Weirdness

It has been a long time since I've felt the urge to blog away. Lots of good things have happened over the past couple of months: the wife and kids have settled in, we've moved to a new place in the West End, and the second term is nearly completed at school.

Furthermore, we saw my old friend Ryan and his wife Young-ju as they stopped by Vancouver for a visit in July. Heather, the kids, and I attended all four nights of the fireworks competition at English Bay. We even got an up-close look at the Pride Parade as it was happening more or less outside our door.

But none of these events inspired me to get on the ol' blog. They were too nice. Nothing unusual. Just good times. Today, however, was different. I witnessed something so creepy that... well, let me explain.

I stopped in McDonald's on Robson Street near my place. It was around 5:30 or so, and very few people were in the place. In fact, besides myself sitting at one end, there were three others in the seating area. Two people sat together: a man who looked to be about 45 or 50 years old, with dark hair and a greying beard. Across from him was an old lady, who appeared to be in the neighbourhood of 85. One table over was a guy, sitting by himself.

As I ate my chicken burger, I watched the man and the old woman at the table. It began to occur to me that the scene was unusual for some reason. The conversation they were having seemed to be one way, with the old lady just sitting there. Occasionally she would glance at me. The man was sitting with his back to me. I wasn't really listening to them, just observing. Then I began to become curious over what he was saying to this woman, so I consciously paid attention. He seemed to be talking about medical school. He had gone there for a while, apparently.

Somehow, this prompted the man at the next table to share a lawyer joke. To paraphrase, a lawyer died and was supposed to go to heaven but accidentally got sent to hell. When God asked Satan to send him back, Satan refused. God said, "I'll sue you." Satan responded, "Really? Where are you gonna find a lawyer?" The man with the lady kind of stared, then said, "That's a joke, right?" Umm, yeah, the guy replied. Then he got up and left.

So now the man and the old woman were sitting quite alone. This is where it gets really creepy. The man said to her, "Wanna move in with me? I've got a big bed. You can cuddle with me if you like. Would you like to cuddle with me?" What the fuck??? Clear as day, he said those words. I didn't have to strain to hear him. There was no ambient noise to filter out. Just this weird guy asking an 85-year-old woman to sleep with him. She said no, and then glanced over at me one more time.

So, what did I do? I began to take note of things. He was wearing a grey, collared shirt and blue jeans. He weighed about, oh, 190-200 lbs, I would estimate. About average height. Why was I doing this? If I heard on the news in the coming days that an old lady in the West End had come to some unfortunate end, I was going to be prepared to tell the police everything I could about this guy, who was likely a mental patient. Imagine if I could get his name.

As luck would have it, another elderly couple, around age 60, spoke to him. They knew each other, sort of. The creepy man said, "Why didn't you call me back?" I'm sorry, replied the man to whom he was speaking. Then they exchanged phone numbers, and creepy man said it. "My name is Iman Arnold." Amazing. Now I had a full description AND a name, should the need ever arise.

Is there a mental hospital in my neighbourhood that I don't know about? Is it now considered suitable behaviour for 50 year-old guys to hit on 80-something women who need walkers to get around? This was too bizarre to believe, except for the fact I witnessed it. I'm still dumbfounded.

But at least I have a good story to share on my blog.

Lucky 07/07/07

Today is a day I've been looking forward to for eleven weeks.

Heather, Renee, and Kaitlyn are coming to Vancouver. Yay!!!

Time to head to the airport. More to come soon.

Sweepless in Seattle

It's July 6th. Oh, and by the way, summer is finally here! My condo is actually, almost, kinda sweltering. Outside, the breeze keeps the downtown area comfortable, but there is still an intense desire to blow off homework and storm the beach.

Over the Canada Day weekend, I showed my patriotism by heading to Seattle. What?!

Well, the Blue Jays were playing there, and they needed my support. As it turned out, they got swept in spite of the throngs of Canadians who turned up at Safeco and made Seattle seem like a Canadian enclave for the weekend. The weather was spectacular and the city showed me its fun side, from the various sidewalk cafes and bistros on 1st Avenue to the 'Ride the Ducks' land and water tour. When I ascended the Space Needle on the last day, the wondrous Mount Ranier became visible. It appeared to be floating on clouds, a sight I will never forget.

The only negative was that I was travelling alone, so I couldn't share the pleasures of the Emerald City with family or friends. But, seeing that Seattle is a mere 3-4 hours away from Vancouver by car, it's quite possible I'll make my way down again.

PHOTO ALBUM

There's More to Vancouver

Yeah, so I finally got out of the downtown area, thanks to my buds Terry and Kenn visiting from Ontario. With a rented car, we managed to get up north, first to Lynn Canyon Park, and then up to Whistler. It's spectacular up in that neck of the woods.

Here's a short video of our weekend.

Time Flies

10:25 am. No school today. End of term. A siren howls down on the street, just like everyday. Seems strange because it's a great neighbourhood, but there's always a fire truck or an ambulance roaring by.

Five days off until the next term begins. The first term flew by, which usually means it was a good time. And it was. I've gotten to know my classmates much better, not only in class but outside, as well. And that pitch class that was causing me nightmares? Survived it, and even made a fine pitch of an original feature film idea. Doing so in that class, with that particular teacher... well, I won't say it was like slaying the dragon, but the metaphor lingers in my mind.

I've come to believe that I can succeed at this business of screenwriting. I don't feel as intimidated as I did at the start. We will soon begin the process of writing our feature script, and that will start a week from today when we pitch three film ideas to a panel of instructors.

As for this weekend, my buddies Terry and Kenn are coming from Ontario to hang out. If the weather is nice, I'd like to get up to the mountains, maybe to Whistler. It'll be a righteous time for three buddies who've been doing stuff together ever since the university days (just not nearly often enough).

And that's life on the left coast, exactly two months since I arrived. Time flies.

Term 1 Update

The first term at VFS is rapidly coming to an end. We have ten more days, to be specific. Time is definitely going fast, and that tells me that things are pretty good.

Of course, not everything is roses. I'm learning that I suck at pitching if for no other reason than I don't remember the details of my pitches all that well. I suppose I'm going to get better at it -- that's the hope. Actually, I will say that my success at pitching ideas has boiled down to the person I'm pitching for: When I pitch for Kelsey, I do pretty well. When I pitch for Kat, I feel the noose tightening.

Other than that, I'm pretty stoked about being here. There's something inherently cool about studying movies for a living. I'm gaining respect for good screenwriters because I'm learning how difficult it is to BE a good screenwriter. On my Facebook page, I've started analyzing films for themes and iconography, and practicing my loglines at the same time. It's quite enlightening to watch a movie this way, although it is equally pleasing to then sit back and just enjoy a film for what it is -- entertainment.

So, now I will pop in a DVD this evening. Hey, it's homework, really. Again, pretty damn cool.

On Set

Taking classes at VFS is fun and all, but it isn't the only way to learn about the film industry. Today, I earned my first credits - as an extra and a grip - while a short film was being shot. It was easy to do, and now my name will appear in the end credits. That's cool.

These kinds of opportunities are one of the benefits of attending film school. Not only do you get some on-set experience for the resume, but there's the distinct possibility of being asked back for other shoots, or perhaps of being recommended to other directors. It's another foot in the door.

I want to thank Nicholas Humphries of VFS, who was the writer, producer, and director of the short film, for sending the invitation to anyone in the program to come help out. He appreciated the assistance, and I appreciated the opportunity to participate. Best of luck, Nick, when your film goes to the film festival.