Indigenity: A Colbert-ism for Indigenousness

NOT Back to School

2010-03-31T09:13:00.003-04:00

I've spent much of the last year seriously deliberating returning to school. Picking up an information folder from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism at last year's SXSW got the ball rolling, and attending a Workforce Seminar on changing your career got me into overdrive. More than anything, I think the interest in pursuing a new degree was the idea of starting fresh. Right now, I'm not confident enough that I could pay the degree back once I'm done (I'd be on my own this time around), and I just don't really have that much interest in pursuing my studies alongside the other interests I have. I looked at a lot of programs, but here is a list of the degree programs I most thoroughly researched:

MFA in Film, Rochester Institute of Technology: Film School, I guess, would give me the opportunity to formalize my "filmmaker" status, and give me the option to teach. A few years ago, a degree like this might have been more appealing, but having spent enough time on the Festival Circuit, it'd just be another excuse to hide out for awhile. Grad school at RIT costs $40,000 a year--a little steep for my tastes. I could make two or three (maybe more) movies with what I'd spend there.

BA in English, SUNY Oneonta: There have been times where I have thought that if I were to do my undergraduate education all over again, I'd pick up an English Degree in addition to the Computer Art degree I already have. Because I have a learning disability that concerns language, I always thought that I'd have a hard time with literature courses. (I did well in my writing courses.) At the time, the idea of staying there another semester or year wasn't very appealing to me. If I had known what was ahead of me when I had graduated, I think I might have stuck around. Now, I don't think I would mind so much devoting the time to reading, even if it took a little more work. I think I have the tools to do well.

Earlier this year, I spoke with the transfer counselor at the school as to what getting another degree would require. I would need to do 30 credits before I could earn a degree. I'm not sure if I could handle 30 credits on top of holding a full time job (again, I'm on my own.) and the other things I would like to continue pursuing. Then there's the whole issue of "you can't go home again". Oneonta is kind of a boring place, unless you're a college student. If they had an online option, I would seriously consider that, though.

Masters in Human Sexuality, The Institute of the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality: I kind of liked the idea of getting this degree so that I'd have some credential to become a script consultant. Some years ago, I remember watching a countdown special on VH1 about the 100 Sexiest Musicians. The list included people like Scott Stapp, and people like Bonnie Fuller as a talking head. I don't think that "sexy" and "attractive" are one and the same. Serge Gainsbourg was as ugly as sin, but damn if he didn't produce some of the sexiest music in the history of recorded music. Admissions didn't require a GRE, and they don't look at grades too much--they just cared about your intentions. Annie Sprinkle and Betty Dobson are two of their most famous alumni.

I spoke extensively with the admissions counselor there as well. They don't accept financial aid, and they don't have any internal financial aid, either. There is also some dispute as to whether or not they are properly accredited. It may be a great program, but I don't want my credibility questioned for any reason.

AS in International Business, Monroe Community College: My latest fancy has been reading The Economist online and watching BBC World News on PBS and BBC America. Recently, I read Christine Vachon's A Killer Life, where she describes visiting The Cannes Market every year to drum up funding for new projects. I have wondered if getting an extra degree in business might give me a leg up in my film career, even if it's an Associates' Degree. The degree is designed specifically for people who would go on to a four year college and major in business, economics, or international relations.

Since I didn't do a foreign language in High School (Being LD, I was exempt), and did only two years of math (and a mediocre math student at best), I'd have to take a bunch of preliminary courses in order to start the degree. Unless, of course, I were to take the Macroeconomics Degree elsewhere.

MA in Media Studies, The New School For Social Research: Again, here's a case of getting a degree that might actually be useful to me. I actually haven't ruled this one out completely--I can do the degree online, and I don't feel that it would be a distraction from the path I'm on now. Last week, I participated in a chat hosted by The New School, and they answered a few of my questions about the admissions process that made me more confident about submitting an application to the program. The deadline for the fall semester has passed; the Spring Semester application isn't due until October, but I don't think I'm ready to enroll just yet.

Tomorrow I will head back to work, thus ending my 15 month break.

I Got A Job (To Tie Me Over)

2010-03-29T15:50:00.002-04:00

Good News: I got a job. I attended an open interview at a job fair last October. On Wednesday, I was called for an interview the next day. I got the offer on Friday. Basically, I'm going to be working at a call center. At least I'll be answering questions in regards to computers and tech stuff. I haven't started yet, but I guess it could be worse.

My main motivation for taking this job is to resolve cash flow--I still want to move out of the area. As I said before, even if I'd had six months left on unemployment, the $150/week I was receiving wasn't enough anymore. But if I pick up some new skills along the way, that would be good, too. Just as long as I don't get fired again.

I'm going to continue blogging intermittently. Sometime in the near future I will post my resume.

I keep fantasizing about wanting to open up a bar, even though I have no desire to right now. This morning, as I was walking downtown, I wrote down the addresses of vacant properties and the numbers of the agents selling/leasing them. Some of them are very nice properties. If I were to open one, I'd open a bar similar to this. The main audience for this type of bar would be the college kids. The townies here (for the most part) like dives, and the bars that are a little classier are usually combined with restaurants. Then there's the Geneva 13 Crowd, but I'm not sure how often those people would patronize an establishment like this.

Speaking of Geneva 13, I attended a dance performance called "Duality" on Saturday at The Cracker Factory hosted by Three Stories, an organization started by the Geneva 13 people in hopes to bring more arts stuff to the Geneva Area. It's still trying to acquire its 501(c)(3) status.

I need a distraction, that's for sure!

Getting Down to the Wire

2010-03-18T12:06:00.004-04:00

Earlier this morning, I had a job placement assistance meeting at the Workforce. I have seven weeks left on my unemployment. That's it, unless the unemployment bill passed last week applies to me.

This throws a serious wrench in my plans. I was really hoping to head somewhere else and start over. The weather is getting nicer, which makes it easier to travel. Even if I had another six months, I don't think that the $150 a week I get from unemployment is enough to do that anyway.

In less distressing news, an interview I did with Jon Reiss, filmmaker and author of Think Outside the Box Office, is now online. Click on the cover of Jon's book to read the interview:

I'm Back (for now, anyway).

2010-03-12T09:15:00.002-05:00

I have decided to revive this blog for a little while. I've been unemployed since December 23, 2008, and I'm ready to find a new job. I'm doing what I can to find one, but I think that resurrecting this blog intermittently might accelerate the process. Once I get a new job (or get bored with it again, whatever comes first), I'm done with this blog for good.

Truth be told, I've really enjoyed my year off. It stinks that I have a big gap in my resume (and I have a couple already), but I've had a real opportunity to explore other options and have new experiences. Last August, I traveled to Chicago for a few days. I traveled to Woodstock, New York Twice: Once to meet a potential documentary subject, then to attend the 2009 Woodstock Film Festival. I'm even thinking about making a movie there. In my absence from this blog, I've had a chance to do some serious soul searching.

I gave serious thought to returning to school, thinking about acquiring both either a second bachelor's, a masters, or both. At one point, I was considering getting a Masters In Human Sexuality. (That is, until I found out that the school was not accredited.) While I don't rule out returning to school down the line, I don't believe I'm ready to commit to a degree right now.

Right now, I'm taking a self-directed course in Copy Editing through MediaBistro.com. It's not a great time to be a journalist, but there are plenty of other places to secure copy editing jobs. I also may take another course in Medical Transcription (not offered by MediaBistro) down the line. I really don't want to do Customer Service the rest of my life. If my next job is indeed more customer service, I want to know that I can opt out for something else. I've also been trying to land freelance writing gigs, but that's been tough going. Six weeks ago, I had another reading with a psychic, and she suggested that it is time for me to get out of dodge. I'm looking at a few places, and if I am to leave, I want to confident that I can support myself.

Unfortunately, I'm not attending SXSW this year, which is going on as I post this. If the recently passed unemployment extension does apply to me, I may attend Tribeca this year. I'm also thinking about starting a new blog devoted to the writing process of Independent film.

But more than anything, I'm ready to work on resolving unemployment.

The End.

2009-06-19T08:25:00.001-04:00

I have decided to close Indigenity. I started this blog at a point in my life where I wasn't sure where things were going to go. I wanted to stay in touch with people while I waited things out. While I'm not out of the woods yet, I believe the worst has passed.

I may return to the blogosphere soon, but I want to think things through before I return. This blog was only supposed to be temporary, and it has lasted about as long as I have expected it to last. In the meantime, catch me on Twitter!

Thanks for reading.

New York City in the 1970s: Fear City

2009-06-17T16:39:00.002-04:00

Recently, I watched this documentary about New York City in the 1970s. When people talk about 1970s New York being bad, it really was that bad. It's a great documentary featuring Ed Koch, Rupert Murdoch, and a bunch of important players of New York politics of the time.

Big announcement coming Friday.

Back to School?

2009-06-10T13:34:00.001-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about it lately.

I'm reading a book titled Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. So far, the book has been incredibly resourceful as far as what actions to take if you want to enroll (GRE and GPA aside), and suggests you choose your advisers before you choose your school. If you're looking into graduate school, I can't recommend this book enough. Anyway, I'm thinking about this because I think I've done what I can with the degree that I have. A lot has changed for me in the six years since I've graduated from college, and I'm thinking it's time to either formalize my experience, and/or expand my options.

Yesterday I re-entered counseling in hopes of sorting out my feelings about these matters. I very much want to continue with making movies, especially the project I've been working on. How would I balance my projects with my schoolwork, and not be overwhelmed by money matters? I'm going to look into all kinds of funding, public and private, as well as forgiveness programs. I won't have a decision by tomorrow, but I know I'll have to make one sooner rather than later.

But maybe the psychic will be right. Maybe something will come along that's too good to refuse, I can have the best of all worlds, and Graduate School won't be necessary. That would be nice.

Rest In Peace, Grasshopper.

2009-06-06T21:27:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I returned to Taughannock Falls in Trumansburg, and walked around its surrounding trail. As I was walking, I got thinking: "When was the last time I went camping?" I used to go camping all the time when I was little. I'd love to spend a couple of nights with nature and the woods again. I might try to do that this summer. Meanwhile, here are two pictures of the falls:

Today I had my first electrolysis appointment. Boy, did that hurt! But after years of tweezing, waxing, shaving, bleaching, I'm ready to do away with it once and for all. The needle itself feels like a pinch. Initially, I felt more pain from the tweezing (when she was doing my chin), but the upper lip is a very sensitive area, and I squirmed through the last part.

I'm wrapping up the DVD and going to start coordinating new interviews soon. I'm also planning on finishing up the High Falls Panels this week.

Meanwhile, David Carradine died.

Being of a certain generation, I've only seen him in Kill Bill, but being a follower of popular culture, I've always been aware of his reputation.

His death was (and is) a shock, but I can't say that I'm surprised he died the way he did. My first real exposure to Carradine was a 1998 People Magazine article which documented a lot of his wild past. (Later, I found out the article was written to repair damage done by an article printed in People's Australian counterpart, WHO.) That article isn't online, but here's another article that explains a little bit. Another item was also posted at The Smoking Gun recently. With that being said, I hope his family does have an opportunity to investigate what happened.

I'm considering joining Twitter. I've been following other people's Twitters for awhile now, and I need to group them together. Dunno if I'm going to Twitter myself.

Sasha Grey, Movie Slut

2009-05-31T14:28:00.002-04:00

Recently, porn star-turned-legitimate movie star Sasha Grey appeared on Current TV's The Rotten Tomatoes Show to discuss her five favorite movies. Her list of movies explain what really sets her apart from the Jenna Jameson clones of the Porn Industry, and easy to understand why Steven Soderbergh sought her out. After seeing her in The Girlfriend Experience, I'd like to see her in more mainstream (read: non-porn) movies. I think she'd be fun to hang out with, too.

In personal news, I'm wrapping up the DVD and thinking about other personal projects as well.

Odds and Ends: 5/26/09

2009-05-26T19:24:00.001-04:00

For the longest time, I prided myself on not watching Jon and Kate Equals Trainwreck. But since I've now invested myself emotionally in their problems, I had to watch the season premiere of their show last night. What I already know of the show I've seen on The Soup, but basically Kate spent the episode whining about the tabloids and about Jon being away. A highlight for me was Kate talking about having to go to Party City "By. Myself." Quelle horreur, Kate! I feel more for the kids than for anyone. Having free things thrown at you is not a way to grow up.

Right now, I'm working on the Lesley Stahl panel, as well as making more edits to the movie. After the Lesley Stahl panel, I'm going to put off transcribing more panels until the movie is done...which is not that far off. I doubt anyone who reads The Film Panel Notetaker is too anxious about the follow-up on High Falls.

Finally, I'm re-designing the blog to suit my summer endeavors. Can't say when the new design will be up yet, but it's based on an old design I started on earlier this year.

The High Falls Experience

2009-05-22T13:03:00.003-04:00

So It's been awhile. To tell the truth, I haven't really missed blogging much.

High Falls is a nice local festival geared toward older people. I'm glad I got a press badge, because in all honesty, I'm not sure if I would've wanted to spend the $175 on it. At the risk of losing my press credentials for next year, I'm going to launch a critique right now:

I think the festival could do more to attract younger people. They showed The 500 Days of Summer (which wasn't too bad, but another post) and Easy Virtue, but a lot of their guests aren't really youth-friendly: even guest (and High Falls board member) Lesley Stahl commented that there weren't too many young people in the audience. From what I observed, most of the main people involved in the festival don't seem like people who are too interested in attracting young people to the festival. I'm not saying they should do away with having people like Lesley Stahl and Lynn Redgrave as guests, but do these people know that Kristen Wiig grew up in Rochester? Or even know who Kristen Wiig is? I suppose that clips from SNL, Knocked Up, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and Adventureland wouldn't be enough to constitute the 10 minute montages they compiled of each guest to fill up time.

Given how the schedule is laid out, I don't know if these people attend any other festivals besides their own. Other than the movies that win their awards, no film gets a second screening, and the only panels they offer (Lesley Stahl aside) revolve around the recipients of the Susan B. Anthony "Failure is Impossible". When I told one of the staff members that I was doing work on behalf of The Film Panel Notetaker, she asked "What's A Panel?" More panels and more screenings might attract more people from outside the area.

