Sunday, July 12, 2009

Breakfast

Hey.

Another year. Another day. Another moment to sit and tell you stuff.

For starters, I haven't written since like May or something, and that's because I forgot about blogging, and then I forgot the password to get on here. The point is that i'm back.

Today's topic is breakfast.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, not to mention the perfect time to get a few palzy walzy's together and catch up.
My friend Jesse decided that he would start a blog about breakfast. That means that every Monday for the past few months we've gone to different cafes around Vancouver looking for the best breakfasts.

Today we went to the Nice Cafe situated around the corner of Fox Porn Cinema on Main and 6th.
Our meals were quite nice. Our friend Roz was eating with us and as nice a girl as she is, sometimes I worry for the people sitting around us who might be listening to our conversation.

"My roommate likes it when her boyfriend puts a vibrator in his butt because it makes his dick vibrate."

"Once upon a time I was trying to eat breakfast." replied Jesse.

The old ladies at the long table had hearing aids so it was okay.

There is no real point to this entry except maybe to check out his blog if you want a nice place to go for breakfast.

http://eatwithjesse.blogspot.com/

I will write again soon. I swear.


Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I'm back

Funny how on my day off, my plans become pushed forward to the next day off.
Today my list was:
Log and capture footage
Grocery shop
Send out my medicare card form
Maybe help my friends move
Go for a walk outside

Instead I:
Surfed craigslist
went for breakfast with Jesse
Surfed craigslist
Yoga
Surfed craigslist

However, I DID finish the form filling out, now I just need a photocopy of my ID and i'm set!

I'll talk to you later

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Clogging with Missanabie Cree Cloggers

So as you know, from my last entry, I have been filming a Women's conference for the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, a political organization representing 43 First Nations communities in Northern Ontario. So just to recap, in 8 days, i've filmed a music video for Nishnawbe Aski Nation's Youth Council, i've filmed workshops about auras, volunteering, healthy sexuality, yoga, tai chi, women's health, nurturing the youth, a Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn/Tina Turner/Elvis/80's pop star/Hank William's impersonator as well as numerous interviews AND an election.

I'm very run down with the flu, and no matter how many herbal pills my colleague Roxanne tries to shove down my throat, nothing seems to be working. The hotel is so far from the city that I can't even get any Tylenol or cough drops. Today is the last day of the conference. I've been awake since 6:45am, and i'm on a 15 minute break until dinner is served.

I was able to start the day off by filming a group of women who called themselves the Missanabie Cree Cloggers. Not too many people know that i'm half Cree on my mother's side. Probably due to my pale face. Anyway, I know I was supposed to be the camera girl, but I couldn't help but leave the camera on a wide shot as I joined the group of cloggers clogging away to "I love that ole' Time Rock and Roll". It was lots of fun, and now I think i'll dig out the old tap shoes when I get home and learn that. After a short lunch, all the women made picket signs protesting Bill C8 on Matrimonial Real Property on reservations. This in a nut shell means that if a non Native woman divorced her Native husband, she would be left with nothing.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2009/26/c4600.html (this is an article about the Rally)

So the women all jumped in a shuttle bus and headed to Indian Northern Affairs of Canada where they protested the unjust law until the regional manager decided to hear us out.

It was really cold on my fingers, but I didn't want to complain considering 80 year old elders and little kids were outside with no gloves holding signs too.

We headed back to the hotel on the shuttle bus happy with how the rally turned out. As soon as I walked in the lobby, all the producers and assistants started asking me to sign contracts and get invoices in to them for my payment. I spent an hour in my room printing invoices, and decided to relax by attending the Tai Chi workshop rather than filming it.

I have 3 more hours until the conference is over and I can pack to come home.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Drummers, the Twist, yoga, and Tai Chi



Today, I woke up at 6:45am, was ready by 7:30, relaxed until 7:55 and headed downstairs for breakfast. Today was the first day of the Women's Conference that I am filming. My breakfast consisted of eggs, toast, potatoes, and a variety of fruit. The agenda said breakfast was from 7:30 until 8:30. I ate by myself at a round table with eight empty seats. At another round table next to mine another woman ate her breakfast, and at a table across the room two young girls ate. For a conference of sixty guests it was odd that only four people were eating breakfast. As soon as 8:30 hit, and the caterers were taking the plates and trays away, all the rest of the guests finally woke up and made their way for breakfast. The poor waitress was bombarded by the late comers who were angry that breakfast was no longer being served even though the agenda said the times. Being the nice (but annoyed) girl she is, she asked everyone what they wanted and had another buffet made.

