Amber and I are at the coast for a couple of days. We are staying at a dive with an ocean view of rain. It's perfect.

Sharon Stone: Class Act
Sharon Stone said in an interview with Chinese reporters at the Cannes Film Festival that the recent earthquake in China could be blamed on Karma. So now we place bets on how long before Stone is struck by lightening. Over/Under is the start of the Beijing Summer Games. Man this should be fun.

AFI Update
Because I choose to have no life here are the films I have watched over the last two days.
Manchurian Candidate- Excellent
American Graffiti- Jumped into my favs of all time list
The Third Man- Liked it, want to watch it again because I didn't love it.
Frankenstein- Entertaining, but dated on many levels.

I am also about to finish the last book in the Harry Potter series, so here's to free time.

Overnight
A documentary from 2004 about the amazing story of Troy Duffy and the film Boondock Saints. A cautionary tale for young filmmakers, and Irish alcoholics everywhere. This is the yardstick to measure out of control ego by which all should be afraid to be compared. Fantastic.

I just watched Intolerance, the D.W. Griffith silent film, which is on the AFI 100 ten year anniversary list. Let me just say that the one thing this film required from its viewer, is tolerance. It was very well done, especially for its time, but three hours of silent film is one tough task to sit through. My recommendation, only for the hard core, my friends.

Congratulations David Cook for winning American Idol. I don't really care anymore, but I still watch, so congratulations.

Why do people yell when talking on cell phones. I live in an apartment building where trashy fat women walk around yelling and cursing into there phones. I wonder if they realize that everyone with in a quarter mile radius can hear the intimate details of all this angst.

I just saw a bumper sticker that read "Gas was $1.46 a gallon when George Bush took office" I just thought it funny that someone shared my curiosity enough to produce a bumper sticker.

I got an Oregon Driver's license today. I had to retake the written test (which is on a touch screen computer?) I barely passed. Good picture though. I love the DMV.

The Golden Compass is out on DVD
That being said, don't waste your time on this pile of overwrought underwhelming fantasy rehash. I never turn movies off, but this one tested me every minute of the way. No heart, no brain, no style. Two hours I'll just never get back.

Did anyone see Radiohead on Conan last week?
They were amazing.

I think that it is an interesting time in the NBA. The Sun's, the Nugget's and the Maverick's are all headed for shake ups and they all fell short of winning the title that they were built for. The Sun's and the Mav's especially remind me of the early '90's Trailblazer's who were solid and so close to making it happen, but ultimately couldn't win the big one. Do these teams quickly rebuild or will it take 5-6 years or so like it had with the Blazer's the last two times they almost made it. One thing is for sure, rebuilding in the West will be difficult for any team the next couple of years with so many good young teams these oldies could be done for a while.

Gas Prices Hit All Time High In Oregon!
I just paid 3.51 a gallon on the way home, and local news reports that it could get to $8 a gallon. Which sounds reasonable since the cost of living has also gone up 400% during the Bush administration. Oh wait, gas is the only commodity that has increased at that rate? Weird.

I love Charlie Chaplin

I also love Buster Keaton, so don't get me wrong I'm an equal opportunity lover of silent film comedians. I even have a Harold Llyod film recorded on my DVR right now so I may soon have more love to spread around.











I watched City Lights recently, and was truly smitten with this silent film star all over again. Chaplin has such incredible comedic timing. When I think of modern comedy and what it now takes to be funny in a movie, I am saddened that no one carries this torch of smart, physical comedy. There are physical comedians, I think of Jim Carrey's Ace Ventura trying to be stealth while dancing on of a roll of bubble wrap or the football play that Ace physically rewinds and plays again in slow motion. It's not that a market doesn't exist for these guys its just that they are truly special and there are not that many of them around. I guess we should just cherish these gems when they are captured on screen. The boxing scene in City Lights is probably one of the funniest things I have seen in a movie, and every time I watch another Chaplin or Keaton film I am amazed at the timelessness of the laugh that has been and will always be enjoyed by those who watch these films.

