b - really, really f'ing cool.

Bathtub III from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

e - the fall leaves are fall, fall, falling.

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving weekend and enjoyed the amazingly beautiful weather that we had!
The fall is fading quickly, it always does though.
Fall has to be my favourite time of year by far. What's not to love about the crisp fall air, the beautiful colours and all the scarf wearing you could ever want? I'm not sure and don't think that there's really anything to top those feelings. I'm happiest if the fall too. It's not too hot, not too cold and i can bundle up in my favourite scarfs and sweaters and not look like an idiot for wearing too much or too little, it's the perfect amount of comfort.
The next best feeling to that is experiencing the first few weeks of a new season, even though we go though the same thing each year and it shouldn't feel too foreign to us it always surprises me the way I feel when each season rolls in. In the winter I always have that same feeling of excitement when the first snowfall graces our presence and I'll watch out the window with the biggest smile on my face and sometime venture out to twirl around under the floating sparkles filling the sky and floating to my feet, don't hate me but I'm really looking forward to the snow - and even christmas, gasp. I bet you it's my job that's having this fa-la-la-la-la-losery feelings. Spring on the other hand I have a love hate relationship with, I love being able to peel off layers when it starts to get warm and I love, love, love spring, the mud, the grass, that humidity that lingers through the air. I also hate spring for it's unpredictableness weather wise, the way it makes everything muddy and icky and the way all of the dog poop appears out of no where like a magic trick you don't want to be part of. ick. And summer is a given, everyone loves summer as they should. You can tell when it's summer here in Kingston when all of the pub's and downtown restaurants start hauling out their patios. The first summer bevy on a patio is something that we all look forward to for sure. And there's all the awesome things that summer brings like camping, kayaking, parties, skinny dipping and passing out on your front lawn. Ahhhhh, loves it.



We'll be enjoying some amazing fall weather in Montreal this weekend with a little baseball watching. Jed, Brant's brother plays on the Oshawa Durham College baseball team and they won the All Ontario Championship last weekend and are heading to the National Championships in Montreal. We're pretty excited, so expect lots of pictures and such!

By the way, as I mentioned, I have a new job, SURPRISE. ha, I'm working at Kingston's amazing, Cooke's Fine Foods assembling Christmas Baskets, it's awesome!

Here are some more pics from my Thanksgiving
weekend in Sharbot Lake at Bran't Granny's.

haha, oh i love you b.

Jed & Brant dueling on a beaver dam, crazy boys.

These 3 shots are from the trails behind Granny's house, beautiful.

Have a good weekend kids!

e, ox.

b - for krista

sorry

for 

making 

your 

boyfriend 

look 

like 

wario.

actually,

i 

take

that

back.

'cause 

wario 

is

a

p

i

m

p

.

e - i am trying to say, what I want to say, without having to say.

Tweeter!

I ask the question, what does one do when they only work 4 evenings a week?

sleep 'til 10? check.
watch whole seasons of Project Runway? check.
nap? check.

What else is left to do? Luckily I have a lot of friend who like art and I can make things for them that they pretend to like and hang up in their homes.

This is my recent work of crap, er - I mean art. ha. I made this art piece for our friend Brenna for her birthday (surprise) that was at the end of September. It was inspired by the photo, a 1917 portrait of Charlie Chaplin. I wanted it to look antique and rustic as well as beautiful, like royalty.

"Charlie" - gold, green, white and black acrylic paint scratched with a fork, stained with tree leaves covered with white tissue paper and bordered with gold tissue paper, newpaper clippings and a jeweled crown made with random awesome metal squares from Dollarama, also made into the corner pieces.

I've also been on a sort of a health kick recently, this is what I whipped up last night for dinner. Asparagus wrapped with Sole with a tomato on top over a bed of amazing Aztec Rice. Delish.

And lastly, Ansel, aw kitty.

b - war, via msn.

it's odd, talking to derek over im.

moreso through xbox live. like, i'm about to hit the "invite friend to game" button, when it dawns on me "oh, right. derek's kinda in the middle of a war zone right now."

thing is, talking online, it just feels like he's on the other end of town, or even a couple of hours away back on base at pet.

not kandahar, where it's noon hour there while i'm poking around these parts around 3-4 in the a.m.

and it's so odd to talk shit over msn. just surreal.

like the convo last night:

d: what's up?
b: hey man! not much. how's things?
d: s'ok.
b: what time is it there? must be like, 10 in the morning or something.
d: ehhh, closer to noon.
b: thought so. it's like, 3 in the morning here.
d: i have such a fucking headache - the 155mm's have been firing all morning at some bad guys.
b: ah... oorah? lol
d: lol, yeah.
d: man, rpgs suck.
b: how so? i mean, they're being fired at you guys, so obvs. they suck...
d: well, they're just really random and inaccurate. one bounced off the ground and hit one of our vehicles yesterday
b: fuck me. wasn't yours, though, right?
d: nah. all it did was make a dent in the side.
d: brb

BRB? what the hell? does that mean "brb, incoming. lol"?

*sigh* just quit worrying.
... make it back safe, d.

e - Art(ish)

Pimpin' ain't easy, 'yo.

