Second day in BCN

Today was a look at buildings day. Type in "Barcelona" online if you want to see what we saw! The highlights were the Sagrada Familia and the Calatrava tower. My favorite part was when we hiked up a hill to get a view of the city. It wasn't the view but rather the hike. Remember whoever who said that the point is the journey not the destination. In this case, it was true.

Toying around

I have recently downloaded several "toy camera" apps. You know the kind of effects that hipsters love. I think they're big in Japan too because some of the apps I downloaded are Japanese. Anyhow, the double exposure is classic toy 2, the lights is king cam and the tree is instagram, I think. Pixelromatic is another good one. I like the option of adding a light burn, something the built in editor on instagram doesn't have. All the apps mentioned are free, although if you want to unlock bigger photo size on king cam it's 99 cents and it's 99 cents for a "lens pack" for classic toy 2.

Shoes, shoes, shoes.

I have been attempting to make a pair of shoes. I might be in over my head a little though as last night after hours of stitching, I was still nowhere close to being completed one left shoe. Needless to say, I am going to take a break from it today.

Right side of Beauty

Just got back from the east side of Canada. Although the weather tried to tell us it was November, we refused to listen. Bakers Creek Falls swim, East Coast Trail hike and Bay of Fundy mud flats are shown in the photos. We also checked out Cape Breton Island, which I must go back to in the spring, summer or fall as it is so incredibly beautiful!

Yes b'y?

Here we be, on Canada's east coast. It has been an eventful week of exploring and hiking, interspersed with tea drinking sessions and too much food! Ah buddy, I tells ya, if it weren't for the eight hour hike on the beautiful east coast trail, I'd be one and a half ax-handles wide, yes m'boy! Speaking of the east coast trail; the trail stretches from Topsail around past St. Johns and down to Cappahayden. It looks like I might have to add it to my list of to-dos! The portion we traversed was gorgeous! Tall cliffs dropping hundreds of feet into the blue Atlantic, a lighthouse, an abandoned settlement on a picturesque cove with a waterfall cascading into a crystal clear bay! Sea stacks and a natural bridge were seen from the trail as well. We ran out of time but we were trying to reach a feature called "the Spout" which is a geyser caused by the force of the waves, sending water shooting into the air. It was windy at times but all around it was a pleasant hike with few muddy patches along the path where creeks and springs cut through on their way to the ocean. If ever in the St. Johns area, I highly recommend this trail!

Fall time hunt

My brother and I went for a hunt in the foothills. It started with a drive in the countryside in the truck. After finding a suitable campsite we set up the tent and rolled out the sleeping bags. By this time it was quite dark so we took a hike to see if we could see any sign. We saw none. As I said, it was quite dark. To bed. I fell asleep almost instantly and dreamt of islands somewhere warm. I was jolted rudely from my sleep from wolves licking my face!!! At least that was my initial thought... It was only the damp side of the tent being pressed to my face by the wind. I didn't sleep too much after that. 5:15am came and we packed everything up and drove to "the spot". Parking the truck, we hiked down to a knoll overlooking the river and sandbar. This seemed to be the place where I would go if I was several hundred pounds and covered in fur. Indeed there were hoof marks in the sand. We waited. And waited. My toes turned to wood as I tried to blend in... No wait, they were frozen. The sun began to rise. No sign of animals of any sort. Eventually it became evident that the evasive elk were elsewhere. We stalked back to the truck for a breakfast of oatmeal.

Ambience

This is the second in the series of ambient noise and rhythm. 

Fall Sampler

I have been thinking about ambient sound and noise. The rhythms and percussions of everyday life. I hope this video will express some of that. I call it Fall Sampler but some of the videos were taken earlier this year. Enjoy! 

Some Random Photos

Here we 'ave an example of the Newfoundlanders curious sense of humour... whether intended or not! The second photo is well, obviously, a bear sticking it's tongue out at me! Bears are common as cows where I work but few are as brash as this guy here so I had to share it with y'all.

Hösten

Autumn is upon us again. This past week it has been quite evident as scores of birds migrate south, leaves on the poplars turn from green to a vivid sun-catching yellow, the evenings chilly yet the days still warm. The first evening I arrived up here in the Wood Buffalo, there was the most spectacular sunset. I tried to go out to the lake and sketch today but unfortunately my work was akin to a small child's first encounter with artistic implements. Although the fall leaves are very beautiful, I can never get inspired artistically by them. I tried my hand at filmography to attempt to capture the combined sound of wind with the visual of falling leaves but again, I was unhappy with the result so I packed it up and headed back to camp.

Finally! Some more art!

At last, I have willed myself into some art! Behold the poor representation of icebergs! Pastel on brown paper bag.

Icebergs!!

