What have you been up to the last few months? Oh, really? That’s cool!
Oh me? Oh not too much, same old, same old. Well I mean there was Vegas, which was indescribable… And then my Dad came over for his 60th birthday which was a ridiculous amount of fun… And then I started a new semester at University and moved to an incredible new house closer to the city…. And then I went to Victoria for a wedding of two amazing friends who I couldn’t be happier for! There is more news too (like changing my major), but each story is best saved for another day.

So why have I been a bad blogger? Well for starters, I’ve never been a particularly good blogger. I’ve been trying to streamline my life and I’m not sure if this site has any place in that life anymore. I recently let go of a bunch of domains and stagnant projects. It feels good to free my mind of some clutter. My focus can be spread only so thin before nothing gets accomplished. I have been writing though! I’m writing a book. It’s about me! But much like the blog, I’m always on the fence about how personal to get. I’ve also started blogging elsewhere for a project I’m very proud of. I’ll share that info soon.

I’ve been job hunting lately! My reservoirs are starting to run dry, but more importantly, I’m starting to go stir-crazy without a job – especially with Summer around the corner. I was thinking about this last week, I’ve been working since I was 7; not 17, 7. That’s twenty years of working. These last five months not working have been great, but I need some structure.

I’ve done a lot of really cool things, run some great businesses and worked for some great companies over the last two decades. I thought it would be really fun to compile a list of the places I’ve worked. Without further adieu, here is a list of companies I’ve worked over the last twenty years:

-Royal Oak Garden Center & Florist
-Gavman co
-Passionate Gourmet
-Victoria’s Own Real Piccadilly Fruit Cart
-Sooke Harbour House
-Fairmont Empress
-Pacifica Crystals
-Thompson Marketing
-Big Dog Sportswear
-Herald St Center of the Performing Arts
-Campbells Soup
-Pepperidge Farms
-Staples
-Rogers Video
-West Call Center
-Brokenhawke Entertainment
-Toy store
-Random Temping all over Vancouver
-So much background it’s ridiculous
-CTM Talent Agency
-Rubber Ducky Films
-Border 2 Border Entertainment
-Casting Workbook
-Geotech Labs

Good lord that’s a lot of jobs! I’m fairly confident it’s complete, but I may be missing one or two entries. What’s even crazier are the number of different tasks I’ve done at each place. Many of those jobs were worked simultaneously, especially my own companies. I’m proud that every one of those jobs was a great gig with one exception (see unnamed toy store in the middle of the list).

So here I am back at the whole job search and have no idea where I’ll end up next! I think I’d like to work a bar next; the late nights would be golden.

I’m not sure the site will stay online much longer, at least in it’s present form, but thanks for reading over the past few months!

Anyways, here’s to adventures! ADVENTURES!!

Last night I pulled an epic all-nighter; final two projects of my first semester back at school. It was the epic kind of all nighter where at six in the morning you desperately just need to grab a blanket and “close your eyes for a second.” Well, I forgot how to work my phone so I couldn’t turn on my alarm and the eyes closing didn’t really happen.

At one point last night I read and reread the material 8 times and couldn’t answer the question at hand, so I through in some exclamation marks to make it sound like an enthusiastic answer. Unfortunately it’s a science report though on stem cells, so exclamation marks really aren’t going to help me much. Maybe my prof loves exclamation marks!

But do you know what the best part of an all-nighter is? Getting food the next morning while you’re half asleep and nine times out of ten that food will be one of the BEST things you’ve ever eaten in your life! All of your senses are enhanced and you’re treated with a flavour explosion! But to follow that up with a nap in the middle of the day. Guaranteed awesome across the board.

I used to think heaven was ordering six chicken mcnuggets and actually getting seven and a switchblade. Today I discovered it was eating tuna salad in a pita with tahini sauce and then having a nap.

Here’s the thing, today I didn’t have fun! Now it’s unlike me to not have fun at any convention (long history of conventions), let alone a geeky, comic-book convention! But, I didn’t. I found it alienating and solidified something I’ve be thinking for a while: I’m not as much a geek as I used to be. I didn’t feel like I fit in with this subculture anymore. It’s been a slow build up, but the things I have been so passionate for over the past years have slowly been leaving my life. Comics, Videogames, Movies, Cartoons; I just don’t find the same enjoyment like a used to. Some may laugh and some may say “I’m growing up.” However I’m feeling it’s a little more, I’m feeling like I’m going through a loss of identity.

