Lest We Forget

Today we remember those who paid so bravely the ultimate price for our rights and freedoms. Lest we forget their courage, sacrifice and honour. Today, take a moment and think about everything we have, and of those who fought so that it could be.

School's In

I made it up here okay on Sunday. I left home at about 12:30, made 2 stops along the way to get a coffee for the drive, and was at my friends place around 4:45. Not a bad haul considering the stops along the way. Traffic was almost nothing after I left the Lower Mainland and the mountain highway weather co-operated nicely, considering this is getting to be the time of year when the Coquihalla can become buried in feet of snow and shut down. It's comin, though. Looking forward to the drive home in 6 weeks.

Today was our first day in class. Mostly a set up day, get to know the other 15 guys in the class, go over safety, rules, books, course vectoring etc. That took up the first half of the class, and at lunch I went to the bookstore and grabbed the texts I needed that I didn't already have. $245 later, we went over what I was talking about before on basic electrical (atoms, electrons, neutrons, circuits etc) to refresh. The instructor we have is great, extremely knowledgeable, and personable. I had him for my level 2 class.We began the class with 2 tests; one on stuff we've already learned in previous years to see how well we're remembering that, and one on a myriad of electrical concepts to see how much we need to learn. I pass both, most people (so far as the mood seemed) didn't.

We were off at 3:30, and when I got back to home base I did my homework. 51 pages of reading plus 45 questions. No rest for the wicked, I guess. I try to do the reading and homework as soon as I get home, to keep what we did in class fresh in the mind and help hammer home the formulas and theory.

How do you guys study while at school? Any tips? What works for you? I'll end with a few pics from the drive.

 Leaving Chilliwack.

 Just outside of Hope.

 Oh good, the highway is open.

 On the Coquihalla.

 Just outside of Merritt.

 Entering Kamloops.

Success! In Kamloops.

'127 Hours' Causes Fainting, Vomiting, Seizures

Sounds like my kind of movie...


Danny Boyle's new film about rock climber Aron Ralston, the fellow who had to amputate his own arm after being trapped by a boulder, seems to be causing people some ah, issues, shall we say.

From MovieLine.com:

The official word from Fox Searchlight is “No” — the epidemic of fainting, seizures and other visceral physical reactions to the amputation scene in 127 Hours is not a studio-engineered publicity stunt. Nor does the studio intend to capitalize on it, according to co-president Stephen Gilula: “I would prefer that people not pass out; it’s not a plus. […] We don’t see a particular publicity value in it.” Noble? Sure. Tasteful? Always. Honest? Let’s check the medical history.

Sept. 4 — Telluride Film Festival
Two separate reports had one person fainting at the film’s world premiere, while the official accounting from Searchlight counted “an older gentleman [who] was light-headed at the first screening” and, at the second screening, a ” young woman (maybe 19 or 20) who had a panic attack. Paramedics attended to both people.” Anne Thompson’s fest correspondent Meredith Brody said she was reminded “of the old days when people were vomiting in the lobby during The Exorcist.”

Sept. 13 — Toronto Film Festival
“The first public screening of Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours had three faintings and one seizure,” wrote Wrap contributor John Foote. According to a fest volunteer, the audience at the Sept. 14 screening “was made of sterner stuff than those from yesterday” — this despite Foote noting, “I cannot remember a reaction to a film like this in a very long time, perhaps not since The Exorcist sent audiences scurrying for the doors (though much of that was later said to be a publicity stunt).” You don’t say.

Oct. 15 — Private screening, Pixar Theater
Nikki Finke reported that two people passed out during a screening hosted by Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich. Both were “declared fine” by paramedics. One of Finke’s commenters put the fainting tally at four — “and these are people who work on movies!”

Oct. 16 — Mill Valley Film Festival
According to a report last weekend by John Horn in the LAT, one viewer fainted during 127 Hours’ MVFF premiere. (No individual reports from the scene corroborate this.) “Such fainting spells aren’t unprecedented in Hollywood, though they’ve been much more commonly caused by horror movies like The Exorcist and Alien,” Horn added.

Oct. 19 — Special screening, Museum of Modern Art
Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter hosted director Danny Boyle, actor James Franco and climber Aron Ralston for a Q&A, prior to which one viewer reportedly fainted.

