Randoms

Here's some weird/funny/random stuff that happened to me recently...

About a month to a month and a half ago, we started hearing this frigging rooster crowing in the park across the street at around 4:00 a.m. every morning. We live across from a huge park that has a gigantic playground and a little choo-choo train that goes by maybe twice an hour. The train whistle is kind of annoying, but it's also kind of quaint. However, the low, guttural build up to crows that comes from a rooster loose in the woods is just annoying.

Each morning my wife and I would groan and one of us would curse the bird...then we'd put a pillow on our heads and go back to sleep. But the day after my last Giants game my wife told me our neighbor came over that night. I'm not sure if I mentioned the new neighbor before...but when we moved in there was some questionable concerns about his like (or murderous hatred) of animals. So my wife tells me "__________ came over last night and he said "well, you won't have to worry about that rooster any more." Yeah, he killed it. We didn't ask how or when but the why was pretty evident.



Yesterday at work I was walking back from lunch and I crossed a bridge that has a little creek in it. I stopped and wondered if there were even any fish in the creek so I looked down. There were all sorts of little minnows and even a few bigger fish just hanging out. The I saw a turtle swimming under water! It was just cruising around and eating stuff it found on the bottom of the creekbed. I stood there and sort of revelled in the neatness of the moment. It was nature in action and not like...crows or squirrels. It was a turtle just swimming along!

As I stodd there taking in the peaceful scene I somehow wondered how turtles have sex. Well, how do turtles have sex? It struck me as odd not only that my mind went there but also that I had never really thought about it before. I mean...they're basically a shell with 4 legs, a neck and a head, right? I've even owned a few turtles in my life and the thought simply never crossed my mind. It just seems like an awkward mating ritual at best and a painful disaster at worst.
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I was walking Igby in the park last night when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number or area code so I didn't think it was anyone I was trying to avoid. I answered it and the womans voice on the other end said, "Oh...hiii.....this is (so and so) from the (so and so) and I'm wondering if Gilley or Glenda are there?" "Gilley or Glenda?" I asked. "Yes...either one" came the reply. "Sadly," I said, "I think you have the wrong number."

Gilley or Glenda...come on.

other 756 $tuff...

This feels funny to post, but I have to.

So, the guy I went to the game with last night is NOT into baseball. Great guy, cool guy to hang with, great taste in music....doesn't get like...diehard freaking out about sports. That's fine. But as we were leaving, his ticket from the game kind of fell out of his pocket. This guy on the steps saw it and acted like my friends liver had fallen out. "Dude, your ticket!!! My buddy brushed it off and said, "nah, it's cool" and the guy looked like some kind of murder or ancient burial ground uprooting had happened. I saw some freaky looking guy pick it up and give it to some skater punk.

Now look, I gave up collecting comic books and baseball cards a long time ago. But I still have my stub from Greg Maddux's 300th win and I have stuff that means alot to me personally. I can admit to you, dear blog readers, that I grabbed a BUNCH of streamers from the home run celebration last night and stuck em in my pocket. I like stuff like that.

So, this skater kid ends up with my buddy's ticket and my buddy just keeps walking. So I walk over to the kid and go, "oh man, thanks for grabbing my ticket" and I swipe it from him. No one said much and we all went on our merry way (us, way, way before the end of the game because once Barry hit it, I was done for the year!) back to the car.

By the time I got home I was restless so I decided to see if people were selling ticket stubs on ebay. Sure enough, $68 for a stub. I put my extra on ebay for $50 starting bid and buy it now for $300 and I currently have TWO bids! I end within the half hour...

UPDATE......sold the stub for.....$73.00

756

The dog days of summer are upon me at work. As much as I love my job, I'm getting sick of the same kids for 8 hours a day. Same arguments, same jokes, same reprimands, same Uno games (although I did buy a "High School the Musical" Uno set which seems to really intrigue the kids). Zzzzz. Yesterday was one of those days too....where I didn't feel like being there but had no real excuse or reason to leave early. I grabbed some lunch (same frigging store) and returned to my closet/office to eat. I then got a phone call from an old friend who had 2 CLUB LEVEL tickets for the Giants game.

Now, I had sworn off this sorry excuse for a team upon my return from seeing them in Boston. They frigging suuuuuuuuuuck. They don't even suck in a "hey, we're young and are going to get better" way. They're flat, boring, predictable and horrible. But, Barry was tied with hammerin' Hank and hell, I've seen some pretty cool stuff in my career as a baseball fan and dammit if this crappy '07 team didn't owe me something. So I had my reason to leave eearly and off I went.

I picked up my buddy at his house. He's a union plumber and these are Union Plumbers seats. About 92% of my friends and family are plumbers for some reason. Very, very weird. As I always say, I could be a plumber....all you need to know is shit flows downhill, paydays Friday and don't bite your nails. But I digress. My friend is not a sports fan and he just wasn't grasping the true magnitude of the situation. As soon as we got there, he did. The yard was buzzing.

I hate to be one of those sketchy liar types who say "I could feel it in the air" before something happens. Kind of like people who scream "it's earthquake weather!!" in October or November, almost praying for an earthquake so they can say, "remember when I said it was earthquake weather!?!" But once we got to our (sweet, 2nd row, club level, behind home plate) seats, there was a stillness in the air. It just felt like tonight was the night and I just wanted it to be over. Let me step back for a second.

I know people hate Barry. They say he's a prick, a cheater, he didn't sign their ball, he raped their kitten, he has a recliner outside his locker, he's a showboat...blah blah. I used to feel the same way. Then I realized, the dude is who he is and he simply is not going to change. Not for you, not for me, not for anyone. I totally respect that as long as he's not hurting people. I then realized, the guy has never done anything to hurt his team. Ever. He doesn't get busted at strip clubs or break his wrist doing wheelies on his motorcycle. Hell, he's been on TWO teams his whole career. For a guy thats always been the caliber of a player that Barry is, in the era of free agency, that's nuts. A-Rod is already on his 3rd team and he'll be a Giant next year making it 4 teams. Hell, Barry's only had 4 managers his whole career! What's my point? I guess I'm saying that for a selfish asshole (as he's supposed to be) he sure has shown alot of loyalty. Anywho...

Since I know people hate him and since I have a big mouth, I always find myself defending him. I'm a Giants fan and he is our team. I'll be damned if I'll let someone badmouth the best player on my team. But, it gets tiring and frankly, kind of boring. I, and I think all Giants fans, just wanted the HR chase to be over. I know I did. And I also wanted to see it.

So back to the still of the evening, August 7, 2007. Barry was 2-2 when he came up for the 3rd AB. The Giants were tied and the at bat was a pretty good battle. Then...the swing. The hit. I seriously don't remember any sounds. I just watched the ball and prayed it would clear the fence. It did and it strangely felt like a weight was removed from me. I was so happy for Barry and so happy he became the Home Run King and I was (and am) soooooo happy it's over. Fireworks went off, streamers burst fourth and Barry rounded the bases. When hank Aaron came on the screen to congratulate Barry, I was finally moved to tears. Well, moved to misty eyes. It was a perfect night and the highlight of an otherwise miserable season coupled with what, 9 years of arguing in bars, stadiums, message boards and anywhere else where I couldn't let it go.

No matter what I say, if you think there should be an * or not or if he really is a scumbag or if he's not that bad. No one's going to change their mind this far into the game. There's no new information (although my, Kerry Wood looked slender last weekend) about who did what and all we have now are blowhards on both ends. Think what you wanna think. me and Barry and all us Giants fans don't care.

