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THE 2011 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS - ANIMATED
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 1612
IFN and the boy chooses to see the 2011 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS - ANIMATED - at the Uptown Stage and Screen in Calgary.
OK. "Oscar Nominated", however, should be a big clue as to the independence of thought - not particularly great, and there's far better stuff coming up all the time on YouTube. But in the game of the Oscars real quality can count against you.....
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald McDonald
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Dreams
- Hits: 1634
(Woke up at 6:00 AM, far too early. Stayed up until 7:30, reattempted to nap, lots of weird dreams then...)
I'm with this person, tall, lanky, I know him somehow (but it escaped me how exactly when we woke up), we're doing something with the boy - a much younger boy, remote controlled in a meadow/pond in the country, rich autumn colors.
And then tall and lanky invites me for breakfast. We go to McDonald's. By the time we arrive he's dressed up and has a wig and his face painted exactly like Ronald McDonald, only his face is done much much paler...His girlfriend is there too, out on the patio surrounded by bags of food, she's small and fat and like him, dressed up exactly like Ronald McDonald. There's so much food on the table and she's busy eating and I'm wondering if some of the food is for me (and he's tucking into bags of food like there's no tomorrow) - I suggest that I'm going to go inside and buy myself some breakfast and offer to buy him some too expecting, of course, that they will tell me there's enough there for all of us - but he doesn't, he tells me he's famished and continues eating with his girlfriend....
Meanwhile the real Ronald McDonald is coming up the street, he's not too tall or too lanky or too small or too fat or too pale, he's coming up the street looking just like Ronald McDonald should then he sees us and seems to stop like he doesn't want to confront these cheap imitations...
And from there the dream dissolves into another .... I'm on a bus and going down a ravine and over a river and I can see from the window that the river is rich pickings for Indian Artifacts, an Estate Sale at a fabulous old house in Mount Royal and a parade down the hill and a girl from work is getting me to take innocent pictures of her with an old Polaroid camera and when I'm done the remaining film feeds through the camera and there are pictures there she won't want me to see....
Electronic Literature Collection
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
- Hits: 1540
Countless hours of exploration here - Electronic Literature, or (more specifically) literature - words - whose context is dependent on the medium of the internet, flash, film, etc. Curious, exploring the limits of the new medium. In two "Volumes", if that's the right word.
Volume 1: http://collection.eliterature.org/1/
Volume 2: http://collection.eliterature.org/2/
Storebought Valentines - 2011
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2688
And it was a long, long Valentines this year. The spirit of Hallmark and commerce infused almost every inch of it - from Saturday night (the early birds) to Monday (the couples) and Tuesday (the "lovers") the entire wheel of human romantic misery and misfortune rolled through the restaurant.
We pack the restaurant these days, bring up tables out of storage, fill every square foot, even the halls beside the bathrooms, with tables. There is barely room enough to stand, let alone move around. We have a set menu, 4 courses at a fixed price, it's necessary to prevent the total collapse of the restaurant. And the tragedy begins.
Some of the people are regulars, the obligatory Valentines night out, we'll leave them alone as we know them already. Then there are the rest, the once-or-twice a year diners "We were here last Valentines Day" they tell us and oddly enough I recognize them, there are the new customers who thought they'd try us out and drink only water, trying to bring some economy to an otherwise expensive meal, there are the couples grown comfortable in their disappointed hopes and ambitions, there are the couples of women - not lesbians, merely thwarted in love.(**For some reason Valentintes is not a very Gay-Friendly commercial holiday, or they have other destinations than our restaurant). There are the triads and quadrilles, couples that share the day with other people or couples. There's a young businessman with his very attractive and seductively dressed consort, they're drinking hard and she's getting a little out of control, making eyes at the waiters, finally, stumbling out the door (him holding it open and waiting for her in disgust) she approaches another table, a couple of girls, and tells them that she wants to join them, go out with them later, she's really not too attached to this man she's with...
There are the proposals, a rude and simple skinhead with his BBW girlfriend, engagement ring upon the table, short with the staff but he's wooing her and she's falling for it, pink cocktails and wine and he's passing his plate (she's still eating) to any server that happens near...
There are the couples that arrive together and leave seperately, she in tears and the boyfriend still waiting for dessert and the bill, Valentines is good for that. There are the couples just getting together, couples in the midst of breaking up, there are the bridges crumbling or slowly being built, there are the women and men stifling yawns and enthusing over trivial gifts of chocolate and flowers, on Tuesday there are the secret trysts between lovers and couples whose love is a well kept secret, it's the day after Valentines and they had other obligations, committments (and a wise choice, as the menu is back to normal and the staff can handle this flow).
And so it passes. G says: "All in all I thought it went pretty well". And it did, so long as you weren't a customer or staff member.
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