1897 - TIFF - Short Cuts Canada - Programme 2

So full disclosure - this is the programme that I screened in in TIFF this year - and since this is my blog, I'm including a still from my own film about to represent the group.  Sue me :)
Over-all I really enjoyed the flow of the programme, which must be an art in and of itself to do for those in charge.  The program is at one time beautiful, challenging, heartfelt, and hilarious.  I look forward to staying in touch with these filmmakers and see how they grow.  Below, a snapshot on my thoughts on the films in this program:

A Grand Canal - Directed by Johnny Ma
The visual style was quite striking and made it feel like it took place in the 70's.  It's the story of a young man recounting his father's final days.  Based on how the narrative ends you're lead to believe that the filmmaker is telling the story of his own father - but this is just a dramatic device, and sadly I felt like it was a little bit of a cheat when I found that out.  It shouldn't make the film's ending any less satisfying, but for me - somehow it did...

Beasts in the Real World - Directed by Sol Friedman
A delightfully experimental film.  It starts off by putting a camera on the conveyer belt of a sushi restaurant and I was worried that was all the film was going to be - but Sol is good hands to be in as he pushes you around and makes you delight in glee at some morbid stuff, all done with a lovely wink.

Seasick - Directed by Eva Cvijanovic
My joke through-out the festival was that any of the animated filmmakers were infinitely talented than any of the live-action ones - and while that's not true necessarily, I've always been a bit jealous of the skill set.  The animation here is beautiful - the story is all the way secondary, and not really the point.  But lovely all around.

Daybreak - Directed by Ian Lagarde
This film was disturbing in a deliberate and challenging way.  The story of a bunch of asshole kids on the cusp of being adults and figuring out what that means, where you stand, and who your real friends are.  A dark, sad, yet beautiful film.

Noah - Directed by Walter Woodmen & Patrik Cederberg
This might be my favorite of our program.  First off, the idea of having it take place entirely online is timely and satisfying.  I dare say the filmmakers should consider a feature version of this.  I found myself engaged, laughing out loud, rooting for this young stupid kid.  You'll likely be able to see this one on-line - do it!!!

Out - Directed by Jeremy LaLonde
This one is mine.  It's a comedy and people laughed.  Mission accomplished!

Young Galaxy - Directed by James Wilkes
What's it like to live inside of the mild of a child.  The answer is this.  Imagination abounds here, although I have to say that I didn't get a sense of a lesson learned.  It's one thing to put us inside the mind of a child so effortlessly, but the film doesn't answer - why his imagination - why this day, why, why why?  Too many questions and not enough answers, sadly.  Why are we inside of his head on THIS day.  

1837 - Vegucated

It's hard for to write about food documentaries like a regular review on here.  I'm a pescatarian, which is a vegetarian that eats fish - and I tell you, after watching something like this I start to strongly question that choice as well… so much about what we eat and why is tied to closely to tradition for tradition's sake.  No one who lives in any kind of civilized place can make a solid argument for why you need to consume animal products - you just can't outside of choice and desire.  This is a pretty fresh take on the subject and it's director introduces the ideas with humour and then gets you comfy before pulling out the more uncomfortable stuff. 
If you're reading this and you're a meat-eater - I get it.  I was a meat-eater for a long time, and it's only been five years since I've drastically changed the way I eat.  Here's the thing - even if you don't care about animals, even if you don't care about what the meat and dairy industry does to the planet - you should at least look at what reducing some of the stuff can do to your body.  Over the last 5 years I've lost around a hundred pounds without really trying all that hard.  I'm still trying to lose more, and that's tougher once you plateau - but I definitely feel a shit-load healthier.  It scares me to think what I'd look like if I hadn't changed my diet.  So there's that.  Do or do not, but make an informed decision before dismissing something like this.

1810 - Annie Hall

So I've seen this film (probably) more than any other.  I've written about it here a lot.  Last night I got to do one of my favorite things, which is introduce a great movie to someone who has never seen it - and in this case it was a friend who is a young filmmaker.  I still remember the first time I saw this, having been loaned it by a friend with no lead-up at all.  It blew my mind and everything I wrote in the weeks after was a blatant rip-off.  What Allen does in this film is create a magic trick - he blends a lot of different techniques and uses them to express ideas too complicated to summarize through straight narrative.  And the only bad thing about Annie Hall is when you realize that there's nothing else like it, and there's no way to experience it again for the first time.  I'm not going to say any more, probably because I'll just be repeating myself from a previous post, but I'll say this - if you've never seen this movie please get-thee-to-a-DVD (or however you can).  To not like this film is, to me, akin to someone saying that they don't like music.

