Happy New Year!!

It's almost the year we make contact!!! Let's celebrate tonight like it's 2001 all over again. Can anybody believe it's already been a decade since "the year of your lord"? It's amazing how fast time can fly and fly and fly. Well I'm off to see some of my closest friends and enjoy the occasion. I cannot wait to see what the new year brings.

Resolutions:

1. Take online classes.
2. Take charge of my creativity... ie. write more and expand my way of thinking.
3. Learn how to cook.
4. Hit the beach a few times and maybe learn how to surf.
5. Keep in better contact with the people I care about.

Love you all, be safe and have fun.

A Holiday Mini Mix

I’ve been swept up in the season hence the less than little average posts this month.  But I didn’t forget about ya’ll and I am very excited to be moving into a new year with some new ideas for this page. Anyways, here’s a mini mix I had been working on... it turns out, I don’t have many holiday songs, no sir. And of the ones I do own, only a fraction are interesting or new to me... so here are those:

1. Cool Yule - Louis Armstrong

2. Holy, Holy, Holy - Sufjan Stevens

3. Happy Xmas - John Lennon

4. We Three Kings - The Boxmasters

5. Star Star - The Swell Season

6. Soul Cake - Sting

7. A Change At Christmas - The Flaming Lips

8. My Dear Acquaintance - Regina Spektor

Well Happy Chocolate Santa Day while it lasts. Hope you’re spending it with the people you most wanna see and be with.

Those Wacky Blu-Ray Television Sales

I respond to this article from Blu-ray.com. It states that blu-ray sales are low for television series because of higher prices...

...Just make them cheaper. There is no reason a two disc blu-ray of Dollhouse should be $20 more than the dvd (it’s much cheaper on amazon than in stores). That's just stupid. And I gotta say, it honestly doesn't cost more to make a blu-ray. Maybe the initial authoring takes some work, but with advances in technology speeding processes up all the time you'd think TV studios'd think before messing with their loyal fans (those that still remain). 

FOX makes bad decisions left and right 

(high budget shows on low viewing nights... why??), 

NBC is dying a little bit every day, 

CW has been a  mentally challenged camel since its formation, 

and CBS... well they're boring. So how's it they've got the lead? Wouldn't it make more sense for ABC to be on top (even if they can't get their lineups in order)? But I digress. These stations could all be doing better, even at the top... so why hurt their home video market sales by not upgrading with class... 

saying "We understand that you [the loyal fans] deserve a break. We may not see profits right away with this HD stuff, but in the long haul... if we treat you right, we will see newer, greater success." 

I mean, AMC gets it... 

AMC... the movie channel that still pan and scans movies... 

Showtime gets it. 

If the “premium” networks are all getting it what’s taking the regular networks so long? Hope the execs at least mull this over a little before claiming no contest and folding to the ancient format of DVD.

That said, blu-ray sales keep rising in film... because film studios understand what pressure they are now under to keep their viewers. When shit hits the fan, the major networks are gonna wish they'd done something sooner. But they've still got time... we hope.

Obama Talks About The War

A Blind Discovery

I Can't Believe It's Almost Over

November 29th... November 30th... December 1st... where did 2009 go?? I slightly recall being a little kid and someone telling me that things only get faster and faster. Like I would complain about the fact that recess was only 30 minutes long, only 15 minutes long, only 5 minutes long... and teachers would laugh. Though they never told us that we had less time. They didn’t want us to know, because then we would ask for more and whine and cry because there weren’t enough hours in the day, month, year... where did all the days go? Where did Little Kid March King go?

He's the one on the right.

And now it’s almost 2010? The year we make contact?? 

Not a good movie...

Why I remember when it was 2001 and we were amazed that the technology from the movie was still years away from being a possibility. 

And here we are... nearing a new decade with increasing speed and we’re finally trying to retrace our steps and get ourselves back on the moon. Boy oh boy what happened? I think the years just get shorter and no one talks about it... like when I was a child, a car trip felt like forever, but now it only feels like a little tiny piece of a part of my day. I suppose it has to do with getting used to our surroundings. I don’t mean like Southern California or Southern Florida... Rather we keep getting more and more used to the whole of our existence, but the more used to it we get, the less we seem to actually understand.

