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Saturday, August 11th, 2012
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12:07 pm - Casting Movies That Don't Exist: Tandem Productions (All In The Family, et.al)
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The ALL IN THE FAMILY/JEFFERSONS/MAUDE universe could be pulled together for a great dramedy. On this my choice for casting though becomes a bit harder to determine. There are so many routes one could go. I'm going to come up with three different casting choices which would make different films, but would all work in their own strange way.
Now I know that The Bunkers lived in Astoria, Queens while the best characters of The Jeffersons were in a place in Upper Manhattan, and Maude and her family were in Westchester County. In this envisioned concept the film would be formed as arching several years, showing interconnections while telling the stories of three very different but similar families who are quite related and would not exist without the other.
Archie Bunker: Rob Reiner/Steve Buscemi/Nick Nolte
Edith Bunker: Penny Marshall/Yeardly Smith/Carol Kane
Gloria Stivic: Emma Stone/Emma Watson/Ginnifer Goodwin
Michael Stivic: Sean William Scott/Kieran Culkin/Ashton Kutcher
George Jefferson: Chris Rock/Don Cheadle/Geoffrey Owens
Weezy Jefferson: Vivica Fox/Tischa Campbell/Kim Coles
Maude Findlay: Jane Lynch/Tilda Swinton/Michelle Leo
Walter Findlay: William H. Macy/Kevin Pollak/Christopher McDonald
Florence: Queen Latifah/Mo'Nique/Octavia Spencer
Paul Benedict:Rowan Atkinson/Craig Ferguson/Stephen Merchant
Lionel Jefferson: Dule Hill/Aml Amin/Doc Shaw
Dr. Harmon: Albert Brooks/Jeffrey Tambor/John Lithgow
Vivien Harmon: Lisa Kudrow/Julia Louis Dreyfuss/Tina Fey
Carol Traynor: Keira Knightley/Megan Fox/Jennifer Love Hewitt
Tom Willis: Adam Sandler/Paul Giammatti/Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Helen Willis: Gina Torres/Audra McDonald/Jada Pinkett
Jenny Willis: Aisha Tyler/Raven-Symone/Keke Palmer
There many more characters, both major and minor that need casting and which could go to an established name or a discovery, but this a good central/core cast. Now who would direct this insanity?
Well, here's a short list:
ROB REINER
IVAN REITMAN
LAWRENCE KASDAN
BARRY LEVINSON
and there we go with another waste of my time until I can figure out how to become an assistant casting director or something of that ilk.
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| Thursday, August 9th, 2012
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12:35 pm - Casting Not Made Yet Movies: JUSTICE LEAGUE
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William Beall supposedly is working on the current script for a Justice League of America film. No cast or characters have been announced, which means we can have fun and go crazy.
I think the best thing for Warner Brothers to do if state that Man of Steel takes place in the Nolanverse. Nolan helped Goyer with the Superman film. Snyder has a lot of visual choices that are Nolanesque... so boom, it's a Nolan film.
Going from there, we can choose a director. He's a few people I think would be awesome, and are probably dreams at actually getting to be at the helm because of other movies or because well, they're in jail. Yes, I said jail.
JOE WRIGHT
JONATHAN HENSLEIGH
EDGAR WRIGHT
SHANE BLACK
JOHN MCTIERNAN
ROBERT SCWHENTKE
DEBORAH KAPLAN and HARRY ELFONT
BEN AFFLECK
PETER HOWETT
JOHN CARPENTER
JAY ROACH
and the biggest pipe dream: PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
I'm guessing/assuming that Beall's script will have a lot of drama, dialogue, and expansive action sequences, but will also feature a heavy dose of comedy. They'll be going for a DC Version of Avengers. If that's really the case, then DKR and MOS should really be groundwork. My dream film will also have lots of nods and curious inner jokes that only some folks will get that goes into casting as well.
SUPERMAN: Henry Cavill
NIGHTWING or maybe WATCHTOWER?: Joseph Gordon Leavitt
J'JON JONZZ/MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Doug Jones
JOHN STEWART/GREEN LANTERN: Idris Elba
BLACK CANARY: Anna Farris
THE FLASH/WALLY WEST: Michael Rosebaum
WONDER WOMAN: Elizabeth Hurley
AQUAMAN: Josh Hartnett
I also want a sequence of the original Justice League with
JAY GARRICK: John Wesley Shipp
ALAN SCOTT: William Katt
DINAH LANCE: Grey Delisle
AL PRATT: Peter Dinklage
TED GRANT: Kevin Conroy
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| Tuesday, August 7th, 2012
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11:47 am - I procrastinate
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Like the subjects says....
perfect example?
I'm writing a LJ post about procrastinating. I'll tweet it and Facebook it too.
I have problems.... or do I?!
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9:13 am - In which I relay things about the life I'm trying to live or where I've been since last time
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Two weekends have passed since I last wrote into LJ, but that doesn't mean life hasn't happened.
