Comments on: Yay For Vanilla

By: gordsellar

gordsellar — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:21:03 +0000

Thanks, Stephen. Yeah, I haven’t seen Jack… I think, actually, in six years. Talked on the phone a few times, but that’s it. Miss the bastard, though… and of course, your name is familiar just from Toronto stories.

(EDIT: I can’t remember if you were in the house when the huge guy turned up with the tombstone and the bucket of fried rice, but… there’s a warm haze of weird Toronto stories floating in long-ago-sodden memory banks here.)

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:23:46 +0000

To be precise, Jack (and I) share a close friend with Mark (a repatriated Saskatoon native). Jack and I are old mates from our days as undergrad basement dwellers. We still see each other from time to time, most recently in June, so I expect you’re correct on the frequency angle. Looking forward to reading more on the blog.

By: gordsellar

gordsellar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:56:06 +0000

Woah, my hometown! How the hell does Jack have a friend in Saskatoon? I though people always moved OUT of that city, not into it.

Well, you’ve seen him more than I have in years, I’d bet… unless you met him in Toronto back before he shifted to Montreal, where I met him.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:43:18 +0000

Will do – we met a few times in Montreal and once in T.O. I think. I don’t see Jack as much as I used to (I’m living in Japan at the moment, doing a year of fieldwork for my doctorate in anthropology) but I’ll definitely pass on the regards.

(Bonus fact: Vanilla also comes to you straight out of Saskatoon, Canada!)

By: gordsellar

gordsellar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:38:59 +0000

Woah! I do get a kick out of that. And I’m pretty sure I recognize your name, too. :) Say hey to Jack for me next time you see him. I miss hanging out with him.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:54:10 +0000

Hey Gord – I hope that Vanilla works for you. You might get a kick out of knowing that Mark O’Sullivan, the designer and programmer, is a friend of a friend of Jack Illingworth.

By: gordsellar

gordsellar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:47:28 +0000

That’s cool, thanks! I’d be happy for as much coverage as possible, when it actually goes live. The tentative date is Dec 1st, which will leave the rest of the semester for their final write-ups of the project and a little wrap-up.

(Maybe also a small chapbook run so everyone can have one copy, plus one for the library, a few extras for some other profs on campus, and so on.)

By: EFL Geek

EFL Geek — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:11:13 +0000

Anyhow when it’s ready to go, I’ll blog it, if you like and also post on twitter.

By: gordsellar

gordsellar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:08:47 +0000

EFL Geek,

Oh, when the whole thing goes online, I’m going to do my best to blitz the international blogosphere with it, not just the K-blogosphere. (And I told the students so, too.) I may also try give a link to someone at the English-language dailies, and if it gets on the global radar somehow, then I will try bug the big Korean-language dailies to do up something about it. It’d be nice if these little meme about class projects going out into the world spread — it’d help short-circuit the black-hole of soon-disposable homework that you and I went through just the same as most students do.

Some of the best students in my department — really, I’d imagine, some of the best on campus — are involved in this project, so I think they really can produce something cool, if they can hack the organizational stuff and knuckle down to work in a consistent manner.

By: EFL Geek

EFL Geek — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:23:35 +0000

Gord, I went to your class site and I like the graphic novel idea. I hope you publish a link to it on your blog here as I would love to check out what your students do.

might give them added motivation knowing at least one person will read it.