greatwallstudios

There is good news, and there is some bad news.

November 17, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

The good news is, all four projects are still a go, and we’ve picked up a fifth. The bad news is they are all due before the end of the year, and not one client is ready to go – yet. One is totally out of our hands with a foreign tourism bureau taking their time to review numbers, but the other ones will likely all come a knocking within days of each other. So buckle up. Wrest that wrist, and be ready to roll once the clock starts!

It would be ideal to get one per week, over the next five weeks, but if they aren’t 55+ pages or more each with massively wide tables, I can probably tackle the first two or three of them in just 3 full days each. I guess it will also depend on the school strikes, as two kids under eight being home 24/7 will get under my heels and will severely impede my ability to work quickly. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best!

I really need to start thinking about Christmas shopping for the kids/spouse sooner rather than later. If the strike lasts a while, and I have reports due, I won’t have the time to get to it for too much longer. Time to put my memory to good use, and recall all of the things both kids have gone moony over from toy commercials. Then I need to decide how severe my budget considerations need to be. Plus I need to order stuff so it will arrive before Christmas so I can wrap it, and actually have something under the tree for each child.

We have Birthday parties almost every weekend coming up, so those gifts have to be purchased too. Not only that but considerations need to be made for my eldest child’s party coming up in something like 17 days. Pizzas, goodie bags, drinks, decorations. Finalize the invitations, and getting cups/plates/napkins, and cutlery sorted out. I know I have forks and spoons already from last year. A table cloth from the youngest’s birthday in June is still in good working order. Lots left to look after. Going to be a very busy couple of weeks one way or another.

What a mess… Why did you even film this…

November 16, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

I mean, I went into the last (read 6th) Jurassic adjacent movie with very low expectations, and somehow, somehow they managed to limbo in under an already extremely low bar. What is this film even about? (SPOILERS!) Is Jurassic World Dominion a dinosaur film? A human cloning story, an immaculate conception story, a tech bro take down, a farm & ecology allegory, a corporate greed story, an action movie, a horror film? What the hell is this mess. My god. Who looked at this script and thought “yep – sounds legit. Green light!” What did that person do next? Smoke a bowl of crack and light a dump trucks worth of cash on fire? This film is a raggedy, shambling, collection of ‘what if‘ statements that sometimes features even more new dinosaurs. The premise was originally that they could create dinosaurs from the very rare blood samples pulled from bugs trapped in amber for 65 million years. Yet every single movie has an even longer roster of dinosaurs. And no mention of how such a thing was possible. Also, why is there a heist element to this movie? Nothing makes sense. It is rather terrible.

On the other hand Top Gun Maverick was really well done. It paid homage to the original, and it has a driving through line that pulls the story and characters along together. Stop and nod at some nostalgia, but introduce new elements that “belong”, and keep the movie moving. Yes, the guest pilot recruits are mostly two dimensional caricatures that are given a fifteen second intro, and that’s as deep as it goes. That could have been done better, but it didn’t hamper the film in any meaningful way. My 2 cents would be to limit the extraneous recruits, and spent just a few more moments fleshing them out. Or show us, don’t tell us, what it is that makes them all different and unique.

Now the interior cockpit shots of the movie are great, that was a selling point I’m sure, if you were lucky enough to see this movie in an AVX, or IMAX style theater. I envy you. Also the Ice Man call backs were touching, and meaningful. Top Gun, unlike Dominion didn’t throw a bunch of mismatched shit at the wall to see what might stick, and what might play with the crowd. Poorly done that Jurassic World Dominion.

Lots of running around today…

November 15, 2022November 15, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

Doing odd jobs and picking up things for the house. For instance, I always cheap out and get plastic snow shovels which usually break on me part way into the season. So today I laid out some cash for a proper metal one. We needed more matches for candles and such, so picked those up from the store. I bought eye hooks for hanging toy hammocks in the kids rooms to get all those stuffies off the bed/floor. I bought more baby wipes, as they come in handy for more than cleaning dirty baby bums. I grabbed a proper light up wreath for the front door, which the kids will flip their shit for. And for myself I grabbed an extra 300 lights for our Christmas tree, because the white and blue motif we’ve used for going on 13 years is a bit cold and drab. These kids are vibrant, and deserve a little colour. Let me tell you, if our house wasn’t so cluttered with kids stuff, I’d have light up garlands every where, and I’d hang streamers, and put up a whole lot more festive stuff. But that’s too much while all of the kids things are still everywhere. I imagine that once they get into double digit ages, we can pass much of the toy clutter on to younger families, and we’ll still have enough clothes to dress a football team four times over. Once the kid stuff begins to recede I will reclaim the dining room table, and build a nice candle centric display in a glass bowl with left over holiday ornaments and such. A fancy table runner. Oh… it will be very nice in here! Ho ho ho…

So I added the new decorations in to our current line-up, and then powered up the trusty old stud finder to assemble the toy hammocks, and then I will need to fill out the flu shot forms for the three of us going after school today for even more jabs. Such fun! Better than a raggedy ass hospital visit at this point.

