LB - With Love - 08/03/2010

Early this morning, my dear brother Larry (LB) passed away.









Every moment of my life up until now had him in it and the possibilities for future adventures.









I can't express how utterly heartbroken I am, yet at the same time infinitely thankful to have been (and still be) his little brother.














Rest well LB, I miss your physical presence, but trust you are around me.
























Much Love,

T

Happy Hollah-Days! - Dec 20/'09-Jan1/'10

Peace on Earth and beyond


All my best


Big Love


TINK

StripCHEEZ - the Real News! - 16/12/'09

Yesterday was busy for me

I gave birth...

to StripCHEEZ

YeeHaaaaw!!!

www.stripcheez.com that is

This cute lil' force has been gestating in my deep (and shallow) recesses for the better part of the last 18 months and finally released yesterday.

StripCHEEZ is all the fun you never knew you could have while other, anonymous numbers of people stare at your goods - or your bads...

It's all about celebrating the arts of Burlesque and Comedic Stripping, giving them a great, fun and beautiful venue to be exhibited while ideally attracting a growing number of performers and audience members.

Since I created the concept and company, I thought I best put my money where my "_______" is and upload a few of my own performances. So, yep, that may be me you're checking out on the site sometime.

Now of course, StripCHEEZ is all about the comedy and creativity and I'll be doing everything I can to get the word out about that.

First order of business is to get eyes and more eyes tuned into the site and regularly checking out new performances. Then in the new year, we'll launch the start of our contests, which will be more fun than you can shake your "_______" at :-p

So if you wanna check out the site, please do, I'll forever love you for it - especially if you become a member (it's free) and/or upload a performance. I'll be shooting some new ones in the next few weeks, so in addition to all the others being uploaded, you may catch a glimpse of my cute lil' tushie somewhere in there as well


The pics above show our beautiful logo, the home page (yes, you too can become "CHEEZstar of the Day!"), the video view page and of course the son-to-be-infamous "StripCHEEZ-e-Gram"

I hope you dig it!

Toby says Hi! - 15/12/'09

I like Toby

He's one of my best pals

He lives in LA

This pic was taken yesterday, in front of his house

A bit of a bastard though, don't you think?

Chill Day - 06/12/'09

I'm happy to be back in VanGroovy, but damn, this town has become dangerous.





Earlier today, I was kidnapped and forcefully taken from my comfy home, where I was made to endure the bracing winds and awful vistas that make up Whytecliff Park and it's environs.






Krista, Marc and Friday were all identified as co-accomplices in the crime, which will forever mark my psyche.





As will this pic of them upstaging an exotic Chinese warrior-girl photo shoot.


Thanks for all that!

Happy Thanksgiving - 26/11/'09

A quick shout-out to my pals in the U.S. and Japan who celebrate Thanksgiving today.









Lots to be thankful for these days, not the least of which is my endearing cuteness (much like Ernie)



:-)

Dubai from da Sky - 20/11/'09

Someone sent me this pic of Dubai in semi-rare cloud cover.

This is a view from the near-complete Burj Dubai tower, which when it opens next year, will be the tallest in the world

.

Warning... 16/11/'09

Stole this pic from my friend Doc Wyatt - made me chuckle







.

Impromptu Bubbles - 14/11/'09

I dropped in to Vancouver for the weekend and decided the best way to see the gang was to host one of my impromptu champagne parties.

Along with the celebratory nature of the bubbles, these evenings give us the time to hang and chat, all civilized like, celebrating nothing more than being in each others company.

Drew and Crystal pose in front of some seminal art for the first pic and in the second, my great friends BVA and Andrew chat with a visitor in from good ol' Amsterdam.

















Here's Andrew elegantly conversing with someone off camera, whom I'm certain is incredibly hot












Ninu and Gary






















Above Left: BVA again. Happily he left a big event early to be here :-) Above Right: The effervescent Krista and Tink being cheezy goofs













More laughter















Shannon and Aja somewhere in the kitchen


















The uber hot Kira, also in the kitchen














Marc and Mirna hangin' on a sofa













Notice Aja's expression as I attempt a "special" champagne cocktail













The Fabulous KC, Judy B and Gene









No party is complete without the young gentleman Friday


A fab, fab night. Thanks All!

Hallow's Eve 2009 - 31/10/'09

I've been working in the environs of Victoria on Canada's west coast and as my schedule was so busy, I wasn't able to make it home for Halloween. The next best thing was to join my friends Rob and Teri, who were going out with another couple for the night dressed as Abba.



