Eclectivism

Alabama Shakes

2012-01-08T23:12:00.005-06:00

Found a group called Alabama Shakes.

Listened to them on a Blues show on my local NPR station.

Kind of a gospel blues style is the best I can describe them.

http://alabamashakes.bandcamp.com/

I really like "Hold On".

The YouTube live version is spectacular.

Always good to find new music to start the new year.

.....

Wishes

2011-05-12T10:19:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wish....
... that I could go up to anyone and talk with them or hang with them and not feel like I would creep them out because a complete stranger is intruding into their lives. (Brave words for a four-eyed fat man.)
Case in point: we were traveling last week and at a Burger King in another city I saw four teens sitting at a booth. All were pierced. The oldest seemed to be about 16yrs. The younger ones were maybe 13-14yrs.
Were they siblings? Were they homeless? Were they their own gang just trying to survive without adults in a big city?
I can make up stories about their lives. But I wanted to sit with them and soak up their lives. No judgements. No trying to save them. Just observing...
How would I do that? Hand them a business card? Tell them I am a writer/producer/filmmaker?

.....

Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files

2010-12-25T10:33:00.003-06:00

Just finished reading the novella, "Back Up" by Jim Butcher.
Great read. And quick. (I don't read novels very fast.)

We're watching the Dresden Files on Netflix. Well done series. They made some changes from the novels to make them play better on TV. (I like it that on the TV series, Dresden doesn't carry a staff with him. By eliminating that, it makes the viewing more believable to me.)

....

Rasputina and Madame K.

2010-10-30T20:53:00.010-05:00

My radar seems like it reaches out and finds stuff... and then I find something I should have found a long time ago.

Like the group, Rasputina.

I found them by randomly looking at blogs this evening.

Madame K is a big fan of Rasputina. I can see why.

So a big thank you to all of you that share your passions with the rest of us and make our small worlds larger.

.....

Time is the Enemy of Art

2010-10-23T19:22:00.002-05:00

Time is the enemy of art.

As I take time to struggle with writing, the longer it takes the harder it becomes to finish.

Or as it has been said,
"Time is short and Art is long."

....

Maria Doyle Kennedy

2010-09-05T16:33:00.003-05:00

Found another singer who's a new favorite.

Maria Doyle Kennedy does a nice cover of a U2 song "How You Remind Me". And an Irish song, " Ag Criost An Siol".
You can listen to both songs at Grooveshark.com.
http://listen.grooveshark.com/

Maria was also in the 1991 film, The Commitments. And in the TV series The Tudors.

http://www.mariadk.com/home.html

http://www.myspace.com/mariadoylekennedy

Hope you get to listen.

....

My other cat talks too

2010-08-10T11:39:00.002-05:00

Here's a trial animation of one of my cats using Crazy Talk 6 and the sample voices included.

It's a fun distraction.

....

Dragon 10 and Celtx

2010-08-01T08:13:00.002-05:00

Bought Dragon 10 Essentials this week. This voice recognition program works well with my Celtx scriptwriting software.
I am hoping that I can write with my eyes closed, just imagining the story as it unfolds and then I can correct and format it later.

...

Swayzak and Isolee

2010-07-17T17:15:00.003-05:00

I like techno.
And I just found Swayzak on youtube.
I like techno because the songs are long. None of this three-minute stuff. It's the real deal. Some songs are 5 minutes and some are close to 10 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIShsZxbc3Y&feature=related

Another group I've just heard was Isolee.

Cool.

...

Hilah Cooking

2010-06-13T11:20:00.003-05:00

Heard about a web cooking show put together by a deadCenter Film Festival filmmaker.
Chris Sharpe was on one of the panels this weekend. They all had good advice.

http://hilahcooking.com/

She is so funny.

Here is Chris' link
http://christophersharpe.com/

....

kickstarter.com

2010-06-12T07:19:00.002-05:00

Funding creativity? What a concept!

Here is a website used to gather funds from strangers to back specific projects.

http://www.kickstarter.com/

Here's a link to the Edmond Sun article about the film festival and me.

http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x1358981852/Locals-spice-up-film-festival

....

