Today a friend had a very close encounter with Canada's hospital system. His experience inspired a few thoughts.
Canada is a great country. It's as civilized as anyone could ever expect... but try being a visiting foreigner and getting sick, breaking an arm or whatever will make you go to a hospital. You pay... 250 bucks, minimum, to have someone talk with you. Just for the visit. Something more complicated? Then you'd better have plenty of cash.
So I'll put a positive spin on all this. Get special travel-related health insurance. If you end up needing it next time you're traveling abroad, you won't have to starve or sleep under a bridge for the rest of your vacation.
Oh, and don't worry about the subject of today's events: he's okay, and not even remotely in danger of any hard times.
Nice visit to High Park today. It's getting warm, and people have started shedding their winter clothes. At about this time during my last visit in Toronto, I seem to remember the trees being greener.
I've been following the most amazing television series. Picking up where the film Dune left off, Children of Dune looks beautiful. And, coming from someone who hasn't read the books, the story works very well. It's TV, but it feels more like something I'd want to see in a movie theater.
And since I'm on the topic of moving images, I have to confess that I have a new favorite movie-making site. It's RES, dedicated to the magazine of the same name. The content is just plain cool. And the magazine itself is even cooler.
Cool little place on College St. here in Toronto. Called the Airport Lounge, it has cool chairs, lots of red, and a variety of vodkas... but I think I'm the only one who really liked it. Brian says the beer's too expensive, and Flavio didn't like the orange juice. Still, some people seem to like it.
Incredible, but I don't know anyone who will actually say they like these things. They're all over the place, and have been since I was a kid. I mean, really, they would have discontinued them if they weren't going well, right?
Now I may be wrong, and yes, there may be people out there that eat Creme Eggs, but why won't anyone admit it in person?
Mini videos, or making movies for webcasting, is the only thing I've really been interested in doing with video/film. Of course, who doesn't want to be a hollywood director? But, to me, webcasting is ultra-realistic if you don't have a billion dollar budget. It's not about the grain, or about incredible color, or even about resolution. It's about the content.
My view is that making tiny web movies can be very challenging. You worry less about the infrastructure of your "set" and you stay focused on the story.
When I first started taking courses at LIFT, I had an idea for a first mini-video project. It's something that's been done to death, but I'm interested in doing something somewhat easy with alot of creative possibilities. Remember that this is my first real micro film.
So I've decided to make a short documentary about Toronto, featuring several different perspectives on what makes this a cool (or dreadful) city. And it'll probably take some time to finish... hey, I have that luxury.
