Photography with Joe

John Oliver, on his HBO show, featured a topic that connects indirectly to my life. Although we've never met, John Oliver and I were both involved—unwittingly—in what I consider the worst film we ever worked on: The Love Guru. I still have the loveguru2008@yahoo.com email as a soverneir -its release date. We didn’t have personal contact, and I hadn’t heard of him at the time, but since The Love Guru marked the peak of my behind-the-scenes fame, it’s likely he heard of me before he left Toronto. Regardless, Olivers show recently discussed a strange auction. I initially thought the episode was new—airing in 2025—but later found out it was a repeat from 2015. So, it's all old news. The focus was on a jockstrap worn by Russell Crowe during the filming of Cinderella Man. (Back in 2003 I saw Crowe in said jock strap daily for over four months of filming chaos.) Oliver’s show apparently bought the jockstrap and donated it to one of the last surviving Blockbuster stores in Alaska. L...

YetiCon Attendance History: A Look at the Growth of Canada’s Mountain Convention YetiCon has evolved into one of Canada’s most unique fan conventions, blending traditional con programming with outdoor adventures at Blue Mountain Resort. Below is an updated chart with estimated attendance numbers for each year of YetiCon’s history. While exact figures may vary, these estimates reflect the general growth trend and available data. YetiCon # Year Notable Facts Estimated Attendance 1st 2014 Inaugural event at Blue Mountain Resort, introducing a unique blend of indoor and outdoor activities. ~500 2nd 2015 Built on early success with more activities and increased interest. ~700 3rd 2016 Expanded programming with more interactive outdoor events. ~900 4th 2017 Included cosplay contests, adventure sports, a...

When Interviews Meant Discovery by Ed Scholz with Ai Corrections "Interviews used to be a rough map into unknown territory.:" I said today in shock. You didn’t know what would be uncovered—neither did the artist. That was the magic. Two people in conversation, not just exchanging information, but exploring something. Listening. Reacting. Changing course midstream because a better question had just appeared. Today, to my surprise, I found out things have changed more than I realized. One of my clients had an interview lined up—and it was by email. The questions were sent. The answers were typed. That was it. No conversation, no voice, no real-time exchange. Just a text-based transaction. I sat there wondering if this was normal now—and apparently, it is. What we’ve lost is the moment after the moment—the one where someone says something surprising and you lean in: “Can you say more about that?” Those are the moments that can’t be scripted. They only happen live, when both s...

  Our Cousins, the Proto-Philosophers By Scholz It started with a television show. While watching  Humans , the sci-fi series on Amazon Prime, I was struck by a scene where synthetic beings — robots with human-like intelligence — calmly argued for their rights. Not just to move freely, but not to be  owned . Their communication was articulate, emotional, even moral. They weren’t asking for upgrades. They were asking for dignity. The scene lingered in my mind. What makes someone a person? Is it intelligence? Language? The ability to feel, or to make ethical claims? That’s when my thoughts turned not to machines, but to something far more real — our evolutionary cousins. Bonobos pressing symbols for “sad,” gorillas signing their names in mirrors, orangutans telling small lies. These aren’t imagined sci-fi futures. These are scenes from the lives of great apes. For centuries, philosophy has been framed as a distinctly human pursuit. To wonder, to reason, to ask “why” — these...