Happy Halloween everyone!

Another week down and November is here already. It’s unbelievable that the year 2000 is almost over. I’m not sure what’s happening tonight for Halloween. I’ll probably just play it by ear and see where I end up. I planned on dressing up for class, but after scouring my house I realized that all my cool costume stuff is back in Toronto. The weather’s turned bitterly cold recently, so it’s time to bundle up in the mornings. I don’t envy the kids going out for trick or treating tonight with this chill.

I was invited to a rave on Friday, but ended up just vegging out at home instead because my stomach was doing back flips. It was weird because I was really nervous about going in the first place. I don’t think the stomach thing was mental, but being nervous couldn’t have helped it. I’ve wanted to hit the clubs and really party lately, but have been feeling a bit gun shy about the whole thing. It was different when I was in Toronto and was going to clubs with my friends. Heading out by myself is nerve wracking. I NEED to go dancing when I go home for Christmas. It has been too long.

I bought a Playstation 2 last week, which was a little bit of an adventure itself. If you hadn’t heard, Sony shipped half of the units they had planned to and people were freaking out like it was Cabbage Patch Kids and Tickle Me Elmo on parade. Luckily, one of my students works at Future Shop and he was able to set aside one for me. Even so, I had to get through the mad line up and chaos that erupted at the store as crazed parents and video game geeks went wild for them. I’m happy I got one, but it’s not my lifeblood, like the way it seemed to be for some of these people.

I can’t believe the LA trip and Don Bluth seminar is this weekend. I knew I organized it on short notice, but this is nuts! According to the secretary, there are going to be 4 Canadians, 1 person from Italy and a person who’s flying in from Japan! Obviously, I’ll let all of you know how it all goes.

Otherwise, things are good here. If November rips by as fast as October did, it’ll be a quick dash to Christmas holidays.

Take care,

Never a dull moment in the world of Zub…

Thanks everyone who e-mailed me after the last newsletter. I really appreciated the support, advice and love you guys gave. Some of it was positive, others were negative but ALL of it is incredibly appreciated. I always want to know what people think and their outlook on things. It helps me in so many ways. Thank you.

The days are whizzing by and we’re blasting through October at an incredible rate. I can’t even believe the month is 3/4 over. If this keeps up, I’ll be home for the holidays before I turn around again. Of course, at this rate, the holiday time will rip by just as fast…

It felt great sending a big bouquet of flowers to my Mom on her birthday this year. Last year at this time I didn’t have the finances to do much for her. Now that I’m back on my feet in that respect, it was the right thing to do. She seemed pretty blown away by it, so all is good.

Class is going great and I’m juggling all sorts of events quite well. My friend Mike has set me up a sweet gig at Corus Entertainment’s open house on Wednesday. Corus is the company that bought Cinar animation studio and is poised to buy Nelvana. They’re having an open house at their Calgary office and I’ll be there talking about animation and doing some caricatures of their executives. It’s a great schmoozing opportunity and I’m hoping to make some decent contacts. But, that’s not the big news:

I’m incredibly giddy. I read about a seminar coming up and knew deep down that I HAD to attend it. I busted my ass on a proposal for the school all weekend, hoping that they would dip into their professional development funds and help me pay to attend this thing. It paid off, they’ve agreed and so-

On the weekend of November 4th, I’m headed to LA for three days to attend an animation class taught by Don Bluth! Don Bluth = Secret of NIMH, Dragons Lair, Land Before Time, American Tail! Three days in a class of 60-70 students, taking notes and learning from the master. I can’t wait. I mean, I’ve got a Secret of NIMH poster framed in my room, this guy’s one of my influences!! I’m electrified at the opportunity…

When I booked my ticket to the seminar, Don’s secretary was all impressed that I was flying in from Canada. She remembered my name and said that Don was really looking forward to meeting me because I was making the trek down! Even if I don’t make some strong industry contacts, even if I don’t see LA, it’s a hell of an opportunity to learn about the technique and thought process of this animation great. Very disturbing…it’s a Zub Tale of epic proportion just waiting to be told.

I was talking to some animation friends from TO and it seems like they’re all headed out East to Nova Scotia. Funbag animation studio’s opened a subsidiary called Helix there that’s doing spill work for other studios. They’ve been hiring up people and the opportunity looks great. It’s a bit depressing seeing everyone move farther away (like I’m one to talk) but I am really happy for them. I hope everyone stays in touch.

