A Visit to Dominic's Film Set

As fate would have it, Dominic Monaghan is here in my home town of Ottawa, Ontario for a few weeks to shoot a movie called The Day. He has been spotted at several well-known Ottawa locations over the past week including Algonquin College and the University of Ottawa (where he held Q&A sessions with students), the National Arts Centre (where he attended a performance of Romeo & Juliet), the Rideau Center shopping mall, a downtown pub, and various restaurants.

This weekend I received a tip that a film crew had closed down a road in the small town of Vars, which is about 20 minutes from my home. Given that film shoots in Ottawa are quite rare, I threw a few LOST items (including Charlie's pants) into my car and drove there with my daughter to check out the situation. Despite the clouds and rain, this was an opportunity I didn't want to miss.

Although there was indeed a film shooting in Vars, it was not The Day. It was instead a film called La Sacrée, touted as the very first Franco-Ontarian comedy. Coincidentally (and I love this coincidence given LOST's propensity for overloading names) the director of the film is also named Dominic -- Dominic Desjardins.

Although slightly disappointed to miss Dom M, I had the good fortune to speak with a local resident whose home was used to shoot several scenes of the movie. She mentioned that the house had in another life been a branch of the Royal Bank, with the bank on the ground floor and the bank manager living directly above it on the second floor. Here's the fun part -- my Father had also been a bank manager and our family lived directly above the bank that he managed. Crazy, huh?

So, although my quest to meet Dominic Monaghan continues, I did get to visit a location shoot and had a very nice conversation in the process. I've included some pics from the visit below.

For more about the film check out La Sacrée's Facebook Page

The stretch of road on which they were filming was closed off.

A couple of rental trucks and several cast and crew cars lined the road.

The filming location.

The bank manager lived directly above the bank, and even had a concealed peephole in his floor through which he had a direct view of the bank's safe. It's a little hard to see here, but this is a view of the 2nd-storey floor, with the bank safe's door below. (The safe is still in place and the current owner uses it as a pantry.)

John Lennon Pen by Montblanc

While overseas recently I spent a little time window shopping at an enclave of super-exclusive boutiques. One item that caught my eye was a collection of pens from Montblanc tied into Lennon's 70th birthday.

It is hard to know what Lennon himself would have thought about his association with pricey luxury goods -- like Dylan, contradiction and inconsistency were an integral part of his character and his charm. Perhaps he would have been disgusted, or perhaps he would have been delighted to find another way to move money from the fortunate to those in need.

Although I didn't spring for the pens, I did pick up this slick promotional book which has some fantastic visuals of the man...and his pen.

To Blog or Not to Blog

Nega-Me: So here's the thing -- you've got a full-time job, a wife, two kids. You're trying to work your way through the six hundred and twenty-seven books you bought as a teenager that still haven't been read. Not to mention the DVD collection that's growing exponentially--

Opti-Me: I'm no busier than anyone else. Plenty of time for blogging. An hour a week to pound out a short post or two? Shouldn't be a problem.

Nega-Me: You just don't get it, do you? If you want to blog, you've got to have something useful to say. Provide some insight on the human condition. Write something that someone out there will find funny! Do you really believe you can do that?

Opti-Me: I've got a few years under my belt. I've made some observations. I have opinions. Besides, have you read some of the blogs out there? The bar hasn't been set very high.

Nega-Me: OK, I'll give you points for that one. You sounded a bit like me for a minute there. Maybe there is hope for you yet. Oh, wait, now I'm sounding like you. Not good.

Opti-Me: Thank you. I think.

Nega-Me: The deal-breaker here is your writing.

Opti-Me: What's wrong with my writing? You know, I wanted to be a writer once. I even have some stories that I submitted to a professional magazine--

Nega-Me: Really? Which issues did they appear in. I would love to read them!

Opti-Me: Sarcasm is the lowest form of humour.

Nega-Me: I thought puns were the lowest form of humour? Regardless, you've spent the last twenty years working in the software industry. Your writing style has eroded considerably since your childhood prime. These days you can barely string together a sentence without making mistakes in spelling or grammer.

Opti-Me: I believe you meant 'grammar'. Grammer is the guy from Frasier.

Nega-Me: See what I mean?

Opti-Me: No, actually. I'll admit, it may take a few weeks to shake off the rust--

Nega-Me: First impressions, brother. In the unlikely event that someone actually finds your blog, you're going to frighten them off within the first paragraph with your clunky prose.

Opti-Me: That hurts.

Nega-Me: Only trying to help. Think of what you can do with the time you'll save. Make a craft with your daughter. Play street hockey with your son. Spend some quality time with your wife.

Opti-Me. Sigh. I guess you're right.

Nega-Me: I always am.

Opti-Me: It sounded so great. Letting my voice be heard. Making friends in cyberspace...

Nega-Me: Dude, I haven't even mentioned the Internet trolls out there. They'll eat you alive. And, FYI, the term 'cyberspace' is, like, way too 20th century.

Opti-Me: [raising white flag] You win. I guess blogging isn't for me. Well, what do you say we watch a movie instead? I picked up Pride and Prejudice the other day. The one that was directed by the guy who did Atonement. I loved Atonement. Did you see it?

Nega-Me: You are joking, right? You know you promised we could watch Robocop today.

Opti-Me: ...for the twenty-ninth time....

Nega-Me: Twenty-fourth. Come on, let's go.

Opti-Me: Fine.

Nega-Me: See, you've forgotten about that silly blogging stuff already.

Blog The First

Coming soon...

"To Blog or not to Blog"