I know this is all rather petty conjecture, but I just don’t know where 2009 went. A year in lala land. If some days felt like years and some months passed in the blink of an eye, what does that mean for my sense of reality? What will the new year be like? And when I revisit South Florida, won’t it seem like an eternity?

Maybe Not?

Favorite Films: Steamboat Willie

In 1928 film began a bold new journey. The idea is that everything about a picture can be exactly as the director intended it... animation. And the big push was

Steamboat Willie: Mickey Mouse’s first appearance. 

A clever little flick chock full of animal cruelty and certain “perversions”. But it’s no secret that Mr. Disney had a darker side... I still wish I could get a hold of one copy of Song Of The South. 

I just really wanna know.

The List So Far:

1927 - Metropolis - Fritz Lang

1928 - Steamboat Willie - Ub Iwerks

Educate To Innovate

Check this out.

Coaster Head

This is drawn on a cork coaster using a fine sharpie pen. The design leaks over the sides and creates something else on the back. I did the whole thing at Barrett's house and thus gifted it to him for his hospitality.

The Crying Man

This can be misconstrued for a super-emo piece... but I assure you, that’s not what I was thinking at the time. More like, “Mr. Sad Face needs a helping hand...” Now that’s fun.

The Endless Lights

Color Light Majesty Might

This piece stemmed from a movie idea I had before I actually wrote screenplays. Let’s just say I gave up on it after a few weeks. But the image is still around, and I think it calls out a certain simplicity that’s kind of pretty.

Favorite Films: Metropolis!!

The year is 1927 and world cinema is changing in a big big way. I begin here because once sound happened (The Jazz Singer)... modern entertainment began. But I don’t wanna talk about a talkie right now. Indeed, of all the films to come out in 1927 my favorite was a revolution of genre rather than format.

Metropolis: by Fritz Lang, the one eyed master... 

or one of the one eyed masters (ie. John Ford).

This was Sci-Fi before Sci-Fi knew it was a genre. And it has been copied and copied for almost a century. But the thing that gets me is the awe and beauty of a separation of two worlds... the structure of the rich vs. poor and the realization that some people are wrongfully forced into a class by the ignorant. It’s a German film... and it’s older than the second world war, but it carries a message that almost bleeds post war reconstruction. That’s what gets me about Fritz Lang. His films carry messages that are almost ageless. And now for the first time in 80 years you can actually see the whole movie!

Plus that giant face is creeepy.

The List So Far:

1927 - Metropolis - Fritz Lang

The March King

Even the March King looks to the 

        sky to

Guide him forth from that

        autumn and winter

To break him away from those

        cold summer days.

Now you've seen the March King. But who is he?

A Picture Of The Sun

Here is my first sun flare picture. In the corner sits a little man pondering the beauty of life.

This and all following art will be compiled from nine (or more) books that I’ve worked on over the past five years. I am completely self taught, and this is just the first piece I’d like to share. This style will recur often in later images. Sometimes I will read you the captions, and some times I won't... certain pieces are too personal and will be left out entirely. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new series.

Tesla Makes a Beautiful Car

Now I’m a huge fan of weird vehicles... actually I’m a huge fan of weird anything, so long as it’s tasteful and interesting. What’s amazing about Tesla Motors is they manufacture “green” autos... electric cars 

(as the name Tesla implies). 

And their design is, for lack of a better word, untraditional. It’s damn cool in fact and the most interesting car I’ve seen in a long time. I’m just reporting on this cause they brought it up on Jeopardy... and yes I’ve watched Jeopardy two nights in a row (unparalleled for me), it’s just been that kind of a week. But I am very interested in the future of this company. Very cool stuff. Check it out.

Happy Birthday Bob Hoskins!

Bob Hoskins is 67 Today! Everybody Celebrate!