Being that I was the interloper, I decided to create a costume that would effectively be "Abba's + One". After a very quick and thorough shopping spree, I managed to pull together the outfit you see here, basically a 70's Swedish Glam Rocker.



Whether it was convincing or not, I don't really care. I had too much fun getting the clothes (so much so that I bought not only the black sequined pants you see me wearing, but also a pair in gold and another in silver - I'm certain I'll have use for these...) and such a great night with the gang and all the new folks I met, that it was well worth the stay.

Thanks Rob and Teri!

Thanksgiving in Banff - 12/10/'09

I managed to zip out to Banff to enjoy Canadian Thanksgiving with my family. The trip was fantastic, even though it was crazy cold. They had an early snowstorm in the mountains and the temp was around -15C. A lil' too cold for me, but as you can see, hugely gorgeous.

Here's a couple pics from a walk at nearby Lake Minnewanka that my Mom and I did one afternoon. Other than the beauty of the place, another great plus was the small burger shack we found. It was their last day open for the season so we felt lucky that we were able to order some food. Even luckier when we found out the hot-dogs were organic gourmet style and the hot chocolate made from pure melted dark chocolate. MmmMmmmmm...

Beautiful Birthday - 22/09/09

Okay, it's been a while since I last posted anything here. I'll put that down to a very busy summer, where I essentially worked and didn't do much else.

Over the last 6 weeks, I've been designing a film on Vancouver Island and finally had an opportunity to take a day off. Thankfully the weather was gorgeous, so I treated myself to a drive up the west coast of the island and a day hike along the Juan de Fuca trail, followed by a stay for a few hours at Mystic Beach.

I've been to that beach before and have to say it's one of my favorites on the west coast of Canada. It's quite long, with very few visitors. At the south end are tall cliffs that a small waterfall pours from - I had a few great showers here. There's also an amazing rope swing tied to a tree waaaaay atop the cliff and hanging out over the water.

At the north end, is a rock arch you can walk under, which opens up to a small, cave-like private beach. This is where I spent the majority of the day, at the end of which, I finally braved the elements and went for my obligatory birthday dip - Brrrrr, but completely worth it.

Beautiful, Beautiful Day

Surprise Concerto - 21/04/09

I sit in my home office, writing this with a good and warm chuckle, remembering moments just past. Earlier in the eve, a few friends dropped by to help me with a task - to sing the vocal accompaniment to the logo of one of my projects.

Now this project will be revealed quite soon and with a great impact I hope. It's comedy and our efforts at singing have definitely kept it in that realm.

For confidentiality reasons, I can't broadcast our work, but I can treat you to a wonderful Communist ditty, performed impromptu by the beautiful Contessa Zsofi. Enjoy it and before I sign off, I want to say a HUGE thanks to my secret choir: KC, Zsofi, Marc, Nadia, Steve, Crystal, Drew, Niki, Friday and in absentee, Kira - I love you all and think you're incredibly talented.

Now here's Zsofi:

April Fools Payback - 10/04/09

Earlier today as I was talking with Crystal, she made the mistake of letting me know that she and Drew were going up to Cypress Mountain where there is some snow, for a bit of cross-country skiing.

The reason this was a mistake is that it created a ripe opportunity for me to suggest to Marc some payback to them for the April Fools joke on him that they (basically) conceived (I brilliantly left myself out of the equation).




I called Marc to invite him and Friday to check out Lighthouse Park, which is just below Cypress Mountain. On the way there, I proposed a plan of wrapping Drew's car in cellophane while they were skiing. Initially, Marc was against doing anything, but once I reminded him of the April Fools joke, he slowly began to turn around.






So up to Cypress we went (with 360 meters of cellophane), found Drew's car and proceeded to wrap it. Marc was still hesitant about joining in, but once he saw how great it looked and realized we weren't "shrink-wrapping" the car, he jumped right in, enthusiastically extorting to passersby when they asked, that this was "payback".






Once done, we left the scene, only to receive texts from both Drew and Crystal about an hour later, immediately laying blame on us. We, of course, played dumb, saying we were quite far south of the city and had no idea what they were talking about. Crystal then mentioned they found a witness who described the vandals as "one guy driving a black Mercedes convertible and another, bearded guy with a fluffy dog..."





The jig was up :-)

Deep Cove Hike - 05/05/09

The ever-effervescent Jason Crosby invited me out to hike the trail head above Deep Cove, a beautiful community in the north of Vancouver.

I, in turn, invited Marc and Friday, knowing that they would both enjoy the day outdoors.

We met up with Jason and a few other friends - my pal John (one of the producers of the forever-running Stargate series), Morris (a local producer, currently touring film festivals with his latest project), Marcus (moving to Melbourne tomorrow to work on a film there), Johnny, a DJ with "The Beat 94.5" in Vancouver, plus two additional canines; Griffin and Taco.