I filmed a women's drum circle, but the weather was bad, so only one woman showed up. I then filmed an elder tell us how Jesus saved her from a life of alcohol and bingo. Next up was a new age woman explaining how our seven chakras (energy points) of our body need to realize that our auras become more pleasant if we meditate and relax our minds. There was an exercise where she gathered volunteers from the crowd and measured their aura with a bent twig (known to her as her aura reader). As she walked towards each woman, her twig would start spinning and then she would stop letting them know how many feet their aura extends from their bodies. After that the Grand Chief Stan Beardy told a story about his mother, and then we all ate lunch.

I thought I grabbed a cheese sandwich, but it turned out to be egg salad, so I gave it to Tanner, a boy who is helping me film the conference. Tanner is the camera guy for a hunting show in the Yukon. He seems all right. After lunch a woman turned on her jam box and all the ladies got on stage and did the Twist. That was really weird and random. When the song ended another speaker approached the stage talking about the importance of volunteering in your community. It was boring so I wandered upstairs and filmed a yoga class. It was funny to see them attempt the positions. After interviewing the instructor, I went back downstairs where Master Phueng was teaching Tai Chi. Once he finished, I went to my room and watched Oprah.

It's now 8:30pm and I think i'll go downstairs to eat some dinner. I've decided that i'd like to save up my money and go on a holiday with Robbie. Any suggestions of a cool city or cheap but nice place to go?

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Saturday Night in Thunder Bay


When I woke up this morning, I felt like death. My alarm clock was buzzing but I didn't care, the most beautiful sunrise in the world was ascending over "The Sleeping Giant" illuminating Lake Superior, but I didn't care, and I had the most rotten taste of vending machine Doritos, beer, and morning breath all in one.

I looked at the bag of Doritos on the bedside table wondering where they came from, as well as the garbage can pulled next to my bed with three apple cores in the bottom that I don't remember eating. That's when my memory slowly made it's way back to me. It was three in the morning when Kevin and I stumbled back to our hotel. The elevator was out of order, so we went to the staff elevator behind the swimming pool where there was a vending machine. I didn't want the Doritos but I put a dollar in anyway.

I had spent the day filming a music video for the aboriginal youth council with my friend Roxanne, the Deputy Grand Chief. Her friend Kevin was staying in my hotel doing film work as well. It had been a long and tiring day, so after packing up, Kevin, Roxanne and I went to a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant called "Lovely Mango". Since dating a vegetarian for the past year and a half, i've hardly eaten any meat. I never ate it regularly before due to not cooking and taking the easy way out with Mac and Cheese, or bean burritos. I looked at the menu and decided to get the mango rice stir fry and a Chinese beer. Kevin ordered coconut soup, spring rolls and Chinese beer. Roxanne also had the soup with extra noodles, and a mint tea with honey on the side.

When my food arrived, it looked good, but didn't taste as good as I thought it would taste. I also noticed some chicken in it which made me think back to the last time I ate chicken ending up with food poisoning. I continued to eat it anyway. As Roxanne and Kevin were talking, I felt this odd sensation in my stomach. I knew I had to throw up, so I nonchalantly left the table and calmly walked towards the ladies room. However the washrooms only consisted of one toilet not numerous stalls. I arrived just in time to see a little old lady enter the room locking the door behind her. I couldn't wait for her to come out, so I went in the men's room and almost immediately after bending over, began throwing up everything I had just eaten. It was so violent with such great force, that a chunk of mango got lodged in my nasal cavity. I tried blowing it out and puking it out, but instead I coughed and it came shooting out plastering itself on the wall. I felt much better, and went back to the table.

I was unsure if maybe it was food poisoning again or if maybe my body just doesn't like meat at all. Before going back to the hotel, we stopped at Walmart. I had forgotten my swim suit at home so I bought a new one to make use of the hotel pool. Kevin decided it would be fun to go to a bar and drink a beer and write, so after Roxanne dropped us off at our hotel, we walked to Gargoyle's. The place was jam packed with Northern Yuppies (they do exist). It was too bad because there was a great jazz band playing. We decided to walk a little further to Tony and Adam's. Kevin was almost positive that the two hot waiters (perhaps Tony and Adam) were gay, so he was thrilled when one of them came to our table. And to be honest, he totally ignored me and wouldn't take his eyes off Kevin who resembles a native Johnny Depp.

