Eco Friendly Pizza Box

From the Set of "Amanda" Week Two

Case 39 Trailer

This is the film that was in production while I was interning at Misher Films n LA. I had a chance to read the script and wasn't particularly impressed. But the trailer sure does sell it!

Path to Enlightenment

I must freely admit that I haven't studied much philosophy, so I'm treading dark waters here. Even when I do study the field, very little sticks. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've read some Kant and Nietzsche, and I know I've read some Plato, but I can't ever seem to recall much more than buzzwords like "Plato's forms" or phrases like "God is dead."

I think my disinterest stems from a perceived lack of utility on the part of philosophy and a deep-seated skepticism of the endeavor as a whole.

It seems to me that Philosophy is a top-down examination of reality wherein philosophers often make large assumptions about complex things like humanity and morality then work backward toward the individual. Worse, the creative process seems individualistic and static so that, instead of building upon one another, the end result is a collection of disparate accounts of reality sprung forth from only one or two minds. I suppose that's a fine approach so long as you regard your conclusions with profound skepticism.

Science, on the other hand, seems to me to be a communal, bottom-to-top examination of reality that, in it's purest form, is observational and experimental and makes only the smallest of assumptions (striving always to make none). I think this is the path to enlightenment. If you really want to gain a profound understanding of reality and the mind, start with physics, chemistry, biology and neurology. Start from the very bottom, from the very basics, and draw me a line straight up to your high-minded ideas about the nature of things. Spare me your metaphysical babble and help me follow a path from the simple and incontrovertible facts upward toward the divine.

From the Set of "Amanda"

Someone from the crew put some side footage of our first week together up on youtube. Check it out!

Big Time Movie Nit-Twitter

Nit-twitter. Did I just add a new word to the internet lexicon? Google search in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... (darn: no such luck)

Anyway, I've been lucky enough to find a wifi signal on just about every shoot as work on "Amanda" progresses. Since I tend to have a lot of down time, I'm trying to twitter and update my facebook status frequently with stories from the set. Don't get left behind!

         

* We're going to be in the same location for the next week. Hopefully I'll be able to find a signal or this will all be for naught.

What Would Jesus NOT Do?

Maybe We are the Same Species

Brit Tries American Accent -- FAIL

I love it, though.

Are Dentists Evil?

Read some of this. That's here I am right now. My new dentist replaced a filling because of some decay around the edges. It wasn't hurting, but I thought "Okay, he knows what he's doing." Now, after paying out my ass, I have gone from no discomfort to TREMENDOUS PAIN! I can't seem to go 3 months without a pressing dental issue.

What's worse, it sounds like lots of people are suffering the same problem. Is the procedure really necessary? Or worth this pain?

Film Shoot: Day One

And I'm exhausted. 12 hour day (for what amounts to probably less than 10 minutes of film). I'm certainly a thankless grunt. But hopefully the experience will A) help fill out my resume and B) lead to some beneficial networking.

Time to start all over again.

The Gayening (Sequel to the NOM Gathering Storm)

The NOM steps up its fear-mongering campaign when it enlists M Night. Shamalamadingdong for their sequel to "The Gathering Storm"

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This was a headache. Windows movie maker kept crashing and then part of the file became corrupt. I re-downloaded and re-converted several times, but one little section refused to behave. I had to cut the line "The second stage is..."

Lies, Lies, Lies

Watch this deplorable ad:



Now wait. I'm-ah cookin' up-ah somethin' ...

English Speaking Accents

Youtube is quickly becoming a powerful tool for studying linguistics, sociology, and anthropology. Over the last few days, I've been obsessed with watching youtube videos about accents from English speaking parts of the world. Initially, I was only interested in British and American accents. When Brits imitate Americans, they usually produce a Californian accent, which makes some sense because much of American culture is learned overseas through Hollywood films. Conversely, Yanks tend to imitate the Cockney accent, which may be the result of the popularity of films like Mary Poppins or My Fair Lady. But I think the primary reason people fall back on these accents is because of the ease of readily imitated ponetic phrases, such as "whatevurr" or "like" in the case of the California valley girl, or "'ello Govena!" or "Wot, wot, wot?" in the case of Cockney. Generally speaking, youtubers tend to agree that the American accent sounds dim witted, while the British accent sounds snobbish.

From there, I got a little homesick and moved on to New England accents. While Rhode Islanders have a relatively distinct accent, I couldn't find a good video illustraing it (Family Guy is not a valid example). It's pretty pronounced when this little girl pronounces "hawt cawfee," but it's otherwise unnoticeable.

The Boston accent is somewhat similar, but with important differences. Here's a terrific example of the real thing in action.

And of course, it's just a hop skip and a jump away to the New York accent...and further north to Maine. (okay I don't know about that one)

Oh, and then there's this.

Anyone else have a favorite English speaking accent they'd like to share?

Fox News Sinks to New Low

Blaming the world's ills on ... Mr. Rogers? Are you joking? And since when was Mr. Rogers's message ever a message of entitlement? News flash: everyone is intrinsically special in his or her own way. That's a plain fact. Maybe Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street's messages of acceptance are the reason minorities today have more civil rights and people from my generation can elect someone like Barack Obama?

Uke Song of the Week -- Baby on Board

Disney Animation Templates

Hand drawn animation is a costly business. Here's one way to make life easier.

Nintendo DSi Drops Today

I have to admit, I'm enticed by the DSi, but for only two reasons:

1) I'm still playing on my old DS Phat.
2) The flipbook animation software looks addicting.

However, the price tag and the fact that Nintendo has removed the GBA drive are the two deal breakers for me. I also haven't been compelled to buy any software for the DS for months now, so it's kind of a dead platform for me. I think I'll hold out for the next big thing.

Vatican Hoarding Dildos?

I learned something new today (from an episode of QI, of course). Apparently, Vatican church officials went through their collection of Roman statuary and chipped off the penises of male busts, sometimes adding leaves to hide the naughty bits. I don't know why I just assumed the Church would refrain from defacing art, allowing ancient Roman willies to fly free, but I was wrong.

This same episode of QI also suggested (perhaps as a joke? Didn't seem so) that the church may have held on to the severed penises. I can't help but crack a smile at the thought of a secret repository of marble dildos hiding away somewhere in the Vatican. Whatever might they keep those for??

The early wave of Calvinist Puritanism is not really the fault of Catholicism, I'm just surprised to see they caved in to such an overblown sense of propriety. What would they think of the Japanese Penis Festival?

QI is Back!

Episodes of Quite Interesting, Series F, have started to hit youtube. Make sure you watch them before the BBC deprives us yanks by taking them off the internet.

Love Is in the Air!

I've finally met someone! Now, we've only been on a couple of dates, so it's a little early to tell, but we've had such a great time! <3<3<3 We've been kind of secretive about the whole thing, but Angelina finally gave me permission to start telling people about us. I love ya babe!



Sorry, it's the only pic I have. You look hot though!
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3