The Unknown Studio

Welcome to our Season 2 Season Finale!! Truly, a finale that merits both bolds AND italics.

In this episode, Scott and I chat with creators of the forthcoming web comic Inglorious Hipsters — Misters Gregg H Beever and Jeremy “Die” Die. We talk origins of their comic concept, which launches on July 4, the day America elected Bill Pullman as President whereupon they were mercilessly attacked by aliens. You know the story.

But what you don’t know is that the rest of the show contains Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo goodness, a Sex Talk Segment (Happy Julyna!), and two terrific stories from the June edition of Edmonton Story Slam. Here’s the breakdown:

0:00: Intro – “Web comics and paper cuts”
2:08: Inglorious Hipsters and childhood friendships
27:40: Sex Talk with Lauren from the Traveling Tickle Trunk
30:16: Michael “Colonel Tigh” Hogan and Jonathan “Riker” Frakes at the Calgary Expo
48:00: Screw the Prime Directive
56:24: Zombie First Aid Kits and William Shatner at the Calgary Expo
1:06:15: Highlights and winners from June’s Story Slam
1:12:12: You’re so hipster and you don’t even know it
1:25:45: The Fast 16 with Jeremy Die and Gregg Beever

That’s it for us, as we take our summer break. The Unknown Studio will be back in August with wonderful episodes and best-laid plans. Enjoy your Julyna!

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Welcome, Internauts, to another a week of strangeness around the World-Wide Web.

As always, I take 18 of the links I’ve tweeted and compile them into a list for ease of perusal.

The links included are on a variety of nonsense topics, from science, to movies, to games, to the bizarre. This week’s fun includes a urinal based gaming console, zombies overrunning a city council meeting, and self-driving cars.

Got your clubs? Good! Lets hit the links.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Now, I consider my game collection to be somewhat precious. It’s taken a lot of work to make it as awesome as it is, and I’m rather proud of it.

So, I sometimes wonder, would someone dare to steal it?

And the answer is invariably no. For board games are not considered precious to most people. But precious gems are.

I presume you can see where I’m going with this. Today, I’m pulling one of my go-to board games off the shelf. It’s a game about ruby stealing thieves, shady smugglers, forging jewelers and crooked cops.

And it’s one of the priciest games I own. Read the rest of this entry »

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As anyone who listens to the show regularly knows, back at the end of March, I started on a weight-loss journey because I was tired of being out of breath whenever I went up a flight of stairs. I enlisted the help of personal fitness trainer Carrie Robinson from Prime Fitness Studios (right by the Sherwood Park Freeway. Check out their Facebook page) .

When Carrie first saw me on March 21, I think she was worried. She knew I was out of shape (it was very plain to see), but when she actually did my assessments, the numbers were… well, not good. And while I’m not really close to where I want to be, I’ve made significant progress. I was re-assessed this morning, and thought I’d share the numbers with you. Read the rest of this entry »

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A few weeks back, Mack Male approached me on behalf of Amy Shostak from Rapid Fire Theatre. “Would you be interested in taking part in an improv-based social media experiment?” the internet himself asked me.

Now I should say I know very little about improv, except that I thoroughly enjoy watching it. But the one thing I do know about a good improv performer is that they never say “no” to another performer’s suggestion in the middle of a scene. So I naturally said “yes” to the Mack/Amy request.

And that means that tonight, along with Mastermaq himself as well as the Baconator Realtor Jerry Aulenbach, the theatre revolution that is Rapid Fire’s annual Improvaganza will indeed be live-tweeted. Read the rest of this entry »

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This is my Dad. He was born over 60 years ago in a little Dutch town called Geleen. He and his family moved to Canada in the 50s eager to start new lives in this young land.

Dad has three boys, and I’m right in the middle. My eldest brother, Pieter, is a dad to an 18-month-old. Gilbert is his name. My little brother Josh hopes to be a dad one day soon too.

Dad imbued all of his children with a sense of discover and wonder, either by accident or by design. I’m sure that even he is really sure. But he’s always been a tremendous support and a loving man over the years.

Dad taught us it was OK to cry at movies. He taught us to own up to our mistakes. He taught us to be ambitious, to make our mark, and to be upbeat and positive. He taught us that good things do not come to those who wait; they come to those who get off their asses and work hard.

And he did all this by showing us how. A successful man in the twilight of his career, my dad is planning to retire soon. And I can’t wait for him to enjoy the fruits of his labors.

Dad’s had a long and storied work life. He owned a few businesses with some partners, including a gas station and a hotel in Edmonton — neither of which are around anymore. He hit a rough patch when he sold those businesses and had to work as a carpenter making cabinets for the Miseracordia Hospital expansion in the west end. It was tough for him and my mom to make ends meet during that time, but they never let us kids know they were struggling. They always tried to give us everything.

Dad pursued a career in human resources after that, mostly I think because he loved working with people. And people love working with my dad. We can’t go anywhere without him bumping into an old friend or acquaintance, and Dad always takes the time to catch up.

Dad’s taught me everything I know about being a man. And it isn’t any of that lumberjack, burly-man nonsense. It’s about being a positive force in my community, helping out friends, family and even strangers. And having a passion for people.

Thanks for making me the man I am today, Dad. Happy Fathers Day!

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