Congrats Barry. You're the best. Don't ever change.

Superbad.

There's a new movie coming out called SUPERBAD and it looks hillarious. The first crop of trailers they had for the film didn't do much for me, but this scene is frigging...nuts.

NOT SAFE FOR WORK...OR KIDS...OR PRUDES You've been warned.

Flight of the Conchords

I'm really liking HBO's new show, "Flight of the Conchords." I agree it's kinda of a British "Tenacious D," But I never got into Tenacioud D. I do like FOTC though. It's still finding it's feet but this song makes me crack up every time. I'm putting it here so I'll know where to find it...

Me so sensitive...

Since I have still been working and thus, not really enjoying life as much as I'd like, I thought I'd share another side of me. My deep, sensitive side. Above is a photo of me with my new niece, Lizzy J at dinner at "The Tides" in Bodega Bay. Yeah, "The Birds." Again. OH! This time I got a mouse pad!

If I were single, in that photo you would not only see hordes of women behind me "ooh-ing" and "ahhh-ing," I'd have 20+ comments of equal "oooh-ing" and "ahhh-ing" from girls. Alas, as is evidenced by the tiny silver band that used to be a full inch-wide before I returned to Nor-Cal, land of amazing (yet not light) beer, I'm spoken for.

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Today at work, I took a group of kids to mini-golf/bumper boats (ie: "LET'S GET DON!!!)/and video arcadery. If was fun although man, I'm sick of driving. Plus when the kids could only think of "Happy Birthday" as a song to sing all the way home, the day tends to go long.



That photo above is a camera phone shot of this awesome faux-gold pendant I made for my wife. If you can't see it clearly, it's me leaning on my left hand as it's folded under my chin. You pose for a few photos, pick the one you want and then the machine clinks it out on the pendant for a mere $5. Very, very romantic.

So there you go, I'm not all beer, movies, music and paranoia. I like kids and trinkets too. And beer, movies, music and being paranoid.

New Project: Update 1

The man in the photo is my doc partner John. Take a good luck because he's sober (mostly) and that's rare. Then, look at what he's holding. It was a small camcorder that got dropped out of the window of a limo, run over by a rastafarian 4-door and then dragged by a boat.

Curious how that can happen? I bet you are....stay tuned true believers....

Bob...Allen. Allen, Bob...

I simply cannot wait for the new Todd Haynes movie "I'm Not There." This year and last have been unexpectedly "Dylanccentric" due to his biography (ies), the Scorsese doc (which is frigging...awesome) and his lil tour than included Santa Rosa, right where I live. He's also playing this summer at the "joke" venue...Styx and Def Leppard are there 2 days later. I may actually go to Styx/Def Lep, but thats another blog entry.

I've always really loved Dylan, but he's so unapproachable as an artist and his back catalogue is so amazing, I always felt like a major late comer getting into him. Anywho, I sucked it up (and illegally downloaded tons of stuff) and now I'm up to snuff for the most part. Hence this late night entry and the new movie...which features a few different people playing Bob Dylan. Here...it's Cate Blanchett and a certain comedian playing a certain beat poet. It's all pretty awesome and brilliant if ya ask me!

New Project

So this Saturday, I start a new doc project with my partner, John. I don't want to give too much away, but my real time friends know what it is and it's going to ruuuuule! By rule, I mean...totally, totally rule. I will say this...

There's alot of heartbreak in the world. Our democracy is crumbling around us, life's unfair, gas prices are ridiculous. People on our own soil...hell...in our own towns are starving and no one takes notice. As commoners in society, we really have no voice and sometimes, it's up to the music and filmmakers of the world to enlighten us. Our next film will touch on none of those issues. It will not solve or strike up a single conversation on the state of the world...per se.

All I will say is...if you like ridiculous, id driven entertainment but not as blantantly stupid as "Jackass," you're going to want to get in line now to see what we got cookin'. We shoot Saturday and I hope to have pics up soon to give you a better sense of the project.

New five a.m. songs!!

Sorry for not posting....I've been soooper busy. Ugh. I long for the days of not having a job and writing stuff all day. Blogs, screenplays, movie reviews. Alas, it doesn't pay well and if you don't get paid, you can't buy beer. Plus, personally there hasn't been much going on. Or so I thought. Then I realized I neglected to announce that FIVE AM, the band that I manage (and that also consists of my friends) have "released" the 3 songs they recorded up in Cou-Town. Or, Vancouver, BC if you will. These songs are amazing All three. I definitely think the song "Be Still" is pop perfection and you'd have to be a totally cynical asshole to not like it. I AM a cynical asshole and I love it. It's beautiful.

Although I love all three songs, my second favorite is the song "Lillian." When I first heard it, it took me aback. Having heard it live I always had it pegged for a more Americana sound. Pedal steel, a harmonica....maybe a wurlitzer. But the bands producer, Jeff Dawson, took it and crafted it into an even more beautiful creature that I really love now. At first, it took time to dig it because I had it turning out differently in my mind, but that's why you pay good producers. To make something special.

Anywho, the guys are back and we're currently plotting our attack and that's no easy task. I once managed a band that had 11 members and trying to get them to agree on gigs, albums, set lists and who's sitting by who in the van was brutal. Now that our little "team" has started evolving, I see those days happening again. And that's fine. In fact, it's something I look forward to because it's alot like making a film. We're all hoping and thinking and plotting in our own minds and when you get together, you have to hash it out. But it's a good feeling knowing we're all pushing in the same direction. "What" direction that is...I have no idea...but we all want to succeed and that's what's important.

PLEASE listen to the new songs >>>HERE<<< and chime in if you get a sec.

Hi-larious

When I was at CineVegas, I was totally, totally blown away by this movie called "The Living Wake." The guy who wrote it and stars in it, Mike O'Connell is a comedian out of L.A. and I'd never heard of him. But I say now without hesitation, he's a genius. He's like a dirtier Zack Galafanakis and that's a good, good thing.

Here's a video he did that alerted Mark from Film Threat to his brilliance. It's nothing like "The Living Wake," but it's still really funny...

Annnnd...I'm an UNCLE!!

My lil sister Kiff gave birth to a baby GIRL TODAY!! Yay Kiff!! As you can see from the photos, the baby looks like Kiff if she was a really pissed off old lady. If you've never met my sister Kiff...now you know what she would look like if you met her in like, 60 years and her soup was cold.

Anyway, I'm super excited and proud and thrilled to be an UNCLE! I also think Kiff and her husband Chris are totally awesome people so I'm super happy for them as well.

GO KIFF!! Now we just have to think of a pointless, yet catchy nickname for little Elisabeth Jean....E.J.? Lizzy-J? Rest easy, I'm on the case!

R.I.P. Shooter

Bad news for Giants fans as my personal all-time favorite Giants closer, the amazing Rod Beck was found dead in his home today. He was only 38. While I don't have a specific Rod Beck memory, I just remember him bringing a smile to my face when he came into games. He was fat, had a mullet and that burly 'stache and as he looked in for the sign, he'd always dangle his arm and swing it back and forth. Sure, it was all an act and no one knew that better than Beck. And then he'd strike your ass out.

As of now, there's no details on what his cause of death was, but I'm sure it'll turn out to be something shitty. Apparently he had gone to rehab for substance abuse in 2004. Plus he smoked like a chimney and apparently drank like a champ. Man, what a drag.

