Neil and I watched the latest Warren Miller movie “Children Of Winter”.  We’ve been watching the Warren Miller movies for a few years now.  Tickets are a little steep at $30 each, but with it is a 2-for-1 lift pass for Whistler which will cost the average buyer up to $80-$89, it’s a great deal.  However, we typically pre-purchase our lift passes, so we take advantage of huge savings and purchase lift passes at around $59 per day.  Since we each get a 2-for-1 lift pass, we’re basically riding for about $55 each with a free movie in there (we get to do this twice).  Not bad.  It’s worth it for me, but man Whistler tickets are getting steep.  I remember full prices tickets when they were just over $60 for regular folk, and just over $40 for Edge Card holders merely four years ago.

The “Children of Winter” was much better than last year’s movie “No Boundaries”.  They shot riders from all over the world - Japan, Iceland, Utah, Whistler, Alaska and others, along with former Olympic Athletes as they revisit all the mountains they once raced.  I’ve been keen to visit Iceland for a while now and this movie has only strengthened that interest.  I don’t think I’d be nearly as crazy as the riders in the film, stopping short a few feet of the frigid Atlantic waters, but I’d certainly be interested in taking my camera to trek its gorgeous terrain.  Phenomenal landscapes.

I’m completely motivated for this year’s season.  I’ll have to get my lazy butt into the gym more often to build my legs up for the season.  It typically takes us several weeks of riding before we’re able to last an entire day.  I’m already imagining the feeling of the soft, powder gliding under my board.  Only weeks away!

I’ve been listening to his bass rattling my dishes since 6:00pm this evening and his party guests screaming, whistling and shouting since 8:30pm this evening.  My eardrums are constantly pounding and soon enough my head will be.  At 11:00pm his door will be pounding with the fist of a security guard telling him to turn down his music.  I’m so fed up with this guy; we know his name and a lot more about him than he probably thinks.  I will find revenge in the morning.  I really hope he lives it up tonight because the second I get up, I’m putting on the bass; wakey, wakey bi@tch!

In celebration of today’s festivities, being that it’s Halloween, I thought I’d repost a link to one of my favourites.  It still gives me a good laugh (even though I only understand 1/2 of it!)

I have just set up the final component of my home studio - the backdrop.  I’ve had the 9-ft rolls of paper lying on the floor in our entrance for over a month, at least.  I’ve finally installed a pulley system to raise and lower a metal bar over which I can install a backdrop.  I have two rolls of paper, black and grey, and plan to sew a few more fabric backdrops for various themes.  Now all I need are the subjects; that’s where you come in!  If you are, or anyone you know is, looking for portraits, by all means, please contact me.  I am always looking for willing subjects to photograph.  Neil is getting pretty sick of being in front of the camera.

I really enjoy portraiture (particularly black and white).  I find it difficult and sometimes a bit awkward to position an entire body, but a face is of the utmost interest.  I enjoy observing, drawing and photographing faces.  Understanding its details, its lines, its wrinkles, its wear, its character, its expression.  A face is truly the outward expression of one’s soul.  I want to capture the soul of the person.  If you have any interest, please do not hesitate to contact me either through this site, or via email address martelc (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Last night, Neil and I joined a few friends for a walk in the Parade of Lost Souls. The Parade Of Lost Souls is

a celebration of the cycle of life & death, of our facing fears in order to live life to its fullest. It is a time and a place to share losses at one of the many shrines and celebrate life and to enrich our community.

We met up to apply our make-up, pull on our ill-fitting costumes and enjoy a few beverages and laughs before heading out the door to join the other living dead. Being that Halloween is a week away, our costumes were quite the attraction as we boarded the bus and then skytrain. Many were backing away and some even shrieking as we stepped onto the skytrain. I heard one group of youngsters whisper “Is that a guy or a girl?”, “I don’t know, look for boobs”. There is a lot of fun in anonymity; no one recognizes your face or even your gender, so there’s less accountability for any absurd, out-of-character behaviour.
Once at our stop, we hopped off the train to look for more peeps that we were meeting up with. There were two girls that had a really difficult time make their way down to the skytrain station. They were stopped every several feet as on-lookers flocked to take their photo. Their costumes were quite the attraction, as you can see below. Their gowns were big poofy gowns that reached down to their shins, sitting atop their white heels (straight out of prom-night). The boxes were accessorized with a tiara and labeled with Barbie and Mattel logos. They were our point of reference if ever we were separated.

Ballroom Barbie

Hi-Tech Ballroom Barbie

The rest of the crew were skeletons. We each had our own take on skeletal spookiness and adjusted our make-up accordingly. Here are a few shots of each. Unfortunately, I missed one of the skeletons and I didn’t get a group shot, but I’m going to try to find one on-line as we had several taken of us.

Cracked Skeleton

Sexy Skeleton

Shocked Dead Skeletons

Sinister Skeleton

Just-Chillin’ Skeleton

Bank Robber Skeleton

Yoga Skeletons

Upside-down Skeleton

Spider Skeletons

Dancing Skeletons

I found the group shot on flickr!

Special guests were German Milk Maiden, Roughed-up Hockey Player and Pretty Lady.

German Milk Maiden

Pucker Hockey Player meets German Milk Lady

Pretty Lady