Son. Of. A. Bitch.

I've have the distinct feeling of being robbed the more I look at this:
http://www.trutv.com/shows/stringers/index.html

Seriously....my stomach is a mess right now. Even their logline seems "eerily familiar." Ugh.

Cool...but way creepy!

Just yesterday I was thinking about how much we Bay Area folk take the beauty of our surroundings for granted. Specifically, the Golden Gate Bridge. For us in the North Bay, it's merely a traffic snarled, $5 pain in the ass whenever we want to get into the City. But it really is pretty cool and pretty beautiful. I'm sure New Yorkers look at the Statue of Liberty and think "damn tourist trap." So today I saw this and it made me think of those thoughts:



While that clip is totally cool, it fugging scared the crap outta me for some reason. It just seemed "too real" and made me realize why so many films, especially of cities getting destroyed, take place in New York and L.A. Those cities have way more people who can relate to their favorite street or view getting destroyed and it's scary. For me, seeing all that Star Wars stuff set in SF at angles and places I recognized, made it seem way more real. Couple that with the home video aspect and I was really feeling uncomfortable a few times. Anyway, pretty neat...hope you enjoy!

Rad.

Higher learning.

Since I'm almost done with my Masters Degree in Cinema studies (just gotta write my thesis and take one last jump-through-our-hoop class) I've been actively searching for a nice 'n easy teaching gig to ease me into a new career without having to quit my real job. There's not alot right now and I haven't been looking *that* hard since I'm technically not qualified yet. But one "local" school caught my eye and I emailed the person in charge to see if I might stand a chance to teach an "Intro to Film _____" class 2 days a week.

To be honest, the commute would have been a drag and it seemed kind of last minute of them to post it and I was frankly baffled at the section they had it under. But, whatever. It's an entry level thing, so I emailed and asked. And got no reply for over a week.

So the other day I followed up and said "look, I don't want to waste my or your time applying if I'm not qualified so let me know if I should bother." I mean, I said it more professionally than that, then name dropped Chris Gore and Roger Ebert as supporters (I keed).

Today I got a response! Yay! Here's what it said. From a college. A real college people pay money to go to and learn. They sent this email:

Hi Don,

Thanks for your email; unfortunately, I will the Theatre position late last week.

Have a good day,

_________

That was it, cut and pasted to the tee. Wow.

Like watching a dog play piano.

For as big a pop culture/music/movie nerd as I am, I'm realllly bad about TV shows. For instance, I've NEVER seen an episode of THE SOPRANOS or ever THE WIRE. I've never seen ANY popular sitcom on ABC or CBS (the only current sitcom I like is THE OFFICE) and I simply do not like 30 ROCK. Overall, I'm just not that into TV. However, last spring I did dive heavily into DEADWOOD and it's awesome and now that we have on-demand, the wife and I have been headlong into MAD MEN on AMC and it's freeking awesome.

We're trying to do the whole first season before Sunday nights season 2 premiere and it's been a real pleasure watching 2-3 episodes a night. For those who have no clue what the show is about, dig...

MAD MEN is about ad execs in Manhattan in 1960. There's a whole slew of them: misogynistic, arrogant, slick pricks who think their shit doesn't stink and that they can do anything they want. And, they do. The show is centered on Don Draper who's played by Jon Hamm and his character is incredible. He's the shining star of his ad agency, yet he's hiding so much, you're never sure what's going on in his mind. I don't want to give too much away as you all need to see the show, but his past is hazy and vague (to say the least). While he's almost always calm, cool and put together on the outside, the machinations in his mind play out with some of the best camera work, directing, writing and acting you're ever gonna see on TV.

In fact every character is extremely well rounded and developed and you're never quite sure what's going to happen next. But the star is Hamm. He's the kind of actor in this character where you just go, "dude...who IS this guy? He's charismatic and witty and handsome. Then dark, brooding, conniving and sad. Then, you look at his IMDB page and he's like, a nobody so far. He's done some bit parts and some roles in comedy shows...but overall, not much. If you want to catch a guy breaking big, watch Jon Hamm now. Also-mark my words- he'll be like David Caruso and make some shitty choices in movies and never be any bigger then MAD MEN. Hate to be a dick, but it's gonna happen. But dude, look at this guy...he's got it dialed for this show:



Also outstanding on the show is Vincent Kartheiser as Pete Campbell-the quintessential youngster who will stop at nothing to move up the ranks, january Jones as Draper's wife Betsy (hint: smoking hott) and John Slattery as Drapers drunk ass boss Roger. Oh! There's also a smoking hot redhead on the show named Christina Hendricks who is not only really good, she's really sexy. But the thing I like best is how careful the directors and producers are to make things look *right*. Be it the 1960's set design and lingo and language, it always seems spot-on. There's also some amazing nods to Hitchcock, Wilder and other favorite directors that make me smile everytime.

