the first half of the year was basically spent working at hmv. i didn't do much else - i didn't see a lot of people. i remember reading a lot of books, mostly band biographies and very little fiction. jen and i hung out lots, i had a good friend in mitch and chad and i worked on the mr writer screenplay, occasionally with bj, but mostly not.
in the spring time we did a read through and it went well. after deciding that it would cost $100,000 to make, the project was put on the back burner because none of us seemed to want to figure out how to apply for grants (something that still stands).
i don't remember much about the spring or anything else leading up to my firing from hmv other than jen got an apartment in may ... and her and i went to minneapolis in april to see nada surf and that was really awesome - except for the snow storm that caused us much grief and extended our seven hour drive to nearly ten.
in may we saw wilco and it was amazing, best show of my life. i also shot my first cover for uptown magazine, american flamewhip. i would go on to shoot seven more over the year, including authors miriam toews and andrew davidson, producer mike petkau, bands such as quinzy, the liptonians and the musicians that did the last waltz show at the west end. i also wrote my first cover to accompany my first photo essay on a skate competition at the forks.
during the last few weeks i lived at home i was spending many hours in front of my computer making lo-fi one take songs. i didn't leave my room much the last few weeks i lived there. i also packed up my life.
so then the day i signed the lease on my apartment, i think the last week of june, i went to work that afternoon and was told that i was put on suspension. this was on a thursday, the following monday they fired me over the phone. i wound up drifting away from a bunch of people that had become close pals. sucked, but at least i was free to have time to move into my apartment and find a job.
canada day was nice, jen and i kept up our tradition of watching docs about why america sucks and canada is awesome (2007 was sicko, 2008 was lake of fire) and we went to see wolf parade in minny.
in august jen and i went to lollapalooza in chicago with ian and laura and i went to reckless records and bought lots of records. i got turned down for the film critic job i thought i was gonna get and got really pissed off.
i came home and finished writing a short screenplay based on phil spector, sorta. chad and i spent the next few months prepping and shooting it. jammed with dave skene again a little but the band didn't work out.
switched my radio theme show, 'the.mix.tape.' to sundays so that jen could do the show again. it is on from 4-6 and can be listened to/downloaded at kick.fm
we shot the film starting in september but mostly in october and a little in nov/dec. we still have some pick-ups/re-shoots to do. it is running long but overall i am happy with it.
in late august i started receiving word from toronto about a pair of hard core logo sequel films and a subsequent website to hype the flicks. in september i was personally asked by my film hero of over a decade bruce mcdonald to help work on the project, eventually being asked to write the bible for the band and edit the other writers involved.
as merch table delite i have recorded over thirty songs this year and received mixed reactions (basically what i was going for). i also helped shoot a video for the band ken mode and stopped eating cheese.
hopefully 2009 brings some good wishes, i have been unemployed for six months and am desperate to find a job. i am also hoping to go further with my photography, take some classes and expand my portfolio. i would like to learn to be a photographer, a little ass backwards since it has been my only income for the latter half of 2008. i would also like to move forward with our full length project, mr writer. i have sent the script to actors darcy fehr (my winnipeg) and aaron hughes (you kill me) in hopes that they will have some thoughts and one day possibly work on the project. i have worked with aaron twice before and would love for him to be involved, while darcy i haven't worked with as much but he was to play a role in our most recent film (long story, read the old entries) and unfortunately couldn't. fingers crossed. other than those two and possibly katherine supleve whom i went to university with, the flick is virtually un-cast.
here we go ...
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