Pan & Scan, I Hate You.
Let me clarify, Whomever invented the idea of pan & scan, I hate you sir/ma'am. Pan & Scan is what television producers have done to kill movies from the inception of the idiot box until a few years ago when some genius decided it was a good idea to stretch televisions out to a more eye pleasing dimension. Pan & Scan refers to the concept of taking a film shot for the wide screen and cropping and/or squeezing the image to fit inside the more square confines of the TV screen. I am not here to drop math on you and use terms like 16:9, but I will say that when I recorded Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind from AMC I thought they would have the decency to broadcast the film in the original format that the director shot and intended it to be seen in.

They did not.

I would say that about 65-75% of the film has this grinding pan from one side of the frame to another, especially annoying on any already existing camera movement. I found the whole experience off putting and degrading to the film watching experience. I am disappointed that through my trek of AFI's 100 greatest films to have not truly experienced Close Encounters as the film Spielberg had intended to show. AMC stands for American Movie Classics, so please continue to show classics, but give us proper presentation and while you're at it how about less commercials, most of which are only promoting your own channel.

Psst.. We're already watching your channel.

Turner Classic Movies is where its at anyhow, better movies, no commercials, and properly formated movies. Thanks Ted Turner.

This is my One Hundredth post!
I am going to celebrate with a cool refreshing Red Bull.

Movies with the Masses
I went to my local theatre last night with some bin candy for a show. It was a discount theatre full of teens and families. It was nice to see the film going masses in full force on a Saturday night. We saw Definitely, Maybe which was actually good. Cute.

Man I could use a Red Bull after that intense movie review.

No Country For Old Men.

Flawless script. Excellent cinematography. Brutal acting. If you don't mind a little violence, this is a film worthy of accolade.

I am addicted to Red Bull. I don't know when exactly it happened, but if I smell the stuff my heart rate jumps and I start thinking about when and where I can get my next fix. I'll even drink RockStar or Full Throttle or the one from the dollar tree. Look for more on this topic soon. I have to do some research to get to the root of the problem.

There Will Be Blood


If watching a QuentinTarantino movie is like get punched in the face until you fall down, then There Will Be Blood is like a starring contest in which your knees buckle by the sheer will of Paul Thomas Anderson's glare.

R I P

Charlton Heston
Passed Saturday at the age of 84.
If you have not seen a film starring Charlton Heston in a while, do yourself the favor and enjoy one soon. His presence on screen as a leading man in cinema is undeniable. I recommend Ben Hur, Touch of Evil, or The Greatest Show on Earth. As a matter of fact, go to the video store, because that would be a perfect weekend of movie watching.

My Better is Better than Your Better

I catch myself at times being a bit of a label snob. I tell myself that I get what I pay for, and that quality costs money. That is except for Nike. I buy Nike stuff (not exclusively) because I am a sucker for their advertising. Media Studies was my major in college, so this is what I spent my youth learning to immune myself to, and yet every time Nike rolls out a new ad campaign I am ready to buy some swooshed shoes and go train for something. I cannot think of another companies' ads that inspire brand consumption like Nike. A lot of slick ads can catch my attention with sly cleverness, but I usually end up just buying the music from the ad on the internet (hint: they weren't selling music). Nike has through the years made commercials that have stuck in my concessness and inspired me. My two favs are the Winter Olympics ad that used match cutting to portray various Olympic events with kids playing ie. a kid ridding a bike seemlessly cut with a speed skater on a track. The other was during the "We Love Runner's" campaign when a boombox weilding fan followed a guy jogging down the street blasting "eye of the tiger". Fantastic.

Well the newest campaign is a quickly cut montage of in your face trash talking from a bunch of today's best athlete's including my favorite... Mr. Brandon Roy. I have to say though that my favorite line comes from Sonics rookie Kevin Durant when he states that his fast and his quick just had a baby named speedy. Once again this onslaught of pure adrenaline has readied me to work... For what I am not sure, but I better get going because my better isn't really better than anyones better. Yet.