So to summarize: hot chicks, arrogant guys who booze and smoke incessantly and plot lines that are never, ever going where you think they are. It's just an awesome show.

It never ends

So after getting back from vacation I've been fuilly swamped. We bought a small house back in P-Town (that's Petaluma for all you who don't know)so we've been trying to move and it's not easy. The new pad is VERY small and we have a ton of crap. Well, I have a ton of small, knicky-knacky stuff that I like having around. But it's been packed up and in our garage at the rental and now, our new place has an office for me (read: a closet on the patio) so I want to get the stuff I want to add to the decor.

People think I'm always trying to be a child because I keep lots of childish things around. Wind-up toys, fast food figures, posters, action figures, models, etc. Truth be told, that stuff makes me feel comfortable and inspired to work. I don't know why, but it does. I want my office to be a place where I can actually get off my ass and get back to work on some things I want to pursue.

Plus I have tons of books I need to keep handy for school (and for more inspiration) and a bunch of equipment. The dirty little secret is, we never really unpacked from the last move. So, we're having a garage sale this weekend and need to prepare plus, clean the old house and in order to do that, we kind of need to unpack, pick through and repack. Then UNPACK this time. Fun stuff.

I frigging HATE moving so I've been bitchy. But we're getting settled and soon I hope to get back to the blog and 3-4 reviews, etc. Just wanted to do a lil update....

Primitive as can be.

I just got home from 6 days in lovely Lake Tahoe with my family. It's pretty much our first family vacation since the baby arrived and although I'm not much for hanging out pool or lakeside, I was excited to just get away. Normally when I travel, I bring the laptop but this time, I didn't. I wanted to get away from "interacting" on the internet for a week and see what it was like. By interacting, I mean my habit of websurfing and chiming in on several film related blogs and message boards. None of that for a week. Nada.

I did have my iPhone so I could get email and check the main pages on Film Threat, ESPN and some sites that aggregate movie news. Other than that, I was Robinson Crusoe on Wi-Fi Island. Wanna know what I missed out on? Not a f-ing thing. I swear, I've been home and settled for 3 hours and have now checked all my regular sites and realized I missed NOTHING. Seriously. Not a thing. After the first 2 days where I had to remind myself I couldn't go tune out on the net, I was fine.

Instead over the course of the vacation I swam once and drank alot of beer. I also read a 600 page book (Stephen King's "Duma Key"...more on that some other time) and slept intermittently throughout the day. The one drawback of the house was that there was 3 kids counting mine and they were all up early. Somehow the house had absolutely nothing between the floor boards upstairs and the ceiling downstairs. It was frigging loud. Plus I was placed in a single bed the first 3 nights then a single air-bed the last 4. Nighttime sleeping wasn't happening.

Plus I had tons of crazy dreams which always happens when I get creatively backed up. My mind starts letting out these insane plots and dreams like the pressure gauge on a steamer. While I enjoyed the dreams, I realize I need to get to work on something again. I also realized I am incredibly...lazy. I wasn't always and I refuse to let the "I have a kid now" excuse slip in because that's not an excuse or even a reason. I'm just downright lazy and I don't know why. Ever since I took that monster load of classes, worked, commuted and awaited the baby, I've been toast. But dude, that was like, 6 months ago. It is now officially time to get my ass in gear. I have a new screenplay I want to write and an adaptation of a short story I want to make a film out of. Plus, there's an awesome idea for a new five a.m. video just sitting there.

Time to get to work.

Busy X5

CineVegas was a blast! Saw some good films, had a ton of fun and didn't see daylight for 5 days. Then as soon as I got back, it's been non-stop work. But today is June 26 which means 8 more days till the 4th of July which is one of my favorite get up and go Ike Reilly songs so...take it, Ike!

8 More Days Till The 4th of July

This Thursday...

I'll be going to CineVegas. I expect it will be alot like this:


Last year, it looked like this:
http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=videos&Id=1147&play=2

Bubble living.

