Paint That Wall

After a year of painting interior and exterior surfaces for a professional painting company, I like to think I know a thing or two about how to paint. It may seem simple, but there's so much more to painting that I see novice painters do wrong due to lack of knowledge, so I feel the need to explain how to paint properly.
                First, we have to establish what we're painting. For the purposes of this tutorial let's assume we are painting a regular four wall room with one door. The drywall has been primed and is ready to be painted. Lay down a tarp right next to the wall to protect the floor from any splatter. Wear clothes you don't mind getting paint on, because you will get paint on yourself, and carry a rag with you to keep your hands and brush clean.

Open your can of paint and pour it into a cutting can, which is a cleaned out empty paint can. Painters use old paint cans to carry smaller amounts of paint instead of carrying a full can in their hand. If you don't know, 'cutting' is a term painters use to describe the action of painting the outline of the room like corners and the trim of doors.
                When you're painting it is vital that you have music. Bring your iPod or mp3 player and relax, try to have fun with it, and play your favorite songs. Now that your head is nodding to some tunes, it’s time to start cutting. It's important to have a still hand because cutting is an art of precision. Beginners may find it difficult to cut a straight line, so if you feel like you're going to get paint where you don't want paint, it's a good idea to tape the trim of what you don't want to be painted with either masking tape or painter’s tape. Hold the brush by its head and not the handle; this will give you more control than it would by holding it by the handle. Soak your brush in paint and slap it on the wall. Push the bristles until they spread next to the edge you're cutting, using the pressure as you cut along the wall to work your way closer to the edge that you’re cutting. When there's less paint in the brush, stroke it back and smooth out the area you just painted until the brush strokes aren't that noticeable.
                Once you're done cutting the room, it’s time to roll it. Grab your tray liner and slide it into the tray. Use a paint can opener to open your can of paint and pour it into the tray. Be careful not to spill the paint! There are plastic pouring funnels you can clip onto the lid of the can to make it easier, but either with or without it you should have a brush in hand to capture any drips.
                Attach the roller to a pole. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone waste time by rolling a wall holding the cage in hand; it’s much more efficient to use the pole to roll up and down the wall. Now dab the roller into the tray and start rolling the wall. Start from the top, work your way down, and then back up until the roller runs close to out of paint. When it does, back roll over what you just painted, and then back. Make sure what you rolled is smooth and there are no runs or flakes of dried paint. If there are runs in the paint, it's not hard feather them out with a dry roller. If there are any flakes of dried paint, just pick it off with your finger, and feather the area with your dry roller same as you would for a run.
                Once your done it's time to clean up your work area. This is what master painters are always aware of while painting. Being neat is essential to saving time by not having to clean a mess up when you're done and just want it to be over already. To wrap up the tarp first grab it by its four corners, forcing all the paint and dirt to the center of it, and keeping the floor clean.  Now that your area is clean, it’s time to clean your equipment.  Run your brush and sleeve under water.  Work with the bristles of the brush and get as much paint out as you can, you can even squish the brush against the sink itself to speed up this process.  Take your sleeve off the cage and run it under water as well.  A tool that is handy to have is painter’s tool shaped perfectly to clean rollers, found in five or six in one tools.

After a year of painting professionally, I shake my head when I see people not do it properly.  It sticks out to me like white on rice when it’s not done right and I hope that you learned how to paint a wall properly.

Reality is White Noise, Symphony is a Dream

Music is powerful, it’s universal and transcends all cultural differences; it’s one of the things we all have in common.  Not everyone likes the same music but there is music for every emotion. When I’m happy or want to feel happy, I listen to music that sounds cheerful and happy to me. When I’m sad I tend to like music that has a sad tone with lyrics that are relatable to how I feel. 

As a child growing up in rural Manitoba, my source of music was very isolated; I listened to what my parents listened too.  I loved The Beatles, I used to sing along to their songs while I made my bed in the morning, and again when I went to sleep.  I had their greatest hits tape in my walkman player (remember those?) for the longest time.  My dad was a drummer for a few band’s in the past, and toured Canada with them, never making any real money but just doing what he loved to do.  As a child I used to dream of being in a band, even took the time to draw us on stage during a big show.  When I was eight years old my dad bought me my first drum set, and I was so excited.  I played it all the time and he showed me how to do a few rolls, and keep rhythm with the beat. 

