Videofest '99

Last night I had a small video fest with my AWESOME neighbors and I would like to thank them for this little gem! I loved this vid so much I bought the song. It just makes me happy. The pompadour (which I am a HUGE fan of) and the ridiculous glasses (which I have, ha!), come on! you cant watch this tron-like party vid with out loving it! Plus the bookend off topic sections make me happy

ENJOY

Chupacabra!

Back from a short hiatus for the holiday! Great time with the fam and in the south. Its good to get back and see everyone but not enough time to squeeze it all in. As I have already done my one Xmas post I have decided to forgo any talk of the holiday as everyone is most likely over the christmas cheer and go straight mythological creatures. Yes that's right folks, the CHUPACABRA. It exists I am convinced and it looks like Kentucky has found further proof. Don't believe any of this hogwash the scientists are trying to tell you, the goat-sucker is (or was) alive and well so hide your small domesticated animals!



Also... I would like to point out the sheer beauty of these shots. I applaud the camera man and editor here. Way to make a ridiculous, Kentucky, backwater shootin' story into a contender for short Hitchcock film.

produce

Its xmas and the funds are low. Im stating the obvious here, but I have turned to being creative, as most budgets tend to do to all of us. I'm making my presents this year, folks! This isn't a huge departure from past Christmas's and other various holidays, but this year its a little different for me. I have been working on getting some "things" off the ground. I have been making cards and other odd arts and I'm gaining a better knowledge of what my aesthetic is. That's a huge step. I am getting my hands dirty with a lot of different mediums and trying things out. I wanted to share some of the undertakings here and show some of my work. Laziness proves to be my downfall. I need to buckle down, damn it. Instead I write on this thing and sit aimlessly at a ridiculous job, so in an effort to advance I am using both forums to kick my own ass. I call this post "produce" because I have learned that sometimes quantity helps with quality. I want/need to produce, no matter what it is and find a rhythm and method to my madness. So I'm being bold and putting out there what I usually keep pretty hidden.

Anyway, check me out! This is just a little bit of whats out there. More to come, for certain. Keep your eyes peeled.

 

thanks HB

I was given a link to another stop motion animation vid and decided it needed to be shared! These are directed by an artist/animator named Lucinda Schreiber (with other colaborators such as the bands Midnight Juggernauts and Firekites, and artist Beatrice Pegard). Such cool designs and execution, its exciting to see creativity like this. Makes me want to get out and produce something. Take a gander and Autumn Story and Lara Vs The Savage Pack  and enjoy these tastey animation morsels!

This vid is just beautiful. I want chalk and an owl, right now! Big thanks to Hunter for this one!


Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

This one has a white stripes Seven Nation Army feel in concept but worth a look, even if its just to get to the kaleidoscope of fun in the middle! I would love to see her process on this one.


Lara Vs The Savage Pack - Midnight Juggernauts from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

ADELE!!!!!!

Oh man, is this song not incredible!

I'm a really big fan of the obscurity of this video. I'll admit Adele has been a minor, little blip on my radar, but not anymore! Girl just busted right on through with this tune and I plan on keeping her in my music rotation. Anyone out there got any other female powerhouse suggestions?



She makes me want to play with a big pile of whatever that stuff is and make huge sweeping messes while simultaneously throwing china. Also, I'm not gonna lie, the vibration in the water will ALWAYS remind me of Jurassic Park, (gee thanks Spielberg).


loves


Rolling in the Deep  - Adele

To Tucker The Black Mamba-- way more cuter than quinn

this is the funniest youtube vid I have seen in a loooong time. Where is this girls mother? I am embarrassed for her. "shibby shibby shibby lumps humps rickah rickah shibby he got me speeeeeendin'"

.... this is for Jamie, the black momba, my Bro in christ HAAAAAA!

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie

just a quick little pick me up for the day. Such a great video and awesome concept, it even makes me like the song, which I'm not totally keen to. (thanks to kate for making me think of this, now I've got a search theme of stop motion for today ;)

xmas time is here again

So, its Xmas and its freezing in Chicago. I love it, its perfect for this time of year and puts me right in the holiday mood. There are very few things that get me more holiday-happy than Snow, but here are a couple that can do the trick:

-Movies!
If you know me, you know this goes without saying. I watch movies nonstop, most of them bad, and nothing makes me happier than a good movie theme. A close friend of mine has self imposed a Netflix experiment- every month he has a new theme (i.e. epics, remakes, box office flops of the 1990s that contain at least one midget). Naturally every December its Christmas movies month! I am a nutjob when it comes to Christmas movies so here are 3 of my favorites that I have forced upon my friend and now you:

1. The Muppet Christmas Carol - I mean seriously, can you go wrong with this flick--- No, you cannot. Its Jim Hennson at his finest, and a spectacular display of my favorites: Dickens, Michael Caine, Gonzo, and Rizzo the Rat ("light the lamp not the rat! PLEASE watch this ) Maybe there is a little bit of nostalgia going here for me because my brother and I would watch the Muppets all the time (also Bob Ross but thats a different post) so this hits home extra hard for me. Either way, This is a Christmas classic in more ways than one and therefore, takes the first place on my list.