After watching the film my friend asked me to recommend a top-ten essential Woody Allen.  Which is no small feat to make considering the man has made a film a year for four decades, and at least half of his body of work is amazing.  I tried to narrow it down to ten and I couldn't - and no one can make me,  so instead I've boiled it down to what I think you'd be absolutely remiss to miss.  She'd already seen Midnight in Paris and Vicky Cristina Barcelona so that, along with Annie Hall, will be absent from this list.  I decided to make the list on what best represents Allen, but also gives a sense of his breadth as a filmmaker as well.  Here is it.  If I made this list tomorrow as opposed to today there's a good chance it would be different because, to me, Woody Allen is like sex or pizza - even when it's bad it's still better than most things.  If you're reading this and you're offended that I've omitted a title I promise you that tomorrow I'll be equally offended!

Top Essential Woody Allen Viewing (without Annie Hall, Midnight in Paris, or Vicky Cristina Barcelona (which my friend had already seen) and in no particular order):

• Take The Money and Run 
• Bananas
• Manhattan
• Stardust Memories
• Zelig
• The Purple Rose of Cairo
• Hannah & Her Sisters
• Crimes & Misdemeanours
• Husbands & Wives
• Bullets Over Broadway
• Mighty Aphrodite
• Everyone Says I Love You
• Deconstructing Harry
• Sweet & Lowdown
• Match Point

So there's that - disagree with the list?  Comment below!

1802 - Sex After Kids

Am I reviewing my own film?  No.  But I always do a write up following a first public screening, so here it is. 
I'd love to say that it was a long road to get this film here, but it wasn't really - not when you compare it to most films.  It was just a few days more than a year ago that I even decided that I wanted to make a film about this subject - and now here we are, a very successful world premiere under our belts, and we continue moving forward.
We had our World Premiere last Saturday at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival to a sold-out audience.  They actually had to turn people away, which is sad, but kind of awesome as well.  It's nice to be a part of something that people are really excited to see!  The audience had a great reaction and the room was full of laughter.  We had a great Q&A after the screening, and just a general good time over-all. 
In lieu of doing my own review I'm going to attach some comments that have been posted on Santa Barbara's site.  Here's the link to it and feel free to go and rank the film yourself: 
http://sbiff.festivalgenius.com/2013/films/sexafterkids_jeremylalonde_sbiff2013

Like LaLonde's previous film, this is a funny, yet mature and touching film that will undoubtedly nip and tug at some sort of core emotion in many people.

What a fantastic movie! Funny, edgy, raw and yet touching. My husband and I laughed until we cried. Jeremy Lalonde has taken an ensemble cast of extremely talented actors and actresses and made a gem of a movie!

So often in ensemble films, certain plot lines get pushed aside in favor of others, so it was great to see a movie where every family is given pretty much equal importance and screen time. Witty dialogue, likeable characters, and a realistic premise make for a feel good film.

Okay - enough self congratulations.  If you're in the southern states - we've still got two screenings this upcoming weekend in Santa Barbara - get your ass out!

www.jeremylalonde.com

Greetings all!  I've finally redone my website - which I was hating on quite a bit for the longest time and it just became that thing that I didn't want to deal with...
So check it out - I've uploaded stills from all my films - more from Sex After Kids will be coming soon.  There's some videos on there, including a short I did years ago called Hoff's New Direction.  But most importantly I'll be starting a NEW BLOG!  I'm not abandoning this one, but I'll be using the one on my main website to talk more about my creative process, projects, and myself in the industry, where I'll keep using this blog to talk about the stuff I'm watching, reading, etc... My goal will be to update it once a week or so.  People were complaining that all my film news was getting lost in the other posts here so I thought I'd make it cleaner for all of you!  So check back often - I've got something else I'm cooking up that I hope to start releasing in the fall...

