Just Press Play

Why does a guy in California care?
Because even though it's a big country, it's still ONE country.

Here's the spot that I helped make.
Brian Felsen is the creator and Director.

One of those days

One of those days

The cat was not acting her usual self last night and we then saw some blood on the floor and on the towel she sleeps on. When I attempted to look closely at an area on her stomach that she was licking continuously, she meowed-squawked, and took off for the laundry room. This morning, Marianne got a closer look and saw a nasty gash. A visit to the vet determined it was even deeper than we thought, and would require stitches.
     So now, we are being treated to the pitiful sight of our cat staggering around with a cone-head. She’s freaked, her balance is off, and in pain. Disconcerting, but what can you do?

This evening, I went to bucolic Sierra Madre to help a friend with a political spot. An attempt to do some good, I think it went well. However, I left his house, went out to the quiet, tree lined street to find – no car!
My car was stolen! It’s an odd thing. I actually looked up and down an EMPTY street, to see if I had put it somewhere else, as if I had misplaced the TV remote or something.
This really sucks. We only have one car. It’s not a new car, but it’s our car, our reliable Honda Accord. Or at least it was. For the moment, we’re kinda at a loss.
For those that don’t know, Sierra Madre is like Mayberry. Not a high crime area, to put it mildly.

Singing the song of everybody who has had a car stolen – I hope carma (no I didn’t misspell that) really nails whoever stole my car. And I hope they aren’t chopping it up as I write this.

After filling out the police report, the officer gave me a little card and said they’d call if anything turned up. She gave me her condolences, which was nice, and then – that was it. It’s disheartening to walk out of the police station with just a little card that has a report number and a few other things. Is this all I have now?

The great prescription sunglasses Marianne had just gotten me for my birthday were in the glove compartment too. Damn it.

Anyway, if you live in Connecticut, please vote for Ned Lamont. And if you do, leave a message on this blog. At least it’ll make the stolen car not seem entirely in vain.

Horror Doing Well In October

So, fellow Bucks County writer, Stephen Susco had a great opening with his latest movie, The Grudge 2. Cool! He’s on a real roll; seems like there’s no stopping him. Nice guy – he deserves it. He’s also a writing machine. Pretty humbling, actually.

Also, Texas Chainsaw, the beginning, is still in the top ten also. It was D.P’ed (director of Photography) by Lukas Ettlin, the same guy who D.P’d my movie, The Ghosts of Edendale. I’m guessing he’s enjoying working on movies with more money.

My friend, John Gulugers’ movie, Feast hits DVD this week so – buy a copy, or at least rent it.

And in playing, “how small is the horror film world?” -- John’s mother, Miriam was in Texas Chainsaw III . The Ghosts of Edendale is dedicated to Miriam, who passed away in 2003.

Writing away here as usual. We recently started a writer’s group that’s been pretty helpful. We’ve kept it small, and the people in it are really good; most already have produced credits. It’s been helpful to bounce ideas with them, and is a good reminder that ‘you’re not by yourself’.

Finally, please do us a huge favor: if your local video store doesn’t have The Last Broadcast – the collectors edition, please request it. Or even better – buy it. It’s chock-full of extras, so I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

East for a bit

I’m sitting in an air terminal in Minneapolis. A direct flight from Philly to L.A., I didn’t see the part where we stop in Minnesota. No wonder it’s a seven and a half hour flight.
I’m on my way back from Pennsylvania, where I spent a long weekend. Back in town for my father’s 80th birthday, I also was able to do a few of the things that used to be routine there. I spent a couple hours shooting guns at my friend Joe’s farm, where I also stayed. An AR-15, an M-1 Carbine – the grouping on the target looked pretty darn good, till I started at it with a Glock.


Later, I drove the roads of Bucks County, marveling at the destruction the last strong rains have wrought.
One of the pilgrimages I make every time I go back to Pennsylvania is to the airport that was the inspiration for Diamond Road so many years ago; Van Sant Airport.

A beautiful day, I watched two bi-planes practice their take off and landings. To my ears, the sound of a biplane flying past as it takes off is one of the most glorious sounds there is. No matter how many times I’ve heard it, the thrill remains the same. There simply is nothing to match the roar of a radial engine as it blasts past you.

Yesterday, my last day in Pa, found me going back to Van Sant – an addiction that can’t be shaken. A friend of mine who still lives in Bucks had never been there, and that was enough reason to go and show one of my favorite places in the world. Staring at the parked classic airplanes parked on the grass found me succumbing… And with my friend urging me on, there was no escape.
Within minutes I was putting on a soft leather helmet and goggles and climbing into the front open cockpit of a 1943 Stearman Biplane.






With a “Clear”, the pilot, Azhar, fired up the engine and soon, we roared down the runway and into the sky. As we flew into the sky, I have to admit, I had to fight hard not to tear up with (ugh) joy. I’m currently tearing up from that previous corny sentence, yet it is absolutely true.

Announcement, seat calls, general boarding -
I’m now forty thousand odd feet above the Rockies, where the snow caps are reflecting brilliantly. Quite a view! A 757 is not nearly as exciting an airplane to fly in as a Biplane, but the views are unbeatable.