Dreams

2010-05-12T11:57:00.002-05:00

Had a DREAM about a friend we haven't seen or heard from in a couple of years. He and his wife just disappeared from our lives. (We imagined the worst.)

But I had this DREAM where the guy was at a store shopping. But he was just far enough away I couldn't get his attention.

THEN the next day I ACTUALLY bumped into him at Wal-Mart. And we talked and I got their new phone numbers. ( They moved across the metro to another city.)

We'll all get together to go see a movie sometime soon.

Because of the dream he was on my mind. And there he is. So how cool is that?

I like dreams. I like the imagery of dreams. Most of the things I dream about don't come to pass. Just wishful thinking on my subconsciousness.

...

Writing Life

2010-04-27T11:14:00.007-05:00

This month I chose to write.

Last month I finished two animation shorts and one 3-minute short script.

"Doomsday Catch Phrase" is a 2-minute animation I've entered in the 10th Anniversary deadCenter Film Festival. (Haven't heard yet if I'm in.)

"Missing" is a 1-minute animation I entered in a deadCenter X-games contest for their April Showers contest. (I did win a pass the the 10th Anniversary Film Festival in June!)

The 3-minute script was for a Scripped.com contest. The idea was to write as if "found footage" from a video camera showed up from an Unknown Sender. (Haven't heard from them yet.)

So I'm writing for another contest on Scripped.com.

It's just the first 15 pages of a script. The idea is for "a comedy-drama about a middle-aged father who falls for his son's 20-something girlfriend."

I've chosen to emphasize the comedy aspect. Otherwise it might tend toward an "American Beauty" type story.

This contest ends on Friday.

...

Chimp Brain

2010-03-08T10:51:00.003-06:00

We're catching up on "Extras" the HBO series from a few years back.
In one episode, the character Maggie asks Andy if he would rather have a human body with a chimp brain or a chimp body with a human brain. Andy thinks it's a silly question and doesn't answer her.
So...
... at work I asked some of my co-workers what their choice would be.
The Results?
100% of the guys want a human brain in a chimp body.
50% of the women want to keep their human bodies and have a chimp brain.

Fascinating!

....

Calvin and Hobbes

2010-02-17T10:19:00.002-06:00

I read only one book a year...

... if I'm lucky.

I think I've found the book I want to read for 2010.

Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip by Nevin Martell

It's a fun read. Trying to find out about a man who doesn't seem to want to be found.

My question is this: what is Bill Watterson doing with his time?

Cartooning seemed to be such a big part of his life growing up. School papers, yearbooks, college papers, local papers and national syndication. How do you give that up? And if you don't give it up completely, where is all the new art going for the past 10 years?

Is he doing gallery paintings? Is he illustrating books under a pseudonym?

Maybe when I finish reading the book I'll get answers.

....

Zazzle and Doctor Who's Timey Wimey

2010-02-12T13:33:00.003-06:00

I like Zazzle.com.

Every couple of months I get an email that someone has purchased one of my products.
(Even if it's just about 15 cents each sale.)

I have only one design and I haven't pushed it out there. It's a for niche market. I have paraphrased the old saying, "Same Day, Different Stuff". (Or is it "Same Stuff, Different Day"?

Anyway, mine is "Same Timey-Wimey, Different Wibbly-Wobbly".

It describes how time is flexible and changeable.

I think it sounds cool even if it doesn't make sense.

....

The Spy FM

2010-01-09T19:11:00.004-06:00

This is my love letter to The Spy FM.
It's back in the Oklahoma City area after 5 years of being missing.
You can catch the station online at
www.thespyfm.com

Nov. 09 11-sec Club

2009-12-08T07:32:00.005-06:00

Here is my first animation using Anime Studio Debut. I didn't get it finished in time for the November contest but it was fun learning a new software.

I'll post the December entry shortly.

...

New Project

2009-11-10T09:27:00.002-06:00

I just got a critique from Scripped.com for a short script I want to make into a short film. The guy liked it a lot without much to criticize. I looked at all the "Average" ratings he gave me and my wife said they weren't bad. Like length of script-how are you going to get a VERY GOOD for length of a short script?

Anyway, he had some good things to say and for me to look at to strengthen the story.

So I'll examine my script for the cracks.

