Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events came out today. Will I see it? Oh sure. In fact, there is plenty of good buzz about the cinematography.
So, I think I’ve finally gotten a list of “albums released in 2004 that I’d like to pick up”. I must say, I personally didn’t feel that this was a great year for music. It started out pretty good, but it kind of fizzled out towards the end. I think 2005 is going to be a much better year for music, especially since we’re promised new releases from:
Rocky Votolato
Beck
Hey Mercedes
Radiohead (maybe)
Weezer
That being said, I’m not sure I have enough albums from 2004 to compile a “best of” list for this year. I probably could, but it would be a very scant list. (I would like to compile a “best of” list for movies however).
Here are the albums that I’d like to purchase from this year:
Bjork – Medulla
I like Bjork…this one may be weird however.
Ted Leo – Shake the Sheets
This album has not gotten very positive reviews, but I listened to a sampling of it, and I liked what I heard. It is a carbon copy of Hearts of Oak, but it is still good. He writes better rock music then the latest trendy garage band, regardless of it being a copy of his older work.
Brian Wilson - Smile
I need to join Gabe on all the Beach Boys lovin’…
Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
“What’s that” you say? Yes, Pavement. This is an old album, but they released a deluxe edition of it this year. I’ve never heard much of Pavement, and I don’t own any of their records. Now that they’re repackaging their classic works in deluxe editions, replete with bonus tracks and Peel sessions, I seem to be hitting the Pavement fix at just the right time…
Owen – I Do Perceive
I should have bought this at the Owen show a week or two back. I just hadn’t heard much of Owen and I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. But I really enjoyed the show and I’ve liked the free Owen songs Gabe has stuck up here on the blog. I need to get this.
Last night Gabe and I took in Bob Nanna’s solo project, City on Film at Modified Arts. The show was great, although Nanna only played 8 songs or so. However, I didn’t expect him to bust out a lengthy set, as it was only Nanna, an amp and an acoustic guitar. If you’ve gotten the chance to see Nanna perform live (minus Hey Mercedes or Braid) then you probably know what he tends to play: Hey Mercedes and Braid songs, a few originals and some covers. He started the set off with "Boy Destroyers" from the Hey Mercedes “Looses Control” LP and ended it with "A Dozen Roses" from Braid’s Frame and Canvas. He did take one request (grudgingly) from a fan, but I wasn’t familiar with the song. Surprisingly, he delivered a nice cover of Lifter-Puller’s "Secret Santa Cruz" in between the set, which was an unexpected choice. (But, a nicely done, unexpected choice.) I think I was slightly disappointed that he didn’t play “I’d Rather Be Wine Drunk” though. Yeah…I know; that was his secret, exclusive song on his 2004 mix tape. But still I was hopping he’d perform it live. (It's on his new EP after all)
I would have bought a CD, except he didn’t have any to sell. He mentioned new music out on The City on Film website though. Check it out.
Speaking of CD’s, Gabe asked me on the way over to the show what I had purchased lately. I haven’t gotten the chance to discuss my latest purchases with him, and so he suggested I list some here on the blog. But when I got home and started to think about it, I realized that I haven’t purchased much of anything lately. In fact, I could narrow my recent music purchases since September down to 4 CD’s! That was tremendously shocking to me, yet at the same time, I hadn’t suspected I had purchased a plethora of new albums. Still, I was a little questioning. I picked up tons of CD’s over the summer; what was it about the winter that caused my music habits to take a dive? And then it hit me: film school.
It’s hard to spend money on CD’s when you don’t have any money I guess…
Anyway, those 4 CD’s that I purchased were nothing extraordinary. 3 of them were CD’s I had been planning to purchase for a long time, and only one CD was a new album released just this year.
Massive Attack – Mezzanine
I didn’t mention this purchase on the blog since it’s primarily electronica music. As you know, I love the electronica. But I didn’t really feel the need to mention this one on the blog. It’s a good CD and I’ve listened to it quite a bit, but it’s definitely a taste that would appeal to Alex and myself: nonexistent guitar-work and an abundance of synthesizers.
Cursive – The Ugly Organ
Probably my personal favorite of my recent purchases, Cursive’s The Ugly Organ is a great album that I neglected to add to my collection for a very long time. I recalled numerous times riding with Gabe, listening to this album, which led me to ask myself, “Why haven’t I gotten this yet?” I’m interested in checking out some of the other Cursive albums, but this is a great one. In retrospect I would add it to my best albums of 2003 list, and probably rate it fairly close to the top.
