So who had a good time last week? That would be me…
Expozine, Montreal
We got to attend the Sunday afternoon of Expozine in Montreal, which was totally cool and inspiring. I got some great books, including Kate Beaton’s ‘Never Learn Anything from History’. She was nice enough to do a little sketch in it, as well, so now I’m tempted to tear the cover off just to hang up the drawing. Sadly, I’m temperamentally unable to wreck books, so her drawing will have to stay hidden…
One of the coolest things about Expozine is finding artists and writers you’ve never heard of before… I got the book ‘The Hipless Boy‘ by Sully, and it’s really excellent. The artwork is deceptively simple, but really flows and carries the story along, rather than just illustrating the words. The writing is what really sets it apart, however, the stories suck you in. Usually writers that good tend to get carried away and use to much dialogue, but this book strikes the right balance.
I haven’t read all of the books I got yet, but they all look pretty decent. One surprise was two books of poetry by Ralph Alphonso, I pretty much got it for the cool illustrations, but it’s been fun to read. I wish I had got more of his stuff now…
The Montreal Canadiens
Two nights after Expozine I got to go see the Montreal Canadiens. And they won. And the Bell Centre was insane. And Carey Price stood on his head, played amazing. Many thanks to Jack Peterson of Cogmation who came up with the ticket, and who has probably forgotten more about the Canadiens than I’ll ever know… Did I mention the Canadiens won? In a shoot-out? Just sayin’…
Then it was Quebec City, which was a blur of cool people, good food and better times. Aside from how beautiful the city was, I think the highlight was meeting Vincent of SagaFilm. That guy has an insane amount of talent…