Whist in Newfoundland we had the privilege of seeing the massive chunks of 13,000 year old glacial fresh water otherwise known as icebergs. It was rare to see so many this late in the year but the increase was due to the breaking apart of an enormous ice island off the coast of Greenland. To see an armada of ice-cubes the size of a battleships sitting in the bay was a sight to behold! A boat tour from St. Anthony also revealed more giants: whales! We saw a pod of whales blowing plumes of breath as they travelled and a humpback whale flippering (I think that's the term) which is basically a maneuver in which the whale rolls around on it's back, flapping it's flippers in the air. The boat took us back to the icebergs where we saw some with vivid blue lines of super compressed ice glowing under overcast skies. Bergy bits crackled in the seawater as the millions of trapped air bubbles in the ice were released. The trip was well worth it.

Cod

The last two weeks was spent on the west coast of Newfoundland. The natural beauty of the rugged land was stunning. During a weekend fishing excursion I caught my long awaited first fish: a twenty inch cod with hardly any meat on it.

Penguin Arm Part 2

Penguin Arm

The Ascent of Sunwapta Peak

On Saturday we climbed Sunwapta Peak in Jasper National Park. It was an early start as we were hiking by 7:30am. The trail as you leave the Icefields Parkway climbs steeply up the south watershed through the mosquito-infested forest. There is a beautiful canyon with some interesting rock formations as one follows the trail to the north of the creek. When we broke out of the trees we were greeted with scree with snowy patches that stretched up into the cloudy abyss. Shortly, all the scree was covered with snow. From there it was one foot after the other. Often the only sounds were the crunch of boot on snow, the metallic clink of the ice axe and our own laboured breath. The last few hundred meters were near white-out as the cloud had meshed neatly with the snow.My eyes played tricks on me as I squinted into the flat white. Swirls and spots appeared in the whiteness, a rock blinked red like an avalanche beacon, and distances that were only a few meters seemed immensely further. When we finally reached the summit, due to the rarified air, it took us a moment to collectively decide whether it was indeed the place!

"Is this the summit?"

"Well, there is a pile of rocks and it slopes down on this side."

"It slopes on this side too!"

"This must be it then."

"Woo!!"

"Yeah! Woohoo!"

"Woo!"

On the way down we were glad for the snow as we awoke our inner otter and slid down most the mountain on our bottoms! We used the ice axes as both rudders and stopping devices. I believe the mountaineers term is glissade but I call it fun! We really noticed the oxygen difference when we dropped altitude rapidly by sliding. After a quick bath in the runoff stream we stumbled back to the car, weary, sunburnt, sore and grinning.

Toronto

I've spent the last two days touring Toronto by foot and by bicycle and I have to say that I am impressed. It is a cosy and lively city with a lot of diversity. There is loads of brick which I love, good restaurants which I love, and people on the street which Freddy loves. Kensington market reminds me of another country. It has been very enjoyable thus far.

A Science Experiment

First off take your beaker and clean it. Get all the particulates from past experiments out. Now the glass is squeaky clean you are ready for the first chemical. It is a compound you developed yourself so name it after you. Sure you had help but it's still yours. Next, take a look in the cupboard. There are a few vials today. Read the labels. So many wasted experiments because the liquid inside the vial looked all sparkly. Some of the vials are more well labeled than others but hey, this is a science experiment is it not? Ok, found a vial? Good! Now unstopper it. Still look alright, waft a smell, smell good? Pour a little into the beaker. Watch carefully. Add a little heat, not too much or the whole thing will boil over! Add a little more from the vial. Are those two chemicals actually mixing? Yes, wait! Stir a bit. Add a little more heat. Little more from the vial. It's starting to look good now, a little steam but it's starting to change color, deepens from the original blue to a red and now yellowing to a scintillating gold!

From Tepid to Torrid

Is anyone excited for summer? I need some ideas for some vacations I can do! So shoot away!

Rainy day in Winnipeg

Today was spent getting absolutely soaked walking around downtown Winnipeg in the pouring rain. Here is a nod to Robert Doisneau minus the carousel.

Psychotic squirrel

This little guy tried crawling up one fellas pant-leg, ran right up the back of another guy and used my pant-leg as a springboard on his way to the garbage can.

Close Encounters

I was eating my cherry Danish innocently when a roving band of birds attacked!

Himalayan View

From Poon Hill looking west toward the Annapurnas.

Floor Bstract

The counter of transcend coffee. Soy latte. Nut and pumpkin tones.