When given a day off with nothing to do, the average human being might write out a list of important things to do. Tasks accomplished in that precious free time that no one suffers too much of. When I have a day off with no plans, I watch movies. And Saturday I watched four movies. Now now, I had previously started three of them (short attention span), but I finished all of them. These four films all were all included in one of the two AFI lists that I have blogged about previously. So my quest to catch up to Lucas continues with, Dr. Zhivago, All The President's Men, Duck Soup, and lastly The Searcher's. Fear not Lucas I am still like thirty behind you, but heed this warning, I am only nine days off (in which Amber also works) away from catching and passing you to the finish of the Great AFI Watch of '07-'08.

Speaking of the films Dr. Zhivago was a snooze, All The President's Men was excellent, Duck Soup was better than I thought it would be, and the Searcher's, I grew up on John Wayne so I always enjoy his movies.

Thanks for the Memories

I don't mean to poo-poo, but watching the Oregon Duck Men's basketball team implode in the NCAA tournament today completely incinerated my desire to care about March Madness. I didn't know I cared this much, but I guess I did. They missed 15 straight 3-point attempts during one stretch of the second half, and yet it did not stop them from heaving brick after brick. What could they build with all those bricks? How about a lead for MSU who went from 13 down to winning by 10 or something. Sorry again, I mean I am still proud and all, but wow, they sucked the life out of the whole thing for me. Short of a winning bracket I just don't see myself watching a bunch of basketball this weekend or next. Just ask Amber I am actually this cranky.

Tourney Time!

If you would like to know who will win in every years Eight vs. Nine match-up... Look at my bracket (I'll happily show you) and bet on the other team.

I am half way through day one and I am already in last place in my division. Good news is that I just got beer and I have nothing to do for the rest of the weekend except watch every other team that I pick to win, lose. If I could only pick wrong on every game I could try to pull some reverse bracket scientology or something, but I am just mediocre, not fantastically good or bad.

I am mildly upset that I listened so much to all the hype only to pick Georgia upsetting Xavier and miss one more pick. A fourteen over a three, what was I thinking. I am glad however that unlike Lucas I only picked one Georgia upset. Sorry bud, no sweet sixteen for the Bulldogs.

Lastly, Bravo to the local Portland State Vikings. They got crushed this morning, but what a great time they must have had (until the game started)

Do Not Fret Al Gore!
I read a story on npr.com about how scientists are not finding an increase in ocean temperature even though air temperature is rising and the ocean levels are expanding. The water temperatures are actually slightly decreased.

I do believe in our power to control global warming, and that global warming is a very real and serious threat. This story is however, an interesting example of how much we have yet to discover about this planet of ours.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88520025

New York City

I had an I miss New York day today. I was bored during some training at my new job and found a Sudoku puzzle on a desk. I picked it up and after my first scan of the numbers I had to work with, it struck me. I was heart sick missing the bright lights of the big city. I always did Sudoku on the A train and I guess I haven't done many/any since we moved back. It has been interesting being back in Oregon since last fall. I suffer from manic swings of contentedness and longing that keep me fairly unstable most of the time.

AFI Update
This is an update to a MySpace.com blog wherein Lucas and I tallied how many of the AFI's 100 greatest movies we had seen. Once that I found out that I had only seen like half (I was shocked by this) I was inspired to get a hold of these movies and watch them quickly. Well I worked my queue and DVR and I began catching up slowly. That is until AFI released a ten year anniversary list last summer adding like twenty new movies to the list. Well recently I have been working hard to spend my movie watching free time knocking films off of both my lists. So as I move forward I will be bringing up a film now and then that is worth getting a hold of.

This Week I fell in love with 12 Angry Men, again. It is a perfect film. I thought I had seen it before, but couldn't remember exactly (so I had to watch it again). I started it while doing dishes and before five minutes had gone by, I was on the couch entranced. This drama was filmed mostly on a single set, and plays out one of the simplest stories, just perfect.

