UPDATE: Natasha Is No Longer Homeless

July 3, 2012, was a rainy night in London. I had just arrived from the airport. I was jetlagged with my head pounding. I went for a walk to get some food and there she was. I didn't have a camera with me, so I recorded a short video with my phone. Here is a link to Natasha's first video: https://youtu.be/6TLVgwoqhoc 

Overnight the video reached over 169,000 views on YouTube and started a conversation about welfare reform in the UK that was just gorgeous. 

The next day I tried to find Natasha. She was sleeping rough in London. Someone commented that they saw her at London Waterloo station. I could not find her. That started my journey of traveling between London Waterloo station and Embankment tube station every future visit trying to find her. 

I searched online constantly. I searched Google, and I searched social media. I could not find her. Someone started a fundraising page for Natasha, but they didn't have any connection to her, and I don't think the person they found was the same girl. I was concerned for her, and concerned people were using her video to make money. Over the last six years, I aggressively tried to find Natasha. 

A week or so ago I received a message request on Facebook. Seems some woman had been trying to get my attention, but I never see the requests. I forget that feature is even there. That woman turned out to be Natasha - the real Natasha - the young homeless girl I had met sleeping rough in London six years ago. She found me. 

There are no words to describe how happy I was that she reached out to me and how utterly ecstatic I was she was no longer homeless. Natasha is now a young mother. She lives with her partner trying to make the best of it. She works three jobs trying to survive. So often the end of homelessness just starts new challenges. 

Every single day someone contacts me asking about Natasha and how they can help. I have been messaging with Natasha back and forth, and since so many of you wanted to help her, I suggested she start a GoFundMe page. 

This is Natasha's GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/54qyw-no-longer-homeless I have validated it is her. Although I made the suggestion, all donations go directly to her. She set up the page herself. 

From talking to Natasha, I learned that they don't have a lot of furniture. Like I said, she works three jobs. That's got to be hard on a young family. 

Natasha is 22 years-old and has been homeless sleeping rough in London for 4 years

 

Natasha is 22 years old and has been homeless in London for four years. Only moments before meeting her on a dark rainy night I met two other homeless women. One woman had been on the streets for 33 years. 

Natasha says because she is not using drugs or alcohol or pregnant there is no help.

It's hard to imagine what a young girl like Natasha's life is like on the streets. It's nothing but a miracle that she still is positive and can smile.

Guy runs around Estonia illegally fixing stuff

 

We did it again. Repaired pavements, signs, benches, oiled squeaky swings, and more. 

Midwest Meets East Coast

 

Apparently red lights are optional in Boston 🚦

Try to cancel Comcast contract? Good luck with that

 

I'm sure there are few Comcast customer service calls that go well. But there are probably even fewer—we hope, anyway—that go this bad.

Comcast customer Ryan Block had recently called up Comcast's customer service line to cancel his service, which is simple enough. Just not for the customer service rep Ryan Block reaches on Comcast's end.

We drop in at about 10 minutes into the call, according to Mr. Blocks description, and Comcast's rep is in full-breakdown mode. All of it, it seems, began with the question "Why is it that you don't want faster speed? Help me understand why you don't want faster internet." 

It is, in effect, the telecommunications version of the clingy ex-boyfriend, just begging you to not leave and make it all better.

He writes on Soundcloud:

The representative (name redacted) continued aggressively repeating his questions, despite the answers given, to the point where my wife became so visibly upset she handed me the phone.

This recording picks up roughly 10 minutes into the call, whereby she and I have already played along and given a myriad of reasons and explanations as to why we are canceling (which is why I simply stopped answering the rep's repeated question — it was clear the only sufficient answer was "Okay, please don't disconnect our service after all.") 

Ultimately, Mr. Block perseveres through the Comcast rep's fusillade of questions to emerge victorious, canceling his service to switch over to Astound. With any luck, his new provider will be more sensitive to his needs.

COMPETITION: Win Hudson & Rex: Season 1 on DVD

Hudson & Rex Season 1 - Released on DVD from 9th August

And to celebrate we have a great competition for you and a copy on DVD to give away.

Synopsis: 

Own the action-packed, hit television series Hudson & Rex, and meet this loveable crime-fighting duo in their very first season…

Detective Charlie Hudson (John Reardon, Van Helsing, Continuum), a cunning Major Crimes detective for the St. John’s Police Department, teams up with an unusual partner, Rex, a former-K9 German Shepherd whose heightened senses keep Charlie hot on the trail of his suspects. Together, they investigate puzzling crimes, from a kidnapping which reveals a much larger conspiracy at play, to an art theft murder which runs deep into the world of high society. With Charlie’s deft detective work and Rex’s keen canine senses, this crime-fighting pair is unstoppable.

Providing plenty of action and excitement for the whole family, Hudson & Rex became the highest-rated original scripted series for Canadian television network Citytv and is shown in more than 100 territories worldwide. 

Dazzler Media presents Hudson & Rex: Season One on DVD and Download-to-Own from 9th August

Pre-order on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3rzJ9GO

For your chance to win just answer the question below.

Hudson & Rex originally aired in which Canadian television network?

Send your name, address and of course the answer to competition365@outlook.com

Terms and conditions
1. Closing date 16-08-21
2. No alternative prize is available
3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.

Dreamy Kitty Rotoscope Animation

 

So this took the better part of a year and a half to animate. Almost 7000 frames. It was very meditative...and quite the learning experience. I tried to make sure it was just a relaxing thing to do on weekends for a few hours at a time. No stress. No deadlines. Just something for me. Plus, COVID-19 was a good excuse to just chill at the computer, so why not MAKE something?

I like to imagine that this is what Pixel experiences when she goes into dreamland. Trippy abstract things she sees out the window, or stuff she catches me watching on TV. Chasing shapes and colors. Catching those time extensions to fight off the seizures and stay in this world just a little bit longer.

The most annoying part is that I had to butcher the quality and framerate to export it for YouTube. The original file on my computer runs and looks so much better, but it keeps crashing when I try to export it. Very annoying. But I promised myself I'd upload it before 2021. Rotoscope is a lot of work. I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon.