Happy Labour Day; Ontario Style

Today's special significance reminds me of how pay has not kept up with inflation.

Here's my story: After I finished high school I scored a nice job at Canadian General Electric. I say "nice" as the pay was eight dollars per hour; my dad laughed when I told him the rate of remuneration. Even though I long had plans to go on to post secondary education, the idea of getting a good paying job the summer after graduating from high school was appealing to me. (I should note that that pay rate was for a relief worker, which is what I was to CGE.)

Here's the rub. I checked the Bank of Canada's 'cost of living' website and used its onboard conversion calculator. That eight dollars in 1981 is the equivalent of twenty dollars in today's currency.

Now, where am I going with this?

Next time you chat with a recent high school graduate, ask them what kind of pay they've been offered in their quest for a summer job; if they can even get a summer job. I'm amazed at how many young people I meet who cannot get work for the summer. They have to take volunteer work just so they have something for the resume. (Volunteer work is valued, of course, but paid gigs are nice, especially in anticipation of moving on to university or community college.)

My first summer here in Toronto was in 1985, and jobs were aplenty back then. I had two offers; I just took the first one that came along.

Just as insidious are the "staffing agencies". Companies pay them about 17/18 dollars per hour, per person, and the agency turns around and pays the worker minimum wage. (The adult rate in Ontario is $11.25 per hour. Do the math.)

It's all about keeping people poor. It's also artificial and unnecessary. These companies have to be regulated and bound with restrictions as to how much they can "skim". (Governments won't make a move because they don't care about the working poor.)

Yes, Labour Day. We have a long way to go, baby; or, even better, we have a long way to go back. Baby.

A Sketch of Early 'Graveyard Shift' Design Text

Lately I've concentrated on posting samples from my recently rediscovered sketchbook. Upon leafing through the somewhat yellowed document I came across a neatly folded piece of lined writing paper:

It is a page I scribbled early in the production of the old Canadian horror film Graveyard Shift, in which I had the role of set designer. The main set, the only one, really, was of a graveyard featured as part of a music video within a film. I also illustrated some "wild" flats which appeared in a party scene.

I blogged about my role previously, here. The experience was a good one. Everything counts.

Here, in the picture below, are some bits I noodled in late September or early October of 1985:

"Jerry" refers to the film's director, Jerry Ciccoritti. "Gilda" is, I'm sure I'm not remembering this correctly, the main vampire lady.

The list of cemeteries is something I listed since I wanted to check out the real thing in preparation of my mausoleum design; a structure which would be central to the music video's graveyard set. Examples of the resulting sketches are posted here and here.

I've long been fascinated by the creative process; even my own. The above examples demonstrate how a first meeting leads to the completed job.

Check out a post I did on a contact sheet of photos I took of the completed graveyard set.

My New Sketchbook: Stone Cones (Film Design)

My Old Sketchbook: Unfinished Union Station Toronto

My Old Sketchbook: Science Fiction Film Retro

My Old Sketchbook: A Panic Box in Pencil

Some Thing Found on Beach

My Old Sketchbook: Mausoleum 1985

My Old Sketchbook: Dart Tear

My Old Sketchbook: Etching

My Old Sketchbook: 3 From Simcoe County Museum

My Old Sketchbook: Forest Lawn Mausoleum

My Old Sketchbook: Conductor Christopher Keene

My Old Sketchbook: Students' Apartment Mess

Graphic Vandalism Graphic

Toronto Cult Film & Video Festival (1992) Schedule

October 24, 1992

7:00 pm -- I Hate Your Guts -- Director: Roger Corman
9:00 pm -- Bust a Move -- Julian Grant
11:00 pm -- Nekromantik 1 -- Jörg Buttgereit

October 25, 1992

7:00 pm -- Black Sunday -- Mario Bava
9:00 pm -- Dracula (Spanish version) -- George Melford
11:00 pm -- Scum of the Earth -- Herschell Gordon Lewis

October 26, 1992

7:00 pm -- Fugitive Girls -- A.C. Stephen
9:00 pm -- The Sensuous Wife -- Joseph F. Robertson
11:00 pm -- The Love Feast -- Joseph F. Robertson

October 27, 1992

7:00 pm -- The Last Pogo -- Colin Brunton
9:00 pm -- Not Dead Yet -- Ruth Taylor
11:00 pm -- No Skin Off My Ass -- Bruce LaBruce

October 28, 1992

7:00 pm -- Satan's Bed -- Unknown
9:00 pm -- Der Todesking -- Jörg Buttgereit
11:00 pm -- Forbidden Zone -- Richard Elfman

October 29, 1992

7:00 pm -- Teenagers from Outer Space -- Tom Graeff
9:00 pm -- Five Minutes to Live -- Bill Karn
11:00 pm -- Deadbeat at Dawn -- Jim Van Bebber

October 30, 1992

7:00 pm -- Short Attention Span Theatre -- Various
9:00 pm -- Nekromantik 2 -- Jörg Buttgereit
11:00 pm -- Homicidal -- William Castle

October 31, 1992

7:00 pm -- Satan's Sadists -- Al Adamson
9:00 pm -- Amodeo Bingo Martyr -- Steve DiMarco
11:00 pm -- Nash the Slash: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari -- Robert Wiene
12:00 am -- Rocky Horror -- Jim Sharman

___

Yesterday I posted the above guide's cover.

Toronto Cult Film & Video Festival (1992) Guide

Open Streets TO Success

Little Waiting at "Davisville" TTC Subway Station

Great Bike Lanes on Bloor Street (Toronto)

Back in June I posted a piece titled "Royal Ontario Museum Pull". Included as one of the pictures was this image:

Things have changed a little on this section of Bloor Street. Check out the new, and essential, dedicated bike lanes: