Messenger Bags

In May of last year, during my first ever trip to New York, I bought a new messenger bag from J Crew. I really like it and I've pretty much used it everyday since then. Unfortunately, it's now starting to come apart at the seams - actually it's got three fair sized tears.

So I've been looking for a new bag and I have to say, it hasn't been an easy. At first, it seemed like there just weren't too many out there that had what I was looking for- which is a simple messenger bag with good looks and in leather for durability - but then Shira, and her amazing surfing skills, came to the search and rescue. Here are my favorites...

First off we have two fine looking bags from J Crew. The first one is awesome. It's pretty much exactly what I'm looking for and its price at $225 is the most reasonable.
The second entry from J Crew is in the running as my favorite however, it's also $795. But just look at it...
The next bag is from APC and it's $420. I think this is my least favorite of the group. I'm not sure why...maybe it looks a little too pursey. Still, it made the list.



This one is from Reiss. Unfortunately they've decided to not give the price on the website. Lame. The bag looks fucking great though.



Next up is this fine little number by Ferragamo. I like the simplicity of it. It's cool and crisp. It's also called the Toronto Messenger Bag, so there's that. It's $750.

Marc Jacobs has following two offerings for us. The first is $387 and it's got a great vintage look to it, although I'm not wild about the handle at the top. The second is up mainly cause of the awesome green/gray colour it comes in, but again it's starting to look a little on the pursey side and you have to watch out for that. Unfortunately no price was listed on the site.





Roots has their Urban Editor's bag and it's pretty stylish and the many pockets give it camera bag feel. It's also the only one selected without a cover flap. Not sure what that means, but there it is. It's a cool $298

And lastly we have my favorite. This gorgeous bag comes to us from John Varvatos and it's quite something. It's also $895.


If I had my way I'd have the Varvatos, but I'll gladly settle for the first J Crew bag - they're actually quite similar.

I just want to note that this search has been strictly for messenger bags, but there are also some damn fine satchels out there that are worth checking out. Personally I find once you get a laptop and an umbrella in a satchel that's pretty much it - they're packed - and I need to lug more stuff.

Hidden Cameras

Last week while walking to and from work I started to notice a few hidden cameras being set up in and around the Yonge and College area. It took me a couple of moments to realize that it wasn't Big Brother going from watching to full on gawking but a very elaborate film set up. I'm not sure what's being filmed but my theory is that this is an action shot and they want to cover multiple angles without the other cameras getting in the shots. After checking the City of Toronto's website for current productions filming in Toronto the only possible option would be Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. I'll try to ask one of the people in the fluorescent vests who guard the cameras to confirm.

They're subtle and the props/set people have done a damn fine job of camouflaging them.

This one gets hidden inside a corner notice board.

This one's on Alexander Street and made to look like a nest.

Another gets hidden in the helmet case of a scooter. I also saw three cameras placed in the rear of a Volvo.

It seems to be a night shoot and during the day the cameras are put to rest and the opening simply covered over.

I also saw cameras hidden in air conditioner units, blue garbage bins, and fake newspaper boxes. That's a whole lot of cameras. They've been set up for almost a week now. I'd love to watch the shot actually getting filmed just to see how elaborate it actually is. In my head it's a massive thing. It'll be interesting to see the final film and see if I can spot any cameras.

A different era

We went away to a lovely B&B this past weekend for a much needed break. Shira brought her toy camera which had some black and white film in it. The look this combo gives is really cool. I look like I'm from the 40's...

And the trees have a German expressionist feel...

Here's what they look like with my basic digital, along with what Shira looks like while taking the pictures...


This last one wasn't taken with the toy camera but I think it fits.

What's the buzz?

A couple of years ago Progress Lab in Vancouver (a coalition of 11 theatre companies) produced Hive, a collaborative theatre event featuring 11 intimate performances for audiences ranging from one to twenty. The performances at Hive were site specific and occurred all over The Chapel, a former funeral home that is now a venue and an art gallery. The event was incredibly successful, and was re-imagined/re-produced for this year's Magnetic North Theatre Festival as Hive2.

Well, Brampton's Rose Theatre is giving the idea a go with B-Hive and The Ministry is going to be apart if it. Our piece, The Machine, follows two scientists as they unveil their latest invention for the first time. It's still early days right now, and the piece is very much in the initial stages of creation but we're pretty excited about it. I'll keep you posted.

The film itself...

We wuz robbed

On Friday I attended the screening of the film The Patient, which The Ministry made for the Toronto Film Challenge's Fall 2008 24-hour competition. I was petrified going into the cinema. I had no idea what the projection was going to look like - would the big screen make the film look really pixelated, would the production values make our film look amateurish compared with the others - I didn't know. A lot of my friends had generously donated their time and energy to this little project and I wanted them to be happy (and not embarrassed) with the results.

As it turns out I had nothing to be worried about - other than the usual worries one has when putting yourself out there creatively -as the film went over really well. In fact, ours was definitely one of the better ones. Maybe some others had higher production values, but The Patient held it's own, and I was quite proud. Unfortunately we didn't win any of the kick ass prizes, and I have to say I was a little disappointed by that. Not because the winning films weren't good - the second and first place films (Monster Face and Prom Day 1981, respectively) were both really well done - but because all of the winning films were comedy-horror films. This was suppose to be a horror film challenge, not a comedy horror film challenge and there is a substantial difference. The Patient was definitely the best true horror film screened, and I feel a little bit robbed that that wasn't officially recognized. I say "officially" because one of the members of the winning team said during his thank you speech that "the film The Patient was one of the best things he's seen in a while."* I thought that was incredibly nice and classy of him to say.

I don't want this post to make it sound like I had a bad experience as that's totally not the case. It was a fun, and a little stressful, night and overall the entire experience was encouraging and, as I've mentioned in previous posts, I learned a lot about film making.


*despite the quotes that might not be exactly what he said, as I can't remember word for word, but that's definitely the gist of it.

The Patient

The Toronto Film Challenge was this past weekend, and The Ministry (my team's name) wrote, shot and edited a 5 minute short titled "The Patient." It was a crazy 24 hours.

Here's a summary...

10am Saturday - we received our challenge pack which consisted of a surprise theme, prop and phrase.

This is Dave and I enjoying the first of many many coffees while waiting for the 10am start...

10:15 to 2pm - we hammered out a basic story as a group before splitting into smaller teams to write it, find costumes, prep locations and a create shooting schedule.

Our story all cue carded and laid out, with a machete thrown in for mood...

2:30 to midnight - filming at three different locations

Shira at one of our locations...

Despite what this photo seems to suggest, that is not the craft services table and I am not reaching for another donut....

James, myself and the other team members on route to another location...

Midnight to 8am - editing, editing, editing

Here I am editing with crazy stress hair...

8am to 9am - sound editing

9am to 9:30 - transfer the film to the submittable format - a stress filled half hour full of computer re-boots and curses

9:30am-9:48am - a mad rush across the city

9:48am Sunday - handed in our short film with 12 minutes to spare

My team was made up of some ridiculously talented and dedicated people, and although I personally made some mistakes during the actual filming, they all brought their A game. I'm incredibly proud of them and thankful they were apart of this little film.

The screening of all the films is this coming Friday and I'm petrified. I'm obsessing over the things I would have done differently, which, I know, isn't helpful. But I did learn an awful lot about my strengths and weaknesses as a filmmaker, and about film making in general, which was really the whole point. Overall it was a great experience, and I'm glad I entered.

All pictures by Mike.