You Reap What You Sow

And when you sow the seeds of love, with more than a single partner, on the Real World, you become a reality show demi-god, which basically means you might get a free sandwich someday. So to Pat, the Canadian DJ that worked with the cast members, and worked over three of the four female cast members, salud. You are really going places and have a bright future of footlong subs to look forward to. What happened on the latest episode was basically this: Pat, former interest of Jasmine, started to hook up with Jonna, and then when Ayiiia's conservative friends rolled (tacos) into town, he got down and dirty with her and his lovuh Jonna. Oh, and did I mention that Jasmine is dating Pat's cousin? And that Jonna broke up with her long-term boyfriend in order to shack up with Pat? Pat Pat Pat. The dude is not even a cast member and has already gotten more face time than the girl with ADD (Emilee) and the football stud (Um, I forgot his name already. Bang somebody soon so I can remember you!) This episode has definitely cemented my belief in the entertainment value of the show, and I cannot wait for the next episode, nay season, nay RW/RR Challenge. Also, I am almost done with What is the What, and hope that the What is explained at the end. Maybe it was Pat all along......damn that albino canuck.

what is love?

Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me. No more.

The reason I title my post as such isn't because I'm a lovelorn fool seeking a meaningful answer to an age old question. And it isn't because my baby daddy broke things off right as the kid started kicking. No, it's none of these things. I bring up the topic because of a great, in my personal opinion, film that brings love to a simple equation. The film is named Trust and features some unique directing choices and dialogue heavy scenes. I won't write much about it since the AV Club totally did it, much better than I ever could, and was the source of my curiosity towards finding this film. Anyway, a character in the film states that respect, admiration, and trust equal love, and I find that to be a fucking great explanation, even a tad romantic. I've watched the movie twice in the past few days, and though it isn't so great the second time, I'd recommend checking it out on youtube if you have the time. School has started, and I am dealing with the stress fairly well. No walls have been punched and no hair has been ripped off of my head. If anything, I'm indifferent to the campus now, and that indifference will surely carry me to great academic heights as I finish up these last two years in school. I've done a little philosophizing as well. Nothing new or transcendent, but some songs may come out of it. Stuff about attraction and glossing over faults that will eventually make us like the other person even more. So yeah, there's that and an idea I have for a Civil War Re-enactment comedy that I will be outlining this semester. My comic artists' computer self-destructed and I fear that all of her work is lost. Sad times. Casting is still going on for this short film, and I'd like for it to end and for us to find an amazing group of actors. At this point there are several roles that still need to be filled, but I think we'll get there. I just want to get there NOW. I'm reading What is the What? by Dave Eggers for the third time and I think I will actually finish it. The novel is astonishing, beautifully written, and uplifting. It is also thoroughly depressing and that is the reason why after two previous attempts I am finally close to finishing it. The book has changed me in a way, and my understanding of the Sudanese plight has grown from nothing to something. After this I hope to start Eggers' Hurricane Katrina book. Maybe I can finish it in only two tries. I don't have much else to add here, but I think at some point this week I will post a song recording or something creative like that because if it's not here, it probably won't be anywhere. Also, sometime during my hectic schedule I will record that darn podcast which will be damn amazing and fucking fun. Title I want for it: "The Indie Snobcast: A Progression of Slurs"

Laters y'all. Also, I apologize for how random this posting was and how its lack of flow and clarity might be alarming or at the very least annoying. That is the issue with my writing, and is something I am working on. I'm also a little lazy with the whole blogging thing, so that could be why my posts are always so ramshackle. Ramble.

It's the Year to Be Hated

What a nice song. Good and simple lyrics. I don't have much to say other than I expect to record the podcast later tonight after jamming with a close friend. Video of that might surface on here. End of Summer festivities have been slow and relaxed so far, and I have no complaints really. I hope it goes out with a bang though. Fireworks would be nice.

I Do My Crosswords in Pen

Another day spent in town, but it was unlike any other day spent in town. Not that anything incredibly interesting happened, but my day didn't resemble most others I've experienced. Got no sleep, which happens from time time, especially when I drink copious amounts of caffeine and have an Oreo shake late at night. Woke up, as I often do, without fail. Then, I met with Matt to discuss our single take short film and make some small additions to the script. This happens never. Hopefully we do another short after this and another and another and...another. After that, I helped people move into the dorms on campus for a few hours. Some were thankful for the help and others were less than enthused about being waited on hand and foot. Folks that appreciate hard work done for them at zero cost are okay in my book. Only a few names filled it up today though. After that, saw a few friends and took a nap. Now, I'm listening to On Broken Wings, which is a pretty good band, even if they created the genre called MoshCore. I also think they're the only band that classifies themselves as that. Perhaps they have a farm league band in that style as while. Either way, it's aggressive hours till bed, meaning I want to be up and active and in Ed Hardy attire. Actually, I think they don't sell attire. I'm pretty sure they sell "attitude" and "gear" and "dreams." Seriously, mid-life crises just got more affordable. Investment bankers everywhere that still have a penny to shake can simply buy a few shirts from them instead of a Corvette and have enough confidence left to hit on struggling waitresses. My prediction: Ed Hardy sponsors and/or starts a Mixed Martial Arts organization. The fighters will have spray-tans to mask those hours at the gym and hair plugs to compensate for their steroid-induced baldness. Good god I want that to happen.