Here's some quick, random highlights about being a kid in the 70's. I'm talking personal ones, not like....bell bottoms and tupperware and pop culture.

1. Riding in the back of my parents truck everywhere.

2. My dad taking me for short rides on his motorcycle...sans helmets.

3. The day I grew the balls to climb up the high-dive at the local pool and not go back down because I was too scared. I jumped. It was awesome.

I'm sure there's others, but I saw something today that reminded me of these things and of a point I wanted to make.

So, this nice lady was attending a baseball game at Dodger Stadium and when Todd Helton (from the visiting Rockies) swung his bat, it hit a ball and shattered. The bat went into the stands and hit her in the jaw. Ouch. Bummer. So now some yayhoo at Yahoo is jumping on board with what has thus far just been scuttlebutt about banning maple bats. Oh yeah, Helton's bat was maple which alot of players are using now because it "feels harder." O.kaaaaay. Anyway, here's the guys article here and it features just sad photos of the lady with her jaw bandaged up:



What bugs me (amongst other things) is how up in arms the writer and the ladies attorney are that the Dodgers won't cover her medical bills. People...right on your ticket it says if you get hurt from a bat or ball, the stadium and club aren't liable. They also announce it at the beginning of the game. I mean, the Dodger organization is total scum (go Giants!) but the whole injury by bat and ball is covered and they are totally right in saying "uhh...pay attention and duck next time." Again, not to be cold...buuut....as fast as MLB is you have plenty of time to duck/put up hands/push a guy in front of you/etc if something flies off the field. Go to a hockey game and track a puck when it leaves the ice. That's fast. Baseball-if you're actually watching the game-allots time for you to move if something comes your way. Or, catch it. You gotta be paying attention though. (Hint. Hint.)

I had an argument earlier this baseball season because all the base coaches in Major League Baseball have to wear silly helmets now because a coach...ONE COACH...one coach in how many years...got cracked in the head with a foul ball and died. So now everyone has to wear a helmet. Sure, it will keep them safer but I thought America was the land of freedom and choice? Well, I feel that a bunch of sorry sack liberals have done their best to ruin that in the name of "safety" and "equal opportunity" and "my best interests."

I don't mean to draw a line in the sand but I feel like it's the lefties who get on the "equal rights" bandwagon and ruin a somewhat harmful activity for everyone. Like...my mentions above of high dives, pick up truck beds and helmet free motorcycle rides. I mean really. Can't people make up their own minds on if they want to wear a helmet or ride in the back of a truck? Shouldn't every kid/teen decide "yes. I want to climb the high dive ladder before everyone in the public pool, gain all eyes on me...and JUMP." Some people don't dig that and that's totally, totally fine. But what happened to options?? What happened to choices?? I know it's weird reading a rant that doesn't accuse the right-wing of something, but I feel like the right wing are submissive to "the law" and just take whatever they're told to do and do it. "Vote Bush?" O.K...don't beat me. "Wear a helmet even though you'd rather just be dead if you crash your hog at 80 MPH? O.K...just don't ticket me." It just fees to me (and I could be wrong) that most changed laws or new ideas about keeping us "safe" come from injured liberals looking to make a buck. Conservatives just kinda "take it" but liberals wanna get paid and ruin it for everyone.

I guess from working with kids my whole life, I'm sensitive to the fact that most every adult has to have things "their" way. Like...if a field trip is scheduled and their kid is in summer school, I should reschedule the entire trip. Never mind the other 50 signed up kids who aren't in summer school...just you and your kid should be adjusted for, right?

Wrong.

In closing, when I was in high school some freaky girl who had a boyfriend who was a 30 year old biker (I'm NOT kidding) did a whole thing in our "speech" class about how it's un-American to make people wear seatbelts. At the time, we all railed against her but now, I think she's right. When does "for your own good" become fascism? When it's deemed "too" pornographic? The movies are TOO violent? Strange religious sects are too stange? Strong alcohol makes weak people do stupid stuff??

This whole potential banning of maple bats plus all the other "helpful" things our government has done just worries me to no end. Aren't we allowed to be free because our freedom allows us and helps us make the right choices for ourselves and our families? Do we need our hands held? I say...no. Bring back the high dives and summer nights riding in the bed of a pickup truck!!!

My March song.

March is probably my favorite month...next to October. I've always loved October cuz the weather here's always superb. Plus, it's my bday and Story's bday too...plus Halloween. But March is so fresh and sunny, yet rainy. plus, I get to go to SXSW every year.