So, to summarize- life’s a whirlwind and I’m in the midst of it. Thanks again for the responses from everyone. I’ll end off this e-mail with a quote from my boss Bohdan, who’s the master of sarcastic truth and black humor:

“Most of you only have about 75 summers left. Go out and live life!”

It would be easy for me to blame my strange week on Friday the 13th, the full moon and any other astrological strangeness. I’ll just chock those up to contributing factors in the grand scheme of things.

I broke up with Tanya on Wednesday. We discussed our future and what comes next over dinner. Somewhere in there, it just didn’t seem to be gelling. Over Thanksgiving weekend, we’d both thought about breaking up because of the strains I’ve been putting on things. Wednesday night just sort of put the paths in perspective and I chose this one.

Even though we had thought about breaking up before, it shocked her quite a bit. It shocked me that I was able to say it, too. There are those moments where everything hangs on a couple of words. When I told her we’d call it off for now, there was a moment of silence and it hung there forever. Walking home after that seemed completely surreal.

She asked me if we’d stay friends and I said “Yes”. I’m hoping that’s truly the case. I don’t want it to be one of those things you just say in order to get out of the moment. I’m scared of us fighting or acting bizarre when we see each other again. I know it’ll be awkward at first, but I hope it works out okay. I don’t know whether we’ll get back together or not…it’s not something you can predict anyways. I’m going to see how the next week or two goes and play it by ear. This is either an important step for me to see if I want to head into that stage of my life or it’s the key to returning to square one and not worrying about the relationship thing.

Needless to say, the weekend was all about me relaxing. Instead, it was busy as hell, but sort of fun. Friday night I had a staff meeting that ran until 9pm. After that, a few of the instructors and I headed out for a pint. Once I got home, I did a bit of bar hopping and then crashed out.

Saturday night ended up being 4 different commitments that I’d made that I needed to visit within 5 hours. That was fun, jumping from location to location with little time to get bored. Walking down 17th, the sky was lit up by the full moon and it seemed pretty magical. When the whirlwind tour was all finished, I was exhausted and stricken with a case of the munchies. Cooking food at 3am is always good for a laugh.

Now it’s Sunday. In theory, today’s the day to relax. I guess I’ll wait and see what curve balls come my way.

The adventure continues…

A quiet long weekend gave me a lot of time to organize my thoughts. My girlfriend went home for Thanksgiving and my roommate was gone as well. It was strange having the place so completely to myself. Although I got twinges of loneliness, for the most part it was a good thing. I needed a “time-out” lately to just relax and not worry about the little things.

Strangely enough, with no schedule, I found myself staying up later and waking up sooner than usual. Knowing my luck, getting up for work tomorrow won’t be half as easy though.

Although no one was around here, I phoned a lot of people back in Toronto. It was nice touching base with people and seeing how they were. Talking to Chris, Heather, Julie and Cornflake made the weekend extra nostalgic. Not depressingly nostalgic or anything like that, just more appreciative of residence time. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that all took place 5 years ago. Then I start looking at all the other events and I feel like it should be 10 🙂

I went wandering on Sunday and ended up a local comic convention seeing Cary Nord there. Cary’s a comic book artist I met last year when I was at Aurenya. It looks like he’s moving somewhat nearby, so we may start hanging out more. His current work for Marvel is way better than the stuff he was producing last year. It was inspiring to see.

A new pub called Kilberry’s opened up about a block from place. Even better, three of the staff used to work at my favorite pub down at Eau Claire. Needless to say, I have a decent hang out spot nice and close by. In Toronto, I had several places to frequent and it’s nice finally having one here. I went there last night with my sketchbook and nursed a pint while I doodled. It was nice. I wasn’t being particularly social, but it felt better than just being cooped up at home.

The weather’s been fluctuating between bitterly cold and quite warm. I wear a sweater everywhere, but usually have to strip to a T-Shirt soon after. The mixture of frost and autumn leaves makes for an interesting look first thing in the morning.

I’m not quite sure what my family is doing for Thanksgiving. I tried calling a couple of them but there was no answer. I can’t remember if they said they were going to my parent’s cottage or not. I haven’t been to the cottage in several years. I guess I’ll find out everything later in the week.

