PeaceOwl and more

Holy molars. I can’t believe I haven’t updated since May. Wow. That’s quite impressive. I didn’t do a huge amount of writing over the summer because I was busy working full-time and hanging out with friends, but I have a few articles and a project that I can show off here today. 🙂

The main project I finished this summer was the peace-lovin’ 1960s history-learnin’ blog, PeaceOwl. It was debuted on August 15th, the 41st anniversary of Woodstock. Includes book and movie reviews, photos from now and the past, green news, interviews (coming soon!) and more. You can get updates about PeaceOwl by following @_PeaceOwl_ on Twitter. If you’re interested in helping out with the blog, email me at peaceowl@live.ca with your name and blog post idea.

I also have another article published at TalentEgg: LAUNCH: A Student Survival Guide to Summer Concerts and Festivals.

I also reunited with the myUsearch blog (my old stomping ground) to do a two-part series on packing for college:

• A College Must Haves List
• Packing for College | What NOT to Bring

And yesterday, I started the Interactive Multimedia program at Holland College in Charlottetown, the same school I graduated from in May. I look forward to developing my craft and combining it with my writing skills and seeing where it takes me.

An update!

Well, I’m officially finished Journalism at Holland College. Two internships completed successfully. Graduation is slated for May 21st.

I made an update to my résumé on this blog, as I’m now working for Apple as a technical support advisor. I’m in training for three weeks before I get to don the headset.

A bunch more of my articles and reviews have been published at TalentEgg‘s LAUNCH. Choose from any of the links below to check them out.

• The best movie soundtracks
• 7 fun ideas for a “non alcoholic” good time
• How to make the “pin-up girl” look work—for work
• Book Review: Scott Pilgrim (series)
• How to survive driver’s ed as an adult
• Movie review: A Single Man

J-H.com redesign

As the title says, I’ve redesigned Jillianne-Hamilton.com. I like it. It’s both pretty, practical, simple and displays my various websites and blogs to my liking. Feel free to shower me with compliments.

I’ve also started a travel blog called Jaunt. The following links are my posts there, so far.

• The natural beauty of McNabs Island
• Links for the traveling scrapbooker

I also have a new post at TalentEgg LAUNCH: How to Rock a Tattoo in the Workplace

‘Precious’ review & ‘7 ways to save money’

I’ve got two more blog posts published at LAUNCH.

• Movie review: Precious
• 7 ways to save money in your apartment

INTERVIEW: Streeter Seidell

He’s one of the original cast members of CollegeHumor and his sketches are some of the funniest on the website. Check out some of my favorite videos featuring Mr. Streeter Seidell.

• Best Buy Manager Sick Day
• Hardly Working: Yoga Class
• The Overgrown Guy Girlfriend

How did you get your start with CollegeHumor? Besides act in various skits, what exactly do you do for the site?
I started at CH by writing articles when I was still in college. I used to write a few a day and post them to the site. When I graduated they offered me a job. As for what I do at CH, I do a little bit of everything. I act, write sketches, write articles, come up with T-shirts and do the live shows. But along with Jeff, I run the editorial department of all CH sites which means I co-oversee our whole operation.

What character is your favorite to play?
If I got the chance to ever play Phantom, I think that would be my favorite.

Do you have a favorite CH skit you’ve been in? What would might it be and why?
I really like one Pat and I did called [“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell“]. Pat and I wrote it together after improvising this little scene on the set of a different video and I think it’s really funny. I really like the way it looks, too.

What did you learn while doing the short film Old Man and the Seymour?
I learned that when actors complain about being tired there is actually some truth to it. I was exhausted the whole time and I had always thought that was bullshit.

You’ve done some stand-up comedy in addition to your work with CollegeHumor. What techniques can you use in either domain? What are some challenges when it comes to doing stand-up?
I think the same rules for comedy apply to all different ways of performing or writing. You just need to do what you think is funny. When I have tried to change my voice to fit what I thought an audience wanted to hear, it didn’t work.

