Sweet Sweet Heat

Personal Challange

2006-05-08T00:21:00.000-04:00

No bullshit and no sermon. I feel guilty about taking more from the environment around me then I contribute to it. I want that to change. I want to challange myself to live carbon neutral by 2008. I have no idea where to start, or even what that really means, but hopefully by doing so i can set some small example for others who are feeling the same guilt.

I guess the best place to start would be my car. Last April I got a new one, a Subaru Impreza. In the year or so that I've had it, my fiance and I have driven it a total of 22 000 kms. I bought a standard, thinking that mileage would be better, but it's hard to get an efficient 4 wheel drive car. I don't know how severly I should cut my car usuage - I should probably sell it - but I'm going to start with a modest goal, to cap my driving to 18 000kms per year. It shouldn't be that hard. I already take the subway to and from work. What I need to cut down on are the long road trips and taking the car out at night when i feel too lazy to take the subway.

Beyond this first small step, I'm not sure what else I should do to accomplish my goal. I need to do a bit of research, I guess. Stay tuned, and I'll let you know how it goes.

2006-03-14T00:30:00.000-05:00

Who are these guys?

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Nicole and I were in Quebec city a couple weekends ago, and this is what we ran into walking around the old city. The first ever North American skater-cross competition.

Unfortunetly, I didn't get a chance to actually shoot any of the competition, but i did get to shoot a billboard showing highlights.

The winner took home $5000.

2006-03-10T00:10:00.000-05:00

Animal Collective

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I went to La Tulipe in Montreal to see Animal Collective. I had been obssesively listening to their album for the past couple of weeks. I was excited.

Their live sound was completely different then what I had expected. They sucked and I was disapointed.

2006-02-22T00:22:00.001-05:00

Friendship Cove

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The Friendship Cove is a loft space in point st-charles, montreal, that is an apartment/performance space. I went there for the first time last friday, feb 18, 2006.

Walking into the old industrial building, I wasn't sure if it was a slaughterhouse, or if there was actually a band perfomring. I walked into the space to find a statuesque student behind a small desk. He didn't say a word until i tried to walk in and he abrubtly said "7 dollars please". Inside, the place was decorated with empty beer bootles, manaquin heads and rabbits painted on the walls. There was an electric toothbrush in the bath, which drove home the point that people lived there. There were 3 hipsters with DV cameras which drove home the point that it was a student crowd.

The mood was quite nice, though I couldn't shake the feeling that we would have been better off sitting in front of a campfire, if only it weren't -20 outside. I enjoyed the music, especially Micah Blue Smaldone, who's old time blues were perfectly suited to the living room feel. You should give him a listen if you get a chance.

2006-02-21T00:46:00.000-05:00

Dan winning the mentorship award

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My boss, friend and mentor Daniel Cross won the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association award for "Mentor of the Year". It was presented to him by Mila and Roach in Ottawa at the CFTPA's annual conference.

Victory

2006-02-20T15:01:00.000-05:00

SnakeBite

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My First video blog post! This is a short film i made in 48 hours with Alec, Brett and others. It's a quasi music video to a SixToo song that we made in 48 hours as part of the 2880.ca filmmaking comptition.

long time away

2006-01-03T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time, but i might be back soon.
I got another new camera after returning the last one. This is a digital still camera that can take video. This time, my video blog will work....really, it will.
stay tuned...

Fight Night

2005-11-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

Gala at the Sala comp 1
Originally uploaded by johnchristou.

Here's a composite of me fighting at an amateur boxing tournament. I trained a year for a 6 minute, 3 round fight. While in the ring i couldn't tell if i was winning. When i was done, my friends told me it was a draw, but i don't care. It meant a lot to me to face down the fight and not be scared or intimidated.

Sweet Dreams

2005-11-03T23:15:00.000-05:00

Windsuring_Aruba 2
Originally uploaded by johnchristou.

I have this photo on the desktop of my computer at work. It's been there so long that i barely register it anymore.

When i do notice it, i usually get pretty sad, and i ask myself "what the hell am i doing sitting here behind a desk, staring at a computer screen when i could be living down in Aruba windsurfing everyday...?"

When i was younger i always told myself i'd never do the 9 to 5 routine, but some days it feels like i've fallen into the trap. That's when dreams come in handy and i realize that the photo on my desktop is an idealized view of freedom.

The reality is that the responsibility of routine - wether it's windsurfing or working - becomes a 9 to 5 burden. And i soon remember that I wouldn't trade anything for being a filmmaker.

Besides, I manage to get on the water a few days every year.

World Domination: Part Deux

2005-10-29T15:34:00.000-04:00

I finnally got my grubby little hands on a tennie tiny DV camera that is perfect for blogging. It's a little samsung camera - the SC-X105L sport - that is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and it records on little memory stick flash cards.

I just spent the last hour filming around my neighborhood to gather some material for my first vlog...now to figure out how to get it off my camera and onto the net.

Oh so close....

