Praise for dentists and a question for gardeners

Went to get my passport renewed this morning. Many thanks to my friend Luisa for the advice about filling out my passport application online. When I arrived at the office, the room was packed with waiting applicants and a sign warned everyone that because of the high volume of passport applications, there was no guarantee that you'd be seen at all on the same day.

I started wishing I had brought my laptop after all. But then I took my printed application and documents to the pre-screening and was told that because I had filled out my application online, I would be fast-tracked. I was directed across the hall (to the room filled with waiting people) and stood for maybe 20 seconds before my number came up on the screen. Total time in Passport Office: 15 minutes at most.

So my advice to those who need to get a new Canadian passport and want to minimize the hassle (at least in Toronto):

1. Do your application online, then bring the printout with you. I had some trouble with the Passport Canada site (it was SO SLOW and hiccupped at least once) but it was well worth the hassle in the end.

2. Make sure you have all your documents and payment with you.

3. Go in the morning.



I took the photos above and below at my dentist appointment last week, when my dentist gave me a partial crown to help fix a cracked tooth. The crack had been causing me pain for the past six months every time I ate or drank anything slightly savoury, sweet, hot or cold. Yes, I said EVERY TIME. Above photo: My dentist has removed the old filling and bits of tooth around the crack to make room for the crown, then taken a 3D image of my remaining tooth. In this photo, she starts to create the partial crown.

I had to book the appointment so far in advance because it took up a 4-hour time slot, and my dentist is very popular and therefore hugely busy. I love my dentist, Dr. Carolyn Poon Woo (the best dentist in Toronto, in my admittedly somewhat biased opinion). It was also fascinating watching the whole process. In this photo, my dentist has created a computer model of my new crown. It took about 15 minutes for the actual crown to be sculpted in a machine:




Meanwhile, however, I feel incredibly lucky that I live in a place and time that this can be fixed at all. And I can EAT WITHOUT PAIN NOW, WOOHOO! You have no idea how happy this makes me. I'm going to send a gushing thank you note to my dentist.



I'm lovin' this spring weather. Above: a female red-winged blackbird on our niger feeder. Thanks to my friend Peter Kotenan for the species identification!



I've already seen a wide range of birds (and the occasional frustrated squirrel, as evidenced above HAHAHAHA) on and around our feeders including blue jays, sparrows, goldfinches, cardinals, red-winged blackbirds, juncos, and mourning doves.

A question for you gardener types:

Sunflower husks tend to accumulate beneath the Squirrelbuster feeder, which hangs from our gingko tree; Jeff cleared away a 2-inch layer recently. Will these hurt the growth of our tree?



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Don't Ask Me To Draw A Horse (Part 2)

Last month, I made a Blathering post called Don't Ask Me To Draw A Horse explaining how I somehow missed the period in every girl's life where they get obsessed with horses. And unicorns. And make-up and fashion and shopping for clothes, for that matter, but that's another Blathering.

My friend Michelle Dockrey and I decided to become Artsygoal partners. Michelle, a.k.a. "Vixy," not only has an amazing voice (see YouTube video at the bottom of this Blathering) but also is a talented artist; check out her Flickr page. Anyway, one of MY Artsygoals was to finally learn how to draw a horse.

Not just copying or tracing a horse, not just the standard "horse or horse head in profile", but to be able to sit down and draw a horse from various positions without a reference. Here's what my horses currently look like, if I try drawing them without reference / copying:




The picture above was taken by Erin after I drew a sample horse on a tablecloth to prove to some friends that I can't draw horses. My horses tend to look like crosses between dogs and deer. Sort of.

Well, that's gonna change!

I tried working on my Artsygoals in private at first but procrastinated terribly. So I've decided to put my efforts, no matter how humiliating, in public. I figure that'll help motivate me to improve more quickly. :-)

On Friday night, I decided to make my first attempt (as an adult) to really draw a horse. I'm figuring one of the best ways to improve is to do a ton of reference copying (not tracing) in the beginning. Because I don't have access to live models, I found a photo online to use as reference.

I do all my drawing on my MacBook with Corel Painter X, using a Wacom Intuos Artpad.



I found this first sketch REALLY hard! It's clear that I need a lot more practice before I'm going to get the proportions correct. My artist friend, Beckett Gladney, has recommended The Art of Animal Drawing by Ken Hultgren, so I ordered that through Amazon.ca. I've also ordered Perspective Made Easy by Ernest R. Norling (one of my other Artsygoals is to improve my perspective drawing) and Draw Horses With Sam Savitt by Sam Savitt.



Above, I've attempted to fix the sketch somewhat. A tad better, but more pony-like than horse-like. I was strongly tempted to scrap the picture at this point because the sketching part was so hard and the results so disappointing. But I've been procrastinating making my first attempt way too long, so I figured I may as well commit.