How the WSPA lost my donation

Yesterday I was on my way to grab some lunch when I was approaching a corner where there was a young person and a clip board.  If you live or work in a city you know the type.  One of dozens of charities who solicit youths to stand on the street during peak hours in an attempt to elicit your donations.  I should start by saying that I'm not against this.  Organizations need to get their face out there, engage with the people.  In fact, my wife and I give to several organizations on a regular basis because:
A) We support what they are working towards
and
B) The tax receipts come in pretty handy around February of each year

So I often walk right by with a friendly smile, letting them know I've already given.  Sometimes it's true, that I have given to their organizations, some times it's not.  But I have given, and I can't afford to save the world. 
So yesterday I was approaching a corner near Spadina & Adelaide where I had no choice but to engage the binder holder.  (as a side note, they really need to have some kind of term - maybe they do… I suppose that binder holder will do for now…)  I've debated over whether or not I would list the name of the organization, and I think I have to.  WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals), for those who don't know I've been a vegetarian for nearing five years (technically I'm a pescatarian since I still eat fish).  If you're ever bored enough to know why I'll be more than happy to tell you, but I won't waste your time here.  At any rate my wife and I are quite aligned with a lot of what the WSPA stands for.  So when this young man stopped me I was more than happy to listen and engage.  We had a nice long conversation about the troubles currently being faced in different parts of the world, and when the time came around for the inevitable, I simply told him that I go over all my major donations with my wife so that we're on the same page.  That I'd love to take any literature that he had and I'd pledge online.  And that's when the tides turned.  That wasn't good enough.  He explained that a lot of people say they'll do that, but then they don't.  Which, I think, is their right to do so.  I get pretty annoyed when it comes to high-pressure sales people - my instant reaction is almost always to say no just on principle.  But the problem when you're representing a charity is that you're selling me something that I don't actually need.  It's not like if I walk away I'm going to miss out on something that's going to improve my day to day life - I hope I'm not coming off terribly by saying this - but if you're going to put pressure on people, there has to be a reason.  There has to be a consequence to me saying 'no' for me.  Otherwise, there's no pressure, and you're just being rude. 

So me explaining that the finances in my home were equal weren't enough for this young man.  And the fact that I didn't have my credit card didn't stop him either.  He was willing to call my bank and set up an automatic withdrawal.  At this point I was feeling pretty uncomfortable by this young man who just wouldn't believe that I would actually look into the matter on my own time.  I eventually just had to put my foot down and say that under no circumstance would I be giving him money on the street.  So he arranged to have someone call me that evening and gave me a little slip of paper as a reminder.  Then, as I continued to go about getting my lunch (twenty minutes later), I came upon another group from the same organization, and approaching them I showed them my slip and one of the girls replied in a ridiculously snarly fashion, "Oh, well congrats on getting a phone call."  It was a really shitty thing to do to someone who was seriously considering making a donation.

I got back to work, looked up the organization, and found that I agreed with much of what they had to say and what they do.  I'd pitch it at home and we'd figure it out.  We're in the process of moving and so we don't want to just throw money around right now, we generally wait until the fall and make all our donations at once, but I was almost feeling like I wanted to get the better of these two people and make the donation just out of spite.  I can be that kind of person.

And then the phone call came.  We've got two small children and so bedtime is either heaven or hell, last night it was closer to hell.  And so in the middle of it the call came in, and I explained to the person that I was putting my kid to sleep and could I please call them back.  They insisted that it would only take a moment, and I explained that I didn't have it.  I'd call THEM back.  And then another snarly response, "Yeah, I'm sure you will sir."  And that was enough.  And here's the shitty thing about it, because of all their negativity about me contributing they became a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I'm not going to give to their cause because the people that represent them made me feel shitty.  And when you're asking people to give you the money that they work hard to earn, you shouldn't make them feel shitty - you should make them feel good about it.  It's the least you can do.  So if someone from WSPA reads this, I apologize, but my money will be going to another charity.  I'm still going to give, just not to you.  The world is full of problems and it's impossible to rank which is more in need than another - but I've got to feel good about the organizations that I give my money to, and I can't say I feel that great about yours.

