How I Spent My Summer (Also Spring and Part of Fall)

So, things have been crazy busy and I haven't blogged in ages.  Shocking, right?  Here's a bit of a recap of what's been going on so far this year.

Things got off to an awesome start in the early months of the year when Teal asked if I'd be up for helping out a bit with her web series, My Gimpy Life.  That was an offer I couldn't pass up, so I got to work.  I went a bit out of my usual creative territory and designed the website for the series as well as all the graphics for their promotional stuff and social media sites.  I even animated the logos for Rolling Person Productions and Dracogen that you see at the end of every episode.

The series was released over the summer and I'm so thankful that I got to have a little hand in it.  Teal and everyone involved did an incredible job and they should all be extremely proud.  I'd definitely encourage you to check out My Gimpy Life right here:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8DFDC12B1B8CFC85

Also, check out the website: MyGimpyLife.com
And follow the show's Twitter feed: Twitter.com/MyGimpyLife
And like it on Facebook: Facebook.com/MyGimpyLife
And howsabout Google+?: https://plus.google.com/u/0/100522847194674207229

Get to it, would ya?

Next up, in early spring, I started work on another project I couldn't pass up on.  Sébastien Lefebvre of the band Simple Plan was about to release a solo EP and wanted an animated music video for one of the songs.  It still baffles me that I got this chance, but before too long, we discussed things, agreed on a concept, and I got started.  About 270 hours of animation later, the video for My Dear was complete.

The video debuted in July and to my relief, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.  A few months have passed and every time I watch it, I'm beyond proud of what we came up with.  I can't thank Sébastien enough for letting me be part of it.
And a very special thanks to my buddy, Rich, for helping make the whole thing happen!

Take a look and tell me what you think!

http://youtu.be/WNn3UQ2i8zQ?hd=1

In July, after a year of quiet planning, I embarked on an insane trip.  Mom, Dad, and I drove from Ohio to California.  For Comic Con.

We were away for 19 long days, so chronicling everything would be an exhausting task at the moment.  For now, I'll just share a few brief personal highlights from those 19 days.

-On the way out, I spent the night in Phoenix (where it was 115 degrees) and finally got to meet my dear friend, Leah D'Emilio, after years of friendship.

-I got into the Warner Brothers panel at Comic Con and got to see the first footage of Man of Steel presented by director Zack Snyder and the new Superman himself, Henry Cavill.  To this Superman nerd, it looks incredible.

-I also got to see a ton of footage from the upcoming Hobbit movies presented by Peter Jackson and the cast.  Nerd bliss.  I can't wait to visit Middle Earth again.

-I unexpectedly got to meet a personal creative hero of mine, Bruce Timm.

-I met Power Girl.

-I met William, Bert, and Tom.

-We got to see old friends, Sharon & Jim, for the first time in years.  Unfortunately, I was a bit under the weather, so I couldn't fully enjoy our visit to Brent's Deli.

-On my last night in California, Teal & Ali invited us over for dinner.  Even though I was sick, hanging out with Teal, Ali, Marisa, Dan, and Bre the wonderdog was fantastic.  I wish I could get together with my California friends more often.

After nearly three weeks away, we came home to Matthew showing off his newly learned skill of bike riding.  The kid taught himself how to ride in just one day.  Uncle pride right there.

A few weeks after getting back from California, I had another little trip planned to see Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida play shows at Jackson-Triggs in Niagara.  Mom, Maude, and I went up and had some fun, but we cut the trip short when we found out my grandma had a mild heart attack.  We came home to see her before she went in for bypass surgery.  The surgery went well, but she's still on the long, speedbump-filled road to recovery.  Love you, Granny!

Before coming back from Canada, we did get to take in Chantal's show at the winery.  To say I'm glad we saw it would be an understatement.  Sitting there under the clear Canadian night sky, sipping wine as Chantal played and a cool breeze swept across the hillside...it was the most relaxed I've felt in a long, long time.  I needed it.

Things have been off-kilter lately with everything going on with Grandma, so I haven't been super productive these past few weeks, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.  Family comes first.
There are still new, awesome things coming though.
Soon.