As well as actually giving directions to their venues. I had directions to the Geva Theater from Google, but the address listed at Google was that of their storage building. Printing the directions on their program might have saved me from missing the CCH Pounder Panel.* Their shuttle was hardly ever on time, and they didn't even bother to give their volunteers any schedule as to when the buses show up. I ended up cutting out of Easy Virtue early because I didn't want to keep my brother waiting too long, and I didn't trust the shuttle. When the artistic director remarked that she thought the festival was "running smoothly", I thought, "If it's running so smoothly, why can't they keep their shuttles on time?"

I suppose that the trip was made somewhat worthwhile was meeting and speaking with Jack Garner (anyone who's lived in the Rochester area at some point and is a movie buff knows who he is) and Lynn Redgrave. Meeting Lynn Redgrave was the highlight of the festival, easily. Still gorgeous at 66, I told her how much I loved Georgy Girl, and that I had just seen This Sporting Life (which she's not in) the weekend before. She's a very nice lady, and quite honestly, I'm pleased to meet anyone who was involved in the British New Wave, especially Tony Richardson's sister-in-law (Richardson also directed Lynn in Tom Jones). I should have her panel up on TFPN sometime next week.

I might go again next year if they have some worthwhile guests (like Ms. Redgrave), and I'm not too far away.

Last night, though, I watched Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience on Demand. I enjoyed it. Soderbergh said he looked to his own movie The Limey for inspiration, and if you liked that movie (or Out of Sight), you'll probably like this one, too. I thought Sasha Grey did a good job, and while casting her might have been stunt casting, I could see Grey crossing over from porn. She's icy without being stilted, she's vulnerable without being over the top. I hope it comes out on DVD soon enough, since I doubt I'll get a second chance to watch this before 6:30 tonight.

* I did get to meet Ms. Pounder later, and what a nice lady!

Little Noises and 'The Limits of Control'

2009-05-09T15:07:00.001-04:00

Today I went to Rochester to pick up my Press Pass for the High Falls Film Festival. On the way, I passed by The Little Theatre, Rochester's best known art house movie theater. What are they playing?

The Soloist. And State of Play. Real Art House movies, you know?

The Little used to play all kinds of quirky independent films. I realize this not a great time for the economy, or mainstream independent films, and maybe they're bringing in more mainstream movies to offset losses. Either way, it's a shame. I saw so many entertaining independent films at SXSW this year, and the only reason why they're not coming to The Little is because they don't have mainstream distribution. The Little is a non-profit organization, so it's not like it can't take a chance.

In other Independent Film News, Salon.com's Andrew O'Hehir has an interesting interview with Jim Jarmusch about his new movie The Limits of Control. Dunno if this one is coming to The Little, though. Doubt it. Also, Richard Linklater was named Woodstock's Maverick for 2009. I like his response:

"Although the term 'maverick' was greatly devalued in last year's election cycle, I'll humbly take on this honor and as a Texas filmmaker help reclaim the term in the tradition of the famous Texas cattleman Samuel Maverick who refused to brand his cattle. I would like to think it was for humane reasons but the legend goes that he was just too lazy and uninterested in ranching to care. I think there may be an indie filmmaking analogy in there somewhere... regardless, I look forward to being with all of you up in Woodstock this fall."

I only hope I can go back! This should be a good year!

Some of Me

2009-05-08T14:54:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I saw a psychic. Not the Miss Cleo, $4.99-a-minute variety, but a real one. She gave me what she calls "an intuitive reading". I told her of my cirumstances--that I was currently unemployed, sending out resumes, and going out for interviews--but that it felt more and more like a charade.

She told me that I've been trying too hard, and what I needed to do was relax for awhile. She seemed to emphasize the "relax" part of it. She says that I've been trying to project my future, and that whatever happens next will find its way to me.

Having told her that I'd like to do more traveling after my trip to Austin, she suggested I try doing more of that this summer. I'll have to figure out my finances, but maybe I can work something out. In the meantime, I plan on finishing the DVD and attending High Falls next week.

Also, I read Isabella Rosselini's Some of Me. Aside from the first 30 pages, I read all of it in one sitting. It's not a straightforward autobiography, but a series of reminisces a la Bob Dylan's Chronicles: Volume One, except that Rosselini expounds on her personal philosophy in addition to reminiscing. She talks about her mother, her first husband, Martin Scorsese, and her long relationship with David Lynch.

Now since I've read her book, I can see why she'd want to make short films like this, which have been lately popping up on The Soup:

Nixon and Kissinger Out for Burritos

2009-05-07T09:28:00.002-04:00

The best part about this video is Dan Rather's fake hair.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Nixon Has a Burrito

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Mo' Editing

2009-05-04T18:57:00.002-04:00

I did more editing of the movie this afternoon. I kinda procrastinated throughout the morning, but as I reminded myself: each day I work on it brings me a day closer to having it done. I really hope I've done the last edits on the movie itself, and hopefully I can move on to cutting the interviews. Remember when the audio kept dropping out? I decided to cut out the audio altogether, and just overlap the archive footage with the interviews. I think I've actually improved the movie by doing it. But I'll know for sure when I watch it again tomorrow.

Also, I got this in the mail today. I'm sure the "referral" that they describe in the letter came from my Teen Vogue subscription (which I subscribed to, until very recently). Either way, I think it's funny that they would send this to me, because I'm way beyond their demographic, age-wise.

Water Under The Bridge

2009-05-03T15:43:00.000-04:00

This morning, I typed up a letter to the manager who fired me. I don't know whether I'm going to send it or not--the letter concerns some things I've recently heard about some of my former co-workers. I got thinking, though. Maybe I need to go away for awhile, perhaps for good. I need to let some water flow under the bridge.

I've been thinking about new ways to make money. As I mentioned a few days ago, I sent e-mails to some local car dealerships. One of them actually replied, and told me they were taking cars to Rochester, Syracuse, and Ithaca all the time, and put my cell phone on file. I might try for a few more dealerships.

I'll be resuming editing the movie tomorrow. I'm not too excited, but I know I have to finish this.

The Lion's Share of the DVD is Done.

2009-05-02T12:55:00.001-04:00

The interviews went well. First Friday wasn't really that crowded, but I'm thinking it was more the weather than anything else. Otherwise, I'm happy. It's all done, and I can start cutting.

While I was on the Art Walk last night, I came across a flyer for Harpur Film Society at Anthony Brunelli's gallery, and it listed The Lionshare as the movie they're playing this weekend. The Lionshare was directed by Josh Bernhard, who I interviewed for Are You From Bingo? four years ago. I'll have to check that out.

Happy Go Lucky, Maybe.

2009-04-30T20:07:00.001-04:00

Other than gathering the things I will need for tomorrow, I took a break from all things Bingo. After I shoot the interviews, I'm taking the weekend off and then I'll finish tweaking the movie. Then I'll start cutting down the interviews.

Last night, I watched Happy Go Lucky. Sally Hawkins plays Poppy, the type of girl we've all met at least once: perky to the point of being obnoxious, yet at the same time totally genuine. She gets on the nerves of her driving instructor, who by contrast is perpetually grumpy. The whole sounds like a premise for a sitcom, but like everything else Mike Leigh does, there's real dimension. I'll watch it again.

Able Danger, a movie I saw opening night at 2008's Brooklyn Film Festival, is now available on Amazon.com's VOD, where Are You From Bingo? will soon be heading. When I saw it, it was in black in white (with some key objects colored in), but you'll be able to seeing it in color.

Also, I'm pleased to hear that Andrew Bujalski's Beeswax got picked up for distribution by Cinema Guild. I figured given Bujalski's growing popularity, I figured it would get picked up by a small distributor, but I'm somewhat shocked it's taken this long.

Off to Binghamton tomorrow. Hopefully, nothing tragic (unless you count the rain they're predicting) will happen.

Shared Birthday

2009-04-29T09:48:00.000-04:00

Hey, remember me talking about Jillian Burcar, whose lecture I attended last week?

I discovered last night that she has the same exact birthday as me. Exact. Month, day, and year. Weird!

Going It Alone

2009-04-28T19:55:00.001-04:00

I finally got ahold of the guy who backed the movie and the first round of interviews. He says that money is tight for him right now.

"Wasn't this supposed to be done already?" He asked. Yeah, it would've been done, had it not been for the shootings. I think I have enough money to go this alone. My plan is to try and squeeze everything into Friday if I can. I know that my camera guy has reserved the camera, but I've been having a hard time getting ahold of him, too.

With that being said, I'm getting psyched about the next round of interviews as the day looms closer. I'm just hoping that the weather will change, because right now, Friday's not looking too good.

I finished the collection of the writer I'm hoping to make a documentary on next. The poems I think gave me a better perspective on her, and hopefully, they will be helpful is fleshing out the narrative further.

Finally, if anyone sees the junkie who broke into Craig Zobel's car, please direct him here.

Too Darn Hot

2009-04-27T20:34:00.001-04:00

The heat cut my weekly trip to Ithaca short. By noon, the heat got to me--and this is after drinking more than enough water--and decided to hightail it home.

Rather than drive into the city and pull my hair out trying to find a parking space, I parked at the Cayuga Medical Center's visitors parking lot, and took the bus in. My first stop was at the Workforce office, then Kelly Services (both are in the same building). Then I dodged the heat at Gimme! Coffee, and later purchased a one pound bag of their Hartmann Honey blend, which is very expensive, but gave off a nice aroma as I drove back.

Then I stopped off at that room that I wanted to check out. The room itself isn't bad (in need of a few repairs), but the house is occupied by older people, has no cooking quarters, and reeked of stale cigarettes. I'll keep looking...maybe. Usually, I stay in Ithaca until about 1:30 or 2, but as I mentioned, I left after checking out the room. I got a ice cream Flurry on the way home, and did a walk at the lakefront later.

Earlier tonight, I e-mailed three local car dealerships about doing driveaway service for them. My uncle does this when he's here in the summer. I want to do more traveling anyway, so why not combine work and pleasure? I might have to be careful, but it might be a lot more fun than staying in an office all day, or worse, doing customer service!

I'm also giving a lot of thought to putting together a web series. After seeing both of Lena Dunham's web shows, and I'm competent I can do something like this. I'm still planning on doing the documentary (In fact, I'm reading through one of her poetry collections now), but doing a web show will allow me to dive into narrative filmmaking without being overwhelmed with the tasks of feature filmmaking.

Tweaking It

2009-04-26T20:46:00.002-04:00

Today I continued working on Are You From Bingo?. For whatever reason, the audio seemed to drop out when the archive footage appeared. I've been tweaking it, but then there are hisses. Oh, well. At least you can hear it now.

I've also made a hard decision. It turns out that the software I would use to make the actual DVD (Adobe Encore) isn't available on its own, and I don't know if I really want to take the time and learn new software. I'm still planning on putting it up via CreateSpace, but it won't be as elaborate as I thought.

I'm going to create a YouTube channel to upload what I've already shot, plus I'll probably be doing more interviews eventually, and I don't think I could cram all of it onto the DVD anyway.

It might go up to 90 degrees tomorrow. Yikes!

House of the Devil Trailer

2009-04-26T15:40:00.002-04:00

AWESOME!

Alexander the Second

2009-04-25T11:22:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I saw Alexander the Last on demand. I'm almost convinced that Alexander may be Joe Swanberg's best film. Working with actors has a little bit to do with this, I think, but also I think there's a lot more attention paid to details. It's more observed and better shot than his previous stuff, too. A scene that stands out has Amy Seimetz and Jess Weixler making up a stupid story in front of Barlow Jacobs. Anybody who has siblings that are close enough in age can relate to the inside jokes that Weixler and Seimetz have with each other.

Last night, I went to see "Two Absurdities", which were two plays put on by Headless Sullivan, a theater offshoot of Geneva 13, Geneva's center of all things Bohemian. I liked both plays, but I especially liked the second, where the plot centers around three people who are trying decide which one they are going to cannibalize.

Monday, I'm planning on taking a look at a room (not an apartment) in Fall Creek in Ithaca. I don't know if I'm going back there, but I'd like to see what my options are. It would be nice to be alone for a little while.

Reanimating the Cyborg

2009-04-23T20:47:00.001-04:00

The interview I had today was the shortest job interview I've ever had. Basically the women interviewing me filled out a sheet, asking whether or not I preferred working part or full time (I said either), could I operate a multi-line phone (I can!), and what shift I preferred (day). They told me that I would hear from them again next week about a possible second interview.

Yesterday I watched Are You From Bingo? for the first time in God knows how long. Today I cut out anything that might inspire a cease and desist letter, plus I tweaked a couple of other things.

Last night, I attended a lecture by Jillian Burcar at The Warren Hunting Smith library. Jillian has spent the year at HWS as a predoctoral fellow with the Fisher Center for Gender Studies. Her lecture, titled "Reanimating the Cyborg", focused on gender construction in Anime and comics, plus she read excerpts from her own fiction. One piece of her fiction, Usagi's Cookbook, particularly hit home for me. It reminded me of the years I used to read the websites and blogs of anonymous friends, and pour my own thoughts into my blog. Heck, I'm doing it right now!

Afterward, I asked Jillian how she got the plum job of presenting Wes Craven with a Lifetime Scream Award. After she'd dressed as a character from Nightmare on Elm Street at Comic Con, she got a button that had a red mark which was her "golden ticket", if you will.

Right now, I'm reading Mia Farrow's autobiography, What Falls Away. I started on it early yesterday, and I'm at the point where she's seeing Woody Allen. I've been wanting to read it for ten years. So far, I'm not really disappointed, but it seems to lack the intimacy that a lot of great celebrity memoirs have. Especially since Mia has lived such an interesting life. I, for one, would like to know how she got the name Mia, since her legal first name is Maria.

It's supposed to be in the low 70s tomorrow. Can't wait!

'The Devil' and Ti West

2009-04-22T20:21:00.001-04:00

Ti West was interviewed by Karina Longworth on Spout.com this past Monday. In the interview, he discussed his two most recent projects: the Cabin Fever sequel which has been shelved, and House of the Devil, which is premiering at Tribeca Saturday Night.

In it, he talks of the frustrations he's had crossing over into more mainstream fare, such as Dark Sky cutting a crucial four minutes of House. West says that in spite of trying to mainstream himself for his larger efforts, his financiers still weren't satisfied. Longworth writes:

In the case of Devil, West says, the money guys knew what they were getting into when they hired him, and didn’t seem to have a problem with what they got until recently.

Then adds:

West says the producers test screened his cut without his knowledge, and then showed him response cards. The audience’s answers to the leading questions along the lines of “Were you bored by anything in the house?” were presented as evidence that the audience asked for the specific cuts that Dark Sky eventually mandated. That he had made a film that was even subject to last minute revision based on testing came as a surprise to the director.

