The lighter side of Social Media

This day in #HarperHistory

Greetings, friends & neighbours - your faithful scribe has of late been extending his reach (and that of Stalking the Job) further into the realm of Social Media, shoring up his formerly-minimal presence on FaceBook and forging a brand-new Board on Pinterest. But a funny thing happened late last night, by way of checking my Twitter feed: #HarperHistory. 

Now, bearing in mind that this StJ is most decidedly not a political blog by nature, I'm not about to get into any mudslinging or finger-pointing (that's what Parliament is for, after all), but I'll be honest - I was in stitches while reading the spontaneous outpouring of humorous tweets from Canadians across the nation. To understand why this hashtag got started in the first place, you'd have to go back to yesterday's Question Period on Parliament Hill... in an exchange over Canada's current mission in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused the NDP of having been insufficiently opposed to Adolf Hitler in 1939 (but unfortunately for Mr. Harper, the NDP did not actually come into being until 1961, some sixteen years after the conclusion of the Second World War).

Soon thereafter, and continuing well into the night and onto the next day, people on Twitter began posting a raft of sarcastic tweets claiming morally & ethically questionable stances on the part of the NDP throughout human history (and in some cases, works of fiction) along with the hashtag #HarperHistory. Before anyone realized it, "#HarperHistory" and "The NDP" had begun trending worldwide. At certain points the tweets were coming in so fast, it was like one of those moments in time where you find yourself unable to stop laughing in order to breathe. There's simply too many to reproduce here, but I've put together a small sample for you:

"Damn you NDP for not standing up to Genghis Khan!!!"

"The NDP made the Tower of Pisa lean (to the left of course)"

  

"The NDP didn't support our troops in the Boer War either"

"the NDP was the second gunman on the grassy knoll"

"Neil Armstrong quoted on the moon: One small step for man, one giant leap for the NDP"

And in all honesty, faithful readers - I couldn't resist joining in the fun, and added in a few observations of my very own:

"The NDP did nothing to prevent the Holocene extinction."

"The NDP pointed and laughed as the island of Atlantis sank."

"It was the NDP who willfully led Sir John A. MacDonald from the path of sobriety."

For me, the most hilarious part was that I somehow managed to boost my rating on Klout from a 32 to a 36 by making those posts - an unintentional side-effect of just letting my hair down on Twitter for a spell. And perhaps there's a lesson to be learned from that. Social Media is... well, social by nature. Never mind that I'm making use of it to advance my ongoing job search; there must and should be equal amounts of laughter to compliment ones' hard work and dedication to promoting oneself.

 

Weekend happenings

 This weekend will once again see me toiling away to produce the 10th edition of my web-comic, "That QR Code Guy". I've already begun to assemble the raw materials necessary for the story, and it promises to be a good one. However, this Saturday afternoon I will be attending a fund-raiser for Artheart, the Regent Park-based art community center. Concurrent to working on the web-comic, my friend and former colleague Todd Ivey of Wabunganung Films has asked me to provide a bit of spec work for an upcoming project requiring some character style-sheet designs. I finished the first of three illustrations yesterday evening (so as to give me a bit more leeway over the next few days), and Todd seemed fairly happy with the results, but I'll refrain from posting that work here (for now, anyways) as I don't want to overstep anybody's bounds. Rest assured, as soon as I've been given a green-light, I'll get 'em posted.

Have you seen that QR code guy?

Taken by Ron McEwen along Front Street, April 13th.

Well just in case you haven't, don't worry - I have a wealth of photos to share with you, my faithful readers. But if you see me around (and you'd like to have your photo skills featured here on Stalking the Job) don't hesitate to ask... I'm always happy to stop for a snapshot or a scan!

For Stalking the Job - this has been your correspondent, John Currie. And remember folks... I'll be seeing you!

Afterword

A special thank-you to Twitterer Brian Badillo for including my new Pinterest board in his online newspaper, The QR Code Chronicle:

http://paper.li/bbadillo/1303504696

Have a good weekend, all!

Sticking out like a sore thumb at the National Job Fair

A very happy Wednesday evening to you, my faithful readers. Today saw Stalking the Job attending the National Job Fair at Toronto's Metro Convention Centre, where it seemed I made quite an impression, what with the sandwich board and all. Truth be told I kinda stuck out like a proverbial sore thumb, but - after all, one of the pillars of my QR code campaign is visibility. In real terms, the employment pickings there were somewhat rather slim... although I can honestly report that there are some terrific opportunities for engineers, chemists and skilled tradespeople of all sorts out in Saskatchewan at the moment! That being said, in the days to come I do plan on following up with the people & organizations that I did interact with.

Of particular interest (to me, anyway) was the booth being run by McKenzie College - as they're currently on the lookout for people with expertise in the field of digital media. My interest stems from the positive experiences I've had mentoring and/or tutoring others in motion-graphic design (and yes, I fully recognize that I have a great many insights to offer to up-and-coming graphic artists). Having made the rounds more than once at the Convention Centre, I decided to take some lunch across the street at Ooh-La-La inside the CBC building... but before I made my way across Front Street, I had a wonderful encounter with Bob Chandler of the Labour Education Centre here in Toronto. It seems they're in a bit of a bind at the moment with regards to their current logo, so having heard what Bob had to say I handed him a business card with a very reasonable quote written on the back. I hope to hear back from the LEC in the very near future!

