An Attempt of Motivation

AP
– Sun Jan 16, 11:55 am ET

MOSCOW – A centuries-old Russian prison notorious for its primitive conditions will soon offer inmates a new perk — tanning beds.

The ITAR-Tass news agency on Sunday cited federal prisons service Viktor Dezhurov as saying the tanning beds at Moscow's Butyrskaya prison will be ready for observances of its' 240-year anniversary this year.

Dezhurov was quoted as saying the tanning beds are meant to compensate for inadequate sunlight in the cells. But inmates will have to pay and at 10 rubles (33 cents) a minute, that's a sizable fee in a country where the average monthly salary is well under $1,000.

The prison's dismal conditions attracted wide attention in 2009 after the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a young lawyer who died of pancreas disease there after inadequate medical care.

Cold

2011-01-13T12:48:00.000-05:00

Cash4Gold

2011-01-13T01:41:00.000-05:00

I Am Jack's Calvin And Hobbes

2011-01-13T01:09:00.000-05:00

Thrills and spills for the new Spider-Man musical: newyorker.com

2011-01-13T00:34:00.001-05:00

Thrills and spills for the new Spider-Man musical: newyorker.com

The Last Night of "In the Heights"

2011-01-11T23:51:00.003-05:00

"In the Heights" closed Sunday night. "Heights" was an amazing show to see on Broadway and the story behind the creation of it makes the show all that more beautiful as well.

Singin

2011-01-11T23:48:00.001-05:00

Doodle

2011-01-09T20:29:00.002-05:00

Sketch

2011-01-09T20:10:00.002-05:00

A doodle from class last year. I seem to have so little to say or write lately, which is why I haven't really kept up with anything with this blog.

Prop 8

2010-08-05T16:43:00.001-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Photo Memory: A Walk in Friedrichshain

2010-08-05T15:49:00.003-04:00

Berlin, Germany

November 9, 2009

Lily, our assistant director and production coordinator, leading us to location.

SB I Dreamed a Dream

2010-07-21T11:34:00.001-04:00

Steve Barton 6/26/54 - 7/21/01

Old Sketch

2010-07-15T12:59:00.001-04:00

2003

Elizabeth's Wednesday

2010-07-15T12:57:00.003-04:00

As simple as it is, Elizabeth's blog entry (http://osmosismo.blogspot.com/) made me smile last night. I think it's because she'll be put in a similar boat with me soon.

Life is a Caber-N-train

2010-07-14T13:46:00.003-04:00

My morning commute to NYU/8th Street.

Storyboard and Product

2010-07-13T17:00:00.006-04:00

A few pre-production sketches/storyboards I did for Cast Party. Images matched with the screenshot.

Jim Caruso's Cast Party from castpartyvideo on Vimeo.

Old Sketches

2010-07-13T16:53:00.004-04:00

I was going through my computer and found some old sketches of mine that I had scanned.

from 2003

Short Script: Cup o' Joe (working title)

2010-07-13T16:27:00.001-04:00

Short Script

Linda lived with her mother, Ruth, all her life and has held the same job for nearly thirty years at a waitress at a local diner. Despite her constant companionship with her mother, Linda leads a relatively lonely life. Jack, a boyfriend from years ago is her best friend, but they rarely see each other as it is.

For the past few months, Ruth has been living in an assisted living facility because of her age and her failing health. When she passes away, Linda is left virtually alone. Jack is married with kids as are her two brothers. The recent passing of Ruth stirs something in Jack and he digs into their past to find the son he and Ruth gave up for adoption when they were dating nearly twenty-five years prior. Jack’s paternal instinct is strong and it’s obvious that giving up their son has been on his mind for a long time. Now that he’s attempted to make some contact with the boy, the need to reunite with him is overwhelming. Jack attempts to use Ruth’s passing as a need for Linda to work with him to reunite with their son.

Linda remains adamant that the adoption means that giving up the child means that they don’t have a son. She continues to tell herself this, but the growing realization is that the death of her mother, combined with the lack of friends and family creates a blossoming curiosity about her son.

Chatting with Elizabeth

2010-07-13T01:50:00.002-04:00

Left: Elizabeth, Right: Me

web cam photo timestamp: 1:43

Metro North and the World Cup

2010-07-12T12:08:00.003-04:00

I feel like this past weekend of late nights and couch surfing was mostly unintentional. I went to a roof party at my former roommate's new place (and if you're wondering, no, we didn't break up). The new place is absolutely awesome, but parties also mean late nights. Of course for me, after a day or work, this made for a 22-hour day. I finally was able to hit the sack (literally - I slept on bean bag chairs) around 5 in the morning.

Some time in the afternoon the next day, I thought it was high time to head home as I had expected to. I rushed to Grand Central to catch a train only to find out that all trains on the New Haven line were temporarily suspended in both directions. I waited it out and watched the Uruguay vs. Germany game in Grand Central. There was a television that was put up in the middle of Grand Central - a small one, but an awesome idea nonetheless. It was good to FINALLY catch a game and root for my study-abroad home, Germany.

I ended up crashing in the city another night on another friend's futon to avoid what was sure to be crowded trains full of travelers desperate to get home. You can read about the excitement of the Metro North New Haven line power outage here (New York Times).

watching URU vs. GER in Grand Central

Photo-Memory: Stairs in the Palais Garnier

2010-07-09T11:28:00.002-04:00

Paris, France

October 27, 2008

Prepping to Travel with Friends

2010-07-08T16:05:00.001-04:00

Short Script: Clearing Józefów

2010-07-08T12:12:00.008-04:00

Approximately 15-20 minute film.

Based off of events described in Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men: Reserve Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland

Synopsis:

In the summer of 1942, nearly 500 hundred middle-aged men from Hamburg were sent to Józefów, Poland with instructions to round up and kill Jews. These men made up Ordnungspolizei Reserve Battalion 101. They killed approximately 1,500 Jews from Józefów in a sixteen hour period. This battalion of drafted men was considered unfit for other military duty and were not given the training and preparation that was a military standard.

Drafted in early 1942, Kurt, a 41-year-old unemployed shopkeeper, was forced to leave behind his wife and son in Hamburg. After months of sickness, his son's health began to improve just prior to Kurt's departure. This was due in part to the dedication of the local apothecarist, who sympathized with Kurt's lack of finances to pay for medicine.

Kurt, like the other drafted men, are hardly blood-thirsty. They long to return back home and are convinced that carrying out the mission to kill Jews will result in a quicker return home. Within a hours of arriving to Józefów, the men get to work gathering Jews from their homes into the streets, loading many into cattle cars, and walking others to the woods to be shot.

German men walk in and out of the woods, practically exchanging spots with each shot of a gun. They stand around a large ditch and their faces are hidden with gun-smoke. Kurt and another officer have brought a young couple to the woods. Kurt's companion kills the wife and walks away immediately, leaving Kurt with the husband. The man is in hysterics until Kurt finally shoots. The smoke clears and Kurt's face is speckled with blood.

The event has traumatized Kurt and he rushes back into town. When asked my fellow companions what's wrong, Kurt quickly brushes them off and says that he's looking. He is desperate to find refuge and wanders into the basement of an abandoned home. He throws his gun down and he goes into a panic, trying desperately to wipe away any lingering blood from his face. He is frantic, crying, sick. He hears a noise. In the basement a woman is curled up tightly in the corner. Kurt quickly stands up, wipes his tears, and grabs his gun. He demands the woman come out of the corner. She does, obediently. It is evident she is a Jew based on the star on her jacket.

Her manner is so strangely calm and Kurt's just the opposite. He tells her to sit. She does. He puts the gun aside and begins talking with her. There's something familiar about her. Conversation reveals that she was pushed out of Hamburg to Poland. Kurt continues to talk with her and slowly he is able to identify her as the apothecarist. In near panic, he rattles off ways to try and get her out, but it's little help when he hears his men.

