William Matheson's Journal

12:18 pm - Boredom Milestone

"Boredom" has recently surpassed 10,000 views! (Not bad for a NSCAD Foundation Video project, eh?)

Why, just this morning an American parent stopped me on my way to work and said, "Hey, I saw your video." I was a little stunned, and he said, "Hey, you put it on the Internet." I'll have to ask him which one, but I would assume this is the one he meant.

It's not my favourite of the few that I've made - I think "Wrong Planet" is superior - but there are few things that will get my attention quicker than saying you've seen one of my videos or read something I wrote, and I just love to hear it. =)

Current Mood: happy

12:02 am - the old life, the new life

I still have to finish those entries about New York - and I will - but first allow me to step out of time for a second.

I've had about as pleasant a homecoming as I could hope for. That is to say, I grumbled a bit when Mom called, "Time to get up!" although there was a reason for this, as I agreed to help her with her secretarial work this morning. We go in again tomorrow. It's probably better for me than sleeping in, and it helps her out.

I spent much of this afternoon and evening going through mail. LOTS of mail. You'd be surprised how much piles up in seven months. Bills, statements, weekly IT newsmagazines... even a few cards and letterlets. I attended to most of this stuff online even when I was in Ukraine, but the amount of paper is simply shocking. Oh, and I got my tax return, so I guess I might as well get an early start. Will they believe that my taxable income was $0? I mean, unless CWY participant allowance counts. That $7 a week we got in Poland adds up quickly! I'm glad they moved the first tax bracket up a bit. One reason I want to teach English is that it would mean fun and travel and more money than I've ever seen in my life.

Speaking of CWY, I got a copy of "Hello, World!" as a thank-you for my "exemplary donation." I'm tempted to go into a sarcastic rant (the circumstances of that donation 16 months ago are best left to your imagination), but the fact is that it looks like a really, really good book. It'll be an opportunity to see CWY from another perspective - namely all those effective programs that keep CWY in existence. Not to mention that the book was personally autographed by Jacques Hébert, author and founder of CWY and Katimavik.

I often lose sight of how amazing the opportunity to live in another country is. I don't mean Western Europe or even Japan, but someplace Different. A place where you have to struggle to understand, where you can... travel across a Zaïrian lake in a dugout and get a really cool picture of it, and then sit down with JH himself and shoot the --- I mean, wow. And Ukraine was pretty different, too - it was so much different than I thought it would be, which probably explains my disappointments. As for my depression, I think we were just there for too long. Five weeks would have been much too short, but three months would have been juuuust right. We'd be wanting more, and that would be key. People ask me if I'd do it all again and I say "No." without hesitation. But I can't lose sight of how valuable and rare my experience was. I'll carry it with me as long as I live, even after therapy.

Needless to say, I'll be going back to Ukraine, even if only to have a beer with Sasha and the crew. Taverna actually seems pretty inviting right now. And I'll never forget those beautiful summer nights... oh, if it had only ended there!

Moving on, I also got my grades back from my all-too-brief stay at NSCAD - I got an A in Foundation Video and an A+ in Basic Sound. This strikes me funny, because I worked much harder in video than in sound, which I didn't really have time to develop a passion for. Fortunately for me, the final exam in sound was worth most of our mark, and I had no trouble remembering the difference between dynamic and condenser microphones and XLR and RCA-type plugs, among other quasi-artistic technicalities. My fondest memory is of Mr. Dowden decrying the common, latently sexist usage of "male" (preferring "plugs" - the, uh, part you "plug in") and "female" ("jacks" - the part you plug in to) when the described gender-neutral alternatives are available. His last straw was when someone came into the Multimedia Cage and requested a lesbian RCA adapter.

I also got a note from my video professor, whom I shall no longer name as she would prefer to erase her traces. She liked how I was willing to describe the human condition as I saw it and said that I will create stronger work when I develop confidence about my own insights and figure out how representation really works. I really appreciated the feedback, it really taught me something as well as bringing me back in time. Before Ukraine.

I can do the former almost anywhere, but what about the latter? Is it possible to really understand representation through independent self-education? Guess I'll have to find out; I can't afford NSCAD right now (and I need to move into career-mode soon), but it's something I may come back to later on. I miss NSCAD.

Current Mood: touched

07:48 pm - willmatheson.com updates!

Hi everyone!

I finally updated willmatheson.com! Yes! Me!

So now the "Wrong Planet" video is up... and there are links available to the other videos, such as "Boredom" and the Canadian Idol clip.

