NSEWinNYC

Quote of the Day

2008-06-05T11:05:00.001-07:00

"A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Multiple Guess

2008-05-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Match the person with where I've seen them over the past three days...

a. Shooting a film outside my apartment
b. Performing in Cannes
c. Taking my plane back to New York

1. P Diddy
2. Busta Rhymes
3. Woody Allen

Cannes Film Festival

2008-05-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

I've done the festival circuit and seen plenty of festivals, but nothing is quite like Cannes. Press everywhere. Indie filmmakers in tuxedos with black bowties. Posh entourages in white linen.
Stressed phone calls in every language trying to close a deal or find a deal. Screens on the beach with dozens of million-dollar yachts on the water behind them with techno throbbing across the plage. Stunning. It's 8am and I'm headed back...

I See You Baby...

2008-05-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

Alphachick posted this on her blog, but it's too good not to pass on... The numbers are in (not that the blondes could actually count them) and officially Brunettes do have more fun than blondes.

And on and on...

2008-05-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

March...
April...
May...

Is this what they mean by Time starts to go faster? I think that actually Time picked up its coat, walked out the front door, and left me standing there wondering what happened to the past few months. Luckily it took the winter weather with it.

The sun is shining on New York... I can see it through the huge windows in my new office space. You don't realize how much your own space is important to you until you don't have it anymore and this space has been liberating and invigorating... from here you will find I actually remember my password to my blogger account, I am working on several new feature projects and looking at picking up some commercial work, and most immediately... preparing for the Cannes Film Festival. So get ready to get jealous! The updates will be coming fast and furiously... but later...

Earth Hour 2008 - Get Involved

2008-03-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

There was a brainstorming session that led to an idea similar to this, but hopefully Earth Hour has enough momentum to make an impact in the US. The stats themselves are staggering: "On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for a year." I'd like to see a picture from space that showed the impact of this one hour.

Check it out and commit yourself to eating dinner by candlelight at http://www.earthhour.org/

Just because

2008-02-25T23:56:00.000-08:00

I used to make friends with the wrong crowd
Just because I could
I used to challenge what couldn't be done
Just because... who else would
I used to do what I shouldn't do
Just because I thought who
are you?
Now I walk a mile in the blistering snow
Just because I can...

The Great Escape

2008-01-17T05:04:00.000-08:00

I've read about cinematic masters who were awed by their experiences in a darkened theatre. The lights go down and a career is born. They escape to celluloid, saving every penny to buy a ticket. They vow their lives, they focus on their dream on a story you not only want to tell, but must tell. Something that you want people to hear, that resonates in your life. For me, it was a means of communicating. Something I could throw my entire being into. I was absolute. I was focused. But I was not awed.

Yesterday I found myself in a movie theater. A rare treat these days. Watching "The Orphanage" - Guillermo del Toro's suspenseful homage to Peter Pan. Not the most amazing film, but as the credits rolled and the music held me silent in an empty theater, it hit me. It wasn't another Saturday night that I had filled with a movie where I was running off to the next bar. It was my escape. I wanted to be here. I wanted to stay here. I wanted to live here with the stories in my head being twenty feet tall. I could finally see what I had not seen before.

Why now? What had changed? Perhaps it was too easy to see a film or a theater piece when I was younger and I took it for granted. Perhaps my Saturday nights were too chaotic to stop and breathe in what I had just seen. Or maybe I never had the means to express myself behind a lens and communication is a two-way street. Ultimately, I defer to how the intangible is described in "The Orphanage": sometimes seeing is not believing - it is the other way around.

Randomness Required

2008-01-09T03:38:00.000-08:00

Almost two months later... I've had so many things to share, but the thoughts seem to remain captive in my head while my body heaves through life with less and less sleep. It's like being in exam week at university... for three months straight. Brutal.

Amongst the Headlines that may or may never come:
- Manhattan Mamas
- Connect Four
- Upcoming Events / 2008 Forecast
- Traveling Thoughts
- Loss vs. Losing

It's now 6am... I've slept for 3 hours in the past 35. Reaching the point where I don't even kid myself about being able to go back to sleep anymore. I'm a zombie. Trying to keep up, stay positive, remember to eat. The basics. I miss the beautiful random moments... energetic creative conversations, being in a hurry to get to a meeting where you've got to be at the top of your game, taking the long way home, not going home.

It's a long way to go... and I'm tired.

And the song is playing now reminds me...
Combat baby come back baby
Fight off the lethargy
Don't go quietly
Combat baby
Said you would never give up easy
Combat baby come back

Recent Readings

2007-11-23T19:50:00.000-08:00

New York City is on track to have fewer than 500 homicides this year, by far the lowest number in a 12-month period since reliable Police Department statistics became available in 1963. But within the city’s official crime statistics is a figure that may be even more striking: so far, with roughly half the killings analyzed, only 35 were found to be committed by strangers, a microscopic statistic in a city of more than 8.2 million. If that trend holds up, fewer than 100 homicide victims in New York City this year will have been strangers to their assailants.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/nyregion/23murder.html?ei=5065&en=e317f6d8d8c57dde&ex=1196485200&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

vs.

The Impact of Legal Abortions on Crime:
"Evidence that legalized abortion has contributed significantly to recent crime reductions... appears to account for as much as 50 percent of the recent drop in crime"... as opposed to higher incarceration rates, stricter gun control laws, and increased number of police.
http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/DonohueLevittTheImpactOfLegalized2001.pdf

Journeys...

2007-11-04T11:08:00.001-08:00

On the train headed back from the Hamptons, I watch the landscape slide by... allowing glimpses into minor moments... empty parking lots, deserted cars, industrial wastelands, seas of yellow school buses... slices that touch the railroad tracks. And backyards... with bright blue pools and century old houses with collapsing rooftops... the train slows to its next stop. in slow motion I see a family standing around in their yard - their slice - organizing the rules of family football, getting ready for the huddle. For a moment it is my field of grass where my childhood is flourishing amongst debatable touchdowns and imaginary yardlines. It is my family rolling, throwing, tackling as the train pulls away from the station... My time slips behind. I want it back. I want that moment back. I want the laughter and the stained knees. The leaves that crunch under a run to the goal-line. My mind grasps at the memories of a family now scattered but not shattered that will most likely never be in the same slice of autumn again. The train moves me forward... Life moves me forward... And a new slice of life begins... here it is spring... and there is much to do before autumn arrives for this new family.

April Dupont

2007-10-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

Of Boston. Died Oct. 14, 2007. Devoted daughter of Raymond and Margret Schindler-DuPont. Sister of David DuPont. She is also survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins & friends. A memorial service will be held Fri., Oct. 19 at Bank of America, Boston College Club, 100 Federal St, 36th fl, Boston, MA. Relatives & friends are kindly invited to attend. Visitation 4-7PM. In lieu of flowers, send donations to the Animal Rescue League, 55 Annas Pl 238 Pine St, Dedham MA 02026 Published in the Boston Globe on 10/19/2007.

April is on the left in this pic

April was a friend of mine through my years at Carnegie Mellon. We started off in the same freshman dorm together and became roommates through our sophomore and junior years. Both stubborn and fun-loving, we cavorted across campus together, supported each other through good and bad relationships, and ultimately pushed each others boundaries until we figured out where to draw the line that separated us. Our clashes were memorable and inevitable, but our friendship deep. Her funeral is Thursday morning. And I feel I've reached a resolution about her death that excuses my absence from the service beyond my newborn son's young immune system... if there was a time to reflect on the circle of life, and if there's a time to appreciate what we have and hold dearest, and if there will be a time to live each moment to it's fullest, that time is now. Thank you, April.

Articles relaying what happened...
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_7190827
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_7212636

Crime Fighting in the West Village

2007-09-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 26--Bill Clinton is threatening legal action against a Manhattan restaurant if it does not immediately yank a photo of the former president's daughter Chelsea from the eatery's front window. In a September 18 letter to Osso Buco, an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village, the ex-president demands the removal of the five-year-old photo of his daughter and Nino Selimaj, the eatery's owner. The picture, which is in Osso Buco's front window, is among scores of similar photos displayed throughout Selimaj's University Place establishment (as well as several other Manhattan restaurants he operates). The offending Clinton-Selimaj photo can be seen at right. These kinds of a-celebrity-once-ate-here photo are, of course, a staple in the windows of hundreds of Manhattan restaurants. The "Dear Nino" letter, which is on "Office of William Jefferson Clinton" letterhead, was authored by Clinton counsel Douglas Band and contends that restaurant's display of the fading snapshot leaves the impression that the 27-year-old Chelsea, a "private citizen," endorses the restaurant. If Selimaj fails to comply with the removal request, the letter notes, "We reserve the right to exercise any and all options available to us."

