Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Another reason why Barack Obama should become President

Obama Calls on Bush To Admit Iraq Errors

Sen. Barack Obama said President Bush should admit mistakes in waging the Iraq war and reduce the number of troops stationed there in the next year. But the Illinois Democrat, a longtime opponent of the war, said U.S. forces remain "part of a solution" in the bitterly divided country and should not be withdrawn immediately.

Without citing specific numbers, Obama called for a "limited drawdown" of U.S. troops that would push the fragile Iraqi government to take more responsibility while deploying enough American soldiers to prevent the country from "exploding into civil war or ethnic cleansing or a haven for terrorism."

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Dr. James Dobson wants you to play with his balls

The Advocate: "Far right group?to use Macy's parade to spread antigay message"

Dr. James Dobson's organization, Focus on the Family, will be handing out 5000 "stress balls" to spectators at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to promote a Web site it operates that claims that homosexuality is a disorder that can be changed through faith. Visitors to the site, TroubledWith.com, who think they might be gay or lesbian are told, "You're not simply 'wired that way.'" In another section, visitors are told that being gay or lesbian can be prevented because "like other adult problems, homosexuality begins at home. Mom and dad are key players." Also to blame are porn, the media, and "seduction by peers."

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Magic Wand

Without revealing too much, I'll repeat my vague description of this short as a comedy about abortion. That alone should serve as a parental warning, and possibly as a convincing pitch.

I had the vague concept for this short a few months ago, but never intended to ever shoot it. But when the theme "magic wand" was given at the previous Group 101 Films meeting, it seemed to fit all too well - the short centers around a home pregnancy kit. And what better name for a home pregnancy kit than "Magic Wand"? (Actually, the theme was broader: "magic", but a short film contest for Atom Films and Intel requires films to utilize the theme "magic wand" - I have no ambitions to enter the contest, but, again, this fit perfectly).

And instead of offering up tons of excuses for whatever flaws exist in the short, I'll go right ahead and say I'm incredibly proud of how this turned out. I think one of my greater talents is casting, although I can only take half credit here. My female lead I saw in a play a few months back and was immediately impressed with her solid ability to act and fit any scene, not to mention great comic delivery and beauty on top. I was surprised when she agreed to work with me, in spite of her not knowing me, having barely two lines of dialogue written in my script draft, and the requirement that she appear in lingerie or implied nudity. Tyler Tanner, meanwhile, I've know for a couple years and have wanted to work with for some time now... however, when casting the male role in this short I never pictured him. When my first choice, confirmed actor completely flaked the night of shooting, Claire suggested Tyler. It sounded like a long shot, but the idea of him in the role immediately made me giggle, and when he said he could be on set in less than an hour I knew that this short was going to be my personal favorite.

And now, here it is - still rough, but I hope entertaining enough...



(Mac friendly version pending - again, if anyone knows the best way to convert to Quicktime without making the video quality blow and the file size manageable - under 10 megs - lemme know).

Monday, November 14, 2005

Travel Advisory: Beware of Thai Transvestites

Thai Tourists Warned Of Sedative-Spitting Transvestites

Members of a Thai transvestite gang have confessed to hiding strong sedatives in their mouths and spitting them down the throats of victims during deep kissing. Then they rob the drugged tourists.

Unsure whether or not this would make for a better porn film or thriller. Comments?

Calamine

Back in the day I'd spend hours listening to songs from struggling unsigned musicians at mp3.com. And every once in a while I'd stuble across something listenable. The cream of the crop was a band called Calamine, who actually later went on to some level of success when they recorded the main title song for Sealab 2020 on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Lead singer Julie Stepanek had a voice that made me instantly fall in love with her, or at the very least have a summer romance with. I liked their debut EP so much that I bought not one, but two copies off of CD Baby since I somehow lost my first copy after a few months of listening. Every once in a while I'd check their site for updates... to be repeatedly disappointed with no word on any additional upcoming releases. After a couple years, I gave up. From what I gathered, Julie had gotten hitched and abandoned her music career.

Alas, after years of silence Calamine has resurfaced with a bulk email I found in an email box I almost never check. Just as if it were kismet, destiny, whatever, Julie has announced that they have a new, full album coming out very soon and are accepting preorders.

I encourage all five of my readers to give Calamine a spin - you can listen to two songs off their new release in full, as well as most of the songs off their EP (if you want to cheat, click here for Trampoline, the song that first gave me butterflies in my stomach).

Now for enough sap - I need to polish up my newest short, "Magic Wand", so everyone can experience what I like to call "a comedy about abortion".

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Dear Mac lovers...

For those of you who missed my last short film, "Choke", because it wasn't available for viewing on Quicktime, I bring good news:



I'm also currently editing together my newest short, "Magic Wand", which I shot until the wee hours last night. It was almost a disaster - the actor I had lined up for the main role failed to show up, even after I'd postponed shooting on Thursday night with just a few hours notice to accomodate a meeting he had pop up. I had pretty much resigned myself to playing the part myself - not ideal since I'm not an actor, and I don't smoke, a trait that I'd written into the role that I didn't want to change. Surprisingly, the immensely talented Tyler Tanner was available and showed up one hour after the call (he's an even better actor than Amazon.com reviewer). Tyler, unfortunately, quit smoking a couple years back. Unfortunate for him, that is - I had him puff down nearly an entire box of Camels by the end of the night. Shooting went over schedule by only two hours, but his performance made it well worth it. You can judge for yourself on Monday when I'll post the rough cut.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Bill O'Reilly honorary member of al Qaeda

Bill O'Reilly takes aim at San Francisco - Radio - MSNBC.com: "If al-Qaida comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."

Bill O'Reilly, supposed patriot, encourages al Qaeda to attack an American city. Why? Because of "a San Francisco ballot measure opposing the presence of military recruiters in city schools."

Even I'm opposed to such a bill. But Bill O'Reilly needs to sober up and take a falafel - er - loofah bath.

Even if San Fran bans military recruiters from schools does not mean the city is anti-military, or anti-American.

I was in San Francisco weekly and attended some of the festivities for on the city's grandest traditions: Fleet Week. The military presence around the city was huge, and the overall reception I saw was incredibly positive. Recruiters were everwhere. San Francisco certainly has some issues with glorifying war, but they certainly show respect and appreciation for our men in uniform.

O'Reilly, on the other hand, has shown that he's willing to cooperate with al Qaeda when convenient to his agenda.

His comments, by the way, were conveniently erased from the archives of his radio program where they were originally broadcast.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Results on Monday...



"Magic Wand" - the short film, now in production.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

RSS Feed!

Shane Nickerson suggested I do this months ago --- and seeing how infrequently I post this is definitely long overdue:



If you don't know what an RSS feed is, don't worry... I only figured this out recently myself. Some people can drop RSS links, like the one above, into their mail reader (like Thunderbird or Outlook) and whenever I post a new entry in this blog, it magically appears almost like new mail in their mailbox. If you read a lot of blogs but hate clicking around to them throughout the day hoping for an update you should try out RSS feeds - you'll be notified only when the blogs you choose are updated.

For readers of this blog, this should prove indispensable. No longer do you need to keep returning here to be disappointed for weeks at a time without a new entry.