The Firebird Band – The City At Night
I got this album at The Firebird Band concert Gabe and I attended a few weeks ago. I like the music and I’m a fan of the new direction Chris Broach is taking. Like Gabe, I’m a little disappointed that his voice is so heavily distorted and filtered throughout the album, but I like it nonetheless. Still, I do wish there were more guitar songs…
The Beatles – The White Album
This one is pretty much an essential purchase and I’m shocked that I hadn’t picked it up earlier. I ended up buying it after I heard the song “Rocky Raccoon” in filmmaking student Ray Garcia De Leon’s car. Some other favorite songs from the album are Cry Baby Cry, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Helter Skelter, Martha My Dear, Dear Prudence, and The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill.
I need to compose a list of new music I want to purchase...
By now you should know that it is finally over. Yes, this semester has finally ended. I think that I can now look back on the adventure and comment that this was the most difficult and challenging semester I’ve had to endure yet. That might not be saying very much; many people the world over endure much greater challenges academically then I’ve had to endure, but for my faculties, it was tasking.
But it was interesting too, especially the final days leading up to the end of the semester. If you’ll indulge me for a minute, I’d like to recount those days, simply because the people involved and the events that transpired meant very much to me.
Starting off, I need to recount the tale of the end of my film class, Post-Production. This was especially meaningful because it was not only the end of that class, but also the end of several classes and a journey I began in late August. Through this class I had my very first experience with film. And because of the teachers involved, I was able to learn a great deal about the industry I one-day hope to work in, or at least aspire to. Yes, even though they called it “Boot Camp” it was a great experience for me. Let me take you back two weeks ago before I tell you about the end though, and then I will recount the last day of class to you.
Yes, two weeks ago I suffered a reality check. In fact, this entire series of classes has been one big reality check. But perhaps the biggest lesion I had to learn was the one about my limits. As you can probably guess, we were expected to edit our films and present them on the final day of class. Myself and another student neglected to do this over the last few weeks because we were trying to get access to Final Cut as well as a person who could help us edit our pieces on Final Cut.
After spending several weeks going through numerous channels, both professional and personal, I settled upon asking Alex to show me how to use Final Cut. Cocksure arrogance and a healthy dose of ignorance told me that I didn’t have to settle on using iMovie like the other students to edit my film. I was wrong.
After spending several hours plodding around in Final Cut, my fellow classmate and I decided to bail on Alex and retreat to my house to edit our films on iMovie.
We churned out rough cuts of our films in a matter of 4 hours. It was tremendously stressful, both a mental challenge and a test of patience, which was heightened by the reality that our films were due in less then one week. I can’t help but think matters were worsened by the fact that we had spent so long waiting to get access to a program that neither one of us knew how to use. That was time we should have spent editing our films, time that I should have spent realizing I just couldn’t do that much so soon.
Thankfully, we finished our films on time and came out of the ordeal with a healthy dose of humble pie to placate our experiences.
I think the best experience came the following week however, when I screened my films along with my fellow classmates on the final night of class. That screening felt like the fruition of all my hard work during the semester:
Screening 1 – Production Classroom – Tuesday, Dec 8th:
I screened my two student films, Pantomiming and Outside In, along with my commercial for Bic Pens, for the very first time on December 8th. The films went over well with the class, and I get the feeling that everyone felt satisfied for all of the hard work they put into these projects. My initial support in the school (and my first teacher), Dr. Price, seemed pleased by Pantomiming. I was glad to see it, especially since her and I had our fair share of differences at the beginning of the semester.
As for my other film, Outside In, I was very pleased with the results. I was also happy to have both Gabe and Alex attend the screening. During my introduction to the film I put Gabe on the spot by shouting out, “hey look, there’s an actor from the film!” to which the entire class turned on Gabe (who was huddled in the back corner of the room) and applauded.
Many people were impressed by his performance, myself included. Gabe has a unique style that I think is starting to emerge. I was glad to have him in my second student film, and I’ll go on record as saying that I doubt I’d like it nearly as much if he weren’t in it. And I’m not just kissing up here; I really mean it. He made that screening great.