They congratulate him on finding another Jew. His comrades tell him to bring the woman out to the street where they will all walk together to the woods.

Too Darn Hot

2010-07-07T11:22:00.001-04:00

By the way...it was 104°F in NYC yesterday

Photo-Memory: Vienna S-Bahn

2010-07-06T23:18:00.002-04:00

Vienna, Austria

October 30, 2008

Polaroid-Memory: Alexanderplatz

2010-07-06T22:58:00.002-04:00

Berlin, Germany

September 2008

Flearoy

2010-07-06T16:12:00.003-04:00

Flearoy is my friend's amazing band - if you haven't checked them out already, you should. Their album is available to download for free on their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/flearoy

Photographing Birdland

2010-07-06T01:06:00.003-04:00

I film and photograph at Birdland almost every Monday. Here are a few pics from this evening.

As American as America Gets

2010-07-05T15:39:00.001-04:00

Happy 4th Photography

2010-07-05T14:31:00.002-04:00

Wilton, CT fireworks

4th of July Migraine Weekend

2010-07-04T01:41:00.002-04:00

craptastic week of embarassments, work stress, waiting for calls, deciding whether to place calls, trying to book jobs, apologizing for personal and professional work, lack of sleep, severe anxiety, loss of appetite

rounding it out nicely with a migraine

wanting to sleep

should sleep

can't sleep

fireworks tomorrow will hurt my head

maybe

friends help crappy weeks

...so does drinking...

...but not with a migraine

friends writing, movie-watching, chatting

waiting

next week

maybe

hopefully

sleep

maybe

hopefully

should sleep

Artistic Innocence

2010-07-01T12:53:00.003-04:00

Thanks my Abbey for snapping this photo at a sale.

"Think about it."

Simple Times in Brooklyn

2010-06-30T14:49:00.001-04:00

I miss my Williamsburg apt.

Kagan and Christmas

2010-06-30T00:03:00.002-04:00

NYT - Cabaret: Precarious but Resilient

2010-06-27T10:08:00.003-04:00

New York Times

June 25, 2010

Cabaret: Precarious but Resilient

By STEPHEN HOLDEN

Stability is a word not often used to describe New York City’s fragile cabaret world, where only a few can make a full-time living, and the clubs themselves ride an economic seesaw from week to week. But because Manhattan’s three major supper clubs — the Café Carlyle, the Oak Room and Feinstein’s at Loews Regency — are attached to hotels, their survival is not solely dependent on the box office.

That is a stability of sorts. And as the 2009-10 season draws to a close, all three clubs seem to have successfully weathered the economic downturn, at least for now. One sign of precariousness, however, was the shrinking of the Cabaret Convention, an annual clearinghouse for talent at Rose Hall.

Artistically, at least, cabaret is reasonably healthy; an optimist might even say flourishing, as younger singers like Kelli O’Hara, Maude Maggart, Nellie McKay, Johnny Rodgers and Sutton Foster have established themselves as acts that blend singing and patter into intimate, sophisticated entertainments that can’t be found anywhere else.

This year the quality of the dozen best cabaret acts far surpassed that of Broadway’s new musicals, which were so weak that “Memphis,” a flimsy, grossly inauthentic re-creation of the moment in the 1950s when rhythm & blues went mainstream, won the Tony Award for best musical.

Authenticity is a hallmark of cabaret; without it the genre would quickly wither. This is the one arena in which a beloved performer can develop into a musical sage without an expiration date. The songs of Stephen Sondheim, who turned 80 this year, almost require performers with mileage for their insights to be revealed.

Elaine Stritch and Barbara Carroll, both in their 80s, located the essences of songs like “Every Day a Little Death” (recited by Ms. Stritch in her brilliant Sondheim show at the Café Carlyle), and “With So Little to Be Sure Of” (sung by Ms. Carroll at the Oak Room, where it was part of a Sondheim suite for voice and piano).

Among the numerous tributes to the songwriter Johnny Mercer, whose centennial was celebrated last November, the most stirring was a marathon pop-jazz anthology of his songs by Marilyn Maye, now 82, at the Metropolitan Room, the best of New York’s smaller clubs.

If the new blood arriving in cabaret suggests that the genre has secured its future, there is no guarantee. Whether performers like Ms. O’Hara, Ms. Foster, Ms. McKay and Mr. Rodgers will become perennials is anyone’s guess. Right now Ms. O’Hara, with her wholesome good looks and operatically flexible soprano, and the zany, more down-home Ms. Foster, whose debut engagement at Café Carlyle ends this Saturday, are cabaret versions of America’s sweetheart.

Because they don’t need nightclub acclaim as a springboard to the Broadway stardom they have already attained, their commitment to the genre is uncertain. Ms. McKay is a downtown bohemian version of the same thing, a contemporary Doris Day with a feisty political attitude.

Only Ms. Maggart, a Los Angeles protégée of Michael Feinstein and Andrea Marcovicci, has systematically built a cabaret career similar to her mentors’, in which she embodies a genre-hopping 21st-century film noir woman of mystery. Mr. Rodgers, who leads his own band, suggests a cross between a grown-up Andy Hardy and the young Peter Allen.

Because Mr. Feinstein has his own club in which he regularly performs, he is cabaret’s unofficial godfather. He has developed from an intimate singing pianist into a dynamic standup entertainer who swings like a polite Sinatra and is an outspoken true believer in the superiority of the prerock canon, about which he knows more than almost anyone.

In the last two years he has gone out of his way to form musical partnerships. “The Power of Two,” his duet show with the Broadway heartthrob Cheyenne Jackson last June, injected a note of gay pride into a cabaret world that, despite its sizable gay audience, is reticent about sexuality, at least in its upper echelon. His duet shows with Christine Ebersole and Barbara Cook (with whom he is returning for a month of performances in September) and David Hyde Pierce, set a standard of grownup entertainment that has been almost completely abandoned by a mainstream pop culture in thrall to perpetual adolescence.

This kind of teamwork can be found in other musical partnerships, including those of Sandy Stewart and Bill Charlap, K T Sullivan and Mark Nadler, Victoria Clark and Ted Sperling, Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, and most of all John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey. In wit and musical savvy, nothing matches their smart conceptual shows, in which Mr. Pizzarelli’s jazz guitar and crooning and Ms. Molaskey’s theatrical jazz singing fuse into something that’s greater than its parts.

Their Café Carlyle show last fall, “Lost and Found,” which included renditions of everyone from Duke Ellington to Joni Mitchell, was the season’s finest, caviar in a world of canned tuna. Once you’ve acquired the taste, there is no substitute.

A Little Piece of Childhood

2010-06-24T23:52:00.001-04:00

When in Doubt...webcam

2010-06-24T01:37:00.001-04:00

Hitler's Jail Time

2010-06-23T12:33:00.001-04:00

New documents surface on Hitler's jail time

By DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writer

BERLIN – Adolf Hitler enjoyed special treatment while jailed in 1924, being allowed hundreds of visitors — sometimes unsupervised — including some 30 to 40 to celebrate his 35th birthday, according to a treasure trove of documents that have surfaced from the prison near Munich where he was held.

The 500 documents from the Landsberg prison were recently found by a Nuremberg man among the possessions of his late father, who had purchased them at a flea market in the 1970s, according to Werner Behringer, whose auction house in the Bavarian city of Fuerth will offer them for sale next month.

Behringer said they were packed among a bundle of books on World War I that the man had bought, and his 55-year-old son, who has requested anonymity, never knew of their existence.

"His father probably didn't know what he had there," Behringer told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Robert Bierschneider, an archivist with the Bavarian State Archives in Munich, said he had examined images of the documents that Behringer sent to him, and that they had stamps and notations that matched with others from the same prison at the time.

