A year ago, in December 2010, I was an extra in a movie filmed in Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto and Scotland. The movie, Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy, is a follow up book to his best seller — Trainspotting. Some of you may have seen the movie or read the book. Ecstasy stars some well known actors including Billy Boyd, Adam Sinclair, Kristen Kreuk, Carlo Rota, and Dean McDermott.

I was in two different scenes that day — one scene, with Dean McDermott, and others was a boardroom scene where Dean and his colleague are pitching an ad campaign for Scotland Against Narcotics. If I had to estimate, it was about a 5 minute scene — very entertaining, and fun to be a part of. I did not speak of course, but myself and several others were part of the board being pitched to. Irvine Welsh was actually a board member as well!

The second scene involved me walking across the background of the scene, stopping to interact with another character (my brother in real life), and then walking off.  The scene was with Kristen Kreuk (Smallville)!

Needless to say, it was quite exciting and a great experience — and about 8-10 hours overall.

Fast forward to February 4, 2012 — the movie was premiering in Sault Ste. Marie, to a sold out crowd. The film has only been viewed at a few select locations to date, but will be premiering in Scotland in April and getting limited release in June. The movie turned out great, although I was in for some disappointment. Unfortunately both of my scenes were cut from the movie

 As is often the case, many more scenes were filmed than would actually end up in the final version. I was very surprised that the boardroom scene did not make it as it seemed like a major scene, to me anyway. But after seeing the movie, I could see that Dean’s character was downplayed somewhat, and the boardroom scene would not have added a lot to the final cut. The other scene as well was cut, with only a fraction of it being used.

While disappointed, I guess that is the way it works. AND we have been told that the boardroom scene will be in the “deleted scenes” on the DVD!  Better than nothing…looking forward to seeing it sometime next fall when the DVD is released.

Good thing I kept my day job!

Snowblower Must Die Video!

Well I received my first graded assignment back in my writing course.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  It was more of an assessment.  I received feedback, advice and a few corrections on the descriptive exercise we were to do.  For assignment #2 I have to do some market research to find appropriate magazines I can submit short stories to, in the appropriate genre etc., then I have to write a 1500 word short story.

Since I’m still reading the course materials, I am going to wait before I start the story.  I want to re-read all the material and absorb it a little before I get started.  I’ll keep you posted and if they are good enough, I will post my assignments/stories either on this page or my Writer page.  Stay tuned!

Raced home to get a picture of tonight’s beautiful sunset, but just missed it…

Goals are important. We should all have goals to improve ourselves and accomplish new objectives. Well, the new year has begun and I have a number of goals I’d like achieve. I list them below, in no particular order:

1. Get in shape. I will admit I’ve let things slide over the last year! I have found it tough some days to workout when I get home from work, but I’ll be trying harder from now on.

2. Eat right. This goes along with getting in shape, but at the same time needs to be a lifestyle change as well. Not that I eat terribly — but I just want to make more of a concerted effort. My wife will be a big help with this one!

3. Grow my business. It can be tough building a business, especially when you work full time. Since idling my summer computer camp program, I have focused more on consulting and writing. I was fortunate to land a great project in 2011, to complete a feasibility study for a small business incubator in Sault Ste. Marie. I found that I really enjoyed the work and the challenge. I’d like to do more of this work in 2012.

4. Finish my writing course. In September 2011 I enrolled in an online short story/novel writing course through The Writer’s Bureau in the UK. The course provides 10 modules, and eight graded assignments. I have only completed assignment one, but intend to ramp it up with the goal of completing the whole course this year.

5. Publish something and get paid for it! I have written numerous articles in the past for newspapers and a local youth magazine, but I’ve never been paid for my work. I’d like that to change in 2012. Once my course is complete (or while completing it) I’d like to either have an article or short story published, and get paid for it.

6. Expand my social networking reach. I already use many of the most popular social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But this year I want to grow my listener base — especially on Twitter.

7. Grow my blog and bring in revenue. My blog www.digitaladventures.ca has grown over the past year, but I’d like to continue growing my readership and also increase advertising revenues. Many of the things I have tried to date are experiments, and now I’m ready to take things to the next level!

8. Re-learn to code. It’s been ten years since I finished my computer science degree. Since that time, excluding a few years of web design work, I haven’t been involved with programming of any sort. I never had traditional computer jobs after graduating. Instead, my web design business led to other business related positions (I have two business degrees as well) and therefore I did not have the time to continue the art of computer programming. I recently signed up with the @codeacademy for free weekly lessons and hope to get back into some coding soon!

9. Home improvement projects. We moved into our waterfront home just over a year ago. The first thing we did was totally gut and re-do the kitchen. The difference is night and day! We are very happy with the results. But there are several other improvements on my list including putting hardwood flooring on the main level, building a new, larger storage shed, building a dock, expanding our bedroom balcony, and painting/redecorating certain rooms. Of course all of these projects will take time and money…but I hope to complete one or two this year and the rest sooner than later.

10. Read more. I enjoy reading and learning — I always have. But I am sometimes challenged to complete the books I begin. Often times after beginning one book, I stumble up new books which I am excited to read as well. As I write this list of goals, I recently completed the biography of Steve Jobs while having four other books on the go! While I may not be able to change this habit, I would like to ensure that I complete every book I begin.

My wife has recently begun reading more since I gave her my NookColor, and we enjoy reading together. This has made finding reading time easier, as we can still spend time together while enjoying a good book!

So there you have it, ten of my goals for 2012. I look forward to completing each and every one! What are your goals for 2012?

Well, last night we got a call from a neighbor, who we had not met before.  We were invited over for a dinner get-together with eight of the neighbors – most of who we had not met before.  Because of the size of our yards and the fact that they are deep and a little secluded, we don’t see many of the neighbors out and about.  We only knew our neighbors to the immediate left and right of us.

We had a great time — and it was so nice of the others to think of us, and include us in the festivities!  We look forward to many more “neighborhood parties” in the future!

Kristy and I are really looking forward to 2012 — looking to really enjoy our summer on the water this year!  Last year was a blur due to the wedding, but this year we will be able to relax, enjoy the sun and get out on the lake!  Can’t wait for summer now.