Got up early, and went to town to look around the market. Bought some eggs from the funny guy with the Tea-Cosy hat on. He does make me smile! Then I popped in to see Neil at the Bank- he said it was too hot for him, as well. I agreed.

I got home, and here I stayed. I did my washing, ironing and even popped the vacuum around- very productive day! Bloody hot though.

Patrick rang- he said he is unable to come around this weekend, as he is going to Plymouth for the weekend, to unwind. I know the whole situation with his children, and the fact that he can not have access to them, does leave him stressed. He deserves the break. I would have let him have some money to go with, but I am short until next Tuesday, so I couldn't.

Think I may use my free bus pass tomorrow, and go to Ilfracombe for the day. The weather forecast on BBC 1 says that it will be nice, a bit cooler; the ITV says it will be cloudy. I have never believe the ITV one. Will have an Ice Cream on the pier. Will be nice.

Yours sincerely

Raymond

       I finished The Perks Of Being A Wallflower just after eleven last night. In a way I was putting it off. Finishing the book. And as I got to the end, and read the final words, my heart was sad. Sad that there wasn’t more Charlie. Sad that there wasn’t more Sam, or Patrick, or even Mary Elizabeth. Sad that the letters wouldn’t be there to read anymore. And then I thought about the similarities to my own life, and it made me feel both happy and sad. And I remembered Denise Roma who was truly my best friend. And how we used to scribble pages upon pages within notebooks and exchange them via post. And how she sent me my first mixed tape, full of artists and songs I had never heard before. And how much I liked listening to the songs, and the melodies. And how I used to crawl into my closet, slide it shut, and listen to the music as I read through the scribbled pages she had sent. And all this time, her secret was safe with me.
       Scattered throughout the feeling infinite, were the sad and dark times. Times I try not to think back to. And in a lot of ways, it seems they outnumber the feeling infinite. I was naïve—and didn’t really understand things until it was either too late, or the damage had been done. That’s why I was so grateful when Denise came along. It was like for the first time, the world was opened up to me and I learned… and she learned… and we both learned from each other. And just as the world opened up to me, it was taken away. And that was that.
       It’s late, and although I’m not tired, I’m going to lie down anyways. I don’t know why I mentioned all the stuff above. But I need to leave it. I have my own reasons that I might get to in an upcoming letter. I just wanted to tell you that I finished The Perks, and that it’s great!

Love always,
Garrett

Patrick: "And you are a giant Amazonian grub digging through the soil of my soul."

Our beloved out & proud Neil Patrick Harris will be making an appearance on Sesame Street as a singing shoe fairy -- I shit you not. In the meantime, I'm still trying to figure out the educational value of a shoe pixie that shoots crotch rings and sings about footwear.

The video and more info after the jump.
Hopefully the fairy of matching shoes
will fix this mess.

Just when you thought he couldn't get any gayer, TowleRoad.com reported earlier today that Harris will be on the famous children's show, dressed as a dapper mythical figure chanting about foot apparel. But, don't call him a "shoe fairy":

"Not the shoe fairy – the fairy shoe person. It’s quite a different connotation. I was asked by Sesame Street to be a part of a song and I just leapt at the opportunity. Jim Henson was the only person I ever wrote a fan letter to as a kid and I’m a wild fan of puppets and the Henson Company in general. They wrote a song, wanted me to sing it. There are all these different mythical characters this season. Sandra Oh plays another type of fairy that Abby Cadabra creates and so we got to do this big musical number with puppets and dancing. It was a great, great afternoon. It’s one demographic that I have yet to win over."

Check out the video here.

Isn't that fabulous?! Now just get the "fairy shoe person", Bert and Ernie in the same episode and you've got yourself a veritable Sesame Street Pride march.

Rico

Fruit Salad Gay Podcast

FruitSaladShow.com

]]> http://bdewey.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/patrick-at-6-weeks/ Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:30:46 +0000 bdewey http://bdewey.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/patrick-at-6-weeks/ Patrick turned 6 weeks old today. Here's a photo:

You can see a few more photos from today here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bdewey/sets/72157606309238629/

At 6 weeks, Patrick will occasionally smile at Molly. (I've never seen it.) And he coos every now and then.

However, every once in a while - a film comes along that challenges the conventions of a genre, as well as your own expectations. It is this challenge that renews that childhood excitement we all once had in movies, and forces us to appreciate the exorbitant level of creative depth necessary to produce a truly masterful work.

The Dark Knight is that film.

An hour into the movie, as the second act begins to pick up - I was in awe. I was no longer watching the movie as a fan, but utilizing it’s craftsmanship as a learning tool. I could visualize the words on the page for each scene as they were spoken - and it resonated thoughts of inspiration, as well of defeat.

I could never write something this good.

This was the thought echoing in my mind for the majority of the film, as well during the 4am drive home while trying to recollect and piece together the story I had just experienced. Now, Im not trying to tell you this is a brand new story that you haven’t seen before - it is. From Point A, to Point Z - this movie does not break any conventions in terms of plot devices and overall flow, it is the hero’s journey through and through.

What makes this movie incredible is the way the characters are developed and defined within that framework. The way their actions and words are scripted out and intertwined to ultimately produce a novel and unique approach. The level of depth achieved by the actors and The Nolans with directing/writing is unparalleled in the “summer movie” genre, and should serve as a blueprint for movies that attempt to fall in a similar vein.

I can admit, at first I did not buy into the Heath Ledger hype for this role. Honestly, I didn’t see the direction they were attempting to take the character in until actually watching the film. After watching this movie, I can say that all the fanfare surrounding his performance (Oscar talks, etc), is truly, truly deserved - and honestly probably still does not do it justice. Ledger is definitive in his performance, he eclipses the Nicholson performance of Burton’s Joker, if not in style - certainly in the impact his character creates in the overall story.

