Merry Christmas Everyone

Working

Everything seems to be coming along nicely for a productive Christmas break. I want to remind everyone waiting for the Oromocto Year-Ender that it is increasingly difficult to prioritize the skate video with contractual obligations keeping me true to deadlines that must be met for other jobs. I am currently finishing up a logo for Oromocto Ringette, a banner for the Malawi Student Exchange Program (Click here to see more about that), a new East Side montage, as well as a new pamphlet for STU's New Art Gallery located in McCain Hall. I'll be updating my Behance portfolio soon with some finished works.

In the meantime, please check out East Side's site that I maintain. There are daily product reviews, exclusive East Side videos, as well as news on upcoming sales and promotions.

Book Review in the Daily Gleaner

A book I designed last year for the New Brunswick Museum, "William Forrestall: Paintings Drawings", was reviewed in the Daily Gleaner yesterday, November 23. The review was done by Karen Ruet (many, many thanks to her), and explains the design quite intricately.

It was the second time the book has been reviewed in the last week, in anticipation of William's opening this Saturday, November 27 at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, downtown. I will be in attendance and it would be great to see some familiar faces!

Here's a link to the full review on The Daily Gleaner's website:::::
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/liveit/article/1319650

Some more Skateboarding

Shot some more skateboarding over the past couple of weeks:::

Here's a shot of Austin Murray this past weekend at a new spot in Fredericton::::




Here is the Movember edition of the Old Man Ramp Jam, affectionately titled The Old Man Mustache Jam. Make sure to check out my friend Luke's Movember celebration at the Garrison District. I'll post a link to it below this video:::::

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Click here for more info on the Movember Celebration!

Lawrence and Holloman - Starting Wednesday!

Starting this Wednesday, my good friend Thomas Fanjoy's Lawrence and Holloman opens at Memorial Hall Theatre at UNB Fredericton.

Cost is $6 for students / $10 for adults.

Here's a brief summary about what the play is about:

Friends.
Prestige.
An accident.
A series of accidents.
A big black moustache.

"Lawrence & Holloman" is a hilarious dark comedy about a friendship that endures strange and terrible "happenings," which bring their friendship to new and...uncomfortable places.

Check out the event for more info:::::::
Facebook - Lawrence and Holloman

Book Review in the Telegraph Journal

William Forrestall: Paintings and Drawings is an impressive volume spanning 25 years of creative production by a significant Atlantic Canadian artist.

The book, which is also a catalogue to an accompanying exhibition opening Sat., Nov. 27, at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, documents the artist's oeuvre, from preliminary sketches to finished paintings. Allen Bentley's essay, as well as the interview with the artist, provide an in-depth look inside the artist's mind within the development of his studio practice in still-life painting.

The sheer number of reproductions is enlightening; however, it is the inclusion of painted studies, and an entire chapter on preliminary drawings, that adds to the fascination of Forrestall's work. This detail, describing his masterful skill in the drawings, leading to the freedom in the painted studies, which then dives into a state of control in the finished works, allows us to enter into the artist's process.

Bentley's essay astutely compares Forrestall's search for simple truth to "William Blake's finding eternity in a grain of sand." Underneath meticulous surface control, the works present themselves with honesty and integrity. The focused precision allows for the knowledge that the paintings are part of the artist's contemplative journey and search for a greater human truth.

It is the artist's comments that are most revealing. Forrestall's discussion of faith and family is proof that underneath the control and repetition there exists an interaction with humanity, and even compassion.

Alexandrya Eaton for the Telegraph-Journal

Further delays to OSP's Year Ender

Because of mounting school-work, I have decided to postpone the expected release date for the Oromocto Skate Park 2010 Year Ender. I have been working a lot on school work amongst other things, and I haven't had enough time to work on it. I will however, be releasing a new teaser on Saturday that will have the first minute and a half of the video - Keeping in mind that the video will end up being around the length of a short movie, around 10 minutes at least.

Video Central

I've been up to a lot of video editing lately. I actually just got done shooting a video for a music video class last week that I started editing over the weekend. The concept is a bit different than most music videos in the sense that we are editing around a piece of classical music (Biber's Mystery Senatas to be exact), only to have the sound stripped of it entirely. The video will then be projected on a big screen behind two women who will be performing the pieces LIVE. The show isn't until February 2011, but I will have some shots up from behind the scenes in no time.

