Fast Cheap and Under Control

I recently received a copy of a great new book titled Fast, Cheap and under Control: Lessons from the Greatest Low-Budget Movies of All Time written by John Gaspard.


First, it’s a great book. I highly recommend it for people interested in filmmaking and/or aspiring to making movies. Second, in a chapter devoted to four mock-docs, The Last Broadcast is written about in a very accurate, and informative way.

For myself, the coolest thing is that David Holzman’s Diary, a movie I studied in school and that was very influential to Lance and myself, is the movie that immediately precedes TLB. It’s kind of awing when you are being written about right next to your heroes.
I really wish my film Professor were still alive to see this. He’d have gotten a real kick out of it.

Along with our humble selves, there are many other interviews from sixty nine ‘indie’ movies, spanning a wide range of time and genres. It really is a great list of movies. Check it out.

Also, as September 26th approaches, it’s time for me to start plugging – the re-release of The Last Broadcast. As we near the ten year (GULP) anniversary of the movie’s inception, Heretic films is putting out a brand new, remastered movie, along with all the original extras of the first DVD, plus a slew of new ones. I’ve reconstructed the original website, and over the next few days will amp it up with new information. For now, check it out at: www.thelastbroadcastmovie.com
Also, check out www.hereticfilms.com

Finally, check out Lance Weiler’s newest project at www.headtraumamovie.com
He begins his fifteen city theatrical run tomorrow, so if you’re near one of the screens, go see it. Best of luck, Lance.

That’s all for the moment.
Have a good one.

Where have the children gone?

A quick, annoyed entry about a survey that’s been generating a lot of talk in town.
Here’s a link to a story about it.

The crux is that young people today seem to like watching movies in ways besides  the theatrical experience. PC’s or ipods, etc.  The fear is that these other methods are supplanting the theatrical experience.
This survey asks all kinds of questions about how and why they like to watch movies.
It’s all very scientific with a +- error of a mere 3 percentage points.
After reading this carefully, I have formulated my own opinion. By no means the first time someone has said this, I think now is a great time to repeat it. It bears reiteration.

YOU’RE MORONS!  
You want to know why ticket sales are down? It’s not brain surgery. (By the way, the brain is a thing people besides you have inside their skull)

It’s simple. You charge too much.  
Done. You greedy bastards killed the cow, and you’re wondering why the teat isn’t working so well?
“Hmm, maybe those wacky kids today like juice”. Blame it on the Internet.
NO, you idiots. They can’t afford the price of that stinky, sour milk.

Lower the prices and most of your problem will go away. Make better movies and even more will vanish. I like to watch a movie as much (well probably more) than the next person, but even I find myself not paying to go to the theaters.

Okay, this rant won’t change anything, but at least I put it out there.

It’s a classic problem with show business. We get so close to the problem, we can’t see it.

A classic forest for the trees.

It's the weekend...

...and I am writing.
Damn it's good to be writing.
Saturday night, yeah!
Writing.

Actually, there's no sarcastic tone meant with the above.
Across the street, people are having a blow-out party. It's 2:40 am and going strong, which is unheard of in L.A. It's a town that shuts down early. 12:30 - 1:00 AM. 1:30 at the latest. It was one of the strangest culture shocks for me. Very strange indeed.
There were times in New York that I wouldn't even begin the night till near midnight. Heck, even in Pennsylvania, one could be expected to go to an after hours breakfast somewhere on a Saturday night after partying till 2:00.

I have a good mind to go over there -
-and ask them for their playlist. Damn, the music is great.
A bunch of stuff that I've never heard, but seems like I should have.

I am catching up on my "Stooges" collection; not "The Three" rather just, "The".
If you don't get it, don't worry about it.

Maybe the tone of this blog has something to do with having listened to Iggy, Siouxie, the Horrorpops (my newest discovery) et al.

Quickie, over and out.


ps- I was wrong. The party ended at 2:48 Am, didn't slow down or fade out, just - ended.

pps - Brothers of the Head opened this weekend. Have you seen it yet?


Good night.