He is haunting, both entertaining and unsettling at the same time. The laughs generated from his character’s lines are nervous in nature, there are no overtly comedic moments. I have read comments in reviews labeling his performance as being the greatest villain of all time, and I can certainly appreciate that opinion. Ledger’s Joker is not a character you cheer for, it is a character that captivates you with its mystique and pure unpredictability. With Bale, you can hear notes of Patrick Bateman in his inflection, a reminder that you are watching a movie - this same familiarity cannot be found with Ledger. He is the Joker. His voice, mannerisms, etc are altered to an unrecognizable point, and never once does he venture into familiar territory to remind you that this is in fact, the guy from 10 Things I Hate About You.

Overall, this is one of few movies I have seen as an adult that I could categorize as an “Experience”. Though Marvel struck first with an excellent visualization of the Iron Man character, and a much improved rebirth for the Incredible Hulk, DC has trumped their rival with a film that transcends them both, as well as the superhero/comic book genre. The Nolan’s, and the cast of this film took a fantastical subject, and created a gritty, realistic world for the characters to exist in - one that will certainly have movie fans nervously looking over their shoulders when leaving the theater.

DLS

Picture taken by Patrick Picotin in Hakone Japan

Picture taken by Patrick Picotin in Tokyo Japan

*edit*

They'be pulled the vids.  Here they are on Youtube!

I've been training Jiu Jitsu once or twice as week for a few weeks now. It's even more fun now than I remember it was a few years ago when I last was training seriously.

The biggest difference between now and then is that I'm taking my health seriously outside of my BJJ classes. I have completely changed my diet. I'm eating much more fruit and more protein than I used to, and a LOT less carbs. I'm trying to get my daily carb intake down to 100-120 grams of carbs per day, and I'm getting my protein intake up over 150 grams per day. On top of that, I started taking 2 grams of Creatine after my workouts, which is increasing my bodies ability to repair my muscles quickly. I feel a huge difference in my stamina already.

I've also been doing cardio 4-5 days a week at home on my elliptical machine. I do 20-25 minutes a day right now. I'd like to move that up to about 30 minutes daily. I'm also doing light weight training and calisthenics at home to increase my muscle tone and flexibility (my biggest weakness is my inflexibility). I'm sure my mother can set me up with a good yoga workout to help with that.

Patrick is my sister's son. When my sister passed away, I promised her to make sure that he is looked after. He has a good job, and even has a couple children. It's a shame he doesn't see them, but as he explained, their mother's made it difficult for him to gain access.

Truth is, he is my only family now, and I do like it when he comes around.

This week, he showed me his new telephone. It's called an eye-phone free-gee. It looks very nice, and can even take pictures, and can tell you where you are. It's like something out of Star Trek!

I told him all about the pizza's, and the pies, and he laughed. I think he thinks all I am interested in is food!

Patrick said that he was a bit upset about his phone, as it needed something called a dock (which his last phone had, but this one doesn't). I don't know what he talks about half the time, but I said that I would pay for it to help him out. He said he would not take my money, but I insisted. The dock would cost £150, and he had one put back for him already. I don't know how he thought he would pay for it! He can be quite silly sometimes.

After I let him have the money, he had to go- he had someone to see. I did enjoy his visit.

Money is a bit tight now until I get my pension on Tuesday. I think that I will pop in and see Neil at the bank tomorrow to make sure that I can pay for my rent.

Just as well I have those pies!

Yours sincerely

Raymond

Last weekend we shot a video of me building a dresser....and now my videos will have their own home over at:

I'd like to say I'm through with trying to make more professional looking short films, but that would be a lie. These are a lot more inexpensive, require no planning and can be edited and posted almost as soon as they're shot. I think I'll try to do at least one a month, just for fun....I've still got a couple of others that I'm working on, but I need to get myself a copy of MS Word for the MacBook. I hate writing in notepad. I think I may actually pick up a copy tonight when I pay my bill. It would be nice to see what documents look like with headers and footers....as well as word counts and page numbers...

It's been a very slow week. I'm done doing my over-time stint, so I've started working on a couple of new blogs. One of which, I'm going to force myself to write for weekly. Another one, I want to turn into a group blog, similar to that of The Hellblog. The third, I'd still like to do a comic strip for, but until I find an artist that's looking for a writer to collaborate with, that can stand my sense of humor, I'll have to put that idea on the back burner.

I am hoping to make a bit of money off of Explaining Comics. That's the one I want to do weekly articles for. I have become an affiliate with Amazon, and am looking to ad their stuff to all of my blogs, but this is just going to be the test blog, to see it it works.

I'm also looking at doing my online used comic shop. Ebay looks like the best price so far, but Yahoo might be the best deal. This will require further investigation. I may have to wait until Aly and I move into our new place, so I can keep my inventory on site, instead of in my parents basement. I don't feel right selling anything that isn't within a ten foot radius of me. I've still got inventory all of my comics and whatnot that I plan on selling. I've also got a few other things I'd like to get into, but I think I've got enough on my plate at the moment.

I've still got a business plan I need to get cracking on again...which is something that Word would be useful for.

So much to do, so little free time.

I'm supposed to see The Dark Knight with Mike and Patrick tonight. I wanted to wait and see it with Aly, but they're pretty adamant about me going tonight. I told Aly last night, that whatever happens, I'm taking her to see it on August 4th...which will be our first actual day living together in Winnipeg.