In the meantime, here are some information videos I shot for East Side's 2011 season::::

JC Talks Snowboards::::::::::


AND

Brenton Lays out Layaway:::::::::

NEW, New East Side Layout

There it is! EastSideBoardSupply.ca has been redone again. After getting some great critique from people about the usability, look, and feel of the other redesign, I went back to the drawing board. I stuck with the easy-to-update blog approach, but went in a totally different visual direction. I wanted something easy to look at and easy to read, with good colors and satisfying contrast. This is what I ended up with. Any feedback is greatly appreciated, so let me know what works and what doesn't! (Including links)

There is also a sale going on in Saint John this weekend. Save 20% on all regular priced items! Fredericton will be hosting the same sale, but next weekend.

Kurtis Shea goes to Oromocto

Here's a vid I did a little while ago at the Oromocto Skate Park. It's East Side rider Kurtis Shea rippin Oromocto park a new one, in the dark for the most part. Peep this vid for a lesson on how to shred proper::::

Oromocto 2010 Year Ender on it's way!

Last year, I released Oromocto Skate Park's Year Ender and it has accumulated more hits than I could ever had imagined. This summer I spent a lot more time filming, and unfortunately, made the switch to HD after compiling a lot of footage on MiniDV (aka SD). I have looked through over 36,000 clips and have over 1,500 clips to choose from for this year's Year Ender. I know I have been lagging behind on this release, but I have to say, it'll be worth the wait. I have run into some bumps along the way as far as space and time are concerned, but I can say confidently, that the 2010 Year Ender will be out by mid-to-late-November and will feature the likes of local rippers;

Brendan Meehan, TJ Leighton, Justin Martin, Kyle Albright, BK, Kurtis Shea, as well as some visitors to the park like Tyler Riddle, and Foo Ling Chao, otherwise known as Thrasher.

Here is a trailer I put together a couple weeks back to appease any anxiety anyone was feeling about seeing their footage. I will be releasing another teaser soon:::::::



And here's 2009's Year Ender::::::


Make sure to subscribe to the Oromocto Skate Park Channel::::::::::::

New East Side Video - Old Man Ramp Jam

Shot a video downtown last weekend at East Side's mini ramp 'round back behind the shop. Here's some of the tricks that went down. Gotta say.. I love that Pong checks his phone before he goes for gold..

Oh No Theodore - The Lighthouse Sessions

The Lighthouse Sessions consist of 3 songs from Oh No, Theodore!'s debut Self-titled album; they are:

"Bloody Hands"
"Senescence Song"
and "Fit for Your Toes"

The video shoot went down in Fredericton, NB on top of the lighthouse on Regent St. We paid a nominal fee, and were aloud to shoot for an hour. However, we only required a second take on two songs, and got out of there fairly quickly considering all of the bands equipment, and my video equipment.

Here are some screens of the videos. Click any of the pictures to see all the videos in one place on my Behance Portfolio page. Or click here.





Thanks very much to Ali Samuel and Jon Pollack on assistant camera, as well as Zach Long on sound. The Lighthouse Sessions were produced in part by Oh No Theodore and myself, and the videos were edited solely by me, Rodney Mann.

I hope you enjoyed the videos. Please pass them along. This band deserves as much recognition as they can get. They have done a lot in the 6 months they have been around, including becoming finalists in The Harvest Jazz and Blues Rising Star Competition, and being featured as a Show-to-See at this summer's Sunseeker Festival by CBC contributor Marc "Bones" Leblanc of Indy Pop Night fame.

http://myspace.com/OhNoTheodore for more amazing songs. More videos to come soon. Very soon.

Oh No, Theodore! is
Jeremy McLaughlin
Kyle Albright
Lucas Bailey
Alethia Dinkins
Aaron Bravener
Gemma Marr
and Jake Spencer

Downtown Sesh

Hey all, check out the video I shot downtown with Cralph, BK, Justin Martin, Derak the Bort, and Austin Murray. Austin actually wrote the song used in this video and it's great so make sure you let him know by posting comments on it.

Without further ado, here' s the video::::::::::::::::::

Had a lot on the go!

To everyone who keeps checking my blog despite my terribleness of updating; Thank You.
As the title of this post suggests. I have been busy on a few other ventures, including a new website for East Side Board Supply (www.eastsideboardsupply.ca), a rather large banner (8ft x 3.5 ft) for a Malawi Exchange Program offered at the University of New Brunswick, a book that just went to print for Fredericton-based artist Stephanie Weirathmueller, as well as a couple of skate videos.

