Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Here comes trouble!
I don't care what anyone says, on a good piano "chopsticks" rocks!
J and I had a chance to play at the Olde Town Playhouse here in Town. We preformed for a crowd of three. (including the two of us) Naturally I froze up and couldn't play even the simpelest tune. This is what stage fright looks like:
Anywaze!
Guess who’s moving to my town? …My old friend “T” and her Godson “L”. I don’t have a picture to show because they aren’t here yet and I haven’t seen “T” since, like, forever. When they come to town they’ll be looking for jobs. What do they do? T was on my crew at Nickelodeon but, there isn’t a whole lot of animation around here. So I guess it’s off to the job finding place.
This is something that has bugged me since I moved to town: what do people do? What is a regular job like? I’ve been in the wacky world of production so long I don’t remember what it was like to have a regular job.
The last job that I had before Animation was about 20 years ago I was a leasing agent for an apartment building on the south side of Chicago. I used an alarm clock, wore a suit, had a lunch hour and waited for the clock to change so I could go home. It was very rigid. If I was late someone got mad. If something really started cooking near the end of my lunch hour I’d have to stop it and go back to my desk. Basically, it sucked!
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I had to get a real job around here. What is there to do around here? I guess I’d find a job the same way I find places to live. I go to where it’s cool and start looking around and asking questions.
In the case of this town, I guess I’d go over the old insane asylum. For those who don’t know the “State Hospital” (as they more levelheaded people call it) is part of a redevelopment project. It was built before the turn of the century and is now being renovated and restored into living spaces work spaces and restaurants. It all has a kind of cool flare to it. I haven’t been over there in 7 months and I’m sure some new cool stuff is on the rise.
Could I be a waiter? Probably, but I’ll bet I wouldn’t get too many tips. I have faith in my fellow man but I just don’t seem to have patience for the fucker. I was a waiter at one point and it didn’t go over too well. I did what I was supposed to do and, I think, I did it well. But it was exhausting. I had to be nice to people. And, man, were some of them mean. They acted like no one else was in the place. The ironic thing is the nice ones got shitty service because I was spoon-feeding the ass holes. I felt, sort of, sorry for them but not so sorry that I really gave a shit. The best thing about being a waiter was the tips. After the people left there was usually a couple bucks lying on the table. I don’t remember getting stiffed so, I guess I was a pretty good waiter. I used the paycheck for rent ($2 per hour) and the tips for shits, giggles and the occasional beer. I ate where and when I could, it wasn’t my number one priority at the time. The other nice thing about being a waiter is that you can eat. I suppose if you worked at a chain restaurant they’d have rules about employees eating and, as an employee, you’d probably get screwed. I’m talking about you Applebees! But the place that I worked for (an Italian joint in Fla) was pretty good about it. The owner was Cuban and a real tight wad. He pretended that he was Italian by putting an “ah” at the end of every word. “Hey-a you-a, gringo-a.”
He didn’t really bug me, I had his number. I played him like a violin at the saps day parade. His wife (who really was Italian) made the best sandwiches! It could have been that I was pretty hungry most of the time and any sandwich would have tasted good, but I seem to remember they were the best sandwiches in the world. She would put them in the pizza oven and bake the cheese. Great, now I’m hungry.
The worst thing about being a waiter is when your friends come to visit. You have to do everything they want and they expect it to be free. It’s pretty awkward.
OK so this blog turned into random thoughts about being a waiter. So what? I guess next time I’ll tell you all about being a leasing agent in Chicago.
J and I had a chance to play at the Olde Town Playhouse here in Town. We preformed for a crowd of three. (including the two of us) Naturally I froze up and couldn't play even the simpelest tune. This is what stage fright looks like:
Anywaze!Guess who’s moving to my town? …My old friend “T” and her Godson “L”. I don’t have a picture to show because they aren’t here yet and I haven’t seen “T” since, like, forever. When they come to town they’ll be looking for jobs. What do they do? T was on my crew at Nickelodeon but, there isn’t a whole lot of animation around here. So I guess it’s off to the job finding place.
