I'm Back (for now, anyway).

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.

My Kris Swanberg Interview

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!

Aftermath

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.

Yeast: A Really Good Movie

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.

Disappointments & Tribulations

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 I Did Wednesday

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

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

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

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.

Off to Austin

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.

Medicine For Melancholy

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

Modern Love Is Automatic

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

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.

Life Goes On

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!

Ithaca: A Photoplay (Sort Of)

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!

Alexander, At Last

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 (Joe Swanberg)
Beeswax (Andrew Bujalski)
Humpday (Lynn Shelton)
Moon (Duncan Jones)
You Won’t Miss Me (Ry Russo-Young)
It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home (Kris Swanberg)
Creative Nonfiction(Lena Dunham)
Sorry, Thanks (Dia Sokol)

Can't wait, especially for the new Bujalski!

SXSW 2009

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.

2008: Year In Review, and Hopes & Goals for 2009

In spite of some bad things that happened to me this year, I have to say that 2008 was a very good year for me. In fact, this is probably the first time I've been able to look back and say I've had a really good year.

I attended two festivals this year--South By Southwest, and the Woodstock Film Festival. I also took an improv 101 class at UCB Theater in New York. I'd like to do 201 at some point, but right now, I have other things to focus on. For six weeks, I got to work at a job I actually liked.

Goals for 2009

Get the DVD done. It's actually the priority for me right now, other than continuing to look for new work. The sooner the DVD gets done, the sooner it gets out there. The sooner it gets out there, the sooner I can move on to future projects.

The Next Movie. Realizing that the scope of the DVD, it's priority has receded, but still really important. I have an idea and some locations where I want to shoot, but that's about it at this point.

Keep On Working, Hopefully In Jobs That Don't Suck. The last job, I liked. Unfortunately, economic conditions forced me out of that situation. As I have mentioned, I'm working on a stopgap measure, but it would be nice to continue to have a job (or jobs) that I like. When my old supervisor returns from vacation, he's going to appeal to the corporate office to get an extension on the project. But returning there is more of a "no" than a "yes" at this point.

Go To Tribeca & Take Improv 201 at the UCB Theater. This is a longshot at this point, but I'm interested in going. It's all going to depend on my employment situation, and whether or not I can make the time to go. If so, I'd like to do both about the same time.

I have two New Year's Resolutions: To keep losing weight, and make The Bondy Blog regular reading. I've been trying to become fluent in French for a couple of years now, and If I can make a habit of reading the blog, I'll master the language.

Hope 2009 will be a good year for you as well.

First Post!

At the beginning of this month, I travelled eastward to the Woodstock Film Festival to work as a volunteer. The Friday Night of the festival, I was working the merch table by the main office when I encountered a notable filmmaker and blogger who'd recognized me from my YouTube videos. He noticed that I hadn't made too many videos in recent months. The encounter inspired me to put myself out there again. I figured there were a few people who still wondered what I was up to. If you're one of them, I made this blog for you.

So what happened? After I got back from SXSW, I had a lot of footage to edit, and I eventually exhausted myself making those videos. Also, I felt like I had accomplished what I intially set out to do in making those videos. A few weeks after my return, I passed my road test to get my driver's license at the ripe old age of 26.

Meanwhile, I was really starting to chafe at my job. When I had been hired there in the Summer of 2005, I was broke and needed the job to survive. I liked the company and the camaraderie (which is why I stuck it out as long as I did), but never really liked the job itself. In November 2006, I had been given a warning, which led me to go into counseling and helped me turn my situation around. I took time off here and there--to go to New York, SXSW, and to take Improv 101 at the UCB Theater. Everytime I would come home and return to my job, it became, "I've had such a good time, and I have to go back to this???" I could never bring myself to turn in my two weeks notice, because I feared falling back into my pre-job situation. As much as I didn't like my situation, I felt that it was still better than having no job.

By August, I was getting restless, and I got careless. To be frank, I began taking my frustration out on a few customers who had been trying my patience to begin with. Finally, on September 30th, the day after the Dow dropped 700 points and two days before I was supposed to go to Woodstock, they decided to terminate my employment. In addition to the recent events, they took the 2006 warning into consideration.

I take full responsibility for the actions that led to my termination, and I deeply regret the way it ended. Had I known that things would turn out the way they did, I would have seriously started looking elsewhere at the start of the summer. Since the warning they based it on dated back to 2006 (usually, warnings are removed after six months), I plan on writing a letter to the corporate office, but only after my unemployment insurance is straightened out.

The good news is that I had three interviews in the span of a week, and hopefully will be getting called for a second interview for one of them soon. Even though it's grunt work, I'm excited about the position. It would be nice to actually have a job using skills that I was trained in in school. I plan on looking for a place to stay on the day of my second interview.

And the videos? I'll go back to that eventually...maybe. But this blog is my way of staying in touch with people. Now more than ever, I need to reach out to people as I get things straightened out.