I'll start off by showing off the newest East Side website. Here's a screen shot:
  

UFC Tournament THIS TUesday at Oromocto Skate Park

For all of those who didn't know, I maintain a blog for Oromocto Skate Park as well as my own. I mention this because maybe some of you read this blog, but don't read the other one. If that is the case, then you probably didn't know about the big UFC 2010 Tournament OSP is hosting THIS Tuesday @ 5:30pm. $5 buy-in, winner-take-all. If this sounds like something you and your friends might be into, then swing by Oromocto Skate Park (located inside the King's Arrow Arena beside Gage Golf Course), Tuesday night and take a shot at a hefty chunk of cash!

Oh Shit, Theodore!

Well, Sunday didn't go as planned because of an unforeseen sickness that crept up on lead singer, Jeremy McLauglin, robbing him of his voice. We have tentatively scheduled the shoot for Wednesday this week, so assuming Jeremy has kicked the sickness known as Dos Flu, we will be shooting some video that will be released both sooner, and later.

In unrelated news, I've recently been hired on at East Side Board Supply based out of Fredericton, NB to do some multimedia work. In the coming weeks and months keep a close eye on http://eastsideboardsupply.ca for all new rider profiles, product features, as well as sales and other things. If you haven't done so, join up on the ESBS Facebook group and keep up to date with what's going on in the shop, and on the street. You can get there by clicking here

Music Video News

I will be teaming up with Oh No, Theodore! to create a couple music videos for their newly released self-titled full-length CD. The videos will be shot at some little known spots around Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Oh No, Theodore have a pile of shows coming up around Atlantic Canada, so check them out at their MySpace http://myspace.com/ohnotheodore. Here is what their schedule is looking like for the next little bit:



Here's a little write-up about the band::::
Oh No Theodore! began in March of 2010 when singer/songwriter Jeremy McLaughlin took his folkie, toned-down solo performance to the next level by inviting musician friends to join him on stage and in the studio.

The move transformed Oh, No Theodore! from a single entity into a miniature orchestra full of passion and intensity.
In addition to McLaughlin’s acoustic guitar and lead vocals, the band also reverberates with the talents of cellist Lukas Bailey, lead guitarist Kyle Albright, keyboard and vocalist Gemma Marr, drummer Aaron Bravener, and violinist Alethea Dinkins.
From the moment Oh no, Theodore! first began, they have been tirelessly rehearsing, gigging and recording to get their name thrown into the delicious Maritime musical batter.

Though still in its infancy, the band has already secured spots opening for the likes of ECMA award nominated artists The Sleepless Nights, Alert The Medic, and Andy Brown. Their debut EP, entitled How To Move Without Your Shoes, was named indie album of the week by CHSR during the early weeks of June.
Meanwhile, the band has also found time to record and release an entire full-length, self-titled album.

The hardworking, motivated individuals of Oh no, Theodore! plan to take great strides over the next few years, with hope of touring Canada in the near future, and Europe later on down the road.
In the meantime, keep updated by following them on twitter (www.twitter.com/ohnotheodore), myspace (www.myspace.com/ohnotheodore) and CBC Radio 3 (http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Oh-no-Theodore).

Some Catching up to do

Hello loyal blog readers. I know you're there, because I see your hits on my statcounter. Listen I've been busy, but busy doing things that I, for some reason, haven't posted to this blog, despite having posted them on other blogs.

Here are two skate videos I have put together in the last week. I will post some other stuff soon :)

East Side goes to Bathurst


TJ Leighton - For Your Consideration

New OSP Video / News about OSP's Video Skate Camp

I just finished up a new Oromocto Skate Park video, I tried something different this time, opting to make use primarily of slow-motion captures I shot testing out what the new HDR FX1000 is capable of. I had been tampering around with frame rates and seeing what I could get, but when I was able to find the Slow-Motion feature, I was hooked.

I also bumped Saturation levels and white balanced to the bottom of a shoe where a piece of paper wasn't present. I hope this video works for you as much as it's working for me. Also, song is Apocalyptica -Path. Enjoy:::::



For more information on the Video Skate Camp check out the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139444592750682

El Lucha Update!

To all of those El Lucha Diablo fans! There is news that concerns YOU!

The cast and crew have met over the last couple weeks to finish up shooting some loose ends and some more random goods. The rough edit should be done within the next week or so and will be available online for a short period of time before we send it off to several film festivals for screenings, I'll let you know which ones it plays at once it plays)

Get pumped! Some more tom foolery is on it's way!

Sorry clicking the image to the right doesn't open the new edit. That would be impossible where I haven't edited it yet.