Do you have any tips for up-and-coming comedy writers?
You know, I get asked that a lot and I always say the same thing which feels like a cop out, but I really think it’s true. The best thing any aspiring writer can do, of any genre, is get his or her work out there. Nobody is going to come knocking on your door asking if you have any great ideas unless you give them a reason to show up. Everything I’ve done and hopefully will do is a result of just putting my stuff out into the world.

And lastly, after Amir’s latest prank, how do you feel about skydiving?
I still think skydiving is perhaps the most fun thing you can do in the world.

Check out Streeter’s page on CollegeHumor, follow him on Twitter, check out his blog or become a fan of him on Facebook.

INTERVIEW: The Phantom of the Office

“Distance makes the heart grow fonder, but soaking it in brine makes the heart far more delicious.” – Phantom of the Office

To see more Phantom of the Office stuff, check out his phat Tumblr page. Or follow him on Twitter. Or see his videos on CollegeHumor.

Describe your perfect date.
I’m honestly more of a prune man myself, but dates will do in a pinch.

What historical catastrophe, caused by you, are you most proud of?
I might have to say the Johnstown flood. Look it up.

If you were stranded on an island, what book, movie and food would you choose to have with you?
Funny you should say that. I was stranded on an island for some time in the mid-Atlantic. All I had with me was a Bible and thank God, because it truly was a miracle. Using its pages, I was able to start a signal fire that could be seen miles out to sea.

Two more at TalentEgg!

This new gig at TalentEgg’s LAUNCH seems to be going quite well. I recently had two new articles published.

• Movie review: The Lovely Bones
• 5 ways to showcase your photos

I’m especially proud of the second article, as some of my best photos act as visual stimulation for the reader.

I’m currently working on a redesign of J-H.com. I think I’ve come up with a better, more efficient way of showcasing all my different blogs and websites on one screen without the visitor having to search through a bunch of links.

Plus, I’ve been tooling around with a new image editing program, so that’s always fun.

Until next time- tally ho!

“5 Movies…” / Back to class!

My first article with Talent Egg has been published at their lifestyle magazine site, LAUNCH. Click the link below to check it out.

5 Movies That Make Us Believe in Love Again

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I just finished my first week back at Holland College Journalism. My experience at the Sackville Tribune-Post was definitely a good one. Thanks to Scott, Katie, Jane and Susan for making my time there not only tolerable, but even enjoyable. 🙂

It feels weird being back at school. A lot of the 2nd-years float in and out, doing stories here and there but mostly working by their own schedules. Before I know it, I’ll be wearing a cap and gown and getting my diploma- and symbolic red pen.

It’s bizarre, really.

Local film society carries on fading tradition of theatre experience

It was a cold, snowy, blustery winter night in Sackville.

Three hundred people crammed into Vogue Cinema and waited for the projector to click on.

A Room With a View, an Edwardian drama starring Helena Bonham-Carter, was scheduled for that night as part of the Sackville film society’s line-up.

But the blizzard stalled the movie’s delivery.

Film society co-organizer Thaddeus Holownia hopped into a friend’s four-wheel-drive Jeep and followed a snow plow to Amherst, braving bad roads and low visibility.

Forty minutes later, Holownia returned to the Vogue Cinema, film reel in hand.

“That’s really what film society is about,” Holownia said. “People got together, they came out for the movie and then they were patient enough to wait for me to go get the movie.”

The Sackville Film Society, which currently has about 100 active members, tries to promote the film experience as a cultural and social event.

“That’s becoming rarer and rarer I think, especially in smaller communities,” said Holownia, a photography professor at Mount Allison.

Originally, the society was made up of 70 per cent students and 30 per cent Sackville residents. Now, Holownia said, it’s the other way around. And filling the theatre to capacity is a rare occurrence.