The funeral for my friend Marcia was on last Sunday. My mom, her beau and I drove out to Great Neck because it was important to have a proper goodbye to our good friend. It was nice to hear her daughter, her daughter's boyfriend probably future husband (especially now for sure) longest friend/partner and rabbi give their speeches. Afterwards I spent the day in Forest Hills spending about $500 mentally in Barnes & Noble killing time before going to Marcia's sisters for shivah and make my final goodbyes. I'll be surprised but not shocked if I ever hear from Debbie or Brett, but it'd be nice. Our age difference isn't too large and I feel I could fit in for some fun once in a blue moon. I doubt it'll ever happen though, with Marcia gone.
Before the funeral was on that Sunday though I got out and had some crazy super fun.
On last Thursday I believe it was I headed into SoHo to check out my friend WERDS spot on Prince Street and then took a nice long walk to the otjher side of town under the Manhattan Bridge for the launch of Kingbrown Magazine #8. It was good to get out and see folks and just be out of the house.
On Friday I ended up having a seriously strange and unusual, but excellent day. In the afternoon I met up with Pam and my "nieces" at Union Square and gave Pam time to relax with my Mom while I watched my favorite girls. Then I invited my friend David to join me and the family for dinner and he ended up inviting a bunch of people, which kind of surprised me but it was okay as they were people I knew. After dinner we went back to David's and on the way bumped into another friend. After a few hours David and I headed out to a party that was kind of a wash, but I did end up in a threeway kiss at one point, but still, it was just not as vibing as I'd like. The evening got weird and I don't really want to get into details, but in the end I found myself in IHOP with a bunch of strangers trying to kill time because if it's after 3 AM, it's best to wait till 4 AM to head home so that you can catch a bus home when you really have no strength left to walk home.
On Saturday I head out to Brooklyn to spend the day at Pandemic Gallery where they had a party with BBQ, Jenga and Bloody Marys and just a lot of fun. I was there from around 1-8 PM and it was all worth it and a good way to keep my mind off things before Sunday.
This week has been kind of a wash though. I've sensed ghosts, been depressed, failed to build a bench and more. I did get rid of crap I didn't need and try to accomplish some writing and studied for a test and other stuff. Oh and Wednesday night I went out to an art show. Almost forgot, that was a fun evening at least.
Now here's some photos that captured moments:
 
 
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| Friday, July 27th, 2012
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3:52 pm - Kickstarter Roundup for July 27th, 2012
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It's been awhile since I've done one of these and there's no enough stuff that holds my interested to shoot it out to you. I am not pledging all of these, actually I'm probably only pledging what I can afford, but know these are ALL things I want to be a part of.
Cans Without Labels-A Cartoon by John K.: The creator of Ren & Stimpy and founder of Spumco Animation wants to make a very different, more personal cartoon than anything he's previously done. Still drawn and designed in his undeniable style it's the kind of work that once seen will probably be loved and enjoyed and if shown for two weeks in a real movie theater in L.A. be nominated for an academy award, but before any of that can happen he needs to be able to make the cartoon.
Detective Grimoire Adventure: The first Grimoire game was made for flash and wa sonly PC with no vocals and minimal music. This is going to be a full ledged production available on iOS, Android, PC and Mac with a hilarious story, great art and reasonably priced. There's some awesome incentives at the higher pledge tiers too. Go play the demo to get a taste.
Boxer Story - Animated Film: I love traditional short animation that attempts to tell real stories. There isn't enough of it usually so anything that comes by is good and this is exceptionally different.
I Am Big Bird: A full lentgh documentary detailing the life story of Caroll Spinney. While he recently published a memoir, a film piece fully supported by him is a different thing all together. For a man who lived most of his life on camera, it seems it's the way his life story should be preserved for everyone.
Two Headed Cop- Animated Film: As much as I love traditional animation I love funny CGI with quirky characters and ideas as well, so here's Two Headed Cop.
Sirius Black fanmade Prequel: The majority of these fanmade Harry Potter prequels, sequels, sidestories have all been high quality, their fans are truly some creative types. JK Rowling has to truly be credited for helping creative people who were stuck find their inner artist. This project is no different.
AR-K Adventure Game: Yeah two indie adventure games. You know me. I like my point n click and I like it best when its done well. While the first episode now free of this series has lpots of animation bugs, the story, characters, voice acting and puzzles are really good. Give it a go.
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| Wednesday, July 25th, 2012
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11:22 pm - For a guy who doesn't draw
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I sure draw a lot. I just rarely ever show it. Had to clean out drawers a bit today and came across these "gems".
 
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| Tuesday, July 24th, 2012
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11:01 pm - A look at some movies coming this week, next week and all the way till the end of the year
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This took me a long time to write as I tried to consolidate my thoughts on various films coming out and what information, trailers, websites had provided in a way to actually at minimum really interest me. There are a lot of films not listed that still excite me coming soon such as TOTAL RECALL, PARANORMAN, THE MASTER, ARGO, WRECK IT RALPH, RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, GREAT GATSBY, JACK REACHER, and LES MISERABLES among others. So here's others and why I might want to see them.
Killer Joe : This will be the second time playwright Tracy Letts will have teamed with director William Friedkin to bring one one of his emotionally charged, extremely powerful productions to the “silver” screen and with it everything is amped up. As his last film was an adaptation of a confined room thriller, this is a large scope epic twist after twist crime drama. On top of having a disturbed Matthew McCouhney who has truly come into his own as a talent, the film also stars the amazingly sexy and talented Juno Temple, whom I have the hugest celebrity crush on.