Oromocto Skate Park opens / The Resurgence of It's Rodney, Mann

Oromocto Skate Park has opened it's doors for 2010 and has launched a Blog to help coordinate what will be going down this summer!

Check it out @ http://OromoctoSkatePark.blogspot.com

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More blog updates coming soon. I promise. In the mean time, check out the video Kyle and I put together of the new layout for Oromocto Skate Park:::::

48 Hour Film Fest Success!

It has been a long time since I updated. Let's just blame that on school. Yeah seems like a good scape goat.

Things I haven't posted on my blog that I probably should have by now:

Last Sunday, March 21, the Second Annual 48 Hour Film Festival had it's awards Gala. There was a great turn out to support local film talent. Adam Pozer, Christina Arsenault and I decided that we would submit a film this year to have some fun and put off class work. We took on Mackenzie Gordon and Michael Holmes-Lauder and ended up submitting a film called El Lucha Diablo Loco, a comedy about an evil genius hires a film crew to follow him around while he searches for meaning in his life and an understanding about his estranged father.


More on the Gala::::::

The night started out with some thank yous, and got into the awards quickly. After the first round of awards went through without hearing anything about our submission, it was time to watch the third place film before the first intermission. When I heard the guitar strum and the words "Buenos Dias, Bitches" I couldn't believe it. There were so many great entries there was no way I could have predicted placing third. But there were more surprises to come.

Once I got back in from an intermission, the first award up was Best Editor, which I was sure was going to Risk Locker. Imagine my surprise when I heard my name called. I gracefully messed up my thank you speech by quickly thanking everyone twice and heading back to my seat. (It was a shared win where Christina Arsenault and I edited the piece together.)

Three awards and an intermission later, our actor, Michael Holmes-Lauder took home Best Actor - Congratulations to him! - So all in all, El Lucha Diablo loco took home three awards, the highest count of the night, and I am still speechless. If anyone else involved in the festival ends up reading this, congratulations on putting together some great films.

Without further ado, here is our submission, El Lucha Diablo Loco:::::::

Link Dump 2wo

Link Dump 2wo. It has some helpful links and some crazy links. I will be posting more tomorrow.. Err maybe the next day. In the mean time, ENJOY!




All I can say is:

Man BABY!

Here's dos linkage:
http://manbabies.com/popular







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This is the Tough Guy Competition that takes place every year in the UK. It involves racing across 8 miles of barbed wire, fire, and even sees competitors swimming through tunnels in ice water. Thousands of people come out to this event to raise money for charity. There's a compilation video at the end of the page that is pretty interesting too.

Here's dos linkage:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247492/Tough-Guy-contest-Eight-miles-mud-barbed-wire-broken-glass--race-defies-elf-safety-culture.html




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There's been a lot of talk about the newly released iPad, mostly about how it runs on the iPhone operating system and has about the same functionality, but here's an article about the sizes of all of these tech-gadgets on the market.

-If you bought one, that site also has a ton of top 10 apps for it, and subsequently, the iPhone.

Dos Linkage:
http://www.gamesradar.com/f/ipad-size-comparison-ds-psp-kindle-and-more/a-2010012712272486087




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VIDEOS:


Fainter.
Hilarious Price is Right outtake!

http://wimp.com/priceright/


Serious Skating

Here is a skate clip of Wieger Van Wageningen in Amsterdam

Rodney's Bi-Daily Link Dump - Number 1ne

So welcome to the first ever Link Dump. I have been spending too much time surfing the internet and drinking coffee instead of updating my blog. Since I generally have a lot to say, it strikes me as odd that I haven't remembered to write any of it down for the blog.

Either way, in a vain effort to entertain people and also to share the funny things I find with everybody instead of sending out numerous emails and private messages a day with no subject line, and a link to a funny cat picture I found; I have decided to introduce Rodney's Link Dump!! The title says bi-daily, but I will deny having ever said that, so moving on. Here are a couple of funny things I came across today:

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This was a fun find. While I agree that these are a great start, I feel that maybe they should introduce a new figurine: Disapproving Grandmother when she Finds out that Baggy isn't Filled with Spices for Dinner.

Here's dos linkage:
http://www.holytaco.com/6-actions-figures-adults-can-relate




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Here is a great group of photos. The title of the page is called 'Captured at the Right Moment' yet I feel like I might have called it 8 or 10 Sweet pictures Among 40 or 50 Alright and Awkward Pictures.