Lady Luck And Luck's Labor's Lost

Firstly, Apple has made it clear that Blu-Ray will not make an appearance on their latest line of laptops. Just an update for anyone who didn’t know as I reported (hopefully) on the possibility last month.

Then...

Respectively NASA’s bombing the moon, which made people so touchy recently, is not their only feet worth noting. It seems they have picked up trace reports of Organic Molecules around a distant Gaseous Planet. Just another step in the search to understand life, the universe, and everything.

But that’s all just news. And yes, both stories sort of fit into the header... Anyway, I’ve been thinking a great deal about people and taking chances and losing and winning and love and hate and all those things that make life... well... life I suppose. And it’s been hitting me funny that people feel they need to care so much what other people do in the privacy of their own home, or people are honestly willing to crucify someone over an image that is in no way naughty or negative. And guess what? Every time you crucify someone... it’s just counter-productive toward your cause. Yessir. You’d think people would learn from the mistakes of old...

But they don’t.

If our president wins the Nobel Prize, why are we not supposed to be happy? And if our country loses a bid to host the next Olympic Games... shouldn’t we be sad? I was speaking with my friend Gabe recently and we discussed how pointless all of this negativity and hostility truly was. The world is changing. Other nations feel safer in our shadow than ever before. And things are slowly but surely being accomplished. So who’s honestly angry? And who can give me a rational reason to be the same?

At what point did we all forget the rest of the world? And who’s idea was it to dumb down a nation at the head of the pack? If Ford knew there was a simple way to get people to buy their cars... why didn’t they change their dynamic years ago? Shouldn’t that be the kind of thing we get upset about? But instead we kind of point our finger and laugh at dumb people in high positions. People... we all can make a difference. It’s not hard to do. We just need to read...

write...

listen...

speak...

and try to understand. We need to train our memories so we don’t keep making the same mistakes in every single relationship. Mostly, we just need to wake up... not as a country, but as individuals. We need to open our eyes and see the sun and the grass in the morning, smell the bacon frying over the stove, hear the rumblings of our neighbors, and understand that they have a reason for making such a big deal about this and that. It’d be awful nice if everyone you saw walking down the street would smile and say “hello.” I know I do it. I know some friends who do it as well. I commend them for it because we cannot live in fear of our neighbors, our countrymen, or our friends. And we should never extend the arm of hate. Political bias has turned our country into a mess...

But dare I say these crazy moanings of Meghan McCain’s awfulness, or Obama’s undeservedness of that prize, or NASA’s “poor” decision to bomb something that didn’t belong to them in the first place are just a collective death rattle of a way of life that is no longer sustainable. And hopefully, once all of this hate has subsided, we will have peace in our lives. For once.

I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping Lady Luck hears me.

Everyone's Heavy On The Bass

This morning I went out and picked up the special edition of The Flaming Lips’ new album Embryonic. It’s damn good and crazy. But, after my first listening I noticed something I really wasn’t expecting at all. Granted the band is experimental and constantly looking for new ways to push their music into unexplored territory (it may be unexplored for them, but some other bands are already hitting that same point as we speak).

The oddity is the Bass. The production quality pushes the bass up to a new power level. You may recall my short review of Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug which also had this extra umph. It’s really cool.

It used to seem, the bass was naturally overpowered and you’d have to force your radio into submission to get that cool chilling sound, but no more. It’s a step in the right direction. Bass is meant to be loud. That’s why subwoofers exist. To kick your ass with bass. But somehow, on these new albums, it’s there without all the hassle.

So I’m excited because I think it’s a new trend. And that means that everything’s gonna change once again. So color me happy.

Anyways...

Embryonic (The Flaming Lips):

The album hums and crackles and turns my blood up. It’s been about three years since At War With The Mystics which had a very slaphappy sound. But this is alittle more “cool and collected” except when its not. But it’s hard to classify Lips albums in general. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots is a beautiful concept album... The Soft Bulletin is just cool... and if you’ve ever heard Clouds Taste Metallic, oh wow. It’s just beautiful and interesting and totally lucid. All I can really say is, I can’t wait to listen to Embryonic a few more times. And in case you didn’t know, this is a double album... so extra tracks. Hurray!

