Big Blue Box Studios

04/08/2024

The eclipse, as seen over our Big Blue Box Studios.

04/03/2024

This applies to two of our three Big Blue Box Studios pups. Our dog team matriarch, Bailey, was rescued twelve or so years ago from a crack house by the stepdaughter of our producer, so we don't know her actual birthday. Then, about 18 months ago, we adopted our young girl, Mae (or Mabel) who came to us after being freed from a horror story of being hunted for target practice in Northern Manitoba. We thank our friends, the amazing volunteers of Lost Boys Hope. Their birthdays are when they became loving members of our family at the Big Blue Box Studios.

03/31/2024

03/02/2024

So, we are just this old, or at least our studio is 😉 Back in May of 2022, we were required to rip out the walls of the front bathroom due to a leak in the roof. We knew the house was constructed before the turn of the century, as we had been in the crawl space and had looked in the attic, but we weren't quite expecting what we found behind the walls. So, I called Mary Fletcher Harris of the Barrie Historical Archive who asked for some pictures to document the construction. Then it was time to fix that leak by installing a new roof. If you look closely, you can see the distance that was then common between the old boards that had contracted with time. In addition to all new shingles, the roofers installed 30 sheets of 4'x8' plywood. We have frequently commented on how the building is so quiet, and clearly the logs are a big part of that. We are guessing that our Big Blue Box Studios is one of the oldest buildings in The City of Barrie.

01/02/2024

Our studio pup, Mae, is very much the same. Tonight, for the first time, the little girl who was rescued from hell didn't chase John, our Producer, when he left the room. She got cuddles after, and maybe now she understands that her security services, which were no doubt essential in the wild lands of Northern Manitoba, are not needed within the safety of the studios.

12/23/2023

This reminds us very much of the transition from when we lost our ageing studio matriarch, Bonnie, and the introduction of the black lab pup, Bella, who looked so much like her but was clearly not the same dog. As Bella grew, she seemed to show respect for some areas of the house. There was Bonnie's bed that I had to coax her to go to, and the inside dog house that was always Bonnie's that the younger dog would not enter, even if provoked with a toy or a treat. It was almost like a lingering memory awaited her. She waited until two years had passed and now she spends hours every day within it. There is no relationship on Earth like that of a dog and their person.

"Whispers of Healing: A Dog's Journey from Loss to Found Love"
In the quiet corridors of the rescue shelter, I watched as a pair of kind eyes met mine. The scent of unfamiliar surroundings lingered, and the echoes of barks and whimpers filled the air. The humans approached, their hands gentle and reassuring. They spoke in hushed tones, their words a soothing melody.
I sensed their hearts carried the weight of a goodbye, the echoes of a companion lost to time. They spoke of shared sunsets and the warmth of a love that had blossomed through countless days. As they looked at me, hope flickered in their eyes, a silent conversation between souls in search of solace.
With hesitant hands, they opened the door to my new home. Their touch, tentative yet filled with promise, bridged the gap between past and present. I tread lightly, mindful of the echoes that lingered in the corners of their hearts.
In the garden where their previous companion once chased sunlight and danced with the wind, I found my place. Each step carried the weight of memories, and in the quiet moments, I felt the whispers of a bond that transcended time.
As the days unfolded, we forged a new chapter together. Laughter replaced the silence and walks in the park became a shared joy. Through patient gestures and lingering gazes, they mended the fragments of a heart that had once known loss.
In their embrace, I discovered the beauty of healing, the resilience that blooms when love is given a chance to flourish anew. The memories of a beloved friend became a guiding light, shaping our journey together.
And so, in the embrace of a family that had known both sorrow and the enduring spirit of love, I found my place—a pawprint on the canvas of their hearts, a testament to the transformative power of companionship, and the timeless dance between those who are lost and those who are found
Credits go to the respective owner ~

11/05/2023

It is a sad day at the Big Blue Box Studios, but also one of good memories, and one hell of a lot of love. It was three years ago today, on November 5, 2020, that we had to say goodbye to the matriarch of our studio dogs, Bonnie, a dear friend and constant companion. We still miss you Bon Bon, and likely always will.

10/20/2023

The doors of our Big Blue Box Studios are always open to those who feel in danger, who need to feel secure, who need to be listened to by somebody who cares, and those seeking a friend.