Above: Made some more fixes and also added colour. Doesn't bear a great resemblance to the original photo, but at least it's a bit closer to looking like a horse than my usual dog-pony attempts. It's clear I have a lot to learn about how to use shading to show musculature; this would help me in other drawings as well, of course. The shading above the hind leg, for example, makes it look as if there's a weird indentation, which wasn't my intention at all. Lots to learn!



And this is Horse Attempt #2. This time I used this photo as reference. I wanted another simple profile shot, but in a different position.



Above: after the initial very rough sketch with a light gray Pencil brush in Corel Painter, I did one in slightly heavier lines in a separate layer.



I added some background colour using the Pen tool with Flat Color variant, and deleted the sketch layer. I kept each of the different greens in a separate layer to make it easier to work on them later.



Added some shading to the horse by adding colour with the Pen tool (Flat Color variant) then using a Blender brush (Soft Blender Stump variant) to blend the edges of the shading. I constantly change the size of the brushes using the square bracket key shortcut.



The shading went a bit better this time. I think for my next attempts, however, I'm going to focus on details of different parts of the horse. I'm collecting all my attempts in chronological order in my Flickr set, Don't Ask Me To Draw A Horse.

Thanks to my Artsygoal pal, Michelle Dockrey, for inspiring me!





Below: the YouTube video below uses Michelle's "Mal's Song," as the soundtrack; her song cleverly integrates part of the theme song from Firefly. Michelle Dockrey and Tony Fabris (who is playing guitar) are Guests of Honour at next year's FilKONtario.



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Blood Ties

Jeff cut his eye while gardening yesterday; a small branch got behind his glasses. We called his eye doctor, whose office is conveniently only a few blocks away, and she said to come immediately. Looks like Jeff's eye will heal fine. He's wearing a protective contact lens band-aid for now and using eye drops, with a follow-up appointment early next week.

Ugh. I hate the idea of an eye cut. Reminds me of that scene in A Clockwork Orange that always makes me squeamy.

Let's move onto another topic, shall we?

Last night I watched the premiere of "Blood Ties," a new tv show based on Tanya Huff's bestselling Blood Books series. I -love- these books.







Jeff and I don't have cable tv, but our friend Reid was kind enough to record the show for us. Anyway, I loved it. For one thing, it's explicitly set in Toronto. None of this "we're in New York city in this scene even though there's a clearly marked Toronto transit bus stop right behind the main character."

But what I liked most about the show: the characters. Vicki Nelson, for example, is exactly how I imagined her from reading the books: smart, tough yet vulnerable, funny, sexy. I'm SO glad they didn't choose a Pamela Anderson type for the role. I was also very happy to see the great chemistry between the actors who played the two main characters (Christina Cox, who plays Vicki Nelson, and Kyle Schmid, who plays Henry Fitzroy); to have it come through so clearly in the first episode is extremely encouraging for the rest of the series.

Partway through, I switched from "I'm watching a cool show based on books that Tanya wrote!" mode to just "I'm watching a cool show!"



Anyway, you can find out more about Blood Ties at the official site or Tanya's Blood Tales blog, plus she sometimes posts about Blood Ties in her Livejournal. For those in the U.S., you can see Blood Ties on Lifetime TV on Sundays at 10 pm ET/PT. For those in Canada, Blood Ties will be airing on CITY TV starting August. Those in the U.S. (insert envious sigh here) can get episodes from iTunes as well.

I'm interviewing Tanya for an upcoming Inkygirl and Will Write For Chocolate.



Above: ME with the FAMOUS Michelle Sagara West and the FAMOUS Tanya Huff, woohoo!

John Chew has started a Michelle Sagara West Fan Club group on Facebook, by the way, where I have also posted a Heartfelt Poetic Tribute to my friend Michelle. Michelle only found out about the group recently, and her son Daniel posted a message for John to flee while he had the chance.

:-D




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Internet radio: will it survive?

Last night, Pandora Internet Radio started blocking access to Pandora for listeners outside the U.S. because of international licensing constraints. An excerpt from a letter they sent to many Pandora listeners:

"It is difficult to convey just how disappointing this is for us. Our vision remains to eventually make Pandora a truly global service, but for the time being, we can no longer continue as we have been. As a small company, the best chance we have of realizing our dream of Pandora all around the world is to grow as the licensing landscape allows."

This likely won't stop listeners using proxy services, but will inevitably drastically reduce visitors.

Very disappointing. Since Jeff told me about Pandora a while ago, I've been enjoying the benefits, discovering new artists as well as being reminded of old favourites. I don't tend to listen to regular radio anymore, so have been relying on friends and Pandora to introduce me to new music. I've made purchases in music online and offline as a result.

From Techdirt, on the topic:

"It's really depressing to watch the recording industry so consistently shoot itself in the foot, focusing on capturing every immediate dollar, rather than recognizing the ability of using music as free promotion to build up the size of their market."

Catching up on Pandora's blog, I also discovered more about a recent ruling that requires Webcasters to pay a flat rate per song streamed, rather than the traditional percentage of their profits. The change would result in greatly-increased fees for many Internet radio stations.