This was my first time hiking here and it was surprisingly "wild" and beautiful. I had heard it was a popular hike, so expected it to be quite easy and not winding so far into the forest. The dogs had an amazing time and all of us had a great time as well, catching up with each other and generally being silly (my general mode).

Once we were at the top, the view was spectacular. We looked down onto Deep Cove and out to the waters and communities beyond.

As we lounged up there, drinking in the view, some other hikers arrived and started eating some crazy-thick donuts. Everyone in my party recognized those as "Honey's Donuts", made fresh in a small shop down below. They smelled amazing, and thus became a major topic of conversation as we descended back down to the town and straight to Honey's.

And yep, they have a right to be famous. I'm not a donut lover, or even a liker, but these ones - damn... I had two :-)

Celebrating Christine - 04/04/09

Christine Mooney, a very beautiful and wonderful woman whom I had the pleasure to work with passed away a few weeks ago. This was very sad news as she was quite young and an amazing force to be around, but she passed peacefully after a few years battling cancer.

Her husband Kim, her "Fristers" and many other family and friends organized a stunning memorial celebration for her today, for which I was most honored to attend.

Professionally, Christine was one of the top Costume Designers in Vancouver and a complete joy to work with and learn from. She and Kim had a relationship that I greatly admired and whenever I had an opportunity to spend time with them, was most happy to do so.

The Stanley Park Rowing Club provided a beautiful location for the memorial - the day was gorgeous and spring blossoms were everywhere, creating a fittingly poetic foreground to the water and city buildings beyond.

A huge number of people came to celebrate Christine, and it was good to see so many friends I've worked with in the past.

The speeches given by Kim, family and friends were most touching and inspiring - she was really loved and that love permeated everyone in the room. There were a lot of tears, but far more hugs and laughter.

Afterwards, I spent the remainder of the day on my own, reflecting on life, my life. Some times can seem quite tough, but overall, I am incredibly fortunate to live as I do, have the family and friends I have and especially the freedom, which I value so much.

Thanks Christine for being a light in my life, for the echo of your laughter and the memories of your fantastic smile.

April Fools! - 01/04/09

After my neighbor Marc mentioned to myself and a few friends that he hadn't experienced an "April Fools" prank, we decided to do something about it.

Now Marc and Friday (his stalwart companion, the incredible mini-golden doodle) are a famously untrained pair, so the ever lovely Crystal proposed we set up a scenario where Friday has a chance to audition for a big role in a film being shot locally.

So this morning, while Marc was in a meeting (with Drew, who was also in on this), I sent him a long winded text about how a friend of mine, who is production managing "Hot Tub Time Machine" mentioned they are frantically searching for a replacement "cute dog" for a romantic scene with the two leads (John Cusack and I made up the fact that Reese Witherspoon was the other).

The text went on to explain that Reese needed a cute dog to give a rolled-up love letter to John Cusack, so if Marc could train Friday to do this, we would video it and send it in to the producers.

A few hours later, I sent another text to check it Marc was indeed interested and yes, he was - in fact he was training Friday that very moment, and would continue to do so for the remainder of the day.

I was out for a dinner meeting this eve, so when I returned home, Crystal came for a visit and we had Marc and Friday come over for a test run. To prep for this, we created our own "love note" which I gave to them to use as their prop.

This is the video we shot, where Marc finally finds out he's been duped. he he he...

Mikela Jay Video Shoot - 28/03/09

My ex and good friend Mikela Jay came to town to shoot a video for her latest song with the fantastic Gregory Middleton.













With the two of them involved, plus her very cool song, I jumped into the ring as well.













When I arrived at set today, it became apparent we had to improvise some of Mikela's wardrobe, something I'm not hugely experienced with, but got right into.













Our shooting location was a soundstage for a TV series. Necessity led me to take inspiration from the famous Carol Burnett sketch of "Gone with the Wind", where she dresses her character in drapes from the house, complete with curtain rod.













I didn't go quite that far, but what you see in these pics, except for the black clothes, are pieces made of drapes and loose fabric - and even a bustier fashioned from a sheet of shiny corrugated plastic.









The last scene, for which Mikela wore that bustier, also featured images of herself shot in the previous scene (gold dress) and highlighted words from the song projected onto her for a very strong visual.





I loved overhearing some of the crew talking about the incredible wardrobe each time Mikela stepped in front of the camera with a new look - they were amazed at the haute couture we had - and even more so once I explained most of it was borrowed from the windows of the nearby set...