"The documents appear to be genuine, but to do a real examination we need to have the originals in our hands," he told the AP.

The documents are to be auctioned on July 2, with a starting price of euro25,000 ($30,677).

Though only one document is signed by Hitler himself, and much of the information about his time in prison is otherwise available, they do provide an intriguing window into his early days as Nazi leader.

Hitler was imprisoned in Landsberg after the Nazi's abortive bid to seize power in 1923 in the notorious "beer hall putsch" coup attempt in Munich. It wasn't until a decade later, in 1933, that the Nazis would eventually come to power through parliamentary elections.

Despite being sentenced to five years in prison, Hitler was granted early release and ended up only serving about nine months of his sentence.

His right-wing politics and German nationalism won him some high-placed friends among the German establishment, including World War I hero Gen. Erich Ludendorff. Ludendorff came to visit Hitler several times during his imprisonment, and the Prussian general was allowed to see the former Austrian corporal unsupervised for as long as he wanted, the documents show.

The documents include some 300 to 400 original cards listing Hitler's other visitors, including the 30 to 40 who were allowed in to celebrate his birthday with him on April 20, 1924 — only 19 days after he was put behind bars.

"His time in prison was more like a holiday," Behringer said.

Prison director Otto Leybold gushed about Hitler in a memo about the inmates on Sept. 18, 1924, saying he was always "sensible, modest, humble and polite to everyone — especially to the officers of the facility."

Hitler spent much of his time in prison writing his infamous manifesto "Mein Kampf," or "My Struggle," detailing his ideology and ambitions, but the documents also show he had time for more prosaic thoughts.

In a typed copy that prison authorities made of a letter Hitler wrote to a Munich car dealer, the future dictator says he is having a hard time making up his mind about whether to purchase a newer model Benz 11/40 or the older 16/50 because he had concerns that the higher RPM's of the motor in the former might mean that it would have more mechanical problems.

"I can't get a new car every two or three years," he wrote.

He also noted that he had many court costs to pay once he was released and asked the dealer if he might arrange a discount for him, indicating that he had his eye on a particular 11/40 on the salesman's lot.

"In any case, please reserve the gray car that you have in Munich until I have clarity about my fate (probation?)," Hitler wrote.

NYU Berlin

2010-06-23T10:59:00.001-04:00

One of my first freelance projects.

Disappointing Classics

2010-06-23T10:45:00.001-04:00

Alec Baldwin and NYU Commencement 2010

2010-06-23T10:12:00.002-04:00

P.S. Tisch kicks ass.

Photo-Memory: A Walk at the Reichstag

2010-06-23T01:00:00.004-04:00

Berlin, Germany

December 15, 2008

Minor American Culture Shocks

2010-06-22T00:54:00.003-04:00

Cleaning the windshield at a rest stop.
My first time on an ATV.

Tisch Salute 2010 Speech by Clay Shirky

2010-06-21T12:47:00.003-04:00

The Theater at Madison Square Garden

May 11, 2010

Thank you, and thank you Dean Scheeder for that introduction.

It's doubly a pleasure to address you all today, both because it's an honor to be with people on such an important occasion, and because, for some of you, I've had a hand in your education. I teach at Tisch, down in Red Burns' shop, the Interactive Telecommunications Program. My official job there is teaching theory and practice of social media, which means my unofficial job is explaining why all the old people are freaking out.

As you've heard already today, there is an upheaval in the creative environment you are heading into, so this afternoon, I want to tell you some stories about other people who lived their lives in times of creative revolution. I'll start with three: Johannes Trithemus, Piet Mondrian, and Ani DiFranco.

Trithemus first. Johannes Trithemus was an Abbot in the German town of Sponheim, in the late 1400s. Now to be an Abbot in the late 1400s was no fun, because an infernal machine had been unleashed on Europe, a machine that threatened the livelihood of the scribes working for Trithemus. That was the printing press, and it could create a book 300 times as fast as a scribe copying one out by hand.

Trithemus could see where this was going. If the literate population of Europe continued to buy cheap, abundant books created on a printing press, it would be bad news for the expensive, scarce books created by the scribes. Seeing this, he decided to alert the world to the dangers of abundant media, writing a book called De Laude Scriptorum Manulium. Loosely translated from the Latin, that reads "In Praise of Writing by Hand." Even more loosely translated, it reads "Won't Someone Please Think of the Scribes?"

Trithemus finished his manuscript in 1492. Now consider his dilemma: he has to get his book read as widely as possible, so he has to get a lot of copies made, really fast. He couldn't give it to the scribes, because they wrote too slowly, so De Laude Scriptorum was printed on a printing press. The medium destroyed the message.

Next time you hear some media mogul saying "We love digital media, we're very excited about it, we just want to make sure it doesn't change anything", you can now recognize that as a 500 year old thought (and one that didn't work the first time around either.)

This is one of the hallmarks of a media revolution: when even the people who hate the new medium have to use it. But of course, the future isn't shaped by people who try to opt out of it, it's shaped by people who try to figure out what to do about it.

There's a funny painting in the Museum of Modern Art, up in midtown. It shows the rectangles of a windmill standing in a field, lit brilliant white on a sunny day -- it's very Dutch, this painting. It isn't at MoMA because of its subject, though, it's there because of its creator, Piet Mondrian.

Mondrian painted this windmill in the first decade of the 20th century; by the second decade of that century, he'd reduced his entire visual palette to colored rectangles and black lines. This was one of the most rapid and complete turns to abstraction in the history of painting. What could have driven such a dramatic change?

The camera.

For the 700 years prior, the core intuition of European painting was that people like to look at things that look like things look like. So painters got very good at making one kind of thing -- paintings -- that looked like other things -- a windmill, a person, a bowl of fruit. If your goal is to make things that look like things look like, though, it's pretty hard to beat the camera for pure visual mimicry. All of a sudden, European painting was out of its historic job.

So one day, Mondrian shows up at his studio, and there's a note pinned to his door: "While you were out...representation stopped being a good idea." Now, every painter in Europe got this memo, but the vast majority of them couldn't read it, and the vast majority of those who could just made the sign of the cross and went back to painting bowls of fruit. Mondrian, though, said "Well, this isn't what I trained for, but if this is what's happening, let's go"; he asked himself "What if we stop making paintings that look like things, and start making paintings that look like paint?"

Notice that Mondrian wasn't a photographer. This is another hallmark of revolution -- when the new medium doesn't just add new possibilities, it also changes the environment for all the old possibilities as well.

So it is today. Digital media -- the internet, the web, mobile phones -- aren't just offering creative people new opportunities, they are changing the context of older forms as well. Whatever you make -- photos or films, software or hardware, a dance or a play -- digital media is changing the context in which you work.

MoMA has the Mondrian painting up because you can see, in the gleaming rectangles of the windmill, where he's going to end up. That's hindsight, though; it's only in retrospect that we can connect the windmill with the rectangles. While the change is underway, it's much more confusing.

In 1989, the singer and songwriter Ani DiFranco found an invisible memo pinned to her studio door, and it said "The music industry doesn't make music. Musicians make music. The music industry just distributes it." DiFranco realized that if she could reach her own audience, she could be her own record label, so she founded what became Righteous Babe records.

When she did this, she wasn't regarded as a genius, she was just regarded as weird. When people talked about the music industry in the 90's, they'd say "Well, there are the major labels, and then there are the independent labels...oh, and then there's Righteous Babe."

It wasn't until the middle of this decade, when Soulja Boy Tell'em and OK Go and Radiohead all started biting DiFranco's rhymes, started talking directly with their audiences, that people realized DiFranco wasn't weird, she was visionary. Even when you get it right, it can take the world a long time to catch up.