1697 - Forks Over Knives

Full Disclosure: for the last five years I've been a pescatarian (which is essentially a vegetarian that still eats fish).  So a film like this is largely preaching to the choir.  Although we still eat animal bi-products in our home.
I know that one of the most asked question I always get it "well where do you get your protein" which just goes so to show you how well or society has done at brainwashing people into thinking that the only true source of protein is animal protein.  Same as calcium and dairy products.  As one person in this film remarks - the continual focus on people eating animal based foods has more to do with protecting the status quo of industry than it has to do with protecting people and their health.
This film gives off a lot of information and shows several people that are in poor medical conditions overcome their issues through simply changing their diet.  You could argue that this is a case-by-case basis, but I'd love to see the documentary that shows that negative aspects of giving up the consumption of animal proteins. 
Food is something that's super important to my wife and I, especially now that we've got kids, and we spend a lot of time thinking about what's best for us.  I in particular come from a background that never put a lot of thought into the health of food and so being with someone who does has literally changed my life.  I've easily lost over a hundred pounds of weight since I've been with my now-wife, and it's no exaggeration to say that I'm sure she's saved my life in some ways (or at least extended it!)
The hardest thing for me to give up would be eggs.  I love eggs for breakfast.  I think I can easily give up on milk since I really only eat it on cereal and almond milk is a fine substitute.  I eat very minimal amounts of cheese.  Fish is maybe once a week, usually only once or twice a month.  I need to read more about fish protein, although I suspect it's still the best of them health wise. 
So this is turning into me telling you how I eat and you probably don't give a damn :) 
What people put into their bodies is a huge topic, and it's a personal one, and I think it upsets a lot of people when you try to tell them that they should change.  I never try and convert anyone, but I'm more than willing to talk when people have questions. 
For me the decision is a personal one that I think makes the planet a better place in a lot of ways.  But I don't condemn anyone else for their choices so long as they are informed.  And that's the difference.  Eat whatever you want to eat, but you owe it to yourself to know what food's relationship is to your body.

The (new) Movies I Saw This Year (in order of appreciation)

So this isn't a true top of the year list by any means, but what you see below is a list of every film that I saw for the first time this year (including ones that came out in other years - many go decades into the past) and the order in which I enjoyed them.  Full disclosure - I didn't go into a painstaking thought process with this list, and if I were to make this list tomorrow there's a good chance that the order might shift in places here and there.  (I do think the top ten is pretty solid though... shame Moneyball and The Muppets didn't sneak into there though ;-) ).  Also keep in mind that I'm terribly behind on a lot of new films, so you'll probably see those in my next year's list :)

Top Ten
50/50
Blue Valentine
Crazy Stupid Love
Midnight in Paris
Bridesmaids
Love and Other Drugs
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II
Drive
The Whistleblower

Everything Else
Easy A
Thor
127 Hours
Crazy Heart
The Muppets
The Road
Moneyball
Where the Wild Things Are
Win Win
About Last Night…
The Freebie
Departures
Breaking Upwards
Nights & Weekends
Only
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Cyrus
Tangled
Cowboys & Aliens
The Proposal
My Flesh & Blood
Good Hair
Beauty Day
The Hangover: Part II
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About his Father
The Blind Side
No Strings Attached
Our Idiot Brother
Moon
Red State
Blast From the Past
Take Me Home Tonight
Going the Distance
Paul
Macho
Defendor
Tiny Furniture
The Virginity Hit
Nice Guy Johnny
Catfish
Scream 4
How to Lose Your Lover
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
At Home… By Myself… With You
Horrible Bosses
Paranormal Activity 2
Nurse.Fighter.Boy
Baghead
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Feast
Sidewalks of New York
The Business of Being Born
The Myth of the American Sleepover
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
Dinner for Schmucks
Pirate Radio
Return to Me
Morning Glory
Cube
AutoErotic
My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
Repo Men
Nine
Party Girl
Good Dick
The Baby Formula
Premonition
Valentine's Day
Gamer
Flakes
Bride Wars
Taking Woodstock
Death Wish
Starter for Ten
Four Christmases
Year One
Naked in New York
Cop Out
Couples Retreat
Then She Found Me
Prom Night (original)
Public Enemies
Confessions of a Superhero
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Leap Year
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
The Ex
Grown Ups
I Love You Phillip Morris
Guess Who
The Box
iMurders
Tiptoes
Outing Riley
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Paul Shepard: REVIEW ROUND-UP!