Waves: heat, sound, and other

Frequency of my blogging is inversely proportional to the productivity in my life.
Ah, if only that were one hundred percent true.

It’s been a hot summer. That has slowed me down, somewhat. I’m guessing that a lot of people in the country have been operating at speeds rated less than normal.

It’s a hot one.

Before the heat hit, we went ‘environment cooling’ shopping. Having seen An Inconvenient Truth, and being from the ‘man is screwing things up’ school of thought, we looked for an alternative to air conditioning. Swamp coolers held promise for areas that are dry. Hey, Southern California is dry!

The premise behind one is that a fan blows through (or sucks) a very fine mist of water. Much finer than the misters used outside in Las Vegas (or the Universal theme park lines), the Swamp Cooler blows slightly damp air. The water pulls the heat out of the air, and Voila!, cooler air. In dry areas, it can cool the air ten degrees.

We got it, I filled it up and turned it on.

We waited; we put our hands in front of it to feel if the air was getting cooler…

We tried this for three days before coming to the realization that, maybe these things work in Tuscan, but in Los Angeles, they aren’t happening.

First, it essentially felt no different than a fan.
Second, you’re supposed to leave the doors and windows open. It’s simply no match for that.
Third, at the end of the day – you have room that is more humid. Humidity, while perhaps decreasing the overall temp by a degree or so, increases the relative ‘feel’ of the temp. So, actually – the swamp cooler just pissed me off.
Fourth, the Swamp Cooler also released what I call, “the smell of impending death”. It’s that damp, musty, ‘plastic’y odor of old folks homes that anyone who has spent time in a senior center will be familiar with.

So, with great disappointment, we returned the Swamp Cooler, and exchanged it for a portable Air Conditioner. We’d heard less then stellar reviews of those also, but with an intent of using it sparingly, one room at a time only, and only when it was really needed, we were hopeful.

Maybe I’ll write about my day of hell in the exchange sometime.

Anyway, the heat hit, and it’s a damned good thing I had AC instead of that Swamp Cooler, cause the humidity went up also (which isn't supposed to happen in Northeastern Los Angeles. It’s the first time in L.A. that I felt like I was back east. The heavy, hot, humid air at night. UGH! Just like Pennsylvania in July. Thankfully, the portable Swamp Cooler was able to pull that out of the bedroom at night.

The 100 plus degrees during the day were also made slightly more bearable. I was able to bring the temps in the office down to a comfortable 85 degrees, and survive.
Final verdict on the Portable AC: It's does the job. It won't win awards, but is very energy efficient and portability factor is good. It's esthetically as pleasing as any prop in Brazil and with its form factor and footprint should be given a name - like R2D2. All in all though, because we don't use AC more than absolutely necessary, it will do.

You know it’s hot when the cat looks forward to being soaked with water.

Dog Days Of Summer

Weather wise, a strange summer indeed. I guess I don’t need to tell U.S. readers that.

The business of making movies has been interspersed with going to the U.S Open of Surfing, Hollywood Bowl concerts, and the occasional summer block-not-so-buster. Also, my present “summer build project” is nearing completion. I wrote earlier about how I was building high-end microphones, and was accumulating parts for a high end mic Preamplifier – well, that project is about 98 percent complete. It’s been fun, interesting and occasionally frustrating. Though quite a bit more complex than any electronic project I’ve tackled in the past, I've only, shocked myself a couple times, burned myself only once and let the smoke out of only one component. Though that part was only a buck, I spent about twenty to locate it. Turning it on, and finally hearing it was very well worthwhile. The sound from this thing is frighteningly good. Besides being a clean, quiet, highly accurate machine, I can also turn up the gain (kinda like volume) to a point that if I aim a microphone out the office window, I can hear what’s going on across the neighborhood.

I feel like Gene Hackman in “The Conversation”; a classic thriller to watch, if you haven’t already.

4th of July weekend

4th of July weekend, and there are too many parties.

Getting through the last days of the L.A. Film Fest.
I finally got to see my old partner, Lance Weiler’s movie, Head Trauma. Cool movie. Check it out when it hits video. Or if you’re lucky, check it out if it hits a screen in your town.

Had a friend in town who co-wrote the afore mentioned movie. I spent the last week showing him the town. Lots of driving on hot days. But always lots of fun.
In addition to all the tar-pits, signs, roads, and views, we went to a party at the Chateau Marmont. The Penthouse. Yeah baby. Didn’t do Speedballs or anything life threatening, just a lot of gawking, and a fair amount of drinking. The place is pretty much everything it’s cracked up to be. Up the hill, off the Sunset Strip, it’s Ground Zero for cool in Hollywood. Also, Magic Castle, Yamashiro. Just another average week in L.A.

Now, more driving as we head to San Diego for a couple days. It never ends, I tell you.

Okay, so it does end. This entry is no longer the 4th of July. It’s a week later.
I didn’t publish the above lame-ass-entry cause because – well, it was lame-ass.

So – July 10th and I just got back from the Hollywood Bowl, where Tosca was performed. Great Opera, obviously. This was more a “theater of the mind” experience, as it was a “concert” performance, not a “stage” performance. It’s interesting to see how far they will take the ‘acting’ in a situation like this.
How do you execute the guy? Okay, bring out a firing squad like the stage play, but does he fall to the ground or is that going to far?

Being Puccini, you can’t go wrong. Solid voices, great orchestra and chorus. Wonderful.
Still, it belongs in an opera house. The costumes, the sets, etc. Gotta have it.
I’ve seen this opera more than any other; know it backwards and forwards. At some points, like a lot of music, I’m affected not by the music, but by the memories it evokes. What song does that for you? You ever wonder why music (without lyrics) has any affect on you? How and why does that work?

For those of you who live in Los Angeles. Go to the Hollywood Bowl, if you haven’t already. Great orchestra playing great music. Essentially all the concerts are standards, unlike the Disney Hall concerts where you hear more ‘difficult’ stuff.
Plus, it’s cheap. Park at the zoo for free, take the bus roundtrip for $3.00, pay 8 to 12 dollars and see a great concert. Bring food and drink, have a great time.

Next concert for me: The Planets by Gustav Holst and Sibelius’s violin concerto. How’s that for a double bill?

Oh Yeah, work:
I have four different versions of four different flow charts and meta essays all over the place about the damned script. However, I also have a Final Draft File open too. There will finally be a new script in the next couple weeks. Marianne is leaving for the Adirondacks for a month, so I’ll be going into “monk” mode starting the day after tomorrow. It’ll be a great time to finish this damned play and move onto something else.
I can finally catch up on some screenplays that I’ve been promising to read too.

Okay, still a Lame-o entry, but at least it’s something. Man, this blog thing is getting to be high pressure.

I’ll close this entry with one useful, important thing.
If you haven’t already seen it, see An Inconvenient Truth.
I believe it’s one of the most important movies ever made.

SEE IT!

Beach Crawl

It’s getting hot. Early. Too early in the summer, I say.

I wired up an exhaust fan in the attic, and have been able to bring the overall temp of the house down about ten degrees. Every degree counts when you break 100 degrees. Thankfully, no forest fires yet.

Several nights ago, three days after the full moon to be exact, we, Marianne and myself and our friends (I will call them Mathboy, Opera Girl and Spawn) went to the beach at 10:00 PM with flashlights and beach blanket. Mathboy had been telling us about a childhood experience and we went to also witness it. First, we watched a truly spectacular Moon rise over the ocean, and then we saw the purpose of our journey -- the Grunion Run. I, not being a fishing type of a guy, didn’t know much about Grunion. They are small fish that have the absolutely fascinating trait of crawling, yes crawling, up the beach after a full moon to “get it on”. Females drill a hole into the sand with their tail, and deposit eggs, whereupon, the male hops in and does his thing. Then back into the ocean they go. Or, if they are unfortunate to do this when the public is out, into a bucket more likely, as children of all ages ran around the sand grabbing the fish.
It all happened at the Cabrillo Aquarium and if you are a Socal local, I recommend it. It was a really fun, and wholesome event – for the humans, not the fish. It was also a great way to check out the aquarium, as it too was open. There was a certain vampiric quality to looking at the various fish at midnight. No lines, no crowds, no sun.

Bonfires on the beach completed a classic vision of a southern California night. I could very easily have imagined Frankie and Annette popping out from around the large lifeguard stand.
Perhaps, because the movie the aquarium showed that explained the “Grunion Run” was made around 1955, or perhaps the simple glee with which the kids were running around trying to grab small fish, overall, the entire thing had a certain 1950’s vibe to it.
In a good way.

The L.A. Film Fest starts this week. In an attempt to be an actual “A” list festival, rather than merely pretending to be, they seem to really be going all out. It faces the eternal hurdle of being in a town where people are inundated by movies and film festivals. It’s hard to get excited for every single one. However, it has developed, and I’m looking forward to it, namely because:
Several friends have movies programmed, specifically Louis Pepe and Keith Fulton’s, Brothers of the Head, and my old “The Last Broadcast” partner, Lance Weiler and his movie, Head Trauma. A heady fest, shall we say? Perhaps not. Sorry. I’ll be playing host to a couple people from the East Coast. It’s always interesting to see the town through fresh eyes.

The remastering of The Last Broadcast is finished and delivered to the distributor.  It took a good month and a half to do the job. It’s nice to be done with it. The DVD will quite something; close to four hours of material in addition to the movie. I think something that will appeal to many people, which isn’t even listed as an extra, is that I incorporated the score into the chapter selection screens. Thus, the DVD, for all intents and purposes, is also a soundtrack album.  In doing this, a lot of requests from over the years will finally be fulfilled. It was interesting to go through all the old music tracks, clean them up and remix them. It really hammers home how much the technology has advanced in the nine odd years sine we began that movie.

Writing continues, interspersed by reading scripts, playing the violin, and continuing my latest hobby/fascination of building studio grade audio gear. The microphones having been such a success, I’m undertaking a significantly more difficult project. It will be my official “summer hobby project” – a high end Two Channel Microphone Preamplifier. Lots of components with real electricity coursing through them, I hopefully I won’t let the smoke out of any expensive parts - or myself.
I’ve been ordering up lots of the parts online, but for the moment I’m going to hold on actually placing the orders. Though very convenient, generally cheaper, and less likelihood of the wrong parts, a certain visceral feel is lost by online shopping. For that, a trip to a huge electronic surplus ‘junkyard’ is in order. I’m reminding myself to have fun with the journey as well as the final product. Also, the ideas that spring from these excursions can’t be matched with electronic catalogs.

I’m sure it will be a blog in the future.

Been a little while

Been a while since my last entry. That’s a sign that I’m busy.
The microphone project has been a smashing success, so much so, that I’ve created an area on my website about it. If you’re interested in perhaps building a high quality microphone yourself and have a little bit of knowledge about electronics, I recommend this highly. Just click on DIY GUY on my website. www.stefanavalos.com

Diamond Road, or whatever it’ll be called, has finally been re-outlined. I went through the most serious “lack of inspiration” time period that I’ve had in a long time. Thankfully, persistence got me through it. Hopefully now that the new treatment is finished, a draft will only take a few weeks.

To my left, a large editing workstation is capturing footage from The Last Broadcast raw tapes. I can announce publicly now that a re-release of the movie is under way. It’ll be out this fall, in time for Halloween. A Brand-spanking new DVD, it’ll feature the Remastered movie, new extras in addition to the original extras, new commentary, etc.

There will also be a very special bonus feature. Fans of comic books will be very excited, I think. Stephen Bissette (Swamp thing, Taboo) will be doing a mini-comic book, which will be part of the first run of DVD’s.  It’ll be a definite collectors item.

Stay tuned for a “new” official site featuring the original 1996-97 website. It’s a real trip down memory lane, and hard to believe that it’s been nearly ten years already since Lance and I went into production on that movie.

Speaking of trips down memory lane, I had an opportunity to see Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. Talk about the most joyous reliving of childhood! If you haven’t heard of this movie, it’s a scene-by-scene remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark, made by three boys in Mississippi after they saw Raiders. I too was making my little “Raiders” type movies when I was twelve, as were a lot of boys of that time. Mine were about five minutes a piece. These guys, however, remade the whole feature! It took them seven years, but yikes. Rolling boulders, Nazis, barroom brawls, caves, THE TRUCK CHASE. It’s all there.
There is a feature film about their lives in development. I think if it ever gets made, it could be one of the ultimate “wonder years” type looking back on childhood movies ever. My vote is for Robert Zemeckis to direct.

We Are DIY

DIY (do it yourself).

However, someone from triple AAA is currently changing one of my car tires – in my own driveway because I ran over a screw last night. Having called someone to come to my house to change a tire is one of the more surreal experiences of the last year. I used to tear apart engines, brake systems, transmissions. I owned a British Sports Car for crying out loud; I had to learn these things. Changing tires is something I would never have imagined calling someone for. Still, it’s kind of novel not to have to raise a finger, and have it done for me. And there is one other reason: I have no jack. So, that takes care of that. Note to self, buy a jack.

As the tire is changed, my research continues on my newest DIY mission.

As any faithful readers know, I have in my spare time taken to fervently practicing the violin again. Well, soon, I will want to record myself. I do own a good Shotgun mic, from location recording work, however, recording the violin with that was awful – like a knife. It’s not meant for that. So, I started doing the late night visits to Ebay and craigslist in the search for a decent used microphone or pair of microphones. A good pair of microphones, even used, is 600 dollars. Pricey, but I’m not shocked – heck I know a sound guy with a 3000 dollar microphone – not even a pair. So, with a few microphones on my “watch” lists, I’ve been doing my thing. I have also been looking at another option…

Last night, I decided to record myself as I practiced (with the evil shotgun) and came to the depressing realization that I am not anywhere near deserving of pair of 600 dollar microphones with which to record myself. So that other option is going to become my main option.

I’m going to build a microphone. When I say I'm going to build a microphone, I don't mean jam a loudspeaker on the end of a pole, jack into a mic input and be done. No, I mean I'm going to attempt to build a high end condenser microphone, maybe even with it's own power supply. If that works, I'll match it with a second one. After doing some research on the net, I discovered that not only is it not impossible, it is quite doable. There are quite a few people doing it, including several making ribbon microphones (the most difficult and sensitive microphones of all) The price differential from “store bought” to DIY is staggering and it could also be a lot of fun. I’ll post pictures of the project. For now, if you’re interested in where I’ve found great info, start here.

So – now that the tire is fixed, I’m going to see if some of the electronic stores in Burbank have the required parts for the guts. I will make sure to not stop by Royer Labs (also in Burbank) and tell them my plan.

Went to the Silver Lake Film Festival to see a movie made by a husband/wife team from my old neck of the woods. It is amazing to see what people are doing these days with digital movie making. What’s also heartening to see is the sheer determination and perseverance that was obvious in the movie. The effects – subtle and in your face were incredible. It was a five year project, and it shows. Congratulations Keith and Faith on The Suicide Notes. May your DIY spirit lead to bigger and easier projects. And remember that thing we were talking about after the movie? –- about where you should be if you make movies… think about it.

Steve Wicen

1927-2006

One of my best friend’s father died. His name was Steve Wicen, and he was a very special guy. In his death, an era comes to an end. Steve and his brother Frank were cut from the same cloth; cloth that grows increasingly rare in today’s world. They were farmers in Pennsylvania. The Wicen Farm as we call it, the fields, the barns - the shooting range, will always be among my fondest memories.

I always looked forward to seeing Steve when I went to the farm. His “hello” and grin never failed. He had eyes that actually twinkled.

He and his brother were like rocks in the river of time. They were able to withstand a lot of change through sheer will and smarts. I can’t call them street smarts… I’ll call them field smarts.

Steve’s brother Frank died in a car accident – an unexpected and sudden demise. Now, four months later, Steve called it quits, succumbing to Cancer. A quick close of an era and a forced changing of the guard, obviously very sad, but in a strangely poetic way -- beautiful too. All clocks wind down and lingering is not pleasant. I think people who knew Frank and Steve are celebrating how long and with what quality their lives ticked.

Now, the farm and the legacy will go on to the next generation. My buddy Joe has large shoes to fill, but then, he is a big guy. No kidding.


GIVE MONEY
I want to thank everyone who is helping with pledges to the MS walk. If you want to contribute – please, click here. It’s for a great and very necessary cause.

It’s been interesting to see who has pledged. Overall, it’s been people of fairly modest means. The wealthy people I know have by and large not donated a dime. Why is that? It’s certainly not greed or spend-thrift-ness. Are they pre-occupied?
Huh.


FIDDLING AROUND
My violin practicing is coming along at a startling rate. The majority of my technique has come back. I would have estimated that the level of playability to which I’ve returned would have taken a couple solid years of work so I am more surprised than anyone that two months into the return, I've come so far. I am still struggling with the physicality of it all. Muscles need to be reworked, joints are grumbling, my back, neck and for lack of a better place to put the pain, my lungs, are sore after I play. My left thumb still gets paralyzingly, painfully, locked up and then completely mushy, when I “open up the engine” for an extended run. Each day though seems to feel better than the last.

It has remained fun and I’m actually trying to squeeze two hours a day of study. I am not just playing “music” either. I’m actually practicing – Kreutzer etudes for anyone interested in knowing. I continue to be amazed and awed by physical memory. Exercises that I haven’t looked at for over twenty odd years have come back. My fingers remember them though I don’t. Much to my chagrin, many of the weak spots are still weak too. Areas where there were “X” marks put in by my teacher, remain --- X spots. Maybe this time around I can finally get them right.

The violin sounds better than it ever has, and I’m also able to do certain things that I couldn’t before, both tonally and technically. I credit the bow in large part. Several years ago I invested in a decent bow, and am now actually able to do things I couldn’t before. I am gaining a control over my right arm that I think I've never had. I wonder how much different certain things might have been had I a good bow all those years ago. I also bought a new, high-end case within which the violin now rests. Properly suspension’ed, metered (for humidity) and able to dispense humidity, as needed, the violin now has a better home than many people.
Sad to say.

The other amazing thing which has completely changed the playing of the violin is, (drum roll again please for the obvious recipient of the “Isn’t it amazing award”) the internet. I’ve been very impressed by how violinists have utilized the web, and a camaraderie exists that didn’t back in my day. It makes for a much less solitary existence, which is one of the banes of classical music. I’ve been able to communicate with other violinists about things ranging from wrist technique for certain up-bow staccato playing to string choice. In addition to being able to use my computer as a metronome, recording device etc., I now have the world’s music library at my fingertips. It’s been incredible to download any music I want for trivial prices. I wonder what it means for the music-publishing world? Certainly things have changed when you can own a CD containing pretty much all the major violin concertos, plus much of the favorite short repertoire for 19.00 dollars. When a Fritz Kreisler piece or the Carmen Fantasy costs $2.99 to buy, it certainly allows for experimentation. So I’m experimenting.

I also have had some nice communication with several violinists. In searching for opinions about strings, I actually did a search for my specific violin – year and make. Since all decent violins, not being factory made, have their own voice, it can be a long and expensive process to find the best strings for a violin. Even then, it’s a matter of personal choice, playing needs, etc. In doing my search, I was hoping to get a jump on this and low and behold, as close as a sibling to my violin was found. I emailed the young lady and was quite pleased to quickly get a great reply. She, Amy Fetherolf, is quite an accomplished player and it was interesting to share some history with her. It seems that many classical roads lead back to Philadelphia. I wish her all the best, and for you managers who might be reading, I understand she is looking for good representation.

Also – and once again, here is fan boy writing. Though being in the movie business lessens the awe of celebrities, certain people still do it for me.

When I was ten or so, my violin teacher gave my father and I third row tickets to see a taped concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra and a violinist whom he thought was absolutely spectacular. He wanted me to see her play. I was quite struck, when she came out on stage – a beautiful, confident violinist who knocked the Sibelius violin concerto out of the park. Her name, Dylana Jenson and she was and remains, one of the great contemporary violinists. Imagine my excitement when I found a message on a violin forum written by her. For the heck of it, I wrote her a “fan email”, and she was great in writing back. In the email she also mentioned that her sister was a movie director. For you fans of animation, her sister is Vicky Jensen, director of such minor animated movies as Shrek, and Shark Tale.

