LJ user pics

Yesterday evening, I spend a couple hours sitting on the living room couch, playing with Corel Painter on my Wacom Artpad. I've been experimenting with gouache brushes recently...might start using gouache sometimes instead of watercolour in my comics for a while.

Also worked on some Livejournal userpics for fun. A couple of months ago, I posted this Livejournal entry offering to draw userpics for the first 50 people who signed up (yes, I'm crazy). No guarantees of deadlines, content, or even whether it would be done at all...but the 50 slots (and more) were filled up much more quickly than I expected.

Here are some of the pics I've done so far. To see a particular person's LJ, click on the pic. The icons below are not free or available for distribution. They are for use only by the individual they were made for.
















June 2004 comments:
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toronto island, dragon boats, and firefly

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I'm hanging out with my Dad and Mabuta today; my father has asked if we can go see the new Zatoichi movie. My friend Ray had introduced Jeff and me to one of the Zatoichi flicks, which we both loved.

I spent most of yesterday on the Toronto Island; I've always wanted to explore Ward's Island and Hanlan's Point. So I packed some water, a sandwich, my iPod and a book, set off for the ferry to Ward's Island.





Centre Island is an amusement park area and way crowded, so I spent most of my time at Ward's Island and Hanlan's Point. Strolled along the boardwalk along the south side of the island, which was remarkably empty:





GORGEOUS weather: not too hot, not too cold, and it was breezy along the water's edge. I wandered around the island, stopping when I felt like it.

Discovered that it was the weekend of the Dragon Boat Race Festival! Here's one of the Dragon Boat teams warming up at Centre Island:



One of the Dragon Boat teams warming up.


Sat on the bank, read my book, had my lunch and watched a few races:





A rather odd sign on the door of the women's restroom/changeroom area:





When I got tired of the crowds, I set off for quieter areas of the island again.

The photo below is of a flower I saw on the boardwalk along the south side of the island. To you gardeners out there: is this some kind of rose?





When I got tired later in the afternoon, I took a short semi-snooze in a grassy picnic area, with my knapsack as a pillow and my hat on my face, dozing a bit from the warmth of the sun, listening to the wind in the trees.

Wasn't totally comfortable with the idea of falling fully asleep by myself in a public area, so I eventually got up (still much refreshed) and continued on my walk.

Saw this cool picture tied to a tree with string:





Followed this path:






To this beach:






Just kidding. I went to another beach, honest.

Anyway, there are few sensations as wonderful as shedding shoes after a long walk then sticking your sore feet into hot sand and wiggling your toes around. (*happy sigh*)

Sat for a while, watching the boats in the distance, waves lapping up on the beach as the sun gradually sunk lower on the horizon. Very few people about...I guess they were all at the Dragon Boat Races.

And here's the view from the ferry back home:






Was dead tired (in a good way) when I got home, and incredibly relaxed. In the evening, I watched the pilot of episode of Firefly. HOLY COW, is this a good show. Wow. If the other episodes are as good as the first one, I'm floored that they would cancel the series so early. Thanks again to Parki for lending me the DVDs.

Anyway, 'twas a wonderful day. I'd like to go back and explore Hanlan's Point more thoroughly, perhaps this time with a friend. :-)

For those interested, here's more info about Toronto Island Park.

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quiet spaces

I took this photo at the cottage last month.



One of my favourite places in Toronto these days is the Art Gallery of Ontario. I signed up as a member earlier this year (using birthday gift money from my mom-in-law) when my arms weren't doing so great; I love wandering around the galleries, losing myself in history and art.

I tend to go near the end of the day after visiting schoolkids are gone. Sometimes I'll spend the entire visit in one room, other times I'll wander through several exhibits. In a weird way, I find a similar sort of quiet space there as I do sometimes at the cottage; it's a great way to relax as well as find creative inspiration.

I don't claim to be any kind of expert, but I still enjoy looking at the paintings, sculptures, other types of art exhibits. Or at least most of them...I'm still not crazy about canvases painted all black, or the roped off piece of broken ladder that turns out to be part of the exhibit. I recall going to the AGO many years ago with Mary Ellen Wessels, Ed LeBel, and Clif Flynt. MEW and Ed wandered ahead in a room of modern art while Clif and I pretended to have an intense discussion about the artistic merits of a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. :-)

One of the reasons I wanted a membership is because I find I get far more enjoyment when I have as much time as I'd like to look at a particular piece, rather than feel I have to rush through everything to get my money's worth.

I love finding stories in the art, or a glimpse into the emotions that went into it, learning more about the artist's technique or the history behind the subject. Yesterday I went to the Turner-Whistler-Monet exhibit and very much enjoyed it; I'll be going back at least a few more times, I'm sure.