The Campaign: Two completely unlikeable characters played by guys who know how to really nail that “fuck I hate that guy” in Will Ferrell and Zach Galifaniakis. The trailer is full of vitriol and bad humor, but I'm hoping that since it's a Jay Roach film and a Chris Henchy script there's way more than meets the eye. I just finally saw “The Big Year” which on paper sounded excellent, then trailers made it look so horrendous I avoided it like the plague and then I finally saw it and discovered that the it was one of the worst editing jobs on a film in forever. So yeah, this actually might have promise. Zach is playing a super flamboyant guy who might not know he's gay and Will is doing his best Mitt Romney.
The Expendables 2: The first Expendables was lacking a bit in the end. It was fun and action packed, but a lot of it was too little, too late. I get a bit of a feeling that the character development here will also be lackluster, but we are guaranteed a few things. Tons of awesome action from Chuck Norris, a Stallone vs. Van Damme fight and Arnold Schwarzenegger quipping with Bruce Willis. The trailer showed very little of Crews or Couture so I'm going out on a limb and guessing that Helmsworth and Yu replace them early in the film. That's just a guess though. There's lots of explosions, fights and whatever, so hey, it has that.
Robot and Frank: This is the first full length feature for director Paul Schreier and screenwriter Christopher Ford, but not their first work. Previously Ford worked on the puppet cop comedy Fuzz and Paul has made some great commercials. For this near future story in which a retired crook teams with a robot meant to just get him out a slump they've been able to garner quite some major talent. Frank Langella is the Frank in the title and his possible girlfriend is Susan Sarandon. It's hard to believe Sarandon is old enough to play a potential mate to Frank Langella, because she still looks fabulous. Liv Tyler and James Marsden are Frank's children and Jeremy Sisto is the cop who suspects Frank is back to his old tricks. It all looks really fun and sweet.
LAWLESS: This could be the secret best film of 2012, directed by John Hillcoat, who has proved his ability of making amazing modern westerns with The Proposition and The Road worked from an adaptation by muisician/poet/novelist Nick Cave of the “based on a true story” novel by Matt Bondurant, the ancestor of the characters in this film. It has a questionable lead in Shia Lebeouf, but with Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce as costars it should be a strong period piece about moonshine, guns and gang warfare.
GANGSTER SQUAD: With L.A. Confidential, the video game L.A. Noire, the upcoming TV show L.A. Noir, the more recent Public Enemies and plenty more, films about the Mafia in L.A. Might seem old hat. What makes Gangster Squad different then? Well, for one Director Ruben Fleischer. After Zombieland and 30 Minutes or Less it'll very interesting what he does with a script from a TV writer based off a seven part L.A. Times series of articles built in truth and fiction. The other major thing will be the first actor in over 20 years to tackle a major figure like Mickey Cohen will be an actor practically born for the role in Sean Penn.
KILLING THEM SOFTLY: Andrew Dominik tackled another very difficult book to translate to screen, teaming up once again with Brad Pitt to bring Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins to life. The last film based on a Higgin's film is the modern classic Friends of Eddie Coyle, so with the track record of that and Dominik's track record of CHOPPER and the very slow, but mesmerizing Assassination of Jesses James By The Coward Robert Ford. Pitt is joined by crime veterans Ray Liotta, James Galdofini, and Sam Shepard. I'm not too keen on the title change and like Gangster Squad and even Lawless these movies that grandioize crime and guns might get these films pushed back or who knows.
Soldiers of Fortune: While the director is a complete unknown and it seemed to take three unproven screenwriters to develop this, the cast and plot sell it strong. The trailer shows it to have plenty of action, a good assortment of interesting characters who might be one dimensional, but rounded enough to know who they are when they're shooting and being shot at. I don't expect much from it, but one doesn't ever expect much from self appointed action films. They're action films, they know what they are and shouldn't be criticized unless they have no good characters. That is the most important thing. Good characters and no plot holes (such as they mention no one has a gun and five scenes later they all have guns but there's no scene where they finally find guns).
LOOPER: I'm not completely sold on Joseph Gordon-Leavitt being Bruce Willis or Bruce Willis being Joseph Gordon Leavitt but espite that, the third original feature from Rian Johnson looks amazingly cool. After BRICK and THE BLOOM BROTHERS he is definitely becoming one of those type of directors who makes films you just feel like you need to see. He's also not keeping it simple in terms of choices as a director. While all three films are centered around crime, they're so different it's even more interesting what he might do after LOOPER. LOOPER also might have the best chance of having an interesting novelization done for it by someone like Tim Lebbon, Terry Bison or Alan Dean Foster. Especially since this is the rare original scripted film here.