Stay tuned... I have lots of films to go.

The King of Kong
My little sister and I decided to build birdhouses yesterday. I decided quickly that I didn't want to build some cute little bird house that would quaintly compliment a small water fixture in a modest yard.
I wanted to build a monument to birds, and one of the great archatectual marvels of my favorite city not named Portland. So alas construction began on an all day project that would turn out to be a three nest home in the guise of the Empire State Building. Ridiculous, maybe. Preposterous, sort of. Obnoxious, well yes.

There is a dedication ceremony not yet scheduled for the day this modern cedar marvel lands at its resting place (somewhere in the Burt's yard). I dedicate and give proper ownership of said property to my dear friendo Lucas Burt. May your dreams be as big as my bird house.

Have a Great Weekend Part II
Okay, okay, okay....
So here is the scoop. My meeting let out early and the Blazers have won the first two games of there road trip. Now all the rest of the world may be having a hard time, but I should take heart in the fact that things, while not great, are really not so bad for me. I will take this as a lesson learned, luckily I don't have any money in stock market right now.

Have a great weekend everybody!
Well,
I just clicked over to CNN.com to see what's going on in the world and apparently someone exploded a small bomb in Times Square, Chinese hackers got into the Pentagon's computer system, the Stock Market dropped today to it's lowest point in over a year, a storm dropped a foot of snow right before a tornado hit the same area, UNC student body president Eve Carson was shot to death near campus on Wednesday, did I mention that a barrel of oil will set you back $100, I have to work on Saturday, and the Portland TrailBlazers, who have lost nine of their last ten on the road, start a five game road trip tonight. I almost can't wait for Monday.

Check this Out
Hey, I am not a huge fan of youtube.com, I am not just saying that because I dropped 30k on film school and this site is infested with these ding dongs that think they are filmmakers, but occasionally I miss something in pop culture and I check it out on the site to catch up. With that disclaimer out of the way please go to youtube.com and look up the recent music videos produced for Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show. Look up up Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Kimmel or Sarah Silverman. Some combination of this celebrity names will reveal some truly inspired television that is as funny as anything since Conan shaved his "Strike Beard"

Let's Hear it for the Boys
I just wanted to take a moment and give props to my Portland Trailblazers who, in the last two years, have given Portland a team that we can believe in again and I am very appreciative. These guys are a lot of fun to watch and even when they lose, they seem to be trying to do it the right way. When Greg Oden comes back healthy and we can rebound (in any capacity) we are going to be dangerous. You may have noticed that I began saying "we" well thats because, when I cheer for the Blazers, they do better. Rip City Baby!

Favorite Music of 2007
Well as is has been almost a year since I paused blogging and so now it is time again for the year end lists. My thought is that no one but Lucas and Amber will read this, but alas I carry on with the hope that people care enough about what I think to sit down, read, and then find this music. First hint, ask Lucas, I am always giving him music to listen to and he is probably using the discs as coasters so give him a shout. I am going to break this down into three categories; Music from artists I was familiar with before this year, New to me artists, and finally a short list of discs that I did not get to, but hope to check out before '08 gets cruising too fast....

Returning Champs
As you can read below, I was very excited about '07 before it happened and most of these albums were highly anticipated.

Arcade Fire:Neon Bible- Dark, Moody, and big. I am still listening to it. No Cars Go is pure genius.
Interpol: Our Love to Admire-Saw them in concert. Fantastic album, my favorite band.
Radiohead: In Rainbows-I didn't pay, but I should have, they are always great and worth it.
Rilo Kiley: Under the Black Light-Slow to grow on me, seeing them in concert helped. Jenny Lewis is one of my favorite artists working right now.
The Shins: Wincing the Night Away-Saw them twice this year. What a great year.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: EPA brilliant 5 song set to satiate my appetite until their next album.