Through elementary school we learned how to play the recorder for music class.  In grades seven and eight however, this changed to a much more exciting instrument.  The school had purchased enough classical guitars for an entire class, as well as a few new electric guitars and bass’s.  It captivated me; the guitar, that is.  I even started taking lessons outside of class with a personal guitar teacher.  His name was Dennis, and he was a cheerfully old, bald, man who really knew how to play the guitar.  I continued taking lessons through the beginning of high school, where I would finally live out my dream as a child; to play in a rock and roll band. 

Chance played guitar, and James played the drums.  They were both inspired to start a band after they went to a Good Charlotte concert in Winnipeg, they went out and bought their first ever instruments.  Chance and I were on the same bus that went to school, so we talked and hung out a few times, and he knew that I played guitar and was taking lessons.  He asked me to come to a practice to jam and I couldn’t refuse.  It was in Chance’s basement which was crowded with all of the equipment in the room and was the first band practice I had ever been to.  The jam went great and I added some new parts to some songs they wrote and they loved them.  After that I was practically a part of the band.  We thought we sounded good already, but our sound was missing two things: vocals, and bass.  We asked friends and people around school if they’d want to sing but nobody jumped up to the plate.  One of us had to try singing and learn as we went along, it just so happened to be me. 

One of our first shows was at an old church transformed into a youth center called The Basement beside our high school.  The show went alright; I thought the crowd liked us, but they seemed somewhat unimpressed in comparison to some of the better acts.  It might have helped our sound if we had found a bass player by that point.  Something good came out of playing that show though; we finally found a bass player.  His name was Deagan, a quirky fellow, but talented on the bass.  Our band was finally complete and we spent weeks practicing so we’d be better next time. 

One of the things we wanted to improve was our name, Fatal Intent.  It sounded kind of tough so we liked it and was better than our last name ToneDeff (people thought we were actually tone deaf), but we wanted something that sounded slick, simple, and memorable.  We found it unexpectedly.  James and I were just walking to my house for practice, talking about band names.  He thought a cool name would be Alchemy.  I told him it needs something in front of it to sound complete, like ‘Days of’.  In a flash, we were ‘Days of Alchemy’.  We were surprised how fast the name just popped up, but to my knowledge this is a common story of many bands.  When weeks of practicing turn into months, and we rocked our next show, we wanted to be huge.  “How do groups get huge?” we thought; merchandising.  We put our name on two different pins, t-shirts, and even socks.  The band was great, I thought anyways.  It didn’t matter that much to me what others thought, because we were just a group of guys hanging out playing music.  Some of my best times with the band were when we weren’t even playing.  We would go out for breakfast before gigs, went camping, paint balling and became the best of friends. 

But as we all grew older, Chance and James graduated from high school, and their passion for the band started to die out.  They were more interested in drinking and going to clubs on the weekends rather than practicing.  We all still talk but a part of me died when the band did.  My childhood dream was fading as my future became a task of finding a well paying job after high school, rather than doing what I love like my dad used to do.  My parents stressed that I needed a career and not a hobby.  I do however; still play my acoustic guitar on occasion.  I go through phases but there’s no question I don’t play as much as I used to.  And that makes me sad.  So I’ll listen to music that speaks to my sadness, and writing lyrics I relate with, encompassing myself with sadness.  When I want to feel happy, I will listen accordingly.  Music is universal.  There’s always another day to pick of the guitar.

Being: A Hiking Guide Through Life

In the corner of McNally Robinson in Grant Park Shopping Centre on November 30, 2010, there was a podium, and in front of the podium were at least 100 people crowded around trying to find a seat for Dr. Philippe Erhard to read his book titled "Being: A Hiking Guide Through Life", a self help, personal and motivational story.  Dressed in all black, Erhard took the podium, and thanked the crowd for attending.

"I wasn't sure how many people would come tonight, they said I should have a Facebook page for anyone to show up".

He talked about what inspired him to write the book, such as Mark Twain.  His French accent gave character to his English words, both humorous and inspiring.

He spoke about practicing a positive attitude and living in the now, rather than living life on autopilot.  After a brief description of the book, what inspired him to write and what he hopes the audience will take from it, he read chapter seven from his book.

The book is very simple, clear and practical.  At the same time, it addresses thought provoking ideas and questions such as "who are we?" "What is our life goal?". 

Being instead of doing, it's about living life moment by moment and not being on autopilot, develop your feelings and managing them.

After the reading, he thanked his wife, for being the only one who believed him while writing the book, she actually named it.

"I did reach serenity, but my wife is here and she may have a different opinion of the matter".

The Trojan Prince: A Short Story Review

Tessa Hadley lives in Cardiff, Wales, and teaches literature and creative writing at Bath Spa University.  Her first novel, Accidents in the Home, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. 