PITCH PERFECT: This might seem like a stupid comedy with singing, but I have a feeling it will actually be much more intelligent. Much like MEAN GIRLS seemed like it'd be lame then you realized that Tina Fey wrote it and boom it was awesome, this film is written by Tina's best friend and a top writer on 30 Rock, Kay Cannon. She did base it on a real story, merging elements from college acapella competitions detailed in a book with the same name. On top of the writer though the director is Broadway's Jason Moore, who has directed Avenue Q, Shrek and even Les Miserables. Then you have the cast who are actually talented actresses and singers Brittany Snow and Anna Kendrick are the main leads, but filling out on singing is worldwide pop music phenom Ester Dean and the Australia's funny fat girl Rebel Wilson handles the stupid comedy.
(An interesting aside, Mean Girls was also based off a non-fiction book and merged concepts and elements from it to create the comedy)
Anna Karenina: In what will be in my accounting, only the fourth and in by some merits only the third full scale adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy classic, in terms of current standards to the past, the most talented pairing and cast (well, no one can beat Garbo, but still), director Joe Wright uses a brand new adaptation by one of the best playwrights and screenwriters of the last 45+ years Tom Stoppard. With Jude Law and Aaron Thompson in the meaty roles there's strength, so that even if Keira Knightly falters, her beauty and the talent around her will keep her up. I haven't had issue with Keira personally, but I know people do, so I played Devil's Advocate here.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower: After 10 years since it was published and its author experiencing the trials and tribulations of creating a TV show, having it canceled, saved and canceled again and even get a third season in comics, the highly touted and best selling book has been adapted from a screenplay by the author who also directed. This film has the major factor of being Emma Watson's first major starring post Potter role and if the trailer is indication, she will be a force for years to come.
crossposted to popculturespectrum.com (maybe with some images)
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3:15 pm - An escape from Reality
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I spent the weekend of Domino's passing in The Rockaways. The Rockaway's plan was set in stone while the little monster was still breathing and I was already walking the beach when he passed on. I spent Saturday on the beach, in the beach house, getting high and enjoying life trying to not think about Spinner. Saturday night I went to a party down the way and drank some absinthe, smoked more, got jacked and walked the nice long walk back to house, crashing out at around 3 AM.
I woke Sunday at 7:30 after intermittent sleep and ran straight out to the water for a swim. My mom and her new man came by later to take privilege of the house and hospitality. Nick and I hit the water a few times and we hung around just letting beauty distract us. I took a lot of photos both days but here are just two that I feel capture fun, energy, beauty and quiet solitude and so much more.
 
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| Monday, July 23rd, 2012
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3:09 pm - Domino Spinner (199?-2012)
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On Saturday morning as I made my way to my best friend's temporary beach house, the cellphone rang. I had a feeling that it was coming sooner than later, but I had no idea when.
Domino passed on to the next on that morning. It seems I might be wrong about his age. He might've only been 15. Still old for a dog. As I woke this morning I realized that there was no little white furry monster for me to greet and I felt the pang. I spent the weekend in the Rockaways and was both stoned and blitzed, hell I was practically faded on Saturday night and crashed out on the futon at my boy's spread, so waking on Sunday didn't hit me as I saw the sand and the ocean and then actually ran into that water for a bit. The rest of the day full of distractions like that.
Now I sit here recalling my days and realizing I need to convey them but for but a moment now, a quiet moment, this is for Domino Spinner. Wherever he is.
 
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| Friday, July 20th, 2012
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1:39 pm - Realizing why I abandoned LJ & sometimes consider abandoning all social networks and even the world
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You pour your thoughts, ideas, feelings out into the world.
You respond to other people's thoughts and feelings, they respond to your thoughts, but not once to they actually add to the thoughts you put up that weren't connected to what they presented.
It feels that way in the real world sometimes too, but much more on the internet.
I think sometimes that's the real reason some people snap and do something beyond, and I do not approve of anyone who takes anything to such extremes, but truly I think it's all for attention.
If one feels ignored in trying to create, then why create?
If one feels ostracized for trying to belong, then why belong?
I personally am one determined idiot who doesn't understand the meaning of the word quit and I also seem to have an extremely high tolerance for pain. At times I think this actually more of a curse than a blessing.
Yet, here I am... trying to create, trying to belong, being determined, offering of myself to an endless whisper of nothingness.
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| Thursday, July 19th, 2012
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9:29 pm - Kickstarter Updates and Suggestions
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Oh I've never discussed the cool things I pledged on Kickstarter which ended up being awesome and worth it. If I had more money there's way more I'd pledge but here are the ones that have come through. Here's updates on everything that has enough to update.
GAME OVER Anthology: Looks great and reads great, an awesome package.
CARL's LARGE STORY: I had ordered the super special editon of two books, a crocheted doll and an original piece of art. The books were awesome. I had Marcos draw Carl as Alex from the film version of A Clockwork Orange. He did an original personalized sketch in both books as well.
 
CURSE OF THE MERCHGIRL: The book and CD safely arrived and are excellent, totally worth it. I had only pledged $25, but Murs and Blaylock still signed my book anyway. And it's a personalized HI REID signature. So I think they wanted to acknowledge me personally for all the free PR I did.
GASTROPHOBIA VOL 2: Recieved it just before MoCCAFest, so I brought it along with me to that to be signed and got David to do an original drawing in this awesome exquisite corpse book I had made. It's way too large to put here, but here's a link to it. It has art from Laura Lee Gulledge, Pat Grant, Alex Robinson, Shelli Paroline, Joseph Remant and MANY more.
