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Who wants to start a Hometree Ontario and hang out with Na'vi hunks and babes?? Oh, yeah me neither...

But if we did, I think it'd go....why, a little something like this!

Left 4 Dead - Left 4 Speed!

Left 4 Dead is probably my favourite game of recent years, and seeing it pass through the twisted bowels of the internets is a blessed treat I'd like to share if you've played the games, so just in case you haven't seen these Left 4 Dead parodies, here they are. :3






So absurd. Love it.

As a side note, did you ever see any of the early Left 4 Dead character designs? I really wish they'd gone for the raggy looking Francis, with long hair, paunch, and stale beer smell. Zoey was punkier, though I love the red hoodie they went with, and Louis didn't seem to be a token black guy.

David Mamet's Memo on Writing

...Are you a writer? OR A WRONGER

So David Mamet apparently sent a big all caps memo to the staff writers who were working on writing the now canceled 'The Unit,' a military drama that was airing on CBS a couple of years ago. The leaked memo seems to indicate that Mamet was hesitant to call what was being written drama at all. It's pretty awesome, and is chalk full of great writerly wisdom for any screenwriter working on most kinds of drama.

Here's a taste:

"...ANY DICKHEAD WITH A BLUESUIT CAN BE (AND IS) TAUGHT TO SAY “MAKE IT CLEARER”, AND “I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HIM”.

WHEN YOU’VE MADE IT SO CLEAR THAT EVEN THIS BLUESUITED PENGUIN IS HAPPY, BOTH YOU AND HE OR SHE WILL BE OUT OF A JOB."

Right on, Mamet.

A friend and elite Gen X co-worker pointed this wicked internet finding out. Read the FULL MEMO HERE! The comments posted on the article are good reading as well.

Battleship Potemkin screening with Orchestra!

Eisenstein's 1925 silent masterpiece The Battleship Potemkin is screening at the Registry Theatre (122 Frederick st, in Kitchener) on April 15th at 8 pm, the witching hour. It'll be presented with a live soundtrack by the VOC Silent Film Harmonic, and tickets are $15 in advance or $10 at the door if you bring a donation for the food bank with you.

This is the film with the famous 'Odessa Steps sequence' that has been referenced time and time again in cinema and television, where an occupied baby carriage rolls treacherously down a flight of stairs as people look on in horror. And the civilian massacre put on by the Cossacks probably can't be helping.

So lend a hand to the common man and take in the finest piece of Russian propaganda ever created, you damn redniks! You ate my children and I'll have my revenge.

Kitchener/Waterloo's Local Focus Film Festival!

A short film of mine will be screened in it!

Heard about the Local Focus Festival yet? It's a free film festival put on by The Multicultural Cinema Club, which supplies rental equipment and other extremely useful filmmaking resources.

The films will be screening at Kitchener City Hall, and the opening gala is tonight at 6 o'clock. Go there and schmooze, and see some clips from the festival's selection. Most of (if not all) the films are locally produced, so this is a chance for local filmmakers to display their works for the city's public.

My entry was for the 24 film challenge, which will be screening with the others in the category this Saturday at 2pm! It's called The Pharaoh - and mark it well, for there shall be more.

Check out the Festival Schedule for other event screening times!

Heavy Metal and The Figure Skater

It's about time you knew the true face of figure skating. About time you knew what was at stake.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1929991

WWI era Name Suggestions for Kitchener

I heard it from Trevor Haldenby who told it to Darren Wershler, who tracked it down and put it up on his blog.

There's this document floating around about the different names that were being considered for Kitchener, then called Berlin, around WWI. And some of the suggestions are pretty effing badass.

Document sourced here.

I almost wish I was living in the industrial nightmare of Factoria, black streets and black rain. Trenchcoats and pain. Bauhaus instead of Hans haus.

Which is your favourite?