I guess I’ll wrap up this one for now. I hope everybody has an incredible Thanksgiving. Toast a drink and have some pumpkin pie for me if you get the chance.

Love you all,

A fun and frantic week in Zubland…

I finally got a call from Glenn. If you’ll remember, Glenn is my friend from Toronto who had come out to Banff for the summer. With September slipping away, he’s finally on his way back east. He called me up on the weekend to let me know he’d be in Calgary for a few days. It was great seeing him and his sister. We went shopping and wandered downtown Calgary with no real plans or commitments.

I think that’s the best kind of relaxed day. As we were walking down through the Eau Claire market, the weather was gorgeous and I had enough time to actually look around and enjoy the city all around me. It was a great calm moment in my rapidly paced schedule as of late.

Describing to Jenn and Glenn my summer helped me put it all into perspective. Although it went by so quickly, a lot of things have happened. It’s hard to keep track of it all when you’re in the midst of it. I tried so hard to dig at Glenn with ideas of staying in Calgary. I was merciless. He brought a much-needed connection to all you guys back east and it felt great. We didn’t get drunk or make asses of ourselves. We just hung out, wandered and talked. I couldn’t have asked for a better visit.

Sunday was me letting loose with a bit of my cooking instinct and making some prime French Toast for Glenn and his sister. I think it’s the only food and I can cook consistently well. My Grandmother showed me the perfect French Toast recipe and I try to make it the same way she did (no measurements, a dash of this and a spoonful of that). Instinct cooking works better for me than ingredients. Or at least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

School has been incredibly good. The new class is hitting the perfect balance between fun and also hard working. They’ve been putting out great stuff for their first two weeks and I’m doing my best to keep the energy level high. Tomorrow’s their first Life Drawing session with a model. I’m crossing my fingers that it goes well.

I’m a bit scared about the Christmas holidays. I have to nail down those dates and book a flight, but I’m just not sure how it’s all going to work out. Tanya won’t be coming back, and I’m not sure how I’m going to juggle all the days and make sure I get done everything I want to do. I wish I could afford to just throw a party with all of my friends there at once. If only They Might Giants came back into town, maybe we could gather everyone and go see them like we did two years ago…

I was talking to my Uncle Iain the other night and he asked if I had gotten off my butt and tried the comedy thing yet. Of course, I haven’t. I thought writing it into the Newsletter would give me a little more momentum to do it, but I haven’t worked up the courage yet. Maybe that should be a New Year’s resolution or something. Maybe I should do it before New Years…

I also found out from my family that my younger cousin Tammy is pregnant. I’m so happy for them. Mind you, it also makes me feel the squeeze of everyone around me getting older while I desperately cling to my youthful and silly adventurous ways.

It dawned on me that I’m entering a scary phase of my life. That strange transition between random student-like lifestyle and a full blown adult routine. It really ate at me recently. I don’t want to give up the little adventures and discoveries. I refuse to be completely mature and dull. Whatever responsibilities life heaps on me, I’ll fulfill them and keep a tiny spark deep inside. Dramatic: yes…True: also yes.

Do you think it’s like Interview With The Vampire where Louis is turned into a vampire and Lestat says “Your body is dying. Pay no attention…” Maybe I’m just having the last little coughs of student life before I accept the adult schedule. Okay, the analogy wasn’t that strong and the vampire thing is dumb. Oh well, you know what I mean. I guess it’s more a choice than anything else. If I choose to be dull, I will be. Doing my job well and paying my bills doesn’t mean I’m not having fun or being silly anymore. I’d like to think there’s room for all of it. There will always be times when you feel like you’re getting ground down. I look back at Animation at Sheridan really fondly, but thinking deeper, it was so insane when I was living it. I’m sure the same thing’s happening here. In a year, I’ll think it was perfect 🙂

Okay, too much pondering and not enough info.

Otherwise, things are good here. Hectic, but good. The mornings are frosty and the afternoons are filled with blazing heat. I wear 3 layers when I head to work and strip them away on the train ride home. It’s sort of amusing.

If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate your patience 🙂

That’s the week here,

I’ve got to thank everyone that’s e-mailed me these past couple of weeks. I’m sorry I haven’t replied to many of them. The new class that started on the 18th has kept me frantically running around to finish preparations.

The first day itself was rather entertaining, in a typical Zub-like way. I wanted to be completely organized, so I showed up at 7am (the class starts at 8am). Unfortunately, the key I had been given wasn’t the actual front door key and so I was stuck waiting until 7:45. Running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I realized there were two other problems: the photocopier was on the fritz and the afternoon class had played a practical joke on me and run toilet paper streamers through the classroom. Needless to say, it was an interesting first impression for the new students.

The new class looks pretty sharp. They seem pretty into the whole thing and so far (it’s only been 2 days) are committed to busting their butts. I hope it carries through to the tough projects.

Running through the basics of animation and drawing always get me pumped. It reminds me of how far along I’ve come. It’s easy to dwell on how far the road ahead is, but it’s got to be balanced with looking at the distance traveled as well. I remember struggling with perspective drawing and Brian Lemay telling me I might get booted from 1st year animation. Now, I’m teaching kids how to draw fast and accurately. What a difference 4 years can make. So far, so good, I think.

Otherwise, things are pretty good. Tanya’s been working her buns off with work and her night classes. Between our schedules, the weekends have been the only time we really see each other. When we do get to the weekends, we’re both too worn out to do much. We kind of knew this was going to happen; it’s just a matter of getting used to it and making the most of time we’re spending together.

Speaking of which, it doesn’t look like Tanya will be coming back to Ontario with me for Christmas. As much as I’d like her to meet my family and friends in Ontario, she’s just got too many commitments here right now to free up the time. Tentatively, I’ll be taking holidays from approximately December 22nd through to January 6th. Considering I haven’t taken holidays all year, it’ll be a much-needed break. More details as we get closer. If someone from Sheridan could let me know when they’re getting out of school and when the Sheridan Christmas Pub is going to be, that would be great.

Anyways, got to get back to work on things here. I hope everyone’s doing well.

The weather has turned quite cold. It seems Alberta dumps summertime the moment that September is upon us. Waking up in the morning, I get greeted by frost-tinged windows and my breath appearing in front of me. I’m not impressed.

Tanya’s back from Victoria and ready to slip into her full-time position. She used to be on contract at Talisman, which meant every 4 or 5 months she’d start biting her nails over whether or not the contract would be renewed. With that taken care of, she can concentrate on other things, like her University night courses. It means we’ll be seeing less of each other, but I think it’ll work out okay. After all, how much of me can people actually take?

I bought Stand By Me on DVD. that movie kicks ass. Even though it’s set in the 50’s, all of the themes and characters echo with anyone of any generation. I get choked up at the end when Gordie’s grown up and his best friend has died. It reminds me how important it is to keep ties with all of you. Even if it’s just a little e-mail every week or two, at least it’s something. It’s easy to completely lose touch with people and let them fade out of your life.

On a less somber note, watching Stand By Me also got me on a downloading spree of 50’s and 60’s tunes. My relatives should be all pleased when I come home for Christmas with some mix CDs of old hits. I could DJ quite the malt shop 🙂

I also picked up a Wacom digital drawing tablet for my computer. It’s a pen and tablet that you can draw on the computer. It’s a heck of a lot more intuitive than a mouse, but I’m still getting used to it. It’s strange drawing in one spot and seeing the result up on the screen. With a bit of luck, I’ll be churning out masterpieces with it soon. If not, it’s the most expensive mouse pad out there 🙂

Heading into fall means I’ve got a new class starting up. I’m excited more than any other time. This time I’ve got the curriculum all done up and reorganized. The schedule is set up and I have all my reference material and hand outs ready to go. It relieves a lot of the stress of starting up. Every class has a different dynamic and the more time I can spend figuring that out instead of the day-to-day scheduling, the better.

With the long weekend coming up, I’ve actually got no plans. It’ll probably just be a relaxing break before I plow into the fall semester. Of course, the best laid plans never work, so we’ll see…

I’m getting used to wearing the glasses again. It’s nice having a light and stylish pair instead of the old monsters I wore in school. I used to be so paranoid that glasses made me look like a horrible nerd (little did I realize that was just my personality) and I’ve even gotten compliments that the glasses make me look better. Intellectual, stylish, blah, blah, blah… it’s just nice having the option of contact lenses or glasses.

