Back kicking it on the west coast. How I love this place. Happy wedding, Bob and Kristine. See you tomorrow (I’ll be life-long friend in the tuxedo and flipflops).
i am a traveler gathering stories from here, here...and here....and here.....
My first published photo »
It’s nice when somebody randomly calls you up to do some work—actually, that’s how I get the majority of my jobs. It’s how I’ve gotten into acting, travel, writing, school; basically all of the things that now define what I do with all of my days.
Well, this photo follows in line. I was phoned up by friend and comedian, Derek Sweet, to photograph for his new comedy room, Going to Hell Sundays. Luckily enough, there was an author there (Ian Doig) from Fast Forward Magazine. Check out the link for the story. And check out the comedy room for some good laughs.
This is my first stand-up set ever. Why not try it in my underwear?
I have always wanted to host a flash mob. This may have been a small one, but it still tickles me on the inside…..and a little hint: it may, just may, lead to a big, fancy one.
“It really accentuates your package.” aka Why I Love Working for the Underwear Affair
I have long said that my ultimate dream is to become Batman…or at least some variation of Wolverine. Batmarine, if you will. It’s a great goal but the fascination has been oddly plagued by broken bones and knee surgeries for the last few years. (I don’t really get it; shouldn’t I be able to jump off high shit without consequence? Batman does.)
There are many undeniable motivators in the pursuit of total kickassitude:
1. Invincibility.
2. Intense fame, shrouded in mystery. (which is better than fame; it’s godlike legend)
And, 3. A complex, darkened emotionality that is evidently irresistible to women.
—I think “godlike” sums it up best. But there is a fourth motivator that proves far more inviting than any of these other incentives: the ability to save lives while wearing only underwear…and maybe a cape.
Really, what does a superhero do but personify the common morality and sentiments of the time? Our heroes and our villains are always modified by the generation that is their audience. Would we now understand a Spiderman who fights Commies? No. Our villains today are more complex than ever, representing our own power structures, not those of enemy nations, but corporations and entities that span governments and have no clear and single leader. They morph and never seem to die. They are ubiquitous. They represent the interconnected world through which we clamber, constantly. And our heroes have changed alongside them. Heroes are no longer mainstays of black and white morality, but conflicted realities, stripped of perfection. They are made to bleed. To dupe and lie. They feel pain. They are evermore, humanity: revealed.
In this age of media bombardment our apparent enemies surround and infiltrate us constantly. The government; terror; deadly products; poisoned food. So how have we reacted? By exposing ourselves. By showing we have nothing to hide. By posting our lives—weaknesses and small triumphs and all—in the open, on our blogs, our profiles, our tweets. After all, to our generation, Hollywood heroism is exhibitionism. Heroes are just like us: resilient, weak, and wearing briefs.
Let me digress for a moment. Cancer sucks. That’s trite. But it does suck.
Two of my grandparents died of complications from cancer. My living grandmother, Gran, checks constantly, alongside my aunts and mom, for signs of melanoma. But I think the one instance that has struck me hardest has been that of my grandfather, Grumps. He is my hero; but a hero of a by-gone era. Eighty-seven, and he still fiddles around in his study, day after day, working on manuscripts, writing text books, and battling with the authorities of civil engineering over bridge and tower design. He is a man of uncompromising morals, who lives simply, but loves large. I like to think that I have learned as many lessons as I can about finding a caring wife, raising a healthy family, and constantly being curious, from my conversations with him.
Grumps inspired me with his travel stories about the world, and sent me traveling. He taught me about his thirst for education, and got me studying. And he looked at my grandmother every moment he could with the playful contentment that is only seen in those that are truly happy. But he never told me he had spent the last fifteen years battling prostate cancer.
Ours is the generation that exposes its grittiest details. His is not. Nor is our parents’. But if the superheroes we’ve created for our time are teaching us anything, it is that to combat a foe that is ubiquitous and deadly and constantly changing, we must expose our own reality, and come to terms with our fragility.
The saddest part about below-the-belt cancers is that they are taboo. You can’t joke about them. They are sexualized just because of where they are. And that means you can’t talk about them. Sure, ‘we’ can talk about them. ‘We’ are the generation that blogs our break-ups. Two prostates walk into a bar, one says to the rabbi, “hey, what joke are we doing here?” But those we love. The ones from whom we’ve learned how to live—our grandparents and our parents—they can’t, or, they don’t. But we have the opportunity to be the heroes for them. To come right out and expose human weakness and be blatant. To show that only by lifting this taboo will these cancers get the attention they need to be stopped from killing and slowly killing our closest friends.
I may lose Gran or Grumps to cancer. But I don’t want to lose my parents too.
So it may seem that each day I work for the Underwear Affair I am just being a goof who stands around in black tights and neon underwear, talking about thousands of people running 10k in costumes, throwing a massive party against cancer and gearing up with flash mobs and free hug days. But I get to act like a superhero and plan these things that are completely out of the ordinary, knowing, each time, that I am doing them for the most ordinary of reasons.
