Barking Space

No Sale

So the show has come and gone, and I sold nada. This is a little upsetting (as I sit here drinking a comfort Café Mocha). I was hoping to sell something to defray the costs of a show coming up.

I had this naive idea in my head that there were going to be a lot of wealthy people in fur coats and top hats walking around, twirling their canes and adjusting their monacles. I expected them to be pulling their gloves on and off in anticipation of outbidding their fellow richies…

Lord Melbourne: I say, old chap, [Pointing at one of my prints.] what is this you have drawn?
Jorge: It’s not a drawing, it’s a photograph. It’s a photograph of some tigers.
Lord Melbourne: Excellent. I will bid one thousand dollars on this item.
Lady Weslet: Oh no you don’t, my old friend! I will bid two thousand dollars!
Lord Melbourne: Jeeves! Oh, Jeeves!
Jeeves: [Runs up.] Yes, sir?
Lord Melbourne: Please fetch me my money, Jeeves. And perhaps fetch a chaise lounge for Lade Weslet to fall back upon after I outbid her.
Lady Weslet: Oh, you rotter. Fine, but I will outbid you on the next one.
Jeeves: Will there be anything else, sir?
Lord Melbourne: No, that is all. Now run along and fetch me my coin, good man. [Smacks Jeeves on the butt.]
Jeeves: [Sighs] Very good sir. [Runs off.]
Monopoly Man: Is it too late to bid on Park Place?

This is not really how it turned out.

Even though I didn’t sell anything to fabulously wealthy people, I met some really great artists and made some new friends. One of them is moving away, and she gave me her easel, which is awesome. A lot of my business cards were taken as well, so that’s pretty cool.

All in all, not such a bad time.

Here are some of the artists I met/befriended/pickpocketed. You can click on some of their names to see their work…

Tina Newlove – She was one of the first to arrive. I laughed because I had recently seen Napoleon Dynamite, and so I asked her if she did, and she said yes. I immediately saidTina, come get some ham! We laughed. She is awesome, and has some great work.

Liana Russwurm – No web page that I know of, but she is a great painter. If you hear of her being shown at a local gallery, you should go!

Jamie Bradbury – Another great painter without a web page. His stuff was really neat. He won an award last night for a huge painting he did.

Sherrie Wilkins – Sherrie was hilarious. We spent most of the evening cutting each other up. Her photos remind me of images my wife has taken. She also gave me the easel! We had each other’s back when the Angus burger was calling from across the street.

Mark Furman – Mark really helped me out last night. He had easels and a really cool idea to display his pictures. He let me hang some of my stuff on the structure he fabricated, and let me use his easels. I think a lot of people thought our stuff was shot by the same person, which is a great compliment. You can see his work at the Contact photo festival in May at the Relax Shack in the Junction (3026 Dundas St W – Toronto).

I will also be in Contact (just down the street from Mark, actually), displaying my work in Cornerstone Furniture (2886 Dundas Street W – Toronto). I’ll keep people posted regarding this upcoming show.

Shrinkage

Can anyone tell me what the deal is with the Angus Burger at Harvey’s? They used to be huge! Now they are at least half the thickness, yet still the same price. Harvey’s position in my list of places to eat has fallen to a new low.

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TTC Strike Looms

And here I sit, sweating.

Wondering if the TTC will actually strike at midnight or not.

It couldn’t really happen at a worse time. I have a show tomorrow (see Toronto Dollar’s Web Page), and I will be bringing four framed prints with me, as well as a bunch of other stuff that would be inconveneint and possibly dangerous to carry on my back while I ride my bike which hasn’t been tuned up for over a year and a half.

It’s a long walk. Doable, but long.

What the Hell? *

I was somehow magically subscribed to a comic book newsletter, and what do I see but the return of Hal Jordan.

Somebody pinch me. Hard. On the eyes.

Why is Hal Jordan coming back? I decided to do a quick sweep of the WWW about anything related to the death of Green Lantern. What I found scared the crap out of me. After Hal Jordan’s character died in the DC Universe, there was an outcry of angry fans. There were website shrines erected. There were petitions sent. There was a mass obsession with the resurrection of a comic book character.

Wow.

I’ve lost a lot of respect for most mainstream titles. They are continuously trying to figure out ways to appeal to the masses, and all the while they continuously butcher the continuity of really great stories.

