Weekend Reunion in Regina

Hijinks, laughs, hangouts, bubbles, midnight cigars, video games, baby talk, and even a little bit of vomit - these were the highlights from my visit to Regina last weekend. It's been a year since my last visit, and with my buddy Tyler no longer living there, this was the first time I crashed at my friend Wendy's place. We had a blast!

Mike came down from Saskatoon to hangout, I got tons of one on one time with Darwin, and Wendy and I got a chance to catch up. The Regina phone book that I sold the cover image for even showed up on the doorstep at the same time as I did.

It was especially fun seeing how much Darwin had grown since the last time I saw him. I shot some video that I'll share soon. I bought him a mini Kawasaki ATV that he seemed to really enjoy. He'd sit on it and push the sound effect button to rev the engine, and even took to dancing to the tune that it played. It was especially funny to see him learn how to use it. At first he would only go backwards, and he never quite learned how to get off of it without getting the handlebar in his butt. In short, he was entertaining.

It's fun bonding with Darwin now that he's so energetic and full of personality. He was quick to warm up to me and it wasn't long before he was treating me like a jungle gym, and feeding me his food that he'd dropped on the floor. Oh, kids - maybe that has something do with why I've been under the weather most of the week, haha.

And if you were wondering about the 'little bit of vomit' mentioned above, that was Darwin too. After a night of drinks and casual discussions, Darwin woke up just as we were all ready to fall asleep and he was sick most of the morning. Poor guy. I experienced the best and worst of baby time that weekend.

All and all, the visit was a nice ice breaker for the changing dynamic of our shrinking Regina group. Although, with a road trip planned with Mike and a concert with Wendy this summer I'd say we're all making the most of it.

Saskatchewan Highway

Last weekend I took the familiar drive to Regina, Saskatchewan, the place I called home during my film school days. My plan for the Friday was to stop and take pictures in Moose Jaw and downtown Regina before meeting up at my friend Wendy's place for a weekend of hangouts. Naturally, I ended up with a ton of shots that I'm still in the process of editing. Here's a brief teaser from the open road.

ChristCORE by Justin Ludwig

Fellow University of Regina film school alum, Justin Ludwig has a new documentary that he directed playing in Medicine Hat from June 13-15 at the Monarch. We had several production classes together back in the day, and here's what he had to say about his project: 

ChristCORE is a feature documentary that follows my journey into the world of evangelical Christian hardcore music. As someone who grew up in Regina's punk and hardcore scene, the music was a catalyst that helped to un-do my religious upbringing. The scene is traditionally secular, which is how I thought it should stay when I first became aware of the Christian insurgence which started to make waves in Regina ten years ago.

However, what started out as somewhat antagonistic concept grew into a film that strives for dialogue and understanding, opening up the world of the Christian hardcore movement to a whole new audience who may have never thought such a thing could exist. It's a film for fans of the scene as well as those who hate it, offering a glimpse into life on the road for two very different bands, newcomers Messengers and genre stars Sleeping Giant. We see faith healings, mass baptisms and some violent mosh pits, leaving the judgements to the viewer. Come check it out and support independent Canadian film!

ChristCORE screens Thursday to Saturday at 7:30pm at the Monarch.