Which brings me to the fourth person I want to talk about today, the fourth person living their lives in a period of creative upheaval: you.

We are gathered here today to salute you, on the occasion of your graduation. Which is kind of weird, when you think about it. Faculty spends a lot of time in admissions meetings, deciding which students we'd be most excited to have join us. Then we bring you into our classrooms to be part of the conversations we care about most in the world. And then, just when your work is getting really interesting, we kick you out. Why would we do that?

One model for thinking about college is that we run an intellectual conveyor belt. You enter at one end and as you move along, as we stuff you full of the things you need to know. Now you are at the other end, and we're going to slap a diploma on your forehead and ship you back off to the world.

A lot of people think of college education this way, but I think that's the wrong model. It'sespecially the wrong model for creative people. It's especially the wrong model for creative people in a time of creative upheaval. A better model is the relay race. When NYU hands you a diploma, we'll also be handing you the baton, both because we think you're ready to grasp it, and also because we think you can take it and run with it to places we can't get to.

The advantage you, our students, have over us, your teachers, isn't that you know more things than we do. You don't; we know more things than you. As your parents have been trying to tell you for some time now, "paying attention" plus "middle age" equals "knows lots of things." The advantage you have over us is that a lot of things we know are now wrong.

I am old enough to have come to a full adult consciousness about the way the world works back when years began with a 1. Here's something I know: the news starts at 6 pm every evening, and it ends at 7 -- there's always exactly one hour of news every day. And the only choice I have in the matter is which of three white men are going to read it to me in English.

I know a lot of things like that. I know that books are printed on paper, and come from bookstores. I know that music is printed on plastic circles, and comes from music stores. I know that if I want to hire a secretary or sell a bike, I have to go through the newspaper. I know that all publicly available media is made by professionals. I know that if I want to watch a television program, I must stand in front of the TV at the appointed hour and no other, because that is when my show will be spilling out, and I have no way of catching it and saving it for later.

To many of you in the audience, and especially those of you clad in purple gowns, this must sound like crazy talk, but believe me, life used to be like that, and it was exactly as lousy as it sounds. The advantage you have over us is that you don't have to spend any time or energy unlearning those things. Most of you don't care, and many of you don't know, how we used to do things back when years began with a one, which is good, because it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you go out into the world and try to figure what a good idea looks like right now.

I'm going to tell you a secret, a secret we've waited to share with you until literally the last day you are in our care. You will have noticed, these last couple of years, that we have been pretty insistent about you showing up on time and paying attention while we tell you what we think you need to know. But in addition to that, we also secretly hope you've learned something else. We hope you've learned to ignore us.

Now some of you, it must be said, seem to have mastered that skill, but I'm not talking about ignoring us wholesale. I'm talking about selectively ignoring us, because there will come a day, very soon, when you are out in the world doing your work, and everything you have learned will be telling you one thing, and the world will seem to be telling you another. And at that moment, we hope you go with the world.

When you do that, when you go with what the world seems to be telling you, when you read the invisible memo and try to react to it...you will probably fail. Most new ideas are bad ideas; if it were any other way, innovation would be easy instead of hard. So you have to do it again, and again. Out in the big show, out in the real world, new ideas rarely come as a result of a single eureka moment. Mondrian went from windmills to rectangles in a historical eye-blink, but it wast still ten years of his actual life. Good ideas come as a result of unending, iterated experimentation.

School, you will have noticed, is a good place to experiment, because while you are experimenting, you can fail like crazy, and your failures will be contained by the four walls of the institution, and witnessed only by people who love you, and want you to succeed. That's the advantage of school. The disadvantage of school is that your successes have also been contained by those four walls, rather than spreading out into the world where they belong.

Today might be a good day to fix that. Somebody has to figure out what a good idea looks like right now. Could be you.

Congratulations, everybody. See you in the big show.

Return from West Virginia

2010-06-18T21:50:00.005-04:00

I returned to CT last night after a week of filming my friend Mike Wright's newest short "Hiding Games" (www.newlensproductions.com) in West Virginia where I was assistant director. Stories and pictures to come.

Phantom in the schools

2010-06-10T23:29:00.002-04:00

My focus on studying musical theatre and adaptation has spun a lot around 'The Phantom of the Opera" because of the many countries and forms that the story has taken on. Of course I've been studying other productions including the Kunze-Levay shows and their transformation over Europe and to Japan as well as adaptation of book to show and lyrical and book translation. Here's something I want to look into now and that's transformation from professional to non-professional. That's not to crticize the performances, but to know if the book has changed to accomodate the student environment.

Phantom is released to high schools and colleges across US and Canada

3rd June 2010

Press Release

Starting today, R&H Theatricals is accepting applications for performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical phenomenon by high schools and colleges across the USA and Canada, beginning September 2010.

R&H Theatricals, an Imagem Company and a division of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization (RHO), is proud to announce that high schools and colleges in the USA and Canada will soon be able to perform the most successful musical of all time, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Applications to perform Andrew Lloyd Webber's international musical phenomenon are being accepted starting today, June 3, for performances beginning September 1, 2010.

"Andrew's passion for bringing young people into the musical theater is so deeply felt," notes RHO President Ted Chapin, "that he has authorized us to release PHANTOM to schools even while it continues to thrive on Broadway and all over the globe. We always believed that school performances of PHANTOM would bring out the best in each and every student, and the pilot productions we saw across America more than confirmed that belief."

Anticipating the release of PHANTOM to schools, R&H Theatricals created a pilot project working closely with RUG (Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group). In the 2007-8 academic year, PHANTOM was presented -- in full productions and in its entirety-- by two colleges and four high schools: Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio; Elon University, Elon, North Carolina; Carroll Senior High School, Westlake, Texas; Nyack High School, Nyack, New York; Fairfield Senior High School, Fairfield, Ohio; and Capital High School, Charleston, West Virginia.

PHANTOM was “a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Stacie Martinsen of Carroll Senior High School. “It helped our department’s recognition level go through the roof, and the number of kids who wanted to be involved in theater after PHANTOM nearly doubled.” PHANTOM was "more profitable and [received] far more media attention than any other show we've produced," said Mindy Reed of Fairfield Senior High School. "It helped gain respect from the community for our theatre program." It was a "wonderful opportunity" for Baldwin-Wallace College, said administrator Scott Plane. "There was a great deal of 'buzz' about this piece that generated a kind of energy we don't usually experience, which helped our program grow. I'd recommend PHANTOMto any school that wishes to push themselves; it's ultimately extremely rewarding."

R&H Theatricals has been representing North American performance rights to Lloyd Webber's musicals since 2001, with SUNSET BOULEVARD being the latest title to be released (for professional customers only at this time), joining CATS, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, EVITA, ASPECTS OF LOVE, BY JEEVES, SONG & DANCE -- and now, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

PLEASE NOTE, as indicated, the release of performance rights forThe Phantom of the Opera is at this stage restricted to high schools and colleges across the USA and Canada only.

Korean Graduation

2010-06-09T16:09:00.002-04:00

Oh and in semi-recent news: I graduated and Koreans knew all about it.

(I'm on the left, my hand is blocking my face, of course)

Jim Caruso's Cast Party

2010-06-09T10:42:00.001-04:00

A little video I shot and edited for Jim Caruso's Cast Party.

You should go. Every Monday night. It's amazing. Seriously. Go. What else are you doing on a Monday night anyway?

Jim Caruso's Cast Party from castpartyvideo on Vimeo.

Helen Thomas

2010-06-08T21:22:00.003-04:00

I find the "retirement" of Helen Thomas unfortunate. She's stopped her incredibly long career (reporting from the White House since the Eisenhower administration) and for reasons mostly controversial given statements she said about the Jews and Israeli-Palestini conflict. Maybe I don't look at her opinion as so angry and jaded as I should and I think excuse it or at least attribute the words to age.

