Movies

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but kept forgetting.  It's from the Scenes from a Movie project that Stephanie organized back in late fall (?).  I only posted it publicly more recently, because originally there was talk of having a show of everyone's photos somewhere, but it's been long enough that I don't think anyone's going to bother organizing that.  If you click through the photo to its page on flickr, I've got links to a couple other people's (if I missed any others that are posted, lemme know and I'll put up the links for those too, I know there were some other great ones but I don't know where they are!).  There's also a link to the original movie poster that I based this on.

How the project worked was a bunch of us got together and picked directors' names from a hat and had 3 weeks to take a photo that represented the director's work.  I got Tarantino, and thought and thought about what to do before settling on this.  Mostly I was stuck on the idea of getting a bunch of guys to dress in suits...  but that seemed a little complicated, and I've been doing self portraits a lot lately, and realized maybe there was a way to combine the two.  The first female character that came to mind was Uma in Pulp Fiction.

I looked through lots of photos of her from the movie, but couldn't figure out how to somehow interpret that into something I could model myself.  That was, until I started looking at the promotional poster for the movie.

All of a sudden it clicked, and I started putting the scene together.  Making it into this pose repeatedly in a matter of seconds was certainly something that made me wish I had a remote for my camera, but I got triggering the timer and hopping into this position just in the nick of time down to an art, and managed to get a good shot.  After that, I photoshopped the heck out of it to mimic the style of the poster and make it look like a pulp novel.

Threw in some customized text, and tada.  Oh, and if you're curious, the list of names are people who I feel gave me their support last year.  A time capsule of sorts.

This was by far one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time. It was largely because I'm finally feeling a fair bit better, probably back to 80% or so after a few weeks of all my health crap flaring up. I forget how nice it is to actually have the energy to actually do all the stuff I want!

Friday was pretty low key, but highlights involved going swimming for the first time in a couple years. The funny part was there was a couple triathletes there (World Triathlon Championships were in town this weekend), just to contrast the two ends of the human swimming ability spectrum. Things I forgot about swimming: 1) how psyched I get when I throw on my jeans and a hoody over my swimsuit before heading out, 2) how fun it is, and how relaxing swimming under the water can be, and 3) how much I totally suck at it! Good times none the less, and I will definitely have to go more often now that I broke the seal! Friday night, headed over to Snootytown...I mean Yaletown, and watched House of Flying Daggers with some friends, which was actually an okay movie, very visually stunning even though the story line was a little iffy. Much goofiness and fun was had over the course of the evening.

Saturday was action packed! I didn't even leave the West End, and it was one of the best days I've had in ages! The day started out with the first West End Farmer's Market of the year, and boy was I ready for it. The Farmer's Market is one of my favorite things about summer, and I love making the trip over there every Saturday once I'm up and at it. Stocking up on tasty food for the week is just as much fun as chatting with the farmers and vendors, and running into random friends and acquaintances from the neighbourhood. I'll be writing a more detailed post about the first market of the season on Spend Locally.

I had kind of a loosely planned afternoon, because I wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like, it's been really off and on lately. If it was raining, I was going to go to pancake breakfast with some lovely peoples, and if it was sunny, well...have you heard about World Naked Bike Ride? It was indeed a sunny afternoon, and I almost chickened out, but I was like, "Hey, why the heck not?", so I took my lovely bike and headed down to Sunset Beach. Admittedly, I did not go full buff, especially since there were SO many gawkers taking pictures, but I did ride around downtown in some cute undies and had a fabulous time! Not too many people I knew turned up, though there were probably a couple hundred people--but I did see more of one old friend and one new one than I had ever hoped I would! Hah. Fun times! It was a riot...until we rode up the hill on Robson, where I finally succumbed to my asthma and general lack of being in shape, and knew that it was my time to put my dress back on and coast back home. I can't even explain to you how great a time I had, riding with all the free spirited great people, but suffice it to say it was a big win for project YES.