Before I headed out to SXSW, I had some much chronicled Steve Poltz shows around here and I got both his new albums about a month before I headed to Austin. His song "Rains" reminds me of my daughter...plus, it's a way cool song. One night when I wouldn't leave Steve and his band alone at SXSW, I finally had the nerve to tell Poltzy that that song is about my daughter (which is a cheeeesy ass thing to say and I should know better, but I was drunk, tired and really missing my family) on my way out of their showcase. He stopped when I said it (and if you can get Steve Poltz to stop...for anything...you've accomplished something) and he said, "It is. It is about your daughter." But he said it in a way that was both funny and serious. Like, we both knew it wasn't but maybe I needed to hear that it was...or something. I dunno. I love that guy.

So, here's the video for Steve Poltz and the Cynics' Song "Rains." I hope you like goofballs and hamsters:



FYI...."Street Fighters Face" is my favorite song off the new record and here's Poltz doing that one as well as my third favorite song on the album:

http://www.kpbs.org/blogs2/index.php/culturelust/comments/steve_poltz/

Mmm hmm.

Keith Olberman is a bad ass and he's totally right here. Hillary is out of control and must go!!

Chasing away the blahs.

I've been in a kind of funk of late. The home front is good but work has been cloyingly busy and there's just not many films out that I'm excited to see. Well, IRON MAN was awesome but I certainly wasn't excited to see it. Not like I am for the new Indiana Jones movie. I'm REALLY excited for that one.

Last week we went to Disneyland and it was so-so. I didn't get to go on nearly enough rides and I was broke (which is always a major contributer to my shitty moods) so I couldn't buy tons of awful food nor could I buy the multitude of Disney paraphernalia I usually walk out of there with. But then I got an email saying I had been quoted in the movie trailer for BAGHEAD! That made me happy.

Baghead - Theatrical Trailer


It's not that I feel the need to show off or that I get some kind of ego boost from getting quoted, it's actually more basic than that. I just feel like NO ONE READS WHAT I WRITE. Not here, I love you guys. I mean, out there with Film Threat. Day after day I see bloggers and critics higher up on the food chain routinely blow off Film Threat and it's frustrating. Or they will run a series of articles or blogs that echo my sentiments and they don't include me. I take what I do there pretty seriously and I'm not 19 year old fanboy with a broken spell check and a prematurely cynical attitude. I'm a filmmaker and I have 2 different writing degrees (a BA in screenwriting and an AA in Journalism) plus I'm like 90% done with my Masters in Cinema Study. This ain't my first rodeo. I guess my beer drinking, goofball antics on the festival circuit leave me outside the realm of hipster douchebag festival junkies. I get that, but it's still annoying.

So having been quoted on movie trailers before, it was just a nice little vindication or pat on the back to have my quote (and it's a brilliant one if I do say so myself....not) used in the BAGHEAD trailer. I really loved that movie. However this morning I got an email from Mark at Film Threat who alerted me that Roger Ebert is a fan of mine. Holy Shit!

Here's where he mentions me...


and below is what I wrote on Film Threats message board where they had already seen the quote...

Wow. That seriously made my day.

Say what you want to about Ebert, but the man (and Siskel) are singlehandedly the reason I love film so much. When I was a kid, we lived in way, way rural central California and the only movie theater in town got movies like, a year after their release. This was pre-VCR (I'm old) and we couldn't have afforded one anyway.

But "At the Movies" was on channel 9, one of the 4 channels we got and I could sort of live vicariously through Siskel and Ebert. Their show kept me going until we moved somewhere closer to civilization.

Plus, it sometimes feels like you're writing reviews that head off into a void so it's nice to know someone reads what you write.

Thanks, Roger! You really did make my day. Hell, my month really.

the fog of commuting.

I had to go to San Francisco yesterday and this morning and as I've said before, it ain't no cake walk. Luckily yesterday I could leave at 9:00 and (supposedly) miss all the traffic. As luck would have it, I got some latent commuter hell about 10 miles out of SF. Just as I was about to have a little snit, the local AAA (read: doesn't play a bunch of mainstream crap) station KFOG was doing their "10 at 10" program where they play 10 songs from a given year. I like to try and guess what year and it's distracting for at least 5 minutes. So, I put it on KFOG and the Gin Blossoms "Hey Jealousy" is on. Nice. I always liked that song and I thought to myself, "man, this must be what, 1996? 97?" So I sat there listening and then...traffic stopped at a dead halt. grrr. then, "Hey Jealousy" ended and I heard the familiar piano strains of my go-to karaoke song, "Easy (Like Sunday Morning)" by the Commodores. "Wait a second," I said, "Gin Blossoms and Commodores were decades apart." Then it hit me...hard.