Nevertheless, I was fortunate (yes, I say fortunate) enough to meet her when I was in high school. Prior to college application time, I was stuck in a limbo between pursuing the arts (which I did) or attempting something slightly more practical like journalism. Helen spoke at a reporter's panel when I attended the National Young Leaders Conference (waste of money, in my opinion). A majority of the audience was either from Texas or pretty right-wing.

Each reporter (I don't remember who they were now) introduced themselves, what they specialized in, and who they reported for. When it came to Helen, she didn't even introduce her name. She openly criticized Bush administration and US' push into Iraq - all this in lieu of introducing anything about herself, drawing uncomfortable moans from the majority of the audience. She cared little though and persisted with her opinions as the other reporters attempted to remain moderate. And though I'm not always a fan of particularly outspoken people, I had to applaud her (in my head...those kids were crazy) for being outspoken. I had seen her on television before and her reputation was no secret to me.

Helen was escorted with practically no interruption. I went right up to, introduced myself and told her I was thinking about college and journalism. It wasn't that I wanted to meet someone oppossed to the Bush administration or someone simply outspoken. I knew that there was a reputation and almost a legend behind her. She spoke to me simply, kindly, and earnestly. She smiled at me and told me how nice it was to hear what I said and then told me. I regret to say that her exact words after that escape me, but I remember more or less what she said.

Do it. And if you're passionate, do it and don't stop. Get a good education and learn as much as you can. Always be learning.

Is this why I can't find a job...

2010-06-07T16:05:00.004-04:00

I smell movie

2010-06-07T12:51:00.002-04:00

I'm considering a career as a casting director...

Return

2010-06-07T12:42:00.002-04:00

It may be nothing short of laziness that I've stopped blogging. I can make the excuse that it's because I'm busy, but I hardly think that's the reason. I did, after all, create this blog to motivate myself or at least attempt to - hence the name of the blog. To push myself to keep writing or sharing or whatever it is that I do, I need to tell myself that it's not necessary to write extensively. It's okay to share a link, or a thought, or whatever and I do something with this space more regularly.

Cooking for a Shoot

2010-03-28T22:40:00.009-04:00

In case you were wondering what it's like to cook for a student shoot...from scratch....

Skylar and Ruth at Costco...in aviators.

Loading up the elevator to my apartment (Chicken potpie belongs to Ruth):

Making marinara sauce:

Prepping Chicken Parm:

Prepping chicken enchiladas:

Couldn't find canned green chiles...so went completely from scratch:

The fridge...so far. Everything packed in Ziplock freezer bags after prep.

Prepping sausage and peppers (batch 1 of 6):

My pots weren't big enough to mix all the ingredients. So buy a clean bucket (reclean it) and use.

Ran out of counter space:

Love Never Dies (incomplete pre-review)

2010-03-08T23:21:00.002-05:00

A Little “Research” Background

There have been a few people who have asked me about my opinion on the newest Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Love Never Dies. I think I’ve been the likely target of my friends for this question because it’s no secret that my guilty pleasure is musical theatre. That’s right, to everyone who doesn’t know, I’ve got an enormous soft spot for musical theatre. Painful, I know. The fortunate side of it is that I can suppress the giddy theatre-going side with me and balance it with, what I think are, practical observations and opinions. This comes from more than just enjoying theatre or observing theatre and truth be told, I haven’t had any proper theatrical education. I took a musical theatre history course in the first semester of my senior year at New York University, but I have been studying the subject matter on my own for a number of years. Instead of reading fiction growing up, I spent middle school and high school reading plays, librettos, biographies on composers and lyricists, and books on musical theatre history. Does that make me particularly qualified? Probably not, however I was determined to do something with this “research” in college. And of course as things turned out, my major requirements for my B.F.A. in Film took over and musical theatre took a back seat until my sophomore year when I began studying sociology. I found the course and the professor particularly interesting and continued my year with another course under his tutelage, The Sociology of Opera. With my interest in theatre returning and with Opera under my belt, the professor encouraged me and accepted me into New York University’s Berlin abroad program, which focuses primarily on German language and sociology. For me, this was also the perfect opportunity to embrace to go abroad and to see musical theatre in Germany, which I had taken an interest in years prior.

I suppose what I’m getting at in a very length, roundabout way is that I’ve spent a decent amount of my time dedicating attention to an art form that interests me, but in one that I’ve received no formal education in. The central idea that I’ve started to form or develop could very well be something along the lines of “The Sociology of Musical Theatre,” but I’m not even sure if that’s exactly the track I’m trying to hit. I think it may very well be more along the lines of a very broad interpretation of the word “adaptation.” I’ve taken that meaning to study the adaptation of productions from their different mediums (stage, screen, book, history, etc.), and their interpretation into different languages, different casts, and different countries and cities.

Love Never Dies: The Buzz

For the past week the buzz of Love Never Dies has been wracking my brain and I’ve been trying to soak up information about the production like a sponge. I have been holding myself back from absorbing too much information about the production. I don’t necessarily want all the spoilers or know all the changes the show has undergone, at least not yet.

So to those unfamiliar with the basic plot of this new show, the story picks up ten years after where The Phantom of the Opera left off. We are transported to New York City (Brooklyn) where the Phantom has fled to and has aided in the creation of attractions at the new and exciting Coney Island. The memory of Christine still haunts him and he anonymously invites her to perform at one of park’s attractions. Christine, Raoul, and their son, Gustave arrive in New York only to discover from whom the invitation came from.

I will confess that I am hugely skeptical of the idea of Love Never Dies and have been ever since the original rumors of the show came out nearly ten years ago. After a conversation with the late Maria Björnos, who expressed that she was never fully satisfied with the ending of Phantom, Webber started to conceptualize what happened after his story ended.

She was very excited about a New World location. We felt the key to the piece could be setting the story in New York and that this time the Phantom lived above his realm, perhaps in Manhattan’s first penthouse. But where in America could the Phantom have first gone to? Where could he have been unnoticed and yet been a part of the community?

I saw a documentary about Coney Island. Here was the Phantom’s new home among the freaks and the oddities who were such a part of Coney.

I stumbled on a two-dollar copy of The Phantom of Manhattan at my library’s used books for sale section about nine years ago and picked it up with my pocket change. It was a quick read even then and I don’t know if there was anything about it that stuck out to me. The Love Never Dies buzz will more than likely make me pick it up again.

What I’d like to do is to tackle or discuss several elements about the new show namely story, music and lyrics, and theatrical opposition and press.

Story – Possible Spoilers

I’ve been careful not to read too much into the production or the scene breakdowns provided by those who have seen the preview. I want to know about the production, but I don’t want to know it. There are certainly layers to the story and changes in relationships, but I’m going to talk about the main storyline. I am also not going to talk about the ending.

I received a copy of the cast album and I have been delicately selecting pieces to listen to and skipping over sections that I think may ruin too much of the show for me. I know that the argument against that from a lot people will be either “Why not listen to it? It’s not good anyway,” or “Why bother listening to that junk?” That is, of course, from the production’s opposition. My answer is that I am now genuinely interested in the show. I also know from past experiences that I if I see the show, I’m more likely to have a better-sculpted opinion of it if I go in fresh. Knowing all the music and the plot beforehand will force me to anticipate what’s to come during a production. I can only provide what I know at the current moment.