Movies were the first to go. Everyone in my life knows how much I wanted to produce movies. Maybe I still do! I’ve taken myself to some pretty fantastic places under this preconceived notion, however over the last year (maybe two years, realistically) this desire has started to dwindle. Thus I find myself back at school pursuing different avenues. I may come back to the industry, but at this point I don’t know. I even find some difficulty in just watching movies these days; well, at least most of the newer theatrically released films that is.

Video games also have lost their enjoyment for me. I have played video games all of my life, however over the past several months I’ve tried to rent some new games as a distraction from school. Waste of time across the board! With the exception of Bayonetta, I found very little enjoyment in any of them; especially Final Fantasy XIII, a true exercise in frustration.

I could also talk about how I recently culled my old action figure collection, but the biggest blow for my geeky identity has been falling out of love with collecting comics. I have been a comic nut since 1990, my childhood collection was ridiculous. Comics, along with cartoons, shaped who I am today in every aspect of my life. They provided many rich sources of inspiration for creativity in my life. As an adult, my collection seemed to grow exponentially. For the majority of the last decade I had been rebuilding a fantastic comic collection. Some months I’d buy up to twelve (+) titles per month; never 6 than six titles, usually never more than 12. You do the math! On December 3rd, 2008 I bought my last comic. It was terrible. I waited months for it and it let me downl I fell out of love with collecting comics instantly. Knowing some friends would enjoy them more than I would, I handed my collection over to them for this past Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I loved those comics, but they didn’t do for me what they used to.

I still read “The Boys” and “Scott Pilgrim” – both are fantastic and break alot of moulds – these titles are too hard to put down.

So back to today….. I went to a comic convention and found it very alienating. I wasn’t looking for anything, I wasn’t interested in anything. I just couldn’t get into my groove. I felt like an impostor or that I didn’t belong at the con. The distributors selling comic books or toys were all similar with much of the same inventory, and I felt incredibly uncomfortable with all of the pandering to celebrities. I’ve never understood autograph chasing and the entire middle of the con was “autograph alley,” a collection of sci-fi names, reality tv personalities and aging wrestlers. It was weird being so close to an aging Honkey Tonk Man, Iron Sheik, and Luke from the Bushwackers.

I left the con empty handed and came home with an identity crisis.

So where does this leave me? I don’t know. Maybe it’s a good thing that all of these former passions are on the back burner, it certainly opens me up to some other passions and hobbies. But I definitely need something to fill the new void.

Who am I kidding though, I’ll probably still go to Fan Expo.
What can I say? I’m stubborn!

Needless to say, I definitely lol’d. Yeah you read that right: “forcing her.”

Highly inappropriate Facebook, highly inappropriate.

In related news, who remembers this incredible Conan O’Brien skit from like 14 years ago? It was the only thing I thought when I was presented with the captcha.

When I say I really like beer, I really like beer. I don’t just like beer a little bit, I love everything about the taste and I vastly respect art of brewing. I was raised on beer from a very young age when I first stole my father’s can of Foster’s off the kitchen table at the age of 3. During the same incident I snatched our neighbour’s cigarette, but luckily only one of these vices stuck. I think it’s because one of these things was bitter, cold and delicious, whereas the other was hot, burned and made me hack and convulse wildly.

Beer to me is the perfect drink. It brings people of all most walks of life together and acts as an incredible social lubricant. I believe over the years I have grown to appreciate beers from across the globe and spectrum. While I sincerely love a brilliant craft beer above anything, I would never turn down a chilled glass originating from any of the larger breweries either. I’m a beer lover, not a beer snob.

A large challenge since I moved to Toronto has been finding some unique beers. I’ll be the first to admit that my current LCBO has a very poor beer selection and I have yet to find a fabled “Beer Store” I’ve been told so much about. I’ll admit that I was absolutely spoiled in Vancouver; I was around the corner from one of the largest liquor stores and I was a block away from the best private liquor store I hath ever lay mine eyes upon: Viti Cold Beer and Wine.