2. White Christmas - Another classic, this time for real. 1954, Rosemary Clooney and her ridic waist, Vera Ellen playing "EveryWoman", and none other than Mr. Christmas himself, Bing Crosby! I would touch down on how incredible his voice is but we'll get to that later. This xmas flick has it all: Sisters [watch], a train ride, mountains, military references galore, and SNOW! It goes without saying that everyone dreams of a White Christmas, I don't care who you are! Growing up in Alabama it would always piss me off when it was warm out on Christmas day, I mean COME ON, its just goes against nature. I'm a big big fan of this movie in all its cheesey goodness.

3. Rudolph, Santa Clause is Coming to Town, A Christmas story, Love Actually--- OK. #3 was really hard for me. I dont know if I can actually choose so here are a couple of misfits [watch] that share one big spot in the Christmas movie list. I'll say this for those of you looking at Love Actually with a critical eye, it is a spectacular trasitional movie from T-giving to Xmas! I always kick off my holiday viewing season with this one! ... and the rest go without saying "Frag-i-le... must be Italian"

-MUSIC
Gotta love the inundation of holiday tunes playing NONSTOP from about Nov 10 - Dec 25. I have just a few that I love and can't have a holiday without (Christmas Shoes is NOT one of them. I want to punch someone in the face every time I hear it!)
-Elvis.... enough said


- This one is for my Sister! and my God... ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS THIS MAN WRAPPED UP UNDER MY TREE! (and you gotta love the Bon Jovi Cameo... this is a xmas present all by its self!) Maybe not the best song in the world, but honestly, who cares. Its the Boss


-Top Favorite of all time Christmas song and oddest duet I can think of EVER- Mr. Bing Crosby and David Bowie sing Little Drummer Boy. Odd? Maybe. Perfect? A warm and resounding YES!




There are countless others but for now Happy Holidays everyone. Make the best of it and get in the holiday spirit with some of my favorites. And just know I could have gone on for DAYS with this post

black swan was ON TIME

Ok, so I'm going to say it, Black Swan was killer!

I absolutely loved it. It was a crazy ride and I was really on the edge of my seat for most of the film. Natalie Portman rocked it and deserves the win. She was amazing and completely outside of herself, for me. She wasn't quirky (a role she always plays), quite the opposite in fact. She was demure and "frigid" and, for those of you who have seen the film you know, the transformation she goes through is intense and incredible. This was pristine story telling, even better acting, and even more superior filmmaking. Its Daren Aronofsky, so I was expecting great when I sat down but he delivers. Its a psychosexual thriller and its got all the makings of a show stopper. All in all, this was an actors movie. It explores the depths of what character is and what it is to create a fierce piece of art, the complex elements of which only resides in your head. No one else is aware of the process and in a high pressure world (like ballet), it doesn't matter what you do to get there, but you better get there.

Aronofsky gets there.



I recommend a little research. Just a small amount, enough to whet your appetite as well as to slightly prepare you for whats in store. Yes, there is a (much talked about and for some, much anticipated) sex scene but its not a shocker in the context of the story, and yes there is blood and some pretty intense bone cracking/nail breaking parts throughout. Knowledge is power so now you can enjoy the whole experience without being blindsided by it.

Here are few places I went to read and watch:

- "like the first specimen of a new breed, an Oscar-worthy genre B-movie." -
this really sums up the film for me. Gawker gets a lot right with this little discusion

http://gawker.com/5705455/black-swan-natalies-beautiful-nightmare

-Get familiar with who is in the flick. Its a rock solid cast and creative team, you can't go wrong. (... well, you can, but they didn't. Even with Mila Kunis, of whom I do not like, but she was good)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/

grapplings & musings

As most of you know (or, in fact, none of you, as this is the first post and few, if any people will be reading this) I Facebook update all the time. I have limited myself to ONE status update and ONE link post a day. This self imposed limitation got me thinking, why not start a blog with no limitations at all?

2010 has been one hell of a year for me. Unemployed in Chicago, living in LA, followed by great job back in Chicago, doing well, then unemployed again, and finally in a dead end, nothing, part time job to get me by. Its hard to really grasp that I am truly not the only person that has had a year like this and I am positive things are worse for a lot of others out there. With all of that said, I really have had an incredible year! I have accomplished things I never thought I would and have had the time of my life doing it. Ran a half marathon, sky diving, and countless days/nights with incredible friends. Its a testament to how things really are sweet and sour out there and you cannot have one without the other (thank you Jason Lee and Vanilla Sky...lame).

I hope to use this forum to post about things going on that may or may not interest you but that I find cool, or worthy of being said. I'm excited to see where this leads and what direction it will take.

happy reading