It was probably my ALL TIME favorite band FAITH NO MORE doing "Easy!!" Holy shit!! Not only does FNM rule all, their version of "Easy" is, well, easily one of if not the best cover song ever done. So, I was stoked as could be.

Then today I have a class and it's always a drag getting there. I leave the house between 6:30 and 7:00 and barely make it the 40 miles to SF for my 9:00 class. Today was no different but as I came out of the tunnel that leads to the Golden Gate Bridge, I looked right and saw what was most simply the coolest fog crawl I've seen in a while. I always get a happy/elated feeling when I approach SF, it's just gorgeous. But sometimes something catches my eye and makes me get all giddy. Well, that happened this morning.

OH! I should add, I was listening to a live Wilco CD and they were playing their outstanding live version of "Via Chicago" which has all these cacophonous sounds like a Chicago subway passing at different intervals in the song. As I approached the bridge, Wilco was just getting to the noisy part and the blue skies were being engulfed by fog. I couldn't get my iPhone camera going fast enough to capture the fog creeping down the hillside. It always reminds me of fuzzy mold. But I got it out in time to hit the bridge and here's the progression I saw...



This one below isn't a "bad" shot (per se), the entire tower is lost in fog



Tower 2...and if you could read my mind you'd hear me say, "Jeez, I wish I hadn't watched THE MIST last week..."





Pretty cool.

Unsafe adventures.

So, last night I was hanging out at home, drinking beer and playing ROCK BAND all by my lonesome. My wife and child were at her moms so it was just me and the dog. At about 9:00, I made the decision to get out of the house and see one of my favorite local bands, HugeLarge. They were playing downtown at this great new pub called Toad in the Hole which is maybe 4 miles from my house. It was kinda rainy so walking was out and I never drive if I've been drinking. So, I called a cab. I hung up from them at 9:05 and they said it would be 15 minutes. Half an hour later, my sweet ride showed up.

I jumped in and immediately noticed the driver had a co-pilot and I assumed it was his son. The person in the passenger seat looked small and was wearing a ball cap over their eyes. I say "take me to Toad in the Hole" and as we pull away, the passenger turns around and I'm greeted by a chick with some serious meeth. Meeth are the hi-larious catch phrase for meth head teeth. Meth+teeth=meeth. Anywho, she seemed nice enough and off we went. My driver was really funny and boisterous and his voice sounded exactly like Seth Rogen's which I found especially funny as I saw HORTON HEARS A WHO Thursday and Rogen voices the mouse. So I was laughing on the inside and enjoying the ride. Then I realized, we were basically circling my block. After we passed my house for the second time and continued on in the wrong direction I said, "dude. Where are you going?" The chick started laughing and then he did too. "I dunno man...I got turned around." I said, "I'm not really drunk yet so if you're trying to bump the fare by going the long way...." He cut me off.

"No dude, no...nothing like that." Then the girl started cackling and grabbed his arm. "Dude," he says. "I'm a caregiver during the day for a neighbor who has cancer and when I was over at his house around 6, I accidentally ate one of his pot cookies." Uhhhh. Yeah. Actually, what the cabbie said was "I accidentally took a bite of a pot cookie and it's got me totally messed up. I took a nap afterwards and woke up like, an hour ago and couldn't figure out where I was. Then the company called me and told me to get downtown to work so here I am."

I said, "so wait, you took a bite of a pot cookie, it jacked you all up and now you're my sober ride?" More cackling from Methy McMeth Head. "Well, dude," Taxi Seth Rogen says, "It was actually a hash cookie and I haven't smoked pot or anything like that in 10 years so it really did a number on me." He then (and I'm not kidding) ran a red light. Fuck. "What do I do here?" I'm thinking. It's too far to get out and walk in either direction (home or to the pub) and we're driving slowly and I'm seat belted. "Don't worry Freddy, I'll help you" said the meth head. "Fuck," I said.

So I decide to just shut up and close my eyes and hope for the best. He didn't *really* seem wasted, just not at the top of his game. Then the cabbie and the methy started talking about how they first met and she said it was when her boyfriend stole the cabbie's roommates credit card and they laughed and I wondered, how do things like this always happen to me? I swear, the strangest stuff happens only to me and although I kind of love it, it is rather shocking how often it happens. Anyway...