So far I have encountered some very good Ontario beers! Creemore Springs has an excellent “UrBock,” Steam Whistle Brewing has a very solid and refreshing pilsner, and Mill St Brewery has some incredibly delicious crafts such as their Tankhouse Ale and Organic Lager, although I hear their Vanilla Porter is unbelievable. I’m still on the lookout for other great breweries though, in particular I’m dying for a hopped-up IPA, so please let me know of any of your favourites!

All of this beer talk really got me thinking about my favourite beers of all time. Without further adieu, here are my top five beers of all time that I recommend you track down and jump on. They are delicious and your world will not be the same after you locate them.

5. Phillips Brewery – Draught Dodger – Victoria, BC

To me, this beer is the Great White Whale of the beer kingdom. On a quest for sustenance during one of my early poker games, this beer appeared without any warning bearing an extremely artsy colourful label and brilliant pun for a title. I was only ever to pick up a couple cases of Draught Dodger before it just vanished off the shelves never to be found again. Draught Dodger was one of the smoothest ale’s I have ever poured down my throat. A maple cream ale using some of the richest maple syrup I have ever consumed (in beer form). If I recall the bottle said it used a special crystallized maple syrup, but I’ll never remember for sure. As far as I’m concerned the bottle could have said it used crystallized nectar from Olympus. It pains me to put this on my list knowing I’ll never try it again; heck I only know I didn’t imagine it because Beer Advocate has it listed with the only trace of the label on the internet. It’s a damn shame, I’d pour this stuff all over waffles if given the opportunity. The only cream ale I’ve ever fallen in love with. For a strong honorable mention from Phillips Brewery instead let me recommend their Longboat Chocolate Porter. It’s dessert in a glass with it’s incredibly strong chocolate notes; HIGHLY recommend.

4. Lost Coast Brewery – Tangerine Wheat Ale – Humboldt County, CA

When I was backpacking through Europe I fell in love with Orangina. You may know Orangina as the incredibly delicious carbonated orange flavoured mineral water that comes in rounded, stylized bottles and filled with pulp. It is incredibly refreshing and oh-so flavourful. Lost Coast Brewery’s Tangerine Wheat Ale is the Orangina of the beer world. It is the perfect summer beer! It’s incredibly thirst-quenching and perfect for lounging around your backyard in the hot sun. The tangerine flavour is so strong you may almost forget that this wheat beer is actually beer. Make sure you track this winner down come July and August.

3. Sacramento Brewing Company – India Pale Ale – Sacramento, CA

This is actually a little heartbreaking for me. Sacramento Brewing Company actually closed their doors this past fall. Sac Brewing had some incredibly sophisticated flavours and brews, however in my opinion, none so refined as their India Pale Ale.

I am a huge American/Northwest IPA fan and it is without question, my favourite style of beer. I have taken in plunge in many, many IPA’s. Typically they are extremely hoppy (I’ve been told over-hopped by some, is that even possible?!?) and this hoppiness gives a very deep crispiness or bitter flavour. I find them extremely refreshing. Sacramento Brewing Company had my favourite IPA to date with some fantastic labelling to match.

It will be missed; R.I.P. Sac Brewing.

2. Dogfish Head Brewery – Raison D’Etre – Milton, DE

I do love me a good pun and Dogfish Head definitely delivers. Raison D’Etre is a really complex brew that gets it delicious flavours and mahogany colour from a combination of beet sugar and green raisins! Get it? Raison D’Etre has raisins in it! Honestly a very delicious beer, however I have only found it available a handful of times. Maybe it’s just that popular and delicious!

I can’t really compare Raison D’Etre to many other beers. It reminds me of a plummier version of Vancouver Island Brewery’s Hermannator (a strong 10% ice bock that drinks like a milkshake). Raison D’Etre may require another tasting to stay on my top 5 list but each time I’ve had it thus far it definitely has earned it’s spot on this list. Check it out and let me know what you think below.

