At the risk of being repetitive, I'd like to repeat myself.

This is my second blog for today.
I started it a while ago and it could have waited but something arrived in the mail today that is tied to this.
I don't mean to carry on about any topics too much but I'm not done with "A Letter From the Western Front" quite yet.
I had sent a message to the creator Daniel Kanemoto saying how glad I was to see the video back up after being gone for so long. I also linked him to my last blog about it.
I received this email from Dan a few days later.

Hi Tim -

Thanks for the kind words, and for helping to promote my work. I really appreciate it. I'd be happy to send you a copy of my new movie, ARTICLES OF WAR - what's your address?
Also, I recently updated my website and put up a remastered HD version of WESTERN FRONT - you can check it out at:

http://www.exmortisfilms.com/pages/western.html

(Be patient - it takes a while to load!)

Hope all is well,
Dan

Isn't that nice of him? Remember my blog a short while ago about people who have a sincere appreciation for their fans?
There you have it. A wonderfully talented person who takes a couple of minutes to thank a fan.
It made my day.

I should also point out that Daniel's talents have not gone unnoticed by others who know a thing or two about talent.
In 1999 Daniel won the Gold Medal in Animation at the Student Academy Awards for "Letter from the Western Front" while at New York University.
This award is presented every year by the ​​Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
That very same Academy that hands out that little golden guy Oscar every year.
I was thrilled when I read that.

I received the "Articles of War" DVD in the mail today. I haven't watched it yet but from the trailer (also on the website) I can tell that it's another emotional one.

I went to Dan's site and downloaded the remastered HD version of Letter from the Western Front.
While it was downloading my son Boo came into the room and asked what I was doing.
I told him that I was downloading a very special movie. I asked if he would like to see the Youtube version while we waited. He said that he did.
When I got to the Youtube page Boo saw my comment in the comments section on the page and asked "This makes you cry?"
"Every time." I replied.
He looked thoughtful after I said that.
Coincidentally, he had just finished watching "Saving Private Ryan" a short while before this.
I'm not sure how I feel about my 11 year old son watching a movie like that but my initial feeling is that it is a good thing that our kids realize the true horrors of war and how lives are really lost and affected forever.
I was about to find out that my initial feeling was pretty good.
I started the Western Front video playing on Youtube.
Boo and I watched it.
As it was starting he asked me if it is a true story.
My answer was that this particular story was not but the situation itself has been happening thousands and thousands of times for centuries and centuries all over the world.

When it was over and the end music was playing I looked at Boo.
I'm proud to say that he had tears in his eyes.
He made no attempt to hide them from me either.
He has seen me cry far too often, especially over the past year or so, and knows that there is no shame in crying.
To see that the horrors of war had this effect on him struck a chord in me that my wife and I are doing something right and are on the right track.

Back to the story...

A couple of minutes later the download of the HD version finished.
I had honestly not intended on watching it at that moment since it was bedtime.
What the heck, I thought. I wanted to see how the quality was.
Boo sat down to watch it with me.
Oh my. What a difference!
I expanded the display to cover my entire computer monitor and the image was crystal clear.
I saw images in there that I could never have noticed before. Little things that Dan and his associates must have laboured to include and assemble when creating the film but I had never noticed before.
Absolutely amazing.

I wanted you to see this film before. Now I insist that you see it in HD!

Boo and I didn't say a word for a while when it was done. But the lumps were in our throats and tears in the corners of our eyes.

One more thing of note.
I'm sure that everyone realizes the impact that music has on the emotion and intensity of things that we watch.
The music for "Letter From The Western Front" was composed by an outstandingly talented chap named Ryan Shore.
Have a look at his web site here.
http://www.ryanshore.com/bio.html
A really great thing about his site is that there are .mp3's of his music which you can download.
In fact, this BlackBerry I am writing this blog has several of Ryan Shore's pieces on it.
I was happy to see that Ryan also composed the score for "Articles of War".
I know what type of emotion to expect.

I'm not going to rush into watching it but wait until I have a few minutes to sit down and watch it all, and then sit and think about it afterwards.
I want Tiny and Boo to watch it with me.