I've recently gotten into creating art, not painting because I am not very good at it. More creative things, fun things. Things like I used to do in my grade 11 Material Art class with the best teacher ever, Sue.
I like taking things, putting them together and making it work, not crazy things, or hard things. Nice things, things that are special.
I like working with tissue paper on canvass even though every time I use it I regret it and end up tearing it and having to start over, but it always turns out. It works!
I'm no good at pimping out my own stuff, Krista usually does that. But I'll give it a shot.
If you, all 4 of our readers, like what you see and want me to work something up for you, I'll give it a shot!
....I'm just really bored and want something to do, knitting isn't faring too well but that's another thing all together.

If nothing else, just let me know what you think!

#1
'Untitled', pogded tissue paper, blue and white with printed out fish and kayaks floating together brushed with acrylic paints, green, blue and white. This was done for my good friend Jason's birthday, we go on Kayaking trips each year, I thought it was fitting.

#2
'Loki': Podged on tea stained paper strips in various directions with giant sparkling jewel tea stained stars with a printed paper Loki looking off wearing an Aero chocolate bar wrapper crown with jewels brushed with blue acrylic paint. This was done for Krista for her birthday this year, she is building an erica art gallery.

'Hera': Podged tissue paper, light and dark pink with Hera the kitten poking into the frame wearing a pearl necklace and standing in front of a jingly cat ball (that still jingles!) splattered with acrylic paints, purple, pink and white with wrapping paper hearts about. (again) Done for Krista for her birthday.

...if you are a friend, chances are you are getting art for your birthday, ha.

LOVE. ox.

b - nin!

just checked the lights in the sky tour page to double-check the date of the ottawa stop, and thank the gods, it's on the 11th of november, not on the 13th, which is erica's birthday. which as she pointed out, would be a really horrible and selfish thing to do to drag her to a show she doesn't necessarily want to go see. on her birthday.

i, of course, agreed. and hoped that for the love of fuck it wasn't on the 13th.

the setlists i've been checking out have been pretty stellar, and i'm afraid that after this tour, he might go on to do another double album of instrumental quazi-lullabies, which would put all the asskicking on hold.

and because i missed the chance to see them in toronto, there is very little to stop me on my quest of seeing mr. reznor live, and it looks like the only way i can do so in the near future is in ottawa.

unless of course, the show sells out before i get a chance to pick up tickets.

... again.

b - jason's black and white birthday

... that happened a week and a half ago.

this week's been busy with the move and all that blogging has taken a back seat.
as you no doubt saw first in krista's blog, our friend jason decided to celebrate his 23rd in style.

the original plan was to rent a boat for a summer cruise, but that didn't pan out when they double booked the boat for some touristy shit.






so instead, he rented a suite at the four points by sheraton (not the ambassador, krista. :P) here in downtown k-town. it was nice, it had four hide-a-beds that you pulled down from the walls, a lounge with comfy couch and HDTV, basically it was a hot tub short of a hip hop video.

the TV went unused for the most part, if it were my birthday, i'm thinking some Rock Band would've definitely been in good measure.









but we had fun. it was fun to dress up (even if it was half-a-costume) and look all classy with classy friends while acting decidedly un-classy.

after a bit, it was decided that we head out to the bars to take the party elsewhere, as it was creeping up to midnight, and the rest of the hotel guests were probably getting tired. let's just say that paying 5 bucks cover and the privilege of paying 5 bucks for a beer -- shitty beer, no less (budweiser) and listen to DJ Rip-Off spin his Girl Talk plagiarism. 

i guess the equation is [80's vocals] * [90's beats] = [00's profit] ? 

but i digress. we all had fun. we'll have pictures up of the new apartment once we get our cable hooked up. 

e - what would you do?

My lips will never be the same, ever.

What would you do for Radiohead tickets?

That's the question that our local radio station 98.9 The Drive had been asking for about a month or so. I'd thought about it, nothing good came to mind though but I really wanted to do it for Brant because I knew that he was a pretty big fan and he's pretty much the reason that I even know who Radiohead is.

Well like any good girlfriend I kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking.

Think. Think. Think.

I really had nothing. About to give up and just say forget it my dad encouraged me to just enter with anything because if I didn't I would probably regret it after hearing people who were chosen. So I did it, I entered.

"I will kiss 989 people in one day!", I wrote thinking that they would never choose that. I mean c'mon Radiohead is a HUGE band, people would probably cut off their left arm for that.

Nah, I'll be safe I thought, thought being the operative word here.

On Thursday I actually checked my email, I tend to avoid doing so because I get a million and one 'So and so has wrote on you Facebook wall' notifications. But I checked it, I have no idea why but I did. And low and behold, an email from the radio stations promotions and marketing manager Shawn Whalen telling me that my idea qualified for the prize and asked if I was willing to do it.

Totally. It was a huge prize, tickets to a SOLD OUT Radiohead show at the Molson Ampitheatre in Toronto, return train transportation will VIA Rail - traveling VIA 1, which is first class including all the booze and pillows you would ever want, effing sweet, and a nights stay at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto.