1. Granville Island Brewing – Lions Winter Ale – Vancouver, BC

My number 1 was an incredibly easy choice. Granville Island Brewing’s Lions Winter Ale is a damn near perfect beer. I can drink hundreds of these and it just seems to get better every year. GIB’s Winter Ale is known for it’s incredibly delicious vanilla flavour. Refreshing, crisp and only available between October and March. I love this beer so much it’s one of the few things outside friends and family I miss from Vancouver.

My first foray into Lions Winter Ale was not very good; truth be told my friends and all all thought the batch was “off.” However, I came back the next year, and gave it another chance. I’ve never looked back, this beer has had me purchase case after case and pitcher after pitcher, every years since.

Winter Ale is a perfect beer in my opinion. A beer that’s darker in colour, but not too heavy. It continuously calls me back for more with it’s very flavourful sweetness. It’s great for a weekend afternoon or dessert! If you ever find yourself in Vancouver during the mild winter months, do yourself a favour and pick some up.

There you have it, my favourite five beers! The list might change, but it’s been pretty consistent the last 12 months. What are you favourite beers?

The glass is half full via Exploding Dog

So amongst my new years resolution to change around my life and eradicate cynicism from my day-to-day life, I’ve decided to blog about my own life again. WHOA! I know, right? I’ve had an on-again-off-again, sometimes tumultuous relationship with blogging and it has been probably five, maybe six years since I last truly blogged. However, I do believe that a little more openness about my personal life will aid my in my anti-cynicism lifestyle. This is not to say I’m overtly cynical, in fact I really believe I’m not very cynical to start with, but I have my moments and it’s time to stop.

Last month Men’s Health had a great article on cynicism called “Why Men Fail.” I highly recommend reading it as it did nothing but reinforce that my current goals were on target.

I believe I’m a tad out of the box. I’ve lived a strange life and I’ve never believed I was incapable of doing many things. I’ve usually been fairly extroverted, confident and really creative; I’ve made it a mission to never tell myself “no.” Or at least, I thought I had! Save my great network of amazing friends and family, over the past year – maybe year and a half, maybe even a slow buildup over several years – I found myself in an incredible rut and in a very bad place. I found myself unmotivated, negative, self-defeating (much different than self-depreciating) and just hating where I was at; I think I had finally discovered the terrible cycle of cynicism.

It was really easy to complain. It was really easy to give-up. It was really easy to tell myself “no.”
The worst part was consciously knowing that it wasn’t ‘me.’

It took a while to decide what to do and how to get out of the rut. I quit my job, I applied to go back to school, I moved half-way across the country; I shook up my routine. It’s helped. It’s helped alot! I already have a really refreshing outtake on life again, I sort of feel like the person who I grew up with.

Anyways I’ll probably continue to link-dump here but expect a lot of personal updates too!

Almost two years ago (to the day) it was announced Warner Bros and Leonardo DiCaprio were teaming up to bring a live adaptation of Akira to the big screen. After two years of virtually no news (two or three updates max if I recall), it seems that the Hughes Brothers (Book of Eli) are in talks to direct the project!

This makes my little nerd heart swell with joy. Akira was one of the movies that warped my fragile little mind when I was much younger. Probably what, 18 years ago or so? If you haven’t ever watched Akira, I suggest you do so immediately. It is totally badass.

If you have seen Akira, there is an incredible live action short taking place 10 years after the events of Akira; check it out over at Nerdwithswag.

….And somehow, I had a feeling, things were going to turn out all right.

So if you know me, you know how big of a Lost fan I am. Today marks the return of the glorious show and the show’s homestretch. I am so excited for tonight I can’t express myself properly, and even more excited for my life ot have just a little less meaning in 16 weeks! *Single salty tear*

To celebrate, here are some fantastic Lost finds thanks to my good friend the internet.

1. SPOILER ALERT! Esquire transcribed EVERYTHING one of the best television characters of all time said in season 5: Mr. John Locke. If you want to pour hours of your life away or just have a man crush on John Locke go here.

2. If you don’t actually know who John Locke or Sayid Jarrah (from the video above) actually are maybe you should catch up with the NYTimes Lost Timeline or watch the incredible video below that recaps everything you need to know in 8 minutes:

3. Earlier this week io9 posted a really interesting chart showing all of the character’s off-island encounters. Definitely fascinating seeing all of these “coincidences” laid out graphically. Check it out here.

