Guess Who?

Without cheating, see if you can tell who plays the joker. I would have never guessed it right.



And on a different note, here is another good commercial.

A Thousand Miles From Nowhere

It's videos and songs like this that remind me of why I've always liked country music.

7:30 this morning

Two Shorts from Cuba

These two videos are examples of how I procrastinated when I should have been doing my real work. The first was shot and edited in about 30 minutes and is based on actual events. The second is pretty self explanatory. Both were shot in Havana in April 2006.

Outer Space

This is a video Nick S. made back in 2004 as part of a collaboration with Sherman Donegan, Russell Hill, and myself known as Jepacus. Along with this short video, Jepacus recorded and produced 4 or 5 songs and completed one other short video. Plans for future collaborative projects have been discussed.

And in case you're wondering why the second half is just black, it's because the project was left unfinished.

Like a bird on a wire

Some day I hope do to this for a living. And by that I mean make movies like this, not do what the guy in this clip does. Or maybe I would do what he does.

Good Music Videos Series: #1

Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears

Watch their facial expressions.

Basset Dream

Ever wonder what your dog's dreams are like? I do, and this short is an exploration of that. It's also the first video I've made since last year.

Orson Welles Commercials

I don't know what it is about these, but I can't stop watching them.







And of course, the infamous drunken outtakes...

A Boy and His Dog

My little brother and I watched this last night, and I have to say that it has one of the best endings I've ever seen. It may be hard to find in a video store, but you can get it on Netflix.

This second trailer is more of a series of scenes, but it gives a better sense of what the movie is about.

Does anybody else remember this?

Good Commercials Series: #2

I can't believe how good this commercial is.

Procrastination Study

This is a video about procrastination that I made about two and a half years ago. I think I should also mention that it was shot and edited only hours before I had to screen it for a class.

Thanks for bailing me out, Drew.

Medianeras

Medianeras - Gustavo Taretto
28:00

Part 2
Part 3

I have to say that this is probably my favorite short film of all time. I saw it a year and a half ago at a film festival in Havana, and ever since then I've been searching and searching.

And now I've found it. However, the only version I could find is chopped into three parts and does not have subtitles. So if you don't understand Spanish, it may be a little tough to follow. But don't let that deter you - the story is very visual, so if you pay attention you'll understand what's going on.

My Two Favorite Short Films

The Littlest Robo - Richard “Kenny” Kenworthy
9:20


Cashback - Sean Ellis
17:48

I also uploaded a better version of my short, Edición, if you'd like to see it.

24 Hours in Montreal

Warrior vs. Pillager

I started a new blog called Warrior vs. Pillager that's open for anyone to join. I won't explain it since the first entry details exactly what it is.

So check it out and leave a message if you wanna become a contributor.

My Morning

This is how I justify driving an SUV.

This Weekend

This looks good

New Radiohead Album

Radiohead's new album comes out next Tuesday, and it costs whatever you want to pay. Here's an article about it.

Melody - Serge Gainsbourg

"Histoire de Melody Nelson is a 1971 concept album by controversial French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. The Lolita-esque pseudo-autobiographical plot involves the middle-aged Gainsbourg unintentionally colliding his 26-horsepower 1910 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost into teenage nymphet Melody Nelson's bicycle, and the subsequent seduction and romance that ensues."

- From Wikipedia


I first heard this album at Alison Boland's pre-screening barbeque on a warm sunny day back in May. It was on a seduction mix made by one of Alison's friends from Arkansas, and what first caught me was its likeness to some Beck songs (specifically Paper Tiger and Dark Star). I then learned that Beck is a big fan of Serge Gainsbourg, and since I'm a Beck fan that means I've been a 2nd degree Serge Gainsbourg fan since around 7th grade and have only now made that fated connection.

Anyway, after it's release a series of music videos was made for each song and released as a short film-ish thing called "Melody." Below are links to all 7 parts*.

Part 1 - Melody
Part 2 - Ballade de Melody Nelson
Part 3 - Valse de Melody
Part 4 - Ah! Melody
Part 5 - L'Hôtel Particulier
Part 6 - En Melody
Part 7 - Cargo Culte

*Best if viewed with a glass of wine between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.

A few things of interest

Youle Blog and S.W.A.K. are two blogs I just started reading, and I'm jealous of how good they are.

Library Thing is a website where you can electronically catalog your library, find new books and authors based on what you've read, and add a little feature to your blog (I put one in the column on the right).

VIRB° is something I'm still investigating, but it seems like a MySpace (here's an example profile page) without any advertising that’s based around music and video. It's also a hosting service similar to YouTube that I'm gonna test out. Here's a side-by-side comparison.





Let me know what yall think.

Videotape

No Country For Old Men

Moss set the case in the booth and eased himself in after it. He lifted the menu from the wire rack where it stood along with the mustard and ketchup. She scooted into the booth oposite. He didn't look up. What are you havin, he said.

I don't know. I aint looked at the menu.

He spun the menu around and slid it in front of her and turned and looked for the waitress.

What are you? the girl said.

What am I havin?

No. What are you. Are you a character?