And the last update for this entry?  I'm 30 now.

Yep.

June 27th, 2009- "I Can Take a Wrong Turn, You're Right Behind Me"

Concert day had arrived.

I woke up on that nice Canadian Saturday morning without the aid of the fire alarm, thankfully. I did end up sleeping a little later than I wanted, though. Seems to happen a lot, doesn't it?

Once the rest of the crew was up, we set out to get a little something to eat. We ended up going across the street to The Famous, a diner-type restaurant inside the casino building.

It was okay, nothing outstanding and we had to wait a long for the food and the check.

I was hoping to get to the winery early enough to catch the sound check, so we hurried back to the hotel as soon as we finished eating to compensate for another potentially long wait for valet to bring the van.
I swear, they must have known how ticked we were the day before and sent out a memo or something. We had the van within five minutes.

Things were running smoothly and we were on our way. Until we got on the QEW, that is.
Traffic on the freeway was at a dead stop on a hot and sunny day. We were pretty much baking inside the van.

As we inched forward ever so slowly, we saw that the freeway was closed in both directions ahead of us.

We later found out there had been an accident earlier and that they usually only close down both directions if they have to land a medical helicopter on the freeway.

When we reached the detour, my MapQuest directions became useless, so we asked the officer directing traffic how to get to Niagara-on-the-Lake. He pointed out a van that was headed that way and told us to follow him. So we did.
Before too long, we were back on the QEW and lined up with my directions once again.
And then we got lost on the country roads and had to stop and ask for directions.

When we finally arrived at the Jackson-Triggs winery, the usually 20 minute long drive from Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake had taken 2 hours.

Sadly, we missed sound check, but ended up bumping into Sandy and Kathy right as we were getting out of the van. I chatted with them a little bit, then Mom, Granny, Maude, and I headed inside the main building to pick up our tickets. While inside, my friend Nadia spotted me and we talked for a few minutes. I've kept in touch with her since the last time I visited the winery, but it was great to catch up in person.

Tickets in hand, we made our way toward the amphitheater and ran into Terence and Russell on our way. After chatting a little, we headed in.
Our tickets included dinner, so we popped over to the food tent. We found a nice shady spot and ate while having a nice visit with Kathy and Sandy.
I was a bit tense from the ride, so I didn't eat all that much, but what I had (pork, potatoes, fruit) was good. The wine certainly helped ease the tension. I went with the Chardonnay.

With showtime approaching, we headed to our seats. Nadia got off of work and came over to see us again before taking off. She told us about her upcoming wedding and all the fun and craziness that goes along with it. I'm sure it'll all go smoothly and I wish her all the best!

Before the show started, Mom and I went to shut off our cel phones and noticed we had both missed calls from Kris. Mom called him back to make sure everything was okay and found out Matthew ate gravel.
Literally.
He was standing right next to Kris in their driveway and in one quick swoop, bent down, grabbed a stone, and downed it.
He's fine though. He pretty much looked at Kris as if to say "Dude, chill. What's the problem?" when he was searching his mouth for the rock.

Never a dull moment at home, even when we're not there.

Finally, they brought Chantal down the hill on a little golf cart and she took the stage along with Kevin Fox and Karen Graves. She began with another great performance of Leaving on a Jet Plane and the show was rolling.

She looked radiant and, as always, sounded amazing. Last time she played at Jackson-Triggs, we were the first audience to hear Halfway Around the World, she continued the tradition and debuted two new songs from her upcoming album for us- Invincible and 5,000 Days. Both sounded excellent, I was especially fond of 5,000 Days.
And as a bonus, it was also her first time playing These Days, a song she wrote for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants soundtrack, live.

The winery is such a great setting for a concert. The cool, Canadian night air mixed with Chantal's music, the intimate seating arrangement, and the great wine on top of all that. Combined, it just creates a magical vibe.

Chantal was her usual chatty self in between songs. The running discussion of the night was whether the occasional scent of manure wafting in from the surrounding fields came from a cow or a cat.