Today is the day!  Anyone living in the greater Toronto area needs to get their butts to the Carlton this weekend to see my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard, screening at 4:25pm and 9:20pm daily.  For those who don't know, the opening weekend of any film, particularly small films, is crucial.  For a film like ours it's the difference between only running one week in one city, and get expanded.  If we do well this weekend the chances of the film moving on to another city is very good, as well as getting an extra week in Toronto.
So, to the reviews.  A lot of filmmakers will claim they don't read reviews, and I'm sure some don't.  I haven't been doing this long enough not to care what other people think.  For a small film like ours a review can be the deciding factor on whether or not someone wants to give it a shot.  So without further adieu, here they are... Click on the name of the paper (the heading) to get the actual review, otherwise I'll just talk about it briefly:

The National Post:  I'd be lying if I didn't say that getting this three star review meant a lot to me.  But what meant even more was that this reviewer really seemed to "get" the film.  And to boot they said some really lovely things.

The Toronto Sun: While I'm sure she doesn't remember it, Liz Braun reviewed a short film festival a few years back where she commented on my film and said that I had done in five minutes what others like it couldn't do at feature length.  It was a nice thing to say.  And she has more nice things here, in particular that this is a film that should make Canadians proud.

The Toronto Star: Not our biggest supporter, but still nothing to shake your fist at.  No film is for everyone and considering how routinely romantic comedies get slammed by critics, I think we did just fine here.  

The Grid:  The black sheep of our reviews.  I very well can't post all the positive and leave out the negative.  I'm trying to avoid reviewing the reviews, however I can't help but think that from reading this one that this reviewer just hates the mockumentary format to begin with - so it's no surprise that we didn't get much love.  You can't win them all!

These are all the reviews I've seen so far, if anyone spots any more please let me know - post in the comments.  Otherwise, get your butt to the theatre and tell everyone you know!

Three 2 Five Questions: Kris Holden-Ried

I was lucky enough to get a chance to sit down with the wonderful Mr. Kris Holden-Ried to do one of these interviews.  He's the star of my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard and he'll be attending our screening and Q&A tomorrow evening following the 9:20pm screening.  So be there if you want to meet Kris in addition to other members of our lovely cast including Zoie Palmer, Mary Krohnert, and Tricia Braun!

Three 2 Five Questions: Mary Krohnert

It's been a while since I've done one of these - I have another that will be up in the days to come - but for now, it's all about the lovely Mary Krohnert!  One of the stars of my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard which is having it's theatrical release starting this Friday at the Carlton in Toronto.  4:25pm and 9:20pm daily!  Mary will be at the Friday night screening for part of the Q&A.
So the audio, as usual, is what it is, I did this outside of the Film Canteen at the Bell Lightbox.  I hope you enjoy it!  Mary will also be appearing in an upcoming episode of Flashpoint, and Little Mosque on the Prarie.

The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard THEATRICAL RELEASE!

At long last my first feature is being released in to the theatres!  For those that live in the GTA (or that feel like traveling at all!)  It will be screening at the Carlton (Yonge/Carlton) from Friday, Oct 21st to Thursday, Oct 27th.  The showtimes are 4:25pm and 9:20pm (apologies that there are no early evening screenings - I have absolutely no control over that). 
We've been nominated for several awards along the way as well as having played as several of Canada's top film festivals, and others around the world.  The programmer at the Calgary International Film Festival had this to say about the film:

Part HIGH FIDELITY, part THE OFFICE with a dash of SPINAL TAP thrown in for good measure, THE UNTITLED WORK OF PAUL SHEPARD is a mockumentary with genuine heart to go with the genuine laughs.

So get your butt out and support a great Canadian film!  And on Friday and Saturday nights get a chance to meet some of the cast at the Q&As!  We are expecting reviews in all the major papers, so we'll post them here as well (unless they absolutely trash the film, and then I'll say that 'I don't read reviews...')
Looking forward to seeing you all out there.  Spread the word!!!

We won a Gemini!

The show I work on as an editor Princess as well as it's sister show Till Debt Do Us Part both won Geminis the other evening, and my lovely producer let me hold it.  The one for Princess was actually for an episode from the first season that I edited - so I'll assume that I helped in some small way :)
New season airs... um... in October...?  I'll let you know the exact dates when I have them.  We're doing 32 episodes this season (for you non-TV people - that's a lot), but they will be broken up when aired - a chunk this fall and then the other chunk in the spring (I think).  If you're a fan of the show, or want to learn more, join the facebook group by clicking this link.