-- From The Smoking Gun

As a southern "gentleman" I wonder if he tried using the word PLEASE first?

Get the Skinny

2007-09-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

Want to see if you're keeping up with the Joneses? Here's a neat little site to rev up your competitive edge (or ego!):
http://zipskinny.com

The calm before the storm

2007-09-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the silence lately... no big news, but I have been putting most of my adventures up in the meantime on Here I Come, the other blog with other big news, especially for the next few weeks of my life... so observations on life have been a bit narrow-minded and single-focused... There are going to be plenty of announcements and celebrations, so make sure that I have your mailing address and contact information! Send it to me already!

Burnt

2007-08-29T06:40:00.001-07:00

I haven't been to Burning Man in years, but even over the three years where I religiously trekked to the desert with my gallons of water, I saw things change. Black Rock City was initially a place of exploration. Fantastical artwork, endless activities, loud music, instantaneous friendships... a mythical environment that one can only understand with their own flesh and blood. Branding and money has no place in BRC, but somehow the ego still found its way in the larger the party got. And the thirst that was quenched by a week of selflessness soon left a sour taste in my mouth. Here's what the city, once an empty desert, looks like during the festival from Google Map. Astounding....In the center of the civilization is The Man, who stands with his arms down until the day of the Burn. Not this year. This year some selfish San Franciscian mentalist burnt the man four days before the festival was set to alight the structure. The burning of the man is symbolic of whatever you need it to be symbolic of: a release the past, an enlightenment for the future, a chance to breathe deep and dance wildly. Apparently it was more important for this actor/writer in the San Francisco arts scene, who perhaps took his recently portrayal of Hunter S. Thompson in a play too seriously, to take this away from the 10,000+ citizens of the temporary city of Black Rock City. As much as I'm over the neuvo-hippie fest and it's pseudo-lovey self-importance, I couldn't help but feel sad for the Burners, those who had traveled far and paid considerable money to be in BRC only to have this moment taken from them. I'm sure they'll turn it into yet another anti-establishment statement.

Hot Hot Hot

2007-08-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

From The Arizona Republic:
Aug. 29, 2007 12:00 AM Today should be the day that allows us to tell our grandchildren that we were here in the summer of 2007. Sometime late this afternoon, the temperature is expected to hit 110, and we will have set a record for misery: 29 days of at least 110 degrees in a year.

...perhaps it was the right idea not to be filming in Arizona this summer. Time to start ramping up for a spring shoot!

RIAA matrix

2007-08-25T06:11:00.001-07:00

click for a larger image...

from boing boing

ATL Ho!

2007-08-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

We all know the baggy pants fad is lame. Hey, I was a card-carrying, pant-sagging member for awhile myself. There is something anti-establishment about looking like shit. But illegal? If Atlanta has its way... (insert Snoop-Dogg nasal here) hell yeah.

The amendment, sponsored by city councilman C.T. Martin, states that sagging pants are an "epidemic" that is becoming a "major concern" around the country.

"Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it's the in thing," Martin said Wednesday. "I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future."

The proposed ordinance would also bar women from showing the strap of a thong beneath their pants. They would also be prohibited from wearing jogging bras in public or show a bra strap, said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

While the government playing the role of Fashion Police is disheartening and ridiculous, what's even more absurd is the ACLU's claim that this bill is "racial profiling".

But Seagraves said any legislation that creates a dress code would not survive a court challenge. She said the law could not be enforced in a nondiscriminatory way because it targets something that came out of the black youth culture.

Nigga please. This fad didn't come from the Black Youth Culture - unless you are guilty of committing racial profiling yourself because this trend came from PRISON where inmates weren't given belts to hold up their one-size-fits-all pants. And let's face it, MC Hammer poof pants "inspired" whites and blacks alike - but all that proved was that fashion retardation is truly color-blind if not completely blind. But let's ignore that. I would like to know: how do you "discriminate" against pants? Either they show crack or they don't. Oops! Was that crack comment racial profiling, too?!?!?

So who is worse?
The government that can't find anything to do with our misappropriated tax money than to pursue fashion trends? The parents who think it's a good idea for the government to police fashion so that they don't have to scold their children into pulling up their pants? Or the ACLU that adamantly screams for the rights of citizens while blatantly racially profiling their own defendants?

Full article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070823/ap_on_fe_st/atlanta_sagging_pants

Random Yotta

2007-08-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

If human memory was put into computer memory how much would it equal?

The processing power of an average brain turns out to be about 100 million MIPS (Million computer Instructions Per Second), which is theoretically about 100 million yottabytes(10^24 ).... whatever a Yotta is!

Haight-Ashbury, update

2007-08-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

I found a pic of what the turret that was in Rolling Stones looked like in 2001, when I lived there. Check this out and compare with the one in the previous entry...

Overheard in New York...

2007-08-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, life requires a bit of streamlining - hence wondering if anyone one was out there! I happen to enjoy the little bits of life that emerge on this blog and as long as someone is reading I'll keep sharing. And I should probably remember that there's always someone listening in New York...

OVERHEARD IN NEW YORK (from Gawker):

Guy #1: Man, I don't know what to do! I can't get rid of my crazy ex! We've been broken up for almost a year now and I told her, 'I don't want to see you or speak to you any more,' and she said, 'I'm going to make your life miserable.' Then she had the audacity to send my current girlfriend a message on Facebook saying, 'We need to talk' and asked my current girlfriend to call her. Then, a few weeks later, she shows up at my office. And just this week she send me a text saying, 'I know we're not speaking, but do you want to come out to dinner with me and meet my mom?' What do I do?!
Guy #2: Oh my god, restraining order?!
Guy #1: And the sad part is that she has a dating column!
Guy #2: You mean she is giving other people dating advice?
Guy #1: Yup.

????????

2007-08-08T12:12:00.001-07:00

Does anyone read this anymore??

Twice

2007-07-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

This is a fun one for those of you who have been with me through the years... check out this month's issue of Rolling Stone - it's the 40 year Anniversary edition. On page 36 you'll see the following picture:

Do you recognize anything? Ok, BESIDES the Grateful Dead!
Look above the sign post...
just to the right of it...
is my old apartment at 545 Ashbury!

We spent several afternoons in that turret, often climbing out the window that lead to the next door neighbor's rooftop. An excellent view for various neighborhood street fairs and late night contemplations and cocktails.

That corner certainly looked different in 1967. By 2001 the hippies had been replaced by teenage bums and their pathetic puppy dogs... hmmm... maybe things hadn't changed too much. But where Jerry is standing in this picture would have been directly in front of a Ben & Jerry's... two guys who made hippie ice cream and even sainted Jerry Garcia with the flavor "Cherry Garcia" (we actually have a pint in our freezer right now) But the writing was on the wall I suppose and even those hippie guys couldn't hold out, eventually selling out to Unilever. Funny to read their mission statement now:

"Capitalism and the wealth it produces do not create opportunity for everyone equally. We recognize that the gap between the rich and the poor is wider than at anytime since the 1920's."

How much did you guys make when you sold out? Even better, Originally, the some of the sales from Cherry Garcia ice cream were donated to the Rex Foundation, which Jerry Garcia founded. NOW, royalties from the Cherry Garcia ice cream and frozen yogurt and pop now go directly to Jerry Garcia's estate. Don't think twice, it's all right...

It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe,
It don't matter, anyhow,
An' it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe,
If you don't know by now
When your rooster crows at the break of dawn,
Look out your window and Ill be gone,
You're the reason I'm travelin' on,
Don't think twice, it's all right.

...

Where I'm bound I can't tell,
But goodbye's too good a word, gal,
So I'll just say fare thee well.
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind,
You could have done better but I don't mind,
You just kinda wasted my precious time,
But don't think twice, It's all right.

Prison on Paradise Island

2007-07-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

1,500 plus inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines reenact "Thriller"!! What could be more frightening?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

Special Fixin's

2007-07-20T07:40:00.001-07:00

This special is available at the Drive Thru, whereas the "Bill Special" was dine-in only...

"Thought" of the Day

2007-07-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

"Thoughts determine what you want.
Action determines what you get."

The Universal Donor

2007-07-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently in Japan, it's a popular belief that one's blood type is predictive of their personality type as well as their relationship compatibility. Obviously it's as scientific as astrology but how much would I love that the next time I'm at a bar to hear "Hey baby, what's your blood type?" whispered in my ear rather than "So. What's your sign?"

TYPE A

Gentle, creative, sensitive.
Earnest, fastidious.
TYPE B
Wild, a doer, cheerful.
Selfish, irresponsible.
TYPE AB
Cool, controlled, rational.
Aloof, critical, indecisive.
TYPE O
Agreeable, sociable, an optimist.
Vain, careless.