Had a fine evening as well: after seeing "The Terminal" with Parki, we had dinner at The Keg, and I didn't get home until nearly midnight. He's lending me his "Firefly" DVDs! So many friends have told me good things about this series, so I'm looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about.

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recording projects

Happy birthday to Scott Snyder today!

Someone recently asked me what recording projects I've participated on, and I could only remember a few, so I decided to do a bit of research. For my own records (I'm linking to this Blatherings entry from my personal homepage) but also in case any of you are interested, here's a list in chronological order:

Songs That Go Filk In The Night (1986 tape)
OVFF II compilation
- played flute on Nightmare Lord with Mike Stein

Castles and Skyscrapers (1994 tape)
Artist: Urban Tapestry
Urban Tapestry Publishing
- wrote My Jalapeno Man, Cuz He's A Guy
- played flute

Less Than Art (1997 CD)
Group: Ookla The Mok
- played flute on Still Can't Buy Me Love

Myths and Urban Legends (1997 CD & tape)
Artist: Urban Tapestry
Dodeka Records
- wrote Technonerdboy, I Love The Morning, Song For Jim, Puppies Cooked In Brine, Leftovers, co-wrote Sex and Chocolate
- played flute, tambourine

Bardic Lug (1997 tape)
Artist: Scott Snyder
Dodeka Records
- played flute on Cuz She's A Guy (a fun parody of my song, "Cuz He's A Guy")

The Road To Roswell (1999 CD)
Artist: Karen Linsley, Lloyd Landa
Martian Trophy Music
- played flute on Nobody Knows (That I'm Really An Alien) and By The River

Assembly Required (1999 CD)
Artist: Puzzlebox
- played flute on The Dark Man

Alien Salad Abduction (2002 CD)
Artist: Chris Conway
- played flute on The Alien Jellyfish Song

Zen Cappuccino (2003, CD)
Artist: Andrea Dale
Bedlam House
- played flute and sang on "Saxophone In Spring", a song I co-wrote with Andrea
- Andrea covered my song, "Homecoming" on this CD

Sushi and High Tea (2003 CD)
Artist: Urban Tapestry
Dodeka Records, Ltd.
- wrote Friendship Song, Waiting For Frodo, Homecoming, My Jalapeno Man, The Truth Is Out There, A Neurotic Love Song, co-wrote Another Story
- sang, played guitar, flute, triangle, claves, music stand

MISCELLANEOUS:

My brain is mush right now and I suspect I've left out some projects. If you happen to know of one I've missed (like yours), please feel free to let me know!

I've been on a number of convention live recording compilations, including North Coast Cabaret, sometimes just for flute, sometimes with Urban Tapestry.

I've had a couple of professional studio engineers tell me that I could make some income from playing flute as a sort of "musician for hire". I think this might be fun in an alternate life, but I already have too many other things I'd like to do. I'm hoping to eventually get some kind of home recording studio set-up working, however, so I can more easily collaborate with other musician friends rather than have to go to an expensive professional recording studio.

I actually do like the recording studio environment; I was terrified at first, but then started having fun. :-) Too much fun, sometimes; I tend to move around a lot when I'm enjoying playing the flute, a habit which drives sound technicians and engineers crazy during concerts and in the recording studio.

Not to mention my flute baton-twirling, but that's another story...

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housefilk

Me and Chris Malme, a filker visiting from the UK.


Thanks to the Haymans for the lift that enabled me to attend the housefilk yesterday in Richmond Hill, and thanks so much to Sally Headsford for hosting the event. I noodled on the flute for the first time in long while; this is different from performing...noodling is improvising for fun, a luxury I didn't have when my tendinitis was worse.

I also debuted some of the penny whistle pieces I've been learning. I was nervous and squeaked (the whistle, not me), but I think it went all right. Allison did some Urban Tapestry songs as well as songs by Heather Alexander (Storyteller) and Mark Osier (Why Don't Barbarian Women Wear Clothes), among others.

Lots of fun! Much music and chatting; it was a great group. I originally heard Erica Neely perform Chris's Elektra song at a North American convention and loved it; it was a real treat to hear the original songwriter perform it last night. Also fun to hear Peggy's and Sally's version of Terror Time In Lancre, a song by Juliane Honisch (some people know this as "Bath-time for Nanny Ogg").

And of course it was great to see Chris Malme again. Really nice guy, easygoing, wonderful songwriter and performer. This is his first visit to Canada! Hope he makes a habit of it.

Also see Allison's LJ post about the filk.

Hey, Today's Parent magazine has chosen one of my sister's books as their feature on Book Nook! Do check out the this page on the Web site, where children's author Hazel Hutchins reads aloud from Sidewalk Rescue, a book that she wrote and that my sister illustrated.

Interesting links:

Meet Joe Blog: interesting overview of blogs, from Time magazine.



Judith with her new camera, mimicking the expression -I-
had on my face while taking this picture. :-)

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