I personally have no problem with characters like Superman having a nice solid origin, and growing older, suffering the loss of loved ones and the like, all for the sake of a great continuous storyline.

But this revolving door policy just makes me laugh.

* – This is a nerdy comic-book-based post, so the majority of you can ignore this. Haha. Too late.

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Driving Down Memory Lane

Friday night I hung out with Shatton and Aggies. I arrived there in the evening, and we went to go pick up dinner from an Indian place on Kennedy Rd in B-dot. The drive to the restaurant was interesting, because we drove along a part of Kennedy that my parents used to take us to when we were kids.

Much to my surprise, the restaurant we went to pick up our food from is the same place that we used to eat at when I was younger, and living in Brampton.

Weird.

The food is still good, too!

After this we watched various episodes of Adult Swim cartoons, and played Bomberman until the wee hours of the morning.  Aggies went home, and Shatton and I watched Freaks and Geeks.

It was great to spend time with someone as brown as I am.

Shameless Plug

If anyone lives in Toronto and has nothing to do on Thursday night (April 07), come on down to the St. Lawrence Market area. I will have a table there, and will be showing some of my work!

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click on the Photography link on the right side of this blog.

10% of the proceeds raised by our sales goes to charity.

Filed under: General Dialogue, Spaces Archive | 9 Comments »

The Skinny

I used to attend a Capoeira academy a few years ago. Actually, I attended several. I would leave because I don’t particularly care for politics, or poorly-run schools that keep increasing their fees, even though there is no reason to do so.

The last academy I attended was the longest of any, clocking in at about 2 or 3 years. Throughout my time there, I had to learn and unlearn many things. The kicker was that a lot of the things I had to unlearn I learned from the very teachers that were asking me to unlearn. It was very frustrating.

I watched in heartbreak as potentially great students were left by the roadside because they didn’t learn fast enough. And the students that were gifted were fed greater and greater techniques as the rest dwelled in mediocrity. New students that came to try out for the classes were not given any help, and were left frustrated. Consequently they would not come back.

I designed the school web page with no guidance (not for my lack of asking), and the promise of payment was brought forth. That never happened. They ended up paying me with free classes for a year, only to turn around and mistreat me.

One of my best friends (who also attended this place) and I sat down with them to discuss the state of things, not as students, but fellow martial artists. It was apparent then that these people did not want to listen to reason, and so we left. I walked away from all those free classes, and the time I had invested.

A waste? Not really.

The lesson I learned was that I had to be true to myself. If I want to be a good martial artist, I have to make sure that wherever I go, I am really learning things. My old instructors are also not really bad people. They are good at the core, I am sure. They just didn’t know how to run a business properly, and they had a lot to learn as leaders of a martial arts community.

The Solution

One of the things I wanted to do was to continue learning and playing Capoeira. I started a study group (with a good friend of mine) for martial arts & Capoeira using another friend’s common room (In their building). I had invited people out to try Capoeira, so that they could build the basic skills necessary to go to a real academy and learn without feeling left in the dust. I also left it open for people in my former academy to come out and brush up on their skills so that they could learn more effectively from where they were attending.

It started out well enough, but attendance over the year never really increased to the level where we could have real games with the real flavour of Capoeira. It just turned into a session about movements.

But people did learn. At least I hope they did.

The End?

Yesterday I told the attendees that it was the last class. There would be no more.

Due to my current Blue Belt status in Karate, I have the opportunity to assist in classes. This would really help me out in achieving my goals in Karate. I have spent so long doing various martial arts, and never really taking the final steps in any of them, that I feel it is about time to think about myself and actually attain a rank somewhere that is meaningful.

I also don’t like to sacrifice time that I could potentially be spending with my wife.

It’s really that simple.

Ironically, last night we had five new people show up to learn, all of which expressed disappointment at the prospect of the last session. One of the students brings her mom once in a while, and they brought some friends who are Brazilian musicians who invited us to use their church common area. They also possess all of the instruments (and the knowledge to play them), and are excited at the prospect of Capoeira.

In a few months, when things have settled for me, I might run a workshop or something with those folks once a month, as I really enjoy playing Capoeira and helping people learn.

It would also be fun to have games in the park or on the beach.

Funny Enough…

I just met with one of my former instructors to sign a contract for the use of my photos if they require it (not more than 10 minutes ago). It’s nice that he is finally taking a more professional approach to the whole thing. He is starting an official academy (in his own space), and is learning the ropes of running a business.

I wish him well.

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