“It was in the rough cut, it was in the fine cut, it was in the final cut it was in the sound edit — it’s never changed, and it was always boring the whole time. It’s this whole last minute fear.”

I've seen Trigger Man. I'll be honest--it was a little slow for my tastes, but I really wanted to see House of the Devil. It was the one movie I really would've definitely seen had I gave in and gone to Tribeca this year. Ti makes an important point here:

I feel there’s some value to people knowing that if they go see this movie on Saturday night at Tribeca, and you think you’re at an independent film festival seeing an independent film, you should know that this movie was market researched like a new flavor of Pepsi. Nobody thinks about that, that they’d go see a low budget movie, and that’s the process it’s gone through to get to a film festival. And it’s a bummer.

I don't think people who see indie films in mainstream theaters realize that "indie" films (or as others call them, "Indiewood") are often just as market researched as their bigger budget counterparts. Many "indie" producers keep marketability in mind when packaging their movies.

Go, Ti! I'll be seeing House of the Devil when I get a chance.

This Tornado Loves You

2009-04-22T15:49:00.001-04:00

They didn't allow cameras into the show, so there were no pictures of the actual concert. I had to surrender my camera at the box office, but not before I got two pictures:

The State Theater Marquee for the show.

Neko Case's Tour Bus.

The State Theater, however, did have WiFi, so I browsed my ITouch while I was waiting for the show to begin.

The opening band, Crooked Fingers was pretty good. Suprisingly for me, the crowd was people of many different walks of life, from kindergarteners who came with their parents to elderly people.

I was seated next to a couple from Niagara Falls. They had wanted to see her show in Toronto the day before, but it had sold out by the time they found out. About a third of the way--or was it halfway?--into the show, the guy (from Niagara Falls) sitting next to me got up and staggered out of the auditorium. At first, I thought that maybe he'd had too much to drink and couldn't handle his liquor. Several minutes later, an usher came to his wife and asked her to leave. I never got a chance to ask anyone at the State what happened, but I asked my dad on the ride home (he used to be a health teacher) what it might have been.

"Probably drugs," he answered, and guessed that it was likely a prescription drug like Valium. Back to the show.

Neko Case was FUCKING AWESOME. Easily one of the best shows I've ever attended. Her show was very well put together--she had a screen in the back that projected movies. Neko herself has an incredible stage presence and made witty small talk with her backup singer between songs.

As Neko pointed out, she was touring to promote an album, so naturally a lot of songs from her new album, Middle Cyclone, got played. She also played a lot of her older, awesome songs like "That Teenage Feeling", "Margaret vs. Pauline", the catchy "This Tornado Loves You", and two of my favorites, "Deep Red Bells" and "Hold On, Hold On". She and the backup singer promised us that she'd take the audience out to The Cheesecake Factory after the show. There's one problem with that: there's no Cheesecake Factory in Ithaca.

She played the longest encore I think I've ever sat through, but it didn't matter, since she's awesome. I think it was definitely worth shelling out the $25, plus the Super 8 Motel room fee, and I'd really love to see her again.

On my way out, I ran into Luke Fentchel, who used to run No Radio Records. Apparently, he's doing some lawyering now, and as I noticed in a couple of articles posted at the State Theater's window, writing for The Ithaca Journal as well. Luke was one of the early supporters of Are You From Bingo?

On my way to a lecture on "Cyborgs"...

Hospitality Interviews

2009-04-21T20:38:00.001-04:00

My interview, surprisingly, went well. I don't believe I'll get the job, but it was nice to be considered for an Administrative Assistant position for once. Thursday, I'll have another interview, this time at the Ramada Inn lakefront in Geneva.

Given that the two interviews I've had this week were at an airport and a hotel, I wonder if something isn't being suggested here. It's strange that I'd have two interviews in a week when I haven't had interviews in two months.

How's My Job Search Going?

2009-04-18T20:41:00.002-04:00

Of all the things I've blogged about lately, I've neglected to discuss one thing: How's my job search going?

I have an interview scheduled for Monday at the Ithaca Airport for a part time Adminstrative Assistant position. I'm doing this to keep the energy going. I'm still sending out resumes and filling out applications, but in all honesty, I'm not really that enthusiastic about it. I realize I have to work to live, but I'm getting bored applying for the same jobs in the same place. I realize I have to work to live, but if I have to work, I'd at least like to have something I can enjoy.

In this economy, I suppose I should be happy just to have anything at all, but I've been working these types of jobs since I got out of college six years ago. Now that I've found some direction in my life, I'd like to have a job that compliments it, and allows me to continue with what I'm doing now, and what I hope to do in the near future. This internship looks like a lot of fun, but it probably doesn't pay, and I'm probably too old for it.

I spent most of today finishing up Notorious, Donald Spoto's biography of Ingrid Bergman. While Spoto's biography was thorough enough, I thought he skimmed over a few key moments in her life...like all her Oscar wins. At some point, I want to check out Isabella Rossellini's autobiography, Some of Me to fill in the blanks.

Less than 48 hours before Neko Case...

Ingrid Bergman, Margaret O'Brien, and Delusional Downtown Divas

2009-04-17T09:47:00.002-04:00

I've spent the last couple of days reading Notorious, Donald Spoto's biography of Ingrid Bergman. I'm just less than halfway into it. Not bad.

I spent some of yesterday afternoon watching Lena Dunham's web series for Index Magazine, Delusional Downtown Divas. Despite being a Computer Art major and having studied 20th Century Art History extensively, I had no idea that Lena Dunham's parents were prominent artists in the '80s art scene until I googled her after seeing Creative Nonfiction. No doubt that growing up in this environment served as the inspiration for Delusional Downtown Divas. Since Index's website doesn't allow you to embed the video elsewhere, I'm going to link to the best episodes:

Ry Russo-Young and Amy Seimetz guest star in this episode, which features them as members of Mountain Don't, the Feminist Art Collective that the title characters are trying to get into

This episode features a not-immediately-recognizable Mary Bronstein as an assistant to a legendary "Penis Painter" that AgNess is trying to get a job with.

Finally, Isaac Mizrahi guest stars in an episode. The girls seek Mizrahi out for advice on how to make art their career.

Also yesterday afternoon, I saw a movie I DVR'd on TCM called Her First Romance, starring Margaret O'Brien and released by Columbia in 1951, not long after O'Brien was released from her contract. I've been intrigued by this movie since I read about it in Cinemania (Microsoft's CD-ROM forerunner to the IMDb) when I was 13.

It was entertaining enough. The plot isn't really that much different from your average DCOM. O'Brien's character has a crush on a boy, chases him to summer camp, and goes so far as to hitchhike back to her father's ice factory to steal money (and, accidentally an important note), which nearly puts her father out of business so that she can compete in "Mardi Gras Games" with him. Elinor Donahue, a few years before Father Knows Best, appears in the film as O'Brien's rival.

However, seeing O'Brien in this after seeing her in Meet Me In St. Louis is a little disappointing. The intensity she had in that movie is not present here; if anything, it seems marginalized. Still, O'Brien managed to make something of a transition into being an adult actress, but like her fellow child star Hayley Mills, her greatest adult successes have been in the theater.

Lindsay Lohan for eHarmony & Raising My Profile

2009-04-15T12:28:00.002-04:00

Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile from Lindsay Lohan

If Lindsay Lohan had done something like this two or three years ago, she'd have a very different career right now.

I've been giving a lot of thought of expanding my website to make a professional profile on the web. Even though I'm thinking about scaling back, I still want to have a presence. I think you can still have a presence on the web without having to talk about every detail of your life.

More blogging later...maybe.

Ithaca: Photoplay #3

2009-04-13T13:23:00.001-04:00

Before I left for Austin last month, I travelled to Ithaca and took some pictures. This is what The Fall Creek Gorge looked like at the beginning of March:

And here's what it looked like last Thursday:

Here are some more pictures I took last Thursday:

This is a bridge crossing over Cascadilla Creek, between North Aurora and North Cayuga Streets.

Who's this?

A mural at Fall Creek Elementary School of what I believe is the Solar System. How pretty.

Another view of the Fall Creek Gorge, looking down the Creek.

Water running off the shale of the Gorge.

Finally, the Fall Creek Gorge from a wider angle.

I'm going to my sister's concert tonight, and I'm going to working on cutting the other interviews this week.

Jon Bovi

2009-04-12T22:37:00.001-04:00

Of all the things on Saturday Night's SNL, the following clip cracked me up the most. I think it's because it's funny in a third grade non-scatalogical kind of way:

Jon Bovi, everyone!

The Future

2009-04-11T20:27:00.002-04:00

This may seem really abrupt, but I've been giving serious thought to winding down this blog. This was never supposed to be permanent, but I've begun to realize that it's been taking me away from getting other things done.

I've been blogging on and off since I was 19. Back then, it was a great outlet to channel my angst. Blogging was also relatively new, so I felt privileged to have an outlet to share my "discoveries" with others. Now that I'm older, I realize that everything is relative and sharing your life on the internet isn't particularly unique. Blogging has evolved considerably since then as well. In order to have a truly successful blog, you have to be willing to build a community, which right now I don't have too much interest in. According to my Google Analytics, I get 5-10 visitors a day. Not bad, but not enough to really keep doing this, either.

When I started posting videos to YouTube and re-started blogging two years ago, the whole point was to get noticed. I believe I have accomplished that goal, and then some. I have a more discernable focus now, and want to continue building on it by writing and make movies.

As I said earlier, I really want to work on other things now, and the time I spend blogging every day takes time away from working on other projects. I may not leave right now, but I may end this soon. I'm planning on continuing to contribute to The Film Panel Notetaker and I may even launch a new blog about writing eventually, but I don't think I want to do any more personal blogging in the immediate future.

Staying In Character: Hannah Montana and Peter Sellers

2009-04-11T20:22:00.003-04:00

Originally, this post was going to be much longer, but given that it covered two topics, I decided to break it up instead.

Last night, I watched the 2004 HBO TV Movie The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. I've been on a real Peter Sellers streak as of late, and I've wanted to see this for some time. It was kind of disappointing. Geoffrey Rush does a good job inhabiting Sellers, as does Charlize Theron as Britt Ekland. The production and costume design was very period accurate as well, but it's not enough for me to recommend it.

The timeline is really screwy--Sellers made Casino Royale after After the Fox, for one thing. Also, the music seemed to be misplaced as well--"I Heard It Through The Grapevine" which plays in a montage set during Ekland and Sellers' courtship, came out in 1968 (Sellers and Ekland were married in 1964). In another instance, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go", which is placed before the making of Being There (released in 1979), came out in 1982. Finally, and most importantly, you don't really see what made Sellers special. Yes, he was an awful husband and parent, but even his children saw some good in him. To get the essence of Sellers, you need to go rent his movies.

Today, I saw Hannah Montana: The Movie, which wasn't bad. Anyone who's seen the show knows the story: Miley Stewart is an ordinary teenage girl with a secret. She moonlights as Hannah Montana, a big singing sensation. Hannah Montana was created so that Miley could maintain a sense of normalcy. In the movie, things come to a head with Hannah getting in the way of Miley having a normal life. There's also a subplot of a British Tabloid reporter trying to expose Hannah Montana. At the end, Miley takes off her Hannah wig and sings "The Climb". After telling the audience she can't keep up the facade anymore, a little girl tells Miley to put the wig back on--she'll keep it a secret!

I enjoyed it, knowing that if Miley/Hannah had been a real person, "Hannah Montana" would've been exposed a long time ago on TMZ. Also, I'm glad they picked Peter Chelsom to direct, as the movie's overall look actually looks like a movie, as opposed to a bigger budget Hannah Montana episode.

My Kris Swanberg Interview

2009-04-10T09:23:00.002-04:00

I've done a new interview at The Film Panel Notetaker with Kris Swanberg, whose movie, It was great, but I was ready to come home, debuted at this year's SXSW film festival. To read the interview, all you have to do is click on Kris!

Enjoy your Good Friday!

I Feel Really Stupid About...

2009-04-08T09:17:00.002-04:00

I watched the footage yesterday, what I have thus far. Hopefully today, I'll start cutting a short video to upload to YouTube to show on the IndieGoGo website. I hope people like it, and people pledge.

Watched Shotgun Stories last night. Whoa. Intense. Straight out of an Erskine Caldwell novel, two sets of half brothers living in Arkansas duke it out after their father dies. Things get ugly. Really ugly.

Want to know something really embarassing? Through some casual surfing my ITouch last night, I discovered that Craig Zobel was one of the creators of Homestar Runner. How did I not know that? The creator of The Great World of Sound (go rent!) was also the creator of Strong Bad. I never put two and two together. Here's me and Craig at this year's SXSW:

I'm off to the Workforce Office. Tomorrow I plan on going to Ithaca...looking for work again. You know, I wouldn't mind going back to work, but it would be nice to take a job somewhere else, or do something completely different.

Aftermath

2009-04-06T21:27:00.002-04:00

Needing to put some distance from the events of this past weekend, I decided to work on my final panel from SXSW. It's a panel on Stanley Kubrick featuring Jan Harlan and Elvis Mitchell.

I'm still continuing to follow the story of the shootings, and on the Today show, they had the gunman's sister. I think his sister shed some light his deportment, and even what drove him to do it:

“He didn’t share any of his thoughts and feelings, and he kept all of his frustration inside and didn’t want to share with anybody else in the family.”

I'm going to watch the footage tomorrow. There's only about 90 minutes all together, but whether or not I watch it all tomorrow depends on how my battery holds up. Then I'm going to start dumping the footage onto the hard drive and editing it.

The Long Hair of Death: My Binghamton Experience

2009-04-05T16:57:00.003-04:00

As I got off of I-81 just before 11am Friday morning, a Broome County Sheriff's car zoomed right by us. We made a left and drove down Front Street, and made another left at the intersection. The rest of Front Street had been blocked off. My father and I weren't totally sure what was going on--maybe there was an accident, or a domestic disturbance. I was dropped off at the Holiday Inn, where I was annoyed by the fact that I'd left my Driver's License and Debit Card back home.

Ten minutes later, my father called me, and told me there had been a shooting, and that's what the scene was. Initially, I thought maybe it had been a singular incident.

I wended my way down Court Street, taking care of some pre-interview errands. I marvelled at what Court Street has become. A lot of the buildings that were unoccupied when I first made Are You From Bingo? were now housing restaurants, boutiques, gyms, and bars. I felt like I was seeing the progress that the interviewees were talking to me about in 2005.