Read an excellent article abour Beck by the outstanding sports writer Henry Schulman HERE.

Best video ever...

Tonight...it's you...

Tonight....is...

CHEAP TRICK AT THE PETALUMA FAIR!!!!!

When I heard the news that one of my top 5 all-time favorite bands was playing the PETALUMA FAIR I squealed like a little girl as I drove my car through town. I. Love. Cheap. Trick! I've seen em 2-3 times but never in the friendly confines of my hometown...and it's going to be SWEEEEeeet! If you're reading this and can make it, come on down!! Pics to follow!

p.s. When I took a shuttle from the airport to my car after Cinevegas, the guy driving me had his name on a placard in the van. I took a photo and that's it! (Ed. note his name was "Surendra"...as in, "Surendra, surendra...but don't give yourself away...)

Home is where the nap is...

I made it back from Boston and I'm beat! I have friends who travel all the time, sometimes from city to city and hotel to hotel for months in a row. I don't know how they do it. Flying knocks me out and my nightbird lifestyle certainly doesn't help. I've also recently discovered the secret and joy of sleeping entirely through the night (hint: prescription drugs) and it's made me increasingly lazy. Or increasingly restful. Whereas I used to wake up every hour on the hour for five hours prior to when I needed to be up, now I'm out like a light. It's great but sometimes I just go back to sleep...like a normal person.

Anyway...Boston was incredible! I am now a Red Sox fan. I think everyone besides Yankee and A's fans kind of have a soft spot for the Red Sox, but being in that atmosphere was an incredible experience. I LOVE baseball and being in a stadium full of people who love their team (and aren't showing off for clients, yakking on their cell phones or reading the paper) was refreshing. People stood and cheered for every second strike, hoping for the K. Plus, the Red Sox not only have a great team, they're balanced in every sense of the word. Sluggers & superstars (Papi and Ramirez), working class players (Youklis), local heroes (Papelbon, Pedroia)....strikeout pitchers (Dice-K, Schilling the prick), a knuckleballer (Wakefield), a CLOSER (remember what those look like feloow Giants fans?) and some goats (Julio Lugo and JD Drew...although Drew seems to be coming on).

The worst part of the trip: THE GIANTS. Seriously, watching my team stink to high heaven with absolutely no hope of winning shit this year was the worst part.

But I'm back now and my job becomes the real deal (as in, 8 hours a day) for the next 2-3 months. I also have a new doc me and John are shooting and I'm going to attempt to write a short film and then, at summers end, get started on a feature script. Or maybe an outline that I want to shoot with some improv actors. I dunno. I'm ready to get back to work! Work on movie stuff that is.

Boston Days 2 & 3

I was out late last night and got up early today to tour Fenway, so I'll combine yesterday and today into one post.

The game yesterday was a blast! Fenway is everything AT&T wishes it was. The atmosphere is unreal, the fans are IN to the games and the whole experience is amazing.

We got to the park early for BP and walked right down next to the Giants dugout. As batting practice went on, some local TV crew started asking gathered fans what they plan to do when Barry comes up. The Sox fan next to me got all up in arms..."I'm gonna boo him! He's a cheater, a bum...a disgrace to the game of baseball!!" About 30 seconds after his little diatribe, Barry came out of the dugout for BP and the very same guy starts snapping pictures of Barry like crazy. I ask the guy, "If you're gonna boo this disgrace...why are you taking so many pictures?!" He got all pissy and we started arguing. His point of contention is that ONLY SF fans like and cheer Barry. I said, "You ever see the reception Schilling gets on the road?" Apparently that didn't equal the hatred for Bonds. At this point, Barry was signing autographs for kids...what a jerk. I was laughing.

The guy next to the picture taker decides to regale me with a story with the point being, Barry has no class. In this guys story, his brother in law is at the Red Sox/Brewers game when Aaron was with them. In the middle of the game, Aaron came into the stands to sign an autograph for this guys brother in law. After this well drawn story that really did have the conclusion that Bonds had no class, the following exchange occured...

Me: Soooo...Hank Aaron who got death threats because he was black and broke the Babes record walked OFF the field in the game,...in BOSTON...the last team to integrate in baseball...went into the stands and signed an autograph for your brother in law.

Fat Guy: That's right.
Me: That seems a little far fetched.
Fat Guy: You callin' me a liar?
Me:..............uhh......well, not a liar...but it seems fishy.

Then Barry got in the cage and bailed me out. Having really only seen barry on the road in Oakland and L.A. (who's fans are lame) I really had no grasp on how truly HATED he is. Sure, you hear the boos on TV, but being in the actual environment is really kind of hostile and uncomfortable. There's a true, deep, visceral hatred for Barry Bonds and it's really kind of scary to me. It's one thing to boo a player, but I felt like the boos and taunts Barry got had no sense of fun or joy behind them as they do with A-Rod or Damon. In fact last night at the game the guy behind me said the response to Bonds seemed more brutal than the one the Yankees get.

The game last night, as you saw, was horrendous. Who knew Julian Tavarez could channel Cy Young. This team is AWFUL. Simply terrible. I was surprised I didn't take much flak from fans, hardly any at all. The people around me booed Bonds but didn't really like...boo me. It was the way it should be done. All the fans I met were extremely, extremely cool. Asking questions about our park, our teams chances (hahahah!) and the whole Bonds thing. It was very social. In fact the scuzziest fams I met all weekend were Giants fans. A bunch of frigging sailors on shore leave embarrassing me and my team. During a moment of silence for a departed Boston sports writer, some jackass yelled "Go Giants!" Granted, I met a bunch of COOL Giants fans here but there's some bad apples in town and that was annoying.

Fenway park is incredible. The seats we had were brutal for both days-wooden with NO leg room. I'm 6"4 so I'm used to little leg room, but it was rough today on my booty and legs. Again, the whole atmosphere around the park is electric. Today, the fans were on their feet for every 2 strike count...cheering their team on. It felt like the game was big and mattered and it did, to Red Sox fans. They LOVE their team and they should. They're solid all the way around and have 2 GREAT young farm players (Pedroia and Youklis) who are going to be around for a while The Red Sox are the anti-Giants. I also LOVED the classic "Sweet Caroline" singalong that happens in the 8th. I don't know if they showed it on TV, but it's pretty funny.

I'm contemplating going to the game tomorrow, but might just hang out at a pub near the park. That's as much fun as being IN the park, and beers cheaper. Plus, I really think I hate this Giants team. I know hates a strong word, but that's why I use it.

dlew

p.s. Go Boston!

Boston Pics

Boston...Day 1

We got into Boston around 3:00 yesterday and after dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we headed over to Fenway to take a look around. I didn't realize they were playing the Rockies...but I didn't want to pop my Fenway cherry on them. We walked around the outside of the park and took it all in. I love the way there's a whole ballpark culture here, unlike the half-assed one in San Francisco.

Here, everyone has on their Sox gear and they just...hang out. There's all kinds of yummy smelling food being cooked and lots of classic Bostonian accents baring out "Scorecaaaads!" Or..."Get your Yoooook joysey herahh." You get the idea.

After checking out the scene, we headed over to the Baseball Tavern to get some food. The place was about 1/2 a block from Fenway and was packed with Sox fans chugging down cheaper beers and jawing about the team. It felt like a small town bar, everyone was hanging out, chatting, laughing. About 15 minutes before game time, it was like someone hit a switch. Beer bottles tipped up and the place emptied en masse. After some good grub we decided to hang out and watch the game at the Tavern.