The Underwear Affair. In Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Toronto.
UncoverTheCure.org / twitter.com/UnderwearAffair / FaceBook: Underwear Affair Group
Admin: FaceBook.com/Capt.FancyPants / twitter.com/captnfancypants
Add Captain FancyPants as a friend on Facebook. Let me know if he stacks up as any kind of a superhero. Then we’ll see you at a Flash Mob. Then at the Affair.
Phelps-A-Thon!!!!!!! »
Don’t you love hate crimes?
These guys do. And I’m not talking about Fred Phelps and his infamous group of gay-bashing Baptists from the Westboro Church. They love hate crimes for the hate. I am talking about the ingenious creators of the Phelps-A-Thon.
The general idea is that for each minute Fred Phelps and his posse of parading prejudiced partisans protest the LGBT (lesbian/gay/bi/transsexual) community of a certain location, the fine people of the Phelps-A-Thon collect pledges. That money is then used to sponsor LGBT education in the area. Then the P-A-T people send a sweet thank you note to the Westboro Church commending them for their invaluable support of LGBT persons everywhere.
A very good friend of mine (insert shout out to Claire, here) tossed this link my way because the P-Posse is going to be protesting her old High School haunt on Monday.
So, if you are around the DC area on March 22 between 8:00 and 8:30AM, head to Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology to witness the festivities. And if you are going to be on the other side of the world at that time, pledge at the Phelps-A-Thon link. A few cents per minute will make you feel like you are personally kicking hate in the junk with a boot full of irony.
The Jesters of Our Time »
My good friend, Donovan Deschner, is one of the many people with whom I have forged a lasting friendship based largely on the ability to debate. I single him out not because he is particularly more intelligent or passionate than any other of my dueling friends, but because he explores ideas for a living. And that living is comedy.
In his most recent blog post, entitled, “Entertainment is Never Enough”, he explores the poignant saying of our mutual mentor and high school drama teacher, Karen Goerzen. Donovan is right now at a crossroads attempting to carefully ramp up the dialectic power of his stand-up comedy without alienating audiences. He knows he must be delicate; but, he also knows, as Goerzen said, every true performer must. The efficacy of art, particularly comedy, lies in its ability to create thought.
Last night’s Comedy Network (Comedy Central) duo, Stewart and Colbert, each gave a rousing example of the true power of humour. In their individual ways they explored two emotional issues that are at the heart of our contemporary political, economic, personal, and global landscapes. Just as in our daily navigation of these big issues no clear winner is decided. But the points are raised well on both / all sides for contemplation. I am not a fan of Marc Thiessen’s stance on a whole, but in part three of his un-cut interview with Jon Stewart he makes a very good point: should terrorists be given the right to remain silent?
Check them out. And, if you like, pass back your thoughts.
Jon Stewart and Marc Thiessen: Iraq / Al Qaeda / Gitmo / Torture
http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/Displayblog.aspx?bpid=e18d08ca-8621-4322-bbe6-f860dbee413d
Stephen Colbert and Annie Leonard: Consumption / Environment / Economy
The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM
The Story of Stuff Critique by some guy who was provoked into thought by Annie Leonard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xUY
Inspirational…or, whatever.
(via O-rad)
We think that humans build relationships precisely for this reason, to distribute problem solving across brains.”
—
James A. Coan, Ph.D.
Hugs. Fist bumps. High Fives. I am an enthusiastic supporter of all of these, especially hugs. Read this article on the newfangled psych research surrounding touch. (key word, oxytocin)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/23mind.html?em
(c/o Julien “Thumb War” Naggar)
"After oxygen and carbon, humans are made up of stories" --Paige Williams »
A story that my friend Sara sent to me (incidentally the author’s website was designed by my friend, Johnson Fung). She sent it because of its experimentation with the new edges of sustainable/volunteer online journalism, a topic that is close to my heart and always tumbling around in my cranium.
This video makes me want to question the assumed reality I assumed for fantasy. It also makes me want to grant film actors more respect than I already gave them.
This makes me feel like if I keep practicing my naked morning wake-up dances I only have a few years until I could have a top 10 hit.
Really, how awesome would be to have a personal soundtrack that could follow you everywhere and interact with others? Finally, musicals would become a reality.
Great teachers constantly reevaluate what they are doing.”
—
From the Atlantic Online via Vivien Shotwell’s fbook page.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/201001/good-teaching
My mom is a teacher, and always striving to create a new forum for education. This article highlights some interesting strides shaping up down south.
The Harry Potter Commencement Speech »
Is it just me or do all educated Brits sound way smarter than your average North American when they talk?
While I’m finding myself being pulled between total failure and moderate success, this talk resonated. Hopefully you’ll like it.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
My buddy, Grayson, rapping in his bedroom. Proving that you can be so white you turn black (or at least get black-listed).
This should prove why we were such a hit freestylin’ in Africa.
