A very busy weekend.

This weekend was busy. Very, very busy. But in a very good way and for 2 very good causes.

On Saturday I had the honour of attending a wedding in Banff that united my good friends Kandrix Foong and Laurie Breitkreuz in holy matrimony. Held at the beautiful Juniper lodge over looking Lake Minnewanka, were blessed enough to have decent weather for the outside ceremony. It was a good service, filled with the typical humour and goofy moments that I've come to expect from a clown like Kandix, followed by an amazing dinner and a touching slide show to honour their history together. There was a large group of us in attendance that all work in and around the comic book industry, and having several familiar faces around to relax and hang out with is always fun. I really enjoyed the many conversations and laughs I shared with Kelly Dowd and his wife Chris, Charles Silbernagel, Rove, Jim Demonakos, and Cody Baker (and his lovely girlfriend). It was really nice to have the time to mingle and celebrate this occation with the many friends Kandrix and Laurie share in the comic book community, as I've had the privaledge to get to know many of them over the years as well. Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the evening festivities (party, party, PARTY!!!!) as I was scheduled for a Webcomics panel in Edmonton the following day and had to leave Calgary early Sunday morning for the 3 hour drive. But I had a great time for the day I was able to spend in Banff and would like to thank the Foongs (that will take some time getting used to :D) for allowing me to be a part of their big day.

After getting a generous 4 hours of sleep (the same as the previous night) I was up, packing, and off to Edmonton with Kevin. We were invited by our good friend Jay Bardyla to be a part of the Pure Speculations show held at the Edmonton Delta South hotel. Jay was once again holding a series of Comic Talks panels that cover a wide variety of topics all centered on the world of comics. Because of our involvement in both Twice Thursday and Out of Mind Studios we were invited to share the knowledge we have gained in the industry with people who are interested in that knowledge. Or something like that :P For us it's a great opportunity to hangout and talk comics with people, many of which are friends and fellow creators and some who are aspiring to be. Neither one of us knew what to expect, but both Kevin and I seen this as a chance to gain experience in a panel-like setting and also spread the word about our product.

The panel was awesome, as we had more people then I honestly thought would show. Our fellow panelist were Rudi Gunther of Deathworld, Marie-Claire Gould of Will Work for Games, and Tarol Hunt of Goblins. Each one of us had something unique and interesting to say about our comics and offered the audience a great deal of information into the why's, what's, and how's of Webcomic making. It was awesome to meet each creator and to be able to spend time with them. We also had a chance to chat up Sean O'Reilly, the owner of Arcana Studios and visit with him for awhile. Sean an old friend of ours and it's always great to talk shop with him. We were also fortunate enough to get to hang out with Bob Prowder, The Vicious Ambitious guys, the costume savvy Erin Scott, and Brian Hodgson and I thank them all for visiting with us. Unfortunately the turn out for the show that day was rather small and I know the organizers were hoping for much better then that. With more advertising and word of mouth the show will hopefully get stronger next year.

After the event we headed out for a bite to eat and more shop talk with Sean. He needed a lift to the airport and we just happened to be going that way so things worked out good for him. I was hoping to get the chance to vist with James Adamson, an old friend of mine, but our schedules just didn't coincide. I'm sure with better planning on my part we'll hook up soon. Sorry dude!

The ride there and back was great for Kevin and I as it allowed us plenty of time to discuss our plans for the immediate future of our business. We have an amazing story that we've been talking about for the last couple of weeks and the trip allowed us the opportunity to throw out more ideas and get a good sense of what it is we need to do with these ideas. It was a great time for the creative process to flow, and I'm more pumped then ever to get things rolling! 2007 will be a big year for us, just wait and see!!

We finally arrived back home around 10 pm and I did my best to put things away, grab something to snack on and relax. It's nice to be able to have had a day to absorb the weekend and look back on things. Even though it was busy I had a blast! This was pretty much the last full weekend of events for me this year and I'm already looking forward to next year and the next big busy weekend. Maybe Seattle in April? Who know right now, but whatever and whenever it is I'm sure it will rock. Thanks again to everyone I had the chance to see and visit with this weekend, it was awesome to see you all. And with that, goodnight.