DOUBLE FINE ADVENTURE: On track here with three full length episodes of the documentary, four side episodes, plenty of design and creation posts at the forums and the shirts and posters are in the mail. I'd share something, but my shirt is still in the mail. Everything else needs to be kept secret unless you want to spend the $15 to join the adventure now, knowing it's head steam ahead.
GOD OF THE FLIES: I'd show you the movie, but out of respect for Danger Charles I will just let you know he finished it and it is awesome. The little finger puppet and stickers he sent are also awesome.
I'm still going to be waiting on the final version of Spike: A love Story Too for a bit, but the developer is hard at work and has done updates. That leaves Riddikulus, which I did at least go to a concert for, but the special compilation album is still being worked on and my Cavegirl Fudge, which I won't know anything on till September.
Here's some Kickstarters I really to jump on, but have to really think about before I do:
Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa: A stop motion film from the mind of screen writer Charlie Kaufman spearheaded by Dan Harmon and Dino Stamatopoulos
Ouya, a new kind of video game console: Exactly what it says, much like Onlive actually but better and the ability for open hacking/modding and for independent developers to work on games. It'll be bringing PC gaming to the living room without super expense and then allowing your computer to be just a computer.
Day One: New game from Pendulo Studios, ready to make something big again if they can get the backing.
Ar-k-a dark acid adventure comedy: The first chapter is free and while it lacks polish it is very promising and you can tell with more money to really get crazy these folks would make pure magic.
DUSTER: Gorgeous graphic novel about a WWII pilot, but that's putting it simply.
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3:10 pm - So more things
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First things first is to get the very sad, depressing, but nothing can be done about it news out of the way.
After almost 17 years, my buddy and pal, Domino Demon Spinner Cooper is dying. I'm actually not even sure what he's holding on for at this point. He does nothing when we go out for a walk and ends up just making when we get inside. He's practically blind, bumping into walls and such. Yet, there are other times where he gets around no problem and seems as happy and spry as ever. He's not in pain, but he's falling apart. In human years he's like 98 years old if that dog-human years science is accurate. It may sound cruel, but every night I've been petting his head nad telling him it's okay if he doesn't wake up, but he seems to be holding on. At 17 the idea of spending an extreme amount of money at a vet to either get him medicines or to put him down is ridiculous, actually it's been suggested to us to just let him keep on as long as he can and let him go silently on his own. I'm not ignoring him either, whenever I can I'm giving him love and attention.
Moving on, here's a photo shot by friend Anthony on July 4th at my BBQ Bash I held on The Rockaways at my friend's temporary home. I was pleasantly surprised by the people who came through and while it was an exciting, crazy, amazing weird time, it was as a whole, just awesome. In this photo are some of my favorite people Charles AKA Royce, Matt Dreany, Destiny Mata, Hannah AKA Fenix. There's also a friend of Destiny's whom I only met that day and also the back of Fenix's best friend Deville Dog.
And here's a shot I took on Monday of me and my god niece Breana. She's the coolest most fun girl I know next to her mother, Pam. Anytime I get to see her, her mom and her little twin sisters is a good thing. Pam is the one who made me start losing weight, because if the woman I've "crushed" on since I was 15 years old wants me to lose weight, I'm doing it. Over the years she's quickly become like the older sister I never had a chance to have, while her kids are the little cousins I do have, but unfortunately have no real relationship with, so "nieces" are better.
Yeah, I'm wearing the blue headband in both photos. I wear that for the beach to catch the sweat when I'm not in the water. The shirt I'm wearing in the photo with Breana is a shirt I got handmade when there was this cool free shirt making program at this spot in SoHo. It's a drawing by Inverna Lopez of me. I had long hair obviously. I still think it "looks" like me... it captures my essence. Even if I shaved, it'd still be "me".
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| Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
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11:24 pm - It has been way too long since I've written here
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So I just noticed that the last time I spoke in this was in March and so much life has happened since then.
For one I've lost about 70 pounds.
Here's a recent photo:
I've been too many events and enjoyed them all.
Book Expo was utterly amazing and I've posted all about it at my website. Scroll down for it all. There's some amazing shots there including one of Kirstie Alley, Walter Mosely and more and writeups and book reccs. Also super highlights like this:
That's Michael Ian Black (The State, Stella, Reaper, Ed) and Megan McCain (daughter of our almost president and journalist). They wrote an awesome book called America, You Sexy Bitch which is a chronicle of a tour they took of America together specifically to write the book.
Other exciting events that have occurred include
the third annual welling court mural block party, a live painting event followed by a block party with food and music and the entire thing was free
ridikkulus, a wizard rock concert at Sidewalk cafe that I had helped out on Kickstarter, was an awesome eving.
a huge fourth of July BBQ I hosted at my best friend's temporary residence in The Rockaways
Most recently I've had some seriously exciting times:
Last Thursday I went to my friend Russ (Cash4) solo art show and then ended up going to the Bowery Poetry Club to see Large Professor. Jazz trombonist Frank Lacy was a special guest and I hung in the backroom.
then Saturday night my friend Bishop opened up an art boutique and after that my friend Cern drove me over to a show by Pixote.
Then on Monday I got finally see my four favorite girls, my "sister" Pam and her daughters Breana, Meriel and Nerina. For once the twins were calm and relaxed and Breana his becoming quite the awesome young girl. Hard to believe that she's both already 11 and also only 11. (I'm sure a lot of my friend's list will understand that statement.)
There's more, I'll leave that for another post though, more photos, other personal stuff.
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4:21 pm - About to TRY and catch up
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With all the goddamn social networks out there, I've completely and totally slacked off on Livejournal.
I mean seriously, there's:
Twitter
Instagram
Flickr
Blogspot
Wordpress
Facebook
Tout
Toot
Meep
Tonal
Squirtle
Pickachu
Beyblades
Somnabulist
Rescu
Frogger
Donkeykong
Starfield
Miko
Kiko
Keela
Sheila
Jane
Michelle
Jericho
Spherico
Miracle
Anyways... I'm going to read some LJ and you'll probably see comments from this long forgotten person. Then I'll make a post. Yup, so there we are. Perfect time for it too as the sky has just exploded into insanity!
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| Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
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7:13 pm - More Kickstarter Projects to check out
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SPIKE-A Love Story Too: A one man video game production of a sequel to an excellent flash game with humor, cool graphics and ingenious ideas about gaming. The sequel promises to be bigger and better with an Atari mode, a Bob Ross mode and a Visual novel mode.
Cavegirl Fudge: A big part of my weight loss is finding new products that would allow me to enjoy the pleasure and still keep my weight down. These girls are making fudge I can eat. No sugar, fat free dairy... all that good stuff. New York is full of companies making healthy chocolate, but none of them are making FUDGE.
BEYOND-The Adventure Short: This could be one really interesting little film and the director's previous effort Paradox is great.
The Gills - Motor Running EP Release: Some good music and tons of charisma from a rock band of four brothers, well, two brothers and two brothers.
The Last Of McGuinness: A documentary of professional wrestling's Nigel McGuiness (Desmond Wolfe in TNA) final wrestling tour before retirement, he visited tons of wrestlers who like him had the talent, know how and skill, but was never given the ball in the big leagues. Stories, road trip, history, looks like a good one.
The Little Red Bird : A Multi lingual children's storybook designedd to be offered for free as an e-book, but also making limited edition traditional style book.
I've started looking at IndieGoGo as well for possibly interesting projects and here are two:
The Bret Braddock Adventures: An awesome web comic collection from Australia about the production of a ridiculous TV show. Great art work and really funny.
What is it Katy?: Another collection of a fascinating web comic that was done as an experiment and turned out excellent.
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4:17 pm - Nerd Notes (cross-posted from Pop-Culture Spectrum)
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All I got left is the frivolous.
The Act: An upcoming iPhone and Mac game which is basically an interactive 2D cartoon. Sort of like I'd say Dragon's Lair but at a much higher level of gaming and style of humor. Having better animation than Don Bluth would be asking too much, but The Act still looks like some high quality fun.
Katawa Shoujo: A Free Interactive Visual Novel based in bishojo, it had it's birth in 4Chan of all places. It's for a really niche market, but that a joke became a real project with good art and music after 5 years is amazing and, it's free, so don't complain.
YESTERDAY from Pendulo Studios: Most known for entertaining, funny and highly adventurous modern point n click games with awesome cartoon graphics, Pendulo goes a new route of horror and suspense. It's still a point n click and uses their usual art style, but it should be an interesting twist. Pendulo, Daedelic and Click Shake are the three best companies doing the point n click except for of course Double Fine who will be making hopefully the next big adventure game.
Drew Wise - Pixel Artist: An excellent artist who also makes greatly designed shirts based mostly in video games but with some pop-culture too. His Beetlejuice shirt design it awesome. I'm done with shirts after my Remus and Liam shirt and my eventual DFA shirt (and any shirts I might get as promos at a Comic-Con), but you should get it.
Jón Kristinsson-PointnClicking: Inspired by Double Fine's return to adventure game making, this artist started doing quality pieces based on his favorite classics.
High Vaultage: Simple controls, but awesome cute pixel graphics, cute music and addictive.
Jason Boyer: Great artist who dabbles in design, illustration, animation, pixel art and games.
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| Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
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4:12 pm - Hidden inside a SCAM e-mail offering me FREE Dr. Dre Beats Headphones
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I hit the reply button by accident on an obvious scam/pilfering e-mail...but look at this weirdness hidden inside the email. not shown on the main of it, only when I hit reply.