Ten more minutes, and my father called again. He told me that there had been multiple shootings, possibly multiple deaths, and that it was "A really bizarre situation," and he speculated that it would make national news. Shortly after I met my camera guy, the office of Mayor Matthew Ryan called to cancelled the interview we had scheduled for 2:30.

In spite of the increasingly gruesome circumstances, my first interview went well. We touched upon the shootings that had just happened, even though I really had little idea of what the details were. Other than that, we talked about what I had planned on talking about. The person who funded my movie was the next person I interviewed, and that interview went pretty much the same way. After we finished his interview, we stuck around his office, and watched Mayor Ryan's press conference on CNN.

Tragedies aside, it was very rainy. My feet were soaking wet, and I had only one other dry pair of socks for the next day. So on top of being worried about the shootings, I had wet feet most of the day.

Later on, we got some footage at Little Venice of people watching the news. I also talked with a woman who was friends with the receptionist who dialed 911. We did a few interviews of people's thoughts on the situation, shot some footage of the media trucks, then called it a night.

Among the witnesses that were interviewed on TV was the mother of one of my interview subjects, an interview I had scheduled for Saturday. She lives across the street from the Civic Association, and that interview did not happen. I did, however, manage to shoot some B-Roll of some places that were in Bingo on Antique Row, and we shot footage of the Civic Association, as well as the media shooting reports and footage from the Civic Association.

I did manage to get two interviews in, one with a girl who manages a boutique my funder owns on Washington St., and an interview with another couple who renovated the building. The wife had a baby girl March 18th, and stayed off camera. After the people who owned the stores downstairs kicked us out, we wrapped. I told my camera guy that I'd stay in touch in regards to rescheduling.

I got back just after 8pm. Earlier today, I typed up my trip in much more intricate detail than I've written here.

The question for me is, "What now?" In all honesty, I had been doing some thinking about a sequel before this happened, but that the shooting wouldn't commence for a few years yet. Now, I'm not so sure. I definitely want to finish the DVD and finish the interviews, and I guess I'll determine what I want to do from there.

In the meantime, I'm hoping to work on the Stanley Kubrick/Jan Harlan panel from SXSW to help seperate myself from the experience (something I would've done anyway), then I'll take a look at the footage later this week. But it looks like I will have to resume the fundraiser.

Yeast: A Really Good Movie

2009-04-04T20:33:00.001-04:00

I meant to post this yesterday morning before everything happened, but better late than never!

One of my favorite movies from last year, Yeast, is on Hulu. I first saw it at SXSW 2008. The only thing that's more entertaining than the movie is the comments at the site.

I will fill you in on every detail tomorrow.

Yeah, Baby!

2009-04-02T17:43:00.002-04:00

Today was spent writing up questions and packing as I watched a Snapped marathon. It took me two days to write questions for two people; it took me two hours to write up questions for the remaining three.

I've been in a real Austin Powers mood lately, and I do not know why. I think it's more of a reflection of my state of mind than anything else. I spent the better part of my Junior and Senior years of high school really obsessed with that movie. In fact, my senior year, I dressed up as Austin Powers for Halloween. I used to own a VHS of a widescreen version of the movie, but I have no idea where that went. I've never bought the DVD, but I may have to soon if I'm going to satiate my urge to watch it. Of course, I can rent it from Netflix as well.

For now, here's a song from the movie, "Call Me". This isn't the version in the movie, but I like this version better. (With that being said, the Mike Flowers version isn't bad.) Off to Binghamton tomorrow!

Holy Cow! My 100th Post!

2009-04-01T16:46:00.002-04:00

This morning, I resumed my weekly visits to the Workforce Office, and found an opening that I replied to. I also gave the offices of Manpower and Kelly a call.

What I'm giving serious thought to now is resuming that freelance article that I researched last fall. Earlier this afternoon, I stopped by the magazine's office and got the e-mail address of the editor.

Speaking of publishing, word has it that Perez Hilton no longer writes in his own blog. I stopped reading his site after it became clear to me that the guy wanted to be a celebrity himself. It seems that the facade is finally coming off, and his days are numbered. Oh, and if you're looking for a gossip site with truly funny snark, I suggest checking out DListed.

Schedule...Interview...Mayor...Binghamton!

2009-03-31T16:46:00.001-04:00

Most of the schedule is solidified. I've been working on questions for the mayor since his spokesperson wants the questions by tomorrow. I'm hoping maybe I can bring the stills photographer for a little bit and have him snap a few pictures for the paper. I keep thinking about the things I want to do in the future. Sometimes I get distracted by these thoughts, but I try to remind myself that I'll have plenty of time to think about those things once this is all done.

In randomness, Lindsay Lohan recently did a commercial for the Italian jeans label Fornarina. Ever since I saw the commercial on The Soup last Friday, I can't take my eyes off the trainwreck. Linds is wearing a Hannah Montana wig and spouting out nonsensical, unrelated words to music that The Misshapes would've found passe in 2005:

Michael K from DListed weighed in, but Joel McHale put it best:

Desperate...Need Cash...Cut Lines...Crash Car!

Disappointments & Tribulations

2009-03-30T16:09:00.002-04:00

It's 35 degrees and very, very windy, so I spent today hibernating. Hopefully, it'll be the last time I'll have to do that for awhile, since it's going to be in the 50s tomorrow.

I scheduled one more interview today for the DVD. I'm particularly excited about this interviewee, since I got more responses about him than anyone else I interviewed, and frankly, of all the interviewees, I had the most fun interviewing him. It will be my first interview after I get to Binghamton Friday Morning. I literally just got off the phone with the mayor's office, and I have that interview set for 2:30.

Later, I got a message in my inbox from someone who had solicited me to do website design for them saying that she decided to "go forward with another designer". It's disappointing, of course. Between this, and the "cease-and-desist" letter I recieved last week, I'm thinking that maybe now isn't the time to be too preoccupied with entreprenurial endeavors. It takes up a lot of energy. There are web languages and programs that I would have to learn to gain enough confidence to pursue design work. I will continue to look for work, though.

Earlier this year, I had Brian obtain a press pass for me for this year's Tribeca--that was before I knew I was going to SXSW. For awhile, I had been leaning toward no, because of SXSW and needing to see how unemployment would work out. But now as the date looms closer, I'm giving serious thought to going. If I go, I'll only go for the weekend--leave on a Thursday, return Sunday or Monday. I'll see where I'm at with the DVD, the job search, and I have the Neko Case concert coming up that week, too before I make any final decision. It would sure be nice to jump back into the festival circuit before long...

What Now?

2009-03-29T13:34:00.002-04:00

I still have two more panels to do for The Film Panel Notetaker. I'm going to work on picking my memory for the Haynes/Linklater panel, but other than that, transcribing panels is taking a backseat this week. I'll be leaving for Binghamton Friday morning, and will be doing new interviews as well as their monthly "art walk". I am also working on a new interview for TFPN as well.

Lately I've been giving a lot of thought about relocating to New York to look for work. Right now, my main concern is working on the DVD. If I can score some type of temp work, that would be great, too. But I'd like to go somewhere else for awhile, and I'm not really keen on returning to Ithaca, especially not after SXSW. Also, it would be really nice to take another UCB class. If there's a time to make that sort of change, it's now, while I still have the safety net of unemployment.

The Fempire, Continued.

2009-03-26T22:08:00.004-04:00

"Did you see my girls in the Grey Lady today? I was so excited to be in the Times, wearing my Technicolor Dreamcoat."
-Diablo Cody on Twitter, 3/22/09

The Fempire continues to stir a lot of attention in the blogosphere. In my spare time the last couple of days, I've been giving some thought to why I'm so ambivalent about it, but this quote from Women & Hollywood explains everything:

What I have been loving is seeing my fellow feminists weigh in. Most of us have been pretty positive about the piece. The film and gossip people, not so much.

Two sides of me are at war with it. The feminist in me thinks it's great that these women have weaseled their way into what is largely a boys' club. Not only are they not competitive with one another, they actually help each other out and give each other advice.

The other me--the filmmaker, the film fan, the critic agrees with Karina Longworth in the comments section of The Spout's Post:

That’s the problem with this sort of blind “girl power!” –– we’re seriously supposed to cheerlead for the broad who put “What Happens in Vegas” in the world, just because she’s a broad? Is it not a greater crime against feminism to say that female filmmakers are worthy of attention just because of their anatomy, regardless of the fact that they’re propping up business as usual in Hollywood and giving us shit films?

As wonderful as it is that they support each other, I think it would be even better to have Diablo Cody's magic fairy dust rub off on them, and have them write something unique. I might write another post (or make another video) of what I have to say about Diablo Cody, but I'll save it for later, since it's entirely off topic.

Cease and Desist

2009-03-26T10:01:00.002-04:00

When I was embarking on making Are You From Bingo? back in 2005, I established my production company. I chose the name "Polychrome Pictures" because I thought it recalled MGM and Sub Pop at the same time. I even had it registered officially as a business with the Tompkins County registrar (I was residing in Ithaca at the time). Last fall, when I decided to see if I could look for work as a designer, I decided to call my business Polychrome Design.

Yesterday, I recieved a "cease and desist" letter from a company called Polychrome Design in San Francisco. It seems that they have trade marked the name, and potential clients are getting confused. I spoke with the owner of the company over the phone yesterday afternoon. He was a kind gentleman who explained that he had legal troubles himself when taking the company name. He said that it wouldn't effect my production company name, Polychrome Pictures, except for one thing...

There's a Polychrome Pictures, a full fledged production company, based out of Los Angeles. Although my "Polychrome Pictures" name is registered with the Tompkins County registrar, it's a possibility that it could face serious legal boondoggle. I am faced with a serious decision. For now, I plan on calling my design company "Erin Scherer Design" until I can come up with something better, but I'm not actively pursuing design right now. (Though I will take a job if I'm approached.)

I am continuing to look for work. Yesterday, I made phone calls to Geneva General and Cayuga Medical Center. I think I'm ready to go back to work, though mainly a temp position. The trip allowed me to see a number of urban areas, and I wonder if I wouldn't be better off somewhere else. I continue to send resumes for permanent positions locally, but it's more half hearted than ever. I don't feel so grounded anymore. What I'd really like to do is travel around the country more for awhile. But we'll see. Given the economic climate, I'm very lucky that these are the worst of my worries.

The Fempire

2009-03-25T10:53:00.004-04:00

Yesterday at the Spout Blog, Christopher Campbell blogged about a piece that ran in Friday's The New York Times about The Fempire, which consists of Diablo Cody and her writer friends Dana Fox, Lorene Scafaria, and Liz Meriwether. Campbell goes onto comment:

Similarly, Cody and Co. wouldn’t be written about if they were men. But more importantly, they probably wouldn’t have been written about if they weren’t such good-looking women. So, while there’s something empowering about this foursome of female screenwriters who each boldly wear an identical necklace with an inscription that reads “Fuck My Face,” it was quite necessary to include a lot of tantalizing quotes about them seeing each other naked and sometimes being “super porno” like. And of course that double-edged quote from Siegel above.

I agree with Campbell and David Hauslaib, who say that they probably wouldn't have been profiled if they weren't women. After all, is the media really all that interested in the women who wrote Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and What Happens In Vegas, even if I liked the former and the writer of the latter is from Rochester? Or how about Meriwether, who has had success in selling, yet none of her scripts have come to fruition. Clearly, the article's existence owes itself to Cody, her stripper past, and her Juno Oscar win.

The article, however, touched a raw nerve in yours truly. Back in the day (like, college), I wrote specs. At the time, American Pie and There's Something About Mary were the hot successes, and my first attempt at screenwriting was a rip-off of Half Baked (shut up). My plan was to infiltrate and destroy. Although later I did manage to get one of my scripts to someone involved in one of the American Pie movies, but they were of no help to me at all. If this group of ladies existed at the time I was doing that, maybe I'd still be pursuing it today. Hell, maybe I'd have a career as a screenwriter.

These days, as much as I would love Cody's paycheck (Who wouldn't right now?), I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing. I think the people I'm meeting and acquainting myself with are making movies that special in their own right. Other than money, I finally have what I always wanted.

Full Speed Ahead

2009-03-24T16:05:00.002-04:00

Next weekend (April 3rd & 4th), I will be going to Binghamton to tape new interviews for the DVD. Right now, I am in the process of making the final arrangements for the interviews. I have two set in place for April 4th, but I keep getting the runaround from the mayor's office.

Not that it should even be on my mind right now, but I've been giving some thought to my book, too. I realize why it's been difficult for me to write the book, even if I continue to hold interest in it. If I'm going to write a book--any kind of book--I want to write the book in a way that's appealing to a reader with general interest in the subject. I want the reader to get the feeling that they couldn't help but pull it off the shelf when they saw it. Should I ever find the time and resources to write this book, the challenge in creating and writing this book will be in organizing and presenting the material and subject matter in a way people want to read.

Due to resources (or lack thereof), however, I may try it as a blog first. Today I ordered WordPress For Dummies along with a book written by my new documentary subject, and a book called From IX To V from Amazon.com. I will read the first book, then decide if it's worth my time.

It was great, but I'm happy to be home.

2009-03-22T15:05:00.002-04:00

We left our hotel room in Tennessee just before daybreak yesterday morning, and drove for an hour before stopping at a Shoney's in Bristol, Virginia, where we ate their breakfast buffet. Afterward, we continued driving north, making many stops along the way for bathroom breaks and snacks. I filled that time shooting video, as well as devouring Filmmaker magazine, which we got in the SXSW Goody Bags for free. It was weird reading an interview with Barry Jenkins just days after speaking with him extensively. For dinner, we stopped at The Country Cupboard for dinner. I had some type of hot roast beef sandwich with onions and melted cheese. The Country Cupboard also has an adjoined store that sells candy, baked goods, and many other things. I bought a smidge of Peanut Butter Oreo fudge and ate it on the way home.

The last piece of video I shot was the sign that read "Welcome to New York". It was very dark, and my battery power was very low. I got back home around 10 O'Clock or so, took a shower, and went back to sleep.

Now that this is all done and over with, I'm more eager than ever to work on the DVD. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can work on everything else. A big priority for me this week is to finalize getting the interviews scheduled. There is one thing that is of concern to me, however.

