April 5th, 2009
(Halifax – Saint John) CUBED
What??? Has it been since the ECMA’s since I have flown in an airplane, AND written in my blog? Yes this indeed is the case. My heart was so broken at my demotion in frequent flyer point class, that I decided to just not travel by plane any more. I might as well make a point right? So now I am subjected to driving from point A to point B in our Subaru Impreza (with a Thule ski rack on the roof that has no skis in it, but it looks cool right?)
The real reason for my lack of flying is that I am very close to seeing the creation of my child, wait a minute, I guess she was created 8 months ago, maybe I should say “the final brush stroke”, or “the great pop!” of my soon to be born daughter. WHAHOO! Yes, Jessica, the woman I love, and I are bringing a child into this world. I’m glad that George Bush the 2nd is no longer around, it is way better that Peanut Hemmings is being born into a world where the United States of America has a black president (finally!), and where Canada has legalized medical marijuana and legal gay marriages. What a strange concept…LEGAL gay marriages, was there ever a time that it was ILLEGAL to be gay? That’s kind of funny.
Sadly Peanut is being born into a time when the Canadian television industry is falling apart, and daddy can’t seem to find any more TV shows to shoot after his current “Kardinal Sinners” wrestling show…but in the end…who cares! We are ALIVE! We are AWAKE! We are in LOVE! In love with life, in love with human experience, in love with adventure. The economic black hole we are living in currently is like a waterslide that shoots you into an enclosed tunnel at high speeds in complete darkness, you have no idea where the next bend is, how fast you are going, or where you are going to pop out or see light again. But man is it ever fun to scream at the top of your lungs and hear your own echo and just trust that the gravity powered water flows shoot you out in one piece, and alive!
I tried to stop calling this blog the Airplane Journals a while back, but I found myself still writing these posts on planes or in airports, except for tonight. Tonight is my mom’s 62nd birthday, she is still very young in my mind, and has the potential to live many more fruitful and adventure filled years if she chooses. I have the best mom in the world, and dad for that matter. They put up with me jamming in the basement with loud drums, over powered bass guitars, and out of tune Ibanez electric guitars attempting Metallica “Ride the Lightning” covers for many years. They put up with a multitude of beat up VW vans in the driveway with oil that would spill out and eat the pavement in the hot sun, and decrease property values. They would put up with me bringing home mass amounts of garbage at spring cleaning; odds and ends, windows, doors, bike frames…all to add to our giant tree house in the back woods that kept me and the boyz busy day and night for years growing up…I have good parents. I want to make sure that they live. LIVE! LIFE! LOVE! LIVES! Spoons, forks and knives! Pick it up and run, jump off that cliff, hit the white water, climb to the peak…RUN!
Let’s rewind a bit. I need to write this quickly because I need to hit the hay, gotta get up early in the morning and drive back to Hali. Tomorrow is a big day. Bigger than today, but smaller than the next day for sure. I have traveled a lot on rubber the last month and a half. Jessica and I came up a few weeks ago for a wonderful baby shower that our friend Judith hooked up for us at her and her partner’s incredible home in Saint John. Man the South End has some stellar properties. We drove straight back. That week we rocked Kardinal Sinners, got 2 episodes out to the broadcaster, the show looks amazing. The Dolby 5.1 mix and the color correction are truly wonderful. No kidding, we have a hit here, and our man Andrew MacCormack deserves all the credit, he is truly making this project shine in the post production. I’m super excited to have it premier at the end of April on RUSH HD.
The next weekend we filmed an incredible concert in Moncton with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra and Matt Andersen, WOW! That’s all I can say, WOW! What a cool experience. We have 2 jib cranes, a stedicam, and 4 other cameras. My man James Shaw multitracked the whole concert, we are going to make a stellar DVD out of this performance. Our team made me proud, we all worked together like clockwork. Really nice to see the groove being cut. Doors were opened filming this show. Doors that will hopefully take me to Venezuela in the near future. More on that soon. Lots of travel in the near future, but I have had to say no to the opportunities in preparations for the newest member of the Hemmings family.
My short film Papikatuk got to the final levels of the Vision Commonwealth Awards in England, that’s going to be great, it also was selected at a German youth film festival and they invited me to come, but it is right during the week that Jessica is due. Federica from Italy also wanted to hire me to come to England for a corporate shoot first of May, but no…Peanut is grounding me literally and figuratively. Ichy Ichy Eye Yi! Venezuela! My last time to that country I remember trying to get toys and supplies to an orphanage but the corrupt government officials stole most of the stuff before we got it to the kids. Karma must not be awake in South America these days. I’ll report on that soon.
The day after the NBYO / Matt Andersen filming I drove up to Freddy Beach, actually past Freddy Beach to Durham Bridge. I was up there to film an incredible story of cancer…of life, of destruction, of hope, of transformation. I will go into more detail of the this story in the near future, its far too intense for me to write about right now, I need time to collect my thoughts on it and present it properly. The basics are that my new friend Julie fell in love with an old friend of mine named Randy Cable who was diagnosed and died of cancer a few years back. Randy and I go way back working on various feature films and tripping on various road trips to see shows, like Bela Fleck in Portland, and Flying Boat in Fredericton! (Love ya Ross Neilson!!!). Julie fell in love with Randy pretty much on Randy’s death bed. Her story is inspiring, emotional, and engaging. I loved Randy as a brother…a creative great in my books. It was an honor to film and interview Julie’s story of her journey with Cancer, and her love story with Randy. Hearing how Randy finally died is so touching and emotional. WOW. Double You, OH, Double You!
Cancer transformed Julie’s life…she found enlightenment from the darkest depths of hell. Do we need to go jump that far into darkness to find the light? I hope not. But in Julie’s case she did, and the refiner’s fire branded her into a new creation. A new realm of spirit and of body. After I finished filming Julie with Lauchlan and our intern Nick, and after we pulled Lauchlan’s car out of the ditch after a miscalculated turn on his behalf, I drove back to Halifax. On the drive I counted 64 deer grazing on the side of the highway, very beautiful. I contemplated Randy and Julie and realized that I need to start living. I know that sounds cliché, but its true, we are so FINITE! We need to seize the scene, we have to live. My mom and dad and brother and sister in law, and wife, and extended family and friends, and neighbors and enemies, ALL NEED TO WAKE UP and listen, watch and feel the frequency of life. Yes yes yes. Life’s frequency…the ohm. OHHHHHHHHM. The ohm drone, the beat of the heart drum, the white noise of rain and wind, breathe. Laugh. Cry. “My tremolo, sweet baby, my fire, my desire, fire”. Yes I am listening to Daniel Lanois again. What’s with this guy anyway?
I don’t practice what I am preaching. I don’t live. I coast. I need to wake up and jump off the cliff. I need to buy a wing suite and fly at 200 mph and see the world from the eye of a fast flying bird. Cancer and darkness can be curse, or blessedness. This video project will take me to many different patience, survivors, and warriors of cancer. I can’t wait to be lifted and inspired by these mystical people. Those who have chosen to embrace the dark adventure and jump into the dark cave and see where it ends up are operating on a different life frequency. Randy… I love you brother, you have inspired me in your sickness, in your death. We all miss you, your legacy has lived on and you will not be forgotten. Your adventure into darkness and Julie’s adventure into the same blackness will continue to change lives. Martyr you are. RISE AND SHINE.
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