P.E.I.: Day Fifteen

It feels good to come home.  Today was our last day on The Island, so the morning was spent packing up the Summer House and giving it a bit of a clean up.  The weather was gorgeous so we headed to what Ephraim refers to as "Ephraim's Park", also known as Victoria Park in Charlottetown, and just puttered around the town today.  We ate lunch at the vegetarian place for lunch that we ate at when we first arrived, and I'm not exaggerating when I say we ordered practically the entire menu.  So damn delicious. 
Then we hit the Wharf, which is just a lot of tourist stuff.  Emily bought some old Golden Books and I stopped myself from buying the entire Fraggle Rock stuffed animal line-up.  Because we are pretty much over Cows, we went to a place for ice cream called Billy Timbre, and their picture of the banana split looked amazing, and since I'm going to go off treats upon our return, I figured why not go out with a blast. 

Let me say something, the photo didn't do it justice, I had no idea what I was in for:
Large waffle bowl
Four scoops of ice cream
Real fudge
Lots of whipped cream
Fresh raspberry sauce
Crushed Almonds
Cherry

I got through a little over half, and did I ever feel sick afterwards, don't get me wrong - it was tasty as hell, and I'd go back in a second, but it's something best split between at least two people.  Probably more.
Found a nice nearby park to kill some time in and then headed back to the Wharf where a man played some songs on his guitar for Ephraim before we headed to the airport.

So we're home now, safe and sound.  It's nice to be back.  In the end, I think two weeks was too long to spend in P.E.I. with a two-year old.  We had a great time, great weather for the most part, but unless you want to spend the whole time on a beach or in a park (which we can do here) you run out of things to do rather quickly.  Perhaps that comes from being used to the options of Toronto as well though.

I still have a few days before I start my next show, so tomorrow will all be about decompressing, unpacking, relaxing.  I was going to be a good boy and hit the gym tomorrow.  We'll see how the morning goes.

Well thanks for following along.  That's in for the vacation blogs, although stay tuned - I should have news about my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard (aka The Girlfriend Project) very soon!

P.E.I.: Day Fourteen

Today was our final full day on The Island and it was supposed to be crap weather, but we were surprised to find it to be absolutely lovely. We spent the morning on the beach and then caught lunch in North Rusticoe near our place. It advertised the "Best Fish & Chips on the North Shore", and if that's true then I don't think I'm interested in eating fish and chips on the north shore. To be fair I prefer the British Style of fish and chips, where the batter is a bit more… fluffy?
After that the sun was still lovely so we headed out for mini-putt (Ephraim's first) and then some gelato (I can only imagine that Ephraim is one of the few two-year-olds that always chooses Pistachio over every other flavour). We learned that Mini-Putt is still a bit advanced for a two year old. We got through 9 of our 18 holes but then he was clearly done.
So a pretty light day all in all, which was nice for us. Tomorrow we have to get our stuff organized and out in the morning, unfortunately our flight doesn't leave till the evening - so pray for good weather for us so we're not stuck in the car or inside buildings all day!

P.E.I.: Day Thirteen

It's hard to believe that we've been here for as long as we have - it feels much longer both in a good and bad way. The area is very familiar now, know my way around pretty darn well (although I still use the TomTom to get me places faster). The house we're staying at is large and cozy, and so that alone makes the place feel like home. But I'm going to enjoy not eating out so much (the kind of problems you want to have, right), and not feeling like we have to plan each and every single day. P.E.I. is lovely to visit, but I know how that I wouldn't want to live here. And we'll come back for sure, but when our kids are older.

Today the weather wasn't supposed to be nice so we relaxed a bit and did some more shopping around. I picked up two CDs by Cynthia MacLeod (love the one so far - a full review of all the new music I bought sometime upon my return home). We also finally made it out to The Cheese Lady Gouda Cheese place and bought a small fortune worth of flavoured gouda (smoked, herb and garlic, pepper & mustard, and old). When I was a kid I could never eat cheese unless it was melted on something. I'd proud to say that I'm slightly more adventurous these days.

Because of the not-so-great-weather we decided to take Ephraim bowling for the first time (which we did instead of seeing The Royals - no offense but I really don't understand the big deal about The Royals, as far as I know their only real power is that they can dissolve the British gov't and call for a re-election - not to say that this isn't a power, but given that they are unlikely to act upon it, I'm just not sure why I should care about these people… and this is coming from someone whose mother was Diana obsessed). I didn't get a really great photo of Ephraim, but we got some video - I plan on doing something up and posting it when we return and I have a few minutes.