I then started mulling this whole story over in my head. For one, no one ever takes "a bite" of a cookie unless they're an 8 year old or unless it's a really huge cookie. Normally, you just eat the whole thing. Second, isn't it rather rude to go to your cancer stricken friends house and raid his cookies? Then I started thinking, if the dude has cancer and has some cookies...I mean, we live in California. I would automatically assume they were pot cookies, or at least ask first. And then lastly I wondered how and why this chick was even in the cab at all.

I just tried to put it all out of my mind and relax and sure enough, soon we made it to the destination and the cabbie said, "dude, I'm really sorry about that....I'll knock 1/2 off your fare." Sweet! So I started to get out and he gave me his card. "When you're ready to go home, gimmie a call." Then the methy said, "Hey man, be careful...don't drink too much." I had about 1000 retorts in my mind (like, "hey, I won't, don't snort too much meth!" or also, "hey, thanks...try not to lose any more teeth tonight!") that made their way to my lips before I decided to just walk away.

HugeLarge was amazing as always and after their set, I walked over to Russian River Brewing. About 1/4 of the way there, I pulled a muscle in my calf and started limping badly. Then these 2 guys started walking in front of me and talking about a drug deal they were going to make in an hour. One of them had 1/2 a pound of weed on him and some E, he said. I kept limping along and finally said, "guys, you know I can hear you, right?" They just laughed. When I decided to call a cab to go home (about 15 minutes later) I did not call the cabbie from earlier or even the same cab company because I know, I KNOW I would have got the same guy.

All grows up.

I love my dog Igby so much, it's borderline creepy. He makes me so happy when I see him and he's been a very, very good dog in terms of the baby. Except now, he wants to be extra protective of her and Erica so he barks at anyone that comes near our house. Not cool, especially since we live across the street from a huge park.

He's an odd dog. He's incredibly clumsy and constantly falls off the couch and the bed. Once we were walking him downtown in Petaluma and he fell off the curb. When animals fall, it's hysterical. Ever see a bird fall or hit a window? Frigging classic. Once Igby fell off the couch when he went to lean against me and I had moved and that wasn't funny. It was really sad and I felt a twinge in my heart.

Anyway, the point of this isn't to get all creepy and touchy-feely about my dog. It's to point out the above photo. Up until about 2 weeks ago, whenever Igby peed he would squat down like a girl dog. It was actually kind of embarrasing when other male dogs and their owners were around. Like, if we were at the dog park or the beach and he would squat down. I would just kind of look around uncomfortably and hope he finished before some other male dog saw him. But whatever, he's my boy and I love him regardless. Still, kinda sissy.

But the other day he and I were going for a walk and he stopped at a pole and lifted his leg!! And peed for a really, really long time. Like, a minute and a half. Now he lifts his leg and pees all the time. I'm so proud of him!

As you probably realized about 3 paragraphs ago, this is one freeking odd blog entry. What the hell is wrong with me? Yet, I'll post it anyway because it took a whole 5 minutes of my time and, I am proud of my boy. Way to lift that leg, Igby!!

Random ramblings post Austin

Man, I've been back just under a week and feel like I can't get caught up at home/work/school/sleep or with my new video projects. It feels like I don't even know where to start so I kind of....don't do anything unless it's pressing. Here's some random stuff from Austin though to get me moving...and keep you entertained....maybe.