This seems to be the exact opposite of how your blood can be used in transfusions...
From the Red Cross, if your blood type is:

Type	You Can Give Blood To	You Can Receive Blood From
A+	A+ AB+	A+ A- O+ O-
O+	O+ A+ B+ AB+	O+ O-
B+	B+ AB+	B+ B- O+ O-
AB+	AB+	Everyone
A-	A+ A- AB+ AB-	A- O-
O-	Everyone	O-
B-	B+ B- AB+ AB-	B- O-
AB-	AB+ AB-	AB- A- B- O-

I am Type O.
I am what is known as the "universal donor".
Type A, B, and AB can all take type O in an emergency.
Type positive can take type negative.
But O can only take O and negative can only take negative.
Only 6% of the world has O- blood.

And that I'm beginning to think that my blood type reflects much more about my life than just my personality...

The Dance

2007-07-18T06:05:00.000-07:00

I can't remember the last time I woke up to a cloudy morning in New York. After days and weeks of brilliant sunshine and infinite horizons, today began with a sepia-toned skyline through a pointillist window... You have to look twice to see the architecture jutting through a hazy downtown mist behind a rain-spattered window. Ah, to look twice. So seldom do we ever look at all. We take our route, collect our items, do our bidding. Life becomes a series of movements. And rather than struggle to become dancers, we slip too easily into familiar machinations. Until the thunder rolls across the landscape and suddenly you have a reason to look twice. But then again, it's not like we've never seen the rain. Maybe today can just contribute to a long series of things I did before I died: perfected monotony.

Lists. Lists. Lists. Things to do. Things to get. Things to read. Because otherwise, I will forget. Still, today requires a different way of doing things. A way that allows for quick glances to watch the lightning crack across the sky and time to listen to the rain drum against the windows... that allows for today to be different. And perhaps a dance to be dreamt.

Goodreads

2007-07-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

There was Friendster. Then MySpace. And LinkedIn. Now Facebook. Maybe it's a way of weeding out the old fogies - just pass them by with another online "i have more friends than you have" quasi-networking site that requires you to build yet another member profile and check back on a daily basis as to who has asked to be your friend. Mindless brainsucks if you ask me. But fun. So when a friend of mine recently sent me an email to join another networking site, I almost deleted it. But this one had an edge, and it was an old friend I haven't spoken to in years. So I clicked through and signed up. And this is networking of a different kind: It's not about setting up a profile; it's not about wasting hours of time trying to find as many friends as possible. It is a site you go to when you want to - where you can see what other people think about the books they've read. GoodReads. I rated a few of books I've read and will go back and throw some more thoughtful reviews up. More than "My favorite tv shows are..." these contributions are read by others and give you a chance, as a reader, to reflect on what you've just experienced. And there's nothing more soothing than a good book...

http://www.goodreads.com

Tea Time!

2007-07-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

This is one that I really really want to believe! The BBC reports on a new study finding that...

"Drinking tea is actually better for you than drinking water. Water is essentially replacing fluid. Tea replaces fluids and contains antioxidants so it's got two things going for it."

A whole new world

2007-07-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Only 7%!!

...from www.travbuddy.com

Literary Languishings

2007-07-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been seeking nourishment from my surroundings... books, films, theater... reading endlessly and searching between the lines for inspiration and rejuvenation... I find today's literary offerings ridiculously unsatisfying.

I Am Charlotte Simmons - Tom Wolfe's exploration into adolescence and loss of innocence. Charlotte is a prude who goes to college only to succumb to peer pressure. Do I care? The most engaging part of this journey was on Wolfe's behalf: his representation of slang language and vernacular are fantastic - he spells non-words just like you hear in passing. A beautiful translation from the spoken to the written. However, his woefully lame descriptions of college life and horribly trite observations on integral parts of the college scene such as music and athletes accompanied by his fragmented understanding of the culture and characters that exist in the world he is trying to create accent the massive rift between himself and his story that make the writing stifled, bland, and almost laughably bad.

Into the Wild - A journalist follows his curiosity into Alaska's wild to determine just how and why young McCandless perished in the wilderness. A true story recently picked up by Sean Penn for production. Somehow this guy turned a riveting journey into a boring over-extended magazine article. I get the feeling the film will turn out very much the same.

Shanghai Baby - Banned and burned in China. And read cover-to-cover in one evening. Simplistic language and almost painfully generic observations on life ("The joys and sorrows of any one person mean nothing, because the trains massive steel wheels never stop spinning. This is the secret that terrifies everyone in the cities in this fucking material age.") make it easy to take this novel lightly. But there were a few times when the simple "Confucius say" sentences actually hit home and you wonder if Occam's Razor can adequately be applied to literary principles. If only life were as simple and clean as Wei Hui's writing, it might be as easy to get through.

In a Dark Dark House - Neil LaBute's latest play, closing this week off-Broadway. Rave reviews and well-known actors do their best to hold together this transparent piece of theater. Frederick Weller was the lone solider in this battle to keep an obvious plot from revealing itself too early, and despite his delicious performance, the writing of this established playwright refused to allow me to engage. I wanted to be challenged, thrilled, curious. I found myself watching two guys talking around and around in circles. This seemed more like a university level dialogue-writing exercise than the work of a well-known author.

Live Free or Die Hard - I must say, one of the few encounters I've had that I actually enjoyed. Granted it's not sophisticated. But it doesn't try to be. it gives its one-liners with pizazz and its explosions with creativity. Face value fun.

That was frightening: Did I just say I preferred Die Hard over Neil LaBute or Tom Wolfe?!? Can it be true? Why?!? What suffices as literary greatness? The ungraceful exploration of worlds authors can not embrace is hardly greatness. Perhaps Greatness lies in the Truth of the matter. The Truth of the work. The Truth of the story. And the Truth to Die Hard is that it's just an action flick with a bunch of explosions. And the Truth of Wei Hui shines only when she is being true to her simplistic self. But Today requires ingenuity and umph. Literary sensuality, a teasing and exploitation of the senses... and books are starting to feel like theater in their burdensome treks through well-tread psychological landscapes.

Who are today's literary greats?
Where are we to seek refuge against reality?
What book can I pick up next to be engrossed in its characters, its language, its Truth.
Suggestions?

Thought

2007-07-05T09:16:00.001-07:00

A flower has to go through a lot of dirt before it can bloom. ~Unknown

Harmony. British-style.

2007-06-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Too funny not to pass on...

I'm not usually this politically focused. However, I do live in a Brit-American household with the 4th of July rapidly approaching. The weapons are being loaded: "The Evil Empire" has been pulled out and the Bush-bashing ramps up. The call to battle has echoed through the land: inanimate household items are being claimed as having "British" or "American" persuasion. Only the fireworks are left... and we all know which side wins!!!

Notes from the Empire:
In Britain, when a man buys a new car... his neighbours sneer saying, 'Wonder where he got the money from' and they start to denigrate him. In America, the neighbours say 'hmm nice car, I'm going to get one myself'.

I don't care if you sleep with elephants as long as you don't cover the circus.

2007-06-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

For those of you who claim that the Right controls the media...
The pattern of donations, with nearly nine out of 10 giving to Democratic candidates and causes, appears to confirm a leftward tilt in newsrooms

Giving to candidates is allowed at Fox, Forbes, Time, The New Yorker, Reuters and Bloomberg News. Donations and other political activity are strictly forbidden at The Washington Post, ABC, CBS, CNN and NPR... now you know where to get your news no matter which party you're in bed with...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/1911348

Upcoming Screening...

2007-06-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

My most recent directing venture "New York Blind" will be screening as part of the Quickflicks Annual Summer Screening! This is a group I've been working with over the past year. Each month every member produces one film based on a set of criteria and then we gather to screen and comment on the works. This screening is the culmination of many months of work and is Free to attend, so come on down!

Quote of the Day

2007-06-12T06:37:00.001-07:00

"Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."
--G.K. Chesterton

For those who actually keep up with the Tonys...

2007-06-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

No, not Tony Soprano, whose HBO reign ended Sunday night... I will miss The Sopranos. Great characters, beautiful acting, fun plot twists and random acts of violence...

Rather, the simultaneously doomed Tony Awards... the best of Broadway... legit theater and all... does anybody watch or care about this anymore? (sigh)

Well, Atlanta's Alliance Theater was awarded the Regional Theatre Tony Award. According to their site, the Alliance is only the second theater in the South to receive the Regional Theatre Tony Award. Anyone who is still down in the Southeast should stop by and see what they're missing... when their season starts back up... in SEPTEMBER. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. That's ridiculous. Or if you have just been by the Alliance, did you happen to catch "Cuttin' Up"? Yet ANOTHER black-man-in-a-barbershop show. Please. Don't even get me started on what's wrong with American Theatre these days...