Oh It's Good It's Good

You’ve gotta enjoy the good when it’s there. Right now it’s good. I’ve been working for two weeks straight which is unheard of in my current position of newbie Los Angelen Actor. But every once and a while the cards just stack in your favor. I only use that phrase because I’ve still got Vegas on the brain. By the way, the cards were definitely not stacked in my favor in Vegas. But C’est La Vie. Yessir. The bright side is that I’m in the bright right now and that’s kind of all I can really hope for... that when the good is here it overshadows the not so good and is that steak I smell? Gotta go bask in that home cooked meal. Very nice indeed.

Who's Coasting?

I’m back from Vegas... I am back from Vegas and just awake again in the middle of the night wondering about all these mysteries. Like who’s happy? Like who’s sad? And who’s just coasting? Who’s coasting on the idea that they think they’re doing the right thing. More and more and more and more I can feel the stitches splitting and lending themselves to the anti. Oh boy, I’m saying. It’s the night and I can almost taste the bad in the air. Hoping tonight’ll be the night I finally explode and husk my stupid cover. Cause who wants to spend life in the nosebleeds? No sir, that ain’t for me, no sir. Why I’m supposed to be a man and I’m supposed to have all of these friends and I’m supposed to make mistakes and I’m supposed be tough and I’m supposed to regret... But I don’t wanna just be those things. I don’t. And I’m sick of all of those stupid decisions we all seem to constantly make like today is the last day of our life and we’re gonna live in fear of that but go ahead and act like nothings wrong. Well something’s wrong. And the man is disappointed with the way it’s all going. He doesn’t wanna have to put up with this constant ‘what if’ and ‘why not’ lifestyle. He just wants to jump and be on the go and be constantly and forever collecting those moments that make life life and make him want to fear death because it’s all too good and short to let slide. But right now, he doesn’t fear the big sleep. No sir, he actually doesn’t consider it a burden or anything. But he doesn’t pretend it’s his last day either... he doesn’t expect the unexpected, he doesn’t improvise like his teachers taught him, he doesn’t move and move and move and move. Most of the time he just sits their in a constant state of buzz buzz buzz. He doesn’t play his whole hand, just enough to get by.

I think I’m gonna stay awake all day and deal with this emotion I’m feeling right now, because if I don’t do something about it then it’s just gonna keep fighting me and forcing me into lamely awkward settings.

You wanna take a jump with me?

The Great Love Mix

While working on a movie set this last week I began to feel a great surge of love... a surprising amount actually. Something shifted in the atmosphere if that makes any sense. So in that spirit I picked out a few tracks to try and capture the essence:

1. D’Yer Mak’er - Led Zeppelin

2. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here - She & Him

3. The Blue - David Gilmour

4. N2U - Big Boy (featuring Khujo Goodie)

5. Soul Love - David Bowie

6. Kingdom Come - Coldplay

7. All I Need - Radiohead

8. Baby It’s You - Smith

9. Sleeping To Dream - Jason Mraz

10. Be Here To Love Me - Norah Jones

11. Give It To You - G. Love & Jack Johnson

12. Imaginary Ordinary - Architecture In Helsinki

13. Hard To Beat - Hard-Fi

14. Chemicals Collide - Cloud Cult

15. It’s What Life Is - Masters Of The Hemisphere

16. Fade Together - Franz Ferdinand

17. Late Night Partner - Ed Harcourt

18. Monsoon - Jack Johnson

19. Do You Love Me Still - The Kooks

Finally Mac Goes Blu!

Apple has at last announced their inclusion of Blu-Ray software on their upcoming iMacs. This is very exciting news since the company has long been claiming a general disposition toward the format. But I have a sneaking suspicion that negative attitude dealt more with economic issues than quality concern... it may have had something to do with the new competition since Apple was hoping to push home video into a strictly digital format. But there are ups and downs either way you look at it... and until digital can actually maintain the picture and sound qualities of more “solid” formats, it can’t expect to be the industry leader.