Dos Linkage:
http://www.bigpicture.in/wonderful-moments-captured-taken-at-right-time/




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VIDEOS:


Animals vs Dominos.
Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Hilarious ending!

http://www.wimp.com/animalsdominoes/


Burj Dubai Base Jump

You may have seen the Fazza Air one where their base jump was sanctioned, but this one is legit and really intense!

Jon Lajoie's Fredericton Show: An Incredibly Bias Fan Revue

I don't want to discredit the Derham Elementary School's ballet recital, but the place to be last night was Jon Lajoie's performance at The Playhouse in downtown Fredericton. Lajoie's highly anticipated arrival in Fredericton lands on his last tour date for his Live As Fuck comedy tour. He played to a nearly packed house and performed some of his Youtube favorites along with a whole raft of new material made specifically for his show.

Lajoie was opened by Kyle Dooley who prepped the audience for what was to come with some raunchy comedy that got a lot of laughs. You may recognize Kyle Dooley's name from his highly successful Halifax-based Picnicface comedy group. If you haven't heard of them, you're lying because everyone in the world has heard of POWERTHIRST, and they were the genious's that brought it to us. They have a whole lot more to keep you laughing at their website http://picnicface.com.

When Lajoie burst out on to the Playhouse stage he was adorning some pretty G'd out apparel while he performed the hit that made everyone wonder how to spell his name properly so they could Youtube him correctly, Everyday Normal Guy. After getting the crowd pumped he performed some stand up that would make your grandmother puke, a completely unexpected path for those who have come to expect Lajoie to be a purely comedy singer/songwriter.

The laughs kept going when Lajoie started the songs with High as Fuck and continued on with some new songs and some older favorites, such as Two Girls One Cup Song among others. Lajoie finished the night with the over-the-top sexist persona, MC Vagina's Show Me Your Genitals.

Lajoie had to deal with one heckler in the crowd who he handled with poise much to the crowds pleasure. The heckler was later found passed out in his chair after the show (If ANYONE has a picture of this guy - Since I saw several camera phones taking pictures, please contact me!)

The entire night was a great success and saw drones of fans flood the lobby for a chance to get an autograph and a picture with the comedian. Rumor says the rest of the night went very well for Lajoie, and Fredericton's tour date will be etched in his memory for quite some time. Supposing he wasn't stoned and forgot.

Here's Ali and I with Jon after the show moments before he excused himself to the bathroom.

Jon Lajoie TONIGHT!!!

Jon Lajoie is coming! This time it’s for real. Fredericton’s Playhouse will play host to the Montreal-born comedian January 16^th on one of his last tour stops during his Live as Fuck cross-Canada tour.

The Youtube phenom decided last year to venture across the country performing his unique form of stand-up, but had to put the plan on hold when he was signed on to The FX series, The League. The cancelation was a blessing in disguise where the last four months allowed Lajoie to add to his comedic arsenal and fine-tune his tour material. Lajoie looks forward to his Fredericton stop, having spent many drunken hours writing east-coast specific material. Fredericton holds a certain amount of nostalgia for Lajoie since his grandfather lives here and his middle name is Frederick.

Lajoie’s experience on The League has taught him a lot about comedy and what gets people laughing. During his tenure in Las Angeles, Lajoie played numerous live shows, including a Comedy Central special. Admitedly he isn’t too sure how well the special will work out “It’s airing on TV and I don’t know what they’re going to use since none of the stuff I performed can be alowed on cable television.” One show saw his American crowd appauled during his performance of the Two Girls One Cup Song. (Never seen it? Get Youtubin!) so he really looks forward to playing to a Canadian audience who shares the same comedic mindset.

2010 is shaping up to be the year of Jon Lajoie with The League entering its second season. The League took viewers by storm this past fall with a stacked roster of comedians alongside Lajoie such as Nick Kroll and backed by a creative team, members of which brought us such timeless comedy classics as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Borat, Bruno, and so much more.

While filming for The League may have been a completely different ballgame for Lajoie who is known for his Youtube videos which he writes, shoots, and edits himself, his Live as Fuck promises to bring a blend of all of this and some original stuff you might not expect, “Everyone knows my videos but no one has really ever heard me tell a joke,” Lajoie explains, “I’ve been writing some material specifically for the East Coast that should be fun.”

Jon Lajoie plays at The Playhouse in Fredericton January 16^th. Tickets are going quick so be sure to get yours soon! If you haven’t heard of Jon Lajoie yet, Youtbe search Jon Lajoie and enjoy hours of entertainment.