After a few more songs, there was a short intermission. I'll admit, I took the opportunity to get a refill on my wine.

Once the sun had finished setting, Chantal, Karen, and Kevin returned and continued the show under the stars.

So Cold, Half of Me, and Feels Like Home were some of the songs we got to hear in the second half. Plus, the guy who was calling out to hear Wayne all night got his wish.
After "finishing", Chantal came back for an encore and played All I Can Do to end the night.

It was another amazing show that I wish didn't have to end. Even with the overall hectic vibe the trip seemed to have, while I was at that concert, there was no stress and no worries. I love Twilight in the Vineyard.
In a bit of awesome news, they announced that the show was recorded and will be aired on the radio in the fall to coincide with the release of Chantal's new album.
I can't wait to hear it and relive that night.

As the crowd made their way away from the amphitheater, we followed and headed to the main building, where Chantal would be doing an autograph signing.
Inside, we caught up with Kathy and Sandy again. In their continuing awesomeness, they surprised me again with Chantal's setlist. I swear, I can't thank them enough.

Guardians of the setlist.

The gang.

The whole group of us hung around and talked about the show while Chantal signed autographs a few feet away. Once the line started to dwindle, we headed over.

When it was my turn, I got to have a nice little visit with Chantal. I found out her album, Plain Jane is coming out in September, so that'll be a nice little birthday-month bonus for me. Before saying our see-you-next-times, she signed the setlist for me and of course, we took a picture together.

Then, I spent some time talking to Del from Jackson-Triggs. He found my blog entry about Chantal's last show at the winery and was looking forward to (and waiting patiently for) this new entry. I know it's long and kind of rambly, but I hope it was worth the wait.
He's working at setting up some more great concerts there, so I'm sure I'll be seeing him again before too long.

It was approaching midnight and getting chilly, so we said bye to gang, piled into the van, and headed back to Niagara Falls. The return trip was much smoother than the ride out. We only missed one turn.

Upon getting back to the hotel, I was ready to parttake in our last-night-at-the-Falls tradition of going to Fridays. Granny didn't feel like going out and asked if we minded if she stayed behind and relaxed in the room. Of course it was no problem, though we missed having her there.

So Maude, Mom, and I made the late night trek to Fridays by ourselves. I split a meal with Mom and also got the fried macaroni and, of course, an ultimate long island iced tea. I guess I had a bit of a party night that night. It was a blast.

We wandered back to hotel somewhere between 3 and 4 AM and found, to our surprise, Granny still awake and watching TV. Apparently, she watched Braveheart and Independence Day while we were out.
That's my Grandma, folks.

Exhausted after a fantastic night, we all crawled off to bed for the pre-drive-home sleep. And man, I was really conked out.

September 2nd, 2007 - Beach Blanket Burn-o

I was finally able to wake up early as planned, though the night itself was a bumpy one, thanks to a nasty stomach ache. I'm wondering if my dinner at the winery disagreed with me. I was tired and still a bit stomach-achy, but I was up and ready to go, much like my last trip to Toronto.

At just about 11:00 AM, we were packed up, checked out, and on the road to Toronto. In the days before our trip, Chantal mentioned that she was playing 99.9 MIX FM's Beachfest the day after the Jackson-Triggs show and invited us. I checked things out, discussed it with Mom, and we decided to split it up and spend a couple days in Toronto rather than stay in the Niagara area the whole time.

Most of the drive up was smooth, that is until we hit what should have been the last twenty minutes of the drive. That last twenty minutes extended into well over an hour because of the massive amounts of traffic. Beachfest, the air show, and the final weekend of a big fair were all going on at the same time in the same area of town and it seemed like everyone in the city was on their way to one of them.

Traffic in Toronto is an interesting thing to behold. Sure, people can drive crazy around here from time to time, but up there it appears crazy is the default gear in their vehicles. I've never seen so many U-turns and abrupt lane changes in my life. I couldn't help but chuckle in amazement at the power of a hand gesture as a simple wave of a hand out the window would magically stop every car in the next lane to allow said abrupt lane changes.

Much inching forward and several F16 fly-bys later, we finally made it to a parking lot for Beachfest.