I WIN I WIN

2005-10-27T15:32:00.000-04:00

I won a whole 5 bucks in yesterdays draw...ohh the adrenaline rush is making me dizzy...

40 million bucks

2005-10-26T13:50:00.000-04:00

i just bought 3 lottery tickets. If i hit, i'll win 40 million. What would i do with 40 million? This is how I'd break it down:

5 million bucks to buy myself a cool pad in Montreal and 1000 acres of lakefront property somewhere in the Laurentiens where i'd built a "green" house powered by wind, sun and geothermal heat. (i considered buying some condo in a tropical or ski destination, but that's what hotels are for)

I'd give 5 million bucks away to family, friends and charity.

I would blow 2 million bucks on fun stuff - like a bar (with a stage for shows) on St. Laurent where all my friends could come hang out and I could walk in and yell out "a round for everyone" without having to pay for it, a smart car, a 4 wheel drive hybrid car for winter driving, travelling, jewllery and clothes for my fiance, a sweet computer setup and video camera for blogging/vlogging (blogging with the rich and famous), parties, playing some high stakes poker tournaments etc...

I'd buy 1 million dollars worth of gold coins and gold bars just to have around. Like Scrouge McDuck, I'd roll around in it. (plus if there was ever some global catastrophe or meltdown, my family and I could get by on the bling)

I'd put 10 million dollars in the safest investment I could find, like Swiss Governments Bonds or Canadian Bonds. The interest alone would be enough to live off of from Day to Day.

I'd then invest another 10 million in smart investments of stocks and other financial type investments for the long haul and to build up a good nest egg to pass on to my kids or for unexpected emergencies, invesments, or whimsical spending.

Which leaves me with a last chunk of 7 million dollars, which will be the most fun to play with. I'd take over or start my own media company - film production/distribution, magazine/book publishing, internet properties/web sites, and possibly my own small broadcast channel.

...I won't hold my breath, but i will cross my fingers.

Tiny DV camera

2005-10-17T23:21:00.000-04:00

TigerDirect sells these little DV cameras for about $125 CAN. They are very tempting to buy, but i have a feeling the image looks like shit, even though it records in 320/240 mpeg-4, which is perfect for Vid logging. I'd use a camera from work, but i feel guilty for using an expensive camera to shoot for my vid log. I guess i could pick up a cheap mini-dv camera. But then i have to worry about tape. It would be nice get something that records decent video on SD cards and that is recharable. I think Samsung has something along those line, but i think it's close to $500. A bit pricey for a hobby.

I better decide on video solution soon...though ourmedia still hasn't come through for me.

Argh! Dial-up

2005-10-16T18:06:00.000-04:00

I'm an hour North of Montreal in Saint-Donat, struggling with Dial up internet. Last friday I posted one of my short films on ourmedia.org, whith the hopes of linking it to my blog, but so far my video hasn't come online, which is frustrating. Now, i can't even get to the ourmedia site because of this fucking dial up internet. But, I'm not up here to blog, I'm up here to relax and get away from technology.

In fact, despite my new enthusiasm for the internet I've recently been feeling too dependent on technology. It makes life a bit too easy. I think i need to start to connect a little more with reality...what better time and place to do so then fall in the laurentiens.

Went for a great trail run yesterday and a short hike today. Love the fall smell of fallen leaves, dead things all wet, and winter in the air. It's good thinking weather. As I ran though i couldn't help thinking my run would make a great Vlog, as would fall leaves. I desperately need a little DV camera.

I've also been thinking about the internet as "communal brain". I think i want to try an experiment: I'm going to create a wiki poetry page. Create a communal poem a week, allowing anyone to edit 3-5 words at a time. I think i'd archive the poem after every alteration. Maybe I should add in a time limit as well. People are beginning to compare the internet to a human brain. If that is true, I wonder if it could write poetry?

My Video Blog is coming soon....

2005-10-13T22:10:00.000-04:00

and you won't want to miss it. It's going to be the Hottest of the Hot. I've got the best Vlog coach in the world. He's going to whip me into shape and make me a star.

I registered today on ourmedia.org. It's associated with the internet archive and it provides free video hosting for anyone who wants it. From there you can link your videos to your blog and....voila, a completely free Vlog.

If I were really cool, I'd get myself my own domain name, but that's coming soon too. First I have to make sure that I'm actually going to keep this up and not waste my money. You know, us documentary filmmakers don't have a lot of the green stuff.

Revolution

2005-10-12T15:10:00.000-04:00

ipod video. I better get video blogging immediately. Or should I say, I better get started making my video podcast.

It won't be long before we'll be getting all of our entertainment over the net. Especially now that you can watch "Lost" on your ipod. TV giants be warned: The dweebs are coming!

FIRST BLOG EVER....

2005-10-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

I'm so original. I now have my very own blog. Isn't this exciting? My buddy Brett's got a blog, and for a while now I thought he was SOOO cool. But now I have a blog too and so I must be as cool. But not quite....Brett's got a videoblog: www.etherworks.ca. One day Brett, one day....