Monday, August 26, 2013

The Chief Second Peak

We had a buddy visiting from Adelaide over the weekend so we decided to take him up to The Chief to show him one of BC most beautiful outdoor settings. It was a solid hike to second peak, but chilling at the top and the view was well worth it.
We celebrated after with a trip to Howe Sound Brew Pub for a good feed and some nice beers for Ed and Kate.
Chipmunk
The Chief 2nd Peak Hike
The Chief 2nd Peak Hike
The Chief 2nd Peak Hike

Friday, August 23, 2013

Elysium On FXGuide

This is a cool little documentary on FxGuide about Image Engines role in Elysium. Definitely worth a watch and it shows some cool breakdowns on the shuttles and droids that I rigged. Enjoy :-)

Saturday, August 17, 2013

More Elysium

So I am still super stoked on Elysium. FX Guide dd an interesting article on the movie and posted some great little images that I have put here. Check out the article here: FX Giude on Elysium. I rigged the droids and vehicles you see in the images below. The amazing realism is thanks to Image Engine and all their amazing artists.

Van Dusen Gardens

After a big ride this morning, Kate and I headed out to Van Dusen Gardens for a nice stroll. Entry was free thanks to a pass that Kate got through the Library. There is a great art exhibition on at the moment in which various sculptures made of wood are on display throughout the garden. It was pretty cool!
Van Dusen Botanic Gardens
Van Dusen Botanic Gardens
Van Dusen Botanic Gardens
Van Dusen Botanic Gardens
Van Dusen Botanic Gardens

Manning Park

For the August long weekend we went to Manning Park for a camping trip. The campground was quiet nice, backing onto a beautiful river with a nice little hike around it. We rocked up Saturday morning to beautiful weather. Set up camp, chilled out, did a small hike, then just when we wanted to start dinner a freaking huge thunderstorm hit. Torrential rain and lightning and thunder ensued. Some of the loudest thunder I have ever heard. It was quite fun. This all stopped up just before we headed to bed, leaving us cold and damp for the nights sleep. Regardless we still slept OK.
The following morning Kate and I got up nice and early to drive up to Lightning Lake to run the Lighting Loop Trail as part of our marathon training. The run was beautiful. It started out foggy and overcast, and ended up sunny and so clear. It was 2.5hrs of beautiful trail running deep into the wilderness...I didn't think of bears too much.
The rest of the day was spent chilling out, as we were feeling pretty zoned from the big run. Once again, as soon as dinner prep time hit, so did the rain! Booo. Anyways, once again, we struggled through dinner and tried to keep dry. Thank god for the tarp we set up. Once again the rain stopped just in time to go to bed, and the next morning was beautiful and clear.
I was up early on the monday for a chilled 45min trail run, and got back to the crew starting to prep brekky and a fresh coffee. Sweet. Fun weekend was had by all, regardless of the less than optimal atmospheric conditions.
Manning Park
Post run swim
Manning Park
Manning Park
Manning Park

Medina

Last weekend Kate and I went to Medina for brunch. It is one of Vancouvers more popular brunch venues, and for good reason, the food is amazing, and they make kick ass coffee too. The brunch is different to what everyone else offers too which is refreshing. Check the pics.
Medina Brunch
Medina Brunch

2nd Birthday

Last weekend a friend at work held his daughters 2nd Birthday. His wife had spent all week preparing the most amazing appetizers and cakes, that even I had to bend the rules of my strict diet to taste what was on offer. Needless to say, the food tasted amazing and we had a great afternoon catching up with some work mates. We may have even had more fun than the kids!
Amazing Fig Nibbles
Cake
Merangue

Monday, August 12, 2013

Elysium Credits

So I went to see Elysium on Sunday night with Kate and some friends. I managed to get a piccy of my name up on the big screen. Stoked! There is also a great article on the work that Image Engine did on Elysium here: FX Guide On Elysium

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Coffee!

Rocanini is roasting a delicious Ethiopian coffee at the moment. Loving the aero press and freshly ground coffee over the weekend.
Rocanani Coffee
Medina Brunch

Busy?

