the SIR CHARLES GD ROBERTS project ongoing and slowly advancing

so on location working away on the ROBERTS project which intends to become a documentary and a book - the book which is comprised of selections from his 'animal stories' with illustrations by HELENE LACELLE is well on the way and soon to be published - ROBERTS is known now only as 'the father of CDN poetry' but also the author who created the 'animal story' where the animals have human-like characteristics - they think, feel and act often like we do... they are not dumb creatures or at least no dumber than we are.. He was born in Douglas, NB and raised in Westcock, NB where his father was rector of St Mary's church located in the heart of the famous Tantramar Marsh. It's from his early days living in and around this marsh that Roberts picked up his love and understanding of nature.

ROBERT PAYNE formerly homeless street poet now living domestic no longer 'rough in alley' ROB PAYNE now HOMED

With the help of the NUN's at St Felix, ROB managed to get a room and gave up his alley home or rather perhaps his alley home closed down on him - someone fenced it off/boarded it up and ROB would have to find another home sweet if he wanted to remain homeless but after 8 years living outside in Toronto now 50 years old, he was feeling the negative affects of his life style sooooo with the devoted help of the NUN's ROB PAYNE now HOMED ( he was on CBC's the NATIONAL Friday last )

BUILDING NEW STUDIO ... Beautiful Bachelors resting for now while building - G.D. ROBERT's book/doc moving along again

So one does what one does ... yep another Yogi saying or was that Steven the Seagull? - read a funny comment about him that he's the only man who gained hair in his elder years in fact gained a widow's peak - must be natural says the comment on one of his movies. Sir G.D.ROBERT's research going well for book almost got it completed waiting for HELENE's illustrations - gonna combine her very unique stuff with Robert's traditional animal stories ... the doc is at a very early stage just gathering image so far.

Just went in another direction ..

yeah i've left these blogs alone for a while soooo much to do sooooo little time - had a pile of health misfortunes that slowed me down and forced me to mind my health and take a break - should be back at it sooner than later - work on ROBERT's doc and book moving along slowly - my docs are resting like me they need a temporary nap - zzzzzzzzz

ahhh the pain the pain ... temporary halt to BEAUTIFUL BACHELORS

It's rather amazing how things get in the way of movie-making. Take my shoulder ( yes i know the Groucho Marx line but i think it's about his wife ) well i slipped on some wet slimy rocks while portaging my 90 lb canoe along the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick and wrenched my left shoulder. The pain came hours later and never left for several days - no sleep, no rest and no editing or doing much of anything except moaning and groaning and doing things to ease the pain ...  I know it's rather late to post this but i haven't been attentive to much until the pain left and now in recovery i can lift a cookie to my mouth ... and that's just fine!

MindFest 2013

Yuri Polakiwsky, Director Peter Evanchuck, Marko Polakiwsky, Henry Schmidt and Compton Eefreitas at the University of Toronto's Hart House for the 2013 MINDFEST
EVANCHUCK's documentary MARKO'sMANIA screened on opening day of the Mental Health Conference to an appreciative audience. MARKO's candid honesty created a personal, heart-felt document of a life lived with bi-polar illness. MARKO'sMANIA records 14 years of his life in 
29 minutes.

here's some thing on my new FEATURE doc BEAUTIFUL BACHELORS

EVANCHUCK's thoughts on the ins and outs of making things or how to live with cancer and still 'LIVE' - BEAUTIFUL BACHELORS

Like so many others i manage to survive operations that split my chest open to clear all that stuff inside of cancer and to remove a very large tumour that had grown from my thyroid down into my lung area - fortunately i had two surgical teams on throat the other chest who did a great job since i'm still alive and able to live sort of normally.

Biking, kayaking, sailing and making movies although now go slower and longer than perhaps 'normal' ; nevertheless, I'm still up and at 'em. Health has now become paramount to my present and future on this lovely planet.

My latest venture is a feature doc.  BEAUTIFUL BACHELORS which pays homage to three amazing guys i've hung with for decades who are now also in rough shape: Gerry 96, LARROW 87 and ROBERT 50. The feature length documentary traces some of those decades, some of those wonderful years of befriending each other and managing to continue to live thru 'hard times'.

My other two docs now doing the festival circuit and conference circuit - MARKO'SMANIA, THE POETRY OF PAYNE,  completed over the past few years also traces lives of people i've lived life with over decades thru the ups and downs, thru the good and the bad - the shit and the gravey one might term it. hard living and hard drinking and hard full lives gave us all a taste of something so special without boundries that most middle classless people in today's worlds are terrified to cross into. Those limitless boundries, of course, had things like fairness and compassion; thus, today we are still friends, still tolerating the other's 'oddities' but now unlike much of those decades of living fully, i'm documenting as much as i can, pulling out decades of 8mm footage, still 35mm pics, and whatever i can find that will give the viewer a small look at what a big world we lived in and as that old movie titles 'we had a WONDERFUL LIFE that now is ..... mmmmm not over yet - watch out here comes BEAUTIFUL BACHELORS !! 

excuse me now i have to nap....

GERRY died a short while back from exposure... very sad indeed but his bi-polar energy kept him fully alive for 96 years!

READ SAW GALLERRY'S NEWS LETTER WITH PETER's DOC UPDATES

Seeing the Signs - BEAUTIFUL BATCHELORS

Homeless poet Robert Thomas Payne, 87 yr. old Augustus Larrow and 94 yr. old Jerry McCord

Just love to observe things around me always looking for the signs of thoughts other people have about all things. In Toronto to continue shoot of BEAUTIFUL BATCHELORS - didn't go all that well but then it never does but one has to persist to create the 'art'. This shoot done over years catching the past, present and the future of BEAUTIFUL BATCHELORS.

BEAUTIFUL BACHLORS the movie begins XmasDay 2012

Homeless Street Poet ROBERT THOMAS PAYNE & buddy AUGUSTUS LARROW

Yep finally back into the feature movie biz after a very long hiatus caused by cancer, care for ill/dying mother and last but least general malaise .... floating around town rather aimlessly at times - after all doing nothing takes time and energy.

That all over with ( i live with cancer and go in for annual tests ) i march to the creative folks tune once again. Yep BEAUTIFUL BACHLORS captures the life&times on Toronto's QueenWest of homeless Poet ROBERT PAYNE and his buddy AUGUSTUS LARROW both are living on modest or less income : ROB homeless living in an alleyway opening doors at Tim's for spare change, writing poetry and trying to sell it for living money and getting a small stipend from social assistance. He's adamant that he'll not accept urine smelling, fleabag, junkie filled, dirty rooms in rooming houses but demands to be treated as a normal human being despite being feral after 7 years living outside, urban camping in wet or cold year'round sleeping bags in alleys off Queenwest.
LARROW on the other hand has a small one bedroom apartment just off Queen where he's opened his door too often and to too many people in need who often steal from him but NOT ROBERT who helps shop and answers to his needs. They both survive, both marginalized surviving as the living poor in Canada's richest city, Toronto.

BEAUTIFUL BACHELORS covers 6 years in their friendship, surrounded by their declining health and life amid changing times of their neighbourhood as CONDOworld takes over, where the S&Ms invade like barbarians trying to make the art area of QueenWest resemble and remind them of ScaRBERIA or MessySAUGA with Loblaws, NewBanks, Newfurniture stores, ShopperDrugMart remind one of a wealthy section of Bloor rather than the grunge of former art colony - QUEENwest.

They are buddies in good and bad times helping each other as they survive the changing times of their worlds with humour, humanity and modest hubris.