So, I’ll just wrap this up with a little bit of cheesy happy stuff. Feel free to call me in the evenings. Remember that if you’re in Ontario, then you’re two hours ahead of Calgary time. Phone, leave a message and I’ll call back as soon as I can. Email is good, but voices are better…and of course at Christmas, the real thing is better still.

Take care,

It was quite the crazy week and a half.

Last Thursday I saw Sarah Taylor, a good friend of mine from back east. I had missed seeing her at Christmas. She was traveling through town on her way to visit family in BC and it was amazing that we were able to hook up for dinner. It’s been a year since we last saw each other and obviously, tons of things have changed. It was comforting and strange at the same time, but very cool overall.

Then last Friday, I severely pulled a bunch of muscles in my back. It was probably one of the most painful things I’ve ever experienced. Worst of all, there was no real dramatic reason. I was just jogging home from Tanya’s and then I was in massive pain. I limped home, and then it got worse.

At one point on Friday I was actually inching across the floor so I could get to a phone and call for help. Every breath or movement had me in agony. I know that sounds oh-so Zubby dramatic, but that’s literally what happened. I was living that horrible commercial where the woman yells “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”

Getting my friend and co-worker Graeme to take me to Emergency was fun, too. He Fireman-style carried me out the door, while I screamed in pain.

There’s nothing quite like waiting for 3 and a half hours before a doctor looks at you with all seriousness and says “Hey, you really messed your back up!” They go to school 8 years to learn that! Then, he asks me to put on a hospital gown…udder stupidity.

Being literally paralyzed for the better part of the weekend was excruciating and scary. It scrapped last weekend and half of my week as I lied around zoned out on painkillers. Needless to say, the week left little to report. Regaining full mobility by this weekend was a blessing.

Everyone I talked to after I recovered had extreme opinions on Chiropractors. Some said they were a blessing and that they totally fix you up. Others considered them quacks, pseudo-medicine and devil spawn. No one was really neutral about them…strange stuff.

I went and saw The Cell on Friday…it was total garbage…music video editing put to a serial killer story that makes no sense. Jennifer Lopez’s acting is as deep as a pizza pan (thanks, Jord 🙂 Even the most serious parts had me laughing out loud. The mental battle that was more like a Xena fight scene, the BS Hollywood psychology, the inane dialogue… Please save your money and avoid it like the plague.

However, I did rent a documentary called Trekkies that had me howling. If you’ve ever felt weird or out of place, have no fear, the maniac Star Trek fans they have in this documentary will make you feel normal and they aren’t as depressingly sick as a Jerry Springer episode. Well worth the price of admission, and I even hate Star Trek in the first place.

Last night, Jordie and I hung out at the Roxbury (a mid to high class bar and club). I didn’t realize that they had a comedy night on Sundays. That reminded me of how I wanted to try amateur night at Yuk Yuks last year. Every so often, I get that itch and I want to see if my old “gift of gab” (as my Uncle Iain calls it) would hold up in front of an audience. It’s one thing to present to students or socialize with friends, but making an audience of strangers laugh could be amazing, or totally mortifying.

Otherwise, things are pretty quiet. Tanya’s in Victoria visiting her family and Jean (my roommate) has been away on business trips. I’m just lazing around, reading and drawing.

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me about the C-Train incident. I appreciate the support.

Until next week,

When I think about it, my hands shake a bit…

Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. I should set the scene.

The week went well. I’ve been working my butt off on finishing the final draft of the new course curriculum. It’s pretty much done now. I handed in a CD-Rom with all the hand outs, examples and lessons on it. That’ll make September and beyond a breeze and inadvertently makes a nice portfolio piece if I want to teach animation anywhere else.

The weekend was equally nice. We had Monday off, so I decided to be adventurous and went with a crew to go play paintball.

If you’ve never played paintball before, I’ll set the scene. You pay money to sweat like insane and be scared like crazy that someone’s going to shoot you. Getting hit with a paintball is like getting drilled with a crab apple by a bully in elementary school. I’ve got 8 “crab apple” welts that are making me limp today. The two in my left knee are particularly sore.