I guess I should also mention that I hate most metal-core groups with a fiery passion. For some reason my hatred doesn't work on this band, and I'm not sure why not. They aren't very skilled musicans at all and have a terribly lame attitude. Will investigate this phenomenon for sure.

The Killing Moon: Return to Riverdale

So I spent the first few waking hours of today chatting with a friend in California, destroying the carbonated remains of soda leftover from last night, and trying not to embarrass myself on the piano. I won/failed at the last thing. The reason I'm trying to pick up piano, or at least hang with it, is so I can write good score music. So far, I've written about 2 minutes of good stuff on guitar and on keyboards. What has to come next in the score is a sweeping part that will lift everyone's spirits and push the movie forward. What I didn't realize is just how bad my left hand is at playing these parts. Now, this sweeping part is nearly finished being written, no thanks to that left hand, but recording it will be another matter entirely. I'd like to perform all of the instruments because it would mean something to me, and maybe this quest for personal piano perfection is madness. Man, I could've gone further with that alliteration. Oh well. The music will be good, and the story is changing at the moment. I still have a year to worry all of this over, so no bigs. I watched Ponyo last night with a pal of mine, and the animation was pretty gorgeous. The film's namesake was entirely unlikable to anyone over the age of 5, and the presence of Miley Cyrus' sister and a Jonas brother hurt the film as well. Liam Neeson's character, however, was the epitome of awesome creeptastic supernatural water man-thing. I would have rather seen a movie about his life instead, but hey, I don't have power over the powerhouse that is Miyazaki. I doubt I will see any more movies this weekend, which is a bit of a letdown, but there are some more important things to do. Books were bought for school today and I am thankful that classes my major almost never require any reading. I spent about $130 dollars on textbooks, which though a financial nuisance, is better than what most people end up paying. At the moment, I'm listening to a Pavement cover of an Echo and the Bunnymen song about lunar occurrences and death that are thinly veiled references to heroin abuse. I think that some covers are better than the originals, especially if the context is completely different. The best example of this is Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" by NIN. The second best is probably Wilson Pickett's cover of "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies. Reggie Mantle could never play guitar as sweet as Pickett's sideman, and someday history will recognize the significance of this particular cover. Speaking of Archie comics, I read about a month ago that the series is taking a turn in order to sell more issues. Archie proposes to Veronica and then six issues follow to finish the story. Now, I have not read an issue of Archie in about a year. And before that, probably 8 years. It might be lame to admit to it, but I enjoyed those comics growing up. Who can argue with the hilarity of Jughead's eating habits? The valuable life lessons learned by Archie when his team-ups or competitive prank wars with Reggie fail? The baldness of Mr. Weatherbee? And Pop Tate breaking every negative Italian stereotype? Those stories and their aw shucks, slightly awful humor meant something to me, and doggone it, this new story sounds interesting enough that I might don a freckled disguise and pick some issues up. In other comic news, I've started to read "Gotham by Gaslight" which is quite awesome. The steampunk style fits in this Batman story, but I'm a little tired of the genre, which I never really got into in the first place. Also, my comic "Shore Leave" is picking up steam in production. The drawings I've seen so far are great, and I should be taking some reference photos for my artist sometime this week. If all goes well and it's finished within a year, I will pitch the fuck out of it and hopefully it finds a home in some sort of short comic anthology like Popgun. I have a few other ideas I'd like to write out sometime this year for comics, and maybe pitch somehow if I can set up a meeting. The ideas involve characters already existing in the D.C. universe, so there's only one way to get it made, and the fact that I'm unproven might make it a hard sell to them. If the idea fails, I might end up writing some fan fiction, which I have never done before. I shall remain optimistic though, and start outlining the storyline in the next few months. In the meantime, I'm focusing on this short film that should be undergoing a small rewrite by me later today. I realize now that all my blogs are about me, which is usually what happens in these sorts of things, but that's kind of annoying. I'm pretty certain that half of my sentences include the words "I" and "me." Repetition is key, some say, but to me, it's not cool most of the time. But what can I do? Keep writing and working on becoming better so that by the time I'm 25, I'll have done something with my life that creates a rabid fan base. Oh yes, fans. With custom shirts and websites declaring my awesomeness. Anywho, I'm done writing for now, but I'm sure I'll post something soon again. Hope everything is right with you and yours.