My mom took off after about an hour but never one to leave a bar, I watched the whole game and took in the vibe. I gotta say, eveyone was super friendly. I talked to a bunch of people and no one gave me crap for being a Giants fan. I figured I'd get some questions regarding my sexuality or Bonds...but I didn't. One guy asked if I liked Bonds and I said "yeah" and then I quickly added "with Schilling, JD Drew and Manny on your team, you know what it's like to have talent that's a little nutty."

The Red Sox were getting stomped and slowly the bar began to fill back up. After they pulled Josh Beckett, the bar really got packed. Lots of cute girls wearing their Boston hats and shirts. I saw a TON of Ortiz shirts and jersies as well as a bunch of Papelbon, Varitek and Youklis gear, but hardly any Manny stuff and NO Schilling stuff. I thought that was odd. I hung out for a while, watched the end of the boring ass NBA finals and headed home.

Today, we go to the game. I hope Zito steps up and quits letting the AL own him. And, I hope Barry goes yaaaaahd.

Robert Rodriguez's 10 minute cooking school...

Sweeeet...and yummy. I'm really just putting this up so I can make the dish later and not have to find it on the internets. But it does look good...

Where to begin...or end

As you may have noticed, there's a "Cinevegas: Day 1" entry and that's all. That's because I'M IN LAS VEGAS!!! The festival is really, really great but just as exhausting as any other. Thankfully, most screenings don't start until 1:00 p.m. or later which is very considerate of festival programmers Trevor Groth and Mike Plante. However, if you're going to sit in the hotel bar drinking Coors Light until 4:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. comes quickly. I've actually been pretty good with my money and partying after getting hosed that first night. As much as I love this festival, Vegas I can do without. I'll write more on that later.

I've seen some really great films. One was "Choose Connor" and the other was "The Living Wake." "Choose Connor" is about this kid who wants to get into politics and lands a job on the campaign of a congressman trying to upgrade to the senate. Once in the fold this kid finds out just how diabolical and sleazy politics really is. There's much more to it than that but what really blew me away was that the writer director isn't even 21 yet and this film is totally solid.

"The Living Wake" is simply amazing. It's this ridiculous movie about a man who finds out he's going to die that evening. He decides to make ammends with people and invite friends, enemies and new aquaintances to his living wake. Word cannot do this film justice. I was grinning the whole way through and can't wait to see it again. Reviews for both are on Film Threat (http://www.filmthreat.com).

I've hit a few parties and they're fun and just outrageous. A few times I've found myself in the cabanas at the Palms which is where all the rich celebs go to party. I'm constantly feeling like I don't belong but free drinks make me feel a little more at home. I haven't gambled much, although I did get a little sucked in Thursday night after Mark called it a night. But I only dropped a little over $100.

Todays my last day and then I'm out which is good and bad. This festival is weird in that it's backloaded. There's a bunch of great stuff now but later in the week there's three tributes (Chalize Theron, Anothony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley) and some bigger premieres. But I really don't think I could last much longer financially or physically. Everything is expensive here. I guess I'm nore of a Reno/Tahoe guy than a Vegas guy. But, I am now and will forever more be a Cinevegas guy!

Coolest kid...ever

Or....not

Cinevegas Day 1...

I rolled into Las Vegas around 2:00 yesterday for the Cinevegas film festival. What had started as a huge team of Film Threat people got whittled down to me and my good buddy Mark Bell. Fine by me! I got to our digs at Planet Hollywood and checed in. As Borat would say, "verrrrry niiiiice!" I chilled for a few, took a shower and went to blow a few bucks gambling. Nice, huh? I broke even and then Mark and I headed to the "Red Carpet" for "Oceans 13."

I've never really been on a red carpet and this was a pretty monstrous first red carpet. Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Ellen Barkin, Don Cheadle...Matt Damon. They were all there and mark and I were squashed along the ropes trying to take pictures. I took some and so did Mark and I've posted them below. Marks are at: http://www.filmthreat.com/blog/?p=744 but I think I took those too. I dunno. It was nuts! I don't get star struck unless it's by someone I really, really, really like...and that's not celebrities. But motherfucking George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon? Come on. It got me pretty much like a kid in a candy store to be 5 feet away from those guys.

After the red carpet clusterfuck, we went into the screening and saw the movie. It's pretty awesome! I mean, it's silly and pretty impossible to do what they do (and have done in all the "Oceans" movies) but all the characters are great as always, there's some plot twists..yadda yadda. If you like the other ones, you'll love this one. So Mark and I sat front row for that and then ehaded to the Playboy Club for an invite only after-party.

Trent (from five a.m.) and I always talk about how weird it is doing something that isn't really "work" because it's not 9-5 and doesn't pay the bills...but it's what you truly want to do. Then, you do it and it's frigging awesome, then you're back to work at your real job. Rather than take the defeatist approach I always take (as in, "yeah, this is great...but it's back to real life Monday") I decided to think backwards from that. For instance, last night, we saw a huge movie premiere with the biggest stars alive. Then, we went to a party on top of a hotel in Vegas with about 15 half naked chicks dancing around. Drinks were free too. Then, thinking back to the day before, I was playing Uno with four 8 year olds at work. When you look at it backwards, it becomes really pretty funny rather than frustrating.

One thing that sucked was, we were having fun at the Playboy Club (duh) but when the party ended, the drinks cost money. "Hey," I thought, "this is Vegas...they practially give booze away!" So I got me and mark 2 more rounds. Then it got crowded so I settled my bill. $45.00. Damn. It. They got me good.

Anyway, I'm having fun and might lay low and have some drinks today. There's a movie I want to see, but it also plays tomorrow at 3:00 so we'll see. Stay tuned for more tales of screwage, celebrity and debauchery...

Cinevegas pics...

These photos were taken with my camera phone....I can't find the cord to my digital camera was is extremely frustrating. Grrr...

Wayne Newton




Don Cheadle


Matt Damon and George Clooney


Crappy Group Shot

Uhhhh......

I noticed these cans recently when I was in the supermarket in Calistoga. They were next to cans of Haggis but I couldn't fit those in the photo. Must be the "nasty fucked up food" isle.

I'm off to VEGAS tomorrow until Monday. I'll be at Cinevegas which should be a hoot. Stay tuned here, at Film Threat and my blog at Petaluma 360 for updates. The Film Threat stuff will be reviews and possibly blogs over there as they pertain to the site, Petaluma 360 will be more geared towards Petaluma/small town type stuff and this one will be a free for all. Nothing like surfing the net for me me me me me!

Funny things I've heard lately...

I tend to really listen to, notice...take in pretty much everything around me. While it helps keep me entertained and, I feel, helps me with my screenwriting, it also frequently gets me pissed off (because people are so. frigging. stupid.) However sometimes it's just funny. For instance...

A few weeks ago, my elderly neighbor and his wife were moving to a "Retiree Community." Their son bought their house and they were going to move down the road a spell to this nice golf course community for old folks. As Tom (the neighbor) was getting in his truck to leave, we chatted for a few minutes and I asked him where they were headed. He told me about the old folks community and I said, "Oh, it's nice over there. I've played golf on their course a few times."

Tom kind of smiled and says, "Yeah...it's nice alright. You walk in on your own two feet and by the time you leave, they carry you out feet first."
---------------------------------------

Last weekend (Memorial Day) I woke up Sunday morning with a big hangover. Igby was on the bed being squirmy so I rolled over and pet him as I opened my eyes. I noticed his left eye was swollen shut. Since he's got kind of gooey eyes, I thought it was just build up, so I pried it open. When I got a better look, it seemed like someone had taken a fork and scrambled his pupil like an egg. I freaked out!! It was super red and the black pupil was like...all distorted.

