There but for the grace of God go I. This was the exact same ferry I was on just three days ago coming back from Nanaimo. See CTV news story here. The Queen of Oak Bay ran aground an hour ago after losing power for unknown reasons. To the right of the picture is the ferry terminal for ferries heading to Vancouver Island (and for me, to Hornby). From what the news has been saying, the ferry came to a relatively gentle stop, albeit destroying several pleasure vessels moored next to the ferry. Over 1500 passengers on the ferry are stuck including their cars, of course. And this coming on the eve of the Canada Day weekend where thousands of people will want to head on vacation. Fortunately, the terminal was not damaged so other ferries will be able to diverted. The real horror (no one was hurt apparently) is that now they will have to eat ferry food until they are able to pull the ferry into dock. Ironically, that vessel just came out of a refit. If you see this around noon PST you can still watch the news events on Clipstream Live here >>

I'm back at work and tired after shooting the concert last night. As I said yesterday, the Commodore is a really really nice venue. The shooting went off well once we asked to reposition our cameras to the spotlight booths overlooking the crowd. We shot with Dylan's two XL1's with the 16x lens.While I was shooting long, Dylan shot close-ups so I'm sure he was wishing he had an even tighter zoom given how far back we were. Also, in very low-light conditions, it was extremely hard to get hard focus. You had to really work at it and the autofocus was useless. The Fidgital show was good and by the mid-point of their set, they had the floor filled which is better than most opening acts at the Commodore in my experience. I didn't stay for the Herbalizer set but I saw and heard them all through the soundcheck and they were awesome.

I'll be one of three camera operators at the Commodore Ballroom tonight shooting the Fidgital concert. This will be the biggest opportunity yet for my friends in the band as they are opening for The Herbalizer. The Commodore is really the best venue for live acts in Vancouver that is below the Stadium size and isn't a sit-down concert. It has an excellent dancefloor. However, I will be behind the camera, not dancing.

Just a handful more of these. One more and I'll stop. The third thumbnail leads to four photos of the same subject, our nuclear sun.

Away from the city your senses are more attuned to the tiny things like insects, the constant busy activity of bees, the bird song. A gentle breeze replaces the boops and beeps of computer equipment. It really is very soul-restoring to be able to get up, walk down to the kitchen and then look outside to see deer cropping the grass only a few metres away.

After making the big move to Edmonton for his second game career now he and Vicki are proud parents of Arwen Harmony, a baby girl, born two days ago weighing around five pounds. Congratulations to Kevin and thanks to him for shouldering the burden of the new Loh generation. I received the news while I was away from the Internet so I didn't see how cute she was until just now. For more piccies and other gushing news, visit Kevin's site at klutzoplex.com.

I'm back from my most restful (and my longest) visit to Hornby Island. Sarah and I rested, kayaked, hiked, ate, read, sunbathed nude and tried to avoid hitting the wildlife on our drives around the island. I also got attacked by mosquitos all day and night, especially when I tried to get starlight photos. Below is only five of many hundreds of photos that I took. More coming later.

Posting ahead of time: Starting today I'm gone to Hornby Island again. Hopefully I will be back with stories and photos after a week of writing, relaxation and activities.

The latest of this summer's blockbusters is the serious retelling of the Batman origin story by director Chris Nolan ("Memento", "Insomnia") and Hollywood's favourite comic adaptor, screenwriter David Goyer. Couple that with one of the largest budgets this year and a cast boasting Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Christian Bale and you have quite a pedigree trying to lift the Batman franchise out from the campy depths it sunk to with universally panned "Batman and Robin". The least you can expect with such a crew behind it is something well-made, decent and even thoughtful. It is decent Bruce Wayne film but we'll have to wait for a decent Batman film.

For the most part, the foundation is there for a very good film. There is a long first act attempting to tie in the psychological foundations of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire orphaned when his parents are killed in a random act of violence with the training and moulded sense-of-purpose that makes him want to put on a mask and start dealing out justice to Gotham City. This first act isn't entirely successful. In the midst of all of the attempts to make the Batman someone who could exist in reality (versus the campy end of the last four films), having Wayne fall in with a conspiracy of ninja assassins who have brought down civilizations seems to be reaching.

