All posts by Paul Cipywnyk

OK, I Watch Romance Movies Now and Then

Color Me True

color me true Japanese movie graphic

Wikipedia entry here.

Sweet story, with giggles and moistening eyes now and then.

I can’t put my finger on it, but if Hollywood did this it would likely be over-the-top silly.

But there’s a tradition in Japanese film for understatement.

This could have been a really sappy movie, and yes, it is a goofy, tear-jerking romance, but it all came together, at least for us.

It was also fun to try to pick up on visual references in homage to films from long ago.

Much of the theme is the power of film to transport us to other places, and the struggle that writers have to achieve moving, engaging scripts that leave an audience fulfilled.

BTW, the movie poster is little like the film, which is all about B&W slowly blossoming toward muted colors. ..

Refinishing Stair Handrails – Covid Project #33b

Three rounds of stripping and scraping using an environmentally benign gel, and several hours of sanding over the course of a few days and the handrails from our stairs are finally denuded of what seemed like about 10 coats of paint. Whew!

Was pleased at the decent quality of the wood underneath all those layers. Will likely go with a mild stain/varnish and sealer.

It was a lot work, but I hate wasting good wood, and had some time on my hands. . .

stripping sanding handrails

UPDATE (June 28): The boss chose Varathane in Golden Oak. Looking good! I’ll do another coat later today, let them sit overnight, and install tomorrow.

staining handrails

Kitty Spots a Hummer

Sora the Cat was sitting at the dining room window looking through the screen when she started chattering.

We looked up and there was a hummer on the tree outside. Fortunately it stayed while I ran down to my office to get Big Bertha, spinning the ISO up to 3200 and shooting handheld at a 35mm equivalent of 900mm.

Nikon D7200 and Tamron 150-600 zoom, first gen.

anna's hummingbird burnaby bc