News to Me
If you have had a conversation with me in 2007 this is what I told you to listen to.

Andrew Bird: Armchair ApocryphaAn album Lucas might like, why do I even try...
Beriut: The Flying Club CupCheck this out, it's fantastic.
Feist: The Reminder-She is very sharp and I love her dance moves.
The Good, The Bad, and The Queen: Self Titled-I'll follow Damon Albarn anywhere.
The Grand Ole Party: Humanimals-They are releasing this album this year, but I bought it at a concert in '07 so it goes here. These guys/gal are a blast.
The National: Boxer-I have an argument for this being the best album of 2007, listen and see.
Panda Bear: Person Pitch-Out there a little bit, and that's why I like it.


Not There Yet
Kanye West: Graduation
White Stripes: Icky Thump
Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Sank

I subscribe to the service E Music which is a pay to download site. I find most of my new music through these guys and it is cheap to download a couple of albums a month. That said my not quite got to them albums are major label records that I would have to buy outside of my nasty downloading habit and that is why I am slow to them.

Let me know what I have missed, this is what struck me and what I am listening to right now. Please recommend something if you think I would like it.

I'm Baaaack...
Well good readers of my blog (no one) My good friend Lucas has decided to start blogging again so he is dragging me back in. I am happy to be back though and I am already working on a couple of things. See you soon

MY APOLOGIES, MY APOLOGIES...
I have gone to the dark side... I have not stopped blogging, but my blogs can now be found on myspace.com. I am truely sorry for selling out like this. Amber started me an account and now I have reconnected with all my long lost peeps and I can't get away. Which sadly means that my blogger account will be neglected. I will fight this internal battle, but expect the worse good friends...
Yours Truely
ES

Just Can't Get Enough
Amber and I got an opportunity to see The Shins, again, and they were fantastic. They said that it was the biggest show they had ever played. One crazy note... Just before the concert Amber was grabbing a bite at the NewYork resturant McDonald's (I guess they're pretty big on the east coast) and as we wait in line my filmschool buddy Tyler was waiting outside. I look back to see if he is coming in and I notice that he is not... because he's talking to James Mercer (lead singer of The Shins). I move quickly to the door but James and the band are already in a cab on their way to dinner before the show. Viva Voce opened the show and I was very impressed. It is always fun to see an opening band that actually gets your blood pumping before the headliner.

The Departed!
Last night, during some serious online research, I found out that when you purchese The Departed at a Best Buy store it comes with a special case. For this movie I will geek out enough to hunt this down. I researched the store locations and picked the one that would provide the shortest round trip and then anxiously awaited sleep. So this morning I awoke with only really one task to complete, and that was to pick up my metalic encased Departed DVD. The movie turned out to be quite popular this morning and was sold out in the first store I went to. No big deal I knew exactly where the next closest location was. Except they were out as well. And so was third location, so I treked up to 86th and Lexington and found a stash of them 88 blocks from the first store I went to. It took two hours to get my DVD, but once I held that shiny case in my hand, well, it was worth it.

Finally!!!!



We got enough snow to go play in last night. Too bad we had to go out at midnight to enjoy it, but that is when it came.

I missed blogging for around a month and so I am dropping some pictures to let you know what I was up to. We started our final thesis productions, so I have been very busy working on my classmate's films. We have been to Putnam Conn, where Ben is from and then back to NYC where we have been freezing our tails off.

