Alabama Shakes

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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/

...