Other than that, probably all you need to know is that "Spring Awakening" conquered the musicals and Tom Stoppard dominated the straight play categories. About as many surprises there as in the ending of The Sopranos...

What were they thinking?!?

2007-06-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

The logo for the 2012 Olympics in London...

...reminds me of bad graffiti, childish scribbling, and unimaginative sculptures.

A New View on June

2007-06-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

It's June... the month where we all look at the calendar and say "what happened to the last five months / am I really halfway through the year already?!?" And if you're anything like me, it's always followed by "what have i gotten accomplished so far this year?"

This year, The List is very different from last. Business developments have been hijacked by baby developments. The known traded in for the unknown. The self gave way to the self-less (well, almost). It is a very different approach to life: replacing my checklists with compromises. And allowing myself to be okay with "trying to figure things out" rather than "get it f*&%ing done". It's a luxury that's been generously given to me, and that I struggle with on most days... our goals, our achievements, our actions define us - not only to ourselves but to the society surrounding us. A List creates an Outline, an Answer to that question "what have I done?" And somehow, if your List hasn't overwhelmed your friends or competitors or bank account then you're just not doing enough. You're not worth enough.

How do you define Self Worth? How do you redefine Self Worth when you've spent your entire life perfecting the answer to that question? Would you be able to take everything you are and everything you want and try a different approach to life? Would you be able to look at un-accomplishments and find something worth more?

On Board

2007-05-26T23:14:00.001-07:00

Feels good to be back in the city... so good that rather than jet out to the Hamptons for Memorial Day weekend, I'm going to stay. right. here.

Went to a surprise party for a friend of mine here who is has just turned 30. Another night, another party?... everything has the potential to be just Another in a Long Line. And how many times do we let that happen rather than... Enjoying marking the milestones. Looking around the curve ahead of us to see where the road leads. I find myself reflecting more - the telltale sign of old age - what you do, when you can't DO.

And I literally can't. There's no 4am finishes or all-nighters with a baby on board. I'm not out tearing it up. And I sleep for 8 hours a night. And I eat three healthy meals a day. And I willingly do all those things that people have been trying to get me to do for years... without anyone succeeding.

Life on Board.

Which reminds me, it's Fleet Week here in New York City. An annual event where white uniforms and googly-eyed boys flood the streets by the thousands and bring dozens of military demonstrations, park gatherings, memorial services, and on-board exhibitions. Will have to go see some of these boys in action - if I don't sneak off to the beach anyway!

Striking

2007-05-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Day 11 in Arizona. Days out here are longer than anywhere else in the world and I still can't seem to get everything completed. But, truth be told, I could say that about any location where I'm in production. The days start earlier, end later, and invade your dreams... how can I fix that? what am I missing? where will I get those? who can I call? who haven't I called? It's 24/7 problem solving, strategizing, evaluating, and executing. We're now down to the last 48 hours or so... behind us: hours of interviews, miles of road, pages of diagrams and sketches, more pages of research and phone numbers. A good start... a long way still to go.
Meanwhile, back on the homefront...

Another picture of the Madhatter Party...

2007-05-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

A great pic compliments of one of the London boys who is in the middle of his year's journey around the world... don't we all wish we could do that? Appropriately named blogsite: www.getjealous.com/sid

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.
-Rajneesh

Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
- Elizabeth Stone

"The story of a mother's life: Trapped between a scream and a hug."
- Cathy Guisewite

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.
- Mark Twain

Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.
- Phyllis Diller

What you teach your own children is what you really believe in.
- Cathy Warner Weatherford

Facial Culture...

2007-05-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

A new study showing that in Japan people tend to look to the eyes for emotional cues, whereas Americans tend to look to the mouth:

When Yuki entered graduate school and began communicating with American scholars over e-mail, he was often confused by their use of emoticons such as smiley faces :) and sad faces, or :(.
'It took some time before I finally understood that they were faces,' he wrote in an e-mail. In Japan, emoticons tend to emphasize the eyes, such as the happy face (^_^) and the sad face (;_;). 'After seeing the difference between American and Japanese emoticons, it dawned on me that the faces looked exactly like typical American and Japanese smiles,' he said.

Link

A week in Arizona…

2007-05-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

There is a release, an easing of tension when you step off the plane and into the Arizona desert. Something about the warmth radiating from the sun above and bouncing off the pavement below you… Something stretching as far and wide as the unobscured horizon… That allows you loosen up a little bit more than anywhere else in the world. A humbling form of vastness. A static form of beauty. An understated understanding between you and nature.

Nothing has changed since I was last here. In fact you can look at the pictures from my first trip on this project and it is exactly the same. We’ve ventured farther to the north this time – up to Flagstaff, Arizona. Travelling from Phoenix to Flagstaff you go from 2000 feet above sea level to about 6000+ feet above sea level, passing heaving trucks and sputtering Kias in 100 miles of incline. Slowly, the cacti are replaced by lonely trees as you climb in altitude. And almost without knowing it, shrubbery has filled in the desert floor and red mesas loom in the distance, but directly around you are forests of pine and juniper trees.

We spent the morning in a guided roaming tour of Flagstaff, visiting isolated places that are now used by locals as shooting grounds or simple convenience stores. Thirty years ago, however, this was the path of a gang of murderers trying desperately to cover their tracks to avoid capture until they made it safely to Mexico… I look up at the sun through their eyes: it is vicious and unforgiving, beating down on hundreds of miles of merciless terrain. Where would I go next?

The Next Episode...

2007-05-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

Steph the I-don't-want-to-get-hitched-and-definitely-don't-want-a-diamond is on the rocks... CAN IT GET MORE BIZARRE?

YES!
http://hereicome.squarespace.com/

Cinco de Mayo weekend!

2007-05-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

Tis the season for skirts and sunscreen! As the streets of New York become flooded by those out from winter hibernation and tourists eager to stand smack in the middle of the sidewalk jamming up the crosswalks, we had our own guests and adventures... but while the London Boys brought chaos to the streets, it was a girls night out!

We started Cinco de Mayo at a proper Mexican bar in midtown... no idea what the name was, but young men in tall hats lined the edges of the dance floor, speakers crackled tubas tunes, and hips swayed as furiously as the drinks were poured... not a single song had English in it and the latinas were more than happy to teach us and twirl us around.

Randy and Alena shake it salsa style!

Kathy and Steph go gangsta Espanol

and then it was off to...
Danny Tenaglia's Mad Hatter Ball at Pacha... one of the best house DJs that's been on the scene for years at a see-and-be-seen club that thumps til dawn... and listed on Danny's guestlist were:

Steph and James

Alena gives the crowd a steamy show!

Kathy, Steph, and Alena sporting their MAD Hats

Weekend images...

2007-05-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

What's up with the hustlin' T? In SoHo Billiards, blurring the afternoon away...

Mark and Hannah - recent arrivals to the New York scene from across the pond...

Danielle in from Los Angeles with hugs from the boys - James and Randy...

Making the scene happen until the early hours, despite a painful DJ...

Out past Curfew

2007-05-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Everything went amazingly well.
The playwright was pleased
and the audience was captivated...
and i was reminded why theater is so difficult to do... 
But I do love it and had a wonderful weekend -
especially with the boys!

LtoR: Tom, Dad, James

Central Park in April...

2007-05-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

Almost Sold Out!

2007-04-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

SAY WHAT??!!?? (yes...)

2007-04-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

To the casual reader, the previous posts may have been mere fodder for the masses... whoo-hoo, Steph and James are on holiday!

However, the more keen observer may have noticed something very, very different...

Look again:
"What??" You say... "It's just Stephanie playing with fire again."

Perhaps.

Look again.

Closer...

Even Closer:
Is anything out of place?

Do you see something that doesn't belong?

No that's not a new tattoo...

YES, I AM GETTING HITCHED.

I never thought (and I'm sure most of you never thought either) that I'd see a ring on that finger, but in truth, it fits, James fits, and I am the happiest woman alive right now... and it feels something like this:

a goofy kiss across the stickshift in a convertible that's going
120 km/h through the twisty roads of Europe.

Yeah... something like that.

A Nice Easter Weekend

2007-04-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Coming up the drive to James' family home in South France after a grueling 12 hours of delayed flights, missed connections, and knee-knocking airplane rides invites you to breath a little deeper and walk quite a bit slower. The house is in Gattiere, a secluded town north of Nice where every shop closes for an hour at lunch and you can walk from one side of town to the other in minutes. A beautiful change from the hectic New York concrete skyline.

Lunch was everyday on the patio, over looking various French towns. On a clear day, you can see the Mediterranean just beyond the hills in the distance. Here the family gathers - having just woken up or been working in the gardens since dawn - and the day commences...

Afterwards, the afternoon is yours... to catch some sleep like James' brother Simon here, or catch some sun instead and contribute to the gardening facelift that the grounds around the house are undergoing... everyone here saved at least one tree from the ivy or built one section of a pathway wall...

Outside the house is an open-stove fireplace. The quinessential pizza oven! I have never had a pizza anything like what came out of this oven... fresh ingredients, wood-burning stove, cooked to perfection!

Easter lunch was a more forman occassion... we all gathered with friends of the family for a delicious meal after attending mass service at a tiny church in the center of the town.

Landscape Artists?

2007-04-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

So much has already been done to bring thirty years of overgrowth under control... The walls and levels, which were once covered in ivy, are now blank canvases for lawns, gardens, swimming pools... reality does indeed leave much room for imagination!

Off we go! James' brothers Tim (the youngest) and Nico (second youngest) and I to hack and chop our way through the landscape!

Veni Vidi Vici Venice!

2007-04-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

Before leaving for Nice, I had made plans with an old friend of mine, Brian, to meet him in Venice for dinner one night. Seeing as how he had no cellphone or internet connection during his tour of Italy, I couldn't very well cancel... so we took a quick drive along the coastline of southern France and Italy and across the mainland, which looks astonishingly similar to rolling grassy hills of Tennessee - only that the buildings are made of stone. And have been in existance longer than the United States.

well, maybe not so quick... never did figure out why the entire motorway came to a complete stop in the middle of the afternoon. We translated the Italian truck driver's description into somthing along the lines of "fire-breathing dragons are ravishing the countryside!!"

But we did eventually make it in time for dinner, and to see the lights come on across the buildings in St. Marks Square. One of the most stunningly beautiful twilights I have seen in my life... Here the sky grows dark over The Basilica:

I honestly had not been feeling 100%, probably all the travel and time adjustments... but when you're in Venice, this face doesn't last too long!

The next morning we were up early and headed back to the Square to go inside the Basilica (more pics soon) and roam the Square with Brian and his brother Michael before they headed off to Munich... Brian is on the left here and looks EXACTLY like when I knew him 16 years ago. Will try to find evidence of this!

And then James and I were off to meander the quiet, narrow passageways of Venice ourselves... I desparately wanted to get lost for days, but we were due back in Nice in time for the evening Chelsea football (read: soccer) match.

(I'll post more Venice pics later - Blogger only allows 5 per post)

Book your tickets now!

2007-04-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

As you know, getting going in New York isn’t always easy. But moments like this make it worth it!
PROUDLY ANNOUNCING….
Stephanie’s New York theatrical directing debut!

And this is not just a random play in a forgotten black box theater. I am directing CURFEW, written by Academy-award winning writer Arthur Jolly, as part of the acclaimed American Globe Festival, with two incredibly talented actresses: Susan Stout and Casey Geraghty. This promises to be a riveting performance you do not want to miss!

Mark your Calendars and Get your Tickets! The show is just off Times Square on Friday, April 27th at 8:00pm. At this performance, the audience will participate in selecting the best play of the evening, so your support at this performance is much needed!