We, Azhar and I, flew around the Bucks County area for about twenty minutes. Being a Stearman, a trainer biplane, I had all the controls and gauges in front of me. Obviously, I didn’t touch anything, but it was interesting to watch what was going on – when I wasn’t looking over the edge at the scenery a couple thousand feet below me. Azhar was in the open cockpit behind me. Towards the end of the twenty minutes, he tapped my shoulder and made a straight-up motion with a flat open hand. When I nodded gleefully, up we went, into a somersault.
Just like the movies – Sky sky sky, then the horizon ground coming from above, then ground gound ground, and then the horizon skyline coming from above.


A short moment later, we did a Barrel roll, and then touched down – the gentlest landing I’ve experienced in any aircraft.

It’s an experience I recommend everyone try at least once in his or her life. If you live in the Bucks County Area, do it at Van Sant; the nicest bunch of people in one of the most scenic airports there is.

Today’s the day
In a few hours, once I’m back in L.A., I will be doing a DVD signing. Today is the re-release of The Last Broadcast. Did you get your copy yet?

As I have already done before, I will remind you again-- Go to www.thelastbroadcastmovie.com and check out all the info.

So, back to work tomorrow, back to the real world (if Los Angeles can be considered the real world). May the feelings of soaring in biplanes remain – and may you too experience the same if you have not already.

Dylan is a Whore

To make sure I wasn’t reading anything out of context, I read the entire Bob Dylan interview in Rolling Stone magazine. Good interview, it goes all over the place talking about his new album, bootlegs, etc.

One paragraph has stuck in the craw of those who love their 1’s and 0’s.

Here it is, cut and pasted from Rolling Stone:

But getting the band of his dreams into the studio was only half the battle. "The records I used to listen to and still love, you can't make a record that sounds that way," he explains. It is as if having taken his new material down to the crossroads of the recording studio Dylan isn't wholly sure the deal struck with the devil there was worth it. "Brian Wilson, he made all his records with four tracks, but you couldn't make his records if you had a hundred tracks today. We all like records that are played on record players, but let's face it, those days are gon-n-n-e. You do the best you can, you fight that technology in all kinds of ways, but I don't know anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past twenty years, really. You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them. There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like -- static. Even these songs probably sounded ten times better in the studio when we recorded 'em. CDs are small. There's no stature to it. I remember when that Napster guy came up across, it was like, 'Everybody's gettin' music for free.' I was like, 'Well, why not? It ain't worth nothing anyway.' ". . .

Okay. So Dylan thinks that Analog is better than Digital… I guess. He’s all over the place in terms of the process, jumping from the recording to the mastering to playback. Frankly, I’m guessing his hearing might be shot. It makes sense – he’s a sixty five year old rocker.

Whatever, I’ll give him his opinion. But this is Bob Dylan! If he wants, why doesn’t he record the way he wants? He could. He’s pining for something as if it no longer exists – which is a crock. It does. In fact, there’s plenty of analog machines gathering dust just waiting for you to use them, Bob.

Additionally, he’s wrong. Now, before any vinyl/analog nuts get annoyed, let me explain myself. There’s theoretically no end to how high you make a digital rate. So, the sound is only going to get better. Eventually, there’s no comparison. Whatever data rate 44.1k, 96k, 192k. 16, 20, 24 or more bit depth… you can keep throwing 1’s and 0’s at your problem fairly easily. You’ll blow that 4 track Brian Wilson used right out of the water sonically, if that’s what you want to do. (Genius not included)

Okay, Bob is right in some respects. Digital recordings can absolutely sound like crap. Just like analog tape that is slowed down to get the most recording time, when you listen to highly compressed digital recordings, MP3’s for instance, the sound quality can be atrocious. Low data rates, like the popular 128k MP3 rate, are where his griping rings very true. It can be a very mushy, flange-y listening experience.

So in that case, Bob, you’re right. To quote you, “It ain’t worth nothing anyway” – if it’s a low grade MP3.


But then…


Why did I see you pimping yourself in an Apple ITUNES commercial last night?






Are you expecting me to pay for that?

Feast on This

Feast on This

Just watched a trailer for Feast. You know, the Project Greenlight movie. The folks over at Fango got an exclusive, and it’s definitely worth checking out.
The movie has gone through quite some turmoil to get to the public. I’m glad everyone is going to finally get a chance to see it. John Guluger, the film’s director has really worked hard, and it shows. Congrats John, Clu, Diane and everyone else. It’s been a long road.

Also, in keeping with the mentioning and re-mentioning of friends (and myself of course) and our DVD releases and re-releases (enough with the re’s right?)

Down in the Valley – Directed by David Jacobson (Edward Norton, Bruce Dern, Evan Rachel Wood, Rory Culkin)
Head Trauma – Directed by Lance Weiler (Vince Mola, Jamil Mangan, Strange Hooded Figure)
And of course ---
The Last Broadcast

Went to the Hollywood Bowl last night. Good concert. One of the things I was really impressed by, which I don’t think gets a lot of credit, was the quality of the camera work and video switching on the big reinforcement monitors. You know – the large screen television you end up watching when you’re too far from the stage. Last nights work was as good as something you’d see on PBS. Fantastic close-ups of various musicians, cut and dissolves right on cue… Yeah, this was someone who cared, not just a jobber.
I’m going to try to see if I can find out who it was and give him a ‘well-done’. I know I’d be happy if someone out of the blue did that.

Okay, my day begins. I am now jamming through the writing. Like a rocket that’s been through countless delays, and technical issues- the engines finally got lit and are operating at full blast. Hallelujah!

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.