Here's the website for these folks. And they have writing contests too.

www.scripped.com

Watchmen: Portraits by Clay Enos

2009-09-09T10:27:00.004-05:00

Found a book at the library in the oversize section called "Watchmen: Portraits" by Clay Enos. Wonderful black and white portraits of the folks that worked on the film, "Watchmen". Set designers and bit actors all get the same fantastic treatment with the camera.

Just flipping through the book, I feel like I could write stories about these characters. Looking into their faces, wondering about the lives they lived. About the lives they are going to live. Adventures in the making....

Here's Clay Enos website to view his portfolio:
http://clayenos.com/

...

Sketchbook and Pentel Pens

2009-07-28T16:55:00.008-05:00

We keep a small steno pad in the car to write down ideas. Or the names of people we hear on NPR.
And while we're waiting at the bank or at a Sonic Drive-In, we can make sketches.
This is one from February.

This is my favorite pen. I buy them in 4-packs at Staples. It's a Pentel EnerGel 0.5mm. I like them with caps instead retractable. I like the caps because it's old school, one step up from quill and ink bottles. (And if I have to let a customer borrow it, I hang onto the cap so they have to give it back!)

The writing is smooth. The sketching power is great. (I used to use the 1.0mm but it gets a little fat for everyday writing and order taking.)

So that's my secret.

....

Milton Glaser

2009-07-06T17:39:00.003-05:00

"What paintings do, and what theater does, and what poetry does, is to penetrate people's immunity and to embrace the puzzles to be solved. That's what I mean by the phrase 'moving the mind'." --Milton Glaser

Found a book today at the library titled "Drawing is Thinking" by Milton Glaser.
Looking at the cover, it looks like a ponderous book art essays.
But flip through it back to front (like I like to do) you find that it is all art and no captions (for the most part).
What a delightful surprise!
(There is an introduction and an interview at the beginning. Plus an index of the art in the back in case you want to know what year each painting was done.)

I like it.

...

Collaboration

2009-06-24T10:02:00.003-05:00

Met with some friends the other evening to talk through a short film they're working on. They had about 5 pages as a rough draft of the story. (They write and film as a team.)

I was happy to be a part of the process as we discussed the tone of the film. And we hashed out motivation of the characters. (What is the thing that pushes them over edge?) It was great to have a sounding board for ideas. And the solutions were already part of the story, we just had to pull them out of hiding.

They're planning on getting this film shot and edited by the end of summer so they can send it out to some film festivals in the spring.

Now I want to do the same for one of my stories. I have some "almost finished" first drafts that have gaps that need some thinking through. I need a sounding board.

...

Flux Museum Call for Entries

2009-05-28T10:34:00.002-05:00

Here's an interesting site with a call for art.

www.fluxmuseum.org

I may do a flux box to send in by the end of June 2009. The show is in July in Texas.

Maybe one of my silly ideas will work.

....

More Cats

2009-05-12T17:54:00.004-05:00

Yes, this is him, King Louie as he is sometimes called.

(He has many names, some of which aren't fit to print.)

Doesn't he look awnry?

He's part Oriental Shorthair. When he goes cross-eyed - watch out!

Now this is Cozy... doesn't she look sweet?

And she is. Loves to get her belly rubbed.

Loves to fall down in front of you like a fainting goat.

More photos at a later date.

Both kittens inspired characters in a short animation I did a few years back called Deep Magic.

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Cats with Thumbs

2009-04-21T10:24:00.004-05:00

My cat has been asking for a thumb for a long time.

It helps with the pop-top cans of cat fud... er, food.

....

Easter Bunny

2009-04-08T13:50:00.010-05:00

A sketch I did of Louie (the cat) a year or so ago.

He's dressed as a the Easter Bunny.

He's dressed as Santa Claus.

He has a mouse yo-yo.

He is a clever cat.

He does stand up like a Meerkat too.

When he was a kitten, he and his sister would run through the kitchen like Jesus lizards.

His sister, Cozy, sits up in front of the wall furnace in the perfect Lucky Kitty pose, one arm stretched out in front toward the furnace, the left arm reaching high in the air above her.

...

Personal Anchor

2009-04-02T19:17:00.006-05:00

Here is a sketch I did a year or so ago.
(Very Thurber-esque I must say.)