From the time I first saw Mutual Appreciation, I have wanted to make a narrative feature film. For awhile now, I've kind of set the idea aside because I've been preoccupied with putting together another documentary, and also, I couldn't find anything worth pursuing. Yesterday, somewhere in Virginia, I came up with a perfect idea--or at least one that for me would be worth my time. I don't want to abandon the documentary, but I feel like this idea comes from a much deeper place than anything I've pursued to date. If I'm able to get this one off the ground, it would the type of movie I've wanted to make since I was in college. An idea I had well before Andrew Bujalski and others were on my radar.

Right now, though, I have to go get my father's truck, help him e-mail pictures, and work on a panel for The Film Panel Notetaker.

Walking In Memphis

2009-03-20T23:03:00.002-04:00

The first thing we did after we crossed the Tennessee Border was miss a ramp into Memphis, which had us driving around to find it again for 20 minutes. Then we stopped at the Lorraine Motel, now the Civil Rights Museum. They had the lunch counter from the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's where a sit-in was held in 1960, the bus where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, and the room where Martin Luther King was staying where he got shot. I really want to go back to Memphis, and spend an extended amount of time there. So much to cover.

We drove through Tennessee, and through the northern part of The Great Smoky Mountains, through Nashville and elsewhere. We ate at a place called Peerless in Knoxville for dinner. Since it's lent, I ate a shrimp po-boy. We drove another hour before checking into this Super 8 in Morristown. During the drive, I shot video, a book on making documentaries, and re-listened to a panel on self-distribution.

Hopefully I will be home late tomorrow night. Oh yeah, tomorrow night's screening of Saint Misbehavin will have none other than Neil Young. I will be jealous of that audience.

What I Did Wednesday

2009-03-20T21:45:00.004-04:00

Wednesday I saw two movies: Died Young, Stayed Pretty and Creative Nonfiction. Died Young is a fascinating, if a little overlong documentary about Punk/Indie Rock posters and their artists, and their attempt to subvert popular culture with their artwork.

In between movies, I ate dinner at Hut's on 6th near Lamar and packed up. I also stopped at Book People, a book store on North Lamar across the street from Whole Foods. I've been thinking about that book project again, except rather than critique screenwriting books specifically, maybe have a Gen DIY/Mumblecore bent to it instead. Anyway, I bought Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 Ways To Make It Great for the sake of reading it and picking it apart. As the day progressed, I realized that I deeply regretted my purchase, so after Hut's, I walked over to Book People and returned it. They asked no questions.

Creative Nonfiction actually began a little bit early because of some turnaround time (or so it was explained). The movie concerns Ella, a college student who is writing her first screenplay, and also trying to get laid. Creative Nonfiction starts out slow, but once it gets going, it gets going. The college scenes are very true to life, especially with the "behind-their-back" bitching of friends to other people in the dorms. Also, the screenplay reenactments are hilarious--Ella writes of a story where a teacher holds a student slave for three years, and the screenplay is about the girl's escape. Lena Dunham just graduated from Oberlin last year, and actually shot much of the movie while she was still a student. She shot the screenplay parts in Roscoe, New York, where according to her, her mother lived on a commune. Roscoe is important to me because when I was on my back from the Woodstock Film Festival, that's when I realized I was lost. I told her this story, and she thought it was hilarious...especially since there are no places to stay in Roscoe. Creative Nonfiction was the last movie I saw at SXSW.

What I Did Tuesday

2009-03-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

My mic died Monday. I discovered this on Tuesday, when I went tko replay the Haynes/Linklater panel I attended, and heard nothing except static air. I went back and checked my video from Monday, and there was no sound on it, either. Since Tuesday night, I have been without a mic. Better bad audio than no audio.

I attended the awards show, then a screening of Saint Misbehavin', a documentary about Wavy Gravy. During the Q&A, the director said that she had wanted to make a movie about his message, not a straightforward biography. Having seen this movie, I now understand the breadth of Wavy's achievements, which extend beyond the soundbites he provides in documentaries on Woodstock. If the Hog Farm had done the security at Altamont as they did at Woodstock, the most that might have happened to the guy that got killed was a big pie in the face. Before the movie, Lisa Law got a picture of the audience wearing clown noses, and afterward, I got a picture with Wavy.

Then I went over to Maggie Mae's to catch the remainder of the closing party. I said good-bye to Joe Swanberg, and a few others, and shot video with my Flip Camera.

I'll talk about the rest later. My father is waiting.

500 Miles

2009-03-19T23:02:00.005-04:00

During my ride, I wrote a long post explaining the things I did Tuesday and Wednesday, but I will type that up either tomorrow, or after I get home.

Dad and I had breakfast at Denny's off of I-35 in Austin. That Denny's looks a lot like a Johnny Rockets, and I had a Moons Over My Hammy for Breakfast. Then we set off. We stopped at Czech-themed bakery in Hillsboro, and Willie's Place in Carl's Corner. We exited Texas sometime around 4pm, and drove into Arkansas, and ate at the Waffle House for dinner. Right now, we are at a Super 8 in Forrest City, Arkansas, and we'll be leaving in the morning.

Oh yeah, and it's dropped 30 degrees since we left Austin.

Indie A Go-Go

2009-03-17T11:25:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, I saw two movies: It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home and For The Love of Movies.

It Was Great is about two friends, Annie and Cam (director Kris Swanberg and Jade Healy), who travel to Costa Rica following Annie's painful breakup with her boyfriend. Over the course of their trip, they realize that they are drifting apart as well. Amazingly, the movie was only shot in December, and with its intimacy and intensity, may be by and far the best movie I've seen at the festival. (Narrative feature, anyway.)

After the movie, I went to the IndieGoGo Party, where some of the cast and crew of the movie were hanging out. Joe Swanberg was there...with his mother, I believe.

For the Love of Movies is directed by Gerald Peary, film critic for The Boston Phoenix. It documents the history of film criticism. There were a few critics, that I've never heard of, like Otis Ferguson. It was interesting to see the evolution of Hollywood embracing film critics, then despising them. It also touches upon a rivalry between Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris. I read some of Kael's work this past fall, and after seeing this movie, am eager to check out Andrew Sarris' work as well, as well as his wife, Molly Haskell.

Right now, I'm heading over to the screening library. I'm attending panels on surviving the festival circuit and a Todd Haynes/Richard Linklater panel. The awards show is tonight, then I'm sticking around the convention center and seeing Saint Misbehavin', a documentary about Wavy Gravy. After that, I might try to go to the closing party, though I had trouble getting in last year because I had A/V equipment with me.

Good Times

2009-03-15T12:01:00.005-04:00

Last night, I drank an embarassing amount (for a 27 year old, anyway). The IFC Festival Direct Launch Party had an open bar, and I managed to down two vodka tonics and a cranberry vodka before heading over to the Breaking Upwards party, where I downed another vodka tonic. I managed to talk to a nice gentleman, a UT-Austin student who noticed me from being at the front of the line. I also got an opportunity to talk to Ry Russo-Young, Kris Swanberg, and Lena Dunham

Following a panel on Film Criticism, I saw two movies: Beeswax and Alexander the Last. Both movies were great! Beeswax concerns a paraplegic (Tilly Hatcher) who is befriended by a law student (Alex Karpovsky) as the threat of a lawsuit by her former business partner looms.

Alexander the Last is a big step forward for Joe Swanberg. For the first time, his cast is largely made up of professional actors--Jess Weixler, Josh Hamilton, and Jane Adams are among the cast. Alex (Weixler) takes in the co-star of her play (Barlow Jacobs), who's been bouncing from couch to couch. She's married to Elliot (Justin Rice), but she has interest in him, but he's very interested in her sister (Amy Seimetz). One scene really stood out for me, where the two sisters begin to make up a story--it completely reminded me of the games I used to play with my siblings as a kid. You don't have to wait for it to come to your festival--if you have digital cable, you can watch it on demand. If you don't, find someone who does.

I'm planning on attending two panels: one on self-distribution, another on Kubrick, and then I will see Sorry, Thanks

In Austin, at Last.

2009-03-12T17:33:00.002-04:00

I got into Austin about an hour ago. The hotel room I'm in is a little cramped for two people, but I think in the time that I reserved it (hotel rooms in Austin fill up quickly) it's a steal. It's also clean, and that's all I ask for, really.

After we left our room in Cave City, we drove an hour and a half to Nashville, where I checked out Music Row (where all the Record Companies are), a statue of Owen Bradley, and took a picture of Noshville, a legendary deli in Nashville. Then we stopped for lunch at a Denny's in Jackson, where we were served by an obnoxious waitress. Despite some setbacks, we eventually made it to Memphis, and toured Beale Street. The doorman at a restaurant gave a tour of his place, which is chock full of Elvis' high school memorabilia. Hopefully, we'll stop there on our way back--I hope to see the Stax Museum, The Lorraine Hotel (where Martin Luther King got shot), and Sun Studios. We drove through Arkansas and spent the night at a Super 8 in Mount Pleasant, Texas, which is by and far the worst Super 8 I've stayed in.

Today was spent driving through Texas. We drove through Dallas and Waco, and on the way, we stopped at Willie's Place in Carl's Corner. Willie's Place, for those of you not in the know, is a convenience store and greasy spoon owned by Willie Nelson. It is also the only place in the country that I know of that sells only Bio Diesel fuel. Anyway, the place sold a ton of Willie Nelson memorabilia, and also had some of Willie's Gold Records on display. There's also a performing venue, but nothing was going on at the moment. When I called my mom and told her about my visit, she asked,

Willie's Greasy Spoon (I forget the actual name of the place) served their dishes in huge portions. My mother added, "Yes. Probably because after you smoke pot, you want to eat a lot."

Get your mind out of the gutter, Mother.

I'm going to kick back and browse through my e-mails, then take my father to Guero's Taco Place.

For Real, Y'all!

2009-03-10T22:17:00.007-04:00

I am now at a Super 8 in Cave City, Kentucky, after a very long day of traveling We left just after 8am. One of the early stops we made was in Jamestown, where we saw Lucille Ball's grave. We drove through Pennsylvania, then Ohio, where we stopped for lunch. After five hours of Ohio, we crossed over into the Kentucky Border at 6 O'Clock.

The first thing we did after crossing the border was stopping at a Waffle House in Union. When the waitress took our order, she said, "What would you like to eat, y'all?"

She said "y'all" like other people say "uh" or "like". Also, they actually had people smoking inside the restaurant, something I haven't seen in quite awhile. We did more driving, where we passed through billboards that have The Ten Commandments listed (God forbid a trucker wanting to pick up a lot lizard!) and one that said, "When you die, where do you want to spend an eternity?" and listened to a Christian Music-themed version of John Tesh's Intelligence For Your Life, which was described as "inspiring" with "kid-safe music" by the announcer.

My father wanted to go past Nashville, but we eventually got off here. I have pictures and video, but I won't be able to put up anything until after I get back.

Off to Austin

2009-03-10T07:55:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm off to Austin. I'm only going to be blogging intermittently for the next week and a half. I'll try to say something when I can.

RIP Virgin Megastore, Mondo Kim's, and No Radio Records

2009-03-09T13:27:00.003-04:00

I found out last summer that next month, The Virgin Megastore would be closing for good. This is incredibly sad for me, since every trip I've made to New York City since I started traveling there was never complete for me without a visit to The Virgin Megastore's Times Square location. Part of the fun in traveling down there was to see what I could pick up at the megastore to listen to on the way back.

The store played a huge role in the development of my musical tastes. Over the years, I purchased albums by Bob Dylan (John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, Blood on the Tracks, and Desire), The Byrds (Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn! Turn!, Younger Than Yesterday, Sweetheart of the Rodeo), Joni Mitchell (Song To A Seagull, Ladies of the Canyon, Blue, Court & Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, and Hejira), Buffalo Springfield's Buffalo Springfield Again, Television's Marquee Moon, Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights, Serge Gainsbourg's The History of Melody Nelson and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Honestly, I have no idea how I will fill that void now that that store will be gone. I bought a few DVDs there too (Don't Look Back, Hullabaloo, Vol. 2), but purchasing music was what made it special for me.

Another music store that's closed recently is Mondo Kim's at St. Mark's Place in the East Village. Before I had Brian to crash with, I would have friends meet me there, and we'd stop to eat somewhere nearby. I bought music here, too, including albums by The White Stripes, Cat Power, The Dirtbombs, and even a curio by Timothy Leary (shut up). The upstairs floor was a haven for anyone who was into foreign and independent films, and even stocked DVDs from other regions. I remember spotting a few Warhol Region 2 DVDs that I dreamt of buying...if I only had the money. The atmosphere was reminiscent of the old, dingy New York that I read about but was too young to witness. Yet another victim of Lower Manhattan's Gentrification.

The last record store that's closing that I'd like to comment on is No Radio Records, which is/was actually in Ithaca, New York, and I only found out about it last night that it would be closing its doors later this week. If I wasn't going down to Austin, I would most definitely be making a point to go to their final shows. When No Radio Records opened in August of 2006, it was the fufillment of a longtime dream for owners Bob Proehl and Luke Fentchel.

I stopped at No Radio as often as I could, and enjoyed making conversation with Bob about music. I also bought albums by Charles Mingus, Peaches, X, Art Brut, My Bloody Valentine, The Kills, and Stereolab there. Other than its opening day, I never saw too many people in there, and its main draw always seemed be live music (I saw The Super Furry Animals there last year), and I wondered if Bob and Luke wouldn't have had better luck opening a live venue instead. When I found out that Virgin and Mondo Kim's would be closing, I had a feeling that the closing of No Radio wouldn't be far behind. I'm sure Bob and Luke will continue to host parties such as "The Cure vs. The Smiths" at the Chanti-Loft, though.

All three stores were at the mercy of the economy of music shifting toward digital downloads and live performance. Nobody buys CDs anymore, except me, and even I'm starting to realize that CDs take up too much space. Oh, well. I'll have memories for my grandchildren, I guess...

The Houghton House: A Photoplay

2009-03-08T22:46:00.003-04:00

I've spent the evening packing for my trip, and putting some finshing touches on my itinerary. This afternoon I drove around and took some pictures.

Here's the pier at the Geneva Lakefront. This picture doesn't have the best composition, but in better weather, people walk out on their pier and fish.

Here's another view of the pier from the side:

Yesterday I went out to The Houghton House. I always pass by it as South Main Street turns into Route 14, and I always wanted to go into the building once I got my license. Yesterday was my lucky day! This is a view of the main house:

Behind the house is yard with a sunken garden. Here are several views of the garden, which I'm sure would look much better on a nicer day:

The Houghton House hosts Hobart & William Smith's Art Department. There were many student works of art on display, especially in this alcove pictured below:

I also spent a substantial amount of time shooting video inside the house as well. It's beautiful, and I think it would make for a great location someday.