Screening 2 (Surprise Screening) – Turquoise Room – Thursday, December 10th:
After my first screening the teacher asked a few of her students to stay behind and chat with her for a few minutes after class. The way she played it up, I assumed I was going to get some heavy criticism that she didn’t want the other students to witness.
But, it turned out to be quite the opposite. In fact, she asked several students to join her on December 10th in the Turquoise Room (The theater/entertainment room at the school where I saw Noi Albinoi) to screen our films. Apparently, there was some kind of arts festival that takes place every year at the school. Being included in it was an honor. When I got to the screening room that Thursday however, I had no idea as to what film the teacher wanted me to play for the audience: Pantomiming, or Outside In?
When she got there she gave me copies of both films and told me to choose.
I had overheard during the festival that time was running dry and that some pieces were going on too long, so, I decided to screen Outside In since it is the shorter of the two. Also, I backed up my decision by picking Outside In through a game of eanie meanie minie moe. Outside In was moe - it caught a tiger by its toe.
Once again, we were asked to give a short introduction to our films before screening. Now, I’m not fond of doing that, especially since I have nothing prepared to say about my films. So I figured I’d just say whatever.
Thankfully, I got an idea of what I would say by listening to the other student’s in their introductory speeches. You see, each time someone would get up to screen their film, they would apologize for it and ask that the audience not be offended at what they were about to see. Honestly, I didn’t think we were required to say, “Hello, my name is blah blah and I hope you are not offended by my film”.
Dr. Price agreed with this sentiment. During the presentations she turned to me and said, “It’s our job to offend people Brock”. I couldn’t help but smile. When I got up to the mic, chuckles emerged within the audience. The microphone stand had been adjusted for a much taller person, you see. Watching me crane my head upward to talk into the mic must have been quite funny, so I took advantage of it.
“Hello, hello” I said.
“Hello!” the audience enthusiastically replied back.
“My name is Brock. Brock H. Brown. And I’m told that it’s my job to offend you.”
The audience erupted in laughter.
“That being said, here’s my film”.
After the screening on Thursday, I got the bright idea to walk all the way from Scottsdale Community College to Fashion Square Mall. (I don’t have a car, so I decided to walk all the day down to the mall) I was worn out after I got there, but I got there all right. Instead of hanging out at the school all day, I spent my time waltzing around the mall; quite a nice way to cap off the festival I must say!
As for my other two classes, Biology and English, they ended in a similarly pleasant manner. English as you know ended with me being exempt from the final exam. Biology closed with me giving yet another presentation, but it was one I was glad to give. This presentation, on Progeria Syndrome, was the final thing I would do for the entire semester. After that I had a nice and unexpected lunch with Josh.
Now that it is finally over I can’t help but look back, weary and amused, and appreciate the free time I have. I must recuperate however. Make no doubt about it, this winter vacation is going to be much needed, especially after my last few months of Mimes, mailboxes and deadlines. I can finally devote time to some of my personal pursuits…like writing my screenplay.
Yes, I must shamefully admit that I had to shelve my screenplay in order to finish the semester on time. That means that I won’t be entering a screenplay in this year’s Phoenix Film Festival. It feels like I’m betraying something grand when I say that, and believe me, making that decision was incredibly difficult. But when I reviewed all of the other things that were going on at the time, I realize that I had no time to spare. Every waking moment I had (save for a few rest moments to preserve sanity) was filtered off to some important and time-consuming task. Placing a screenplay on my plate meant that something else would have escaped my attention. And that wasn’t something I was prepared to do.
Have I betrayed Johnny Boscow? Yes, he would have been ashamed at me. I never had the time to realize my next character, the Opium Eater. But now that my schooling is over for the semester, I’ll get a chance to begin and complete my second full-length screenplay.
Another thing I’ll finally have time for is blogging. Yes, more blogging. I’m sorry to say that my blogging activity has gone down recently. Well, some people wouldn’t be ashamed, they’d say, “Hurrah, I’m free!” so maybe I should say that I’m mildly annoyed.
Either way, I’ll try and finish that film character list I started (which was ironically created to spike blog activity) as well as attempt to post more often.
Hopefully, you’ll read along with me as I lay down my thoughts here on Eyes Like Static. Maybe the other guys will be able to stumble in and post too. I think most everyone I know is busy with something very important right now, so chances are you’ll have to stick out the rest of the year with me. But that’s fine, right? At any rate, it’s inevitable.