It's been windy here again. 45 mph wind gusts. Just steady wind all day and all night.

So that reminded me of this sketch.

A Personal Anchor attached to your belt. There is a "Up" and "Down" button on the control panel.

So you don't blow away in this turbulent time...

....

Chasing Mice

2009-03-24T14:40:00.012-05:00

Okay... so I had

this dream

the other night...

(Or was it during one of my afternoon naps?)
... about a mouse

trying to get out of a room.

But it may not have been my dream...
I may have been having

one of Louie's dreams... he's our cat.
Seems like he would dream of chasing mice.

But what if we exchanged dreams?

What would he make of

retail nightmares,

of customers in line with no one

else to help me?

Would he whimper in his sleep?

Would he know that it was only a dream?

Could I waken him in time

to get his cat-life back?

Yes, I will return his mouse-dreams.

And I will return to retail nightmares

that never end...

....

Non Objective Objects

2009-03-01T18:54:00.008-06:00

Okay, here are some more abstracts.

New Blogs

2009-02-17T10:46:00.008-06:00

Well, I knew it would happen.

I have 2 blogs and now I want to add 3 more. But the updates will be scheduled on a weekly basis. I have some items to keep them going for a couple of updates before I need new stuff.

I want to do a blog about my cat and his friends.

I want to do a blog dedicated to Non-Objective Art. You know, my digital abstract art.

I want a blog about my sketches and doodles.

Eclectivism was supposed to encompass everything. Maybe it should still be that way. Maybe these other blogs can be part of this blog for awhile before I give them there own home.

Hmmm......

W.W.W.= wide-world-we

2009-01-31T09:54:00.011-06:00

The Wide-World-We (as in us... as in all y'all)

I have a FEW blogs I follow. I like seeing the UPDATES when they arrive.
(Some of you need to update SOON... and you know who you are. I'm not mentioning NAMES...)

Besides the updates from PEOPLE I don't know, I like looking at the blogs THEY follow from more PEOPLE I don't know.

Because they FOLLOW the other blogs, I can PEEK in whenever I want.

And I LEARN more about the Wide World that is We.

For instance, I follow the blog
http://papercutsandcoffeehuts.blogspot.com/
and that leads to a blog
http://bunnywax.wordpress.com/
that leads to an artist, Deth P. Sun, that I think I will like.
http://www.dethpsun.com/

Connections.... and more connections...

...

U2 music

2009-01-20T10:46:00.005-06:00

Hey, you can hear the new U2 single at U2.com.

(The link below takes a minute or so to load the song.)

http://goyb.u2.com/?fcsc=EML011809&utm_source=Publicaster&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EMLU2COS_20090119_single_annoumcement_GetOnYourBoots

"Get On Your Boots" is a revved-up song with a nice hook.

(Actually I don't know what I'm talking about in musical terms. I just like U2; anything they create I accept at face value. Their music is the soundtrack of my adult life.)

....

How to Blog

2009-01-19T12:47:00.002-06:00

I've starting reading a book on blogging, published by the Huffington Post. (Arianna Huffington and others.)

So far so good.

I'm into just the introduction and I think it will inspire my blog presence.

Here's hoping.

...

11Second Club Rough Animation

2009-01-06T10:11:00.003-06:00

Here's the link to my rough 11Second Club animation

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2610703780662851924

Boy, I've got a lot of work to do.

...

11-Second Club

2009-01-04T15:32:00.001-06:00

Found a website that has an animation contest every month.
http://www.11secondclub.com

They provide an 11-second dialog from an old movie. Then people have a month to create an animation to go with it.

I'm going to enter for January. I wanted another short project to do while I'm working on my feature script.

...

Grave Sight

2008-12-30T16:52:00.003-06:00

I’m reading "Grave Sight" by Charlaine Harris. It's about a woman who can find dead bodies and tell what happened in the last minutes of life.

Good reading.

There's tension on every page. And from the get-go the tension is set up. Will the town pay her for her services or not? And more tensions and complications are added and built up.

I should be reading that instead of writing this!

...

Abstract Painting

2008-12-27T11:37:00.013-06:00

I love creating abstracts in Corel's Paint Shop Pro X.

It's fun and energizing.

