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An Open Letter to Sandra Oh

Sandra,

I am asking that you leave your new husband Alexander Payne and marry me.  I can’t promise that I will be able to make a movie as good as Election, but I can promise that I won’t ever make a stinker like About Schmidt.

I make a mean turkey sandwich, and I always leave the seat down.

Until I hear from you, I will continue to love you from afar and eagerly await your response.

Yours forever,
Robot Johnny

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Culture

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Officer Peterson

Vancouver Sun cartoonist Roy Peterson will soon become an officer in the Order of Canada.  He joins Lynn Johnston and Ben Wicks, who are the only other cartoonist Members of the Order I can think of.  Am I forgetting anyone else? 

UPDATE: I just realized that I probably forgot pioneering animator Norman McLaren, and after searching the Order’s website, sure enough, he has received two honours…

If you’re unfamiliar with Peterson’s style, Daryl Cagle’s site has an archive of his latest cartoons.

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“Stats Entertainment”

Attention music geeks!

I thought I was pretty anal about my music collection.  I have an 80 gig harddrive filled to the brim with all my music; all 600+ of my CDs are ripped as MP3s.  I have made sure every file has proper MP3 tags, custom genres, etc.  Every song in my 12,000+ song collection has a rating from 1 to 5 stars.  Like I said, pretty anal.

Then along comes The Internet iTunes Registry.  I can’t decide if I am benefitting from this website because of how obsessive compulsive I am about my music, or if this site in fact only serves to fuel my obsessions.

It’s simple.  You create an account, upload your iTunes library’s XML file, and presto—instant statistics on your listening habits.  iTunes itself offers simple stats like “playcount” or “last played”, but only on a per song basis.  The iTunes Registry takes it one step further and let’s you see stats based on artist, album, song title, genre, etc.  (Plus the ability to see the same stats in relation to the collective libraries of every registered user).

For example, the site tells me the following things:

At 12,785 tracks, I am the 20th highest collector on the site.

The artist I have the most songs of (and that has the most playcounts) is Elvis Costello, with 715 tracks, followed by R.E.M., Rheostatics, Elvis Presley, They Might Be Giants, and Pavement.

For some reason, the artist with the highest overall rating (probably because I only have 3 songs by them) is Air.

My top rated albums are “Introducing Happiness” by the Rheostatics, “Automatic for the People” by R.E.M., and “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” by Wilco.

My overall highest rated genre is Soul, followed by Alt Country, and then Britpop.

The song I have the most versions of: “Almost Blue” (12)

It’s pretty damned addictive.

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Martineau-no

Matt points out this story today about newscaster Gord Martineau’s candid goofballing off air while the cameras still roll.

Well, the good people at Frank magazine have the clips.

Matt’s right.  People shouldn’t find this offensive.  Sure, it’s a private moment never meant to be aired, but like any of Dick Clark’s Bloopers, that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.  Seeing a public figure act like an ass is just plain fun to watch.

Besides, I’m sure Gord has thick skin.  Thick, tanned, leathery skin.

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Snooze Report

I finally got a chance to do some serious sleeping in this weekend—it was pure heaven.

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Matchmaker, Matchmaker…

The folks over at Presidential Match try to help you, the uninformed, pick your presidential candidate based on how much you agree with their particular beliefs and policies.

Now, I’m not an American, but if I were, the site tells me that my 100% match is Dennis Kucinich, followed by a 99% match with Al Sharpton, and a 90% match with John Kerry.

Who was the candidate I least identified with?  The one at the bottom of the list?  George W. Bush with a whopping 4% match.

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Sketch Blogs

Last week I wondered aloud if there were any other good sketchbook blogs out there.  Some were suggested to me, and I went on the hunt for more.  Not all of them are strictly sketchblogs (hell, mine sure isn’t) but here are some of the better ones I came across:

The Sellotape Files
Witold Riedel
Salgood Sam
Pants Press Sketchblog
Sketchblog of Doom
Things I Drew While On The Can
Wild West Yorkshire
Diseased Wits

I certainly can’t post this without also mentioning Danny Gregory and Keri Smith.

And while this isn’t a blog, and I’m sure you’ve seen it before—it’s worth another look: The Bearskinrug Sketchbook.

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Transmission from Hog Town

Hammer down, drivers!  Just a radio check to make sure you’re down with all your trucker lingo.  Forty-two?  Love to stay and jab, but I gotta step on.  Catch you on the flip flop. (via Coudal)

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Horror Movie Night

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Quick Comic News

Two things to look forward to: Li’l Beginnings: a collection of Charles Schulz’ pre-Peanuts work and McSweeney’s Issue 13: The Comics Issue, edited by Chris Ware.

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Art-chie

For the first time in years I dusted off my brushes and dipped into the acrylics on sunday night to paint a birthday gift for my friend Emily, a huge Archie fan.  It felt great to be painting again, and I’m already inspired to make a series of small paintings like this for my own apartment…

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Return of the Sketchbook Journal

After a bit of a hiatus, I have returned to documenting my life in a daily sketchbook journal.  I think my recent mood (and a whole whack of new art supplies) finally gave me the impetus to start it up again… We’ll call this my Rapidograph period.

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All or Nothing At All

Yesterday over brunch a friend and I were discussing the things we struggle with when living a creative life.  We both admitted that while ultimately we want to end up doing exactly what we want in life, anything short of exactly that feels like disappointment.

When it comes to illustration, I want to do my thing—the style and subject matter that is important and personal to me.  When I’m assigned generic work that’s independant of style and substance—work that needs to get done more than it needs to get done specifically by me—I plod through it, but I don’t enjoy it.  It’s still illustration, but when it’s assumed I can adapt to any given style, tackle any given subject, and complete it in any given timeframe ("I need this tomorrow, but hey, it’s what you like to do, right?") I actually despise it.

My friend feels the same way as a writer and photographer.  If it’s not exactly what she wants to do she’d prefer doing something entirely different so as if not to be reminded of that perfect creative work just slightly out of reach.

I know with me, when I’m asked to work that I know I’m completely unsuited for I feel like I’m not fully appreciated.  Like I’m just seen as a person with a particular skill or trade, and not a particular style or vision.  Like it’s not me that’s important, just my ability to get the work done.

Sure, paying the bills is important, but why do I always feel like I’m compromising myself? Do other creative types have this same dread of doing work that’s not your true passion, but is still “creative” work? 

(note: after brunch we were so inspired to plug away at more personal work we fled to the nearest art store and stocked up on supplies!)

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Overheard on Queen Street

“So this guy, yeah, I don’t know… he’s a fire sign and I’m a water sign, so technically we should be fighting like crazy.  Technically, right?  But we get along great...”

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