Video Shoot

We made use of a sunny day in Kerrisdale this week to shoot a quick 'rock star' type music video - for eventual placement up on Youtube don'tcha know. (Well now you do.) This is our first effort in this style since the 'Postman' ditty back in 1989. And once again it was a bit of a challenge for me to link up the singing portions of the song (handled with casual grace by lead singer Harry) precisely with the strolling image he and his face insisted on maintaining.

As mentioned, this was far from a serious effort (I should try being serious someday) so when we reached any point in the tune where we figured it was a 'close enuff' match with the opening & closing of his mouth mechanics, we simply gave up & moved on to the next verse and location. Harry had a small cassette tape deck hidden in the sleeve of his massive sweater in order to hear the song playing and to stay in beat.

We were able to wrap everything up in just over an hour; for a song that lasts about 2 minutes. But look - already the nasty thing has made it's debut (in colour) on the Youtube site. Sigh; as usual, Youtube tends to dummy-down image quality to the point where it might be best not to bother uploading in the first place.

Team Bid'niz

Last night I met up with a few of the elite players from the VETERANS softball team down at the 'Elephant Walk' pub. It's currently the off-season don'tcha know; dark wet and cold - no better time to talk about softball & summer. But there was also some pressing off-field bid'niz we had to discuss.

This get together was our first chance to have any pictures taken (thanks employee Pam) showing each of us taking a turn at hoisting the championship trophy HIGH OVER OUR HEADS that we won last summer (we opted for gathering around it - it's too heavy) and to pass out the new zippy baseball hats that we also received from the league office. (Zippy = sharp.)

But more important; ever since the Eldorado Lounge closed permanantly at the end of last season, we have become a team without an official 'after game retreat'. A place for faded softball stars like us to relax and relive our glory days in long-winded pointless monologues offered up for anyone in earshot. Every team needs a post-game hangout. So after 15 years at the Eldorado, the search began last night for a NEW team pub (the 'Elephant' was deemed too loud) in hopes that by next season - win or lose - we'll again have somewhere to sit around in our sweaty uniforms discussing exactly what went right or wrong in that particular night's thrilling dust-filled softball tilt.

The Taking Of The ID Photo

Part of the joy in visiting Riffle Studios - or so I've been led to believe by the vast majority - is undergoing the official taking of the ID photo; a formality I've insisted upon since becoming head of operations here at Riffle Globular sometime in mid-2006.

The photo is snapped mere moments after the guest has entered the facility and is intended to serve as a happy keepsake; to celebrate the precious first few minutes in our carefully pre-arranged time period.


The Photo Booth function of my iMac performs this clever manuever in a matter of seconds - allowing each guest an opportunity to come to grips with their inner apprehension regarding the enormity of the Riffle experience they find themselves in, while at the same time, completing a fun and simple exercise together. It's clearly an attempt to dispose of any minor discomforts they may be having with the truely imposing surroundings - so they might then concentrate more fully on ONLY those matters related to their arrival at my door.


To put them even more at ease, I will often join in with the official picture taking procedure - which the guest will tend to view as a friendly form of bonding - further eroding any walls that may have been imagined between us. There is certainly no intention here at Riffle Studios to intimidate or stifle the creative instincts of our visiting artists. Quite the opposite is true in fact.

The ample display of successful previous projects (impossible to miss with even the most casual of glances) have not been so tastefully arranged throughout the facility in any minor attempt at boasting. Nonsense. Pish Posh. Their purpose now is to provide inspiration and confidence in our overall productions. In their proud silence, they now serve to salute our past achievements, while at the same time, they promise a sunny outlook on any future endeavors. Becoming part of the Midhrif team should be the message 'amplified' here for all arriving guests no matter what the project.


That said, however, those persons that refuse to accept the ID photo demand are severely punished and swiftly ushered off the property. Heck, nobody said you always had to be nice and polite to your guests.