And, best of all, I finished a new photo series. So now everything from pre-departure in Edmonton in late November '04 through until just a few days ago is completely documented and in the can. Highlights include:

- Edmonton, as I said
- Pictures from Poland
- Pictures from PEI
- Pictures from a few parties and gatherings around here

Dig in! Watch "Wrong Planet" - I think you'll like it.

Cheers,
- Will

Current Mood: geeky

11:49 pm - CKDU radio show links

Want to listen to our NSCAD Basic Sound radio show, "Audiophilia?"

Entire Show:*
http://ckdu.dal.ca/20050627.00.00-03.15.mp3 (link)

Just my rant and piece:
http://ckdu.dal.ca/20050627.00.38-00.44.mp3 (link)

Just the part where I play "Subliminal":
http://ckdu.dal.ca/20050627.02.27-02.32.mp3 (link)

Best bet: Copy and paste the links into an audio player like WinAmp or Windows Media Player, which tends to produce more consistent results than just clicking on the links.

Have fun!
* - Contains the last few minutes of the previous show, included because he plays a song by one of my classmate's roommate's. Actually, there's another reason, too... =)

(links to "Wrong Planet" video coming soon)

Current Mood: hot

09:44 pm - hey-o everybody

Hi, everyone!

Word has it that my going away party will be on Saturday evening (July 2nd) at Maxwell's Plum (an English pub) downtown. That's 1600 Grafton Street, at the corner of Sackville Street. Time: probably any time after eight, when Ryan and I will be warming stools. But you can come whenever you want. And, if we end up wanting to go to a club later, we can. For more information feel free to call my cell, 877-WILL (9455), at any time on Saturday afternoon, and I'll hook you up with any late-breaking details, or you can find out where we are if you want to come late, like after twelve or something.

By "going away party" I really mean "an excuse to get together and drink." If you're reading this, your presence would be appreciated. See you there!

(Catherine had once suggested a "coming-back" party, which would be great except that I'm always coming back at shitty times like Christmas or New Year's or March Exams. We'll have to stick with this format, me thinks!)

( the best laid plans... )

So, after all my yapping about this video, do you want to see it? Happy to oblige. Come back in a bit and I'll push you a link.

Current Mood: groggy

02:00 am - My Driveway

This was originally supposed to be part of my NSCAD Fine Arts application portfolio; it would have been accompanied by illustrations. The idea was to take something and suggest and illustrate improvements.

Memo to NS:TPW re: My Driveway by William Matheson

My driveway has a lot of problems. One particular problem, as cab drivers and parents-of-friends are quick to point out, is that it is long. To speak for myself, I hardly notice the length - it's the last thought to cross my mind as I walk up its length in mud-and-gravel coated shoes. The majority of my thoughts dwell upon what snarling, ghastly thing might come a' leaping out of the thick trees at any second, and upon my folly in not buying that Canadian Legal Will Kit for $29.95 plus shipping and handling.

As you may have inferred, my driveway is also prone to dampness. Being surrounded by trees, it doesn't receive a lot of sunlight, in the same way that Halifax doesn't receive a lot of Rolling Stones concerts. One way we can fix that, given that money is no object, is to pave it. Or, we could cut down the surrounding trees. Or we could just give up and put in a motorway. But both of these options leave a lot to be desired aesthetically. I happen to like my little tree-tunnel driveway, and any improvements I suggest for it will maintain the overall look-and-feel of the existing road.

For the problem of dampness, then, I suggest paving the driveway. With some grade-widening, it could be made to accommodate two lanes of traffic. A broken line would be painted from the loop by the house (already paved) to the driveway entrance on G**** Drive. These markings would not be for passing purposes, however. No, I propose we make these into bi-directional lanes and use lane indicators suspended between trees to regulate the direction and flow of traffic.

You see, my mother is an art teacher, and as such there are often periods of heavy influx and exodus. On Saturday mornings at 9:30, a whole bunch of minivans with "Grand" in their names come rolling in, and their parents, despite their trepidation about leaving their Precious Angels behind for ninety minutes of Peace and Quiet, are often so anxious to drive out that they'll drive right over the cars of incoming parents wanting to do the same thing. (We also have some problems with the Wednesday night adult class due to a run-on into American Idol.) Hence the need for an all-or-nothing approach to traffic flow at these peak times - two minutes of influx, one minute of no entry (to clear the road), two minutes of exodus… et cetera. Even with two lanes, I don't dare suggest a conventional drive-on-the-right approach, because I know many parents will be coming up that driveway simultaneously, and they will have no qualms about driving on the wrong side of the road. So lane controls are definitely the way to go.