I was also paying my bills, as a few invoices have come in, and I can get flush with the mechanic, and the medical stuff I bought for my youngest. A new humidifier and a large Hepa filter set me back nearly $400.00 bucks, but the kid is on the mend (fingers crossed) for more than just a week or two before the next illness comes around. There were some Kickstarter items I backed, and promptly forgot about, so that was a couple more bucks to make up for. I had bought a lot of airbrush paint, thinners, washes, and cleaners last month, so the Amazon bill came home to roost. Plus our Great Wolf Lodge trip had some bills attached to it with Falls Parking, dinner on the town, the Sky wheel ride, and a stop at the arcade & on site store at GWL. It all adds up. Plus gas for both vehicles, and groceries, & oil changes. Bad month. Not a good look. But I don’t have to buy that stuff again, so investments in the house are a good thing. Investments in general health & well being is great too. We don’t vacation much at all (Covid times or otherwise). So I splurged, and now I had to come to terms with that. Bought and now paid for. Next!

It also seems like a lot, on the old Visa bill, because I stopped using my debit card, and now I track ALL purchases on the one card, and pay it off every single month. More secure too. That new tap feature can make you pretty reckless though, holy shit. Tap, tap, tap. I suppose they designed it that way to get you to be more free with the wave of a hand.

It’s funny, I was going to do a couple of movie reviews today for Top Gun Maverick, and Jurassic World Dominion. But I’ll save that for another say. I just had something else to say today. Mainly because I was excited about the new lights for the tree and a proper wreath for the door! I’m positively giddy. That’s all she wrote today though. Ciao Bella!

Chicka-chicka what? It’s Monday!?!

November 14, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

You know what that means! We roll out the tv stand and show a movie in class today. Put your heads and pencils down children, and stare blank eyed at this bulky rounded ccrt television with mono sound, and the white stripe damage to the VCR heads. I’ve had a bit of a weekend, and I don’t feel much like trying today kids.

In other domestic duties news, we’ve been shopping for groceries and the ever present water softener salt. Put away the dishes from the dish washer, and tackled three loads of laundry, which I still need to sort and put away, but that can wait. A general tidy up has finished, and now I want to eat some breakfast before I get down to brass racks with any paid work. Always good to fuel up before a big day. Or any kind of day for that matter, unless you have surgery, then fast for that shit. No good aspirating vomit into your lungs for the sake of a morning coffee & donut combo, or a measly piece of buttered toast. Just don’t do it. Save your own life today. That’s what I bring here, life affirming nonsense that keeps you all coming back for more. That, and a few gripes, but mostly the good natured, wholesome life affirming shit we all need to hear every once in a while. The good stuff. Mmmm. So. Good.

We had our first flurries this weekend. Exciting and cold all at the same time. Not enough to cover the ground. But it did give the grass frosted tips. Very retro 90’s looking. A real Chad from the beach vibe. With his pooka shell necklace and tie dye tank top, and Billabong board shorts. A very distinct vibe. All except it’s grey outside, windy, and bleak as fuck. But we did see those fluffy fat snowflakes falling from the sky. Lucky us.

Perhaps today I will wash snow pants and winter coats, in preparation of the much colder weather to come. Yes. That is exactly what I should do with myself this morning. I’ve been putting it off since we’ve had such an extended warm period, but I can give in to the coming of winter. Give myself over to the cold icy chills, and the frosted windshields, and frozen seats of the car once more. I really do have to come around to it all. It requires a very determined shift in thinking to make do during Canada’s colder months.

Well, that’s enough waxing poetically from me today. I best hop to it. Ciao Bella!

When the kids are spoiling for a fight…

November 13, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

Oh my god, these kids are driving me nuts! All they want to do is follow each other around and start shit – constantly. Shouting & fighting for what appears to be no reason. Ugh! I’m sick of this, so very, very sick of this. The name calling, the breaking stuff, the little puppy dog following routine just to start throwing punches, scratches, or a bite. No wonder people way back when used to beat the shit out of their kids. Time outs, and being sent to their rooms has only worked for so long. In the words of the Simpsons, I have a “hanker’in for a spanker’in“. But that doesn’t really work either. Just makes everyone hate each other. Can’t lock’em in a closet to keep them apart either. Truly very frustrating.