Liam Titcomb was playing when we made it within viewing range of the stage. I liked the sound, but the sun was pretty intense, so Mom and I decided to head back by the van and hang in the shade for a little bit.

The Beachfest crowd

As we sat looking out toward the ridiculously busy street, we were both amazed at the massive number of people whizzing past on bicycles and rollerblades. They actually seemed to outnumber automobiles at a couple points. Such a difference from around here, where most bicyclists I see are either senior citizens or kids too young to drive.

I also noticed quite a few wheelchairs, which either means the city's very wheelchair friendly or the bookies there mean business.

Before too long, Chantal arrived and we ended up walking in with her. We got seated right up near the stage and she went off to get ready. Performing at that point was Hayley Sales, who had a nice sound. Sort of a blending of Anna Nalick and old school Jewel.

Hayley Sales

Chantal hit the stage a little after 3:00 PM and put on a short, but sweet set including another performance of Halfway Around the World.

Chantal peeking out from behind the piano

It was a very strange sensation, being on a beach in Toronto and watching Chantal play as a giant C17 lumbers by overhead. If I was there by myself, I might wonder if that odd mishmash of elements was just a result the sun getting to me.

The sun actually get to me, not in the form of oddly juxtaposed visions, but the form of a nasty sunburn. Even the help of an umbrella and several retreats to shady spots could save my pale Irish skin from the brutal sun. At least I enjoyed myself, I can tolerate the itch for a few days.

Hiding in the shade at the side of the stage between acts, I couldn't believe the volume of the audience as high-pitched screams began to fill the air. Had they suddenly realized they were but feet away from the Bullcrank animator? Sadly, nope.

The screams were for the next act, Kalan Porter. It appeared Mom and I were the only members of the vast crowd who had no idea who that was. A quick Googling later on revealed him to be the second winner of Canadian Idol.

Still in my shady spot, I spent some time chatting with Kevin and Adam as best I could over the noise of everything going on around us.

Hot, tired, and just needing a little break, we decided to take off and find our hotel. We walked out with Chantal and said our see-you-laters as she hurried off to catch her flight home.

The journey to the hotel consisted of more slow traffic, lane changing hand signals, and overall craziness as we made our way into downtown Toronto. We only got slightly lost once, thanks to no identifying signs on or around the hotel, but we eventually found the Suites at 1 King West.

Check in got off to a bumpy start when we were told they couldn't park our van on site because it's too large and we would have to pay cash and use an independent lot about a block away. Mom stuck to her guns and the valet was very helpful in finding a way to keep the van at the hotel.

We finally made it into the hotel lobby, which almost had a metropolitan lounge/club type feel to it. While waiting for an elevator to take us to our room on the 30th floor, I smiled to myself as I heard Wonderful start playing in the lobby.

The room was definitely somewhat smaller than the pictures online led me to believe, but it was still nice. It even had a washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, stove, and refrigerator right there in the room, not to mention a cool view.

The room




The view from the work desk


The view from the sitting area


Playing with the zoom

We chilled for a little bit, then went down and asked the concierge if there was anywhere within walking distance to eat for a reasonable price. He recommended a place called the Richtree Market Restaurant. A short walk down Yonge Street led us there, but finding an entrance proved to be a little tricky.

The inside was like no restaurant I've ever seen. The whole place was set up like a giant outdoor market, but indoors. When you arrive, they hand you a credit card. Each stand had a different type of food and there were tons of stands. When you get your food from a stand, they swipe your card. Once you're done eating, you give them your card and they tell you what you owe, then you pay as you normally would.

The food was good, but I'll admit the setting made much more of an impression. I think I had a little case of culture shock in there. It was strange as I sat there and heard a different language coming from each table surrounding ours.

Me & Mom at our table


The brilliantly named bar, The Irish Embassy


Yonge Street

Filled up and still processing everything, we headed back up Yonge Street. As I passed the lady whose sad saxophone sounds echoed into the Toronto night, we exchanged smiles.

Everything about this place was new to me and I liked that.