To elaborate a bit on the plot I started with earlier: The Phantom has left for Brooklyn where he has acquired a fortune building up Coney Island with the help of Mme. Giry and Meg. He is still unable to forget Christine and anonymously invites her to Coney Island to perform. Christine arrives in New York with her now-husband, Raoul and son, Gustave. Raoul’s boyish charm is forgotten and he has been drinking and gambling away the family fortune. The decision to perform at Coney Island, which he despises, is for the money. Christine soon discovers the identity of the man who invited her to New York. It is soon revealed that Christine and the Phantom made love just prior to her marriage to Raoul bringing the paternity of Gustave into question. Christine is soon faced again with the choice to choose between Raoul and the Phantom: Should she decide to sing, she stays with the Phantom. Should she not sing, she stays with Raoul and the Phantom agrees to pay off all of Raoul’s debts. Raoul, of course, accepts the bet.

I think what strikes most people about the new production is the decision to go to Coney Island in New York. The most obvious is that it gives a perfect excuse for the Phantom to flourish. With freak shows and oddities, a man in a mask is no stranger. He’s hiding in broad daylight. It also gives the writers of Love a new “playground” to explore. In some ways the move also heightens the melodrama by putting characters in a more sultry setting. Things are more scandalous and Coney Island has the ability to overwhelm the character’s senses and maybe even the audiences’. But theoretically speaking, it’s no different than the original production where we go from onstage to backstage to below the opera. Coney Island is the new stage, the hotel is backstage, and the aerie is below the opera. Does the new setting? It’s hard to tell without actually seeing the production. In theory does it make sense? To an extent. The use of this particular locale is really a ploy to give the Phantom some financial background. If the show had to be set in New York, I’m more inclined to believe the audience would have been more inclined to lean towards the Metropolitan Opera or the Manhattan Opera House (the opera house referred to in The Phantom of Manhattan and constructed by Oscar Hammerstein I).

The producers, reviewers, and publicity coordinators have been forcefully bridging the imagery of Coney Island’s rollercoaster to the story as an “emotional rollercoaster.” And it makes sense. The story is draws more on melodrama than drama with elements of the lost love, the jealous lover, the drunken husband, and the question of the boy’s paternity.

Music

Does Webber sounds a bit like Rodgers in this recent composition? I think he does, but whether he is mimicking or not is not apparent. If so there’s always the argument about the originality of Webber’s material. I think despite originality, Webber is an immensely talented composer whose music has transformed musical theatre. It’s something that I hate admitting for some odd reason. If the decisions were more conscious than unconscious, I think there is a way to look at this as tribute to the American form. The story takes place in the States and there the Rodgers-esque music is a tribute to the traditions of American musical theatre. To me, it’s more tradition than cut and paste styles.

A few observations or musical consideration:

Song comparisons:

‘Till I Hear You Sing

Lonely Room – intro (lyrics as well)

Soliloquy – ending

I Have Dreamed

Look In Your Heart

Homage to Whistle a Happy Tune? (context)

Coney Island Waltz

Carousel Waltz

At least the grandness and fullness of most Rodgers overtures

Particularly focused on the crescendos

Non-Rodgers song comparisons:

Beneath a Moonless Sky

Cellblock Tango music by John Kander

‘Till I Hear You Sing

A New Life music by Frank Wildhorn

In between/Transition songs are similar to that of the original Phantom (obviously) and Les Miserables. It’s generally the speak-sing idea. Ex. Giry Confronts the Phantom (Meg) vs. Castle on a Cloud (Mme. Thenardier)

What I do appreciate is Webber’s weaving of music from Phantom despite the fact that he says that Love is a stand-alone show. Despite this statement, those who are loyal to the show will find the bridge between the two worlds a bit easier.

The finale is one of the numbers that I have purposely skipped over and that’s for two reasons: 1. Listening to the finale of the show would be like reading the last paragraph of a book. 2. In my opinion, the finale of Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera is probably the production’s best number and one of the best I’ve seen in theatre in general.

Lyrics

Opposition

Conclusion

Education and G-Chat

2009-11-16T10:04:00.001-05:00

G-Chat

Gibson

2009-10-06T17:21:00.002-04:00

When the public knew that Mel Gibson lost it:

His new friends:

His stache-style

Oh yeah...and that getting drunk and cursing Jews thing.

I love music and cameras

2009-10-05T11:08:00.002-04:00

Family Guy - genius

2009-09-30T10:52:00.002-04:00

I don't know if anyone else caught the season premiere of Family Guy, but for the first time in a long time I found the humor almost refreshing. That's not to say the comedy was anything truly different, but the latest gag was animation styles. A particularly amazing segment was a piece called, "The Pie Song," in which everything is animated to look Disney-esque. Wonderful. Awesome.

still looking...

2009-09-26T23:40:00.002-04:00

Was sorting through pics on the computer and found a better pic of my bike...damn.

I miss grillwalkers

2009-09-24T14:51:00.004-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/world/europe/24bratwurst.html

September 24, 2009

BERLIN JOURNAL

Grills With Legs Beckon Germans to Bratwurst

By NICHOLAS KULISH

BERLIN — Jürgen Stiller regularly stands outside Berlin’s historic Friedrichstrasse train station with a four-pound canister of flammable propane strapped to his back. But if a police officer approaches him, it is only to buy one of the hot bratwurst sizzling on the flaming grill suspended from his shoulders.

Mr. Stiller works as a Grillwalker, a one-man mobile sausage-cooking machine. He and his colleagues can be seen around the capital, turning their browning bratwursts with tongs and tempting pedestrians with the scent of cooking meat wafting from their grills.

The itinerant sausage salesman is so successful here that copycats have sprung up, leading local newspapers to talk of a “War of the Wursts,” at locations like the famous Alexanderplatz, heavy with foot traffic and therefore potential customers, where they compete head to head.

It is also a sign of how seriously Germans still take their sausages, in a country where records show the Thuringian bratwurst dates from at least 1432, and in a city where an entire museum opened in August dedicated to the other local favorite, the spicy Currywurst.

They are a hit with local commuters thanks to the low price — an inexpensive $1.75 for a bratwurst in a roll with mustard or ketchup. Tourists unaccustomed to seeing a kitchen stroll around on two feet gawk, gape and take pictures. Mr. Stiller estimated that he is photographed more than 30 times a day.

Grillwalkers like Mr. Stiller stand out under their bright orange umbrellas, which protect them from the harsh summer sun and the chilly raindrops that already fall here in early autumn.

“Oh, it makes them so happy. They think it’s funny,” Mr. Stiller, 37, said of the tourists. But other passers-by object to what they see as inhumane working conditions. “They say, ‘Man, put it down. Think about your health,’ ” Mr. Stiller said.

But Mr. Stiller said he considered himself lucky to be a Grillwalker, having come to Berlin because there were no jobs in the East German town of Eggesin, where he grew up. He said he carried much heavier burdens than the grill, which weighs 44 pounds fully loaded, when he used to work on construction sites, and he said he made a lot more money now.

Germany is known for both its innovative engineering and its sausages, so the technical leap could seem almost inevitable. But it was the high hurdles put up by the city’s bureaucracy that fathered the invention of these unusual contraptions that are now as much a part of the city’s sights as the television tower in Alexanderplatz or the cathedral, outside of which Grillwalkers also hock their sausages.

After losing his job in hotel management in 1997, Bertram Rohloff wanted to open a stand to sell sandwiches, but found he could not get the necessary permits to set up shop. So instead he envisaged an evolution in food-preparation technology, a step beyond the rolling hot-dog cart, because without the necessary permits, neither the grill nor the sausages could touch the ground.

“You couldn’t get an A-1 location like Alexanderplatz for all the money in the world,” Mr. Rohloff said in an interview recently in the company’s home base in the Friedrichshain neighborhood in the former eastern part of the city. And the salesmen’s mobility allows them to follow the crowds, with Grillwalkers popping up outside nightclubs on busy evenings, at major parades and even at union demonstrations, which Mr. Rohloff said were among the best places for business.