Oct. 23 — Private Producers Guild screening, Hollywood
Also cited by Horn, who spoke with a woman who was treated by paramedics who’d originally been called to tend to a viewer’s seizure. “I have never had, even remotely, an experience like this,” the woman told Horn. “I’m a television producer. I know this stuff is not real.” Another flummoxed Hollywood pro! Just like the people at Pixar! Sounds like someone’s bulking up for Academy consideration. Meanwhile, a Page Six commenter put the total tally of affected viewers at the screening as high as three.

Unknown date — Research screening, Huntington Beach
One fainting, according to Horn, although “the studio and test screening company Screen Engine said that the […] casualty returned to the theater to give the movie a grade of ‘excellent’”

Oct. 28 — London Film Festival
A report in The Sun claimed that “[h]orrified film fans threw up and fainted at the premiere of Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle’s shocking new movie,” which closed the London Film Festival last week. The bad news: As you might expect from The Sun, the specific number and nature of the cases was not determined. There is this, though: “Boyle looked on as paramedics treated fans struggling to cope with gruesome scenes.” And the person sitting near Daily Mail reviewer Chris Tookey “left just after the most gruesome bit and never came back,” apparently rebuking “the most harrowing bone-breaking and amputation scene in the history of cinema.”

Nov. 3 — Los Angeles premiere
A female filmgoer suffered a seizure relatively early during the film — well before Franco’s character amputates his arm with a dull penknife. Paramedics arrived and, in fact, the movie continued screening through the event. Per the LAT’s Steven Zeitchik:

At the screening’s conclusion, director Danny Boyle rose and said the incident was the result of a diabetic condition, and that it was the first time the woman, who appeared to be in her 20s, had had such an episode since she was 5 years old. Boyle assured the audience that she had been taken to Cedars-Sinai medical center and was doing well, adding that “she said it had nothing to do with the movie.” A Fox Searchlight executive later echoed that account.

Anyone Willing To Buy This For Me?

I would really like to own this. Damn my not living in the US. Real Fossilized Dino Poop

Foto Friday

Let's make it a tradition that every Friday my post will be a small amount of chatter with more pics. Because who wants to work/think on a Friday? That's right, lots of people. But I'm not one of them.

I had to go by the place that laid me off today to pick up my steel toed boots and some books I had in my toolbox that I'll need for school. I asked how everything was going, and the general consensus seemed to be "meh, same ole same ole." That's nice to hear. I had sincerely hoped that everything had done a 180 and become insanely the best place to work ever. No such hope. At least they've provided me with a nice spot to park my monster tool box for the time being, for that I can be grateful.

Pics!

5 More Days

Morning folks. So it's only 5 more days for me before I pack up some things and head up into the interior of BC for school. I'm very excited about it, probably more than normal since I've been at home since September. It's about a 4 hour drive from where I live, and I stay with a friend of mine who gives up a room for me to squat in while I'm there.

It's awesome because I can concentrate on my work and study a lot without too many outside distractions. There are a few of course, but I mainly stay on track. It's a little different this time around for me personally; the last two times I went up there for school I had my employer paying for it and giving me my wage. This time it's all on me. I guess there's a bit more incentive this year to do really well then? Make the most out of the money? Luckily the government should be helping me out with support payments, due to the economic situation, moving away from home, paying tuition etc. That'll halp.

I finished season 2 of Breaking Bad yesterday. I'm liking this show a lot. Anyone else watch it? What shows can you recommend for me after I'm done this one?

Also, The Walking Dead was awesome. Looking VERY forward to the rest of this series. Loved the first episode.

The Pics

Here are our costumes from Halloween. We ended up going over to a friends house with our other friend kmad. He was dressed as a grunge character, we dubbed him Chris Cornell. He spent the night being sad and angsty about most things, including the rain, as it tortured his soul.

This is me. I was a dead. Basically re-used the costume from last year to get more legs out of it. Suit was a prime find at the Salvation Army. $12! We made it into a tux type deal. Wife did the make-up, I did the blood.

 While we were walking downtown to a bus stop, I was stopped a few times for pictures with people who didn't speak english. Cool!


 Wife went as Cleopatra. Her dress looked great (a recycle from last year also, minus the amounts of blood) and her makeup was great.

Had a fun time this year, hope to maybe get to zomBcon next year :)

What's the best costume you guys saw this year?