A Lame Posting, or how do you love something that doesn't exist?

You make it exist, silly. And if you can't do that, you fool yourself into believing it exists. This practice is key to a strange phenomenon known as Scientology, which is not the topic of the day. Today's topic is.... the ever shortening generation gap and why I am actually a 35 year old man. Since the stone age, when old men of 24 would beat their moving meals to death with dull rocks and middle aged men of 13 would slash their dinners with sharpened objects, this gap has existed. A possible reason for this could be advances in technology and the quality of living one's used to. My grandfather's generation had wooden toys and polio growing up. My dad's had hula hoops and more vaccinations available. Because of these things, the gap was present. Technology has shifted and grown so much recently that the gaps are occurring in smaller intervals. I belong to the Myspace generation, technically, as I was a high school youth when it hit. Kids three years younger than me are part of the Twitter generation. Hey, I remember when there was only one MTV and they had music playing! The damn kids age 16 these days don't know how good we had it. And I wonder, is good taste disappearing? I grew up on Daria and shows that had some real verbal wit to them. Because of these things and other parts of my life, I seem to enjoy things that are "good" and know the difference from these "good" things and "bad" ones. Maybe it's the way your raised and what entertainment is present in your home that determines what generation you actually belong to. Maybe it's the choices you made when you were 14 that decide who you're going to be and what you're going to like and ascribe yourself to when you're older. I read The Fountainhead when I was 13. I bought my first Pavement album when I was 15. These are trendyish things that were popular or at least in fashion 15 and 66 years ago and for that and Sid Caesar and SOAP being on my television, I feel 35. I really don't know where I'm going with this anymore and to be honest, I never did know where I was headed in writing this post. I guess what I'm saying is I don't feel like I fit in with most people my age, and I kind of resent the tastes of my generation. Wow. That summed up several sentences of gooblygocked whatittude. On some side notes, District 9 was absolutely great and I might watch 4 other movies today if time abides. I will also return to the radio with The Bearded Amazon Giant show on Thursday night.

Starlings in the Slipstream

As the last few rays of the Summer sun pour in before the semester begins, so do my friends from afar. Tonight, Derek gets back and I am overjoyed. He's a very dedicated animator and one of the most honest, doggone decent people you'll ever meet. You can find his blog here and if you ever have a flat tire, he'll help you out with a smile. Tomorrow and this weekend bring in a few other pals of mine, and I can't wait for them either. Root beer floats sound good to me and maybe I can convince one of them it's a good idea as well. Today was fun filled and busy in that I have started planning out a short film with two other people. 4.5 hours of breaking down the script, analyzing characters, mapping out the story and physical progression of the characters throughout the location, and some laughs as well. I have high hopes for this short and trust it will go well, knowing that the director and cinematographer are tops. We work quite well together and I definitely want to start another short as soon as this one wraps( Funny that I say this considering not a thing has been shot yet, but filmmaking can be an addictive pleasure and I'm always looking to score). One thing we discussed at length today was casting, which is very crucial to the success of any film, short or feature, budget or shoestrings. I wonder how many people come to audition for us, and hope for the best and brightest have an interest in the project. The film has 13 speaking roles, and each plays an important role in tying together the relationships and themes throughout. So yeah, need to find 13 good actors or people that can fit those parts pretty soon. If you know any guys or gals between the ages of 19 and 30, please let me know! The goal is shoot sometime during the first two weeks of September if that helps you in your decision making at all. Also, we are looking for a Spanish speaking couple if you know any. Positions in the Art Department still need to be filled if you have an interest in set design or just like making and arranging things for kindly bearded taskmasters like the director. I'm pretty much done with this post and imagine I'll write something at the end of the weekend recounting my experiences doing some volunteer work and letting you in on my Root Beer Float recipe (it's shockingly good). Seeing District 9 tonight and am excited for that. Saw The Hurt Locker last night and thought it was great (to the friends I forgot to call, well, I forgot. Sorry. Really). Will see Ponyo tomorrow and possibly 500 Days of Summer as well. I might have to start wearing sunglasses indoors to fix the sting in my eyes from staring at the cinema screens. Oh, and a plug for my friend Jake's blog. Still the funniest thing I read online, and you should read it too.