On the way home we came across a local woman and her husband stranded by their broken down motorhome. They were taking it for a test drive before a long trip to (surprise, surprise) Toronto, ON. So we gave her a ride to her house, which she insisted on paying us for (going toward's Ephraim's violin fund!), and then settled in for the evening.

One more full day (no idea what we're going to do tomorrow) and then another almost-full day. And in case you're wondering about the photo below, Ephraim has made "Teddy-Bear" part of our family, and he must be present at all meals with food in front of him or else Ephraim will continue to say, "Where Teddy-Bear food go?"

P.E.I.: Day Twelve

The forecast was calling for lovely weather today and we certainly got it!  We were up and on the beach before 9am!  Mostly because we figured it'd be best to hit the beach in the morning as opposed to the hot-hot-sun of the afternoon.  I have extremely fair skin so the sun is not my friend - although I am starting to sport a rare-tan - normally I'm white as a ghost.
So not only did we hit the beach but I even submitted to allowing myself to being buried in the sand.  Of course afterwards I was just covered in the stuff and had no choice but to jump into the salty freezing ocean to get it off.  We have some video but I'll spare you my manly screams!

After the beach Ephraim needed a nap so we took a short roadtrip back to Victoria to get some more of those delicious Island Chocolates.  The selection was a bit smaller today and picked over (no fresh chocolates on the weekends sadly), but I think we got a pretty damn fine selection anyway!

We headed off for lunch to a place that we've been looking forward to for awhile now.  A place called the Kitchen Witch.  Their menu is mexican inspired and the majority of it is vegetarian, which in P.E.I. is a rarity.  That and their advertisement for wholesome, home cooked meals was quite inciting.  When we got there we were really excited - it was a renovated one-room school house, very charming inside with a cute gift-shop full of random things, a bathroom with an actual real change table, and some diapers free to use.  Amazing!  Run by a mother and daughter, as well as another woman who will read your tea leaves should you require (and pay).
But then the problems started.  First they were out of refried beans - which as a vegetarian was our protein for the meal.  Their excuse is that it's homemade… which I don't get.  You feature mexican food and you run out of refried beans?!  Make more!  So that was fine, but then the food took over an hour.  And while I understand home-cooking takes time, an hour is a bit much to wait for lunch.  The soup we got was really tasty and spicy, but our entrees were bland and tasteless, even Ephraim (who eats ANYTHING) spit the food out.  Which was good because as I was trying to get him to eat his rice I noticed something in it.  A large bug.  We told the owner and she was mortified, swearing that this has never happened before.  She asked us if it was fine that she only charged us half, which was fine, but we'd lost our appetites by that point and excused ourselves about as quickly as we could.  Ephraim was given a cookie on the way out, which he told us was very tasty.  We really wanted to love this place, and honestly, if it wasn't for the food being so… bleck, I wouldn't diss the place as I am now, but that in combination with everything else, this was easily our worst meal at a restaurant in P.E.I. 

We drove around this afternoon collecting some stuff from some shops we'd been meaning to hit, and then went home for a rest before hitting the Fisherman's Wharf for my lobster dinner (delicious!).  The trip is quickly winding down, tomorrow the weather looks a little iffy.  We're debating whether or not we're going to attempt to see the Royals, William and Kate while they are here.  We shall see!

P.E.I.: Day Eleven

We've been here for quite awhile now and we've mostly been hanging out centrally and, to be honest, I needed some new surroundings.  So we decided to head east.  When we visited here last we went to East Point, which is the eastern most point of The Island, and it's also where the tides meet and collide with each other - which is pretty awesome to see actually.  That area is about an hour and a half drive and luckily we have a son that likes to get going first thing in the morning, so we took off soon after breakfast

The weather wasn't as sunny as we were hoping for, but we decided to pick up some supplies and have a picnic on the beach anyway.  We went to Basin Head Beach, also known as "The Singing Sands" because of the way the sand sounds when you walk on it.  It's a finer grade "white sand" whereas the rest of the island has the redder variety.

After lunch and a little nap we headed to East Point and was amazed by how much the cliffs have receded since we were last there.  They've even had to move the restaurant that was on the water back a bit.  When I get home I'll check my old photos and see if I can't do a side by side comparison of the two.  While there we got a quick treat of the local Prince Edward Island ADL ice cream (which I actually think is better than Cows actually.)