This is something that has bugged me since I moved to town: what do people do? What is a regular job like? I’ve been in the wacky world of production so long I don’t remember what it was like to have a regular job.
The last job that I had before Animation was about 20 years ago I was a leasing agent for an apartment building on the south side of Chicago. I used an alarm clock, wore a suit, had a lunch hour and waited for the clock to change so I could go home. It was very rigid. If I was late someone got mad. If something really started cooking near the end of my lunch hour I’d have to stop it and go back to my desk. Basically, it sucked!
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I had to get a real job around here. What is there to do around here? I guess I’d find a job the same way I find places to live. I go to where it’s cool and start looking around and asking questions.
In the case of this town, I guess I’d go over the old insane asylum. For those who don’t know the “State Hospital” (as they more levelheaded people call it) is part of a redevelopment project. It was built before the turn of the century and is now being renovated and restored into living spaces work spaces and restaurants. It all has a kind of cool flare to it. I haven’t been over there in 7 months and I’m sure some new cool stuff is on the rise.
Could I be a waiter? Probably, but I’ll bet I wouldn’t get too many tips. I have faith in my fellow man but I just don’t seem to have patience for the fucker. I was a waiter at one point and it didn’t go over too well. I did what I was supposed to do and, I think, I did it well. But it was exhausting. I had to be nice to people. And, man, were some of them mean. They acted like no one else was in the place. The ironic thing is the nice ones got shitty service because I was spoon-feeding the ass holes. I felt, sort of, sorry for them but not so sorry that I really gave a shit. The best thing about being a waiter was the tips. After the people left there was usually a couple bucks lying on the table. I don’t remember getting stiffed so, I guess I was a pretty good waiter. I used the paycheck for rent ($2 per hour) and the tips for shits, giggles and the occasional beer. I ate where and when I could, it wasn’t my number one priority at the time. The other nice thing about being a waiter is that you can eat. I suppose if you worked at a chain restaurant they’d have rules about employees eating and, as an employee, you’d probably get screwed. I’m talking about you Applebees! But the place that I worked for (an Italian joint in Fla) was pretty good about it. The owner was Cuban and a real tight wad. He pretended that he was Italian by putting an “ah” at the end of every word. “Hey-a you-a, gringo-a.”
He didn’t really bug me, I had his number. I played him like a violin at the saps day parade. His wife (who really was Italian) made the best sandwiches! It could have been that I was pretty hungry most of the time and any sandwich would have tasted good, but I seem to remember they were the best sandwiches in the world. She would put them in the pizza oven and bake the cheese. Great, now I’m hungry.
The worst thing about being a waiter is when your friends come to visit. You have to do everything they want and they expect it to be free. It’s pretty awkward.
OK so this blog turned into random thoughts about being a waiter. So what? I guess next time I’ll tell you all about being a leasing agent in Chicago.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Welcome to Michigan!
There is nothing new to report, really. I just like this picture.
It's from one of the trailers. If some flunkey government official from our current administration is reading this blog, that's not real dynamite,... Jerko! It's a prop!
Today a few of the trailers were reviewed for the fest and, as usual, I was just being paranoid. They are all going in. Of the seven people in the room all thought they were funny but one person had some slight misapprehension. I was right about the 12%! (Refer to previous post, I’m too lazy to recap) Go figure, the 12% of the seven of us thought that the Grizzly boy trailers weren’t funny. I was floored!
You tell me if they’re funny!
http://jsinteractive.com/tcff/sundberg-kids.html
Yesterday’s shoots went very well. And there’s a tone of shit to edit, so next week looks pretty full. I may direct my faithful readers to a web page that features all of the trailers.
I think you all deserve a sneak peak!
You are all so nice!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
'Bout time!
All right, OK. Unlike most bloggers I won’t apologize for making my entries monthly instead of daily. I’d like to say that I’ve been bust but, in reality I’ve been apathetic.