The World of Peter Sellers

2009-03-07T13:14:00.004-05:00

In the last 48 hours, I've watched two movies starring Peter Sellers.

The first was The World of Henry Orient. In the movie, Sellers plays a concert pianist whose every move is followed around by two thirteen year old girls. Sellers is funny here, but the real heart of the movie is the two girls, Gil (Merrie Spaeth) and Val (Elizabeth "Tippy" Walker). The movie was a major inspiration for Ghost World, and fans of that film can see similarities between the story of Enid and Becky following Seymour around, and Gil and Val following Henry around in this movie.

Henry Orient is usually a Christmas movie for me (The Holidays are never complete for me without watching Meet Me In St. Louis and this one), but lately, I've been very fascinated with the story of Elizabeth "Tippy" Walker, who played the incorrigible Valerie Boyd. At Henry Orient's IMDb board, she's made some very detailed posts about the movie, her touch-and-go post-Orient career, and why she left the business. These days, Elizabeth is an artist and an activist for the homeless, an incredible contrast from her co-star Merrie Spaeth, who played a big role in orchestrating smear campaigns against John McCain (South Carolina in 2000, she she says she regrets) and John Kerry (Swift Boat Vets for Truth). Elizabeth mentioned in one thread that she had a casting contact in New York back in 2005, so it sounds like she has some interest in acting again.

Last night after The Soup, I did some channel surfing to find that nothing was on (What else is new?). After coming across a program on PBS hosted by Michelle Phillips that seemed to be designed specifically for pledge drives, I decided to put on my DVD of I Love You, Alice B. Toklas on a lark.

Alice has sellers playing Harold Fine, a 35 year old Lawyer/Mama's Boy who's reluctantly engaged to Joyce (Joyce Van Patten). Overwhelmed by the expectations put upon him by his Jewish family, he begins to gravitate toward Nancy (Leigh Taylor-Young), a friend of his hippie brother's, and after bailing out on his wedding, drops out himself.

Someone on YouTube posted one of the funniest scenes in the movie, where Nancy makes Harold some "Groovy Brownies":

The movie is very dated, but the story is a solid one: a man who goes to the extreme to find out what he wants for himself. If you're looking for pre-Easy Rider psychedelic kitsch, this is it. A lot more watchable than the genuinely awful Skidoo, in my opinion.

Medicine For Melancholy

2009-03-06T17:10:00.004-05:00

Today I took the plunge and did Video on Demand with the movie Medicine for Melancholy. I'm kicking myself for not seeing this at SXSW last year. Daily Show cutie Wyatt Cenac plays Micah, who pursues and hangs out with Joanne (Tracey Heggins) after a one night stand. Over the course of the day, Micah begins to unleash a lot of anguish about being a person of color in a city where there aren't many, and being the only person of color at an indie rock show. Definitely worth getting On Demand if you have digital cable.

I'm also very pleased to hear that SXSW is planning on offering shuttle buses from the Austin Convention Center to the Alamo Lamar and a few other places, which is going to save me a ton of time and trouble. Can't wait!

EDIT: I meant to post this video earlier tonight, but I was unable to find it. This is Wyatt Cenac at the Obama Inaugural Ball on The Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Youth Inaugural Ball

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Ithaca: Another Photoplay

2009-03-05T18:24:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I scored 22/28 on the census test. You only needed to have 10 questions right to pass. After I passed, they gave me a brochure which explains "what happens now".

Today I went back to Ithaca, for two reasons: 1.) Because I wanted to go one more time before I went to Austin, and 2.) Now that Spring will be here sooner rather than later, I wanted to get accustomed to driving distances again.

At 10am, I had a waxing appointment at the same Beauty Shop of the Woman who kicked me out last December. She waxed my chin and eyebrows, and the whole thing cost me $54. $22 for the eyebrows, and $16 each for the upper chin and the lower chin. She showed me price list, so she wasn't overcharging me out of anger. I'll never patronize her business again.

Other than getting stiffed, my day went very well. I went to the library, dropped off one book, picked up another. Then I walked around and took some pictures:

This is the office for The Ithaca Times, Ithaca's "alternative" paper. Last fall, I wrote them, offering to write movie reviews. Maybe they don't need me, but they couldn't have sent a "Thanks, but no thanks" letter. After all, I go to festivals and stay on top of that stuff. It's a shitty time for newspapers all around, but still.

A few years ago, someone tried to launch another alternative paper, but alas, that didn't happen. Which is a shame, because Ithaca could use an edgier publication. The Ithaca Times, IMO, is every bit as alternative as Lawrence Welk.

The above are all pictures I took at the Cascadilla Gorge. (A couple of the files are listed as "Fall Creek"; I only noticed the mistake after I uploaded them to Photobucket, and PB doesn't allow me to rename them.) It may be March, and while we haven't had a serious snowfall in awhile, as you can see that much of the Gorge is still embedded with ice. With the temperatures going up, I'm sure it will start to melt soon.

I passed this RV on the walk back from the Fall Creek Gorge. (One of the pictures will appear on the cover of the zine.) For awhile now, I've sort of fantasized about living out of an RV while I work on future projects and continue to travel to festivals. It would sure save money on rent, but I know my family would be very concerned about my safety (and rightfully so). I don't this RV is up for sale, though.

Bush may be out of office, but I think the blue bumper sticker is still funny.

On my way back, I stopped in Interlaken, where a '85 Ford Econoline Van was up for sale. It has 345,000 miles on it, and it's being offered for $1650. It looked intriguing to me because it had a lot of camper amenities, would satiate my desire for travel. Unfortunately, I have no job to pay for it, and I have no idea how much the insurance will cost.

The weather was in the upper 40s/low 50s most of the day, so I wore my sweatshirt on top of my long sleeves. Tomorrow, they're talking about it going into the '50s, so I guess it's back to the lakefront for another walk!

Parallel Life

2009-03-03T18:22:00.001-05:00

There's nothing like having your hands tied. On one hand, I have visions of a more exciting life ahead of me. Yesterday, I published the Ry Russo-Young interview, and next week, I'll be off to Austin for SXSW. Also, I have the Are You From Bingo? DVD project, and the other project I'm working on right now.

Today I was reading a memoir of the person I'm hoping to do a documentary on, where she talks about her experiences with her travels, and her relationships--romantic and friendly. I also peered through a travel guide on Costa Rica in preparation for another interview I'm hoping to do for The Film Panel Notetaker. When I was young, I wanted to travel the world, going this place and that place. Unfortunately, money and circumstance eventually tempered those ambitions, but now I'm entertaining those fantasies again. Costa Rica would be fun, but I'd love to visit Greece, Italy, the South of France, and Bali, among other places.

At the same time, I must contend with my current reality. I continue to look for work the way I always have--sending out resumes, going for interviews. It's never been particularly fun (unless I've gotten a job), but job hunting anywhere is becoming more and more out of place. With that being said, I'll be taking a test tomorrow with the possibility of working on the 2010 census. The job will start in April and last 6-8 weeks. If I get the job, I figured by the time it starts, I'll be ready for another job. It's only temporary, and it doesn't seem too dull, so why not?

My Ry Russo-Young Interview

2009-03-02T09:59:00.002-05:00

My interview with Ry Russo-Young is now online at The Film Panel Notetaker. Click on the picture of Ry below, and it will take you directly to the interview.

I plan on starting to lay out the zine soon, but I don't know if I'll have a chance to start before I leave for Austin. I have an incredibly busy week ahead of me as I also begin to coordinate to shoot the new interviews for Are You From Bingo? DVD.

Modern Love Is Automatic

2009-03-01T18:50:00.002-05:00

This past Friday Night, I had a chance to view Zach Clark's Modern Love is Automatic. I've been itching to see this since I first read about it at the SpoutBlog. I won't be staying for the entire duration for the festival this year, so when I got a message in my inbox about getting a free press screener, I jumped at the chance.

Modern Love tells the story of Lorraine Schultz, a nurse at a podiatrist's office (I believe), who after a series of unfortunate events, decides to channel her pain and anger by becoming a dominatrix. The movie also follows her new roommate, Adrian, as she tries to launch a modelling career.

Clark worked as an editor on Aaron Katz's Dance Party USA, and Modern Love has a stylization usually absent from this type of motion picture. (Not that stylization is necessary most of the time.) "No Wave Douglas Sirk" isn't a bad description for this movie, but I see shades of Wes Anderson here, too; not only with the stylization but also with the characterization of Adrian and the sadness underneath it all. Leading lady Melodie Sisk is a curvy, husky-voiced leading lady in the vein of Susan Hayward and Kathleen Turner, and Maggie Ross' comical performance conceals the innate desperation of Adrian. The only bone I had to pick, really, was the death-metal music, which came off loud on my DVD player (but maybe sounds better in a theater setting). Even that, however, seems to be compliant with The Yeah Yeah Yeahs production values of Modern Love.

I'm not a very good critic, but if you're going to SXSW this year, check this one out if you have the opportunity. You can see it where and when at:

7:30 PM, Sunday March 15th - Alamo Ritz 2
9:00 PM, Thursday March 19th - Alamo Lamar 2
7:15 PM, Saturday March 21st - Alamo Lamar 2

Catching Up

2009-02-28T18:31:00.002-05:00

I've been incredibly busy the last few days. Thursday and Friday were in the 50s, and I took advantage of that by doing a lot of walking. Thursday, I put some finishing touches on Are You From Bingo?, and yesterday I taped an introduction that will go on the on-demand and the video download of the movie.

This morning and in the early afternoon, I readied the Ry Russo-Young interview for The Film Panel Notetaker, and I plan on posting it Monday morning.

Last night, I watched a press screener of Modern Love is Automatic, which is premiering at SXSW this year. (I'll write more about it soon.) This afternoon, I saw The Wrestler, which was very good, but the wrestling scenes were pretty gruesome. Good to see Mickey Rourke back in the game, though. Tonight, I'm going to watch Luis Bunuel's Simon of the Desert, which looks really good.

When I found out that they were cutting all temps at Emerson, I was a little disappointed. Two months later, I realize that it may have been for the best. I've gotten a lot of stuff done that may have been very difficult to do otherwise, like Bingo, and the other projects I'm starting on now. The time off has given me a real chance to clear my head, and I'm in a much better place now.

A-Ha!

2009-02-25T13:21:00.001-05:00

Earlier today I traipsed down to Area Records to celebrate my getting unemployment. I've had my eye on The Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion for some time, and wanted to buy it as soon as I had the money.

I go up to the cash register to make my purchase, and the owner asked me if I was still working at Wegmans. I told him "no", without going into too many details.

"I hear that there's been a lot of changes. There's a new head manager that a lot of people don't like, and he's firing them for any minor thing."

I thought, "Bingo!"

Any animosity I had toward Wegmans is now gone. If anything, I now feel embarassed for them. I called and told both of my parents immediately.

Afterwards, I further celebrated by purchasing tickets to see Neko Case at The State Theater. I also did something new: I test-drove a car.

I went to Geneva Foreign & Sports and test-drove three Volvo S70 cars, 1999 and 2000 models. I don't think I'll be buying anything anytime soon, but I always thought that if I could afford a car, I'd buy a Volvo. You never know. I might win the lottery one day...

Erin's Stimulus Package

2009-02-24T18:11:00.001-05:00

The verdict is in. I will be able to collect unemployment. The judge based my decision on me having admitted to making an honest mistake--that when I first applied for unemployment, I put down "discharged" rather than "fired". For most of the weekend, I had flashbacks to the worst parts of my work experience. I didn't really want to know the verdict, since I thought it would be "no" based on my incompetence. I will be conservative with the money and will continue to look for work, but this is a great relief.

Yesterday, I finally got a call from the person I wanted to do a documentary on. She raised a lot of valid concerns, such as what kind of audience this potential movie might have, and clearances I'll have to make in regards to taking a camera into prison. (I'll elaborate eventually.) But she seems to be interested. We told each other that we would stay in touch. Today I went to the library in Ithaca and picked up her memoir. This person isn't a big celebrity, but I'm not ready to disclose who it is, either.

I also interviewed Ry Russo-Young for The Film Panel Notetaker and the zine. My method I used to record the conversation involved holding my shotgun mic to my speakerphone, so some of the audibility is questionable. But I should be able to transcribe most of it.

Conan Go Bye-Bye

2009-02-20T08:18:00.001-05:00

Today marks the end of an era. After almost 16 years, Conan O'Brien is leaving Late Night to replace Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. I'd like to commemorate tonight's final episode by posting part of Conan's very first episode.

The first couple of seasons were really rough for Conan--he didn't get a lot of good reviews initially. In fact, a few years ago, I was perusing a book (or passages of) about the worst TV Shows in History published in the mid '90s, and Late Night With Conan O'Brien is listed among them. Conan managed to persevere, NBC remained patient, and the rest is history.

What amazes me is how skinny Conan was back then, and how floppy everyone's hair was, especially Max Weinberg's. This particular episode has its embarassing moments (the "Actual Items" bit, for one), but there's flashes of brilliance that Conan would be famous for.

I'll be sure to watch Conan on The Tonight Show when it debuts in June, but I'll miss Late Night. I have too many memories that span from high school onward of staying up late and watching Late Night.

Jesus Died For Somebody's Sins, But Not Mine

2009-02-19T20:28:00.000-05:00

They did show up today, and I was outmatched. They had legal counsel. All I had was a packet on how to represent myself. My main argument was that they gave me no written warning prior to my termination.

The Bad:

According to Wegmans' employment policy, if I don't deliver good customer service, they reserve the right to terminate my contract at any time. I don't recall reading anything of the sort. I imagine I did, but it was probably a long time ago when I read it.

The complaint the prompted my termination involved me throwing a package of cookies. Apparently, they had asked me to bag the cookies seperately, and I didn't want to, so I threw them.

BULLSHIT. The customers in question behaved in a very patronizing manner toward me, I'll admit I behaved inappropriately. I was hesitant about packaging the cookies in a seperate bag because I felt they did not need a seperate bag. But I threw it at them? Puh-leeze.

When counsel made their closing argument, they said that I represented myself poorly, and that if I was in a bad mood that day, I shouldn't have showed up. I was tired, but I didn't show up in a bad mood.