Daniel, thank you so much for sending the DVD. It will be watched many many times. I guarantee it.

And again thanks for everything that you do.

You keep making them and we'll keep watching them.

Stay well,
Tim

Double Header!

I'm going to do something rare and post 2 blogs today.
I could do them together but I don't want one to take away from the other so separate they shall be.
A couple of things to mention.
First of all, are the boys really tired today, as I expected.
After a summer of running around outside and excitement they had to spend a full day inside a school.
I was right about them being somewhat bewildered and confused but it will all work out fine.
Heck, they figured out how to work their combination locks on the first day!
I think it took me several years to get that down smoothly.
One things that ticks me off a little is that the boys have been put into separate classes.
That isn't so bad but I think that we should have been consulted about it.
Twins are a different dynamic than regular siblings and needs a bit more thought.
In elementary school that choice was left up to us.
We started them together for the first couple of years.
Then we decided to separate them to avoid the chance of one doing better than the other and inferiority feelings arising.
That didn't really work out so well so they were put back together and all was well again.
I'm trying to figure out what they want to do.
Trying to get a straight answer is proving to be impossible.
I'm thinking that after spending so much time together this summer that they're looking forward to a but of space apart.
But I'm also thinking that as the year goes on they will want to be closer again.
Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.
For now we may just keep it as it is and see how it unfolds.
It was a wild scene this morning I'll tell you.
I think almost every single parent decided to drive their kids. Traffic was crazy.
The location of the new school used to be a neighbourhood park.
In fact, part of the schoolyard used to be a baseball diamond. My friend had a geocache hidden behind it. It's gone now.
I'm sure the local residents were thrilled with the way this all worked out.
They lost a peaceful park and gained a yard full of wild energy.
It sure is a nice school though.
Although I can't help but notice that whenever a new school is built the exterior always resembles a prison.

Coincidence?

Blog number 2 to follow.

Stay well,
Tim

Next stage is a Go...

Here we are.
Another Labour Day is over. Another summer has wrapped up.
And another milestone comes along tomorrow morning.
Our two little monkeys begin a brand new school tomorrow. Off to grade 6.
When I was their age grade 6 was still part of elementary school, or public school as I had always known it.
Now, at least here in New Brunswick, middle school starts at grade 6. In my day it was known as junior high school.
I remember when I started junior high it was a brand new school. Just finished construction in time for the new school year.
I can still remember the smell of Highland Junior High on the very first day.
The place was huge! At least it felt like it.
It was compared to McNicoll Public School.
The whole thing was overwhelming and very intimidating to me. I wondered how I would ever figure out where everything was and what rooms were which.
Of course after a few months the place was as familiar as my house. Piece of cake.
What was I worrying about?
That was grade 7.
Our little dudes are only heading into grade 6. That's a heck of a difference in a year of a little guy!
I would be terrified.
But I'll tell you. Our guys aren't nervous at all. They are really looking forward to it.
We just put them to bed about 1/2 hour ago but they're not even close to being sleepy.
What a feeling that must be to them.
I'm thinking back to how small they were starting at New Maryland Elementary School. I remember that first day we walked them to school and stood with them as they lined up to go into their proper room.
They wanted us there with them as much as we wanted to be there with them. That was an awful lot.
Then they walked through the door and into the start of the first stage of their educational ship.
Seems like it was just yesterday but like a thousand years ago at the same time. Man, time is weird that way.
We were all set and figured out where they had to be tomorrow morning to catch the bus.
I was thinking how sad it was that we would not be there to see them head into the school for the first time.
They've grown up an awful lot since public school.
Now they wear size 11 shoes like I do and they are almost 5 and a half feet tall.
At 11 years old...
I can't believe it.
I was thinking that it would have been nice to be there. But things have changed for them. They don't need us there any more.
Then this evening I was outside barbecuing dinner and the back door opened and Tiny came out.
He said "Dad, would it be okay if you and mom drove us to school tomorrow? Just for the first day?"
I acted like I was thinking about it and said "Sure, that should be okay."
How did I possibly hide how thrilled I was that he asked me that?
I'll have to be really casual if I want to get a picture of them walking in.
If I'm lucky I'll still get a kiss goodbye when we drop them off. If nobody is looking of course.
Am I worried about them?
You're darn right I am.
That's what parents do.