Not toward you, my gentle reader (all two of you), but to everything in general. I think I was “in country” too long. I spent the first two weeks wandering the streets of my home town looking for familiar landmarks and people. The nice thing is that I didn’t need to really tell anyone where I was. Either they read the blog, knew someone who read the blog or didn’t give a crap. But I'm much better now!
Now I find myself engaged in the Film Festival again. Why? You ask. I don’t know. I guess I like doing stuff. I like movies but have no great love of going to the movies. There isn’t a lot to that, that’s just the way things have worked out over the past so many years.
My function this year is to supervise all of the little trailers that we show before the films. In case you don’t know, the trailers (inspite of their name) are short films that run before the movies. Last year I thought it would be make something that would promote the festival and get some laughs. It was a cross between a cartoon short and an advertisement. We stood some funny people up in front of a camera and had them say some wacky stuff about Traverse City and the movie viewing experience in general. It was a success! Most people thought they were a nice surprise and we got some laughs.
So this year, by popular demand, I’m asked to do it again. I can’t refuse. I have two major concerns: 1) I have no time. And 2) There has to be three times more this year because we have three times as many movies.
*Thinks* What the heck can we make them about? What’s the theme? I can’t do the same thing we did last year because I never look back, baby! And I ain’t going to do the whole thing myself!
Maybe we could parody the films we showed last year. This is easy. Parody, for me is like falling off a bike in a barrel.
So, I type up one script involving Timothy Treadwell and a guy in a bear suit. (Grizzly man) funny! I found a group of exuberant young filmmakers and emailed the script to them. Less than two weeks later they sent back six very funny trailers (Grizzly boy).
Two of the actors from last year stepped up with about fifteen ideas. The ideas flowed from them like flowing stuff flows out of a flow stuff holder with a rather large hole in it. The big challenge there was consolidating their ideas and getting a crew together. We rounded up some bodies, some cameras and sound equipment and started shooting. I encouraged them to focus on one idea and make a series out of it like we did with the Grizzly Boy thing. One has been produced so far and it’s pretty funny. The rest are going to be shot in various locations tomorrow. Should be good. Here's a shot from the dentist shoot:
Another person approached me with some ideas he had. Now this guy is a real commercial director and his approach to filmmaking is a little more intense that the kids in the field with the bear suit. He shoots today in a couple hours.
I also wanted to take a jab at the way we ran the festival last year. Last year, we pulled it off. We had some stumbling points but, nothing really tragic or life altering. It was a surprisingly polished event. I don’t think any of us thought we would be such a success. So as a thank you for that, I wrote a bit that has J warning the patrons that things might be as polished as they look. It has a sort of psychotic “TCM host” feel to it, and it’s very strange. I know that the people who were involved in the fest last year will think it’s funny. And our out-of-town guests will get a kick out of it, because we are letting everyone know that this isn’t park City and this will never be Sundance. This one turned out so good that I feel there’s a good chance it won’t show at the fest. I’ve heard that the volunteers might be touchy about the way things are going this year. And this, like most of the stuff I do, is a big poke at a sore spot.
But, it’s funny!
This is a big point with me. Very early on last year, as we were laying out the manifesto for this film fest we all decided that the decision to show or not show anything should be based on our own personal opinion, and not the probable views of other people. If we like it, it’s in! Don’t try to guess what might offend people. You can’t worry about offending someone you don’t know. Fuck them! Personally, I feel that if you don’t offend at least 12% of your audience your joke probably wasn’t funny.
OK so there are a couple other things J and I are putting together, one is a pretty specific jab at Traverse City (Which will probably be vetoed) another is a salute to Stanley Kubrick. There's also a special thank you to the volunteers, featuring a visit by Traver's own Princess Laura.
Anyway, whatever happens, whatever shows, whatever gets pulled, I’m going to try to be big about it. I know these things are funny and if they get pulled, I’ll just put them up on the web for posterity and move on.
Q: Will I do this next year?
A: Will there BE a next year?
Q: Don't answer a question with a question!
A: Why not?
Q: Bugger!