I was super stoked to be staying the first part of the film festival at the Courtyard Marriott. I first stayed there 2 years ago when I went to the Austin Film Festival and it's central location coupled with a sports bar called Champions featuring $2 "Mystery Beers" (they won't tell you what the beer is....but it's $2) made it a perfect hang for me. Plus, they have one of those little bar machines that has games and trivia. No better way to start your night then frittering away $5 on the game while sipping $2 beers. So, after I checked in (a day ahead of my Film Threat compadres) I took a shower and hit the bar.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I spent so much time on the video machine (or, no one else did...ever) that my high scores have been up there 2 years running. It's silly, but I thought that was cool. Anyway, I got down there and the same bartender who has been there for 2 years seemed to recognize me but...no video machine. They took it out!! NOOooo! It ruined my whole plan so I started bitching about it. Not like "seriously," more like....grousing about it. By the time I checked out 5 days later, the machine was back. My scores were gone, but still...squeaky wheel, etc.
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I had a great time at, what I think, is the best film festival in the world in terms of fun and quality of films. But man, I was beat down tired the whole time. I came into the trip kinda sick and didn't really slow down until the Film Threat crew left. But as I read all these other peoples blogs and festival coverage, it seems like everyone was exhausted throughout the whole fest. Weird.
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One night I was walking home, kinda drunk. I never really got wasted in Austin, but this night was as close as it got. It may have been the night I saw STYX at the rodeo. As I crossed the street near my hotel, I heard spray-paint. I got around the corner and 3 guys were totally tagging this big wall. Now, I freeking HATE graffiti. It's so rude and classless and ugly. I don't mean the spraypainted "art" out there....I mean, the tagging. I often imagine I catch a local tagger and hold him down while I spray paint MY name all over his face. So naturally, when I saw these 3 guys I was infuriated. I stood there not 10 feet from them and they didn't even see me. I was so close I could smell the spraypaint.

I thought about yelling but there was 3 of them and 1 drunk of me. Then I thought about calling the cops but last year, I got harassed by a cop for being drunk (at what is possibly the biggest collection of drunk people outside of a St. Patty's Day parade in New York) so I nixed that idea. What did I do? I walked away. Lame.
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One of the movies I loved at SXSW was "Woodpecker." You can read my review here. It's about this kind of....off kilter guy named Jonny who gets sent to Arkansas to try and spot this very rare woodpecker. The film is a hybrid between real documentary and like, staged parts featuring Jonny. Anyway, loved the movie. Cut to the last "official" night of the fest and I'm walking down the street and who should I see but Jonny. We start talking and I give him a copy of my new movie, DRAG KING. Then as we start to part company, I realize I had a burning question I had been meaning to ask.

At one point in the movie, Jonny becomes so obsessed with the woodpecker, he gets a makeover and a tattoo of the bird. Yet the movie is so good at mixing up truth and fiction, I wasn't sure it was real so I asked. Here's your answer.




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After the film festival, the music kicked in straight away for me. this is like, the only chance to get to see the bands I really like since they hardly ever come out to California. The first night/last night of film there was a big ole Americana party called "This is American Music" featuring 2 Cow Garage, The Drams, Glossary, Grand Champeen and The Drams all rotating onto the stage, doing each others songs and having a blast. It was a totally cool show and a perfect way to kick off the music.

From there...days and shows get fuzzy.

The next day I saw Steve Poltz somewhere...I can't remember where. Hmm. His backing band The Truckee Brothers are fricking badass and I've become buddies with their road manager Chris. A cool guy even though he's a St. Louis Cardinals fan. So I told him to come down and see The Old 97's that night and to my surprise, him and Patrick from the Truckee Brothers showed up as I was about 9 beers deep. We hung out and as Patrick, a good looking rocker type is prone to do, he got some girls to come over. We all hung out and it turns out one of the girls really likes the Old 97's which was cool. In fact, I think this one girl really liked Poltz or the Truckee Brothers too, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, the Old 97's were great and as we were all joking around, I asked one of the girls if it would be possible for us to get a ride home. She agreed since she hadn't been drinking. Well, about 15 minutes later Patcrick and Chris were gone and about 5 minutes after that, the Old 97's were done and I was about a mile from home and still wanting a ride home. So, the nice Texas girls agreed. They were then treated to Donny the drunk who likes to repeat himself and ask obsequious questions and be annoying. Plus, the girl went the wrong way towards my hotel extending their time with me an extra 7-9 minutes.

By the time they dropped me off a simple "dude, get out was the last thing I heard. Now, if I had been home for this, I would have spent days feeling secretly embarrassed and foolish but hell, I was on vacation, there's like, 50,000 people here and I'll never see that girl again. Plus, I thought it was funny in general. One minute you're schmoozing cool rock guys, the next you get stuck with their not-cool drunk friend. Classic!

So the next day I got up and headed to my favorite bar in Austin, The Ginger Man. Poltz and the Truckee Bros were playing there at 4:00. Perfect! I got there and got a nice hefeweizen to start the day and settled into the 90 degree weather in the back patio. Poltz was awesome as usual and since they had a cool seeming show just outside of downtown at Marias Tacos, I hitched a ride over there with them. Marias Tacos was soo cool!! Just a basic taco joint with a rad back patio for music. It was awesome to see the Truckee Bros play their own set, then Poltz joined them.