I have high hopes still, that the two will like each other as they grow up into their teen years and beyond. A man can dream can’t he? Maybe it’s just a multi year long phase? Are they just bored? Upset by all of the impending cold weather? Out of sorts because Christmas looms so ominously large on the horizon. I wonder if the youngest is upset due to all of the birthday talk for the eldest’s birthday party that is coming up before Christmas. Could be a multitude of things given how complicated children are. Sometimes I have to just shake my head and walk away. Take a minute to decompress while they work in tandem to press all of my buttons at once like only your family can.

Now look, we’re all cuddled up on the couch watching Mike the Knight as they share a snack. So who knows what the hell is going on. Doesn’t make those tense moments any better. But I far prefer the quiet times over the tumultuous ones.

Gah! Kids. So much hard work. A real labour of love to keep all of our heads on straight. Kudos to all of you out there raising little ones. It’s a daily struggle.

Family in the military.

November 12, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

Yesterday was the Remembrance Day/Veterans Day combo in North America. We are not immune to combat, and having a guardianship role for our countries. My tiny old Grampy D was in WWII, of which he spoke very little, other than to barely whisper that he lost a lot of friends to the war. My eldest brother saw action over seas, and my other brother was in the Army doing reconnaissance in a six or eight wheeled beast with a communications tower attached to it. I myself tried twice to join the Canadian Armed Forces as a MARS Officer, but I was diagnosed with Crohn’s and was told thanks, but no thanks, even after passing my physical tests, medical reviews, and a host of interviews & aptitude tests. For the best, given how prone to motion sickness I am now as I have gotten older. Those rolling waves of the east/west coast would have thrown me for a loop, of that I’m certain. A blessing in disguise. Not for lack of trying to get in though.

Eldest brother who went overseas for action.

Grampy D, who lived through WWII.

I don’t have active service images of my other brother. Or while dressed in uniform or regalia, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

For those young, and old. Those who returned, and to those who did not. Thank you for your service. Without your efforts and sacrifice our lives would be completely different. Stay safe out there. Ciao Bella!

Playing The Dangerous Game of “Just Five More Minutes”…

November 11, 2022November 11, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

Only to awaken in a panic to find that you have in fact only slept in for five more minutes, and not the dreaded thirty plus. After several hours of sleep, those five minutes feel as though they should really help, but for me, they don’t. It just prolongs that heavy brain fog fugue state I get first thing in the morning. At least until I’m up and have peed, and walked about for a few moments. Not a fan of the late night urgency to pee that seems to be creeping up on me. I can have pretty restless sleep to begin with, so having to get up once, if not twice is even more exhausting. Zero stars, do not reccomend. The sheets and mattress thank me, but my body says, “sleep through the night more often you dumb lug“. The joys of aging I suppose.

Now that we’ve got kids, the ability to just lie in and totally whiff on the wake up call has mostly vanished. Which is for the best. No amount of sleep, at any point in the day, seems to leave me feeling refreshed. At all. I know I snore, so I wonder if there is some other sleep issue I have, or if the constant fatigue is just Crohn’s related. Could very well be. Oh well. I try not to read in bed at night anymore, or use my phone in bed, so that I can just go to sleep, and not think about those kinds of distractions. Helped at first, but the benefits seem to be waning, or have plateaued. Hard to tell the difference there. We all seem to acclimate to better circumstances really easily, and then get upset with the new, slightly better, but now baseline circumstances we are in. I don’t feel as though it is bad enough to warrant a clinical visit or trial at a sleep clinic. So there is that.

The kids have an assembly today, and my oldest has a speaking part in it. Looking forward to how it all turns out. We spent some time going over the lines earlier this week, and it was down pat. So the kid will do great, I’m sure of it! I may be only one of a few in a mask, but from the whispers I hear, looks as though masking will make a come back (at least in schools) come early next week, possibly to be announced on Monday. My family has been masking inside the whole time, so no change there. But it’ll be helpful all around, given the number of absences I saw this morning at drop off, for more families to follow suit – again. We all know it works, but won’t do so unless they absolutely have too. Weird flex, but ok. I’m on board with it for as long as it takes.

Today is Friday, November 11th, 2022. This month is starting to pick up speed! Vroom vroom mutha fuqars! Take care out there! Ciao Bella!