Not toward you, my gentle reader (all two of you), but to everything in general. I think I was “in country” too long. I spent the first two weeks wandering the streets of my home town looking for familiar landmarks and people. The nice thing is that I didn’t need to really tell anyone where I was. Either they read the blog, knew someone who read the blog or didn’t give a crap. But I'm much better now!Now I find myself engaged in the Film Festival again. Why? You ask. I don’t know. I guess I like doing stuff. I like movies but have no great love of going to the movies. There isn’t a lot to that, that’s just the way things have worked out over the past so many years.
My function this year is to supervise all of the little trailers that we show before the films. In case you don’t know, the trailers (inspite of their name) are short films that run before the movies. Last year I thought it would be make something that would promote the festival and get some laughs. It was a cross between a cartoon short and an advertisement. We stood some funny people up in front of a camera and had them say some wacky stuff about Traverse City and the movie viewing experience in general. It was a success! Most people thought they were a nice surprise and we got some laughs.
So this year, by popular demand, I’m asked to do it again. I can’t refuse. I have two major concerns: 1) I have no time. And 2) There has to be three times more this year because we have three times as many movies.
*Thinks* What the heck can we make them about? What’s the theme? I can’t do the same thing we did last year because I never look back, baby! And I ain’t going to do the whole thing myself!
Maybe we could parody the films we showed last year. This is easy. Parody, for me is like falling off a bike in a barrel.
So, I type up one script involving Timothy Treadwell and a guy in a bear suit. (Grizzly man) funny! I found a group of exuberant young filmmakers and emailed the script to them. Less than two weeks later they sent back six very funny trailers (Grizzly boy).
Two of the actors from last year stepped up with about fifteen ideas. The ideas flowed from them like flowing stuff flows out of a flow stuff holder with a rather large hole in it. The big challenge there was consolidating their ideas and getting a crew together. We rounded up some bodies, some cameras and sound equipment and started shooting. I encouraged them to focus on one idea and make a series out of it like we did with the Grizzly Boy thing. One has been produced so far and it’s pretty funny. The rest are going to be shot in various locations tomorrow. Should be good. Here's a shot from the dentist shoot:
Another person approached me with some ideas he had. Now this guy is a real commercial director and his approach to filmmaking is a little more intense that the kids in the field with the bear suit. He shoots today in a couple hours.
I also wanted to take a jab at the way we ran the festival last year. Last year, we pulled it off. We had some stumbling points but, nothing really tragic or life altering. It was a surprisingly polished event. I don’t think any of us thought we would be such a success. So as a thank you for that, I wrote a bit that has J warning the patrons that things might be as polished as they look. It has a sort of psychotic “TCM host” feel to it, and it’s very strange. I know that the people who were involved in the fest last year will think it’s funny. And our out-of-town guests will get a kick out of it, because we are letting everyone know that this isn’t park City and this will never be Sundance. This one turned out so good that I feel there’s a good chance it won’t show at the fest. I’ve heard that the volunteers might be touchy about the way things are going this year. And this, like most of the stuff I do, is a big poke at a sore spot.
But, it’s funny!
This is a big point with me. Very early on last year, as we were laying out the manifesto for this film fest we all decided that the decision to show or not show anything should be based on our own personal opinion, and not the probable views of other people. If we like it, it’s in! Don’t try to guess what might offend people. You can’t worry about offending someone you don’t know. Fuck them! Personally, I feel that if you don’t offend at least 12% of your audience your joke probably wasn’t funny.
OK so there are a couple other things J and I are putting together, one is a pretty specific jab at Traverse City (Which will probably be vetoed) another is a salute to Stanley Kubrick. There's also a special thank you to the volunteers, featuring a visit by Traver's own Princess Laura.
Anyway, whatever happens, whatever shows, whatever gets pulled, I’m going to try to be big about it. I know these things are funny and if they get pulled, I’ll just put them up on the web for posterity and move on.
Q: Will I do this next year?
A: Will there BE a next year?
Q: Don't answer a question with a question!
A: Why not?
Q: Bugger!
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