She wrote a fiction short story featured in the New Yorker Nov 15, 2010 edition, called The Trojan Prince.
 
The story is about a 16 year old boy named James McIlvanney in a 1920 setting; just missing the First World War. He is infatuated with a girl named Ellen Pearson, who is really his second cousin. But marriage wasn't on his to do list, and thought he may be going away to sea shortly anyway. His floundering over Ellen is interrupted throughout by Connie Chappell, one of Ellen's close friends. The plot goes forward at a fairly slow pace, little suspense, but used very descriptive scenes to help the reader along with James pondering over Ellen and whether or not he'd be happy in marriage with her, or if he should follow his urge to go out to sea.
 
This piece was well written, using great examples of dialogue, point of view, and characterization. However the story seemed bogged down with a slow pace, and only the descriptive writing style kept me intrigued. By the end of the story I did find myself somewhat attached to the characters, the main character James in particular, but was squandered by an ending I questioned of being believable.
 
But overall I enjoyed reading this story and look forward to reading another from Tessa Hadley in the near future.

iPad? Meet the BlackBerry PlayBook

You’ve seen it, maybe even played around on it while you were at the mall.  You might have heard it is ‘magical’, or ‘revolutionary’, even.  If apple is using the word magical to describe its products…it’s not magic it’s ‘technology’, and it’s not revolutionary.. it is unique in that it is the first tablet to be released.  Yes, the apple iPad. I’ve have one for the past few months now, and I’m very happy with it.  I’m planning on doing a comprehensive review of the iPad soon.  But this blog isn’t about that… this is more of a competition.. ya.  People like competition. There are many new slates or tablets (whatever you want to call them) on the way, such as the BlackBerry PlayBook.  Im not gonna pull up the exact specs for you, but I’ll give you the link to em.

http://us.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/

Upside: it runs flash…iPad does not.   Which means you cant view a lot of content on the web on the iPad…. L But the iPad has all of the apps in the App store and is always growing and now has around 200,000 in total.  That’s a huge advantage, cause if there are no good apps for it, then what’s the point?  Apps ‘are’ the device, it’s because of that, I bought the iPad when I did; because it is miles ahead of other tablet devices I’ve seen in the works thus far.  Can the PlayBook do better?  It has vastly superior hardware, so it has the potential.  We’ll just have to wait and see.. Here’s a prediction though: by 2015, everyone’s gonna have a tablet, or slate, of some sort. It’s gonna catch on once prices drop and there’s more competition in the market.  But here’s the kicker: I was one of the first :p

Beausejour Rememberance Day

Residents of Beausejour and the surrounding area attended the Rememberance Day ceromony held at the Brokenhead Recreational Complex in Beausejour on Nov. 11, to pay their respects to those who lent their service for Canada.  The Remembrance Day ceremony began with the Edward Schreyer School orchestra playing their string instruments, followed by the presentation of colours, and the Canadian national anthem sang by Bonnie Stefanson and her sister Debbie Rattai.

The lights dimmed as everyone in the nearly full complex bowed their heads for the Lord’s Prayer read by Padre Melody A. McKellar, and then were asked to sing along with the school band to the hymn: O God Our Help in Ages Past.  

Padre McKellar read the Prayer of Remembrance, followed by the Master of Ceremonies Judy Trefy who read the names of servicemen who made the supreme sacrifice from the Beausejour and Brokenhead District.  Comrade Walter Zillman said a few choice words: “They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old.  Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.  At the going down of the sun and in the morning:  We will remember them.” 

Then Reverend John Robertson of St. Paul’s United Church took the stand, and prayed for those who sacrificed so much for us to live the lives we do today. 

In attendance were: Reeve of the RM of Brokenhed, Glen Dudeck; Lac du Bonnet MLA, Gerald Hawranik; and the Mayor of Beausejour, Brad Saluk, who paid their respects to the veterans. 

Comrade McKellar recited the poem In Flanders Fields, which was followed by the laying of the wreaths by members of the community as they were escorted by RCAC Cadet Squadron 249.

The ceremony was closed once Branch 132 President Chuck Trefry said his closing remarks and the colours were dismissed.  After the ceremony, people slowly filed into the legion lounge to talk to veterans and their families over coffee and snacks.

Freestlye.. don't be hatin'

Here's a free style rap by:   B-RABBIT

hey wut up
my name is B
i live in a cup
..of coffee
im double double
..or double trouble?
double dog dare me?
I double down, hit 21
kiss the ground, I finally won
made the right move, in the casino son
these rhymes are getting better the longer they run
till they run off of the page, my words are like a loaded gun

-Bang-