Stay well,
Tim

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Anniversary...

It's coming up to a year since my beautiful little sister died.
August 29th to be exact.
Anyone who knows me and has read this blog knows the details so I don't need to go back into them again.
Thank you for that.
I had a note from a longtime friend of the family the other day.
In it she mentioned that she was thinking of me as the one year mark of Hayley's passing approaches.
She also mentioned that she had been in touch with my aunt who also lives in England.
This aunt is my mother's sister and the friend was mom's close friend since childhood.
She mentioned that the two of them had called my brother in law's house recently and left messages that they were thinking of him at this time.
They had not heard back from him.
I'm not sure if they are surprised about this or not.
Right off the start I want it clear that I love them very very much and their hearts are absolutely in the right place.
As are the hearts of everyone who sends me messages of love in what they know will be a tough time for us.
But I'm pretty sure that they will not be getting a call back from my brother in law. I say this because I think I know how he feels.
I feel the same way.
Maybe I'm wrong and maybe I am different from some people but I am doing everything I can to ignore the day.
I want to be so damn busy that I don't even know what month I'm in.
Then I'll wake up the next day and it will be the 30th. Just another day on the calendar.
This isn't going to be easy and I know it will be impossible to avoid some days.
Mom died on New Years Eve last year.
The only way to get past the first anniversary of mom's passing will be to totally focus on the fact that New Years Eve is the gateway into another fresh year.
I'll do my best.
As I know the rest of my family and friends are. Just get through another day and before you know it another week has passed. Then a month.
And then a year.
I'm convinced that the year is the hardest since it is what birthdays are based on.
When it's turned around to a death day it is so much stronger emotionally. To me anyway.
So, I have plenty going on these days. I think I'll be okay.
For those who are thinking about my family and I, thank you. We love you for it.
For those who send messages I thank you too and love you just as much.
I'm not going to end this one with a witty phrase or clever line.
I just want to say thank you to everyone for being there and for caring as you do.
One year at a time, right?

Stay well,
Tim


Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

If nothing else today, please watch this video

I did a blog about this short movie quite a while ago.
I'm blogging it again because it was posted on Youtube yesterday by its creator Daniel M. Kanemoto for all to finally see again.
It hasn't been available for a little while.

I don't know why I do this to myself but I watched it again as soon as I found out.
And it made me cry again as it does every time I watch it.
So emotional. Wow.
The first time I saw it was when a friend sent me the link to it a few years ago.
That Remembrance Day I forwarded the link to everyone I know. I'm certain many tears flowed among my friends.
What talent it takes to make a grown man cry over an animated film...

Have a look.

A Letter from the Western Front
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbbROCFhjtI

You can read about it here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209097/ and Daniel here http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437548/bio .

Please share your comments with Daniel to show your appreciation of his work and tell others to watch it too.

Thank you for sharing it with us again Daniel.
But stop making me cry! :)

Stay well,
Tim

I'm sorry, I can't hear you.

I'm not trying to be funny with this or make light.
This is something that many people have to live with every single day.
It's about hearing loss.

I have been totally deaf in my left ear since childhood.
What got me thinking about this was when we were driving to Moncton the other day and I had my earphone in to listen to music on my BlackBerry while the boys watched a DVD and Cheryl rested.
Most already know this but in headphones stereo sound is split up between each ear. When I listen to music I only get half of it.

I can often very faintly hear the other half in the background but it sounds lousy.
If I want to hear what I'm missing I can switch the earpiece to hear but have to switch back.
For whatever reason there does not seem to exist anything to push all of the music out of both earpieces.

I haven't heard true stereo since before I lost my hearing as a child.(If it existed.) Although I doubt that I paid much attention to things like that back then.

From what I understand when I was 9 or so I had a bad ear infection or similar ailment. I think that we flew in a jet and the air pressure change made my ear pop much more than usual and my nerve was damaged beyond repair.
I don't recall any pain or even when it happened but when I lay in bed I noticed that outside sounds were eliminated when I lay on my right side.
I remember being in a booth at Sunnybrook Hospital with lights and buttons but only being allowed to push one of 2 buttons when I heard a sound in the earphones.
It's funny but about 30 years later I thought one day that with medical advancement and technology as it was a cure must have been found.