By this time, I was beat and the place was packed. I really just wanted to sit down. Suddenly a seat opened up right by a fan and one of those cool air misting things! YAY!! I plopped down and as I did, I looked next to me....and the girl who gave me a ride home the night before was sitting there. Frigging classic! We both laughed and then I said, "hey, can you give me a ride back to my hotel" and she said "no."

O.K.....that's all for now. I'mn verbally un-constipated now. Thanks for reading!

Still alive.

Yeah, I'm still here in Austin....nothing much to report though. Well, nothing that would translate into something interesting for you. The rodeo/Styx concert Thursday was completely amazing. It was everything Styx at a Texas rodeo should be. Then the Film Threat crew (Mark and Pete) got into town and movies commenced. And a whole lot of rock band which Mark loves. And by loves I mean, starts visibly shaking if he can't play. Film Threat had a really fun party Sunday and we had rock band and I played. There's some hillarious pics on Film Threat.

Lets see....I saw alot of terrific small films. SXSW is the best at getting non-trendy, really creative films into their fest. I appreciate the diversity and the fact that I'd estimate the suck factor for SXSW over the past 4 years has been like...10%. That is to say 10% of all the movies I've seen here in 4 years have been less than good. That's pretty impressive. I'd put Sundance at about a 92% suck factor.

So yeah, saw alot of movies. Went to some parties. Drank alot of beer and then Pete and Mark left and now I'm in the cheaper hotel across the river. It's cool though because there's a Hooters across the street and a restaurant I LOVE called Threadgills next door. I saw Steve Poltz there yesterday and I'm about to walk out and see Roky Erikson's Psychadelic Ice Cream Social featuring Thurston Moore. I also saw Bob Schneiders R&B band The Scabs which were great.

Tonight the Old 97's are playing but not till 1 a.m. so we'll see. Oh, by the way, I'm sick and have been sick the WHOLE time I've been here and it's really dragging me down as late. I didn't let it bug me during the film fest (which is to say I stayed out past 2 a.m. everynight drinking) and now, man....it's tough. But I shall sally forth. Here's some random pics I have....

Smooth.

So I simply cannot wait to go to South by Southwest this year! It's my most favorite thing to do ever as it's all movies, music, beer and BBQ. Basically it's my bible camp. Last year I was equally psyched and then somehow misread my flight info and missed my flight by a day. It was like someone stole all my Christmas presents I was so upset. I just went home and crawled into bed and waited for Saturday so I could fly out.

So today I've been stressed as my wife and child have the flu and I can feel it coming on. Plus, I have a review to write and a big article for Film Threat....plus packing and tying up loose ends at work. So I look at my flight info and come to find out, I leave tomorrow (Thursday) not Friday. It was almost a crappy deja vu!! Luckily, I caught the error on my part.

Still, what a moron I am. Who doesn't check their flight infoWHile I'm not too bummed because I'll get to be in Austin a day early, I now have less time to do all the stuff I gotta do. And what am I doing? Writing a blog. Genius.

The other good thing is my Austin buddy Kelly alerted me that STYX is playing the RODEO tomorrow night so that's a MUST SEE EVENT.

Viva Austin!!!

Just sayin'

Since we all apparently can't get enough of politics this season, I wanted to share my insight on the whole Clinton/Obama throwdown. That photo above has graced the back of my staunchly right-wing neighbor's huge truck since we moved in over a year ago. Over a year ago...before Hillary Clinton even announced she was running.

I snapped a pic of it the other day but wanted to post it because there was a big hullabaloo on right wing radio yesterday (particularly by the fat druggie Rush Limbaugh) saying voters in these swing states should NOT vote for McCain as he has the republican nomination sewn up, but rather they should vote for Hillary so "the democratic party can continue ripping itself apart." However anyone who pays any attention to the talkies out there know the republicans feel they can beat Hillary but not Obama and that's why Rush wants to try and get her more votes.

The righties hate the Clintons and they're already prepping all kinds of smears should Hillary get the nom. Couple that with that bumper sticker above and throw in the fact Obama has more buzz than "Vampire Weekend" or "No Country for Old Men" and couple that with the fact any "ripping apart" of the party is being done by sneaky Hillary and I think the writing is on the wall.

If you're reading this and are voting today, please vote Obama. I hate to pull a Rove, but a vote for Hillary is a vote for McCain. If Hillary wins the democratic nomination, McCain is your next president. You read it here folks. Do the right thing....vote Obama!