The best part of the day was being holed up in a hollowed out bus with 4 other maniacs and being assaulted outside by the other 13 in our group. It was like the Alamo on caffeine. The sound of pinging metal and splatter of paint was everywhere. When I got nailed in the side of the head, I saw stars. Of course, the bus crew lost, but we fought valiantly.

I would die in two minutes flat during a real war. Just running in overalls with a semi-light gun exhausted me within half an hour. If I had full gear and a real gun, my heart would explode long before any enemy got to me. I’m pretty thankful I lead such a relaxed life normally.

But contrary to what you’re thinking, my hands aren’t shaking because of paintball…

I went to grab the C-Train today and go home about 45 minutes ago. The C-Train’s a subway-type train that’s above ground. The day went quick and I was relieved to be heading home. I was sore from paintball and the sun was beating down.

At that moment, a man collapsed and fell into the tunnel.

He wasn’t unconscious…he seemed calm actually. I think he wanted to die there as the train came in. That scared me the most.

It was one of those eerie moments when everything slows down and nothing seems real. Like it’s all happening somewhere else and you’re watching it on TV. Except that now, I was involved. Three guys and I jumped down into the tunnel to push him back onto the platform. I knew what I was doing, but it didn’t feel like reality. I could feel my paintball wounds pulsing with my heart, but that was it.

Now that I think about it, I’m shocked how many people just watched. A couple people ran to the platform edge and helped us get him up, but most just stood in silence while it all happened. We all got out just as the train blasted the horn and missed us by about 20 seconds. A minute later, I was sitting on the train and riding home like nothing had happened.

No drama, no death or Hollywood gore; Just a weird thing that happened today. I’m more scared now that it’s over then when it was actually happening. Why do people think suicide is some solution? Why are people so docile?

Yeesh. Gotta go. Anyways, all’s good now. Take care everybody.

July’s over… unbelievable.

When you start seeing the ‘Back To School’ sale signs, you know summer holidays are coughing out their last 🙂 They used to make me so paranoid about school. Now, it’s just another sign of changing seasons.

The heat in Calgary is unreal. Humid and unforgiving. It feels far more like a Toronto summer then one out west. It’s nice, but it’s still the kind of weather that makes you feel like it’s time to shower 5 times a day. Yeesh.

I bought new glasses last week. Shock of shocks. Strangely enough, they look good. It’s not like the old glasses my parents had picked out for me as a kid. They’re light and subtle. Go figure, it makes me look decent and maybe a little intellectual. The optometrist said I was wearing my contact lenses WAY too much and that it was hurting my vision. Now I can juggle between the two a little easier and save my eyes a bit.

It’s going to be a strange August. Tanya’s going away for a week mid way through the month and my roommate Jean’s going to be out of town for a couple weeks starting this Thursday. It may be a way for me to get more work done or just an excuse to laze around more.

Speaking of Tanya, we’re approaching the 4 month mark in our relationship next week. Who’d have thunk it? That’ll be a record relationship length for me (which is pitiful, I know) and it’s been relatively stress free thus far. Either I’m getting more mature, she’s getting more patient or something in between. In any case, I’ll just keep chugging ahead and see how things go. No point in jinxing it with over analysis.

I’ve been doing several extra lectures for the multimedia classes at the school and it’s been fun. I quite like joining up with a class, talking for several hours and doing a presentation about art, film or animation. No assignments, no pressure, just relating information. It’s also nice walking down the halls and having students ask me other questions later. I’m sure most of them assumed I was just another student until I was introduced for the lecture. It’s kind of funny seeing their expressions when they introduce me.

I’ve set a goal to update my personal art page every other day or more. Even if it’s just a doodle or a sketch… it should be do-able. I need to increase my output and having that imposed deadline should help. I’ve cut back on other internet stuff I’m doing to focus on my own efforts for a change.

I saw a great movie called Swimming With Sharks on video the other day. It’s sharp and inventive stuff. Good dialogue and characters that draw you in. Just when you think you’ve pegged the good guys and the bad guys, it spins you. Check it out if you get a chance. It’s nice seeing a smart film that isn’t 100 million dollars and boiling over with FX.

Otherwise, things are good. Everything’s moving along as usual, and you want to use the war analogy, I’m winning so far 🙂

Over and out.