Forced Time Off or First Film Fund Application

Well, with no work last week and none this week it looks like I'm getting a bit of a forced vacation. Not that I'm complaining, as it's more free time for me, but it would be nice to have some money to go along with that. I did file for EI benefits, so maybe the government can start to fund me!
Today I droppped off my first film fund application at the Film Group. I think it was pretty solid, so lets see if they agree. I should know by the 20th of February if the forms were correct. It'd be nice to be given a real budget to do something for a change... not that working no budget isn't fun, cuz it is, but having money makes the whole thing seem more legitimate.
I've been doing a lot of movie watching, reading, music listening, and general layabout activities lately. The ultimate buddy team up: Vincent Price and Mr. T. Now THAT'S a movie!

Job Interview or Conservative Minority

I had a job interview today at a little place called Multimedia Risk, which deals in insurance to the film and television industry. It's an entry level office job with opportunity for advancement, should skill and desire be demonstrated. At this point in my life, I would like to have the opportunity to work a regular and consistent schedule. It would also be alright to try out an office job, as I have not done that before. So this place had that going for it. On the other hand, it's a very small (but rapidly growing) place where it seems like you would not be able to "hide" very well. You are right there for everyone to scrutinize and make demands on. I actually like anonymity. Then again, maybe I'm just scared of such a big change in lifestyle. Going from a unionized manual labour job to a small paperwork place is a huge sidestep. It might be an interesting change. Then again, it's not exactly what I would like to be doing for a career or anything. Is this just an example of me being resistant to taking a step off the deep end? Maybe I should just go try to do something more related to the film industry directly, like getting on crews and the like. I think I'll give that a go this week, as I am free the whole time. No work this week! :(
So we have a new government up here in Canada. A Conservative minority is what the country chose, so that's what we have to live with. At least for a while. I highly doubt that it will last all that long, as the minute they try something "controversial" the parliament will fall. Until the BQ is removed from national politics, you are not going to see another majority government anytime soon. At least I don't think so. The people were not willing to punish the liberals enough this time, despite all the scandals, to create a conservative majority, so I don't think anything is going to change for the foreseeable future. Hopefully the new government gets some good done and avoids trying to undue things like same sex marriage or national childcare. I'm willing to give Harper a chance, if only to see him become a pariah when Canadians see some of the things his party really wants to do.
Anyway... that's all for now!

Birthday Blast or It's Closed?!?!?

Last night was a day for birthday fun, as it was my birthday after all. The day began with some Airsoft Xtreme Tactics. It's a game similar to paintball only with replica guns that fire hard BB's. It hurts like a bitch when you get hit on a soft spot (like the finger... OUCH!!!) but the game was fun and fairly intense.
The next stop was The Wok House for some Chinese food. I had planned on going to the Dragon Palace, but it was closed for renovations or something. This place was good and cheap, if INSANELY slow. Our waitress was a ditz, but we had some good eats anyway. It cost under 80$ for 6 people to have full bellies, drinks, and a few leftovers. I'd say that's a good deal.
Up next was bowling at the super cheap Village Inn Bowl 'n Cue. For an hour, everyone paid $5.25 and were able to bowl at least 2 games (we got near to completing 3). The place is nothing fancy, small and low budget. The computer screen graphics were akin to King's Quest 2!
The final stop of the night was to be Karaoke at the Limelight. Getting there about 10 to 10, we were surprised to find it full... and not of the kinds of people you want to see. Biker crowd. There were no tables anywhere so we decided to head to the Chocolate Shop on Portage instead. It was a tad shocking to discover that it was closed! Boarded up, shut down, kaput. That's too bad because it was a nice little get away downtown.. then again, there was never anyone there, so that might explain a few things.
With that in mind, we all headed back to my place to just play some Karaoke Revolution Party. A good time was had by all.
I got a rhyming dictionary!!!! Rap star, here I come!

A Few More Days or Finally Done GTA

In a few more days, I'll be 26... I don't know how I feel about that. On the one hand, birthdays have always been far down the radar for me, so I don't really care, but on the other hand TWENTY SIX! Shouldn't I be in some sort of career by now? Shouldn't I be out of the nest by now? Shouldn't I be able to grow some facial hair by now!!!!! To celebrate the event, there is going to be a varied and busy day. We're going to Airsoft in the late afternoon (like paintball only with replica guns that shoot plastic bb's!), out to dinner later, and then maybe some karaoke or bowling... or BOTH! If anyone is looking to buy me something sweet, I would suggest the new Intel Duo Core iMac's. Come on, it's only $2000!
I finally beat GTA San Andreas the other day. 49 hours and 69% completion rate. Not all that great, but I was getting sick of the thing. The ending was blah, and my impression of the game as a whole was "not as good as Vice City, but with much more to do." Maybe the next one will have a cooler theme, cuz the "Boyz in the Hood" thing was not doing it for me.
I need more Funk LP's.
I almost bought One Kiss Leads to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found the other day. It sounds so awesome.
I checked out last night's TNA PPV at Dan's place and had a decent time. The show itself was overbooked and needed to move away from the fancy screwjob finishes. The 4 of us there all agreed that they need to just do clean endings. Stay away from ref bumps and other assorted shenanigans. After that, I watched the Joe/Kobashi match, which rocked. Chop fests like that are what strong style wrestling is all about!
I need a new job... and more money.
I destroyed my triceps the other day at the gym. They hurt for 4 days!
That's enough for now.

Greedy Bastards or Finished Films

The other day I went in to the film group to finish up my shorts, doing some touch ups and whatnot. I now have a DVD done that is pretty smokin' and can start to show people what I did. I used some actual music in the background, so I thought that I would try to find out how much it would cost to get the film festival rights to use the songs so that I could send some off to be seen in various places. I received a prompt reply from the CMRRA telling me that festival rights for one year BEGIN at $200 PER song. Now, I understand that people want to get paid, but that's retarded. Despite the fact that I have a) no money and b) am using the songs for a grand total of MAYBE one minute each, the "man" still wants that much coin. No wonder so many people are bitter at the recording industry, they have a stranglehold on copyright that can't be touched. It has been shown that the number 1 export of the U.S. is copyright after all. I don't think it's right that you should have to pay to get film festival rights at all. You are not making any money off of someone else's work, you are just trying to get your name out there in the hopes of one day getting a career. It's reasonable to expect to have to pay for the rights to use a song for a feature, or something that is going to be sold to people, but not for something that isn't. Permission is one thing, payment is another. I guess what this teaches me is that I am going to have to try harder to find public domain songs or else compose my own (god that sounds pretentious...) It's not worth it to pay that kind of money. Especially when it's only good for a year.
Tonight is Jay's birthday at Hooligan's, come one, come all!