Bamboo Shoots Timeline Screen Shot

The producer of Bamboo Shoots Inc. provided me with a Premiere Pro Time-line Screen Shot for social media, predating next week's release as a sneak preview.

Time-Line of Bamboo Shoots Inc.'s Sasktel Max TV film.

The whole point of this exercise is to shine a light on the everyday people of Saskatchewan for the world to see. Bamboo Shoots In. is a socially savvy firm, that routinely shares its television content with the online community. Readers of this blog will recollect that this is is a film that hops in time and space; capturing the image-rich painter's studio, the poignant setting of the dialysis unit and the "magnificent", soaring mural -a feminist manifesto as it turns out- at Sacred Heart Church in Saskatoon.

I'm especially looking forward to watching the "live" chapter reading from Book 1 of "Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality". It will be very interesting to see how the editors deal with that scene, considering I read two chapters: a very gritty one and another that erupts in a bloody mess.

Filming at Sacred Heart Church

This morning, as promised, the producer and cameraman from Bamboo Shoots Inc. met me at the site of my most ambitious mural to date: the massive "March of Trinity" at Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church in Saskatoon. This mural soars almost 50 feet up into the rarefied atmosphere of the church sanctuary. The prominence of this mural, as the center-piece of  the Sacred Space in this instance, is a far cry from the humble beginnings of my "Trinity" design of 1981.

Firing up my original vision of the "Trinity" at age 21, in the Parish Hall of St. Mary's Basilica in Halifax, 1981. While I was committed to my vision of "three interlocking triangles", the project was relegated to an inferior wall at the time.

Even though my original vision of the "Trinity" was relegated to an inferior setting...on the wall of the Parish Hall rather than in the sanctuary, I was determined that someday this concept would be met with a more favorable reception. I hoped that if I played my cards right, that eventually the "stars would align" to catapult me and my artistic vision to a more exalted space.

The mural "March of Trinity" looms large upon entering Sacred Heart Church.

 While it took a full thirty years for this cherished dream of mine to finally manifest, it was well worth the wait. In all of the intervening passage of time between 1981 and 2011, I honed my mural-painting skills on over 60 large works across Canada. I was ready, willing and able by this time to tackle the prominent mural at Sacred Heart.

Bamboo Shoots producer/editor Amanda and cameraman Brandon getting set up to start filming.

I was only too happy to greet Amanda and Brandon this morning at the main entrance of the church. It is always interesting to watch the reactions of people when they see this piece "live" for the first time. No question, it is a very impressive, monumental work of art. While it faithfully echoes the religiosity of my patron Father Sabah's vision, it also offered me a tremendous opportunity to highlight some of my personal beliefs. Considering the scale and impetus of the piece, I felt obligated to be faithful to my own spirituality in emphasizing the power of the Sacred Feminine, on equal footing with the Sacred Masculine.

Brandon asked me to say a few words while he was filming, so I had to be very selective.

I thought very carefully about the message I wanted to portray in my brief spoken contribution to the filming at Sacred Heart. I decided to emphasize the fact that Chaldean Catholic clergy are permitted to marry and also, that Father Sabah and I originally wished to celebrate the male and female aspects of "God/dess" by showing the "Hands of God" as a male and female hand together. This concept was illustrated in the "mock-up", forwarded via the Archbishop of Saskatoon to the Vatican for approval. This was not to be! The Vatican officials responded by saying that this idea was "heretical" and insisted that we show the "Hands of God" as both male.

Bamboo Shoots Show up for Second Filming

There's more than one way to spend time on dialysis. Usually, I just plunk away on my latest writing project, or noodle away on Facebook. Today, it was a pleasant (and not THAT nerve-wracking) diversion to entertain the film crew from Bamboo Shoots.

Before filming got underway, I needed to sign a consent form.

Everything was timed like clockwork. About 30 seconds after the crew arrived, the head of Communications from St. Paul's Hospital showed up with a consent form for me to sign. Basically, I was asked to waive my rights to sue the hospital, should the film turn out to be anything less than what I visualized. Somehow, I suspect that Bamboo Shoots will do a bang-up job.

The camera-man and producer flank my dialysis pod.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about being filmed during my dialysis therapy, but decided in the end that it worth the effort to reveal the process for the world to see. After all, the month of March is worldwide "Kidney Awareness Month", so may as well take the plunge. Dialysis is a grim reality for millions of kidney patients across the planet. There's no denying that.

A high-fidelity, high definition TV camera was pressed into service.

In the end, I was quite comfortable conducting this portion of the documentary. It is just another aspect of my life, so why would I want to play it down? The producer requested that I do a "live reading" from Book 1 of the "Dancing with Rejection" trilogy. I was happy to comply. May as well face it head-on, along with the splendid footage of artwork in my studio, as well as some air-time at Sacred Heart. As readers of my blog will remember, this is the home of my most ambitious mural to date. A call for balance and reality, please!

That little wee man reaching out to apply paint on this gigantic wall is yours truly!

I will be happy to see the result of all of this filming. I'm assured by the producer that a link will be made available for sharing, so please, stay tuned to this space.

Radio Interview with Jeff Richards

Last night I was pleased and honored to be interviewed by radio host Jeff Richards of NewsTalk980 fame. Jeff is a renowned clairvoyant in his own right, and is known as "Canada's Most Dangerous Mind"  We talked about my Near-Death Experience at age 19, and the subsequent events that very nearly averted my fate...an early and ugly death.

Jeff Richards contemplating life...

I felt like I was chatting with an old friend during the course of the interview, which as I discover more about him, comes as no big surprise. To say Jeff is personable is a big understatement, to say the least! Here is the interview for your listening pleasure. Some of your beliefs and understanding of the physical world might be somewhat challenged by this interview, but I decided to be candid and honest, come what may.

This radio interview is hot on the heels of a TV mini-doc that is being filmed as we speak, thanks to the creative juices at Bamboo Shoots Inc., Saskatoon-based video production company, working on behalf of Sasktel MaxTV. 

Bamboo Shoots Inc. producer Amanda Bosiak steps back to capture this candid shot of a recent interview in my Manitou Beach studio.

I like the direction this is going in...stay tuned as it heats up, as we get closer to the publication of Book 1 of the "Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality" trilogy.

Bamboo Shoots Inc. for Sasktel MaxTV Interview Sneak Preview

This morning, as planned, the friendly neighborhood crew from the Saskatoon-based company Bamboo Shoots showed up as promised to interview and film me at my studio.

Amanda had a knack of putting her subject at ease.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I have to give the execs at Sasktel (our communications provider here in Saskatchewan) big props for buttonholing  the budget required to send a crew over hill and dale to create mini-docs of Sask-folks. It was really cool to meet Amanda and her faithful cameraman Robbie, who seemed perfectly at ease stepping into my studio. Just another day at the office for them.

A candid moment in the studio, with Amanda and Robbie.

It's funny, it wasn't that long ago when I was interviewed by Saskatchewan-based bestselling author Wes Funk for his Shaw Cable show "Lit Happens". And now  this.

Amanda and Robbie were impressed by the little impromptu exhibition that I set up in my studio for their benefit.

I am really happy that this is going on now. I think of it as a "Social Experiment", or as a hands-on way to get more comfortable in front of a TV camera. Something tells me there will be much more of this in the weeks and months to follow. Put it this way, the book is not even out yet and already, the publicity machine is zooming in on it. 

I just got a message yesterday from a radio host who wants to do an interview!

Stepping back a few feet.