans to ask for props, such as balls or scarves.

Divers demonstrated the system by pressing keys on a large submerged keyboard. Other humans would throw them the corresponding prop. In addition to being labeled with a symbol, each key was paired with a whistle that dolphins could mimic. A dolphin could ask for a toy either by pushing the key with her nose, or whistling.

Herzing’s study is the first of its kind. No one has tried to establish two-way communication in the wild.

“This is an authentic way to approach this, she’s not imposing herself on them,” said Lori Marino, the Emory University biologist who, with Hunter College psychologist Diana Reiss, pioneered dolphin self-recognition studies. “She’s cultivated a relationship with these dolphins over a very long time and it’s entirely on their terms. I think this is the future of working with dolphins.”

For each session, the researchers played with the dolphins for about half-an-hour, for a total of roughly 40 hours over the course of three years. They reported their findings of this pilot study in the December issue of Acta Astronautica.

Herzing’s team found that six dolphins, all young females, were interested in the game, and would come to play when the game was on. Young males were typically less social and less interested in humans. “This is when the females have a lot of play time,” Herzing said, “before they are busy being mothers.”

To Herzing’s surprise, some of her spotted dolphins recruited bottlenose dolphins, another species, to the game. This shows their natural curiosity, Herzing said. In the wild, dolphins communicate across cetacean species lines, coordinating hunting with other dolphins and even sharing babysitting duties.

Herzing found the study sessions were most successful when, before playing, the humans and dolphins swam together slowly and in synchrony, mimicked each other and made eye contact. These are signs of good etiquette among dolphins. Humans also signal their interest in someone with eye contact and similar body language. Perhaps these are universal — and extraterrestrial — signs of good manners.

Before we hope to understand extraterrestrials, then, perhaps we should practice with smart animals right here on Earth. Astronomer Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute was struck by this thought at a recent conference.

“From the way the presenter was speaking, I thought he was going to announce that he had found a signal of extraterrestrial intelligence,” Doyle said. “We’ve been waiting for this for years, but I thought, ‘We’re not ready!’  We can’t even speak to the intelligent animals on Earth.”

Image: Two Atlantic spotted dolphins in the wild. (Ricardo Liberato)

Movie Recommendations

I'm not a big fan of fighty flicks. Punchin' n' bleedin' just isn't my thing. But despite my lack o' love for "boy movies", The Fighter has been getting too many rave reviews to ignore. Plus, I'm a huge sucker for true stories. So anyway, I agreed to check it out -- and I'm really glad I did. I highly recommend it! I found the story gripping and the characters are really something else. Despite being a total loser, you can't help but somehow care for Christian Bale's character as the crack head brother.  And that mother and those sisters... wow. I wonder how they feel about how they were depicted in the film?


I never would've watched the movie based on the trailer, but I'm gonna include it here anyway.





Then later that night, Jim n' I were looking up old music videos and I couldn't help laughing out loud at the comparison between Mark Walberg serious actor and Marky Mark 90's rap star. Sooo cheesy! Not that Marky Mark is the world's most talented actor, but he's definitely done well for himself since departing from the Funky Bunch. 





And since I'm here making movie recommendations, we also recently rented Exit Through the Gift Shop, which was also very, very entertaining. I've seen it on the video store shelves for a while now, and heard that it was getting great reviews, even though I had no idea what the documentary was about. It definitely takes some intriguing twists n' turns, and while the whole thing is interesting, the last 1/4 really makes a fascinating statement on the art world - if the documentary is in fact true.... There are rumours that it might be the ultimate hoax, and that the mysterious street artist/filmmaker Banksy might actually be Andre the character who stars in the doc.  I guess we'll find out at Oscar time... or maybe not? 


I'm including the trailer here, but it really doesn't tell you anything about the film. You'll just have to see it for yourself. It's a great watch for a quiet Sunday morning. :)

Food For Thought... But Mostly For Eating.

Pre-move, whenever I told people about our new proximity to Broadway and Commercial, one of the first things folks would say is how we're close to all kinds of great restaurants. I swear that I started packing on the pounds just hearing about all the tasty treats awaiting us in our new hometown. And now that we're here, I'm almost ashamed to admit how often Jim n' I have eaten out in the last two weeks... not that we've limited our edible explorations to that one strip. Anyway, while I certainly don't plan on cataloging my meals as a weekly thing, there are a few highlights I wanted to share....

* I LOOOVE Greek food, and across the street from us there is a really great Greek restaurant with some of the best service we've ever had. We got the same server both times and she totally rocked. On Saturday nights they also have two guitarists who play Greek music, and the one guy who plays the bousouki (yes, I had to look it up) is just incredible! His fingers move at lightning speed. Jim n' I left the restaurant imitating his playing, singing a chorus of high-pitched doodley-doodley-doodley-doodley-doodley-dos as we headed home -- much to the curious onlooking of a couple others on the sidewalk (who I didn't see standing there when we left said restaurant singing doodley-doodley-do).