I don't really know Kevin, and had only briefly met him at a function a year ago, so it was interesting to hear what he had to say. He told me that when he was working for the Sundance film festival, a porn director stopped to talk to him. He looked at Kevin's hands and told him that he could never work in the gay porn industry because they prefer people with small hands. Big hands just make a penis look small. Then Kevin looked at my hands and told me they would be perfect. I became self conscious and hid them under the table for the rest of our stay. After three beers Kevin pulled out a brochure that someone had given him. It advertised a drag queen show going on at 11:45 at a bar called "Black Pirate's".

As we walked, Kevin who doesn't smoke decided to buy a cigarette off a kid. We shared it and I felt terrible. Before we could even enter the bar, there was a mob of metal heads in black leather, black hoodies, black boots, and studded belts. As we stared at them, they asked us our names and why we were in Thunder Bay. We told them we were filmmakers visiting from Vancouver and Winnipeg. One of them came forward and began ranting for twenty minutes about how we need to make a movie about trans-gendered prisons and the need for them. He told us he was a hater and hated everything about politics and the government.

We finally made our way into the bar to discover a rockin' metal band on stage. The kind of metal band that can swing their long greasy hair in circles perfectly as they shred a mean riff. After their performance, the drag show began. Her name was Andrika, and she was the prettiest little boy dressed as a girl ever. If she had boobs, I would've thought it was a real girl. Kevin was amazed by her dancing and lip syncing and her subtle shimmies with the slutty girls. By now we were on our fifth beer, even though I should've stopped after the first three especially since I didn't even get a chance to digest dinner. I have a problem saying "no" when people buy me drinks. After two more metal bands, and a hip hop duo, the Black Pirate's closed down for the night. I had drank six beers (maybe seven), and I wanted to stumble home to bed. Kevin on the other hand insisted another bar would be open, so we walked to another bar that he claimed his friend worked at. It was clearly closed. The lights were out, and the doors were locked, yet I watched as Kevin knocked on all the windows and back entrances.
Finally we gave up and came back to the hotel.

I'm lying in bed not wanting to move or be at work for 9:00am.


The picture is mine and Kevin's hotel. My room is the top right, and his is right below me. Some people told me my floor is haunted by all the ghostly drug addicts who have overdosed in it's 100 years.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

So far so good?

Hello. It's been a long time since I wrote something so here goes. I've been reading a lot. I like to read, but when I do I tend to start 5 books at the same time, so it takes a while to get a book finished. Right now i'm reading "The Wind Up Bird" by Haruki Murakami, "Water For Elephants" by Sarah Gruen and rereading "Delta Venus" by Anais Nin. 

I wanted to put up my own music on here, but the only way to do so is by putting up a video. So I hope this works.




Thursday, January 29, 2009

Black Friday


When I was four years old, I was trapped in a basement.

It was Friday afternoon on a muggy day in 1987. My mom was stuck in traffic on her way home from an appointment, and my dad was at work. My cousins and I were playing outside while my Uncle and Grandma read in the living room.

It was very warm outside, but the sky was a depressed periwinkle blue. Me, my older sister, and my two cousins decided to walk to the Red Rooster for penny candies and slushies. On our way there we passed a homeless man sleeping on a park bench. On our way back, the wind picked up, the sky darkened so quickly as though God put his hand over a light bulb, and the homeless man still slept on the bench on the bridge over the lake behind our house.

I don't remember what happened next or who called us inside, but I remember being in the basement. My cousins and my sister were crying, but I wasn't sure why. Nobody was hurt. It's not like it never rained before. My Grandma told stories to cheer up the kids and my uncle told us not to go upstairs or sit next to the windows.

I had never been in the basement before. I was curious. I found a box full of Christmas ornaments and began putting garland around my head. I found my mom's guitar that she would play for me belting out Joan Baez' version of "The Night They Drove Ole' Dixie Down". I plucked a few strings making up lyrics of my own about cats and werewolves, when I noticed a small fridge in the corner. I opened it and finally realized why I was never allowed in the the creepy undeveloped basement. The fridge in front of me was filled with fudge-sickles.

Eventually, the kids found me and we all ate the chocolaty treats. After about two hours in the basement, the sun came out, the wind died down and we ventured upstairs. Windows were broken, and trees were lying in the streets. My mom came home telling us how she was trapped in her car with water up to her ankles waiting for the storm to stop. My dad came home swearing about the damages to the house but happy we were okay, and the bridge with the bench over the lake was no longer there. That friday became known as "Black Friday", the worst tornado in Canadian history.