So since returning to Vancouver from our wedding, we have been pretty busy, and I have pretty much got to the point I'm good to just chill at home for a few weekends to save some cash, but to also be able to train and then chill for the rest of the day and prepare for the week or just relax. Anyways, in proving to Kate that we had been pretty busy and needed some chill time I came up with a list of what we have done in the last four months.....
We have gone for vacations at Whistler for a ski weekend, Bowen Island B&B for some r&r, Nairn Falls camping trip, Portland to get all wierd, Washington camping on HWay 101 at Cape Disappointment, San Juan Islands whale watching kayak and camping trip and Manning Park camping trip.
As well as this combined we have also run the Vancouver BMO Marathon, the Scotia Bank Half Marathon, Kate placed 2nd at the Fathers Day Burnaby 10km race while I raced the 5km as my first run back from Achilles injury, and I raced an Olympic distance Triathlon at the Subaru Vancouver International Triathlon.
Then while this was going on I have been swimming with Fastlane swim club, and doing one ocean swim a week, which has led to a 6kn open water swim. Both Kate and I have been training for an upcoming Marathon and we have done 2 deep cove trips for Honeys Donuts and chilling in the sun, Lynn Canyon hike and a Whistler day trip. Yep, we like to make the most out of life! Manning Park

Friday, August 9, 2013

Elysium Finally Released

So Last night I finally got to see Elysium. We got to go to a preview screening put on by Sony. Open candy bar.... Anyways, the movie was amazing, Neill Blomkamp was there ti say a few words before the film rolled. We were all so stoked with how the movie looked. Image Engine killed it and I am so proud to have worked on such an amazing film.
Elysium Premiere

Friday, August 2, 2013

Elysium

I'm so stoked with the release of Elysium, I had to get a tacky photo taken with the banner. Image Engine completed so many bad ass shots on this show, and I was fortunate enough to get to rig most of the assets. I am super proud of all the work we completed and how good it looks!

elysium_photo

And the new trailer :-)

Thursday, August 1, 2013

10 Year Anniversary

Wow. What a huge occasion. Kate and I hit 10 years since we first started seeing each other and we knew we had to do something super special. Kate came up with an amazing idea to go on a kayak whale watching trip around the San Juan Islands in Washington. We drove down on our anniversary, Friday the 26th and stayed at Friday Harbour at the Island Inn. It was really nice, and presented so well in a "social media" kind of way. The staff were really friendly too.

On Saturday morning we got up for a really nice run around Friday Harbor. It was beautiful running through the countryside amongst farmland, forest and old American colonial houses. I could totally live here. From this point the real adventure started. We got picked up by our Kayak guide at 8:30 and headed for our campsite on the far side of the island. So on day 1 we headed out for a 13 mile Kayak trip. We saw some beautiful scenery and sea life. At halfway we stopped for some epic sandwiches for lunch then headed back up the coast to camp. It was a solid 6hr kayak or there about but was super fun. The water was so still and clear. Absolutely pristine.

That night our guide cooked up an amazing pasta feast with delicious fresh berries for dessert. We then watched the sun set, with Vancouver Island in the distance. Up here at this time of year the sun takes a loooong time to set! Then, although pretty pooched from the days activities, we went ut for a night kayak paddle to see the bio-luminescence that this part of the world puts on. It was amazing. Like nothing I have ever seen before. It was so beautiful and amazing. The kelp forests were just oozing this green light into the water, our oars would flare up the water each time we paddles, and under water sea life would shoot past with a flare of light. It was absolutely amazing.

Sunday started with a lackluster attempt to wake early for a run - this led straight to bed for another 2hrs of solid sleep, just to be woken by our guide letting us know that breakfast was ready. How's that for service. Fresh fruit, granola and the most amazing fritata. We then hit the water, setting out for a shorter trip this time around. We headed the other way up the coast this time. The water was beautiful and clear. We made it to an amazing little pebbled beach for lunch, after a slightly bumpy channel crossing, but team work and strong paddling got us through this :-) Lunch comprised of an amazing Greek salad in wraps, with fruit on the side.

For the trip back the wind had kicked up, and the sea fog had rolled back in. This made for some solid effort, but we dug deep and made it back in good time. A brief drive back accross the island after packing up all our equipment, and then is was a few hours chilling at Friday Harbor before setting back to Anacourtes to pick up Clancy, our trustworthy Honda, and to jey back up the I5 to Vancouver. What an amazing weekend, perfect weather and such an amazing place to explore by Kayak. An anniversary that we will remember for ever, thats for sure :-)

On the Ferry

Crystal Clear Water

San Juan Islands

Campsite Dinner