Erica was out of town so I pulled myself together and went to the emergency vet. It took over 3 hours. Ugh. Plus, I'm kind of new to the pet owner world so I was ill-prepared for those weird people who's whole life is their pet. This one woman was there with her lameass little Spaniel and I had to listen to a run down of her dogs recent injuries as I waited for the vet to finish fixing Igby's jacked up eye.

Finally (thankfully) the vet brought Igby out and he (Igby, not the vet) proceeded to sniff the other dogs and be his usual gregarious self. After all the other owners "oooohed" and "awwwed" Igby, I put him on his leash and went to the counter to do paperwork. The annoying ladies Spaniel kind of followed us and they were sniffing each other and whatnot. As I signed my credit card bill, I heard her yank her Spaniel away from Igby and bring the dog back across the room. She goes, "Ohh...you stay away from that little doggie...he just wants to have sex with you."

Igby's fixed so it made me kind of laugh to myself. Now I feel like I should have told her not to get her shitty little dogs hopes up. Frigging skanky little Spaniel.

Snoop doggy doggy dog og og

Many people know that Charles Schultz lived in Santa Rosa, CA...where I live. I hate this town, but that's not the point of this entry. Each year or so the town gets all decorated with these big ole Peanuts statues. A few years back it was Charlie Brown and then there was Woodstock. Different businesses buy the statue and then decorated them however they see fit. It's pretty cool. This years statue is Snoopy and Woodstock so there's all these Snoopy and Woodstock statues all over town. Here's some photos I took during a recent trip downtown...


Boozehound Snoopy. He's holding a glass of wine and has apparently been stomping grapes...or Grimaces brains out.


Skater Snoopy.


Gay Pride Snoopy....or, rainbow Snoopy is you're not a smartass like me.




Egyptian Snoopy!!

I hope next year they'll have some lesser known Peanuts character like Franklin or Marcy. That would kick ass.

Oh, come on you guys.

Out here in Northern California we have a steadily growing gang problem. I honestly don't know why. I mean, I do know why but I don't see why the cycle of violence needs to continue. See, out here we have a ton of migrant workers due to our agriculutral areas and they come up from Mexico and L.A. to work. In my personal opinion and from having been around tons of Hispanic families, the majority of them are hard working, genuine and friendly people. But there's always some bad apples in every demographic.

Now, the gang problem in L.A. has spawned 2 distinctive groups to do battle over drugs and guns and whatever else gangs dally in. I guess in bigger cities and areas, it's all about making money and providing protection for their neighborhoods. However, if you're going to get out of that area and make a better life for yourself, why bring the gang problem with you? This is especially true in the teeny tiny town where I work, but also true for Petaluma. Both of which are becoming infiltrated with gangs. I think some of the "gangs" are poser kids who are trying to look cool and act the part, but I also think there are lots of relatives within these relocated people that are/were gang members and they bring it with them.

**DISCLAIMER** Yes, I know now all gang members are Hispanic or black. But I also know a good majority of the gang members we're seeing up here are Hispanic. So, there. **End Disclaimer**

Anyway, we've been seeing a steady rise in "gang" activity around here for months (if not years) and the other night on the news, I saw a quick shot of a shopping center in Petaluma and the newscaster mentioned that three people were beaten there. Freaky! This was Bay Area news too, not podunk local news. I somehow missed the story and have been waiting on the local paper to run something on it and today, they did:
Read it here.

If you don't feel like reading it, the basic scoop is, some gang members beat up three Staples employees who were on a break because the Staples employees were wearing red. No, I'm not kidding. Three Staples employees were wearing their red Staples work shirts and got beat up for it.

Like I said, I understand why gangs are around in big cities and I get that alot of times, they become family. But I guarantee "real gangs" in big cities do not beat up Staples or Target employees because they're wearing their work shirts. They might beat up Stples employees who are also gang members, but that's not the point. It just seems really...silly. And wrong too, but mostly silly. If you really want to be in a gang and beat up your sworn enemy gang, that's fine. I hope you all kill each other off and we don't have to worry about you. But c'mon, beating up people who are unlucky enough to have to work at Staples? That's just doing it wrong. Do McDonalds employees get beaten up by the gang that claims red because their uniforms are blue? I guess I just wish gang members could be more considerate in terms of who they beat up. Sometimes, a shirt is just a shirt.

that's funny

At another time, I'll post about how and when I think I lost any and all connection with British humor...or, humour as it were. I loved "Shaun of the Dead" and as a kid, spent countless hours watching Monty Python's Flying Circus on channel 9, but other that that...I just don't get it. I love the American version of "The Office" and have somewhat enjoyed the original British version...but again, my lack of getting Brit humour holds me back. Thus, I don't dig Ricky Gervais all that much (and I feel really bad and really left out for that, but it is what it is) and consequently didn't like the first season of his HBO show "Extras." However the following clip may snap me out of it because, damn that's funny!

G-whiz Mail

I converted over to gmail like, a year or maybe two years ago. I had just had enough of AOL and their inability to play well with Macs. And their ability to suck more than any other email service alive. I dig gmail...it's fine. Seems like their spam blocker is much better than most. But one thing thats always made me laugh-slash-made me realize how close we are to Orwellian times is the way the service grabs keywords from an email you're reading and throws up a news story or a website link that somehow relates to whatever it is you're reading. Like...if you emailed your aunt for a smoothie recipe, you might find a link for fresh pineapples delivered to your house. Stuff like that.

One time I was emailing about a friends batchelor party and gmail was kind enough to provide me a link to a site that sells inflatable sheep. It's usually pretty benign stuff and usually lame but I just had another comical little helper from gmail that I thought I would share.

I emailed my friend because motherfucking CHEAP TRICK is coming to the Petaluma Fair this year and he loves Cheap Trick. I really love Cheap Trick...so much so I'm giving up Giants/Yankees tickets that night so I can see CHEAP TRICK in my hometown. This isn't some jokey, lets get drunk and laugh at them thing either like it was when I saw Loverboy at the Fair a few years back. I am genuinely stoked to see Cheap Trick...at the fair. But I digress, as usual.

So my buddy and I email back and forth and I send one off and at the top of my email box it says "Women Stand and Pee - pmateusa.com - Neatly pee while standing, without dropping your drawers!" Now that on it's own is hillarious, but what about an email regarding "cheap trick," "petaluma," and "fair" made this link appear for me?

Of course I clicked on the site and now I'm even more concerned, perplexed and laughing my ass off. It's basically a site where you can buy an extremely uncomfortable looking funnel to...hook into yourself (if you're a woman) and thus pee standing up. Apparently there's some medical uses and all but damn, whoever created this and moreover, whoever made that website must have rock hard abs from laughing their ass off!







If you're a woman who wants to write her name in the snow this coming winter, click HERE

LOST!

There's no spoilers for tonights finale within the post. I just wanted to make fun of people who gave up on the show. Granted, the show hit some snags early on this season, but there's also been episodes this season that were some of the best TV I've ever seen. And tonights episode was not only exciting, sad and funny...it totally blew my mind. Blew it right out of the water.

