Abra Ka-dabra

The other day I needed to get some cheapie electronic parts for my video installation.  

I was told that there were two good places in Montreal.  Addison  and Abra Electronics.  

I decided to go to Abra, I was not disappointed.

Although a little difficult to find...a maze of highways, the crossroads where Route 40 and 15 collide, once I arrived I found a safe little haven of friendliness and cool gadgets.  

My treck started at Cremazie metro where I had to take the 100 bus west to the Decarie.  

Abra is loacted on Cote De leisse - this strange road vastly spanning the entire space below the 40 highway.  

I was on the wrong side, and while passing underneath the 40, cars and trucks whooshing everywhere, a train stopped me in my tracks.   There also happened to be  a building being demolished; cutaway like some Gordon Matta-Clark.  So among all the cacophony and chaos of this urban landscape, I was quite relieved to find everything I needed at Abra, at surplus prices.

Breadboards, wiring kits, robot kits, all types of switches, buttons, and resistors, tools and LEDS.....nice for the geek in anyone.

Le pays Qui N'exist Pas!

Amoung other things....I have become involved with Puppet theatre.  

I always was a big fan of Jim Henson and the Muppet Show.  

Now i am living my childhood dream making puppets!

Bottom line - puppets are very entertaining and everybody loves them, even scary ones from Thailand.   

The Show Entitled "Le Pays Qui N'existe Pas"  is the second production from Ego Trip, and will be playing at the Montreal Fringe Festival this June 12-22, 2008.

The story is written by Marc Boutin, and Directed by artist Arthur Desmarteaux.   

The story involves a young boy growing up in a city in a poor neighborhood.  His mom works as a prostitute to make a living.  (FYI this show is for adult audiences!) The other kids pick on him, and he creates an alternative fantasy world to escape his own reality.

 Most characters will be hand puppets, but we will make use of shadow puppets, video and black light.

Musician Julie Rocque will provide the soundtrack.

I am currently making large Papier Mache heads for larger characters in the fantasy world.  

A nice break up from all the computer work I have doing recently!

Stay tuned for updates.....

Automation and Activism

Primordial Soup Updates::

I have been involved with a series of workshops at Studio XX in Montreal called Automation and Activism.  The workshops have offered a great introduction to different programs using Linux Operating system and open source softwares.   All the technical assistance will aid in developing my project.

Gotta love grassroots.

I unfortunately missed a bunch of classes in January and February while I was in Florida.  BUT NOW I AM BACK! and I am soaking it up.   

In particular Pure Data with Alexandre Quessy. 

Pure Data is an instrumental part of my installation Primordial Soup and will be integrated with Arduino to create the interactive component of the video.  

A bit intimidating at first staring at that blank white screen! All the Objects and numbers and messages can be a bit confusing.....But when I opened up a prebuilt patch, and discovered the vast community available for help I got pretty excited about all the possibilities. Pure Data is incredibly user friendly and the graphical layout is playful and instinctual to use.

progress is going well, as long as I don't get too distracted with other ideas!