All the people love Sealab

Sealab 2021 is either something you get or you don't get. It's an Adult Swim cartoon which takes the characters and art style from an old kids show and repurposes it for an idiotic series about a crew of an underwater sealab where everything stupid does happen. I love it. Anyway, here is a shot of the season 3 DVD set box. Awesome.

David Lynch on Dune super extendo edition
In other DVD news, Dark Horizons reports that David Lynch will supervise the long-rumoured extended edition of his Dune movie. The six .. nay .. eight hour version of Dune has been nigh a nerd legend and it may now come to pass as an official DVD.

Criterion Kagemusha / Sword of Doom
Finally, I am happy to note that Amazon is shipping the Criterion edition of Kagemusha to me as well as the little-known Sword of Doom. Kagemusha was the beginning of Akira Kurosawa's modern (and bigger budget) phase after almost two decades of neglect in his home industry. It is a film about a thief who is conscripted to pose as the body double to the dead feudal leader Takeda Shingen. It was a film that was co-produced by his admirers, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. Next to Ran, Kagemusha is the greatest spectacle that Kurosawa accomplished. Sword of Doom, another Criterion DVD, is a Kihachi Okamoto film made in 1966 about a swordsman who loses all sense of right and wrong and goes on a killing spree. The description alone made me want to pick it up.

In the latest in a series of incidents involving fan violence in minor (is there any other kind now?) hockey, a man jumped four meters to the ice surface so that he could punch out two on-ice officials who were attempting to break up a fight during a game for 15-16 year olds. Read the story and see photo here >>

A National Geographic documentary team has confirmed that a giant hog pictured in a legendary photograph showing a massive pig dwarfing a man was indeed true - though it was 200 lbs less than claimed by their estimate. Read the story and see photo here >>

This month has been a whirlwind of business. My trip to the island was like an oasis around which swirled RRSPs, stock issues, company issues, work-life issues. I've been writing a new script, working on my portfolio (check out a Shockwave movie I've made) and taking courses at SFU's writing department as I work toward a certificate in technical communication. Plus, I've been sneezing my day away with allergies. So I've been terribly busy but conversely, not much I can talk about until I'm done.

Another four photos. 1. Sarah and Elaine Savoie. Elaine is an accomplished folk artist. Here is a link to some of her works. 2. Morning light through trees taken from Sarah's family lodge. 3. My favourite subject posing in the wind at Tribune bay. 3. Raucous sea lions off shore Heron Point.

Yet another survey rates Vancouver as one of the best cities to live in. A quality of life survey by Mercer Human Resources Consulting says that Vancouver's climate, safety and location in a political stable country rates high for human resources factors. Having spent the past weekend in the sun in that very city, I heartily agree. Read the story here >>

Four photos from the past weekend and the week before. 1. Feeding ducks at the George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Ladner. The rest are from Hornby. 2. Sarah at the caves by Tribune Bay.
3. Tidal rock at Heron Point. 4. An Eagle flying past at Halliwell Park.

All in all a nice restful four days away from the city. And now two days back to work and I haven't had a decent night's sleep and I'm all growly at work. Was it the change in setting? Not completely. Lots of stuff going on in my mind.

A civil war volunteer identified
as Joseph L. Pierce born
in Kwangtung

We know that in the 19th century there was already a sizable Chinese presence in the United States (think Gold Rush and railway building) but what I didn' t know until today was that there were Chinese who participated in the American Civil War including fighting at Gettysburg. What's even more interesting is that there is some evidence Chinese actually fought on the side of the Southerners. Someone call Jackie Chan to do the movie! Read more here >>

I was in Hornby Island the past four days again for some blissful relaxation in the heart of nature (well, in an extremely comfortable lodge in the heart of nature). We went for drives, walks and I got lots of writing done on a new screenplay. Photos to come.