As he worked on the invention, Mr. Rohloff considered everything from burning charcoal to hooking the grill up to a car battery — which he rejected because it would run down in just 10 minutes — before settling on propane. He designed it with an automatic cut-off mechanism for the gas, to ensure that it was safe in the event of an accident.

Mr. Rohloff was the first person to don his invention and sell bratwurst on the street. He now has 15 employees selling sausages around the city in teams of two; they take turns wearing the grill and reloading the sausages, rolls and condiments.

But his ambitions extend far beyond the German capital, and the 17 to 30 cents in profit made on each sausage. In all, the company has built 73 Grillwalkers, including the newest one, which sits in his office, sharing space with towers of jumbo buckets of mustard stacked against the wall. He has subcontractors renting them in cities around the country, from Hanover to Karlsruhe.

And Mr. Rohloff has sold the equipment, at $7,100 a piece, to customers in Bulgaria, Colombia, South Korea and elsewhere, including one to a man in Nebraska. Just this week he sold one to a client in South Africa, which next year will host the World Cup soccer tournament.

Mr. Rohloff patented the design, though that has not discouraged imitators, like the company that appeared on the scene in Berlin last year operating under the name Grillrunner, with yellow umbrellas instead of orange. Mr. Rohloff has hired a lawyer to try to crack down on the competition, but they have not gone to court yet.

Out on the street, an uneasy truce has developed between the rival salesmen, who stand eye to eye at the entrance to the Alexanderplatz subway station. “At the beginning, there were some pretty serious arguments, but today we keep our distance,” said Hendrik Zickert, 27, a Grillwalker salesman.

Not everyone is a fan, particularly not the competition from complete stands with a broader selection but higher fixed costs and thus higher prices. “We often ask ourselves how people can buy their sausages from them,” said Petra Schöbs, who on a recent afternoon was working at an Alexanderplatz stand advertising “original Thuringian bratwurst” for just under $3. “Our selection, our quality is much higher, and with us its much more hygienic,” Ms. Schöbs said.

But one Grillwalker customer said she thought there were advantages to watching the sausages getting cooked, if not made. “I don’t think it’s unhygienic,” said Lydia Eiglsperger, 41, a vacationing Bavarian who bought a bratwurst for each of her children. “Standing out there, they can’t hide a thing.”

Victor Homola contributed reporting.

Adopt the Homeless for $95

2009-09-24T14:44:00.000-04:00

news and entertainment

2009-09-19T23:31:00.001-04:00

The bestest bike a kid could ask for

2009-08-31T19:56:00.002-04:00

Help Jill find her bike...she misses it.

Giant/Morph bicycle.

Specs:

Bicycle Type	Juvenile
Weight	Unspecified
Sizes	Adjustable for rider height
Colors	Yellow/red

Frame & Fork
Frame Construction	TIG-welded
Frame Tubing Material	Hi-tensile steel
Fork Brand & Model	Giant
Fork Material	Chromoly, unicrown crown
Rear Shock	Not applicable

Components
Component Group	Juvenile Mix
Brakeset	Aluminum cantilever brakes, aluminum levers
Shift Levers	Grip Shift MRX-100
Front Derailleur	Shimano Altus top-swing
Rear Derailleur	Shimano Altus
Crankset	Aluminum w/chainguard, 28/38/48 teeth
Pedals	Platform, resin
Bottom Bracket	Three piece, sealed
BB Shell Width	73mm English
Rear Cogs	7-speed
Chain	1/2 x 3/32"
Seatpost	Pillar, steel
Saddle	Giant
Handlebar	Unspecified
Handlebar Extensions	Not included
Handlebar Stem	Aluminum, adjustable
Headset	1"

Wheels
Hubs	Steel, nutted
Rims	Aluminum, 36-hole
Tires	24 x 2.10" multi-terrain
Spoke Brand	UCP, 2.0mm straight gauge
Spoke Nipples	Brass nipples

Cover Letter to the "Onion"

2009-08-21T13:20:00.000-04:00

Dear Mr. ----,

The accompanying résumé is in response to your listing in the NYU Film & Television Media Internship Office for production interns at The Onion News Network. As an upcoming senior I will be enrolling in the Educational Labor (a.k.a. Internship) Program and am eligible to receive academic credit for an internship.

I am particularly interested in the production internship, as I have focused my attention on production throughout my time at NYU. Since starting my education in film and television, I have crewed on more than fifteen productions. These projects range from student productions to professional film and television projects in a range of positions in both production and pre-production. My freelance work with web-based media and photography has also allowed me to develop a diverse group of clients in D.C., New York, and Berlin, Germany. Examples of my work can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhsprojects/sets.

The Onion's expansion into web-media is particularly fascinating to me as I hope to continue a path in web-production - perhaps even beyond my already awesome production assistant coffee delivery skills.

I would greatly appreciate the ability to discuss how my experience can best meet the needs of the "America's Finest News Source." I will call your office on the morning of Monday, August 24th to inquire if there is a possibility to schedule a meeting.

Sincerely,
20-something, seeking internship

Jill Sapenoff

The day after 21 on Gchat

2009-08-21T10:07:00.000-04:00

These messages were sent while you were offline.

11:57 AM Britta: possibly still drunk i won't lie

maybe it's the flask i have in my pocket right now...

mauahahahaha that's what you do when you're 21, right?!

WHY ARE YOU OFFLINE BIOTCH

mayday! we're going down!

2009-08-21T01:32:00.000-04:00

Toy helicopter crash prompts SC driver to call 911

Thu Aug 20, 8:15 pm ET

Information from: The Post and Courier

CHARLESTON, S.C. – It was an eerie sight for a motorist driving Interstate 526 in South Carolina - a helicopter in the distance spewing smoke as it plunged toward the Wando River. The Post and Courier of Charleston reported the motorist called 911 with the report Wednesday. Police and three Charleston Fire Department trucks and a fire battalion chief raced to the scene.
One Charleston police officer drove calmly by after seeing the truth. It was a helicopter all right - a remote controlled toy helicopter about 2 feet long.
Police spokesman Charles Francis said two people were below the interstate bridge operating the toy chopper when it went down.

Awesome

2009-08-21T00:25:00.001-04:00

I saw this at Birdland Jazz Club the other night and was SO happy to find that it was online. This guy is so great that after he sang, we gave him a standing ovation and shook his hand at the bar.

Jill, why so much German?

2009-08-21T00:15:00.002-04:00

So a few people keep asking me what the obsession with German is - particularly with my thesis film.

Here's what it is:

I would like to direct that is something either bi-lingual or in a foreign language to challenge myself as a director and to possibly help my potential in festivals.

THERE

DANKE

LASS MICH ALLEIN

Potato, rodeo, retired, sealife, twin

2009-08-21T00:03:00.004-04:00

Dear Sara,

These words SUCK. New words NOW otherwise it's a story about a retired rodeo star who tries a stint working at SeaWorld, but is only allowed to work at a stand selling potato chips. He falls in love with a woman at SeaWorld who loves him back. Her heart turns cold against him and he discovers later that the woman he was in love with died and the woman he was trying to court with was her twin.

Knot, solace, treetop, tattered, drip

2009-08-20T00:27:00.000-04:00

After running away from Germany at the end of the Second World War, Kurt has lived in solitude in Argentina. The images of the war have scarred him all his life and he is unable to face humanity again. Living in a handcrafted home in a treetop deep in the Argentinean jungle, Kurt is still unable to find solace. His home has been made of ropes that he’s made and gathered from trees and knotted together. He had brought limited supplies with him when he first went into the jungle.

During a camping trip into the deep woods, Michael, an American gets lost and separated from the rest of his group. A few days into his journey, an exhausted Michael begins to set up camp. He feels a constant drip fall on his head and looks up to find Kurt’s canopy.

Kurt descends from the canopy in his tattered clothes to confront Michael. With salvaged weapons in hand, he threatens to kill Michael. He gives up quickly though, memories from the war suddenly rush in on him and he backs away.