The National Job Fair & Training Expo Runs April 4th to 5th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Dance This Mess Around

I feel a little silly for having failed to mention this before now, but last Saturday night saw me cutting the rug at my old friend Martin Amdur's springtime Dance Party! Not only was it a chance to meet some new people, I was able to catch up & re-connect with friends I haven't seen in several months. I think part of the reason it had slipped my mind was that after Martin had approached me to design an "event"-style poster for the party, I'd made a point of not posting it anywhere online (lest it somehow wind its' way elsewhere, with the end result being a house mobbed with a thousand uninvited revellers). Here's a web-friendly version of the poster:

As Martin is a former Deadhead and a dedicated vinyl enthusiast, the content was a bit of a no-brainer. I must admit, I was a little perplexed when I first arrived (at or about 9 PM), as the house was completely dark - with no music playing. It seems I'd forgotten all about Earth Hour... mostly because on any given night at our house we practically live solely by the light of our monitors, but - to his credit, Martin was dutifully observing the occasion by delaying the start of his shindig. But once the music started up, a great time was had by all... and according to Tim Svirklys of Artheart, I was quite possibly the "most limber person" out on the dance floor that evening! I credit my energy (not to mention the strength in my legs) to the rigours of my ongoing marketing campaign.

Another ghost along King

Tuesday evening found me canvassing King Street West - and I should mention that, up 'til this point I've kept my initiative mostly relegated to the daylight hours (if only because my feet are usually killing me by 5 o'clock or so) - but a shocking discovery prompted me to text my good friend Todd Ivey, of Wabunganung Films. One of Todd's favourite lunchtime eateries, the Swiss Chalet across from Roy Thomson Hall, has shuttered its' windows and removed all signage. No longer will he be able to enjoy a quarter-chicken dinner with fries and extra gravy (or whatever that hot gloopy stuff is that they serve on the side)... I couldn't see any signs of what sort of establishment will be moving into the empty site, but Todd is of the (somewhat cynical) opinion that it will most likely be some overpriced cavern-like environment that's long on cocktails and short on the menu. Time will tell... but truly, it's an ignominious end to one of Todd's long-standing gastronomic relationships.

Have you seen that QR Code Guy?

Taken by Vince Vaitekunas, February 2012.

Thanks again to my friend Vince Vaitekunas for this lovely shot taken along Queen Street West a while back. Now I know there's a few more people out there who've snapped a photo or two, so: if you've taken a photo of That QR Code Guy in his journeys around Toronto, Stalking the Job wants to hear from you.

This is John Currie for Stalking the Job, signing off - have a wonderful Wednesday evening, folks - and remember, I'll be seeing you...!

Journey through the past

Hello once again, all...! It seems this afternoon I have a little time to myself, so - having thought things through while on my morning walkabout, I've decided to shift gear somewhat and take you on a journey through the past:

Tah-dah! Yes, it's my old demo reel from the far-flung year 2000! It's funny now, seeing this old demo from so long ago: there are several sequences included here (the high-contrast, black-and-white clips) that were actually part of a project where viewers would use a pair of special glasses that would break up the white signal into the full spectrum of colour... and also extend the image into people's peripheral vision to further the sense of motion. Some of these clips were later recycled into the opening title sequence for the North American version of the TV series, "Queer As Folk" (which can be seen here).

For a bit of added fun, I edited in some audio clips from the films "Withnail & I" and "It Came From Hollywood". Oh, and apologies to anyone trying to view this from Germany - apparently the audio track ("Scream in Blue", by Midnight Oil) ran afoul of the German authorities at some point or other a few years back - but just so you don't feel left out, I'll include a short stop-motion PSA I worked on last summer with the kids at Artheart in Toronto:

It was a simple enough premise - using vintage Micronaut toys (from my very own collection), a pile of Lego bricks, a rickety old camera (and some even more rickety old lights and tripods), we put together a Public Service Announcement illustrating the perils of street racing. The kids worked hard, we all had fun, and in the end they were quite happy seeing the fruits of their labour. It might be a little "rough-around-the-edges" as videos go, but from my point of view it was a triumph... especially insofar as this marked the first time any of those children had tried their hands at animation!

Can You Spot That QR Code Guy?

Taken by Peter Jones, February 2012.

Well, I know I'm always asking people to send in any photos they may have snapped of me while walking about town, but today I thought I'd post one taken by Peter Jones during Lisa Horvath's SMWTO presentation last month. If there'd been any more people in the frame I might've been tempted to turn it into a "Where's Waldo?"-style contest!

Thanks once again to all my faithful readers for helping make this blog an ongoing success. It's always a treat to see that people are indeed reading the posts (and on occasion, following through to my Twitter feed). I've met one or two very interesting people in the last 24 hours, both on the streets of Toronto and online, so I'm feeling fairly optimistic about where this campaign of mine is heading... and I hope to have more to report on those encounters in the near future.

For Stalking the Job, this John Currie - That QR Code Guy - signing off. And remember folks... I'll see you around!