My point is, if you gave up on LOST because it stumbled a bit, you're a doofus and a quitter. Count me among the many who had little to no faith in the network or it's writers. Couple that with the announcement the show will be on until at least 2010 (whoa...writing that and knowing how close it really is just freaked me out!) and I could feel the series dragging on like a wounded animal.

Tonights 2-hour season finale renewed my faith. Thats how you end a series for the season....solve tons of mysteries, open up tons more

My name's Otto and I like to get blott-o

I'm not sure how well you can see this but it's thew backside of a street sign that has an 8"x12" picture of Otto from the Simpsons. You know, the stoney bus driver with metalhead tendencies? I started noticing that someone had put these pictures all over town recently and I gotta say, I don't get it. Granted, it's pretty funny and it's much cooler than straight up graffitti, but it's still vandalism. Yes, vandalism that makes me laugh and go "WTF?" but vandalism nonetheless.

I saw the Otto pictured above at a stop light in the boonies (more or less) of Santa Rosa but like I said, they're everywhere. Back of street signs, on street signs in middle-of-the-street islands, electrical boxes. Basically any flat metal surface in town and they're especially prevalent by my house which is near a park and a middle school...where it makes sense. However Otto-tagger is all over town and he/she is very thorough.

I just think it's weird and call me old, but really kind of pricey. I mean, the person (or people) doing it is printing hundreds of them up and that's costly. Plus they're either printing on sticker paper or they're buying glue to stick 'em. Plus, placing them everywhere takes alot of time. I'll be on the lookout for more. I'm sure you can hardly wait.

Well hello there!

So this past Saturday after my Grandma's 80th bday party I went to a friends "party." Apparently his landlord was out of town so he was throwing down. This appealed to me for a few reasons. First, I was bored and had nothing to do at home so that was a distraction. Second, the guy having the party is a good friend and a cool guy. Third, at my age any time a friend who isn't a friend of your friends kids or nephews is having a kegger type thing because they live with their parents/landlord/wife and that parent/landlord/wife is gone so there's a party, I feel obligated to go. Mostly out of a sense of feeling incredibly old and dating faster than sour cream on a hot spring day. So, my wife and I went.

Once there we quickly realized we weren't nearly stoned or drunk enough to coexist with the other people there. I'm not into smoking and I had to drive home so drinking (much) was out. Instead we tried to sit through one of the longest beers of my life. One cool thing was, the guys had like, 5-6 of those big ole Heinekin kegs cans. You know the ones that look like regular cans but really hold like, 3 quarts? Those have always proved difficult to me because the idea of a giant beer can full of beer sitting in my fridge and then my stomach is awesome. But asisde from MGD, Michelob Ultra and generic "BEER," Heiniken is a beer I just don't like. I'll drink it if it's there and free, but I can't abide by having a giant can of it in my fridge. Unless I've stolen it.

I relayed that piece of info to the gathered Lebowski's, Cheech's and Spicoli's and this one old dude (who in hindsight was probably someones dad....awkward) and I remembered the Coors Light Party Ball. This was a 5-gallon "beer in a box" that came out in the early 90's and it was awesome. We had countless tailgate parties and house parties supplied by the Coors Light Party Ball. I used to work in a quick stop (more or less) and one of the regulars always had one flowing from the back of his work truck. It was pretty much totally awesome. But then they just went away.

Me and the dad-at-the-party reminisced about the death of the Coors Light Party Ball and filled in all the youngin's on what they had missed. Then I thankfully drained my Lagunitas IPA and we left. Cut to; tonight. I went to 7-11 for suppiles and saw the above pictured giant can of Coors light!!! As much as I have become a beer snob, I still like Coors Light. I can drink a bunch of it and never really feel hammered and it cannot be beat on a hot day. And now, it comes in a GIANT CAN that will soon find it's way into my fridge...and then my heart.

New Wilco

The new Wilco came out this past Tuesday and it's really great. Yeah, of course I think it's great, they're my favorite band. But...this one is just a nice, mellow...almost introspective album. There's hardly any "noise" and no experimentation as there has been on most of their last 5-6 albums. I've been telling people "it's the perfect springtime album" and I totally believe that. My favorite song on the album is "I Hate it Here" (no, I'm not being drab...the song's not what you might think) but I also love "What Light." Here's the lyrics...they're incredible:

If you feel like singing a song
And you want other people to sing along
Just sing what you feel
Don't let anyone say it's wrong

And if you're trying to paint a picture
But you're not sure which colors belong
Just paint what you see
Don't let anyone say it's wrong

And if you're strung out like a kite
Or stung awake in the night
It's alright to be frightened

When there's a light (what light)
There's a light (one light)
There's a light (white light)
Inside of you

If you think you might need somebody
To pick you up when you drag
Don't loose sight of yourself
Don't let anyone change your bag

And if the whole world's singing your songs
And all of your paintings have been hung
Just remember what was yours
is everyone's from now on

And that's not wrong or right
But you can struggle with it all you like
You'll only get uptight

Because there's a light (what light)
There's a light (one light)
There's a light (white light)..................

and so forth.

Go buy SKY BLUE SKY today! It'll make you feel good inside!

We're All in This Together

I'm reading Owen King's book of short-stories (and a novella) called "We're All in This Together" and it's simply amazing. I was totally, totally, totally blown away by the novella within the book (which is titled "We're All in This Together") and I didn't want it to end. Sometimes I get bored and kind of zip through pages, but with this story, I really took my time. It was like eating a really good piece of cake where you just savor it. I savored the words and every once in a while, King would throw in some vital piece of info so casually and so pwerfully, I had to set the book down and gather myself to put together what had just happened. King writes in such a cool way. He's extremely creative yet throws in pop culture references that fit and don't attract undue attention to themselves. He throws them out there then works them into the story in a way that works. Dare I say...genius?

I won't give details about the story as I won't do it justice. The nuts and bolts are: a kid in the year 2000 is at that crossroads in life where you have to grow up. He hangs out with his retired union organizer grandpa (who is a raging pothead) and tries to ruin his mother upcoming marriage to a real L7 square. The story is told in flashback (or as if the author were in the present, as it were) and it's just great. I haven't laughed out loud at a book in a while nor have I felt such deep feelings of sadness as well as kindred spiritness in both the author and the characters in the book.

I finished the first short story last night and it was good. I really dig King's writing style. But it's to the point where the novella blew my doors off so hard, everything that comes after it will be held unfairly to comparison. I may switch over to something else to let my feelings chill out.

Go get this book! It's the perfect springtime/summer read. You'll love it, I promise.

http://www.owen-king.com/

Ramblings from a rut

I'm in a rut. I feel bored and restless...stressed out and lazy. I have equal amounts of things I want to do, need to do and should do, yet don't do anything. Aside from Spiderman-3, there's nothing I'm really excited about. I hate feeling this way.

I spent this morning trying to avoid getting out of bed and basically scrolling through all the crappy thoughts in my head. Then, when I finally got up and got in the shower, I tried to think of what I could do that would make me "happy." Until recently, I took a perverse pleasure in beating myself up and feeling crappy. So, rather than jump into that mental cesspool again, I asked myself point blank what would make me happy. Nothing came to mind. But, I figured I'd write some stuff here because I've learned that just doing little things can get you going again. Soo.....


Last night I had a dream that I was watching a super sneak preview of "Indiana Jones 4." It was o.k. There was alot of running going on. That dream segued into a dream where I had been forced to be a kindergarten teacher for a day. I wasn't too worried until I got to the class and just drew a total blank on what I should do. I also remember the teachers assistants asking me to sing a song with the kids and I couldn't think of any. Then I remembered "Old Dan Tucker" and we sang that. Either before that or after, I had a dream that I was handing out snacks to the kids at my work and it was basically a big bin of gross looking saltines. The kids weren't happy.