* I've lost count of how many people I've heard gush about the sushi in Vancouver. To be honest, I've always figured that sushi is sushi. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. But yeah, okay, I get it now.

For one, it's insanely cheap. For a teriyaki lunchbox meal that costs $13 in Kelowna, here it costs under $6. Secondly, it has made me realize that up until now, I've always been eating imposture sushi. Our editor brought Jim to Sun Sushi for lunch one day, saying it was the best in Vancouver. I had to see this for myself, so I got Jim to grab some take-out for dinner on his way home one night, and oh my goodness! Not only are the portions much larger, but the veggie tempura is thicker n' crunchier, and the rice is sweeter. Normally I'll read or watch TV while I eat lunch, but the next day as I inhaled the leftovers, I chose to focus all my attention on every little bite, only listening to the tunes of Ani Difranco as I ate. I swear, if Sun Sushi wasn't all the way across town, I would eat it every day. Although the sushi restaurant in our neighbourhood is pretty good (and cheap) too.

* For a fellow foodie's birthday, she decided to celebrate at the Cascade Room because she's in love with their polenta fries. Several orders were made as soon as everyone sat down, and I don't think there was one person at the table who didn't fall in love with the tasty deep-friend fingers. Served with a curry dip, I think polenta friends are my new most favourite food ever! I've got to find out how to make them, although I doubt I could do the restaurant-style ones justice. So, so, so, so good! Who knew I'd ever rave so hard over polenta, of all things? :P


* On Valentine's Day, as I braved the rain to gather some groceries at one of the nifty nearby organic markets (and some red velvet cupcakes at the cupcake shop!) for the first made-from-scratch home-cooked meal I would prepare in our new lil' kitchen, I stopped to have a quick lunch all by my lonesome at Belgian Fries. Our polenta pal recommended the place, but what also attracted me was the quote on their storefront that said, "The best poutine in B.C." by CBC Montreal. I mean, if CBC Montreal says it's the best poutine, then it must be good, right?! Anyhow, they had ALL kinds of varieties I had never heard of before. So I sat down to a delicious veggie delight poutine and a cranberry lemonade, as I people-watched out the front window. I got the small size and still could only finish half of it, although it would've been pretty easy to force-feed myself the whole thing, stuffing myself silly. Yum, yum!

Okay, I could keep yapping on about food like a lame-o, but I will stop now.

Or wait... I just want to add a couple other quick highlights... 

The spontaneous pitcher of beer Jim n' I enjoyed during an afternoon walk along the seawall - although that was less about the beer and more about the spontaneity and location, as we kept saying to each other in enthusiastic giggles, "This is our city now!". 

Then there was the delicious king prawn tung yam kung (hot n' spicy soup) at Tropika Malaysian/Thai restaurant. I kept the leftovers and made careful note of the ingredients the next day, because I know that I'll never order it again -- it was too damn expensive! I guess when the price isn't on the menu, that's your first clue. 

And while it wasn't as spicy as I had hoped, it gets triple points for it's great name, the That's *$&%*@$ Red Hot omelette I had at Fets Bar n' Grill. I also really liked the chunky way they did their hash browns. Jim had their free-range chicken quesadillas, and said that they were really good. They looked good. 

Crap. I'm totally going to gain a hundred pounds if I keep up all this eating out....  that is if we don't go broke first. 

I've also heard good things about Bon's Off Broadway, a divey-lookin' diner across the street from us that hasn't raised it's prices since the place was opened. Apparently they serve a big breakfast 24 hours a day that costs only $2.95 - coffee included. But we generally eat breakfast at home, so we haven't tried it out yet.

 Actually, I should clarify that we have eaten a number of meals at home, I just haven't been cooking many of them from scratch as I usually like to. I've found it hard to get into a groove when the kitchen is cluttered and we have no counter space - but that is about to end.

It has to!

Vancouver Ketchup

Where to begin...?

The Snoop n' Shmooze went very well. It was great to have a little visit with almost everyone before leaving town. While people took away a lot of stuff, I didn't really get rid of as much as I had hoped. We just had SO much shit to shed! (Ha! That would've been another good name for my little event instead of Snoop n' Shmooze - "Shit to Shed". Classy, no? ;)

The following day, Jim called around to different organizations trying to find someone who could take the rest of our stuff off our hands since we would be moving out early the next morning. The first six organizations he called did their pick-ups on different days of the week and couldn't swing by. It felt like we'd have to rent a truck and drop it off ourselves until lucky number 7 came to the rescue. Their number was passed on to us by one of the other organizations -- we didn't even know what charity it was! 

About four men showed up and happily took away our washer n' dryer, patio furniture, futon frame, dresser, desk, TV, electric guitar, five bags of clothes and linens, and roughly 20 good sized boxes of kitchen stuff, random decor, books, and everything else under the sun. As the last guy headed out the door, I asked him where they were from, even though I realized it was kind of a stupid question since we called them.  Turns out they were from the Mennonite Central Committee. At least I was somewhat familiar with the org -- after buying someone a goat for Christmas at Ten Thousand Villages a few years ago, I received a tax receipt from the MCC, and then they started sending me their magazine about four times a year. I had no idea that they had a store in Kelowna. The gentleman said that they have only one paid employee and the rest of the staff are all volunteers. As of a week or so before, their storefront had been completely emptied out, so they were quite thrilled with the huge haul we provided. I'm glad to know that all our stuff went to the organization who obviously needed it most. 