He studied her. The only people I know that know what a character is, he said, is other characters.

I might be a fellow traveler.

Fellow traveler.

Yeah.

Well, you are now.


by Cormac McCarthy
photo by William Eggleston

Lesson Learned

Never drop a microphone while singing karaoke at bar in New York. The DJ gets really mad and then the bouncers come and take you outside.

The Darjeeling Limited

My Next Documentary

I'm now in the planning stages of my next documentary about Lester Roloff, a man who ran children's homes around South Texas from 1954 to 1982. It's a little too soon to start discussing the project, but as of now I'm calling it Roloff's Pier, after the name of one of the homes located on a house boat in the Laguna Madre.

On another note, I had to work a little with the sound on Austin Hwy, so production of the DVD's is still in the works. But I plan to have them ready by the middle of next week. Sorry about that.

New Cormac McCarthy/Cohen Brothers Movie

Coolest Website Ever!

matthewmahon.com

Nick gets credit for finding this

This is a great show

This is a great album

Listening Man

Good Commercials Series: #1

If you haven't yet, read this

Disclaimer: This book is very sexually graphic, but it is nonetheless amazing

My New Blog

Click here to check out a new blog I just made about Segway.

Here's a video to promote it and get you excited.

In The Know: Do You Remember Life Before The Segway?

Austin Hwy - Official Selection of...

Schedule and more info about the festival here

Fantastic!

Version?

Following up on the last post...

Do yall want the hand made version I have on me now? Or, the ones that are being professionally printed with nicer cases and stuff that will be ready early next week?

DVD's

My documentary is done and is being printed on DVD's at this moment. If anyone wants a copy, leave a comment with your address and I'll mail you one.

If you're in the area, my piece is showing at Amherst Cinema this Sunday (the 20th) at 12:30 along with "Picturing India" by Josh Lee and "A Traveler's Guide to Going Home" by Alison Boland. No, it's not free. But how often do you get to buy tickets to a friend's movie at a real theater?

I'm also submitting to the San Antonio Underground Film Festival, and if it gets accepted I'll let all of you down there know when/where it'll be shown.

I'm shooting film from now on

Florida: Part 1

Spannered

I found this site through Schuyler's blog. It's really great when you have nothing to do or when you have too much to do so you waste time online.

New Sample

Here's another short segment from my documentary about Austin Highway. Let me know what you think.

Tonight's purchases for tomorrow's flight

1. The new Shins album (really good and worth getting)
2. 4Wheel Drive Magazine (special issue on the history of jeeps)
3. The Fool's Progress (my third Edward Abbey book)

Movie Recommendations: Part 1

Lawn Dogs


Great Expectations


The Adventures of Sebastian Cole

A short clip from my documentary

Here's a little sample from my video. It's short and roughly edited, but I'm curious to see what people think.

(Also, it starts off with a lot of black, so please be patient.)

Watch this if you're stressed out

WTF

Somehow a bunch of my photos on Flickr were switched with random photos of someone else, including some of the ones I use on here. hmmm

They were in the hills now. The sun was sinking. Taking its tambourine with it, the wind went home to supper. Grass lost the beat and fell still. An American loneliness, which is like no other loneliness in the world, was spreading on all sides of the Cadillac, creeping out of the cooling soil, out of the air itself; smelling sweet, colored like the pinched feet of tired salesmen, tasting of sweat and beer and fried potatoes, haunted by childhood dreams and the ghosts of Indians - a lonering gloaming coiling like a smoky snake out of the busted suitcase of the continent. The limousine moved through the hush like a dentist's drill.

Tom Robbins
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Eternal Sunshine and Stars?

This video is really good, but I can't tell if it's based on that scene in Eternal Sunshine or not. Thoughts?

Secret Agent Barry Gibb

I grabbed my hat and I went walking in the rainy night
My world turned upside down
I heard the roaring of the engines of a DC3
I'm Casablanca bound
The stewardess was standing staring in a fashion
that could only take my breath away
The pilot's voice came on the intercom and
told me he was workin' for the CIA
Oh,oh,oh,oh,oh,oh,oh,oh,oh
And he's lost in a dangerous world

Two Good Examples

In my continuing battle against Facebook and MySpace, I'm encouraging my friends to start blogs. On blogs it's really easy to post photos, videos, stories, poems, links, etc. - and you don't have to deal with ads and banners for credit cards, ring tones and dating sites. Plus it's more fun to post stuff and read other peoples' blogs than it is to update profiles and write on walls.

So to continue motivating people to do this, here are two of my friends' sites:

The Internet is a Map: This blog isn't new, but I just found it. It's by my friend Schuyler and it's hip.

Little Shell: This is Eve's. It took her two minutes to make. That's how easy it is and it's what you should do!

Book Recommendations: Part 1

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert M. Pirsig

The Monkey Wrench Gang
Edward Abbey

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Tom Robbins

These books all contain The West, highways, sunsets, beer, law breaking and good advice

January

Houses with peeling paint
Dark clouds
And dry ground

Empty train cars
Radio towers
And faded wood

Beer
The show Scrubs
And books

These are a few of my favorite things
...Right now at least