“We’re trying to continue on a tradition that is becoming harder and harder to do.”

The society tries to bring current films, usually of the independent, Canadian, international or documentary persuasion, he said.

“It’s more (about) filling a niche, to provide people with an alternate entertainment that is different from anything else people are going to experience.”

Vogue Cinema manager Jeff Coates said the film society is especially advantageous for university students who want to see what else is available in film.

“Not just a blockbuster movie, but a quality movie.”

Coates added that the society becomes a bit of an addiction once you open up your mind to it.

According to Holownia, the social aspect of the film society adds a special charm to an evening at the movies.

“When you go into the Vogue theatre, you see people you know, you hang out, you talk,” he explained. “Then after the movie, people come out, they go to the coffee shop or to Mel’s or over to Ducky’s and hang out or talk about the movie.”

But the culture of watching movies is changing.

“Unless they’re Hollywood blockbuster movies, the tendency is to download them or rent them,” he said. “Most people don’t (care) about the big screen or the experience of sound and the experience of being engulfed and being in a communal atmosphere within the context of watching something.”

Film society organizers are sometimes criticized for showing edgy films at the society, he said.

“Years ago, that didn’t make a difference. It didn’t matter what we played. We always had people out.”

But this semester’s line-up of films looks promising, he said.

“People have been pretty excited by the series this semester so maybe we’ll revive getting people out again.”

Holownia is looking forward to many of the films in this semester’s series, particularly German drama The White Ribbon.

“The film is shot in black-and-white. I just saw a trailer for it the other day. It’s a very dark film but I think that’s going to be really interesting.”

Holownia enjoys the comments he gets after they show a certain film.

“I’ll meet people on the street or at the coffee shop and people will say to me, ‘Wow. That was the best movie I’ve ever seen.’ And then the next day I’ll meet someone else who’ll say, ‘What are you doing, showing that crap?'” he said. “And that’s great. Just perfect.”

It’s also important to support your local theatre, he said.

“If you think of the alternate – of not having a theatre in town – it would be a real drag. We’re real lucky to have such a jewel of a theatre and have it fixed up and championed.”

There’s going to be a dramatic change in the way films are distributed in the next five years, he said.

“Prints are going to be a thing of the past. It’s going to be all digital,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll be the same experience.”

Every film is an adventure, Holownia believes.

“I hope that people will come out, come early, bring the correct change, socialize and continue to enjoy films as light passing through film,” he said. “That’s not going to be around for much longer, I don’t think.”

Local musician to perform at Olympics

(Published in the January 27th, 2010 edition of the Sackville Tribune-Post.)

As a kid, local indie musician Julie Doiron was on the field hockey team and the softball team and the high school soccer team.

“I used to play squash, but that’s not really a team sport,” she said. “It’s more of an individual game.”

Doiron also considers swimming a very big part of her life.

“I want to swim across the Northumberland Strait. I know that’s been done, and I would love to try it.”

Doiron said she’d also like to do the Sackville triathlon within the next two years.

“I love playing sports, but I don’t do it that much,” she said. “But I would like to start. As I get older, I guess I’m realizing that it’s actually pretty fun.”

The Sackville native has been chosen to represent New Brunswick at the Vancouver Winter Olympics next month.

Doiron, currently on tour, said being able to perform at the Olympics is a great opportunity.

“It’s going to be super cool.”

She will be performing at least three or four shows, she added.

“I’m (also) doing a Neil Young tribute night.”

Doiron said she hopes to score some tickets for a sporting event while she is there.

“I guess it would be fun to see anything – but I’d really like to see a hockey game.”

Among the list of other New Brunswick performers going to Vancouver are David Myles, DJ Bones, Edith Butler, Grand Theft Bus, Jessica Rhaye, Matt Anderson, Measha Brueggergosman, Ode A l’Acadie, Radio Radio, Ryan LeBlanc, Samantha Robichaud and The Olympic Symphonium.