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November 10, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

Getting very close to a full 365 days. Way closer than I would have initially believed possible. I do believe that I will have to come up with a plan for what to do in the new year regarding this blog. Do I just keep going, trying to keep the streak alive, or do I move towards writing when I have a specific idea in mind. I do know that should I move towards that kind of content creation I will write only a handful of things in the next year. I’ll admit, I can be pretty petty, so I like to see the site views go up, and I like the engagement I garner on occasion from readers. I don’t think I can go from having a year where views and such are into the thousands (think 2K, not 500,000) which is a massive jump compared to like the totality of the five years previous. The short storiesxare what bring the readers in, not my stream of consciousness type drivel. Ha. So would only writing short stories every so often be more worthwhile in the long run, or do I stick with the every single day production schedule?

I just know I will find an excuse not to write anything. And I recall that when I took a break after my first book, I lost all ideas that were hanging around my head. And then spent a good long time trying to think if I could even remember how to write dialogue and such again. I totally felt like I had lost it. So I took up the daily blog, and it made me work that muscle, and before the first 30 odd days were done I had written a short story. So the constant use of that portion of my brain helps me out. But I haven’t been hit with any ideas for shorts as of late. I’ve had a busier work year than during the early pandemic days, of 2020-2021.

The next six or seven weeks could be fairly busy too. So I’ll revisit what to do as I get closer to day 365, or Dec 31st, 2022.

The “TIME” change.

November 9, 2022November 9, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

I was going to avoid writing about this but given how tired I am all ready because of it, I figured that meant it was fair game. The kids you see, they don’t respect the time change, so they get up at the old seven am, but still want to stay up until the new 8:00pm, which usually means closer to nine, after teeth brushing, hair brushing, repeat bathroom trips, stories and cuddles etc… which means I’m now very tired as a matter of course. (Chronic Fatigue sufferer). So while it isn’t a major shift, like timezones across the country, it is enough to put me off my game, so that I want to crash around 2:00pm every day. I will eventually get over it, obviously. Just one more hassle to come to terms with. Ugh.

On the up side I do not commute, so I’m not dragging ass about town behind the wheel of a vehicle for extended periods of time. 5 mins to school, then back, then bam! I can eat some breakfast and then start my work day.

Except today, car trouble. Could be a baring, a brake caliper, or the rotor again. Who knows. I’m sure it’ll cost us a good sum to have it looked after this week though. Puts us down to one vehicle, and multiple extra curriculars tonight too. Going to be a fascinating game of hot potato with the kids to get us all where we need to be. Or call it a night and forget both. I don’t see that going over well, when both kids seem to really enjoy their separate things. Other people do it constantly, we just need to get creative. May involve a fair chunk of sitting and waiting for stuff to start/finish, but it could be worse – right? Exactly. We did it with swimming lessons, and we can do it this evening, just this one time.

I’ll grab our wagon out of the shed, and we’ll walk home from school for a change. Or I’ll carry the backpacks in the wagon as the kids take turns helping to push/pull it home. Could be in for a long day. Again – glad I don’t commute. The car mess would have been so unhelpful.

We definitely started the frosty car window morning routine this week. Two days in a row with it being scraped clean. Will have to start using the auto start feature to clear the windows in another couple of weeks. That, and adding boots, snow pants, heavy coats, scarves, hats & mitts in the mix will mean we need to start getting ready even earlier. So much fun to look forward to over the next five months or so. A solid 26 weeks of icy cold bleak grey weather. But no major snakes, or nasty spiders here. It’s the price we pay to keep vermin like that away from our lives. Just have to keep reminding ourselves of that, and we’ll all make it through the late days of autumn and then all of winter too.

329 days in… what can you do?

November 8, 2022November 8, 2022greatwallstudiosLeave a Comment

Another random person has left extra bags of garbage on our lawn for garbage day. Again. This isn’t the first time, and I doubt it’ll be the last. Construction fiber insulation, or the inside of patio furniture pads. Either way, they left that and full beer cans in a clear bag on my lawn. Atleast put it in a black bag. Clear bags are a Markham thing, not our town. Problems of living on a corner lot, at an intersection. Gotta get those cameras up and running to stop this sort of shit. Really tired of some portion of our society. Ugh.

Otherwise, kids are back in class. Temperature is ever so slightly lower, and thus closer to seasonal. Have a few new projects on the go. Got my airbrush up and running in fits & starts. Not as fluid a process as I would like right now, but it’s workable for how much of it I intend to do in the next few months.

Halloween candy pile is making the weight loss more challenging, but I’m holding strong on not gorging on every available morsel of chocolate in the house. If I stay busy enough I can just about forget it’s all still here! Baby steps. Gotta just keep plugging away at the weights, and exercises.

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