THE DETAILS:

~~~~~~~~~~~
Date:
Friday April 27th at 8:00pm. Run-time is approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Venue:
AMERICAN GLOBE THEATER, Times Square's longest-running Off-Off-Broadway theatre, located at 145 W. 46th Street. As part of the American Globe Festival - Offoffonline.com called the Festival the highlight of the Off-off Broadway season (May 2004).

Cost:
$15. This festival sells-out every year and tickets are already on sale! Best not to wait. Purchase your seats by either calling American Globe Theatre at 212-869-9809 OR going to www.theatermania.com to purchase them online. Only pre-paid (not reserved) seats will be held once it sells out. And seriously, where else can you spend $15 on a night-out in New York?!

Afterparty:
Drinks nearby directly afterwards!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!

2007-04-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

May all the presents you open either
look like This
or
bring this Look to your face!

Oh YEAH!

NSEW in Full Effect

2007-04-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Having
flown West for the completion of "New York Blind",
driven South to see my brother and friends in "The Greatest City in America",
and having no intention of going any further North until the weather starts cooperating
- it's time to head EAST... all the way over the Atlantic, down to the south coast of France to find a little sunshine, lots of space to breathe, and a few games of chess between hours and hours of eating.

Back next weekend...

Heading south for the winter weekend!

2007-04-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to put this post up for a while... not sure why though.

After a full 12 hours of non-stop snow in New York City, James and I trudged our way to the rental car shop wondering if we were actually going to make it out of the City... the highway speed was dictated by signs all the way down to D.C. "35 MPH". And not a drop of snow on the road. Even the cops knew that speed limit was ridiculous. As I was driving down the New Jersey Turnpike I thought to myself "hmmmm, that dark Crown Victoria with tinted windows, that just pulled on to the road is probably an undercover cop"... and proceeded to continue at a steady 85 MPH. Sure enough he pulled in front of me, put his lights on... and slowed me down to 35. And when I was going mind-numbingly slow enough, he took off. Punishment enough even without a ticket.

Eventually we made it down to DC, where Tom now lives... saw his awesome apartment and took a stroll around the original Great Mall of America. Of course, it was freezing so we found the optimal place to spend a few hours:

In the IMAX movie theater at the Air and Space Museum.
Somehow that wasn't "American" enough. And here we are hosting a Brit to the nucleus of our country... the center of what makes everything run... Capital Hill, Washington Monument, Smithsonian... but let's get real here.

Let's go to Baltimore! It's claim to fame, after all, is written all over the benches...

(Disclaimer: This was the only bench we could find that hadn't been set on fire or been claimed by a homeless person)

This is where my girlfriend Kat and her husband live... both working at Johns Hopkins, which is probably the only reason that this boarded-up, dying-while-standing-up, frighteningly-forgotten town is still on the map. Well, that and Duckpin Bowling.

"What is Duckpin Bowling?" Kat asks as Justin and James check out the scene... well just look here to find more... It's the Sport of a Lifetime! And we went to the #1 rated Duckpin Bowling Lanes in Baltimore...

But I'm not going to spoil it for you! This sport is sweeping the nation! Find out for yourself how "Duckpin bowling combines the elements of fun, excitement, challenge, competition and sociability into one fantastic activity!"

And after that wild ride, how could we possibly bear leaving America's Greatest City for... New York City? At least there were no speed limit reductions on the way back. Not that they would have slowed me down anyways.

Just in time for Summer

2007-03-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

No more hiding the booze bottles from the cops patrolling the sand... No more awkward bottles to carry along with your beach volleyball gear... No more getting so lit you can't remember where you left the liquor!

A flip-flop that doubles as as flask!!! Now, the only thing I want to know is why they only come as menswear?

http://www.reef.com/productdetail/guys/footwear/sandals/2597

Chips N Sips

2007-03-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Poker at ours last Tuesday... maybe the guys thought that the suits and ties were going to be intimidating??? I don't think so, boys! Look at where the chips are stacked... Not even this pair of pocket rockets could help Good Ol' Randy...

Why?

2007-03-25T07:58:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning with the sun playing hide-n-seek behind the clouds... and I'm listening to my neighbor's music... usually loud and hammering... this morning it seems they too enjoy a slightly slower Sunday... I catch myself humming along to the lyrics - lyrics that I don't know the words to, but I do know... somehow... the chorus... "tell me why"... Annie Lennox. Annie Lennox. That is the EXACT same song that I had cranked up last night at midnight while I taking a much needed relaxing bath (yes, they can be essential at midnight!)... there was something soothing about going to sleep and waking up to the same song... like the world was in tune with me or I had passed the song on to someone else... or maybe they heard it in their sleep and they, too fell asleep and woke up to the same song... without knowing "why"...

If not here, then there...

2007-03-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

If you can't see the video below, go here and watch it full screen on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkm1HLOfEdo

The Making of New York Blind

2007-03-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

Chronicaling the calamitous creation of the 3-minute film "New York Blind"... to its curious conclusion!

What was the first poem that ever struck you?

2007-03-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

I used to read a lot of poetry... the simplicity, precision, and imagery of poetry was always much more my style than long prose using 20 pages describing 30 seconds of action (Hemingway, anyone?). Recently, a friend has been going through tough times here in New York, and the first poem that ever struck me and stuck to me came back in a brilliant rush... potent, emmersive, emotional, beautiful... I remember the person who gave it to me, the reason why, and where I kept it for the longest time. Now it's something that I pass on... will they remember who gave it to them and why?

After a while you learn the subtle difference
between holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
and company doesn’t always mean security
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
And you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child
And you learn to build all of your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns
if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
that you really are strong
and you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
with every goodbye you learn.

VERONICA A. SHOFFSTALL
1971

Ways to fight the -19 windchill...

2007-03-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

You know that when nothing's going up on the blog, that something's going on in life... Very busy lately with shooting a new short film called "new york blind" and a follow-up short that shows the "Making of New York Blind", but those are nearly complete now and several new projects are coming up...

I'm helping to put together a large party at The Pierre Hotel on Thursday where they're unveiling a re-furbished venue for social events and meetings. The Hotel has been around since pre-Depression and managed through several turns of hand to maintain an air of elegance and old-world charm. I believe it used to be owned by the Four Seasons, but has recently been bought by Taj Hotels. Small-scale event management has always intrigued me as something that would be fun, yet not time-consuming to do... so far, my instincts are proving to be correct.

I am also currently laying the foundation to direct Arthur Jolly's short play "Curfew" as part of the American Globe Theatre festival. It's a stunningly well-written play with beautiful parts for the two characters... both gripping and revealing. The festival has been running off-Broadway for 13 years and is well-established and able to attract name actors. Definitely worth making my off-Broadway directorial debut a success!

As always, the Arizona documentary continues... we've located many of the subjects we're looking to interview and a week in Arizona is now scheduled for late March, pending schedule confirmation with the interviewees.

James and I are looking at a trip to visit his family over Easter weekend. All in all, many wonderful things happening and lots of things to look forward to... For today, however, it's Sunday, so a nice, calm breakfast and an afternoon cycle in Central Park with friends is all that needs to be planned.

Flicker

2007-02-25T21:22:00.000-08:00

Somewhere during Celine Dion's performance I lost all interest of watching the Oscars. Somehow the glitz and glamour of huge white snowflakes coating downtown New York was more captivating than guessing what movies were in the montages (and which ones should have been) or watching painted faces smile forcefully at the camera... I opened the window and looked out across the stillness and silence... through the white haze noticed dozens of lights flickering the same colors at the same time in separate apartments, in fact in apartments hundreds of yards away from each other... In the window below, across the street, over in the penthouse, behind semi-transparent curtains, off the faces sitting on couches... all illuminated by the broadcast of the Academy Awards. Each television a vessel, an escape, a dream. There is a reason Hollywood is massive. There is a reason we dedicate ourselves to telling these stories... the ones in black box theaters, the ones on silver screens, the ones inside virtual characters... it wasn't the Oscars that everyone was watching... sure they watch the popularity contest, but in the end, we, the reflection, are watching them... looking out and wondering - do you feel like I do? can we laugh together? will you hear what I'm saying?... am I saying anything at all?... We are always saying something. Even when we're silent. I especially enjoy the kind indicating Celine's performance is over.

Academy Awards....

2007-02-25T06:56:00.000-08:00

I am terrible at predicting who will actually win at the Oscars. Ultimately, it's just an over-hyped popularity contest... But here is whom I would WANT to win...

Performance by an actor in a leading role: Ryan Gosling
Performance by an actor in a supporting role: Jackie Earle Haley
Performance by an actress in a leading role: Kate Winslet
Best animated feature film of the year: Cars
Achievement in art direction: Pan’s Labyrinth
Achievement in cinematography: Children of Men
Achievement in costume design: The Queen
Achievement in directing: The Departed
Best documentary feature: Jesus Camp
Achievement in film editing: Babel
Original Score: Pan's Labyrinth
Best motion picture of the year: Babel
Best live action short film: Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)
Achievement in visual effects: Pirates of the Caribbean
Original Screenplay: Babel
Adapted Screenplay: Borat

Why I love New York

2007-02-23T10:54:00.000-08:00

This is just around the corner from me... Yum! indeed!

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Yum! Brands Inc. said a KFC/Taco Bell
restaurant in New York City 's Greenwich Village that was infested
with rats this morning will stay closed until the pests are gone.
Rats could be seen running, playing and eating scraps off
the floor of the restaurant at Sixth Avenue and West Fourth
Street, which closed for business at 11 p.m. yesterday, WCBS-TV
reported.

Quote...

2007-02-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
Bertrand Russell

L.A.S.E.R. Tag!

2007-02-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Look closesly at the building below...
See the "graffiti"?!? Lasers that let you non-permanently graffiti the entire side of a twenty story building instantaneously... brilliant. The video is even better:
http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=76#video

Save the Strand!

2007-02-20T08:52:00.001-08:00

http://www.friendsofthestrand.com

My father forwarded this to me - The Strand is a theatre we saw sit empty (and I secretly always dreamed of owning so I could put on the most amazing and theatrical shows that the sleepy Square had ever seen!) throughout my childhood. Now they're looking to raise the final amount remaining from the $2.3 million to begin (re)construction by March 1, 2007, and a total of $4.5 million...

I wonder what the sound system was like?

I find this old picture funny actually because I always remembered Marietta as having a bit of religious over-zealousness in it. Especially after the uproar that followed a reading of Terrance McNally's "Lips Together, Teeth Apart"...

Behavioral Existentialism

2007-02-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

What were all those things in life we said we'd never do? Smoke cigarettes? Live in New York? Drive over the speed limit (well, maybe not double the limit)? Owe anyone more than a penny? Turn a blind eye to a needing hand?

And what happened? Did you walk too far on the wild side? Is that as much a risk as letting everyone else take the risks for you? We take our sides and look at the beasts across from us - what were they thinking? How could they?!? Maybe more importantly - WHY?!?!

Would we really want to know? To paint life with a specific palette and act on instincts is natural. To appreciate the works of art that we do not agree with nearly impossible. Behavioral Existentialism. Raw. Pure. We are firmly aligned having set our life forward to support, defend, and justify our choices in life.

And when you did what you said you'd never do... how did it get to that point? The need. The excuse. In the end, justification needs no justification.
We move forward.
Look back?
Evaluate?
How did it turn out - were the consequences what you thought they'd be? Are you a better person because of it. Are you proud of the things you've done. The way you've treated people - the list of things you did or didn't do? New Years Resolutions don't count. Noticing the way your best friend laughs does. And is that something you can justify?

Luckiest Pig Year in 600 years?

2007-02-18T22:13:00.000-08:00

Lucky indeed! ...that I looked up all these fascinating cultural-isms so we know what to expect in the coming year and can abide by formalities that further our chances of a successful year... imagine if you did not know these...!

Other New Years beliefs/rituals include:
- Pay off all debts before the holiday to avoid a negative start
- Lending is considered bad luck on New Years Day as is Crying -- if you do any of the those things, you'll do them for the rest of the year.
- On New Years day, people give out red paper packets called "hong baos" which are normally filled with crisp notes in sums that do not comprise the number four, because Chinese for four sounds like Chinese for death. The number eight, however, is lucky.

For this year in particular:
- South Korean fortune tellers predict this could be the luckiest pig year in 600 years!
- Babies born in the Year of the Pig are particulary lucky
- According to tradition, this is not a good year for weddings
- This year is especially unlucky for people aged 29
- The pig is the 12th animal in the Chinese zodiac and anyone whose age is a multiple of 12 should put a small electric light in a temple for protection and be mindful of accidents
- It is also advised that people to put a strip of yellow paper with red lettering in the living room during the pig and snake years as a tribute to two gods and pray quietly.
But the piece of paper, about the size of an average bookmark, should not face the toilet.

Whew! Note to self: do not to pray to the Pig and Snake Gods while on the pot!

Happy New Year!

2007-02-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

Gung Hei Fat Choi!
Happy Chinese New Year - the year of the Pig is upon us!

In China, this is also known as the Year of the Boar....
According to legend, the nian, a man-eating beast from the mountains, could silently infiltrate houses to prey on humans. The people later learned that the nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the color red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. Guò nián, which means to celebrate the new year, literally means the passing of the nian beast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

The Chinese Calendar moves in 60-year cycles, meaning the world will experience in the new year events similar to those that took place in 1947.

In that turbulent year, the Cold War began in earnest when then US president Truman declared his anti-communist doctrine and the Soviet Union rejected a US plan for atomic weapons control, sparking the nuclear arms race.

More predictions at:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/14/070215043912.onjqts5b.html

And a List of TOP TEN LIST FOR YEAR OF THE FIRE PIG!

http://www.firepig.com/firepigmagdetail.aspx?ArticleID=312

Tonight I'll be putting on my brightest Red and heading down to Columbus Park for the celebratory fireworks that will usher in the fifteen days of the lunar new year... followed by a fantastic feast - as many people as possible fitting around a table crammed full of food... reminds me of Hong Kong. I do miss Hong Kong.

Weather Update...

2007-02-14T10:52:00.001-08:00

Last time I did this on a blog it was for a typhoon... bit different this time around...

NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)- KINGS (BROOKLYN)- QUEENS- 415 AM EST WED FEB 14 2007

...WIND CHILLS AT OR BELOW ZERO EXPECTED TONIGHT AND THURSDAY NIGHT...
WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM OF THE SEASON...BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS WILL RETURN TO THE AREA. WINDS TONIGHT WILL BE INCREASING TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH. COMBINED WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE MID TEENS...THIS WILL CREATE WIND CHILL VALUES RANGING FROM ZERO TO 5 BELOW ZERO THROUGHOUT NEW YORK CITY. THOUGH WINDS DIMINISH TO 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH THURSDAY NIGHT...OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE LOWER TEENS WILL ONCE AGAIN CREATE WIND CHILL VALUES FROM ZERO TO 5 BELOW THROUGHOUT NEW YORK CITY.

EXPOSURE TO COLD CAN CAUSE LIFE THREATENING HEALTH CONDITIONS. AVOID SERIOUS CONDITIONS SUCH AS FROSTBITE AND HYPOTHERMIA BY KEEPING WARM. IF YOU MUST GO OUTSIDE...WEAR LAYERED CLOTHING... MITTENS OR GLOVES...AND A HAT. COVER YOUR MOUTH TO PROTECT YOUR LUNGS FROM EXTREMELY COLD AIR. STAY DRY AND CHANGE WET CLOTHING TO PREVENT LOSS OF BODY HEAT. AVOID BEVERAGES CONTAINING ALCOHOL AND CAFFEINE...AS THEY HASTEN THE EFFECTS OF COLD ON THE BODY. IF YOU OR A PERSON YOU SUSPECT IS SUFFERING FROM FROSTBITE OR HYPOTHERMIA...SEEK MEDICAL HELP IMMEDIATELY OR CALL 911.

Loving It

2007-02-14T07:46:00.001-08:00

Valentine’s Day 2007 and the snow finally decides to wrap itself around New York City and give the rest of us a reason to wrap ourselves in a bit of love for the Hallmark Holiday. And I have no problems that I have no plans tonight… except to get home from work and watch the world turn white from my window, which I find to be special enough to take a night off from hour-long phone meetings and planning sessions that keep me busy until at least 11pm. More on this madness later... for now remember that “Love that is not madness is not love.”

New Time added at Zion Film Fest

2007-02-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

Bystander picked up an extra show time at the Zion Film Festival! It will now be showing:

SAT, FEB 24, 4:30pm • FLANIGANS INN
SAT, FEB 24, 8:30pm • FLANIGANS INN

Check out their synopsis!

DUMP Bank of "America"

2007-02-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

This infuriates me and if I still had a BofA account, I'd change banks immediately...

BofA aims new credit card at illegal immigrants: report
Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:35am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards.

The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said.

Bank of America tested the program last year at five branches in Los Angeles, and last week expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Journal said.

The bank hopes to roll out the program nationally later this year, the paper said.
A Bank of America spokesman was not immediately available to comment

Missed Sundance? Go to Utah Anyways!

2007-02-11T06:14:00.000-08:00

BYSTANDER has been accepted into the Zion Indpendent 
Film Festival! It is currently scheduled to play in the
Shorts Program at 2:30 PM in Springdale, Utah on
Saturday February 24th. Congratulations again to all of
the dedicated filmmakers and supportive friends and family
of BYSTANDER!

Short Stories...

2007-02-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

Beginning. Middle. End.
Easy enough, right?
Ok. How about in five minutes or less.

Sounds easy enough, no? 30 second commercials. One-page magazine advertisements. News headlines. Common cliche. It's not as easy as it seems.

Consider: Nabokov's short stories still take at least 40 minutes just to read. Newspaper clippings that take five minutes are only snapshots of life, not stories. In a conversation it usually takes someone more than five minutes to recount a story.

Tonight's mission has been: what story can you tell in 300 seconds...
Mission: Impossible?

Quick Pics

2007-02-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

...from when James' cousin Sophie was in town...

Out with the girls... Sophie is third from the right and the girl next to me studied business at CMU and actually had a class with one of my favorite professors, Geoffrey Hitch. Who knew business grads had a bit of drama in them?

With Ken Kwalik, an old CMU friend who has been a one-stop welcoming committee to New York since I've arrived. We're at the top of the Gansevoort here I believe...

CUPID ON DEMAND!

2007-02-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

If you don't already have plans for tonight, I'm going to be managing this fundraising auction (details below)... they've got some sweet items to bid on and it should be a fun night... or even just the start to a good evening ;-)

Cupid On Demand II:
Love For Sale

Critically acclaimed songwriters “auctioned off”
at hip Pre-Valentine’s Bash
and Stunning silent auction items available to bid on!

Saturday, February 3rd, 6-9pm

Songwriter’s Auction at 7pm

Mannahatta (316 Bowery, at Bleeker)

New Sounds Theatre and Beth Morrison Projects host the second annual Cupid On Demand, a “Pre-V-day” Party featuring a Songwriter’s Auction, where partiers have the chance to buy a customized love song – for a sweetheart, a crush, or even an ex. Five talented songwriters will be put up for sale, and given one hour to write personalized love songs for the highest bidders…to be performed and recorded that night! Writers include pop songstress Greta Gertler, underground rocker Richard X Heyman, hip-hop maestro W Ellington Felton, Off-Broadway composers Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi (Don Imbroglio), and cabaret parodists Lisa Neubauer and Andrew Byrne. The auction begins at 7pm .

The party offers plenty of other opportunities for fun and mischief, for singles and couples alike…send a singing "Crush-O-Gram", bid on fabulous silent auction prizes (SEE BELOW!), swoon to the stylings of vocalist/ songwriter Sachal Vasandani, and lose yourself in the groove with jazzy progressive dance music from DJ Dub Ell and pianist Will Rast.

Admission is $15 in advance or $20 at the door (and includes one free drink). Proceeds go toward the upcoming production of The Don Giovanni Radio Hour, a new musical being presented this May by New Sounds Theatre and Beth Morrison Projects.

Purchase tickets at www.newsoundstheatre.org

DID WE MENTION OUR SILENT AUCTION?

We've got thousands of dollars worth of amazing merchandise and experiences (just in time for those last-minute Valentines gifts)! Here's just a few of the amazing items up for sale...

Miracle Date #2: A Night at the Opera
(one of 6 complete dates!)
Enjoy a gourmet meal at the award-winning Cafe Gray, followed by a night of glorious music at the New York City Opera. Top it off with a bottle of fine wine from the Caparone winery.

Dinner for 2 at Megu
Dine at one of New York's most esteemed, exclusive, and delicious Modern Japanese restaurants (over 10 meals available from other award-winning restaurants)!

BAM Tickets
Attend any show of your choice at the world-famous Brooklyn Academy of Music!

Health/Beauty Super-Pack
Look and feel great with a 3-month ladies-only gym membership at Fitness Express, a private yoga session with certified instructor Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, and a haircut at celebrity barber Richard Stein's hair salon.

Original Artwork