September 1st, 2007 - Twilight in the Vineyard

Months back, when I got my tickets to see Chantal Kreviazuk open for Five For Fighting, I got word of another concert via her message board, Elements. Apparently she would be playing at the Jackson-Triggs Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake on September 1st.

A Chantal concert at the home of my favorite wine just three days before my birthday? How could I pass that up? Honestly. Tickets were pricier than I'd normally even consider, but they did include dinner and wine, plus I knew the experience itself would be a great one.

Mom decided she'd buy the tickets as my birthday gift. I was ready to buy them and insisted, but she's nearly impossible to sway once her mind has been made up.

Anyway, back to the story.

Yet again, the whole "waking up early" plan completely fell apart as I ended up sleeping until noon. Anyone else seeing a pattern here?

I gave my mind some time to catch up with my body and wake up and then we headed for Jackson-Triggs. We wanted to go early so we would have plenty of time to explore the winery and say hello to Chantal before the show.

The vineyard is only a couple minutes away from our hotel, so Mom and I became suspicious as our short drive down Regional Road 55 continued to grow longer. We began to wonder if had somehow passed it up, despite our actively looking for it. Our suspicions were confirmed when we pulled into a gas station and the attendant told us we had gone too far.

We headed back and arrived in less than a minute. It turns out that the sign with the winery's name on it had been eclipsed by a large trolley-looking bus on its way out of the driveway. Both of us had noticed the bus on our first trip down the road, but the thought of the sign being hidden by it had crossed neither of our minds.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a lovely employee of the winery named Nadia, who ended up kindly helping us out several times over the course of the day.

Me + Grapes = Happy

We took a walk over towards the amphitheater to take a look. As we walked, we met Kathy, a new friend of mine from Elements, and her husband, Sandy. When we reached the top of the amphitheater, we found Kevin, Karen, and Adam were already down on stage doing an early soundcheck.

The amphitheater from afar

After watching the band and chatting for a while with Kathy and Sandy, Mom and I decided to retreat from the sun for a while and wander around inside the main building.

We peeked at the shop and walked through the tasting area and eventually heard music coming from the amphitheater again, so we went back to see Chantal had arrived and joined the band.

We watched as they went through a few songs and fine-tuned everything for the show. I was very intrigued when they started playing an unfamiliar, but beautiful song.

They started letting ticket-holders for the dinner into the amphitheater around 5:30. Inside, I met Elements members Terrence, Deb, and Russell.

The food setup was all inside of a tent. After you went through the line and got your food and wine, you find yourself an empty wine barrel to stand at and use as a table. As Mom and I roamed the tent in search of a barrel, the Elements folks invited us to join them at theirs.

Overall, the food selection wasn't really up my alley, but the bratwurst I had was tasty. The company was great, I enjoyed getting to know everyone and listening to their travel stories and such.

One big happy barrel.

Hanging with Kathy & Sandy

A little after 7:00, Mom and I made our way back to the main building, where we were set to meet up with Chantal. We were helped again by Nadia and also Colin. They led me to a nice modern looking room with a massive window overlooking the vineyard where we all just chatted while waiting for Chantal.

The view from the room

A few minutes passed and Chantal came in, all ready for the show and looking lovely. Time was a bit tight, so we didn't have too much time to visit, but the time we did have was fantastic. She left for the stage and we left for our seats, it was going to be an excellent show.

Just before the show

Our seats were in the center of the back row, but our view was incredible. The layout of the amphitheater was perfect for this show. It was like Blossom here in Ohio, but with a maximum capacity of 500. Enormous stone slabs were laid into the sculpted hillside to separate the seating areas as the slope descended toward the stage. There were no seats on the hillside itself, so guests either had to buy a chair from Jackson-Triggs or bring their own. I always bring my own.

As dusk settled in, Chantal, Karen, Adam, and the recently married Kevin took the stage and went right into Mad About You.

The atmosphere was great, the wine was flowing freely in the audience and on the stage, leaving everyone in a relaxed, happy mood and putting Chantal into an extra chatty mood. Her mother-in-law was in attendance that night, as was Canadian morning TV personality Seamus O'Reagan. Kathy and Sandy described him to me as Canada's Matt Lauer before they scooted over to snap a photo with him.