Leslie took some photos before the ride started, and they're really wonderful. I know I've said it before, but she's such a great photographer--if anyone in Vancouver is looking for a wedding photographer, you should definitely check out her site! She got a bunch of great shots that she made into the amazing (and tasteful!) montage above. She also took the shot of me in all my pale glory...

Then after a shower and throwing together a salad, I walked over to Alex's for a BBQ which had a great mix of people (mostly who I didn't know), including accountants and actuaries, a lawyer, a few techies, a few academics, old friends, and a guy from Austin, TX, who was couchsurfing for the night on one of her friends' couch. Much chatting and eating was done, and then a rousing game of Catch Phrase, which was actually stupidly fun--we played boys against girls, and I have no idea who was winning, but it was hilarious! Eventually, the night rolled on and I started getting sleepy and strolled home.

This morning I tackled the pile of dishes that I made over the course of the last couple days before heading out for a quiet brunch/lunch over in Yaletown with my best buddies. I wasn't going to go originally, but a little gentle arm twisting got out there, and I'm glad I went mostly due to the company, but an honourable mention goes to the tasty roasted chicken I got, which will last me a couple more meals yet.

The grey weather was just what I needed after a fun-filled weekend, to slow down and take care of many loads of laundry, tidying, sewing, and random computery stuff I needed to catch up on. All that's left now is to make some food for tomorrow and the cozy up in my freshly washed bed.

Brace yourself, it's a random-assed post.

1) Out on Screen: had comp tickets (if you don't know what it is, it's Vancouver's queer film festival--and I'm going to use the word queer even though there was much discussion during the Q&A about preferred terms), and went to The Love that Won't Shut Up. It was a short film commissioned by Out On Screen's Queer History Project, made by Veda Hille and Ivan E. Coyote who both performed several songs/spoken word pieces. Bill Munroe (one of the people in the film) also performed. The film was mainly about different perspectives on the history of the queer community in Vancouver. It was great because I learned a lot that I didn't even realize I didn't know about the topic, and it also reminded me that (even though things seem super progressive living in the West End) there are still a lot of people out there who don't accept the queer community. There was still a tangible hurt in the room when topics such as gay bashing, gay marriage, and those who are no longer with us came up. I think it's easy to forget these things are still huge issues. I had a sad moment when I started thinking of one of my most favorite profs from my undergrad who died from AIDS in April of this year, and realized that probably everyone there knew him.

2) Went out after the film and was promptly reminded how prevalent homophobia is, when I blurted out "That's really not appropriate" in response to a comment made by one of the other people around the table. I think that the environment in which I live and work is soooo progressive/left wing that I've become a bit complacent about these kinds of issues. But it was jarring to find myself sharing a table with someone who so genuinely didn't "get" it. I mean, what if one of the other people there was in the closet? You never know! There are people in my life who are gay/bi/etc. who I have so much respect for and love so much, and I just find this kind of attitude intolerable. Then I hopped the bus back to the West End, and on the walk home passed by a gay couple holding hands (a very common sight in my neighbourhood) and felt like the world was an okay place again.

3) Onto the non-queer topics... Is it me or does this site (found through a link on Richard's blog) have one of the most amazing header graphics/layout? I love it.

4) I got my hair cut/coloured yesterday. It's the first time I've had my hair coloured at all, it's not drastic but it's awesome. Martin is so great, I am so glad to have finally found someone who gets my style and can help refine it (because he's far more stylish than me), and is just a really talented and super guy! If you are looking for a hairdresser in the area, I highly recommend him. I'll try and get a photo that does justice to it and post it up.

5) How much do I love the farmer's market! I never fail to leave the market thrilled with my haul--it's tomato season, and if you don't go buy tomatoes at the market you're really missing out. There were so many varieties that even though I bought two bags of tomatoes, I didn't come near sampling all the varieties. It's insane. If you want to read more of me ranting about my love of the market, I posted on SpendLocally.ca yesterday.

I'm sure I had more to say, but it's getting late and I've got lots to do today, so I'm off.