Here is my source article. That’s about all the info I’ve got at this time. But very exciting news. Yes sir.

Spinners

This single glass orb

in the heart of our city

hums with pure energy

hums out of misery

runs all that we can see

as we hit the spinners

with so much veracity

creating pure energy

that heats up the carbines

that take us out silently

but only in visions

and only as minds do

we match this intensity

creating a cycle

as we hit the spinners

creating pure energy

that hums through our city

in a single glass orb.

On Daddy Dexter Driving Into A New Season

I’m a Dexter fan. Yes sir. Watching his murderous exploits each week tickles me like most shows cannot. I own all three seasons and the soundtrack. I even named my cat after him... So suffice to say, I can’t wait for the fourth season to start. And I have massively high hopes. The guest star this year is John Lithgow!

How awesome is that? But all is not as it seems in Dexter-ville. Oh no.

Each year, just before we are about to be hit with a splendid array of plots, characters, and continuity that’ll make your head spin... we get pummeled with a novel that has nothing to do with one of the greatest characters of our time. This blunt attack on our senses provided by one Mr. Jeff Lindsay.

Mr. Lindsay had a great idea. And he got that idea published: Darkly Dreaming Dexter. This was a lovely novel... compelling and quick witted. And despite the almost “evil twin” like dynamic forced upon us in the last twenty pages or so... it still holds up as a good read.

Then came the good one: Dearly Devoted Dexter. This is the definition of a page turner. Quite clever and filled with surprises. And when I first read it (and the mind boggles knowing what I know now) I thought the novels had a chance of being better than one of my all time favorite shows.

But I was wrong! Oh so wrong! Dexter In The Dark was a boring schlop of a read... utterly unentertaining. It feels more like a “new” Anne Rice novel than a crime thriller (or whatever you’d call it).

However, the follow up gave me hope. Dexter By Design at first seemed to be fun. Not at the same level as the first two... but a massive step up from the third. Then it took a drop. Things started to make less and less sense until the ending which leaves you with nothing to hold onto. Not even the excitement that the next one will be better... because I don’t want another one. I don’t want another poorly written book tainting the good name of Dexter Morgan and all that he stands for. Lindsay’s problem is a classic one... he assumes that Dexter is a smart guy and tells us so repeatedly, but never actually shows it. Nothing that happens in these later books can be traced back to a clever/quick witted mind.

But... I digress. Season One is splendid on Blu-Ray and some of the best television you’ll likely ever see. Season Two is faster and funner (if that’s a word). Season Three is such a brilliant build... Jimmy Smits keeps you guessing all season long until you hit the climax and  a pleasure cloud envelops your whole body with the wicked joy of it all.

And Michael C. Hall is one of the greatest working actors out there (so yes I will see Gamer). His performance in Six Feet Under is absolutely nothing short of brilliant, especially when you hit that one episode in season four. Mm-mm good.

So I’ve seen the first episode of the upcoming (much anticipated) season four of Dexter. And while I think it may have been a slightly less than finished cut, it still maintains that edge we’ve so often come to expect from the show. But the new season comes with its own surprises.

My expectations were for a clean connection to season three as we saw coming out of season one and into two... they are literally only weeks apart. That’s what I anticipated here. But no dice. Rather, we skip out on all of that pregnancy stuff. No big loss. We saw enough of that in Angel. 

Thanks Julie Benz for the good memories. But we also miss some of the Deb investigation. And yes some awesome characters reappear and most relationships are exactly where you’d expect them to be... there’s a strange leap for two specific characters. You’ll know who when you see it. Too bad. I liked the season three subplots. But I guess the writers just didn’t need the specific one in question.

I’m trying pretty hard not to spoil the event for anyone, so I should really stop this article now. Let’s just say, the season four premier packs a real good haymaker. And Dexter just rocks. Been reviewing old seasons on beautiful Blu-Ray. And they look just perfect.

The new season premiers September 27th.