10/16/2023

This is NOT confirmed, but according to The Weather Channel, Barrie's centre has shifted, and is now just off Holgate, between William St. and Granville St. It is the red dot.
Our Big Blue Box Studios are located at the corner of Innisfil St. and Essa Rd, less than a stone's throw away.
Does this mean that downtown is shifting? A few years ago, before the pandemic, new signs were erected on the highway guiding drivers to Essa Rd. to go downtown. That move ended abruptly, reportedly due to complaints by downtown business owners and the downtown Barrie BIA.
Barrie spent a fortune on the new waterfront, and now they are expanding the Essa Rd. access to HWY 400. They have also drawn up plans to move the bus station to the terminal next to the Allandale Go Train Station and turn the downtown bus station into an open farmer's market.
Could this represent a big change in our little neighbourhood?

10/14/2023

We learned today that Mae, the youngest of our studio dogs, was a year ago very close to changing her status from rescue foster to part of the family. Few who have not experienced it will understand the true magic of when a dog, which has had nothing, suddenly realises they have a home, and they are part of a family. We have never looked back. Thanks, Lost Boys Hope.

10/10/2023

So, it is once again that time of year. This switch is in our primary post-production suite; a room of about ten feet tall, wide, and deep, or a thousand cubic feet. The top switch controls a small space heater, and the bottom one a window air conditioner. Some days we go high, and some days we go low. Somedays we do both.

09/04/2023

All of these building materials and more can be found in the construction of our Big Blue Box Studios.
The front portion, which we painted blue, was built in the late 1800s from nine-inch axe-hewed logs and is virtually soundproof. The middle part is of about 1940s construction and the wood is rough-edged and of 'real' dimensions rather than the half-inch off, milled varieties of today.
Then, in the back, it is a 1960s or 70s design, using 'modern' building materials.
Walking from the front door to the back rooms is like time-travelling over a century.
We truly believe that our facilities are unique and special in a world of prefab, copy-and-paste construction, and we hope to maintain that special feeling for many years to come.

09/02/2023

So, today, two of our Big Blue Box Studios dogs, Mae and Bella, both received very overdue new beds.
They were both a bit skittish about the puffy mattresses, especially Mae who spent her first year of life living rough in the forest and hunting squirrels in Northern Manitoba. It took a bit of coaxing, but in time they were in like Flint.
Bailey, our furry matriarch, has a top-of-the-line bed that is still in amazing shape, while Mae was sleeping on moving blankets until she grew out of chewing and Bella was using the mattress of our previous black lab, Bonnie, who was lost to us in 2020.
It is safe to say we have two very happy puppers.

08/02/2023

Two of our three studio dogs are rescues. One was saved from certain death in a crackhouse by our Producer's former stepdaughter, and the other was pulled from target practice, no lie, in Northern Manitoba by the amazing volunteers at Lost Boys Hope. While the breeder dog is just as loved, it is the rescues who truly protect our people and things, and it is they who playfully compete to be number one to our crew. Give a rescue a chance. Our experience says you will never regret it.

07/29/2023

It has been a while since we have bought any new toys for the studio pups, Bailey the matriarch, Bella the Moose, and Mae the little brat. So, today, when our Producer saw these in Costco, he could not resist. They are kind of personality appropriate. The Wise Orangutan is Bailey, the oversized clumsy Gorilla is for Bella, and the little Chimp is Mae. We have no expectation that they will honour each other's right to ownership or that these stuffies will last very long.

07/04/2023

It may not be art or even the best carpentry ;-) but the flower beds are built and sunflowers are finally in the dirt outside our Big Blue Box Studios, home of 3B Solutions and Five Points Media.
Within a few hours of transplantation, the long-term residents of slowly dissolving seed pots started to reach up, rather than just laying around like a bunch of green freeloaders ;-)
Tonight, when it is more bearable, we will be installing the chicken wire needed to keep the furry residents of our lawn and gardens out of what will one day be ten-foot-high Mammoth Sunflowers.

06/11/2023

Last night, we had some visitors in the backyard of our Big Blue Box Studios, home of 3B Solutions and Five Points Media. They seemed quite at ease as they grazed on the available weeds and chased each other around the yard. The dogs were not in their run.

05/28/2023

Today, our crew at the Big Blue Box Studios, home of 3B Solutions and Five Points Media, were visited by a very smart young man who wanted to try his hand at studio camera operations.
He came to that conclusion after checking out every square inch of our production facilities, from the unfinished lounge in the attic, all the way down to the gym in the basement. He also performed a mock voiceover in the all-glass sound booth and played a Jedi in training using our Producer's lightsabre. There is a story ;-)
The young man's desire to learn is a strong sign of high intelligence, so we welcomed his investigation into our pretty cool small corner of the world. His mother seemed equally pleased with his inspection of our facilities as she played talent to his studio production.