I booked an appointment to go back to Sunnybrook to see what was new.
I went back in that same booth with the buttons.
Then I was told there is nothing to fix my ear.

For those who have lost all of their hearing this way there is cochleal transplants which dramatically improve their hearing.
In fact, someone I work with had this procedure quite recently and he seems very happy with the result.
Unfortunately for only 1 ear this would not provide any benefit so it's not an option for me.
Hearing aids don't work for me. Not for total nerve loss.
Years ago there was a rumour that acupuncture may cure nerve deafness.
My mother bought me several treatments.
Not surprisingly, the acupuncture did absolutely nothing to affect my hearing.

This may sound strange but I consider myself lucky when compared to those who have completely lost or have never had the hearing in both ears.

I'm luckier but the problem is very real and very serious with me too.
When I was 16 years old I applied and was interviewed for a part time job in a grocery store in Toronto.
It was the Dominion store at Bayview and Cummer.
However, the head office was at the other end of the city on Rogers Road where the interviews were done.
I remember it took ages to get there by bus and subway but I wanted that job badly so I spent my entire afternoon for this process.
I completed the written tests without a problem.
Everything was going very well in the interview until I mentioned that I was deaf in my left ear.
I'm not certain exactly how they phrased it but they used a scenario of a falling box to tell me that they would not be hiring me due to my hearing loss.
They felt that if something was to fall and another tried to warn me I would be unable to hear and react in time to avoid being hurt.
Wow, that hurt. I was so sad as I returned home.
When I told my mother she immediately contacted a friend of ours who was in management at Dominion.
After some discussions and help from our friend it was eventually agreed that I would be perfect for the job despite my deafness.
And I was.
Nothing ever fell on me and the job was fine.

I wasn't so fortunate though when I applied to try and become a police officer with the Metropolitan Toronto Police.
I was flat out refused. No discussions.
Again the danger of my deafness was thrown at me.
This one made more sense.
If a bad dude tried to get the drop on me in a situation and approached from my left I would be unaware of his approach and would be at risk.
So I never pursued my dream of being a police officer.

One thing that many don't realize is that without hearing in both ears I have absolutely no sense of what direction sound comes from.
You could yell like mad at me but if I can't locate you visually I don't know what direction I am being called from.

This scares me very much.
What if someone is in serious trouble? Perhaps my kids need me and are calling for me to help?
That fear has kept me awake at night.

Just imagine being totally deaf and never hearing anything at all if you are being called for help.
From ANY direction.

How's that for a scary thought?

Can you hear me now?

I'm afraid not...

Stay Well,
Tim

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Happy Birthday "Old" Pal!

The world's second best blogger is 50 years old today.
For half a century Charles LeBlanc has been driving people crazy. :)

For those that don't know him (I can't imagine how anyone could not by this time), he wanders around Fredericton every single day in all weather taking pictures and video clips of everything.
He has a knack for being on the scene as news happens and scooping the traditional news outlets to so many stories.
They hate him for that but quote him and use his information anyway.
You just know that every reporter and journalist around wishes that they could take off their ties and cut loose like Charles does to get the "real" story. But they can't so they watch him and see what he has to say.

Charles is one of the few people in this world that I would trust with my life.
I know that if anything ever happens to me he is out there watching my back.
Those of us who consider Charles a friend know how fiercely loyal he is to those he loves and to those who love him.

Charles taught me how much fun having a blog can be. And how much of a difference one can make in their surroundings by blogging the truth and saying what's on your mind without pulling any punches.
He's the type of guy that most people try to hold at an arm's length but he gets right past that at gets into you anyway.
And that's a good thing.

It's hard to imagine a world 50 years ago before baby Charlie came into it but I'll bet it was much quieter than it's been since that day.

What about the next 50 or so?
Maybe he won't be here for all of them. I know that I won't.
But the ones he is here for should be fun.

Have a great birthday my friend.

Stay well,
Tim

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry