Welcome!

There's 96 of us now! We're into the numbers my student mind revolved around. 95% + on a test was always my target. A guy I went to film school with made this meme about 2012 TLee:

Those test scores were a metric of memorization. This 96 is much more meaningful. Thanks for being a pre-100 reader :)

Thanks for being an early subscriber to my digital postcard. I prefer the description postcard (rather than newsletter) cuz it feels more casual, personal and specific to a moment in time. Each week I share updates, anecdotes and links to things I enjoyed recently.

TIP: First-time recipient? A reply will help prevent these emails being marked spam. Don't feel obligated to say something kind or clever. In fact, I encourage the opposite. Make your reply as conveniently incoherent as possible. A quick: "sDGHsdasd" is splendid :)

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Spaceship Zoom

Last Sunday I hosted my first mentor session for Write of Passage. Here's the intro video I made to help students decide if they wanted to join my sessions:

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I'm typically guiding action from behind the camera and mic. Self directing my own performance is less familiar. Especially doing so live in front of 52 people.

Initially, the floating panels and settings on Zoom were intimidating. I'm the commander in an unfamiliar spaceship. It's my first real flight outside the simulator... AND I'm leading a space fleet on a mission!?

It reminded me of when I learned to edit (around the time of that study meme above). Back then, Premiere Pro was a similarly complex looking interface. There's so many file menus! Where do I find XYZ???

That uncertainty is a helpful reminder. I know advanced tools like Photoshop and After Effects that give me a baseline of software confidence. Few tools are more complicated than those two.

But a comparatively simple task in Zoom (setting up breakout rooms) is stressful to figure out live in front of 52 people. When I learned to edit, there was no ticking clocks as I poked around menus.

Sure, you can look up screenshots/tutorials beforehand. But those kind of simulations feel utterly theoretical once thrust into the space opera of presenting and configuring on a live Zoom.

Now I've done it. Excited to suit up for my 2nd session in the spaceship this weekend -- this time with clarity on how to steer. 😉

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Can We Have 2 Golds

This clip dangled in my "Future Material" folder for weeks. Today, its time has come to step into the light of your inbox.

Click the Twitter link below for a 1 minute clip of two athletes recognizing they both already won 🥇

Pavan Paschapur @PavanPaschapur4 We need more super heroes like him to make this world beautiful place! twitter.com/afidelf/status… Andrew Fidel Fernando @afidelf Fave moment of the Olympics so far. Barshim (Qatar) and Tamberi (Italy) were tied in the high-jump final. The official is there talking about a prospective jump-off, but Barshim asks immediately: "Can we have two golds?" One look, no words exchanged, they know they're sharing it. pic.twitter.com/E3SneYFocA August 1st 2021 0 Retweets 1 Likes

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Kiwi Camo Chair

Our current 'moving limbo' stage has us staying in Vancouver as our possessions ship to Calgary.

My parents recently thrift-acquired two giant leather chairs. Our pup Kiwi approves of the addition:

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It's as if we custom ordered the chairs from a colour sample of Kiwi's fur. If the Jurassic Park T-Rex storms in, Kiwi just needs to hold still. Camo-doge...

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Btw, Kiwi had her ovaries removed on Tuesday.

You'd think after a laparoscopic spay surgery she'd be mellow, dazed, tender... y'know, resting like in these photos... but NOPE! She's sprinting up and down flights of stairs as I write this.

Bring on the T-Rex guys, I got this :) 🦖 🐕 🐾

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Beach House

For years the internet tried to tell me I'd like Beach House.

This week, my ears caught on. The band's lush, grandiose, and cinematic sound reminds me of M83, Lana Del Rey, and the nostalgia in David Lynch's production design.

I've been listening to their most recent album, Once Twice Melody. Here are two standout songs.

The title track is a good vibe sampler of the synth orchestration / acoustic blend of the album:

  Once Twice Melody Beach House

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Sunset has a peaceful George Harrison atmosphere that instantly hooked me:

  Sunset Beach House

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That's all till next week!

Thanks for reading,

Tommy

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