The day came, Monday, August 11, I was nervous and tired - being up at 530 a.m. was rough! But I made it, had an interview on the radio and then we hit the streets. We hit up pretty much everywhere in town that we could, Tim Hortons, Wal-Mart, Downtown, The Cataraqui Town Centre, Loblaws, bus terminals, any where in Kingston that is busy, you name it we were there.

Most people were nice and let me give them a little peck on the cheek, some were mean and some just didn't want to be bothered at all. The older ladies and old gents were the nicest, the old guys loved it. Another reason why old people rock, they kind of got it and were super cute.

kiss.

kiss.

kiss.

988 kisses later, my lips sore, my body tired and my clothes damp from the rain I was one peck away from giving Brant the coolest gift ever, but I had to wait until 430. A surprise was in store.

My last task and final kiss was to kiss Mike Ried, the afternoon host on the drive. It was fun, I got interviewed on his show, gave him a little kiss and that was that I am going to see Radiohead.

Worst part, Brant can't go. He's starting a new job at Taylor Studios as the print tech on Wednesday, tomorrow, and can't get it off. I guess it wouldn't look too professional to ask for a day off just 2 days after you begin your job. ha. So My dad is going, he deserves it too, afterall I might not have entered if it weren't for him.
YAY RADIO HEAD ON FRIDAY! Weeeeeeeeee! This will make me a sure fan, a forever fan.

b - shooting weddings...

... takes forrrrever.



The initial shooting of the wedding is great, don't get me wrong. Eric and I have shot a couple for friends and family, and for the most part, it's pretty straightforward.

There's always going to be good pictures wandering around the place - little moments between the bride and groom, if there's any kids attending, that's pretty much like easy bonus points. Kids being kids pretty much means you have a constant source of good photos.




Big thing is just the hours upon hours of editing that has to be done after the fact.



Really, the ideal way to shoot a wedding from a business-oriented point of view is to just shoot the wedding the day of, either develop the film or transfer digital files the next day, and then hand them over. Boom, done. No mess. In and out, on to the next gig.

The problem is, if you're like us, you tend to be a bit ruthless when it comes to editing. You don't want to fork over anything less than your best work. We were working digitally, which meant we could be a little sloppy. We shot about 700-1000 photos (lots of multiple shots when it came to large group pictures - don't want anyone's eyes closed or looking in the opposite direction!), and the first edit was down to about 90 photos.



And those were just the good ones.
After you get all the really nice ones out of the way, you have to find filler shots. Filler sounds negative, I'm sure, but it's not. You need the detail shots, photographs of the centerpieces, the invitations, the decorations, the cake, the presents, all that sorts of jazz. And not to mention candid shots of the mingling between the service and the dinner ceremony. It's a pretty crazy job for just one person, thankfully I have Erica.



The day wasn't without it's craziness, however; when I arrived at the house with the groom and his posse, I was approached by a very frustrated Erica, who told me that the minister was very adamant that there was to be absolutely no photography during the ceremony. Which is pretty much the proverbial money shot over the whole course of the day. I figured she just meant no flash photography, meant to discourage the people in the audience.
"No", I was told.
"Any photography is absolutely forbidden during the ceremony."
I understand the whole sanctity of the ceremony and all, but this is an outdoor wedding just off the back roads in Perth. You could hear cars driving in the distance, birds and squirrels, and all sorts of fauna rustling all around you. A couple clicks of the shutter wouldn't hurt, would it?

Whatever, didn't want to chance it. She later pointed out that the arrival of the bride, the first kiss and the signing of the certificate were fair game. Basically, so as long as she wasn't preaching, it was all good.




... then went and stuck her head in the way of the first kiss. ARGHDEATHKILLMAIMGRRRR.


EDIT: DAWWWWWWW

b - nine day weekend

it's funny, i was about to update the blog today, when i saw that there was a comment from krista, saying it was time for a new blog post.


so, hello there. long time no type.
the reason for which? not a good one. camping.














mind you, it was camping for an entire week, plus weekends, which ended up being nine notches on a weathered stump at loughborough lake. being friends with someone who knows the owner of said campground, we rented a field for the reasonable price of 10 bucks a head, per night to take part in what was essentially a social breakdown that saw ladyfolk act like men, and men act like men.

manly men.




through which, we learned, that eating bark and sticks and all sorts of nature-y woodness might be appealing for some dogs, but doesn't fare to well for the ol' cleft & palette.

as you can see, mortimer here indulged a little too much in his hedonistic buffet of twigs and such that the poor boy earned himself a bloody lip. awww.

it healed up enough a day after the fact, but the for the remainder of the trip, he had what we affectionately called a "chocolate milk mustache", albeit a mustache actually make of skin, and not hair.

an anti-mustache, if you will. the bizarro mustache.












This is Derek.
He constantly reminds me of Fry from Futurama, with his carefree nature, and knack for saying really hilarious and dumb things that make you laugh.

He's heading overseas come September, and there's lots of time to hang out with him, it's just going to suck not having him around to chime in like he always does. When he comes back next summer, it's going to be a relief for us all.