Hey Everybody,
A quick letter to concert goers accross the world. As you will read I have been to a couple of concerts recently and I have noticed a disturbing trend in camera use ignorance. Now when one gets the urge to capture a moment in time a digital picture is usually the medium of choice due to the ease of the technology and the handy portability of the modern device. So let us say we are in a dark concert hall and this person gets the urge to capture the moment their rock heros are blasting eardrums and cleverly twisting the english language to music. Now I have noticed the intuition of this goer is to grab that digital camera and start flashing pictures left right up and down, which is not only blinding everyone with multiple red-eye reducing flashes, but also not capturing the moment to their dismay. School Time: a typical camera flash is meant to illuminate the photographed subject from between five and fifteen feet (various models will yeild varied results), but the point is that around fifteen feet or so is as far as that flash will be effective in brightening your image. Even if it does show up on the subject at various distances beyond that maximum mark. So as I watched many a young rocker shaking their head in distress and then quickly throwing their hand back in the air to try agian, and again, and yet again to capture rock hero swooning a hundred feet away. School Time part-2: A camera captures an image by allowing light in through the lense to expose a celluloid strip (film) or a processor that digitally captures the image in zeros and ones. The lense controls the amount of light let in by opening in diameter more or less, which is called aperture. The point for fan boy rock star is that if the camera is set on flash it's aperture is set lower because the image, if within the correct distance, should be quite illuminated. Sooo... if the subject of your photograph is beyond the capabilities of the flash your picture will actually be darker than if you would have left the flash off to begin with. Which when used properly would save my eyes, as a fellow concert goer, the bands who I am sure would appreciate a lack of popping bulbs, and your photos, which will be dark, will be brighter and better in no time flat.
Your Friend
Eric the concert goer Strahl

Camera Obscura

Concerts seem to happen in pairs for Amber and I. Two days after a fantastic Shins concert we had the pleasure, along with Lucas, of seeing Camera Obscura play in Brooklyn. They are a Scottish pop band that I have been trying to get everyone I know to listen to, It's even working in a few cases. Anywho the band was a lot of fun and put on a very good show. So check them out they are a blast.

Holy Shins

Amber and I stood in the cold for an hour and a half to buy the new Shins album @ 11pm the day before it was officially released. In doing this we were awarded the opportunity to stay until midnight and see the band perform in the Virgin Mega Record Store Cafe. After standing outside for about an hour Amber questioned whether or not this would all be worth it. That was until the band came out and began the first song of the forty-minute set, Sleeping Lessons, the first track from the new album Wincing the Night Away. It was one of the coolest concert moments I've experienced. It has the most rockn' guitar The Shins play and the song sets it up very well. All I can say is buy the CD listen to the first track and then think about that song ten times better because it's live. Anyway the band played a great set and even played most of the theme song to the Golden Girls TV show becuase the third season was being released on DVD the same day as there CD.

BEST OF 2006

Albums:
Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins-Rabbit Fur Coat
Camera Obscura-Let's Get Out Of This Country
Cat Power-The Greatest
Pearl Jam-Pearl Jam
The Killer's-Sam's Town
The Raconteurs-Broken Boy Soldiers
The Decemberist's-Crane Wife
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Show Your Bones

Looking Foward to in '07...
The Shins
Arcade Fire
Block Party
(fingers crossed) Interpol

Movies:
The Departed
Little Miss Sunshine
Marie Antoinette
The Fountain
United 93
Thank You For Smoking
Brick
The Proposition

On My Way To The Theatre To See...
Children of Men
The Good German

Worst Movie Of The Year (Maybe of all time?)
X-Men III

Dark Horse for Best Movie of the Year come Oscar Time...
She's The Man (Amanda Bynes is sooooooo funny)(No seriously you guys get it on video and tell me you don't love it)

Favorite New Hobby of '06:
Listening to Podcasts on the subway-Creative Screen Writing & Filmspotting- Two Faves

LORDS OF THE MOVIE MARATHON!