Yet even with all the stuff we got rid of, would you believe that we still had too much crap for our new little place? Seriously. I was freaked out when I started unpacking the kitchen. I laughed incredulously, before cursing at the boxes that surrounded me. "There is no. f*cking. way!" I told the blender, shaking my head. "Argh! Bloody hell! Why did I keep so many of you?" I muttered to the casserole dishes.  

Our limited cupboards filled faster than the trendiest condos, leaving our blender and toaster to take up prime real estate out in the open. Sigh. I know most people keep their blenders n' toasters on the counter - but we don't do a lot of blending or toasting, so I like to keep them tucked away... especially when we have three inches of counter space. Oh well, maybe this'll encourage us to blend n' toast more of our meals. Who the heck knows. Anyway, I'm sure I'll soon get my kitchen groove back soon enough. So far I've only cooked three "real" meals in there since we've been here - we've been eating out a LOT. Too much, actually. But more on that later.... 

To deal with our space situation and replace some of the stuff we purged, Jim n' I spent a weekend at Ikea. We bought a new desk, a night stand, shelving for the kitchen, a big bookcase/shelving unit for one of our bedroom closets, and two new dressers - one for clothes and one to house all of our DVDs, since our old movie cupboard is way too small, and is now being used as a linen closet (which it is also too small for, but what'r ya gonna do?) Anyway, we just have one shelving unit left to set up and then we can get the rest of our nonsense put away. It'll feel good to have everything finally out of boxes (with the exception of two boxes of Jim's comics and two boxes of my journals.)

As I may have mentioned before, there was a time in my life where I moved eleven times in 6 years. Every few months to a year I was relocating to either a new home or city, and during many of those moves I never bothered opening some of the boxes I carted along with me. During that phase, I used to say that if I ever wrote my memoir, the title would be "My Life In Boxes". While I don't think that title is applicable any longer, I still think it would make a very telling memoir for any person. When taking inventory of one's life, what is important enough to keep, and what items are only of perceived importance but never actually leave their box. 

For years I carted around a box of National Geographic magazines, with the best of intentions to use them in collages. I also had a box of hand-me-down closet clutter that one of my college friends passed along to me when cleaning out her own nooks n' crannies. The box included Christmas decorations, a few Frank Zappa VHS tapes I never watched, and some other junk. Don't ask me why it took two years to ditch her crap. I shouldn't have accepted it in the first place. I used to feel bad tossing things like that away. Back when I was waitressing, some random little girl once drew me a picture of a giraffe and I kept it on my fridge for almost a year because I felt guilty throwing it out. I'm sure that's how hoarding begins.... 

Jim is much more of a sentimental keeper than me, but he did really, really great with this move. He even got rid of his big Tomorrow's Memoir cutout that he had displayed in the theater when it screened. That darn thing has been stuffed behind his dresser for the last 5 years, and was sitting in his living room for the 2 before. Jim always wanted to keep it in case he ever had a production office - but as I reminded him, he's made a real movie now. It's okay to let the aging piece of cardboard go. I was even more proud of Jim when he defended his decision to toss it after his brother and friend started quizzing him on why he'd want to. I just stood there and bit my tongue thinking, "Shut the hell up guys!" But Jim did good. :)

Anyhow, now that most of our unpacking is done, I can finally take time to explore our new hood. But I want to spend a little time with my garcon ce soir, so I'll save all that for another post.  

Hiya

So we're finally back online.

Needless to say, over the last two weeks I've had bits n' bursts of random blog post ideas bubbling up everywhere. Jim kept telling me that I should be recording my little stories in Word and just paste 'em over later, but I had too much unpacking and organizing to do to sit down and write. Plus, Word doesn't seem to paste well in Blogger and I lose patience trying to fix the formatting.

Anyway, now that we finally have internet access again and I can begin my blogfest, I just learned that I have a immediate deadline to tend to. The Page International Screenwriting Awards had asked me months ago to write an article for them. But with the collective chaos of Christmas and then moving, I haven't written anything yet. The deadline to submit was yesterday, but I told them I'd have the article ready by the end of the day tomorrow.

They're really eager to share our little success story. Between three to five thousand people submit to the Page competition every year, and only a handful win. And of the winners, screenplays that get produced are still pretty rare. So they asked me to write a 700-1000 word article sharing our experience. I could easily write twice that in no time flat, so I think it'll be more a matter of editing myself down.

Anyway, it shouldn't be long before I wrap it up and can return to my regularly scheduled blogging. I just wanted to stop bye and say hiya for now if there's anyone still out there reading. ;)