Last week on my way home from work, I stopped at the liquor store to get a diet coke. I saw a mom from my work buying 2 pints of "Damn Hot" cinnamon schnaps. This woman just had a baby 3 months ago and it was in a stroller in the store. Hher other kid is a lil on the slow side too. I kind of hid in the back of the store until she left but as I went to my car, I felt relieved. I had always thought the woman was just stupid, now I realize she's just a drunk. At least she walks around town all day with her kids instead of driving.

I went to the Butter and Eggs day parade Saturday in Petaluma. It was so-so. I didn't see as many people as I thought I would. I had a bunch of beer and only ate a corndog. My sister offered to take Igby to my moms and then come pick me up and take me home later. That was awesome of her. I needed to get home because I wanted to see a concert that night. My sis got me home and I ate a cold pork chop from the fridge and called my friend Kevin to see if he'd come get me. I then promptly passed out and missed my ride. I called Kev and he said he rang the doorbell and called me 3 times and nada. I was out.

Rather than call it a night, I took a cab down to the show. I asked the cab driver if he knew Norman Greenbaum. He said, "No, but that song kicks ass!!" He and I then sang "Spirit in the Sky" for the duration of the 10 minute cab ride. Norman Greenbaum lives in Santa Rosa which seems really cool to me, I thought the cabbie might have known him.

The show I went to was good, but I was just beat down tired and drunk. I took another cab home and had the cabbie take me through the Jack-in-the-Box drive thru.

So...there's my random musings. I feel much, much better.

My newest lil opus...

So, a few weeks ago my doc filmmaking partner John and I participated in the "Fairfax Documentary Challenge." Basically, you had 10 hours to make a 4 minute doc that has to do with the city of Fairfax, CA. Neither of us had been to Fairfax so we started emailing around, asking for ideas of what we could do.

Of the 6-7 responses we got, all of them mentioned this "colorful" local character that wears super short shorts, drives an old convertable and is rarely seen with less than 3 young girls on his arm. We had to find this guy!

So the Friday night before the challenge, John and I holed up in a bar in Fairfax and started trying to track this guy down. We got some good leads and the next day, we made this doc. It's pretty cool (if I do say so myself) and John and I won second place in the challenge!

Enjoy and pass it on!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkziEfeb374

If this little snippet...

...ever gets old or doesn't make me totally, totally crack up...start diggin' my grave...

I think I mentioned it...but

Our little film that could (sometimes) is playing at this years Sonoma Valley Film Festival! That's right, STRINGERS has managed to get into it's 3rd film festival (out of like, 7 submissions...not bad!) and I couldn't be more proud to show it in my home county. Even more exciting is the fact that we're playing before the film VOYEUR which looks very cool and intriguing. AND we're in "Mia's Lounge" which is the hip and edgy theater. They're going to have wine and cheese and I spoke with the festival somallier, my old buddy Chris Sawyer, and he's doing a pairing just for our film(s)!! I reccemmended Mad Dog 20/20 or Boones Strawberry Hill...but I don't think they're sponsors. We shall see.

Anyway, if you're within distance, we're playing on Saturday night at 10:00 and then again Sunday at noonish. I'll be at both screenings for the intro and Q&A but Sunday I'm also on a panel about documentaries so I'll intro STRINGERS, go do my panel and come back for the Q&A...all with what will assuredly be a massive hangover! Yay me! Barf. Then again, I can't really put away the wine so if there's no beer, I should be O.K. Then again, Sonoma is about 15 minutes from my house and there's a nice selection of local bars.

I hope to see some of you there. More info at:http://www.sonomafilmfest.org/

We got second place!

So our film "Riding with Snoopy" took second place in the Fairfax Documentary Film Challenge! Very cool! We won a really nice Premiere editing package...a value of over $800! The theatre was sold out and all the doc films were really cool. I'd do this again next year for sure!

Doc Challenge

So last weekend my filmmaking partner John and I participated in the "Fairfax Documentary Challenge." A bunch of people were in it and we all met at 9:00 a.m. in Fairfax, CA to go over the rules. Well, they did. I was late. I get lost going to Fairfax every single time. It's actually quite funny. John and I went to a bar there last Friday to see if we could sniff out some good stories and then a scant 12 hours later I was driving to the exact same spot and got lost. Anyway...

At the meeting, competitors found out these three elements that every doc had to have in them: grass, trees and the word "Fairfax." Since Fairfax is a tiny town nestled into a hillside, those elements were pretty easy to include. So we met at the bar again and got started on a few different ideas.

Both John and I asked around a bunch and we kept hearing about this whacky local guy named "Snoopy." He apparently wears really short shorts and knee high socks and always has 2-3 18 year old girls with him. He also rides around in a big ole convertable car. We decided he was our guy and embarked on a quest for Snoopy. We found him and had him give us a tour of Fairfax in his big ole car. Some random girl came along and we all piled in and cruised around town. I was half hiding in case anyone saw me in the passenger side of his car-it had no seat- and I half wanted someone to take a picture of me, John, Snoopy and some random girl driving around Fairfax on a Saturday morning.

After a good 40 minute tour we hunkered down (in the bar...I still wasn't drinking at that point) and edited a four minute film we titled "Riding with Snoopy." Somehow John found a kid that ahd actually written a song about Snoopy and we included it in the doc. Pretty serendipitous! I think it came out really, really good! I also learned that "swiss chard stems are the toothbrushes of the colon" so that was helpful.

I'm heading out to the awards now so hopefully we'll win something!

Moving on...

So I realized I never fully wrapped up my SXSW trip so here goes.

That bad photo you see was taken at HOOTERS after I barely beat Film Threat's own Mark Bell at a mini-hoops free throw shooting contest. Yeah baby! I won 10 free wings, a shirt (which I gave to Pete to give to his wife) as well as that polaroid and supposedly my name on the HOOTERS marquee for a week. I walked by it later that week and it wasn't up there. BOOoooo. Anyway...

After the FT guys left, I got my own room at the Doubletree. It was sort of off the beaten path and was WAY too expensive, but it was a ncie hotel. The very first night I was flying solo I went and saw Peter Case (of the Plimsouls), 2 Cow Garage, The Drams, Tommy Womack and Mic Harrison (of the V-Roys) ALL together in one showcase. It was awesome!!! I had a bunch of beer and proceeded to stumble on up the street. Well, I wasn't 2 blocks into my 10 block walk when I got pulled over by some bully asshole cop who said he "got a call I was urinating in the street."

I wasn't peeing in the street. It's something I would do and have done, but on this night, I didn't do it. I was really tired and drunk and just wanted to go to my room and go to bed but this ass was like...pushing me. At first he got in my face trying to get a reaction and I just stood there and said, "I didn't pee in the street." Then he got all investigative and asked how many drinks I'd had, where I was coming from, going to...etc. I calmly explained my evening and of course lied by about 10 beers when I said I'd had 5-6. He kept like...prodding me verbally...trying to get me to spazz out but I didn't. it took about 15 minutes for him to run my ID and make me stand there lile a common criminal. I didn't make a peep and when asked (repeatedly) about peeing I said, "I swear, I didn't pee in the street."