Now what do I do with them?

How do I use them in illustration work? Are they backgrounds? Are they textures for objects or clothing?

How do I add narrative elements to them and still keep the spontaneity?

...

Ghostland Observatory

2008-12-27T11:29:00.005-06:00

We caught the last half hour of Austin City Limits the other night on PBS. "Ghostland Observatory" was on.

Wow.

So now I'm listening to a sample of their music on Rhapsody.

Wow.

Here's their web page on my space:
http://www.myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory

....

New Story Idea 1

2008-12-13T12:48:00.006-06:00

It's funny how an idea can burn

through itself in a matter of hours

or even minutes.

Like a delicate wildflower

that blooms and withers

in a short period of time.

I fashioned a new story

one day

this week

and by day's end

I had talked myself out of it.

Not so much killed it

as realized that the logistics

were too complex for me.

At this time.

I want my stories to see the light of day.

I want to entertain others.

I want to collaborate.

To see my stories told with other voices.

Are the other voices better than mine?

Do I feel that my writing is inferior?

Yes and no.

No, because others

do like my writing style.

And I like my writing style.

Yes, because I am not

as prolific a writer as I want to be.

That is where I feel inferior.

Isn't that the rub in all art?

There is not enough time or energy

to adequately connect

the inner self with the outer world.

....

Steven Moffat - Writer

2008-12-07T15:06:00.006-06:00

We just watched two Season Four episodes of Doctor Who that just blew me away.

Steven Moffat wrote the two-part episodes. They were awesome.

"Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".

There were incredible moments such as the personality imprints on the voice recorders. People's thoughts were still being spoken after they were dead. And the Doctor meets a woman who knows him well and he hasn't met her.

Yet.

We also like the other episodes Steven Moffat has written:
"Blink"
"The Girl in the Fireplace"
"Time Crash"
"The Empty Child"
"The Doctor Dances"

Steven Moffat also did "Coupling" and "Jekyll" for British television.

His stories are so complex and fascinating. We usually watch them at least twice.

...

Sketchbook

2008-12-05T19:30:00.010-06:00

I like looking at sketchbooks.

I like collecting published sketchbooks of artists. To see their thoughts on paper.

Raw. Fresh. Inspired.

I'd like to write a book called "Gesture Drawing Saved My Life."

(I like the title anyway. Gesture drawing hasn't really saved my life. Yet. There is still time.)

I like looking at sketches that artists "dump" on their blogs. I'm following some French animators. The sketches are great. And the animation is great.

To see someone's passion on paper is exciting.

Will I "dump" my artwork here in the future?

Maybe.

What is the reason to share art? What drives us to share with strangers or friends?

Scanning in my doodles is a lot of work. I'll have to plan ahead for this. (It tires me to think about it.)

But for the rest of you, keep it up. I like what I'm seeing.

...

Doctor Who

2008-12-02T20:09:00.003-06:00

We're watching Season Four of Doctor Who.

He says a phrase I don't know.

I think it's French.

"Allon ese" or something that sounds like that.

In "Voyage of the Damned" he was happy to say "Allon ese, Alphonse" to the guy left on the control room.

I think it means, "Follow me" or "Here we go".

I'll have to listen for it again.

....

Translating Web Pages

2008-11-26T19:27:00.002-06:00

I have found some French blogs by French artists and animators. The drawings are incredible and the sketches dynamic.

But I couldn't read them. I did find out I can translate whole pages with BabelFish on Yahoo. Some of the translations are off but it gives the general idea of the blog. And when I click on a link from the translated page, the next web page gets translated too. (As long as it's the same language.)

So that helps.

Can I reverse the process and translate my webpage to French and post it?

That would be cool.

...

Random Searches

2008-11-24T14:46:00.010-06:00

Years ago when surfing the Web was new, I used to waste hours just randomly following links from one webpage to another. Like an explorer without a destination. Just to see what I could see.

Just to see another world outside of my town and my experience.

I was enthralled when I found a webcam of a bridge in Stockholm. I could check the weather there, day or night.

Then, I got tired of random searches. The newness was gone.

I'd reached the end of the universe. I found the last Web page beyond which there was nothing. (Not really, it just felt that way.)

