Lord Chesterfield once said that “frequent and loud laughter is characteristic of folly and ill manners.” And that is why we only remember him as the namesake for a certain brand of sofa. It is also the reason that we are, perhaps, more familiar with other more important people like Charlie Chaplin and Mark Twain who are remembered for such adages as “a day without laughter is wasted” and “against the assault of laughter nothing can stand,” respectively. This being said, I thought I’d like to share with you some things that have made me laugh recently.

Though many people may find him dry, one of my favourite humorists is the bard himself. Who can go wrong with such hilarious one-liners as “misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” This is a clip of his newest Tragedy, entitled William and Kate.

If that didn’t get you going, perhaps your sense of humor is even more overtly political, in which case I whole-heartedly recommend the King of Kanadian Komedy, Rick Mercer!

…outdated albeit educational.

Maybe you’re like me and can’t seem to get enough Potter fix. If so, A Very Potter Musical may be just the thing! I will warn you in advance, however, it is Act 1, Scene 1 of full length musical, and once you push play, you will very likely be unable to hit pause!

Finally, my all time favourite comedian. Not only are his remarks witty, his timing uncanny, his creativity genius, but he is English, and that makes all the difference. I give you John Cleese in…

The Scientist.

and

Fawlty Towers.

and

The Ministry of Silly Walks.

For the last two days I’ve been working in Calgary on a shoot for a film that my friends Kurt and Dustin are directing and producing, respectively. Now, before you go thinking that we’re running around with a camcorder taking “artistic” shots at silly angles, I should set some things straight. This stuff is pretty pro with a capital “P”. The camera they are using is the same kind that they used to shoot Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (that’s your cue to be impressed!). Are you impressed? Good! Now we’re clear that this is not exactly an amateur ordeal… it’s just awesome.

Anyway, the film (entitled Cody Fitz, after the protagonist), had a crew of a couple dozen for the two days I worked on the shoot. We were all jammed, equipment and all, into the tiny living-dining-kitchen area of someone’s house. I was assigned the job of “grip”, which, as it sounds like, meant that it was a lot of holding things and moving stuff. Not going to lie, it was still pretty great. I’ve never been “behind the scenes” on any kind of movie to T.V. shoot, and I just had a blast.

I’m studying Drama in school, and though that concerns theatre more than it does film, the two mediums obviously have a lot in common! Film is still something I think I may want go get into, and it was wonderful having the chance to get to work on a large-scale feature-length film (if only for a couple days).

Well, I think that’s enough of my ramblings, but if you’re checking out a film festival next year try to look out for Cody Fitz (and the name of that grip “Harley Morison” in the credits). At the very least, definitely remember the name “Kurt Harder”… if you haven’t heard of him yet, you will! This up-and-coming, Vancouver-bound director is bound to make some waves in the film industry in the coming years!

So, remember last time when I said I was gonna blog about books? Well, I lied. Instead, I decided to write about the Internet this time. Just think back 10 years (if you can) and try to remember how much you (or your parents) used the Internet. Odds are that since then, your Internet usage has gone up. A lot.

It seems that people’s use of electronic technology, in general, has gone up. Obviously this isn’t surprising with all the advances in computers over the last decade, as well as the increase in output of little.

Now this is all good and well cause we love Facebook and iTunes and the ability to type things up all pretty… but what about when things go wrong? Usually, I tend to do this:

…just kidding, but I’m pretty sure everyone has felt like that sometimes! Like right now, this very instant, as I’m writing this and trying to load that video up there and my wireless isn’t working! Grr!

Yes, the Internet is wonderful (and a lot more convenient than the old days of dial-up), but personally I think it’s becoming overused. Internet has become a utility rather than a luxury, up there with electricity, water, and natural gas. Nowadays, it’s become an expectation (from school, work, or what have you) to have a reliable, 24/7 connection with the Internet… and when it doesn’t work, bam! it screws everything up, doesn’t?

I suppose, then, in a way, the Internet is some sort of weird, societal utility and when it’s having some technical difficulties, it’s almost as annoying as when the power goes out or the sewage backs up.

Food for thought!

I have decided to dedicate this blog (and hopefully many more after it) about books! In particular, I think I’ll focus on teen fiction. I’ll try to post about really awesome books I’ve read recently, though because of life and its tendency to get in the way of things, I may end of talking about books I read ages ago or genres other than teen fiction!

Anyway, for my first entry, I’ve decided to talk about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. If you haven’t read this one, you just have to! Overall, it’s a pretty easy read that doesn’t take much to get through… but it’s still very awesome. Be forewarned though: once you stop you can’t put it down. I read the first novel of the trilogy in a few days, and HAD to keep going. So, I went out and got the second (Catching Fire). By the time I was finished that though, I realized I had seriously been neglecting both school and sleep, so I’m waiting until school’s out for the summer to pick up the third.

To give a brief summary for those who haven’t read it (don’t worry! No spoilers!), the Hunger Games takes place in a sort of post-apocalyptic North America where people live in districts, closed off from the outside world. Altogether, there are twelve districts which each provide resources for the Capitol, which rules over the districts indefinitely. In order to maintain each district’s submission, the Capitol holds the annual Hunger Games, and event where one boy or girl is chosen from each district to participate in a battle to the death. Of course the protagonist is a contender in the Hunger Games, and it all goes from there.

A great deal of the story deals with the concept of “survival of the fittest,” and what it is to be a survivor. Collins also discusses the morality of the survivor. If you’ve survived, it was at the expense of another life. Throughout the novels, she toys with this idea and asks if it’s better to sacrifice yourself for others, or to harm others to protect yourself.

For a teen novel, The Hunger Games is surprisingly political. The issues Collins brings up are very relevant today, and I think this is one of the things that has built to its immense popularity. It’s wonderfully refreshing to read a young adult novel today that doesn’t have anything to do with vampires and actually stimulates thought! I shake my head every time I walk thorough the teen section at Chapters and see shelf upon shelf full of mindless vampire romances. It’s shining stars like The Hunger Games that restore my faith in literature.

If you do choose to take my advice and read it, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed! Like I said, just make sure you have ample time to get through it fairly quickly… it’s addictive!!! I’m sure the third and final instalment (Mockingjay) will be just as good, if not better and I can’t wait until I have time to get to it!

Till next time, happy reading!

Harley