This was one of my first full memories of life. There were others such as my first memory of television being a breaking news story of the derailment of an indoor rollercoaster killing nearly everyone on board. I remember this because it was the same night I was rushed to the hospital for poking my eye so hard I had to wear a patch for several weeks. I remember my first memory of music being Cindy Lauper's True Colours album, I remember being confused as to why it was so bad for my babysitter to have invited her boyfriend over, and I remember my first encounter with vomit after witnessing my sister puke at the foot of my bed, but none of those memories stuck out as much as "Black Friday." A month later we moved to the suburbs of the city.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

I guess today's the last day of poetry week

HI. I found out from a friend that this past week was poetry week. I was unaware, and as it is now 1:08am on Saturday, I have missed poetry week. However, I don't think poems should be recited or read only during poetry week, so i've dug up one of my favorites by my favorite poet Mr. Leonard Cohen. This poem is based on the biblical story of Isaac and his father Abraham.

Story of Isaac

The door it opened slowly,
My father he came in, I was nine years old.
And he stood so tall above me,
His blue eyes they were shining
And is voice was very cold.
He said, I've had a vision
And you know i'm strong and holy,
I must do what i've been told.
So he started up the mountain,
I was running, he was walking,
And his axe was made of gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,
The lake a lady's mirror,
We stopped to drink some wine.
Then he threw the bottle over,
Broke a minute later
And he put his hand on mine.
I thought I saw an eagle
but it might have been a vulture,
I never could decide.
Then my father built an alter,
He looked once behind his shoulder,
He knew I would not hide.

You who build these alters now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
And you never have been tempted
By a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
Your hatchets blunt and bloody,
You were not there before, 
When I lay upon the mountain
And my father's hand was trembling
With the beauty of the word.

And if you call m e brother now,
Forgive me if I inquire,
Just according to whose plan?
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
And mercy on our uniform,
Man of peace or man of war,
The peacock spreads his fan.

Leonard Cohen


Monday, January 19, 2009

Mr. brightside

Hello. I'm still getting the hang of this blogging business. I was trying to figure out how to add a song and it took me a very long time. It's a cover of a "Killer's" song called Mr. Brightside. I do believe if you click on the title above, you'll be able to hear it.

k

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Yikes!

So today is my only day off to get things done, but unfortunately there are not enough hours in the day to do that. The fact that i'm writing also shows that i'm a bit of a procrastinator. Today I found out that all my bedroom furniture is being taken away. My friend who is in politics and left me her furniture until her 3 year term was done has decided to take it a bit earlier then I expected. She told me she'll be flying out here in 2 days.

Among the pieces of furniture that she requested is her bed. Unfortunately when I went to my old place today to collect her bed, there were several pieces missing. And by several pieces, I mean that I could only find half the frame. I came back home and received another message asking for her old wardrobe (which has my clothes in it), her night stand (which has my stuff in it), and her book shelf (where all my books currently reside).

So even though I had planned to buy a cord for my printer, pick up ink for my old printer, go downtown and spend a gift certificate, pick up my pay check, drop off DVDs, buy groceries, and practice with my band, I now have to go buy a new bed frame empty out a wardrobe, night stand and book shelf, and still manage to practice with my band for our big show on Friday.
And I don't drive either.

Speaking of my band, here is a video of us performing Dec 11.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Hmmm



This is what I read in the paper today:

"The third Monday in January is
when 15 per cent of Canadians feel
down in the dumps,according to the
B.C. chapter of the Canada Health Association."

That's funny because today I felt quite down. I decided that even though I always try to see the good in everyone, i'm beginning to lose faith in people. I think I already lost faith in people a long time ago, but just tried to come up with excuses for them. There's that old saying "put yourself in someone else' shoes. If it hurts your feet, it probably hurts them too." I don't care about anyone else' feet but my own. If no one is willing to change and improve themselves to becoming better human beings then what's the point. Get a better pair of shoes! Don't bother trying to preach words of wisdom if everything you say is going to contradict what you do.

I really am a nice person, I swear. I've just been sucked dry, so i'll just stand by and watch rather then get involved with other people's immorality.

As for today being more morose than most, maybe it's not the Christmas bills piling up or the rainy/snowy weather or weight gain. Maybe once a year people just realize the person they're becoming and it depresses them momentarily until they wake up the next day and decide to be content with the jerk they've become.

Don't worry, there's only one more hour left until we can all be happy again.

k

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Electric Jam



This is an old video I made four years ago of my friends Eric, Jesse, Rollie and I.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

A New Year

Hello and welcome to the creative world of me, K. Alexander.