Amber and I did today what we have spent many a conversation contemplating. We watched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (extended versions) back to back to back. We are in New York alone for the holidays and it seemed like a perfect way to spend an entire day with nothing to do. So here is the strategy we used to acomplish what some might say is the impossible... To watch a straight eleven hours of LOTR..
First- Exersize early- we walked the dogs to the park and then to the store for junk food (We are athletes, mind you).
Second- Well planned eating schedule-
1-Captain Crunch for breakfast
2-McDonalds for lunch (zaps all energy that would keep you from wanting to move during daytime)
3-Chips and dip + cheese puffs (for end of first movie, stamina is what I'm talking about here)
4-Energy drinks around Two Towers (prevents slipping into coma after McDs and other junk)
5-Chinese for dinner at half hour mark of Return...
6-Keep Sour Jacks in close proxemity at all times.
7-Green iced tea all day long (antioxidents help body fight all that immune system crushing sugar)
We Started at 11:50 am EST Sunday and finished at 12:41 am EST the next day (Oh Merry Cristmas all). Eleven hours of LOTR stretched into 12 hours 51 minutes with bathroom breaks and taken phone calls.
In conclusion it has been quite a journey we have been on today. A journey I would recomend to anyone who thinks they are as hard core as Amber and I are. Not many are though I imagine. The movies move very quickly and here at the end it doesn't feel like we just sat through all three. Peace Out and Merry Christmas!

You Probably did not hear it here first.
The new Shins album is due in January, and they have a video for the single Phantom Limb on youtube. Check it out if this link works, if not cut and paste. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkITsv3Nk6M

Happy Birthday Mr. Burt!

Welcome to the old man club. Trimming nose hair is soo fun.

Running with the bulls.
Christmas shopping is more fun when you are at a loss for oxygen because the sidewalks are packed from buildings to street with angry people. Merry New York Christmas.

It's the, the, the, THE GRINCH!

We saw The Grinch on Broadway this last Thursday. The theatre was beautiful and full of wide eyed little kids. It was a very fun show, although the magic of the film is probably unattainable on stage. Patrick Page (who previously played Scar in the stage version of The Lion King) was menacing and charming and really made the show. I would recomend the show for families with small children.

NYFA Has A Blog!
My class has started a blog at nyfaclass.blogspot.com so check it out and you can see all my nerdy friends talking about nothing but movies (not that anything else matters). KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

Movies To Check Out:
Some recent favorites of mine (I've had a little free time)
Theatre
Casino Royale
The Fountain
Marie Antoinette
Video
Deer Hunter
Curious George
Millions
Ed Wood
Thank You For Smoking
She's the Man
The Proposition
Postman Always Rings Twice

One Man's Treasure...

There is a very intersting phenomena that happens in an apartment riddled city like New York. People leave apartments all the time and moving furniture is a giant pain. So much so, that an alternative to moving all your stuff is just leaving your furniture behind when you relocate. It is a big factor in this phenomena that movers and vans and packing supplies actually cost more than just replacing the furniture from Ikea. Having said all this my very good friend Lucas has introduced me to the art of furniture scavaging. All this furiture that people leave behind usually just gets put to the curb on trash night by the landlords. So when one finds a piece that might just fit in their apartment they are not only getting free furniture they are saving the landfill space. Lucas has found a couple of nice pieces in the last year and called me tonight to let me know of an armoire that he spotted on the curb in front of his building (Amber has been looking for just such a piece). So we wandered over and snagged that beauty before anyone could beat us to the punch. Getting it up the stairs was a reminder that I really want to leave all of my furniture here when I move (we don't have an elevator and we live on the fifth floor). A big thank you to the very nice young man who lives in our building and helped me get it up the stairs out of the kindness of his heart.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!



Hey everyone, we braved the elements to see the Macy's Day Parade. We saw Gloria Esteban, Hall and Oates, Emmit Smith, Julie Andrews and some nice young rap star named Chris Brown (He seemed very nice). The marching bands rocked! Well we froze and got soaked but it was a blast and got home in time to see the end of the parade on TV because we were watching from where it started uptown.

I endured as long as I could. After four years of being married and more importantly, four long years of denying Amber the opportunity to color my hair... I finally gave in. This is before and after the haircut and a bit of fadding.

Bond, James Bond
Go see the new bond. Eva Green is the perfect reason if you are out of them. She is a new force in Hollywood, at least I am a huge fan. The action is non-stop and if you can keep breathing the whole time you will have a blast.