Thr temperature dropped and the stars twinkled to life above us as the melodies of Ghosts of You, Wayne, and In This Life soared across the countryside.

Now curled up under a couple blankets, my ears perked up as Chantal began talking about the first song she's written for her next album. Seconds later, we became the first audience to hear Halfway Around the World, the beautiful song we heard a snippet of earlier at soundcheck. That song alone has me eagerly awaiting the arrival of that album.

In a surprise turn of events, we were treated to a rare performance of Green Apples after a soon to be married audience member shouted out a request. Chantal explained that she doesn't play the song often because it was written about an ex, but she obliged and after all these years, I got to hear one of my favorite songs played live for the first time.

Yet another pleasant surprise was when she played a cover of the Rolling Stones' Wild Horses for the Elements crowd. I've heard her version of it in the past, but on that night and in that setting, it was more beautiful than ever.

Adam was the target for much harassment throughout the evening, as it turned out to be his birthday. He was brought up to join Chantal at the piano, where she announced his special day to the audience as well as his virginity. That fit the laid back nature of the evening perfectly and got a great laugh. We then all joined in and sang Happy Birthday.

Later on, the teasing continued when Adam misinterpreted a doodle on the setlist and started playing the wrong song. This prompted Chantal to hop up behind the drums with him to poke fun and guide him. She then returned to the piano and he started playing a different, but still incorrect song.

As the show went on, Chantal's chattiness increased and she told about here recent experience with the TV show Who Do You Think You Are? where her heritage was traced back over several generations. Her tale went on (much like this blog entry is) for probably around ten to fifteen minutes and took a humorous turn when Kevin and Karen decided to harass her for her lengthy story by leaving the stage. Adam hung around for several minutes before joining the others, his timing and execution was hilarious.

Karen Graves and Kevin Fox


Tea time

For the encore, they returned to play songs including Feels Like Home, Before You, and finally All I Can Do. At the end, Chantal shouted out her thanks to the winery, the audience, her friends from Elements, and much to our surprise, "Jacob and his Mom."

Moments later, it was her turn to be surprised as winery co-founder Allan Jackson announced that ten percent of the night's profits would be going to War Child Canada.

With that, the show was over, but the experience wasn't.

We made our way back to the main building, where it was announced Chantal would be signing autographs. Mom and I grabbed a bottle of Gewürztraminer to enjoy at the hotel and went in search of our barrel bunch. Upon finding them, Kathy ran up to me, said "Happy Early Birthday", and gave me a setlist they snagged. Closer inspection showed it to be Adam's setlist, the source of amusement earlier in the evening.

Aren't friends grand?

Deb, Terrence, Kathy, Sandy, Russell, and lil ol' me

We all hung out in the chilly open-air corridor, chit chatting and reminiscing about the show while fellow concert-goers said their hellos to Chantal and got their CDs signed.

As the line dwindled, we all went over and joined it, myself pulling up the rear. I did my best to fight my jaw's desire to chatter in the night air as I told Chantal how much I loved the show.

When Kevin appeared, I seemed to catch him off guard when I asked him to sign my copy of his CD. He couldn't believe I was able to find it since apparently his website hasn't been updated in years. eBay saves the day.

Chantal signed my setlist and joined the Elements gang for a group photo, which sadly turned out a bit blurry.

As she got up to leave, I thanked her and we said our goodnights and see-you-tomorrows. Mom and I then headed towards the parking lot with our new friends, where we said our nice-to-meet-yous, thank-yous, and we'll-have-to-meet-up-agains, followed by drive-safelys and another round of goodnights before parting ways.

We navigated the long, dark country roads back to hotel and arrived shortly after midnight. The quiet and the dark were perfect for reflecting on the day and how a concert I expected to be great turned out to be a purely magical experience. I was fully aware I had just witnessed a very special show.

No time was wasted in getting to bed. Both because I needed to warm up and I had to be up early for our Sunday drive to Toronto.