From this MSN.com article: "The Copyright Royalty Board changed rates from a percentage of revenue to a per-song, per-listener fee - effectively hiking the rates between 300 and 1,200 percent, according to a lawyer representing a group of Webcasters." If the rate goes through, many Web radio stations will shut down, not able to afford the new fees.

On April 26th, the founder of Pandora posted an update. Apparently the outpouring of public support for Pandora and other Internet radio stations resulted in a bill being introduced by U.S. congressmen Jay Inslee and Donald Manzullo: the Internet Radio Equality Act, HR 2060. For more information about the act as well as what you can to help, see SaveNetRadio.

From Nate Anderson of Arstechnica:

"Inslee's bill, the Internet Radio Equality Act, would toss out the Board's decision and return the webcasting industry to a percentage of profits model. In this case, the percentage would be set at the same rate paid by satellite radio, which is 7.5 percent of revenue."

On the topic of increased fees... One question that comes immediately to mind, since those supporting the initial ruling claim that it's helping the artists: how much will artists actually benefit? So far, I've been having trouble finding an answer from a neutral party, so would appreciate feedback from any of you with additional information. Pandora founder, Tim Westergren, says in this article:

"It's disingenuous to say it's better for the artist. With our licensing deal now the royalties we pay go 50/50 to the artist and the label. If the fees increase, stations will enter into direct deals with labels at a discounted rate, but then the entire fee goes to the label and not the artist.""

SoundExchange.com (who supports the increased fees) says:

"Because the bill is so heavily favored to enrich the big webcasters, it raises questions as to who is really behind the SaveNetRadio Coalition. Although this coalition purports to be on the side of musicians, they have come out in support of this anti-artist bill."

In an MSN.com article, however, Ian Rogers of Yahoo! Music (Internet radio leader with 23% of the market's listeners) says:

"SoundExchange is just not dealing with the facts. Internet radio in its entirety is less than a $50 million industry. The amount of money I can make selling ads on my radio product is less than I will pay in royalties."

On May 8th, hundreds of radio stations plan to participate in a "Day of Silence" in support of the cause. It was also announced yesterday that Internet radio broadcasters are getting a two-month extension for paying their new fees.

I'm probably being naive, but I can't help but think that many are underestimating the importance of these Internet radio stations for introducing lesser-known artists and music to those who may be getting tired of mainstream music, or who are at least open to other possibilities. As technology has advanced, more and more people are becoming comfortable with the idea of podcasts and listening to radio via one's computer rather than traditional means. It's difficult to quantify how many of these listeners translate into actual sales, but that doesn't mean the potential benefit should be ignored.

SURVEY:

Do you listen to a Web radio station? If so, which one(s)?

Sources:

SaveNetRadio.org
SoundExchange.com
Radio's Tangled Web (Newsweek)
Internet Radio Equality Act would overturn decision on webcasting fees (Arstechnica)
New Webcasting fees may doom Internet radio (Associated Content)
Pay Per Play: A new royalty scheme for webcasters may shut most of them down. (Chicago Reader)
Paradise to poverty: the fight for I-radio (MediaChannel)
Killing Internet radio, not so softly (Miami New Times)
Net radio sites given more time on royalties
Slashdot discussion (Slashdot)
Internet Broadcasters Get Royalty Deadline Extension (Wired)
Music Industry Continues To Shoot Self In Foot; Forces Pandora To Block Non-US Listeners (Techdirt)




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Throwing hatchets

Above: Me, harassing my 10-year-old niece (who took the photo). She also took the photo below in the same school playground:



As Scott Snyder pointed out in Flickr, apparently "throwing hatchets" is still okay. :-)

Since Jeff installed a firmware update, my laptop stopped its random shutdowns. Yay for Technonerdboys! I've started to finally catch up on all the work and e-mail that has been piling up during various illnesses and technical difficulties over the past three weeks.

Speaking of technonerdboys...



Our friend Parki came for dinner yesterday, and we checked out his new motorcycle:



I made a spicy peanut chicken recipe from The Healthy Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson which turned out quite well. Tonight I'm making a Turkey and Corn Chowder with Barley (with cumin, jalapeno peppers, other intriguing ingredients) from the same cookbook. I couldn't find packaged boneless turkey, so I bought a bunch of turkey drumsticks and cut off the meat. I did a terrible job and hated to waste all the scraps left on the bones, so I took the scrappy bones and dumped in a pot with water. Right now, they're simmering in a huge pot, hopefully resulting in some yummy turkey broth I can use for other recipes.

Mmm, and the air is fragrant with toasted cumin...

For you filkers out there (or anyone curious about filking), I've been gradually updating my Filk FAQ, with the help of members of the filk community. Most recent addition: What is an 'Interfilk wench'? You browse the full index of questions/answers so far and if you're not sure what filk is, here's an answer. :-)


Bryan and Scott Snyder.



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