The Good:

The original reply by Wegmans stated that I had recieved three warnings dating back to July 7, 2007. In fact, two of the "warnings" stated on their claim were, in fact, "conversation notes". I mentioned that I had recieved a warning on November 10, 2006, and that I had recieved no other warnings in writing prior to my termination. The judge asked my ex-supervisor if "conversation notes" were the same as a warning. The supervisor said "no".

When I initially filed for unemployment, I put "discharged/let go" rather than "fired". Oops! At least I was allowed to admit to making a mistake, and I did.

The judge asked my former supervisor if the company had a department where I could file a grievance and an appeal. My ex-supervisor was reluctant to admit it, but he said "no".

I will not know for sure the verdict for at least a couple of weeks. As I mentioned, though, that they had legal counsel, and I felt that they were at an unfair advantage. I did my best to represent myself, but I was very nervous. With the money they spent on legal counsel, they might as well just given me unemployment.

Obviously, I'm hoping for the best, but if they rule against me, I'm not going to file for an appeal. All I know is that I made a point to be honest, and had a chance to tell the judge that I didn't lie (which was one of the accusations). If I don't win this, I can always be comforted with the old rule of karma: What goes around, comes around.

This weekend, I'm going to start preparing for an interview I'm conducting next week for The Film Panel Notetaker and my zine. Also, I have the Patti Smith documentary Dream of Life coming this weekend, so I'm looking forward to watching that as well. And of course, tomorrow night, the final show of Late Night With Conan O' Brien. I'll post more about that in the morning.

Can You Tell I'm Anxious?

2009-02-18T11:31:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the big day. As I mentioned previously, I've been really nervous about my hearing. Mainly because I don't want to have to face those people all over again. Yesterday, though, my mother mentioned to me that there might not be a chance that they'll show up at all, and if that's the case, I WIN! Nonetheless, I have prepared, writing points I want to make, cross examining questions, and a closing argument. But I really hope they don't show up.

Yesterday, I had a phone interview with some customer service company that has an office in Canandaigua. They're supposed to send me something about a "next step" soon, but I really don't want this job, because of the commute, and also, I'd be working until 10:30. This afternoon I have an interview at the hospital for several positions I've applied for. A month ago, I would've been absolutely thrilled about this. To some extent, I still am, but I know what I want to do next as far as projects go. Will this job get in the way?

Speaking of the next project, I've decided to send the letter I sent last week by e-mail, which is the way I should've done it in the first place. I know it's only been a week, but I'm eager to hear one way or the other.

Finally, I started cutting the epilogue for Are You From Bingo? last night, but with all that's happening this week, it's hard to focus on it. Can you tell I'm anxious?

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T17:57:00.002-05:00

Since I have no one special in my life, Valentine's Day is of no relevance, other than maybe giving me an excuse to go off my diet and eat candy.

I have decided to actively seek work as a Production Assistant. I spent my early afternoon today at the library, writing a resume from scratch--something I haven't done since I first graduated from college. I'm going to continue looking for work outside the entertainment industry (office positions, of course), but I want to pursue this option as well.

Rather than go straight to New York City, I've been keeping tabs on The Hudson Valley Film Commission to see if they have anything that pops up. The person I want to do a documentary on lives in Woodstock, so I'm thinking that it might not be a bad place to start looking for production work.

I also spent more time working on the article I want to pitch. I dissected and analyzed articles and pitch letters (from a book on freelance writing).

Finally, that plane crash in Buffalo...just awful. On Friday the 13th of all days. It's bad enough when any plane crashes, but it Buffalo? My heart goes out to everyone who knew someone who was killed.

Old Magazines

2009-02-13T14:53:00.002-05:00

The last two days, I have spent cleaning. Yesterday, I went through a bunch of old magazines I dug out last summer before I moved. Most of the magazines are at least ten years old, and they include issues of Rolling Stone, InStyle, Entertainment Weekly, People, and even a few old issues of Seventeen.

Going through the magazines brought back memories of high school study hall. When I wasn't doing homework, I would absorb myself in reading those magazines. Quite honestly, I once fantasized of being profiled myself. Sometime after my Freshman year of college, however, I put many of the issues into one of those big tupperware bins, never to be touched again. Until last summer, that is.

Needing a place to put new things into, I finally took the bin out and began going through the magazines, putting them into empty Yuengling Lager boxes. Yesterday, I went through them again to sort out what I was going to give away to Ithaca's Friends of the Library for their semiannual book sale.

For the memories I have of reading through these magazines, it's difficult to part with them. But I know I'll never read them again, either, so at this point they're taking up space. Hopefully a few people will buy them at the book sale and find something to do with them.

Entertainment News I Care About #1

2009-02-12T17:03:00.001-05:00

Joanna Pacitti got booted from American Idol. I'm not an AI fan, but I smelled a rat with this one. I thought that Carly Smithson's placement on the show was absurd, but at least she had been out of her contract for awhile. I felt sorry for Joanna when she got kicked out Annie, but that was more than a decade ago.

Doing a 180 (in the Entertainment World, anyway), Greta Gerwig has been cast in Noah Baumbach's Greenberg with Ben Stiller. I'm really happy to see her moving into more mainstream roles. She truly deserves this and any stardom coming her way. At least more deserving than Joanna Pacitti, anyway.

A View From The Lakefront

2009-02-11T19:55:00.002-05:00

This is a view of Seneca Lake I got this morning. Notice the ice caps. Seneca Lake hasn't totally frozen over since 1912, but there's blankets of ice washing up onshore. (Further out, however, there was still water.) They were predicting warm weather today, so I decided to go and take a walk down at the lakefront, which I hadn't since the end of October. Except that the Lakefront was cold, and I wish I had brought gloves with me. Later on, I went to the Outlet Mall, where I bought a pair of Converse All Stars (aka "Chucks") that were owed to me from Christmas.

Last fall, I began researching for an article that I hope to pitch to a local magazine. I was inspired by a trip I took to this particular place back in September. Earlier this morning, I read through the stuff I copied when I visited The History Center in November. I also checked out some back issues of the magazine from the library, to get a feel for tone and content. A year ago, I would've wanted to wait to do this before I got a better job, but now I'm thinking, "Money's Money." I'm looking into anything that's not only NOT customer service, but something I could actually look forward to doing.

Life Goes On

2009-02-10T16:29:00.001-05:00

I continue to send out resumes. Today, I made phone calls to temp agencies to let them know that I'm still looking for work. When my father told my grandmother he was going away, my grandmother opted to make arrangements to stay with my aunt instead.

Next Thursday, I will have my unemployment hearing, and I'm nervous about it. Will I have to face those people again? I had expressed a desire to leave a few times, will they use that against me? I do hope I get unemployment, of course, but I am preparing for the worst.

I finally sent a letter to the person I want to do a documentary on. I could've sent an e-mail, but I think a real letter is more formal.

With all that's going on, I'm trying my best to look forward to SXSW, but with the hearing and looking for work hanging over my head, it's not easy. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the upper 50s, and I plan on taking a walk!

Sesame Street: It's Super Grover!

2009-02-10T10:50:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to post more Sesame Street videos for awhile now, but I've been sidetracked by other things. This particular post is devoted to that "cute, furry little monster", Grover.

Grover is a well intentioned guy who frequently finds himself in over his head. He often misreads the people he is communicating with, and gets into trouble.

"Near and Far"

Anyone who watched Sesame Street regularly as a kid will remember this one. Grover demonstrates the differences between "near" and "far". Grover gets close to the camera to demonstrate "near", and moves further away from the camera to demonstrate "far".

"Super Grover: EXIT"

Every once in awhile, Grover breaks into his alter ego, "Super Grover". Grover's presence is sometimes a nuisance, like in this clip. Freddy wants to get over the fence. Grover tries to pry the bars open, but Freddy eventually finds the exit sign.

"Grover the Waiter: The Big Hamburger"

A customer orders a hamburger only to find out that there are two sizes of hamburgers: big and small. The customer orders a small hamburger, only to find that it is too small for him. Grover tries to coerce him into ordering more small hamburgers, but the customer is adamant on ordering a big hamburger. Grover complies to his wishes, but it's more than what the customer bargained for.

"Disco Grover"

Grover dances to a disco version of the alphabet. The other monsters seem to have no trouble dancing--I wondered if they had something more than just drinks.

I'm thinking the clip might have been a cross promotion for this classic album:

Image courtesy of Muppet Wiki

I Don't Put Out

2009-02-08T16:25:00.002-05:00

Mid-last week, I sent a letter to a married couple who played on the soundtrack to Are You From Bingo?, asking if they could take me in. I got an e-mail response this morning saying they could not. Oh well. My Craigslist endeavors haven't fared much better. Most of the responses I've gotten have pointed me toward certain resources, but no direct offers. And then there's this gem:

Hi Erin my name is _____, I mean you no disrespect by asking this but wondered if you might into fulfilling my fantasy. I own several nice rental properties around the college. I have always wanted to give a woman like you an apartment of her own for free. Meaning the only thing you would have to pay for is cable if you wanted it. In return she takes care of me physically and I am sure you know what I mean. It is my fantasy. I am mid forties ,single,clean,safe and discreet. If your interested send me an email or call me anytime at 315-XXX-XXXX
THANKS ____

Uh, no thank you.

Maybe I should look into other options. I'm not that comfortable staying with people I don't know, unless I come to them through someone else, like this person. I've had some luck looking for Carpools, but I'd have to get up an extra hour early. Still, better than nothing.

I'll doing some work this week. From the Shooting People I placement I made last week, I was able to snare one person who was looking for updates. I'll also be watching my 90 year old Grandmother while my father goes away.

Finally, the Mayor of Ithaca got a shoe chucked at her last week. I think the guy who did it used to host a show on Public Access.

I'm going to work on finishing the "Ithaca Travel Guide" for the zine, then get ready for the week.

Ithaca: A Photoplay (Sort Of)

2009-02-06T18:58:00.002-05:00

Today I went to Ithaca again, because it was supposed to be a nice day, and we haven't had too many of those lately. After weeks of being cramped and landlocked by the weather, it was nice to get away, even if it was only for the day. Not only was it a nice day, the sun was out and there was no wind whatsoever.

While I was there, I took a lot of pictures that will eventually appear in my "Ithaca Travel Guide" that will appear in my zine.

This is the Fall Creek Gorge. I was hoping to get a beautiful picture with the water falling, but I forgot that it's February. Even though it's ice, I think it's beautiful anyway.

Fall Creek Pictures. When I lived here, I would go here to see movies. My viewing of Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes at this theater was a memorable one. More recently, I shot a YouTube video here:

This is Gimme! Coffee. The shutter on my camera is crappy (by design, not damage), so I wasn't able to get a good "action" picture of the barista. Anyway, if Gimme! Coffee doesn't wake you up, nothing will.

Later I came back to the Commons, and decided to go into Petrune to take some pictures. The owner came up and asked me why I was taking pictures. I told her for my blog. Meaning this blog. Which means she might be reading it now, since I gave her the URL. Actually, she was reading it on the way out. Here's one of the pictures I snapped here:

I snapped a few more pictures at other places, then I went off to the Ithaca Mall, then Wegmans.

As I was walking around downtown, I thought, "Gee, wouldn't it be nice for Ithaca to have its own film festival? Ithaca is a great location for one...actually, I've thought about it quite a bit. I daydreamed about how I would go about obtaining sponsorship. Get local people behind it, then look elsewhere.

I'm looking forward to this weekend, if mainly because it's supposed to be in the forties. I'll be thinking about SXSW, but also the potential documentary I thought about yesterday. Off to finish the Tom Petty documentary!

Runnin' Down A Dream

2009-02-05T18:09:00.003-05:00

I continue to look for work. Today I filled out an application to work as a "skill builder" part-time with disabled and disturbed kids. I've been looking for a new type of work opportunity.

I've also been giving a lot of thought to future projects. For a long time now, I've been trying to put together another film. I've wanted to do a narrative film, but it's been slow coming. I haven't really found anything I could carry out. Why would this be so difficult? As I've mentioned before, I wrote specs in college and thereafter, but these days, I find it hard to create a story I could put together on a modest budget. It's painful for me to come to this conclusion, but I think to try and cross over into narrative features right now might be overwhelming, considering my circumstances. I've done a lot of research over the past few years, so I know what I'll be able to do with the movie once I'm done.

So I've been giving thought to doing another documentary. I have a subject that I am interested in shooting. It's a person, and I haven't approached them yet, and probably won't until I have a clear angle of where I want to go with this, or have done enough research.

A little later, I'm going to be watching the first part of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down A Dream, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. This is the first movie I've gotten from Netflix since I put my subscription on hold last month.

Nothing Really Important #1

2009-02-03T17:39:00.002-05:00

Today I went to the Abbey Staffing Office downtown. I filled out the necessary paperwork. Tomorrow I plan on doing my weekly stop at the Workforce office.

I also made some phone calls as I continue to pursue follow-ups for the new epilogue. I spoke with Sherry from The Garland Gallery. She let me know that this Friday will be downtown Binghamton's 60th Consecutive First Friday. Which means they've been doing for five years straight.

I posted to Shooting People's New York Bulletin, offering my design services for $250. It may the best bet I have in finding actual work until I go to Austin. Also, I'd like to make it a regular thing eventually, because I think it would liberate me from having to look for work ever again. Well, at least not for a very long time.

Alexander, At Last

2009-02-02T18:31:00.003-05:00

Earlier this afternoon, I applied for a work-from-home position titled "Customer Care Professional". They had a bunch of ridiculous questions, but whatever. The point is, I feel like I'm making some progress, even though I haven't really, yet.

Someone who contacted me back in October when I offered free website design on the Shooting People mailing list. I told her that I should be able to do it. She really doesn't have too much to design. Who knows? I might put up an ad at Shooting People before the end of the week. This time I'll be charging, though.

The details of my SXSW trip have been finalized. I'll be staying at the Days Inn University Downtown, and the schedule is up. So far, here's what I want to see:

Alexander the Last

Beeswax

Humpday

Moon

You Won’t Miss Me

It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home

Creative Nonfiction

Sorry, Thanks

Can't wait, especially for the new Bujalski!

Ra Ra Ron Howard

2009-02-01T19:45:00.004-05:00

Ra Ra Riot were terrific. I took many pictures, but ¾ of them were blurry. I still might post a few of the pictures, though. Guitarist Milo Bonacci said, "It's weird being on stage here. I used to come here and watch movies," he said of performing at the Smith Opera House. It was weird to hear people discuss The Animal Collective in Geneva, of all places. Before the show, I stopped at Parker's and drank two Smirnoff Ices. Shut up. Shut. Up.