Take home the marvelous work of acclaimed contemporary artist Kevin Berlin, whose work can be found in the collections of Luciano Pavarotti, David Letterman, and Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton.

Designer Belts and Bags
Accessorize in style with 3 exotic belts and a calf skin anchor bag from innovative designer Bliss Lau.

AND MUCH MORE!!
For a complete list, visit http://www.newsoundstheatre.org/html/silentauction.html

Dream Analysis

2007-01-31T13:40:00.000-08:00

Nothing happens unless first we dream. -- Carl Sandburg

I don't know why I'm so quote-happy lately... a loss of words? a lack of succinctity (is that even a word)? inability to find the profundity in mundane situations? what do we use quotes for anyways?... to remind us that life REALLY IS that simple? and that sometimes the simplist answer is truly the best? or to give us a different way of perceiving a world that gets awfully cold and dreary and lives that get decidedly lifeless... exchanging the fight to stay awake all night with the fight to get up in the morning... trading hard times for decidedly easier ones... watching friends sleepwalk into their thirties and I wonder: are they dreaming?

I hope they are...

New Quote...

2007-01-29T12:28:00.000-08:00

"Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train.
Are you going 60 miles an hour or is the train going 60 miles
an hour and you're just sitting still?" - J. Paul Getty

What should be on the front page

2007-01-27T14:55:00.000-08:00

Ecuadorean footballer rebuilds village

Judy Fladmark
BBC News

De la Cruz sends money home every week

A South American footballer playing in the English Premiership is spending his high salary not on fast cars and big houses, but on rebuilding an entire community where he grew up.

What he has built for his village next to the Andes:
- 18km of water pipes and a treatment system
- Hundreds of books, a new school roof and a playground
- Each day, 100 primary school children receive breakfast and lunch at school
- a medical centre
- money to pay for a doctor, a dentist and a nurse at the clinic
- 10% of his salary each month back to Ecuador

And what he is building now:
- a new sports and community centre, now under construction.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

2007-01-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

...How does your AeroGrow?

Ah the delights of living in New York City! In other parts of the world there are gardens and greenhouses. Here in New York, we import our selection of hydroponic seeds from flashing numbers and commands to "call now!" and donate twelve cubic inches of precious counter space in the kitchen. And for that we get!: Seven assorted herbs (chives, dill, parsley, mint, cilantro, and two kinds of basil) and a light that radiates through the apartment at alternating hours - seven hours off, seventeen hours ON. Think of a nightlight on steriods. James' new hobby should come to fruition (literally) in eight weeks. That's one too many. Let's stick with the sevens...

Most important: the seven deadly sins... and then the dwarfs... the wonders of the world... days in a week... samurai... the hong kong sevens!... and dante, oh dante... AND I just realized, here we are in 2007.

And maybe it's time to simplify. Rather than lists and lists of 'what I'm going to look back on in a year and remind myself - oh now THAT'S what I was supposed to be doing' I'm feeling compelled to itemize (yes, mother, make a list!) and I'm thinking that a list of Seven For 07 is the way to go. But I gotta ask myself, do I feel lucky?

Sad Monkey

2007-01-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

Insight

2007-01-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

Some of the worst bits about directing are also the aspects that make it such a fantastic job.

Although film-making is a co-operative process, the director is the one who's supposed to have the vision and the plan.

The crew and actors are paid a lot of money and so the producers of the film will expect the director to organise the film efficiently. At any time, the rest of the crew will look to the director for guidance. She or he has to be ready with a decision, even if they are unsure of the consequences. Like most creative jobs, the hardest thing is belief in your vision when everyone is telling you you're wrong, even you!

During the making of Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola was close to despair, commenting to his wife Eleanor, "I tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am making a bad film." And again, "We are all lost. I have no idea where to go with this." Although not all directors will have to go through Coppola's traumas, most will experience self-doubt at some time during a shoot.

If you're interested in Coppola's experience on Apocalypse Now, try and get hold of a copy of Hearts of Darkness, a great film documentary largely shot by his wife, Eleanor. Another wicked insight into the soul of a director is a book called Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut and Helen Scott.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/film/advice/careers/cons_of_being_a_film_director.shtml

Go with the Flow

2007-01-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

"Directing is an idea that you have of a total flow of images that are going on, which are incidentally actors, words, and objects in space. It's an idea you have of yourself, like the idea you have of your own personality, which finds its best representation in the world in terms of specific flows of imaginary images. That's what directing is."

-- Roman Polanski

Miss Manners Reports

2007-01-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, it's here... the face-numbing, finger-stinging, eye-watering reality of freezing breezes. I went out for a meeting with my "jacket" on and heard more than one "is that all you have?" comment from the all-knowing streets of New York. One guy looked at me coming out of the subway station and said "you gotta be kiddin' with that jacket"... thanks genious. Well, the temperature in my apartment stays a comfortable 75 degrees or so with the sun shining in, and then BAM when I walk out: COLD. FREEZING. BLISTERING. OUCH. Rude Awakening. Who said New York had manners?

Why unpack?

2007-01-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

From Bangkok to the Catskills before I had time to unpack... I brought my computer and external harddrive and worked my way through the weekend while the boys worked their skis through muddy snow. I went for the fireplace (success!) and they went for the slopes (drudging across manufactured snow through pouring rain)... somehow I think I still won out. Couldn't get the camera operating at the cabin, but I did download a few of the b-roll shots we took for the documentary in Bangkok...

After leaving New York and traveling for hour after hour, day after day, to reach the exotic and exciting foreign country of THAILAND... I throw open the curtains in my hotel room to see:

Looking out the hotel from the other side you can see the newly constructed convention center, which was built in the honor of the Queen. Hidden speakers pump "soothing" music across a man-made lake... as I watch the sunset over the lake and the imposing buildings beyond, I begin to suspect that the music is there to cover the incessant honking and braking of Bangkok taxis and tuk-tuks rather than to provide harmony to the joggers circling the lake...

You'll see images like this everywhere in Thailand. I don't believe this is a Buddh - if anyone does know what it is, please enlighten me. The clasped hands, non-committal facial expression, and floral background seem to reflect the Thai mentality...

Street signs take on a whole new meaning. Bold colors, just like ours, but it's more difficult to understand exactly what they stand for. Example below: what is this "X" telling us not to do??

This image is full of striking contrasts when animated: the silver fish whip through muddy water that luscious velvet blooms rest peacefully above...

Thai Times

2007-01-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

I think a reference manual should be written about filming in Thailand. Perhaps it should be a manual that covers "filming outside of the US". There are certainties that vary in each country and customs that can make your life immeasurably easier or more difficult.

A few quick points for the book before I run off to work:
- Beware Thai time. When you say "be here at 8:00am", that is translated as "some time between 8:30 and 11:00 is ok"
- Confrontations in Thailand. Don't do it. No matter how much the Thai you're working with was late or didn't do their job, there is no point in arguing. You will be wrong. Best to smile and try to explain, humbly, how you could have possibly misunderstood what they know to be obvious.
- 220V outlets. I knew this before, but apparently filming crews bring you american plugs (110V) when they see you speak English.
- Buddhism. Get to know it and love it. Thais love to talk about Buddha even at work. And before they do anything (buy a house, sign an agreement, breathe) they must check with Buddha first.

Images of Bangkok...

2007-01-08T15:05:00.000-08:00

What a business trip to Thailand looks like... not quite as exotic as you might think:

Up working at 5am

On set by 7am

8 t0 10 hours of shooting

Try to relax at the end of the day

And then crash out

Trouble in Paradise

2007-01-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

Equipment didn't show up. Will need to research the new gear coming in - what are its limitations? Language barrier loses precious time. Conversations run long. Need new strategy. Seven hours of sleep in the past two days (sleep on a plane never counts as decent REMtime). Haven't gotten through all this new material. Eyes swelling. Clock ticking. 7:00 am breakfast set and then slam-bam shoot. What permits? I know I only need sleep. And tomorrow will be brilliant. Fucking brilliant.

The Story Begins...

2007-01-06T01:58:00.000-08:00

With a firm handshake and a gentle glance, I meet the man whose story I am here to hear. His stature is short but his stories more than compensate... The years of hard cases, dead bodies, and difficult decisions have been worn off by the warmth of this country. For hours we sit outside under an umbrella. And I listen. A few questions here, a laugh there, but mostly I just let him talk about things no one here could understand. I watch as his face becomes softer and he relives hour after hour of a different lifetime. I can sense that now is his time to set the story straight, to open up to a world he had to close off. And I love the fact that he just handed me a monstrous stack of paper to go through about his life and his investigations. Very few people have seen what I have in my hands now. And I know that more than this is me investigating his life... what is really happening over the next few hours is his investigation of me: how much detail will I remember from these pages? How thoroughly will I read what he gave me? Will I ask the right questions when we meet again after dinner? And ultimately, am I the right person for him to tell his story to...?

Yes.

Einstein

2007-01-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

As I prepare for this series of interviews, feeling that I am lacking indepth knowledge of the events, the players, and the motives involved in the situation I am documenting, I look at the quote of the day: Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Some new, some old... Bangers revisited

2007-01-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

After over 20 hours in the air and multiple almost-missed connections, it's good to have my feet back on the ground. We landed at Bangkok's new International Airport, which just opened two months ago and is absolutely stunning.

It actually reminds me a lot of Hong Kong's airport as far as the immigration floorplan and the glass-steel (is it steel or aluminum? I'd check but I'm only getting thai google) architecture. Say "sawadeeka" to the BMW that takes us to the airport and a few minutes later, I've moved into my home for the next five days: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. It's a favorite from my Hong Kong days when James and I would take quick weekend romps here. Still a beautiful and accomodating hotel. My room looks something like:

We are exactly 12 hours ahead of New York, so it's almost 3am here and I'm wide awake. Figure I'll go through a couple of notes and read myself to sleep in preparation for tomorrow when we meet the lead investigator in the 1978 massacre... a time and a place that is eras away from the view out my window on the 24th floor. Just hoping that the recent violence here doesn't make me feel too close to the story I'm trying to tell...