Summer 2011

It's officially Fall, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere. I've had quite a rocky summer, got thrusted into situations that I'm not used to. The biggest factor for me was having eight people in my house. I didn't grow up living the Brady Bunch life, didn't share my room growing up past the age of five. I've never had to figure out how to sleep with a room mate who snores like a rogue bone grinder in that horror movie you probably shouldn't have watched the night before. Due to the influx of relatives I lost a huge part of summer and couldn't go to many places. Factor in a pregnant women who is irritable without a bun in the oven and positively insufferable when their is one being baked. Then add four house hosts who are all used to having their own space and you've got a perfect recipe for a stressful summer.  Today it's not about the negative it's about all the good that came with this summer.

Warning: Contents Are Crazier Than They Appear

It should go without saying, The biggest highlight of summer 2011 involved two Scottish decorators named Colin & Justin.  I distinctly remember being a high school senior and watching Home Heist. Trust me it had nothing to do with my wanting to better my sense of interior style. I was 18 shooting Justin's corsages with a sticky dart gun and watching the break-ins pretty much did it for me. I was working in a woodwork at the time that specialized in furniture and always said " I'd had to be their carpenter". There was always a carpenter who endured the famous rants of the fab twins. If not the carpenter it was painter or Cheryl ( Gotta Love Cheryl) it made for some immensely entertaining TV not that ever stuck around long enough to see a reveal. It wasn't until my twenties where I developed any real appreciation for their work beyond the comedic value of Home Heist. I was probably 21 before I started watching the show again and noticing brilliance of all their designs, ultimately my over all opinion of the show changed.  Needless to say six months ago just about everything I ever summed up in my head about these two got turned on it's head. It started with them asking if I had the common cold or man flu and the rest as they say, is History. Anyways I finally got around meeting with the boys and having lunch. It was such a huge highlight and that lunch really helped break up some of the stress and toll this summer had taken on me. I wouldn't trade these two guys for anything and their great big brothers and good examples to follow. Sshh I can still be seen shooting darts at corsages sometimes.

Another cool highlight had to be the Zoo. I
absolutely loved it. Getting to see animals that I don't really get to see in my everyday life and capturing them on film was incredible. I've always loved animals. The nice thing about going to the Zoo in your twenties, you can see over the bars on your own and see more stuff because you've got to go to the potty far less.
My favourite animals were the SnuffleSnouts, Hippos and the Jungle Cats, MEOW.

SO BRANDON & KEITH

If I wanted to be technical Keith really doesn't count as a summer highlight, I knew him way before but he plays a pretty huge part in this whole thing and another part of his own. Realistically if Keith were not in the picture there would be no Brandon.

Brandon's kind of an unknown and it's a shame because more people should know him, he's probably one of the most incredible men I personally know. Theres a story there and you can catch up that on Brandon's Blog. I ended up talking to him through Keith and it's been one of the most mentally positive things to happen to me in a long time. I find myself more educated on a number of things because of him, things I would of been considered beyond averagely educated in and things I had no clue about.
Even though he's threatened to beat me several times, I've scored a good friend in Brandon. Now I'd scored a good friend in Keith a lot earlier. Keith is another incredible guy despite his 5'7 he has the heart of man ten times as tall.  He's always helping people weather that be massaging away physical aches or doing his part to fight breast cancer, he just doesn't stop, need a good massage find him HERE. I bug him mercilessly about his affair with the gym but I think he's rubbing off on me because I find myself spending more time getting fit and wanting to help more people. Both of them are making me healthier and wiser and frankly knowledge is invaluable.

Combat Hospital was a highlight for me, being passionate about he military and always enjoying a good tv show this was good summer fun. It was said to be a modern day MASH and much like the Hawaii Five-0 re-make I found this to be completely different to it's associated pre-desesor. Combat Hospital is far less campy than MASH and gives more of a human face to what goes on in Combat Hospital over in Afghanistan. It also helps that it's fine CANADIAN programming.

Rookie Blue was the show of last summer for me, it was a fresh brand new show but in it's sophomore season the new car scent was gone and the trusted beat up Ford Pick Up was here. What made Rookie Blue great was the RBparties on Twitter, Yes I'm that much of a geek.  It was dorky but it was fun live tweeting with hundreds of other viewers and the cast every week and tweet with some of the same people over again.  The cast & crew of this show are so involved with the viewers it's unreal.





Another cool thing that happened this summer, I became somewhat of a brand ambassador for CheapSk8shoes, BuySkateShoes, BuySnow and BuyWake. They are providing me the product to give my own honest blunt opinion on. It's an amazing set up for me because it's letting me divert my limited cash flow back into producing my reels and college. What really gets me about this umbella of brands, The people behind it are so down to earth it's almost sickening.

Along with these there were several other moments of the summer I loved. Talking to friends, walks in the park and a cold freeze pop on a blisteringly hot day. There were moments of laughter and frolic. My summer wasn't so bad over all.

A little Q & A with Hutch

It never stops amazing me that a lot of random people and some not so random people have such a vested interest in my life. I haven't wrote a blog in a long time and tonight I thought I'd answer some of the questions people have been asking me. I'm to lazy to reproduce names and stuff, I also don't remember who asks what anymore. I just save questions I think are great. So there almost mini blogs within a blog.

1. Whats with all the nicknames and handles?
It started when I was nothing more then a wee sprout, My dad started calling me Izzy. My dad's life long best friend called me Geoffrey for a good 16 years thanks to Fresh Prince, I apparently really liked his character so was always Geoffrey when his kids and I would play house. Which is why to this day I'll answer to Geoffrey.  As years friends made nicknames for me or decided to call me something and many of them stuck and I respond to them. The most recent would be Booth, my friend Alicia is a ginormous Bones fan and because I remind her so much of Seeley Booth in terms of personaliy, I became Booth. Lets not forget the 3 billion variations of Hutch that Justin and Colin are responsible for. 

2.  Baby Blanket or Stuffed Animal?
I had both, I had a yellow blanket with the ABCs on it with Apples and Cats my mother made for me. I carried it everywhere with me. I loved it to shreds, in 8th grade I'd gone on an outdoor education trip and left it at home, I was at that age where I started to develop some level of pride. It'd fallen off the top bunk and was on the floor so my mother threw it out. Needless to say I was devastated at the loss of my blanky and didn't talk to my mother for a month. I also had a stuffed teddy bear, A doctor bear in green scrubs with a surgical mask and hat another constant companion. Ever the genius child I named him Teddy Doc. I still have him but he's lost his pants.

3. Whats your favorite book?
My favourite book is Red Wall from the Red Wall Series of Books by Brian a Jacques. Red Wall has a lot sentimental value for me, it was the first book I read. I was 12 and had struggled with reading all my life but Red Wall made me want to learn if only I could enjoy the book. Through grade school I was a bullied, rejected loner. Reading the Red Wall books let me escape from all the crud and focus on something more pure. The books taught me to look beyond whats in front of me and think about the bigger picture and the journey that is ultimately Life.

I think I'll just do Three of them at a time.