HIYA, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HIGH PHYTO CHARGES WITH SILVERHILL. THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY BATCH THEIR ORDERS TOGETHER AND ONLY PAY ONE PHYTO CHARGE FOR THE WHOLE SHIPMENT.IT GETS UNBUNDLED HERE IN THE STATES AND SENT ON.WAITING FOR AN ORDER RIGHT NOW YOU PAY SOMETHING BUT NOT MUCH. CHILTERN SEEDS IN ENGLAND WROTE ME A LETTER AND SAID THAT THERE IS SO MUCH COMMOTION ABOUT THE HUGE PHYTO CHARGES ON SEEDS THAT THE AGGIE IS DISCUSSING WAYS TO REDUCE THE IMPACT ON THOSE WHO IMPORT. IT MIGHT BE JUST FOR THE SAMLL GROWERS LIKE US. CGSince I have a bank account in South Africa I have no experience in paying from the States, where I'm living. But to add to the defence of my land, in the face of "SowthEfrikan"'s tirade about crime and corruption: I have never personally been the victim of any crime in South Africa, violent or petty, nor has my family (all of whom live there), with the exception of having a car stolen about 15 years ago. The Cape is one of the most beautiful areas in the world and has been, for those of my acquaintance, a wonderful place to live and raise families. Sure, there is crime, and it can be very violent. But that's just one side of the story.As for SA having a terrible reputation abroad..Hm. My brother owns one of the most prominent Safrican export companies specialising in fresh produce. His bottom line is not reflecting a market that views South Africa in a negative light. He's doing quite nicely, thank you.I shall now step off my soap box. Vrystaat!I am delighted to notice that we have several new posters posting and would like to say WELCOME ! We would love to hear about your garden, and which South African native plants and trees you grow ... and perhaps you have some growing or propagating tips to pass on?For the benefit of our new members, I'll volunteer some info about myself to kick this off. I garden in competition with deer since our arrival a year ago here in southwestern Oregon, so all my plants are in large tubs on the deck. I've had to ship out to new homes my Clivias and Melianthus (kruidjie-roer-my-nie) because our winters are too cold. Two proteas in tubs had survived 5 years of USDA Zone 8 in the Sierra Foothills but here they succumbed when sudden cold set in end October to plummet temps to 14 degrees F for 4 nights in a row. Sad. The agapanthus survived and bloomed well this past summer, as did the Homeria, the Watsonias, and the Cape fuchsia (phygelius capensis). The nerines are sending up a few scapes now, they had been disturbed earlier this year and are sulking. Had nice bloom from the ixias, sparaxis, babiana, and schizostylus. Perhaps in a few years, when i have more energy, I will start a real garden again inside a large fenced area. For now it's a pot garden for me. That's it from me, I hope you will all jump in and tell a little about yourself. DelinaHi, I'm interested in all kinds of South African plants, having visited SA three times between 1984 and 1993. I grow a lot inside, (species pelargoniums and oxalis, and many others) and am very curious about what can survive outside here just north of New York City. So far among the toughest that have made it through several winters (last one was really bad) are Artemesia afra, Eucomis bicolor, Gladiolus papilio, an unidentified sedge (Mariscus sp), Phygelius aequalis, and Galtonia candicans. Some persist as resowing annuals, but plants occasionally survive a really mild winter like the one two years ago--these include a white/palest pink species of Nemesia collected from Verlaterkloof in the Cape by Panayoti Kelaidis of the Denver Botanic Garden, Senecio inaequidens (I brought it back from SA), and a Hebenstrieta collected by PK from Natal. Of course, things like Gazanias and Ceratotheca triloba make easy annuals in our climate. In the future I hope to get a larger place to garden in, so I could have at least one all SA native plant garden! I've been a member of the Botanical Society of SA for years (highly recommended-a good source of seed and books) and have grown hundreds (maybe thousands) of different SA plants, mostly when I worked at a botanical garden (went back to teaching, more profitable).Hi frenchgirl2838You may want to try plants from the Highveld area of SA, eg. the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg area) and the Drakensberg, where the plants are adapted to cold, frosty winters, probably equivalent to a zone 6. In the Drakensberg it often snows in winter. These areas have some really beautiful bulbous plants.There is a new book out by Elsa Pooley on the wild flowers of the Kwazulu-Natal Drakensberg. I am not sure what the exact title is. There is also a book on plants of the Witwatersrand, "Field guide to the wild flowers of the Highveld" by Braam van Wyk & Sasa Malan. Another is "A field guide to the flora of the Natal Drakensberg" by Donald Killick. You will find info on these books at www.nbi.ac.za in the publications section.Silverhill Seeds (www.silverhillseeds.co.za) has a catalogue with the USDA zones included per species. Ask them to mail you the various catalogues they have. I have ordered seed from them and their service is excellent. I asked for 100 seeds of each and with fine seeds I got more like 1000 seeds. I would suggest ordering larger quantities of 100 at least since the seeds of most wild flowers germinate erratically and a germination success of 50% is considered good.From a South African on the Highveld CharlesI think we all may have more South African plants in our gardens than we realize. I discovered anomatheca some years back because a lady in CA sent me seeds, and it bloomed for the first time last year. I have lots more seedlings now coming along. I didn't realize that oxalis is a SA plant; I have bulbine (which I think is sometimes known as bulbinella), and other things. What I'm looking for is a plant or seed of polygala x dalmaisiana. Someone posted about this on Gardening in Texas and I'd like to find it - I was so taken with the picture. I now go to bed at night and read the Silverhilld Seeds catalog and go from that back and forth to my A to Z Gardening Encyclopedia to see what I am reading about.Charles, Thanks for that info. I have to admit...sheepishly... I did not know it snowed anywhere in South Africa. I knew it got cooler and there were definate seasonal changes, but I just didn't realize the temps. got that low. I've looked at Silverhill seeds recently and it looks like their site is more user friendly that it was last time. (I think it might have been my brower or something.) I'm going to take a closer look though. Thanks for the tip. I love my clivia though. It must be starting to get quite nice weather there right about now. It has been unseasonably warm the last week or so here in Connecticut but it seems to be getting cooler and more late fall like here. SebrinaHi SebrinaI think what I wrote above is not so clear. The highveld does not get as cold as a zone 6, probably more like a 8 or 9. What I meant to say was that some plants from the Highveld areas may survive in zone 6 areas. Use the Silverhill seeds catalogue as a guide. The catalogues can be downloaded from their site. Yes it does often snow in the higher lying areas of the Highveld particularly in the Drakensberg mountains. The mountain ranges in the Cape also often have snow. (There is even a snow resort in SA called Tiffendal). When that happens then we in Johanneburg know that we must prepare for a cold spell! But snow in Johannesburg is a rare occurrence. The last real snow we had here was around 1981. We did have black frost this last winter and some of my bushveld plants were damaged. However, all have survived and are recovering.The weather is fantastic at this time of year. We get our typical thundershowers and it gets hot. Great time for a barbeque (or braai as we call it with boerewors (beef sausage) and pap (maize porridge) - this is in fact a national past-time in SA!) and swimming.Charles
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| Monday, March 12th, 2012
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1:19 pm - Last night's dinner/today's lunch
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Over the weekend the roommate (that's what I call her sometimes) and I made a stop in at EATALY, the special grocery co-owned by Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich. We'd never been before so it was just a joy to walk around.
We picked up some special items. Tonight we'll be having some Osso Bucco. I haven't decided how I want to serve the very thick veal shank. It's not traditional veal shank where you have two. This is a pound and wquarter of of one huge shank. I'll be working nicely on that, but nothing new for me these days with cooking and trying to eat healthier.
Last night I made:
Sword Fish Filets (brushed with olive oil and finished with a seasoning mix of my own concocation (salt, pepper, corriander, cardamon, nutmeg, greek spices, chili powder)
Pre-Made Mussells (I didn't need to do anything special here, it's a product with all the work done, all you need to do is steam them and keep an eye on them... no cleaning, etc.)
A selection of special mushrooms with sage cooked in skim milk
Right now I am having:
a pure cudo beef mini burger
tofu steak (I call it that, I slice the tofu longways and cook it in the right seasonings that it practically tastes like steak)
steamed baby spinach with garlic
Yup... I'm eating good and losing weight. Actually woke up and had lost a pound since yesterday. Slimming down. Long ways to go... long ways, but slimming down.
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12:33 pm - A new documentary short
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Getting more and more serious about these with painstaking editing and late nights to create some enjoyable, educational and historically capturing. This one features art show at Brooklyn art gallery Pandemic and features art by Cassius Fouler, NohjColey, Jenna Hicock, Peter Bird, Jesse Edwards, Destroy & Rebuild, and more and has commentary from Peter Bird and AVOne of D&R discusssing their pieces and music from indepedent hip-hop group RAP GANG, a collective of various New York City writers/street artists who appeared in the art show.
Here's a link just in case the embed doesn't work.
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| Saturday, March 10th, 2012
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11:36 am - Of Friends and Idols
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We all die, it's a part of life tragic or not.
This morning I heard of the pasing of Jean Gireaud AKA Moebius. From Blueberry to Arzach to his work with Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Incal I have long admired, respected and appreciated Moebius. He had working until his death on new works as well. I always getting a joy of looking at his work for the unfinished DUNE film and his work for FIFTH ELEMENT as well.
Yesterday I went into the Bronx for the wake/viewing of  popfiend's wife Lisa. I already wrote my views, feelings, thoughts in a comment I wrote yesterday, so here's that:
It was a very subdued but nice event. I am not sure who showed up after I had left (I was there for approx an hour from 4:30-5:30) but I sent hugs to O via people I know we had in common who would not be able to come. It was overwhelming as an experience. I've only been to one wake/remembrance before this that I recall and there was no body at that or it was a closed coffin. This was fully open. I was uncomfortable, but stayed best on my feet as I could wanting to support the Hawk. I was grateful to see so many of O's friends there including Keith and Jay (who I had not met before this) and his entire office came out to support. I wish I had been able to stay for the entire thing, but I knew my limitations and while I feel guilty for not staying, I hope O. understood and it helped me knowing I was not the only one who made a short appearance of support before heading to more lightening, happy moments.
In my case it was to FOUNTAIN ART FAIR with my mother, as I enjoy sharing that world with her. We picked up weekend passes so we'll get to truly see the entire show. We only got to see about half last night. As we were leaving the place was loud as hell with the DJ going and crowded like a madhouse turning it from an art exhibit into a party party. If I wasn't with ,my mother and didn't have awesome plans today I would've stayed out late and partied. There was some really amazing art on display. I was particularly impressed with the Body Painting work and the way it was displayed. They printed photos on canvas and the way this body painting was done you'd never know there was a human underneath in some of the work.
Today I get to see a play, more art and enjoy the sun.
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