Late October Review

Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins and The Killers, How much can one person handle. First Jenny Lewis, she along with the twins and her great band put on a fantastic show. The music and dancing was very fun, but her voice carried the whole show and left everyone wanting more. She is a loved performer and even had reasonably priced t-shirts ($15). The Killers, expensive T's ($30) and a mediocre venue, The Theatre at Madison Square Garden (don't got to a show in the 300 section not cool) not the stadium but an underground theatre with very low ceilings. BUT, The Killers rocked and although we were too far away from the sound system and the band frankly the energy was still getting us going all the way back. The show was great fun and the band was terrific.

Marie Antoinette

This may very well not be one of the best movies of the year, but it is one of my favorites by far. I loved every minute of this film. Sofia Coppola says so much about her characters and story with out an overload of heavy diologue, she lets her camera film and we as an audience get a chance to feel.

The Departed
It has been a big week in my world!
New albums from The Killers and The Decemberists, both of which are terrific, started the week off with a bang. The boom came today when I saw The Departed, Martin Scorsese's new film, a remake the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. I mention the fact that it is a remake so that I can say that from frame one it is a Martin Scorsese film. It is fierce, brutal, and unaplogetic. Say what you will about Scorsese, he is not for everyone maybe, but his films bleed passion and and truth even if playing out as the opera they tend to. He releases a film once every two years or so and I begin waiting for them as soon as the credits role on the last one. Scorsese at his tender age is making films with more guts than most any filmmaker half his age. Quintin Tarantino claimed that directing is a young man's job, I give you my two favorite action films of 2006: Miami Vice by 63 year young Michael Mann and The Departed by 64 year young Martin Scorsese.

Lucas and Eric's Big Adventure.
Lucas needed to go downtown and check on buying a cable for music recording and I happened to be on vacation for the week so ventured out in the big city to wander around for a while. We got off the subway and headed in the direction of Times Square where the music shop was located and we were stopped by the producers of the Dr. Keith Ablow show. He snuck up behind us and before we could run were being interviewed for a "what the people on the street think" segment. It was actually fun and he was very nice. I will update if we find when the show airs, it is new I am not sure it airs on the west coast, should be sometime next week. We then saw Nellie Furtado do a live show in the middle of Times Square. We were then wandering uptown and came across the Letterman show taping a segment on a side street and they crashed a car almost into a crowd of gathering viewers. As we were leaving the late show building were heard some cool music coming from a back door of the Roseland venue and we walked around to the front only to realize the cool music we heard was a sound check for the Racontours who were putting on a show that night. Never a dull moment in the NYC, and stay tuned for the details of Malinda's big night with Conan O'Brien.

"Revenge"
I have just completed shooting my first semester final film project. I have screened the footage but have not begun editing yet. I am very proud of the work and will keep updating as the project moves forward. I do have to say that half way through film school I feel as though I am hitting my stride as a student of the great art.

The Black Daliha Sucks!
I am sorry but don't waste your money.

Hello Everybody,
Sorry for the delay in posts I have been prepping my first term movie. I am remaking an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode. I have condensded it down quite a bit but I am very excited to film on Wednesday. I have a couple of terrific actors and I think we will make something to be proud of. Since I wrote last Andrea and I tried to crash the VMA's. We couldn't get within a block and a half but we had fun. We got home and watched one of the worst produced award shows I have ever seen. The Killer's were one of the few bright spots which leads me to my next point. Amber Lucas Malinda and I are going to see The Killer's in October at Madison Square Garden. 75% of us are completly stoked and Malinda will be converted asap. I also got the Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) CD and I am enjoying it, and Amber and I are going to see her in October as well. Lots of news and tired fingers, I will contact you all after I finish shooting so have fun!

RIP
Steve Irwin, the crocidile hunter, was killed just off the coast of Australia today. When Amber and I first started hanging out we would watch his show together into the wee hours of the night. Ever annoying he has always held a special place in my heart.