Last Day of Winter

Tomorrow at 5:20pm is officially the end of winter. All the snow will melt instantly. Birds will materialize. Flowers will poke up from the damp earth. The temperature will continue to raise overnight until the morning when the sun, rising with a benevolent grin on it's buttery-yellow surface casts warm rays on a plethora of newly born animals. 
Okay, we all know that's a load of bunk. This raises the question; why on earth do they have "the first day of spring" anyway?! Depending where you are in the world, this title means absolutely nothing or almost absolutely nothing. Take Kathmandu for instance. You can expect temperatures of nearly 40C all week, and thick haze settling over the city. You know that sounds just like spring! Now how about Edmonton, AB? Negative temperatures all week. Still no sign of the robins but they should start arriving in 24 hours or so. 
So what is the purpose of the last day of winter/first day of spring? To make us northerners feel more optimistic? So the Wiccans know when to perform fertility ceremonies? Any ideas? 

Fort Mac

Today I went for a drive in the boreal forest. I saw dead trees, snow, a rabbit, a trappers cabin, trees. I saw where a bear had climbed a tree and left long scars in parallel groups of four all the way up the trunk. It was very interesting indeed.

My journeys continue.

I am driving west. I just had to take a photo of this mountain on the coquihalla.

Flammable Orange Juice and Other Curiosities

I don't know who figured it out, but the spray from oranges is in fact flammable. Perhaps it was a minutely unstable individual who was curious to which would and would not ignite. Perhaps a studious scientist in need of a party trick. Nevertheless lighting orange peel spray is a great way to feed the inner pyromaniac.
I discovered some grandiloquently fustian words whilst reading "The Secret of the Sands" by Erskine Childers that are anything but trite. His favorite is phlegmatic which means "as sluggish as phlegm". A superb winter word! (How were the roads? Oh, phlegmatic to the point of being lugubrious) I also enjoy the word platitude; which can accurately describe the first twenty-three seconds of any meeting of people (Hello, how are you? Cut the platitudes Wilson, we both know you care as much for my welfare as you do last weeks newspaper.) So next time life is a little inane, your skull numbed to a moribund torpor, read a book.
P.S. I'm not attempting to light my cabinets on fire albeit appearing as such.
P.P.S The book was very good. Written in 1903 it's a sailing spying story.

Do atheists say good-bye?

I just read that the term good-bye comes from a shortening of the phrase "God be with ye."

Playing With Light

My stab at paper cutting.

Two Elders

Bone sketch

Sketchy V

Laundry

I watched an ad for laundry detergent in which the smell made the lady weak in the knees. If this is the case, why is there no Gain scented deodorant? Or did it make her knees quiver because the chemicals were dissolving her neural matter, upsetting her equilibrium and rendering her a feckless heap of repugnant refuse?

Bad Medicine

I read the book "Bad Medicine" by John Reilly today. The book is a bit of an autobiography of judge John Reilly's brave move to address corruption, therefore violence, depression, suicide etc in the First Nations of Morley, Alberta and nationwide. It was highly enlightening about how our outdated, racist system continues to oppress people within our own borders while attention is diverted elsewhere. Great book, I hope people have the sense to read it a care about human rights.
It is published by Rocky Mountain Books 2010. www.rmbooks.com

Why? Why? Why?

Edmonton. -20

Nanaimo

I am on the ferry to Vancouver from Nanaimo. What a beautiful day!! It's warm, sunny. I'm sitting by the window like an old cat soaking in the rays.

Comox marina

Vancouver island has been relaxing as usual. There's something about the smell of the ocean that makes it so. Smelling salts that bring you from your day to day daze.

Eagle food

Six eagles were squabbling over this. The fish, not my sister.

Winter Wonder

Ah! R & R for RR

Portable Art Toolkit

1. Sketchbook. This should be small enough to fit into a pocket. Obviously the summer months will allow only smaller books. Don't buy a moleskin unless you want to look like a pretentious tit. That look is very fashionable this spring so I went for it.
2. Pen. This is completely open. I hate drawing with pens as they are as unforgiving as Palestine and Israel.
3. Pencil. Not shown as it was so forgiving the pope canonized it the day of the photo.
4. Conte. I love this stuff! I bought this neat little four color kit that comes in a padded cardboard container the size of a matchbox. The only disadvantage is that if you want to exhibit more advanced techniques with conte you will have to use your thumb or bring your favorite smudging tool along. And if you bring that well you might as well bring the paints and easel and the whole kaboodle and that defeats the purpose of discrete portability.

On Literature

Herman Melville is the crown king of run-on sentences.

Sketchy IV

Fourth installment. I'll leave you with the tribesperson. That's it for today.

Sketchy III

I don't understand the weird light on this one.

Sketchy II

I'm bored on the down time so I'm doing more sketches. This is on recommendation of a friend that suggested that my sketchbook not my iPhone should be an extension of my personality. I hope I got the quote right! Well I have a book full of nat geo pictures I need to interpret since, well, the only living model in the vicinity is me.

Sketchy

Today I pay homage to the finest; Leonardo Da Vinci. What a guy. He has inspired me to pick up the conte and copy his flat-nosed old man sketch.