Today was really nice- 45 degrees outside -and I took two walks. One was my "normal" walking route, the other an extended, longer route. It's supposed to be cold and snowy again this week, but I hope there are more mild days like today, even if the temps are in the 30s. It would be nice to drive to be able to drive to Ithaca again.

Later in the afternoon, I got to work on my zine again. I began work on it back in October, following the unceremonious exit from my job. After I set up this blog and got hired at my temp job, it sort of fell by the wayside. Today I finished an essay about my trip to the Woodstock Film Festival that I started writing back in November. I also transcribed a text message conversation between me and my sister that relates to the essay that I will publish as a "sidebar".

Last weekend, I checked out the movie Frost/Nixon, which was AWESOME. Later on in the week, I watched one of Ron Howard's early directorial efforts, a TV Movie titled Cotton Candy:

Movie: Cotton Candy

Charles Martin Smith (who previously worked with Ron Howard on American Graffiti) plays a high school senior who decides to put together a band after he gets the brush-off from the lead singer of their eventual rival band, Rapid Fire. Like all good Ron Howard movies, it features his brother, Clint.

IMO, I found the Mean Girls-style rivalry between the two bands a little unrealistic. Any "Battle of the Bands" is competitive, but who really gets that vicious? Other than the pretty boy front man, I don't see how Rapid Fire would have a following, since they play the worst version of "I Shot the Sheriff" EVER. But overall, it's a sweet entertaining fluff of cotton candy.

Past, Present, and Future

2009-01-30T14:03:00.003-05:00

I did go to Ithaca on Tuesday, and I took my father with me. We paid a visit to a friend of ours for about an hour. I didn't go to the Workforce office there, but I did do a weekly stop at the office here yesterday. I think it's best to wait and hold off on stopping at that office until I know that the weather will be dry and safe enough to commute back and forth.

Wednesday it snowed like crazy, so I spent a good portion of yesterday morning shoveling. I don't mind it, because it is a good workout.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about future projects, and reflecting on past ideas and projects and why they did or didn't work out. So much has changed for me in the (almost) four years since I made Are You From Bingo?. I realize now it doesn't have to be a crapshoot; I know there's some kind of audience waiting. At this point, it's a matter of committing something to paper.

For awhile, I've thinking about shooting it in Ithaca or Binghamton, but today I've been giving serious thought to shooting it in the Woodstock/Kingston area. I used to love traveling through there when I would travel to New York from Oneonta, and of course, this past fall, I attended the Woodstock Film Festival and since then, I've been looking for an excuse to return. Also, I think it might be easier to get a cast and crew up to that area than further up New York. We'll see.

Earlier this afternoon, I did an interview with Binghamton University's Pipe Dream newspaper, and that went well. Tomorrow night, I'll be going to see Ra Ra Riot at The Smith Opera House. I'm looking forward to it.

Brainstorm!

2009-01-26T18:05:00.001-05:00

Today I was working on the DVD when I had a brainstorm.

Rather than do follow-up interviews, why not tack on an epilogue at the end of the movie, following up on everyone instead? Then I don't have to worry about anyone's feelings being hurt, and maybe even save some money. I plan on leaving up the fundraiser, because I may still do the Current TV thing. But the further I get into this project, the sooner I want it done.

Tomorrow I'm going to Ithaca. It'll be the first time I've been back since my job ended. I plan on stopping at the Workforce office there, among other things. I'm praying to God that the worst of Winter is over.

Where is the love?

2009-01-25T12:16:00.001-05:00

Writing this new script is a whole new game than it has been in the past. When I wrote specs in college and a bit thereafter, I used to immerse myself in the world of the script and its characters. This time around, I still think about the script when I'm working on it, and immerse myself when I'm writing it, but otherwise, it feels like a seperate reality.

In the past, it felt like, something much more powerful, much greater than myself was guiding me in my writing work. I don't hate what I'm writing now, but I feel like that engine that has driven me in the past isn't there right now.

No FLFF for Me!

2009-01-22T20:22:00.000-05:00

There was no I couldn't go out there--I got out to Route 14 and had to turn around. It was too dark, I was too nervous, and I'm a little fatigued (I've been going to bed fairly early). It's hard to feel your foot on the accelerator with your boots on. My mother had told me that if she had known I'd be nervous, she would've gone out there with me.

Maybe another time.

Today is Thursday, I don't know what else to title this.

2009-01-22T13:16:00.001-05:00

Earlier today I went to the Workforce office, handed in my application, and searched for the job leads they had in their books. There isn't much for me, really, but as I said, I plan on making this a weekly stop until I have some kind of employment. Also, I've sent a resume to GrammaTech, a software company in Ithaca. It might be chancing it, but it is full time and permanent. It looks like an interesting company, anyway.

Meanwhile, the Veterans' Home that was operating across the street from my place got busted for operating without a license. According to my father, these people have been running these homes for decades, and from what I've read, the state was very slow to respond to the unlicensing complaint. A TV crew was across the street a few minutes ago interviewing someone.

I may go out to the Billsboro Winery for tonight's Finger Lakes Film Festival Screenings. They are predicting flurries for the afternoon, but tonight is supposed to be okay.

Back Into the Workforce

2009-01-21T16:15:00.002-05:00

The interview didn't go too well. Well, it went okay, until she started grilling me about the position I got fired from. I don't think I'll get it, which is fine by me--it wasn't like I wanted to stand in one place all day anyway.

After the interview, I stopped by at the Workforce New York to fill out an application. I finished filling it out here, and I plan on dropping it off tomorrow. Workforce maintains catalogs of job openings. I plan on looking through them tomorrow, and stopping by once a week thereafter until I find work.

Speaking of unemployment, I have decided to put off new interviews until either A.) I have some type of employment or B.) There's enough money in place to carry this out. With that being said, I'm keeping the fundraiser open and working on making the movie available as a download. I plan on writing the interviewees and letting them know, and that I will be in touch.

Ra Ra Obama!

2009-01-20T19:02:00.002-05:00

It hasn't even been eight hours since the inauguration, and already, I feel better about myself and the country. I feel like I've had a long weekend, with Martin Luther King Day and now today. It'll be back to normal first thing tomorrow, when I go to attend a job interview. I also plan on following up on the interviewees for the DVD.

This morning, I purchased my ticket to see Ra Ra Riot at The Smith Opera House in Geneva. The lady running the box office and I talked about guitarist Milo Bonacci's Geneva connections: his former employer, the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station; how he was in an early line-up of Gym Class Heroes; and how his cousins used to baby-sit me when I was little. To have that conversation must have been a relief for her, since Ani DiFranco tickets went on sale today, and she couldn't keep up with the phones and purchases.

I admit I haven't listened to Ra Ra Riot much, but this type of music doesn't come to Geneva EVER (I usually have to go Cornell's Fanclub shows). I'm looking forward to the show anyway, and stopping in for a cool one at Parker's afterward.

Classic Sesame Street: C is for Cookie, A Sometimes Food

2009-01-17T19:41:00.001-05:00

Did you know that Cookie Monster actually began life as The Potato Chip Monster? Jim Henson first used Cookie Monster in a 1969 commercial for "Munchos", a chip made by Frito-Lay at the time.

According to the Muppet Wiki,

"He occasionally displays an unexpectedly complex vocabulary, however, and is at his most gentrified when in his Alistair Cookie persona, hosting Monsterpiece Theater."

In this particular Monsterpiece Theater, Grover is starring in a production of The Postman Always Rings Twice. Grover anticpates the postman, who marks his arrival by ringing the doorbell twice

"C is for Cookie" is the quintessential Cookie Monster moment. I don't think I need to say too much else.

A couple of years ago, CTW announced that Cookie Monster would now be encouraging healthy eating habits, with cookies being "a sometimes food". Anyone who has been the following clip, however, would hardly consider this very suprising. Here, Cookie Monster pays homage to RUN-DMC while giving props to the USDA Food Pyramid:

The last one is a clip from The Colbert Report. Someone decided to chop it up and give the clip unnecessary visual and sound effects, but most of the report is still there:

A Real Gem

2009-01-16T21:04:00.001-05:00

I've begun to write a new script. After a week of trial and error, I'm finally at the point where I'm writing something cohesive. I'm not going to tell you what it's about, but hopefully, I'll be able to shoot it.

This morning, I went to the Warren Hunting Smith library at Hobart & William Smith. I hung out, like I used to between the time I got fired and got my new job. I looked some old photography books that were published by Time-Life in 1970, and became inspired once again. It has a lot of information in one volume, and it's presented in a way that will never be seen again.

Later, I was casually browsing the top shelf of the PN 1995 section (library nerds will know that's where the movie books are) when I stumbled up Sheldon Tromberg's Making Money Making Movies. Though the book is nearly 30 years old, it had some valuable information on theatrical self-distribution. Even with all the resources out there now for independent filmmakers, information Theatrical Self Distribution is hard to find. And this book was published in 1980. Can't wait to read it.

Classic Sesame Street: Bert & Ernie

2009-01-15T11:54:00.002-05:00

Back when I was of the appropriate audience age to be watching Sesame Street, Bert and Ernie were my favorite characters. I think that's because I thought Ernie looked like me, and for a preschooler, the name "Ernie" is very close to "Erin".

Bert and Ernie are roommates who never really seen much on the street itself. There has been speculation over the years that Bert and Ernie might be gay, but I agree with the I Love The '70s commentators that Bert and Ernie were fun loving bachelors.

"Before & After"

In this one, Bert tries to tell Ernie the difference between "before" and "after". Ernie wants to eat the cookie, but Bert tells him to wait until after dinner. Ernie gets the two confused, and eats the cookie anyway.

"Rubber Duckie"

How can make an homage to Bert and Ernie without mentioning "Rubber Duckie", and especially its chorus? "Rubber Duckie, you're the one/ You make bathtime lots of fun/ Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of you...

"Heeeeeere Fishy Fishy Fishy!!!"

Everytime my father would take me fishing with him, I would call out to the fish: Heeeeeere Fishy Fishy Fishy!!!, hoping I would get the same results as Ernie. Actually, I think I was more successful that my father was.

"Bert & Ernie Go Gangsta"

There's a lot of videos on YouTube that have dubbed old Sesame Street sketches with content that might be objectionable (although sometimes not). This one, however, is hilarious, and I have to say they dubbed it pretty well. Bert and Ernie raise the roof!

Next up, Cookie Monster!

Keep Moving

2009-01-15T11:19:00.001-05:00

I've been working on the Are You From Bingo? website, even though I haven't purchased a domain yet. I got Expression Web, which is a huge step up from FrontPage. I actually managed to create a style sheet, a real first for me. This afternoon, I plan on calling the director of the Art Mission to schedule a screening for the movie in the spring.

Also, I have a job next week at First Niagara Bank. It's a part time position for a teller. I'm not too sure about this, but I'll go in with an open mind. After the fall out at my old job (not the temp one I just had), I'm not sure if I'm ready to enter customer service again just yet.

Classic Sesame Street

2009-01-13T09:50:00.003-05:00

This past Thanksgiving, I was watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. As the Sesame Street Float made its way down 34th & 7th, I noticed one thing: all the human regulars on Sesame Street are still there, but THEY HAVE GOTTEN OLD.

Nearly 40 years after its inception, Sesame Street still delights young children. These days, Elmo (who actually has a part of the show devoted to him) and Abby Cadabby rule the block:

Video: Elmo with Abby Cadabby

Things were different when I was little. We had Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Betty Lou, Prarie Dawn, Grover, Forgetful Jones, Big Bird, Mr. Snuffleupagus, The Count, Guy Smiley, Oscar, Telly Monster, The Yip Yips...the list goes on. I would like to direct the spotlight to some old Sesame Street Regulars. Some still around, others have gone by.

Roosevelt Franklin was a very popular character in the early days of Sesame Street. He was gone by the time I was watching the show, but I do remember this song being on a cassette compilation of Sesame Street songs that I had:

Word has it that Roosevelt Franklin was taken off the air because he wasn't considered to be politically correct. Ironically, this video is devoted to addressing stereotypes about Africa:

Nonetheless, he served as a major inspiration for Franklin Delano, the puppet of Gob Bluth on Arrested Development:

Here's another one I found surfing YouTube. This video stresses the importance of "Raising Your Hand". Catchy song, too:

For many years, I thought the next video stereotyped people who lived in cities as greasers. In fact, Sesame Street was paying homage to Bruce Springsteen, and in particular, his song "Born To Run":

SXSW 2009

2009-01-11T20:22:00.001-05:00

So what's the "big" news? I'll likely be going to SXSW this year. I wasn't planning on going, but my father wanted to visit Austin, and he wanted to take me with him. The whole thing fell into my lap. Who am I to refuse?

I can't wait to see the schedule for this year. Will Andrew Bujalski's movie finally be finished and ready to debut? How about Joe Swanberg's next one (which sounds like a different direction from everything else he's done)? How many movies will feature Greta Gerwig?

Hopefully It'll be fun again this year. I plan on promoting the DVD as much as possible.

Still Looking

2009-01-09T11:30:00.001-05:00

I called Kelly Services Tuesday. They said that the only work around that they recruit for around here is for assembly line work. I don't consider myself to be above it, but I don't think I'm really skilled for it, either.

You know what? I could be happy with a part time job right here. I don't know how long I'd keep it, but at least it would allow me enough security to get what I want done. Yesterday, I sent out a bunch of resumes to the local hospital in response to some part time secretarial openings. Even if they don't find me qualified, maybe there'll be an opening for something else. Even if Binghamton is further away, I don't want to hassle with commuting right now.

Another thing I've been looking into lately is finding work as a virtual assistant. I could go into an explanation of what that is, but here's a video that does it for me. It's a little long, but it explains what a Virtual Assistant does:

Manpower (the temp agency that got me my last job) offers free online classes for their temps. I figured I might take a few classes and brush up my skills while I wait out the next thing. Also, if I decide to dive into Virtual Assistance, it would be incredibly helpful.

In other news, I've been contacting interviewees for the new interviews. I had planned to do the interviews the weekend of March 7th. Then I found out that one of my interviewees is expecting--she is due March 13th. I may have to do their interview early. Yikes!

I have another announcement coming soon...

Action News Disco Fever

2009-01-07T19:47:00.002-05:00

Why am I laughing so hard at this?

On a related note, my heart goes out to John Travolta and the loss of his son.