The Missing Tie

Jack (and son Raymond) react in mutual stunned silence after receiving an emailed copy of the 'Comic Morning' company photo (see last blog report) in which Jack is shown in amongst all the other cartoon characters that appear in the Japanese magazine - wearing a plain white t-shirt and cheap sportscoat... BUT NO TIE!

Stable Of Cartoons

I still don't know what the text on this large banner is trying to tell us (I see the number TEN up there) but the poster was sent over to me by the publishers of the Japanese magazine 'Comic Morning' as a visual acknowledgement of any and all cartoon characters that have appeared between their covers over the years. Apparently, we're all one big happy extended family - at least for this group photo. I see the title of my strip in the lower listings, just above the word DATA. And as for my scribbled inkwork, it can easily be found in the bottom row of faces - just before you drop off the page in the right-hand corner. Go ahead, click on it to expand. I'll wait.

What I found odd about this presentation, was that in ALL the hundreds of comic panels I drew for their magazine over the years, "Jack" (my character) was always drawn wearing a black tie. It was just a regular part of his daily outfit; not unlike Charlie Brown's sweater with the jagged line. I even had Jack playing softball wearing a tie.

But here's Jack today wearing a T-shirt and sportscoat. Okay, yes, I DO remember submitting that ONE particular episode for the run of the series, but he never went tie-less before or after. Point is... if the character's schtick is to be always seen wearing the same clothes (or tie) then shouldn't he/she be represented in that manner for any long-lasting nostalgic salute like this one? Or am I wrong with that thought?

Bottom line, it doesn't really matter that they decided to commemorate the one-and-only time Jack was 'out of uniform'. I'm touched and tickled that they included my hastily-scribbled pen marks AT ALL in their official 'stable' of published cartoon characters. Still; it makes me wonder... what... could have... been... (cue dreamy music and 'ripple-fade' to black.)

Top Stories

A few 2006 highlights - obtained during the recently completed calendar year...

I met the newest member of the extended family, Breanna. First child of niece, Tracy. I'm now officially the 'great' uncle. Cute kid this one. In the picture, she's offering handfuls of yogurt to anyone interested.



Our softball team had one of those ultra-rare championship seasons. The massive trophy for which, currently sits safely here on my kitchen table. I eat my corn flakes out of it each morning.



A friendly visit from the friendly Australian. Don & I grew up on the same street - back in the good ol'days of midnight outdoor ping/pong games; rival super-8 movie studios; and basement table-hockey teams. Quarterback of the Block Blazers, he wuz. Brisbane's just too far away, mister Zambezi Bioscope.



... and, as usual, it was another rewarding year of communication betwixt me & the ex-Tupper classmate, Jon. While yes; we've finally stopped recording old fashioned cassette tapes to each other (after 30 years) we still keep a constant stream of emails and CDs and DVDs flying across the Atlantic. Ya' never plan these long-term friendships, they just sorta happen.

The Riffle Shingle

Just a quick thank you note here to Maria (once again) for the ever-so-cool xmas gift she gave me a few years back. I still get compliments from people when they visit the studio. Everybody likes my 'business shingle'. At least, that's what I think these planks of wood are called. Shingles. It's like the shingle that would swing in the breeze outside the front door of ABC TV's Marcus Welby. On the Universal backlot in Hollywood. His character lived in a quiet residential area (in the house owned a few years earlier by June & Ward Cleaver) and while he wasn't a REAL doctor, he marcus welby.

A town like Mayberry would have plenty of them on Main Street; or in Popeye's home port of Seahaven. They're hung out to advertise the quaint one-of-a-kind services provided within. Of course, if it's a ghost town or a TV show like the Twilight Zone, these things would always have one bracket missing and be almost ready to fall off.

Not so with this one. Nice job Maria. T'was a perfect gift considering my rather bizarre and uncommon interests. I'm a hard person to shop for at the best of times and I appreciate the investigatin' she did to get it just right.

Mind ya, it doesn't help the music being recorded in there to sound any better. But that's probably our fault.