I'm 26 years old and currently reside in Vancouver, BC.  I came from Edmonton 4 years ago to be a filmmaker. My dad insisted that in order to be anything, you need a piece of paper to prove it. So even with all the books I read and workshops I attended, I decided to go to British Columbia's Institute of Technology to learn what I already knew.  The good thing about attending BCIT was that included in the tuition fee was  a Panasonic DVX100 A camera, Final Cut Pro editing software, wireless mics, and audio engineering software. The bad thing about attending BCIT was that it left me with a $27,000.00 loan that won't be paid off for another eleven years and I left my 2 friends along with our old rock band "Electric Skull Expansion and the Accidental Music Project". 

That was 4 years ago. Since then i've made more friends, worked several odd jobs, and have created many adventures for myself (some not intentionally).

I'm very expressive, but not necessarily through conversation or words. In fact I'm kind of a shy girl. I express myself through songs and writings.
After giving my friend Ba a badly recorded CD of my songs she decided to help me make this blog in order to share my creations with others.

So without further delays, I will recap for you what 2008 brought for me.

2008

January 1st, 2008, began with a pancake breakfast at IHOP with Mr. R. Bohncke. We were both disappointed, not with the food, but the fact that my ice tea cost 3.99. I haven't been back.
February 14th, 2008, R. Bohncke fixed up an old Raleigh bicycle for me, and I went to Seattle for the first time. We stayed downtown at the Moore hotel, went to see a metal band, and ate hot dogs and drank shots at the Coney Island bar where all the old pin ball machines were converted into tables. 
March 24th, 2008, I quit my job as an anime subtitler. I miss watching those cute, annoying, sexless, Japanese characters and matching their lip movements to their words, but it wasn't for me. It was never for me really, but I enjoyed doing it while I was there. 
April 12, 2008, I became a latte artist. No this isn't just another name for barista, I actually had to learn how to make artwork out of latte foam and espresso. I wasn't as good as some of my coworkers, but it was fun. Unfortunately I had to quit because the 16 hours a week they offered couldn't pay my rent. I still get the urge from time to time when I'm at a cafe to grab the pitcher out of the barista's hand and show them how to make a heart or a rosebud!
May 24th, 2008, I got my current job working in a deli at the Santa Barbara Market. Even though I refrain from eating a lot of meat, I like the people I work with and there are no uniforms. We listen to the radio, give attitude to old people and it's very hard to get fired (unless you're cutting prosciutto on a meat slicer while drunk).
June, 2008, I rode my bike everyday, became healthier after quitting smoking, and did a lot of reading. I read "Lovely Bones" (I forget the author), "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey, and finally finished "Welcome to the Monkey House" by Kurt Vonnegut.
July, 2008, I finally finished recording a CD with my old band ESE and the AMP after 4 years in the making! I also realized that the time had come for me to leave the house I was living in and find new accommodations. I wasn't really fond of living in a "Vancouver special" with no character in the suburbs far away from every place I hung out at. 
August, 2008, I moved in with Mr. R. Bohncke in the East end of the city. It's a tight squeeze but liberating as well. I'm not a party animal, but it's nice to not have roommates and neighbors complain when you're having a good time with friends. This was the month of good parties, and good opportunities. I was hired by My-TV to film the entertainment at the North American Indigenous Games in the Cowichan Valley, I witnessed a stunning performance by Radiohead at the Thunderbird Stadium even though I was very sick and I danced to !!! at Richards on Richards. 
September, 2008, my uncle Ted passed away. He wasn't really my uncle, but I called him that anyway. He had a tumor at the top of his stomach causing it to burn when food would land on it. He was from Croatia and one of the most interesting people I knew. His life would make a great movie.
October 2008, I started a new band called "Ramona Quimby", my friend Katie and I permanently stunk up my kitchen with a batch of "special" brownies. It was our first time making them (and they were good). I dressed up as Amy Winehouse for Halloween with Mr. R. Bohncke as Hulk Hogan. 
November 3, 2008, I turned 26 years old and was treated to cake, a lychee martini, rubber boots, and a beer on a mountain.
December 2o, 2008 I bid farewell to my friend Sara who moved to Costa Rica to start a beauty camp, My new band played our first show and it rocked, I witnessed the worst weather ever bestowed upon the city, and Mr. R. Bohncke and I went to visit my parents for Christmas in Edmonton. 

In 2008, I was told that I was too nice to people and that it's going to be my downfall. After thinking this over I decided that there's nothing wrong with being too nice, and that i'd rather be known for being nice then for being mean any day.

K.
 

 


Hello!

We'll be up and running soon.