Another problem we've had from time to time is darkness. Ideally the solution would be to suspend my house in the sky and propel it with supersonic-grade jet engines so that it could be perpetually under the Sun. Unfortunately, this may be outside the Department's budget, and it may be more difficult for some of my mother's students to reach her when their class is 60,000 feet in the air. I would submit the idea of placing the entire province into the air, but then we would have to change the name of the province to Aerius Scotia, which may affect our new "Come to Life" branding strategy. Furthermore, this is supposed to be a solution for my driveway, and I don't necessarily want the general seething rabble to benefit from the fruits of my ingenuity.

Therefore, I propose a cheap, elegant solution. Naturally, erecting lampposts along the sides of the driveway would create an eyesore and require the removal and/or mutilation of even more trees. It would also be a significant contribution to the light pollution problem that plagues astronomers everywhere. My personal involvement in astronomy only goes as far as owning a few books and a Fischer-Price "telescope" I received for Christmas in 1988, but this doesn't mean that I am any less aware of the crisis of the expanding urban sky glow.

My cheap and elegant solution, then, is to embed the lights in the driveway itself, and to have them activated by the ground vibrations caused when someone walks or drives on the road surface. They would stay on for five minutes after activation, allowing sufficient time to complete a trip up and down the driveway with their aid. The bulbs would be halogen-type and white, as white lights seem to be prettier and more modern than yellow incandescent lights.

These mud-defying, illumination-providing innovations would be of great help to my stepfather, who often navigates our driveway in his power wheelchair on his way to visit his parents and our other neighbours. Actually, he knows the driveway quite well and to this date has not had any accidents. Mud is a much greater menace to his mobility than darkness. But if these lights had been installed at my mother's parents house in Sherbrooke, we wouldn't have found my stepfather rolled over in the ditch one dark night two summers ago. He wasn't in any danger and was completely unhurt, but as I wouldn't want to have the experience of being upside down in complete darkness for an hour waiting for my wife's son and nieces and nephews to rescue me, I think lights are a good idea.

And while we're at it, let's address another problem facing my driveway: snow. Our driveway gets all the snow Nova Scotia weather can throw at it, and what falls takes a much longer time to melt due to the shelter provided by the trees. Some winters the driveway can become a slick sheet of ice for meters on end, and while this creates no lack of comical humoresque slapstick opportunity, this comedy was lost on me the time I stepped out of my stepbrother's car and fell on my head, as my feet had suddenly decided to relocate to a foot-and-a-half behind the door, under the car. We could rectify this issue by installing video cameras, but as there are times that comedy is not the thing for the hour (such as when one is entertaining female acquaintances), the capital funds for this project would be better spent on a solution for the snow and ice itself.

Our driveway already receives snow-clearing service, although I should mention that "clearing" means four-foot walls of snow on both sides of the road. When White Juan came, we were buried for nearly a week, and we were considering leasing the road to Boeing for wind-tunnel testing purposes. In any case, the proximity of the trees mystify both the clearing and melting of the snow, but I've already established that I'm not willing to remove more than are absolutely necessary.

Since we already have wires in the roadbed, I feel the solution is simple. Heating cables! They would be regulated by moisture and cold-temperature detectors. All these wires would have to be laid before the asphalt is applied, and the wires would need to be of a make that can withstand the heat. If I were making up a portfolio so that I could attend a school instead of writing a proposal to the Department, and most of these driveway improvements were actually completely ridiculous, unnecessary and less than feasible, I would add that this idea is actually commercially available from companies such as WarmZone! People actually do put heating systems in or on their driveways! That is, I would exclaim my surprise at that only if I were making a portfolio, which I am not, and I stress again that these are all feasible, workable ideas.

So far, I have described a driveway that will never experience another art class traffic jam. This driveway will never need shovelling, ploughing or scraping, and my stepfather will never need to be extracted from the ditch, barring unforeseen difficulty with his brakes. There also won't be any mud to sully my shoes. For our finishing touch, let us add warning signage (for the curves, crests, and impending stops), and civic address signage for the benefit of our neighbours who have a summer cottage off the halfway point of our driveway. Also, I daresay that this new driveway will resemble something that people ought to drive on, which will come as news to my friends who, not having been to my house before, parked on G**** Drive by our civic address sign and walked the better part of a kilometre in the dark to get to the house. And, if they are silly enough to do this now, at least they will walk the distance with more comfort and ease than ever before. They'd just better watch out for the Wednesday-night William Hung fans.