Shot in Brampton: F2: FORENSICS FACTOR

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on February 26, 2010.

Walking home from work the other night, we happened across a night television shoot for Discovery Channel's F2: Forensic Factor.  We're not entirely sure what the plot of this episode was, but we know the crew was trying to turn snow-dumped Eastern Avenue in Brampton, Ontario into summery Georgia, Atlanta.  Going as far as removing every trace of snow from hedges, trees, bushes, sidewalks and lawns and working in tight shots, it was a pretty cold night to work outdoors.  We watched as they shot a suspicious young man coming out of a car, looking around, and reaching back into his car for a gun, which he placed in the pocket of his large coat.  Nick had a chance to chat with the special effects supervisor, who told us to expect some gunfire to go off a little later, as they were applying bullet holes to the side of a car.  We didn't stick around for the gunfight, it was too cold, but we'll try to look out for the episode.

Shot in Brampton: FRINGE's Pilot Episode

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on February 26, 2010.

So here's something that was a little too close to home for hubby and I ...

We are both huge J.J. Abrams fans; we absolutely love his work.  More often than not you'll find a Lost rerun playing on the television when you walk into our apartment.  So, to immediately recognize the hospital FBI agent John Scott was kept for treatment after a chemical explosion in the pilot episode was a bit of a shock - to have it a block away from our apartment was another thing!

Agent John Scott, played by Mark Valley, is transported to a military medical unit for observation after his skin turns translucent after being in the middle of a chemical blast.  Agent Olivia Dunham rushes to the hospital to see his condition, only to be faced with challenges she would never expect to overcome.

Haiti: A Nation In Need, A Nation Of Miracles

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on February 19, 2010.

The earthquake that had hit this impoverished nation about a month ago had changed the lives of these people forever, with a society in ruins, death at every corner, missing family and loved ones yet to be found.  Food is scarce, water is depleted, shelter questionable, with the country still threatened with powerful aftershocks.  No matter how much help is sent, it doesn't seem to get to them fast enough, with nearly 3 million people displaced and in need of the most basic qualities of life.

We hear of devastation and death, we hear of panic and despair, but we also hear of miracles.  Survivors are still being found among the ruins, singing praises to the heavens, smiling happily at their rescuers.  Nations from all over the world toss rubble aside in hopes to find more survivors; the sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives of those who still hope.

Haiti is still in need, and the rebuilding efforts will be colossal.  Backed with a global effort made up of charitable organizations and international governments, it is a combined goal that Haiti will become a nation that will be able to restore its envisioned glory, its culture and society intact and stronger than ever.

Below are a collection of images that have marked poignant emotional and public moments of the tragedy and triumphs of the Haitian people.  If you would like to help, donate now to World Vision Canada, and the Canadian government will match your donation.

Some of these images may be disturbing in nature.

Monologue Writing

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on November 2, 2009.

William Shakespeare's 'The Tragedy of Julius Ceasar', Aquila Theatre Company, New York

I had sent this email just this evening to a friend of mine on Twitter who was having some trouble with a university project, which required her to either write a monologue or a two-part dialogue.  (She considered the dialogue to be a 'cop-out', so we know what her decision is!)  I had sent her this email, hoping to inspire her, and to approach it at a different angle.  Here's what I wrote to my friend:

Okay, so you want to write a monologue.  It's not as daunting as you think, when you apply yourself to it. 

I'd been doing theatre all my life, and I love the acting craft.  I have so much appreciation for everything having to do with breathing life into words on paper, flushing them out into moving pictures and beyond talking heads.  I think one of the big misunderstandings about the words in the script is that the playwright must been a keen observer of the human spirit, psyche and nature to compose such natural dialogue.  Boy, I wonder how people speak themselves, if it isn't in natural dialogue?

Moral Obscenity 101: Kanye West

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on September 28, 2009.

This is an editorial by the author.  Any comments made are of the author, and the author alone, unless otherwise stated.  I welcome your thoughts on this post.  (Resources: Wikipedia.org, Youtube)

For those who have been avoiding all things pop culture and relative news these past few weeks, you would have learned that at the 2009 MTV Video Awards, upon earning her win for Best Female Video for 'You Belong With Me', Taylor Swift was interrupted by professional jackass rapper/hip-hop artist Kanye West, who stormed the stage, stole the microphone out of Taylor's frozen hands, and stood shocked as he declared that Beyonce's video 'Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)' was the "best video of all time", to the shock, amazement and disapproval of the packed theatre.  Since, he has sparked the international catchphrase "and I'mma let ya finish ..."

For me, this was the straw the broke my Kanye camel's back.

Patrick Swayze 1952-2009

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on September 20, 2009.

"I dream that the word 'cure' will no longer be followed by the words 'it's impossible'. Together, we can make a world where cancer no longer means living with fear, without hope, or worse"

Speaking at the multi-network simulcast of Stand Up For Cancer in September 2008, appealing to the general public to make donations for the cause.

Patrick Swayze was a big part of my adolescence.  Not a day went by between the ages of 12 and 16 where my sister and I wouldn't put Dirty Dancing in the VCR and sing along to every song he and Jennifer Grey danced to.  To us, it was the epitome of the 'converted bad boy' that we dreamed to meet one day.  Dirty Dancing still remains to be one of my favourite movies.

So to hear that Patrick had passed away after suffering from pancreatic cancer since January 2008, I was happy to hear he wasn't suffering anymore, but still confused and sad that someone I consider so young to be taken away from us so soon.

Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM 1973-2009

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on August 30, 2009.

"New york, new york. Big city of dreams, but everything in new york aint always what it seems." [sic]

- Adam's last post on his Twitter page, three days before his body was found in his New York City apartment on August 28, 2009

I'm a Twitterbug, yes.  I'm chatting with a good friend I've made on the site from Boston, as she tells me she's packing for her trip to New York City tomorrow.  As I yearn to return to 'The Big Apple' and tell her my jealousy, joke about sneaking me into a bus carry-on, and Photoshop me into her pictures, the next tweet I read from Perez Hilton stopped the banter quite suddenly as I read that Adam Goldstein, better known to his fans as DJ AM, has died.

My God, is this truly a summer of death?