This may seem strange to those who remember the Schumacher movies or even the TV series but, seriously, Nolan and Goyer spend much effort in making a Bruce Wayne picture that eventually becomes a Batman picture. Before there is even a hint of a cape we are shown the workings of the metropolis of Gotham, how Wayne Enterprises dominates the city architecturally, through its works and the philanthropy of Bruce's parents. And then we see how it descends in the absence of the wandering Bruce into being a dark, rumbling monstrous, corrupt city. This is great world-building and leaps and bounds better than the stylized sets from the Tim Burton movies.

When Wayne returns finally after leaving the ninja cult on bad terms (who knew wood could be so explosive?) there is even more foundation building. Wayne has to revisit his old cohorts, some of whom have filled out nicely (childhood playmate now become, conveniently, an assistant district attorney played by Katie Holmes), others grown fat and corrupt (the CEO of Wayne Enterprises played by Rutger Hauer) or honest men stifled (detective Gordon played by Gary Oldman). In a film filled with mentors the hardened Bruce Wayne has several. From the ninja cult, a swordsman named Ducard (Liam Neeson), the replaced father figure - butler Alfred (Michael Caine) and even a Q-like character, a weapons designer for Wayne Enterprises played by Morgan Freeman. With such a team behind him, how could Batman really lose?

That is really one of the questions that isn't quite answered because as it stands, Batman in Batman Begins doesn't have a suitable foil. We know that the ninja cult will return to oppose Batman by the end of the film. The crime boss Falconi (Tom Wilkinson) is just the pin-striped mobster who provides the thugs for Batman to throw around. The only cool villain to emerge is also the only other character that wears a mask besides Batman (ninjas don't count) - that is the Scarecrow ("28 Days Later"'s Cillian Murphy). A nice visual effect is used to show the POV of the Scarecrow's victim, probably scaring the audience as well. It would have been better if the movie had been more about Batman versus the Scarecrow. Instead, the centuries-old ninja cum world shakers have to make an appearance. It's a full-circle type structure that is more than predictable. I have to say it: compared to the plethora of villains from the Batman mythology, ninjas are weak.

By the end of the ear-shattering end of the movie there have been a suitable number of leaps from buildings, martial arts action, gadgets shooting, cape fluttering and even a speech-or-two between villains and heroes. Christian Bale is a good Bruce Wayne and he growls appropriately when he dons the mask. Is there anything Bale can't do? It's not anything we haven't seen before but in the hands of the current filmmakers, there has never been this kind of gloss or context. Lost in all of this is a real sense of zest that Batman Begins fleetingly courts with in a couple spots - Wayne trying out his pseudo-realistic gear that eventually becomes the Batman arsenal - the chase in the ultimate off-road vehicle that becomes the Batmobile. That's where a real sense of fun peeks out of the dire background and gritty content. Everything else is decent, as if someone had made a biopic out of a fictional character but didn't leave enough time to show the spirit (this is what Raimi's "Spider-man" hit bang on).

Mirrormask, a collaboration of fantasy author Neil Gaiman ("Neverwhere", "American Gods"), well-known comic and fantasy artist David McKean ("Black Orchid", "Arkham Asylum") , and the Jim Henson Company is set to be released at the end of September. A new trailer was released thsi week (.mov). What is the most striking thing about this project initially is that it looks like an animated version of McKean's evocative illustrations. Go to McKean's site and then compare his print works with this gallery of stills from the film. Mirrormask is about a girl who works for her family circus and, ironically, wants to run away from it but finds herself transported into the Dark Lands, a fantasy world that holds the only key toher escape. Official site here >>

There is finally a trailer (.mov) for the new Terry Gilliam film based loosely on Grimm's fairy tales. The Brother's Grimm supposes that the famous talespinners were actually frauds who used their fame to bilk villages out of money in exchange for solving their 'supernatural' problems. However, their fame turns out to be their undoing when they are sent by Napoleon to solve a village's real supernatural problem: a forest that kills.