After that it was off to Elmira to the train museum.  What an awesome little place.  The highlight, as you can see above, is a mini trade ride that goes over a mile in track.  I can't imagine how much work went into that thing.  Ephraim was mesmerized the entire time.  That alone was worth the trek out.

So tomorrow is supposed to be sun-sun-sun so we may just do a beach day, otherwise I think we're curious to see if there's anything worth visiting the west end for before we head home.

P.E.I.: Day Ten

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA! So today the weather was on and off, which was perfect for the festivities. One of the coolest things about the trip was knowing that we'd be in the birth-town of confederation on Canada Day, so I was pretty excited for that. I couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of festivities they would have!

And then we got there. And it… kind of reminded me of the Canada Day's in Cayuga, Ontario where I grew up (but maybe on a larger scale). And if I'm being honest, I think Cayuga was a bit more exciting - there was more involvement with people, games, events. The only really great thing today was their music stage, other than that it was some bouncy castles and line-ups for junk food. Ephraim wanted his face painted (which is new, it used to scare the hell out of him), but there was only one person manning the booth, and after being in line for a half hour with it barely moving we realized that we'd be there for at least another hour before it would be Ephraim's turn. So I grabbed a temporary tattoo from the booth and convinced Ephraim that it was the same thing as getting his face painted.

So I guess I was a little let down by the festivities. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was a little more than that. The highlight, as I mentioned, was the music stage but in particular Mike Pendergast - a man whose name I keep seeing whenever we're looking into music here. We saw him play in the Avonlea Village group and were fortunate to talk to him afterwards there. He's one of the people I plan to get in touch with as I develop my idea for a P.E.I. film/show, I think he would be an absolute wealth of knowledge.

So a pretty average Canada Day, sadly, but the highlight in the evening was hearing our friend Blake Lambert read the nightly news on CBC. He'll be doing it all weekend in the evenings, every hour on the hour, and you can catch it by clicking this link here.

We've got five days left on The Island and still some more adventures to be had! We've been very thankful for the increasingly better weather.

P.E.I.: Day Nine

So above is the photo of the Summer House where we're currently staying, associated with Blue Crest Cottages.  The owner, Thelma, was awesome and gave it to us at the same price as the cottage as it wasn't booked and she thought it would be a better place for a family with a  small guy.  Can't argue that - the extra room is amazing.  It's easily as large as our place in Toronto (minus a basement), and it's kind of cool to have a yard where Ephraim can run around in.

Today was nice and tame, a nice way to celebrate mine and Emily's fourth anniversary as a married couple.  We had planned for rain, but the forecast changed (it does that here…) and apparently we're in for nothing but lovely weather for the next few days!  Huzzah!!!  So our back-up rain plan is put on hold until further notice.  We decided to spend the day in Charlottetown and poke around, so we took our sweet-ass time getting ready and headed out.  We got lunch at what is probably the only Thai place in Ch'town, possible the entire island.  Very different style from any I've had, but it was tasty - Ephraim sucked it up with glee as well.  After that I wanted to check out a comic book store, The Comic Hunter.  I've only been reading comics for the last few years, and it was when we were in P.E.I. last that I stopped into this store and bought a copy of Watchmen, and with it came an insert advertising other titles, Fables, Y: The Last Man, etc…. and the rest is history.  So I owe this store a great deal of gratitude for throwing me into an amazing storytelling medium.

While on Queen Street we hit Cows to try to knock off a few more flavours.  I don't think we're going to bother trying to do the whole list.  In fact, I think I've had my fill of Cows ice cream.  Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with it, but I'm kind of over it.  The ice cream itself is tasty, as it should be when it's got a ridiculously high butterfat percentage.  But my main issue is that the flavours are kind of lazy.  Of their 34 flavours I'd say that at least 80-90% of them are simply the vanilla base with a variation of the same dozen or so ingredients thrown in.  I like flavoured ice cream, not sugary inserts.  When we were at Shipwrights they served us ice cream from the local dairy ADL, and it was damn tasty stuff, so I think the next time we need a fix, that's where we'll go.  Nothing personal Cows, but that's just the way it is.

We stopped off at a playground and then a farmers market and bought Ephraim's weight in fruit, then returned home for a nice simple supper.  Tomorrow is Canada Day so we're heading back to Ch'town, the birthplace of confederation!  Should be cool.  And also, as you'll note in the photo below, our dear Ephraim has finally made a friend here on The Island...