4.

While nothing else should need to be said, the above piece is called “Jack Is A Wolf Howling At The Moon, And The Moon Is The Face Of Locke” by artist Misha (from the mind of Paul Scheer). Remember the Masters of the Universe show I wrote about last week at the incredibly awesome Gallery 1988? Well they also had a Lost showcase because they are that damned cool! You can check out alot of that work here and here. Unfortunately for all of us, the best t-shirt in existence was only for purchase by physically walking into the gallery:

Damnation.

5. Finally move over Wizard Rock, the band Oceanic 6 has you covered with awesome lyrics and Lost based songs.

You can check out their youtube page here for more.

I have my theories on what happens this season, how about you? If you do, this contest might be for you!

1. Thanks go to to Topless Robot this week for sharing the greatest improv show of all time. Edmonton based improv crew Rapid Fire Theatre recently put on a Hallowe’en performance as classic DC comic characters. Not just dressed as the characters mind you, but completely in character. Basically it’s the greatest/nerdiest improv performance of all time. Check out all 7 parts on the Tyrant Pictures youtube account here.

I don’t know about you, but it totally reminds me of the fantastic “Legend of the Superheroes” variety show from the 70’s. Below is a clip from the show of “Ghetto Man” roasting the Superfriends.

Time for a “Legends of the Superheroes” revival? I think so. Thoughts?

2. What do you get when you cross Tom Selleck, a waterfall and a sandwich? COMEDY GOLD!
Check out the link above for the brilliant new tumblr blog Selleck Waterfall Sandwich. Half way down the page you also get treated to the official Selleck Waterfall Sandwich soundtrack.

3. Pocket monsters or ancient japanese demons? You decide:

Gorgeous! I’ve included the lower res versions above, however I highly recommend checking out the incredible high-res version at the artist’s (nojo?) site here. Almost makes you want to get a Lickitung tattoo! No? Just me? All right then, moving on…

Until next time internetz!

You can check out more of Remi Gallard’s brilliant pranks on his Youtube channel here.

1) Speaking of Ninja Turtles, I recently started to check out a bunch of local Toronto blogs. How does this relate to Turtles? Well Carol Zara of Digitally Blonde fame recently posted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles snuggie!!!! I’m totally ordering four and having a turtle snuggie party in the near future! You in? I call dibs on Donatello.

On a side note, I highly recommend checking out Digitally Blonde. I can’t figure out if she’s real and every nerd’s fantasy (read: mine!) or if she’s like that terrible Al Pacino movie S1M0ne, where Al Pacino creates an actress who becomes a star overnight… but she’s computer generated!!!! I mean we’ve all seen Avatar, who knows what’s real and fake anymore amirite???!?!?! My guess is she’s probably real.

That said, any pretty Brazilian girl who talks about comics, dresses up as cartoon characters and dances around in her underwear gets my full infatuation attention! You can stalk check out Digitally Blonde here.

2) If you’re not snugged out yet, Street Fighter IV also has a snuggie. You too can now kick some ass in comfort.

3) Oh!!! I almost forgot! Cartoonist Matt Bors recently had a brilliant commentary about global warming: “What if the Avengers treated Galactus like global warming?” Seriously, so good! Click here for parts 1, 2 and 3.
(via Comics Alliance)

4) By now I’m sure most of you have heard that Gallery 1988 (the best gallery in the universe), recently held a show completely dedicated to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Now I’m really jealous that I couldn’t make it down for the show but lucky for me the great people of the internets have come through and posted tons of the content online. You can check out alot of the artwork here, here, here, here and most importantly here. Also here.

So many of my favourite artists from today came together for this show. One of those favourites is Vancouver artist Camilla d’Errico. Camilla’s piece for the show can be seen here, however what’s even cooler and slightly related is that Gallery 1988 held a show back in 2008 called “Toys.” During this show Camilla displayed one of my favourite pieces of all time called “The Sorceress” which depicted The Sorceress from He-Man lore.

I love this piece, I mean it’s even my phone wallpaper. The colours are so vivid and there is so much character in those eyes. Anyways, I recently bought a copy for my new place and it arrived late last week! I am in my happy place. Check out Camilla’s site here and her store here.