So Misguided

Zoudov. According to GrainEdit this is a student film.

Saturday I gave my keynote at the luncheon and that evening was the masquerade ball.  A little wrock (wizard rock for you muggles) and lots of costumes.

I went as a stylized version of Hedwig.

Malfoy

A Sugar Plum Fairy

Nearly Headless Nic

Hedwig & the Phoenix

Bad guys have great costumes!

Good thing my Gryffindor buddies are around.

Hep & Aziza

Snape & Dumbledore

Narcissa

Poor Winky. Fell off the butterbeer wagon.

Albus? Aberforth?

Lots of fans make incredible art.

My absolute favourite paintings were by Elizabeth Wu. This one in particular I really, really wanted.

I have to mention my totally cool Snapefest bag. If you’ve never heard the Snapecast podcast, have a listen to the snapey, snarkiness of Snapecast.

The People of Portus

Jim Dale, narrates on the North American audio books. Brilliant.

Henry Jenkins, smarter than Hermione, Director, Comparative Media Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Yesterday was about Slytherin. Today was about Gryffindor.

Here’s the burned hand of Dumbledore.

First wizard spotting is a death eater.

First Wrock (Wizard Rock) concert I attend is The Mudbloods.

The Mudbloods on MySpace. I am LOVING “Wish You’d Be My Witch”. Please listen.

Despite the ominous overtones of these two things, the conference is very cool and awesome.

I’ll be posting photos on my Flickr stream.

Bibb Lettuce with Cucumbers and Tomatoes, Oil and Vinegar Dressing

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Breast with Roasted Corn Sauce, Garlic Mashed
Potatoes, Seasonal Fresh Vegetables
or
Vegetable Lasagna

Banana Cream Pie in Almond Crust

And then the phenomenon of podcasting in the Harry Potter community, according to Monique. 

I discovered the DailyMile widget on Caleb Keiter’s blog yesterday and think it is a very cool social tool for training, which seems to be a rather lonely exercise for most of my friends.

You can get training answers, can train with your friends, meet people in your area and find races. I loved watching James’ triathlons. (Note the “watching” part.) And I think the summer boys should get onto this tool and train together. Where’s the race this year? What happened to the boys’ weekends? The fishing? The racing? The sunburns?

Looks fun. So fun I might consider running ... maybe across the street to get some nachos. Can this thing track calories?

I love it. I AdHack it.

Does everyone’s left brain like this or just mine?

You Are 35% Left Brained, 65% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you’re left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you’re right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Wow, it’s July. What happened to June?

June 7: Scott’s Birthday

30 years old. Still a kid.

Out with the Lads

Racing Cars, Paint Ball and Batman

Babies and birthdays

Visiting Bob & Joan

Lots of Green in Winnipeg

June 10-14: Book Expo Canada in Toronto

Kissing Hands and Shaking Babies

Books are like babies. See the “holding pattern”.

Dot: Rep of the Year

Cocktail Party After Cocktail Party

Robert J Wiersema and Sandy Cooper: Two Publishing Folks with Whom I’m Always Happy to Share a Drink

Looking for Greenery in Toronto

June 21, 2008: Chad & Gillian Got Married

Turner-Riggs Babyspace made it out.

June 23: Calgary

Visiting a client and another little dude

June 23: Where the Hell Is Matt? Video Released

I was there. Here’s Matt Harding and I on film day, September 5, 2007.

June 27: Milkshakes at Modern Burger

June 28: Making My First Perfume

June 29: Strawberries

You Pick. You Pay. ($45 chiropractor visit + strawberries by volume picked)

Much more sensible. (1 flat, $27)

Who doesn’t like that.

Plus there were strawberry milkshakes.

Welcome to July ...

James, Chris Clarke and I are in the Vancouver section of the new Where the Hell Is Matt? video. More photos to come ...

1. Some Mondays are just about the embed code.

2. Brand and message is out of your control.

Your brand is what people say it is. Check out Brand Tags.



3. Young at Heart

Young Me Old Me photo submissions. Recreate a photo of you taken as a child. This is worth checking out.

Ayala Sender of Ayala Moriel Parfum, who I met at Portobello West a couple of months ago is teaching a class on how to make natural perfumes. I had my first class on Saturday and it was awesome.

I smelled Rose Absolute, Basil Oil, Labdumum and all sorts of interesting things that one day I’ll make into perfumes. Yippee.

I haven’t written about tap dancing for a while so let me tell you about figure skating.

My friend Julie, who I visited in Malta last year, is back in town and actively promoting her figure skating blog, called Boot and Blade.

It’s an interesting look into the figure skating world from the perspective of someone who spent an awful lot of time on the rink skating and coaching. I have a passing interest in figure skating but Julie definitely knows how to hook me. I think I even watched part of the World’s with her last year just so I could get the inside scoop on who should or shouldn’t win and what moves were tough vs. crowd pleasers.

Check out 8 of the Worst Figure-Skating Falls.

Here’s the first.

Boot and Blade: Figure-Skating Blog by Julie Szabo

Back in January, I told you about a cool comic creator tool called Pixton

Here’s my first cartoon:
“Sam Goes on Holiday”

Well, the fab creators, Clive and Daina, were awarded “Site of the Day” by Adobe back in February. Interest in the site has continued to grow and now [big news drum roll] Pixton is a finalist in the “Flash in the Can” awards!

FITC (Flash in the Can) is sort of like the Oscars for websites. Prestige. Exposure. Red carpet glam. Actually, I’m not sure about the red carpet, but Clive was talking about flying out to the awards and being required to have an speech.

Pixton is also eligible for the “People’s Choice Award”. Please consider voting for Pixton at http://awards.fitc.ca/pc/

1. See Pixton in the “self-promotional” category.
2. Choose Pixton, enter your name and email address, and click “Submit Vote”. The system counts one vote per address.

Please pass this one.

http://www.pixton.com/comic/bhb99g2q
http://awards.fitc.ca/pc/

Good luck Clive + Daina!

Two of my incredibly talented Toronto friends are musicians and they happen to be playing together on Wednesday, April 9.

If you’re in TO, please consider going.

Craig Konyu of Yukon Cigar is playing The Cameron House in Toronto, on Wednesday, April 9, 2008. He is joined by super musical pal, Patrick Brealey (who, contrary to my blog title will be playing without his Knives--it’s Patrick Brealey and The Knives).

Schedule yourselves accordingly:

9:00 to 10:00 = Patrick Brealey
10:00 to 11:00 = Yukon Cigar
11:00 to 12:00 = A set of Neil Young tunes performed by above singing sensations.

Need a sound preview: http://www.myspace.com/yukoncigar (or check out http://www.yukoncigar.com). Patrick can be found at http://www.patrickbrealey.com.