He eventually let me go to my hotel with a stern finger point in the direction i was to walk. F-ing dick. The irony is that about 3 blocks over from me was 4 blocks of wall to wall partying and he chooses to harrass me. Ugh. It really pissed me off once I got over been scared to death. I was already kind of in a funk from missing my flight and this experience really upset me. So much so I "took the next day off" from treating myself poorly. Then Friday, my last night there, I decided that when I got home I would go on the ole wagon for a month. It's been a week today and I feel exactly the same as usual...except with no beer. In the end it'll save me money and save me inches around the waist, but I'm spoiled and I want what I want. Blah. Oh, friday, my last big night I had an awesome time. I had a chicken fried steak at Threadgills, hitched an illicit ride from a hotel van and saw Steve Poltz then Is aw Carrie Rodriguez and grabbed a cab outside the show to save me a walk. Truth be told, I was scared of getting pulled over so it was a lifesaver.

To cap off my trip I went to the Texas Chili parlor and had a last beer which I savored, then I walked to 7-11 and got nachos and went to bed. Neat!

So, I'm home now and getting I'm adjusted. OH! STRINGERS got into the Sonoma Valley Film Festival so John and I are stoked!! Should be an great time and it's just in time for my month of wagon riding to be over. Look out Sonoma!

Tomorrow John and I are doing this documentary challenge where you get one day to shoot and edit a 4 minute documentary. That should be fun...especially since I won't have a hangover.

Home again, home again jiggedy jig.

Sorry for not posting, but I have some good excuses. While in the end I had another amazing time at SXSW, the trip was kind of plagued with boneheaded moves courtesy of yours truly.

When I last posted, I said I was leaving in the morning for SXSW. Friday morning I got up like it was Christmas morn I was so excited. It was like Christmas morn when I was a kid though, not Christmas morn now. Now when I wake up I groan at how much money I spent or feel bad for not spending enough because I'm broke. Anyway, I was really excited. My wife drove me to the airport and I went to check in. Only, there was no reservation for me. Huh? I was plenty early so I know I didn't miss it and I then became baffled. I had my mom book my flight because she's too sweet to me and has a bunch of sky miles (and, I'm broke) so I called her and got the confirmation number. I told the airline lady and still, nothing. I kept thinking of that Wilco song "Reservations" and the line "Iiii've got res-er-vations..." But I didn't. It was then airline lady, myself and my mom realized...my flight was THURSDAY. DAMN IT!!! I missed my flight by a DAY! What a total moron I am!

I don't take kindly to being told "no" when I really want something so I scrambled to find another flight. All of them were booked solid. There was a flight leaving in an hour for Houston and I thought maybe I could get that one and have my buddy Pete pick me up. But, that flight couldn't be transferred via the Skymiles and it cost $625.00. Crap! Crap crap crap. I called my wife and had her come pick me up. I pouted all the way home and when we got back, I crawled into bed and pulled the covers over my head. Even Igby couldn't cheer me up.

After some late night harrassing text messages from Pete and Mark, I woke up and did it all over again. My sister Kiff drove me to the airport (Thanks, Kiff!) and away I went. Finally. But this flight was a long one and I didn't get into Austin until like, 8:30. Basically, I missed two days of the fest and the opening night parties. Grrrrrrr. My buddy Zack picked me up at the airport and WTF-fest continued as the airline had lost my bags. Grrrrr. I like to clean up after a long flight, especially if I'm going out so that was frustrating. Real frustrating. But, we all met up at the hotel and went and saw the crappy zombie sheep movie BLACK SHEEP.

The next day I had some screenings plus I was tired from the long flight and late night. When I woke up, Pete and Mark were gone so I hopped in the shower (my luggage was at the hotel when we got back). I have stayed at the Courtyard Marriott before and I really like it. The rooms are big, free breakfast, free internet. it's great. I was just about to get out of the shower when I started to slip. I caught myself and thought, "damn, this shower is slippery!" Then I turned back around to turn off the water and totally ate shit. In the shower. Like some old man in a rest home. Needless to say, 6"4/275 pounds of wet, naked DLew ain't too pretty. I have a big pruple bruise on my ass cheek to prove it. And it hurt. And thus, WTF-fest ambled on.

Things picked up from there and I saw some great films and saw some old friends. I brought my camera but as always, forgot to use it. Then Wednesday rolled around and Mark and Pete took off. I was all alone to brave the music part of the festival. More on that later...

SXSW..again

Tomorrow morn I leave for South by Southwest in Austin, TX and I simply cannot wait. I need to just get away, have fun, see great films, hear great music, see old friends, drink free beer, eat good food. It's my vacation and I cannot wait. Seriously. like, remember when you were a kid and you'd chew on paper on your back teeth and it would feel weird and good? That's how I feel right now. Ugh...wish I was there now.

Rather than go item by item of my insane schedule, I will instead post a list of the bands I saw that are playing and have the best band names. Keep checking here, www.filmthreat.com and http://cine.petaluma360.com/ for updates...there will be lots.

Here's my list of favorite band names. These are real bands playing SXSW...no clue if the band is worth a shit:

my! gay! husband!
What Made Milwaukee Famous
Holy Fuck
Fucked Up
Nervous Hospital
Les Breastfeeders
Smoking Popes (five a.m. considered this name....briefly)
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
Holy Shit!
Bubonic Plague
I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House
Windom Earle (it's a major geek factor)
Medicine Fuck Dream
Green Milk From the Planet Orange (they're from Tokyo no less)
Yuppie Pricks
Two Hoots and a Holler
Lesbians on Ecstacy
Cat Scientist
River City Rapists
Big Balls
Patty Hurst Shifter
The Faceless Werewolves

My SWAG

I just did a post over on my Petaluma 360 Blog so I won't do it twice. Plus, I could use some hits o'er there. Read all about my SWAG bag HERE. There's photos too!

Also, the radio interview was alot of fun. I mostly just tried to keep up as the host had seen the movie the guy I was with did, but hadn't seen STRINGERS. It was a good time and a good experience to have so early on in my career as a filmmaker.

It was funny though because the guy I was with, John McDonald really did it "right" with his doc "The Ghost Mountain Experiment." He had interns and nice equipment and he even had a helicopter to get some shots! He told a story about landing at some remote cafe to have breakfast to which I replied, "Jeez, all we did was sit in the back of a 1986 police car and grab In and Out Burgers at 3:00 a.m."

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh...on the radio...

So my short film STRINGERS is playing the Cinequest Film festival this week. I'll be there Wednesday March 7 for the 4:00 screening BUT...if any of you loyal blog readers can go to another screening (there's one Saturday AND Sunday) and VOTE for us to win the audience award, that would be swell. Real swell.

Also, tonight (Monday March 5) I'll be live on San Jose's own KFJC discussing STRINGERS (I think) at 5:30 p.m. You can figure out how to listen live on the internets by going to:

http://www.kfjc.org/netcast/index.php

You can even call in and ask me questions...I think. Hope you'll check it out. Once again, ehre are the showtimes for STRINGERS at Cinequest:
Stringers is in Shorts Competition Program 5: Docu-Nation
March 7, 4:00 p.m.
at the Camera 12 Cinema
288 S 2nd St
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 998-3300

3/10/2007
9:30 PM
Camera 12 Cinema

and
3/11/2007
4:15 PM
Camera 12 Cinema yet again.

Cinequest info can be found at: http://www.cinequest.org/

Thanks for your support!

Hooray for the Hollywood Reporter!

And their excellent taste in quoting people! Notice the blurb on Jackie Earle Haley...right hand side...