Now I've begun to do random searches for blogs. I just click "Nex Blog" and see what is out there. Most of the sites are in languages I can't read. But there are some fine photogaraphers out there that bring their world close to me.

People have uploaded photos of snow already. I forget there are places that get snow this early in the season.

I found a blog from a Manga artist living in Sweden. Some of it is English, some is not.

I found a photographer in the UK who only publishes her photos and not her words.

What am I looking for? Anything. Everything.

There is a lot of energy out there. Just one idea can keep my mind going all day.

In wonder. In awe.

The world is at once bigger and smaller than I imagine.

....

Zazzle

2008-11-23T12:32:00.004-06:00

Have you tried Zazzle.com?

It's a site like Cafe Press where you can upload your artwork and they will make products from the art.

You can make T-shirts on demand. Or buttons. Or stickers.

And if someone else likes your design, they can purchase items online.

Recently someone bought 3 buttons I created with a Dr. Who-inspired idea.

3 buttons doesn't seem like much, but the satisfaction of having someone buy your idea is priceless.

There is a link below if you care to look.

...

Blogging

2008-11-17T20:14:00.004-06:00

I'm getting into the blogging bit. I've signed up for a few interesting blogs. Just to see how this works.

I've changed my photo. It's now a photo of one of our cats when she was a kitten.

And I can now Google and my blog shows up.

So I'm up and running.

I might even add some more photos.

...

xplay3

2008-11-12T11:58:00.006-06:00

Had a problem and this program from MediaFour did the trick.

With the recent passing of my brother, we had his iPod with all his playlists. Since he set this up on his Mac, my PC wouldn't read it. (It was a first generation iPod with the click wheel.)

Anyway, I found XPlay3 on the Internet to try out. (Part of its technology includes MacDrive.) And it worked just like it was supposed to. I could make a back-up copy of his songs since we didn't have access to his computer.

The 20-day free trial is very generous.

...

Web surfing

2008-11-11T12:02:00.005-06:00

Did some surfing yesterday to see what was out there about me.

Found an animated Music Video I did for a band called Kinky Slinky back in 2004. The version of the animation on their site was a little skippy. I need to see if I can give them a better version to upload.

It will make us both look better.

I did take the video on the road in 2004 to the Route 66 Film Festival in Springfield, IL. Also it screened at the deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma City.

...

Day Off

2008-11-10T10:20:00.008-06:00

Day off today and I'm sort of filled up with errands to do.

I need to be writing on my screenplay.

It's raining and storming so I don't feel like being plugged in at home. I can hang out at Old Chicago and write and surf.

...

Wrinkles

2008-11-09T16:33:00.006-06:00

Can a person die of wrinkles? I'm a little worried.

Does this worry anyone else?

...

Welcome

2008-11-09T13:40:00.002-06:00

November 9, 2008—Electivism, my personal philosophy of integrating the disparate and desperate ideas in my life.

Finding Patterns and Making Sense of It All. (Or at least Part of It All until the Universe shifts again. Hang on, it’s going to be a teeth-grinding-bone-crunching ride.)

Duct taping the Universe. Duct-taping Reality. Tire won’t inflate. Key-in-ignition alarm won’t go off.

Transcendental Dreams and other niceties.

Adele singing on a CD player behind me. Like she’s in the room with me. Like I can’t turn around or I will know that she is not there.

So this doesn’t feel quite like a Sunday. We’re not doing the usual Sunday things.

Some video, some art, some doodles, some thoughts.

"Looking for the creative accelerant to spark a career."

Obscurism: happy to enjoy stuff others may not be familiar with.

Creative Accelerants to Spark Your Career. Maybe you can find it here. Maybe I can point you in a direction you’ve never thought of. Maybe I can point you in a direction that you’ve wanted to go but didn’t know you could. (No, not felonious or treasonous behavior.) We’re staying on the right side of good.

I told you this would be jumpy. Like a UFO making those impossible 90-degree turns. Stay with me if you want as long as you want.

Too much coffee this morning or lack of writing time this week. My brain is spilling over.

She was chronically manic. That’s close to an idea I had this morning.

My time’s about up on this battery. Nap time.

How to set up the break-out blog? The same ingredients as the break-out novel?