Had enough with the violin yet?

Well, there’s more -

Went to a screening of Music from the Inside Out last night. It’s a documentary about the Philadelphia Orchestra, and should hopefully get a bit of notice this year. Overall, it was a good movie, though it sidestepped most of the hard-core aspects of classical music. There was one moment of insight when concert master David Kim, talks about his journey into the orchestra. In watching this section of the movie, the one pervading though that ran through my head was -- My God, I dodged a bullet.
For anyone who is surprised and thinks that was an unexpected plot twist in my violin-playing essay – forget not, that while the violin is a beautiful instrument, it is also a demanding, cruel, unforgiving tool. The competition to play is staggering, and unless it is a calling that the player feels, it is not a path that travels well.

I saw very few of the old faces from when I performed with them, though I saw Michael Ludwig, a guy who trounced me in one violin competition. Though his name was listed in the end credits, I did not see my old violin teacher, Morris Shulik. The movie was made at the end of his career with the orchestra and unfortunately, his life – so I didn’t know whether to expect seeing him or not.

I do recommend the movie. It’s worthy and you can’t help but feel good walking out of the theater.

The weather goes from nice to nicer. Nights are still chilly enough for hot-tubbing, which is always pleasurable, but the days are now warm enough that I spend them writing outside in shorts and a t-shirt. Or no shirt, which I did two days ago, promptly giving myself a serious reddening of the skin.
Not that it’s really ever not the season in Southern California, but the nights now are ever better for BBQ’s.

Finally, I was absolutely amazed that not one, but two people identified the music on the violin stand correctly. I was alluding to a different piece of music and had I known that the eagle eyes of some observant people would identify the music, I would have put the proper music up.

So… for some useless fun.

Points for anyone who can tell me:

1. What piece was I alluding two posts ago?
   


2. What piece is this following tricky part from?

Here's a hint: While it may look easy, it's incredibly difficult to play.

3. Based on this photo, what violin do I play, and what bow do I use? (no cheating if you already know)





















Back to the movies...

It looks like The Ghosts of Edendale is finally getting released in the U.K. Though the rights were purchased two odd years ago by Anchor Bay, they've taken their time setting a release date. Finally, if you live in England, you'll be able to see the movie.

We are in negotiations for a re-release of The Last Broadcast. Hopefully it will be out for Hallowen of 2006. I will keep you informed of this.


Now – off to work, where I must figure out how the protagonist (Eddie) is going to finally get the villain (Gunnar) and save the day for all.

Need more Blog Time

Well no, not really… I just need more time in general… always need more time.
If I had more Blogtime, I’d write about –

Descanso Gardens on Valentines Day
Schubert
Kreisler
Threats of School reunions
The Weather
Discoveries of strange and wonderful art through the stumble upon extension in FireFox.

Perhaps I will delve into some of these thoughts in the near future, but for the moment, I will write about this:

Even though I have good intentions, I’m not much of a do-gooder. There are plenty of people on this planet that do more for it and the things that live on it than I. This includes saving things, restoring things, planting things, building things, feeding things, etc.

I am taking an exception to my unbelievably selfish ways for a cause with which I have become shockingly familiar in the last few years. Namely – MS. No, not an acronym for Microsoft, but rather a bastard of a disease that is incredibly prevalent today. I have several friends afflicted with it and unfortunately know closely of people who’ve died as a result of it.

The long and the short of this blog entry is that I’m part of a “team walk” thang to raise money for MS and I want you to pledge some money.

So there, I’ve said it.

If you’re inclined to actually do something that will give a rush of good feeling – that you’ve done something for your fellow humans -

Hit this link.

What do you get for giving some of your hard earned money?
Well, an auto reply thanks, a few emails, maybe a thank you phone call.

Seriously though, you will be helping in a great cause. Really. And you’ll have gotten some special Karma points too.