Michael’s high school German and Kurt’s broken English are the only forms of communication. Michael’s desperation to leave the jungle subsides as he becomes more interested in Kurt. Kurt confesses to leaving Germany for fear of trials for war and genocide crimes. Michael tells Kurt that he’s a Jew. Kurt tells him that if he were bold enough he could go back to Germany and face his past as a Nazi, but it’s obvious that the years haven’t been kind to him and he’s still tormented. Michael takes sympathy on Kurt, finding that the man has tortured himself. As odd as it sounds, a life in prison after facing his trial would probably bring some closure to Kurt.

Deciding to venture back to society for the first time in years, Kurt brings Michael to the closest town so that he can get help and find his way home. Kurt returns back to woods.

Doctor, porridge, petunias, vacuum, stepbrother

2009-08-19T16:03:00.001-04:00

Dr. Jack Vather was one of the world’s most successful surgeons until a botched surgery and a divorce left him with nothing. His son, Max still lives with him, abandoned by his mother who fled the country to marry Jack’s stepbrother and to avoid paying child support. In a struggling economy, Jack looks for ways to support himself and Max. The days are harder with Max home from school during the summer and still too young to find work. During the days that Jack is out looking for work, Max attempts to keep the house together by vacuuming and making porridge, oddly the only thing he knows how to make. He learned early that that porridge was a forgiving recipe and by adding water (basically making gruel), he could stretch their dollar. While cleaning the house, Max discovers a clog in the vacuum. He opens up the bag of the vacuum to discover a dying petunia that seems as if it were left for safekeeping. The find is certainly curious and Max adopts the new plant and plants it outside. It becomes his newest project and he exerts all his emotion and energy into caring for the plant.

Marilyn, a middle-aged widow sees Max outside caring for his plant one day. Jack is out looking for a job and she strikes up a conversation with Max and offers to teach him more about gardening. During the day when Jack is off, Max goes to Marilyn’s home to learn, bringing seeds and plants home to help transform the dilapidated façade of the home he shares with his father. He soon plants vegetables and fruits as well, surprising his father with foods that differ from the regular porridge.

Jack feels helpless that he is unable to find a job when his boy has managed to deliver something new to them without a job.

Max introduces Jack to Marilyn the next day. Marilyn lives comfortably with what her husband has left behind and Jack confesses to how difficult life has been. He tells her that he’s thought about bringing Max to an orphanage or a foster home and finds it difficult to wake up in the morning since his life began to fall apart.

Marilyn convinces Jack that Max needs a father in his life when one parent has already abandoned him. She tells Jack that he can take some time off looking and maybe he’ll find fulfillment with the time he spends with his son.

Jack agrees to stop the job search temporarily and allows Max to take him under his tutelage to learn about gardening. Jack clears out a large chunk of the backyard to expand the garden and they slowly start to see the fruits of their labor.

Without Jack’s knowledge, Max sells picked fruits, vegetables, and herbs from the garden to sell (even in small quantities) and begins to bring the profits home to his father, slowly but surely giving Jack some hope both mentally and financially to optimistically get back on his feet.

5 Words

2009-08-19T16:01:00.002-04:00

Every day until I can come up with a script or a story, Sara will give my 5 random words for me to create a unique piece of b.s. in hopes of finding some spark of an idea. These were/are done mostly as jokes, but the exercise may actually prove helpful.

I want a fort too

2009-08-18T16:49:00.002-04:00

"is there an age limit? cause I'm thirty and about two more beers away from deciding that I need this."

I'm like sooo popular

2009-08-14T00:25:00.000-04:00

Real life wisdom from Mary

2009-08-13T22:27:00.002-04:00

Hoooooooootttttt

2009-08-12T11:08:00.002-04:00

Florida inmates make, sell their own hot sauce

Sun Aug 9, 8:53 pm ET

Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. – A group of Tampa inmates is offering a taste of what it's like jail — no locks, bars or handcuffs required. But you'd better have an tough stomach to use more than a dash of their "Jailhouse FireHot Sauce." Minimum-security Hillsborough County Jail inmates offer it in "Original," "Smoke" and "No Escape" varieties, all made from their jail-grown peppers.

They came up with the recipe and started selling it in 2005. Since then, horticulture instructor Allen Boatman estimates they've made $10,000 on the sauce. Each bottle is $7.

The income is used to keep up the greenhouse and buy basic supplies.

Blocked Access

2009-08-07T15:26:00.002-04:00

Sure I can write on my blog, but I can't view it even if I wanted to apparently.

Summer

2009-08-07T14:52:00.003-04:00

“Summer Vacation” lacks some sort of utopian value that it used to have. The par-comatose state that I used to leisure in my younger summers is unappealing and forgotten so much so that the thought of lounging lazily across a couch in front of a television sounds more like a groggy agony than relaxation. The lack of structure during the summer may create a small amount of chaos, but for the first summer that I can recall, I’ve kept myself relatively busy. Freelance projects from video media and photography have kept me motivated, the 9-5 job (more like 10-6) has kept me on schedule, and meeting with friends allows me to feign appointments and scheduling so I can pretend that I’m more important than I actually I am.

It's time for a new leader!....a shirtless leader!

2009-08-07T01:10:00.001-04:00

Apparently I won't live long

2009-08-03T01:22:00.002-04:00

(Half) True...

2009-07-31T21:34:00.001-04:00

Driving in New York...

2009-07-30T15:50:00.004-04:00

I'm glad that I finally learned to drive fearlessly in New York City. I don't mind driving 15 people 5 hours through Manhattan and to MA or driving an equally large crew with equipment to CT or even moving couches and furniture into the new apartment. Somehow a tire exploding with 15 passengers on the MA Turnpike makes me feel like a stronger driver too. Driving in NYC is just a pumped up, anxiety headrush...that I enjoy?

documenting the tire:
A "real" piece of my photography.

Welcome to Brooklyn

2009-07-30T15:49:00.001-04:00

Jill

i thought you might enjoy this: my roommate and I almost got arrested
1:52am
Ryan
how?????
1:52am
Jill
we met some guys at a bar and found out they lived in the same building
so we went up to the roof and they have fireworks
so they lit off some fireworks - like actual fireworks that go up and explode
and then the cops heard it and pulled up to the building
1:53am
Ryan
omggg
1:53am
Jill
so I told my roommate I was a little too drunk (even though I’m not) and I have work in the morning so I ran downstairs
I sat on the balcony, saw the cops pull up to the building, and realized my roommate didn't have her phone so I couldn't warn her

they also buzzed my door, but I ignored it

a few minutes later, she runs into the apt, bolts the door and was like "I ran into them in the stairwell, and they told me I had a guilty face so I shrugged and just continued down the stairs."

haha what a fucking rush
welcome to brooklyn
1:55am

I knew it

2009-07-30T02:14:00.000-04:00

To do...

2009-07-28T11:07:00.003-04:00

I want to congratulate myself for once again slacking. I’ve told myself that I’ve made a commitment to write and I haven’t done that. Wow, scare of commitment for something as small as keeping up with a blog? Sad truth right there.
I know I did write a bit of a rambling piece a few weeks ago and about a day or so later, deleted it. That’s fine. Sometimes it’s okay to spit out emotions, but it wasn’t really the place to do it. Luckily nobody really reads this anyone.
Thankfully, I’m finding that I’m in a much better place than I was in before. Things have started to turn slightly. The frustration (and depression, which I hate admitting to) seems to have passed. I’m trying to focus my energy back to my work.
I crewed on two projects this weekend as an assistant director and as a unit production manager. I had both my share of laughs and frustration, but I’ve come to realize that I think I might actually enjoy what I do. I’ve been on about 5 hours of sleep a night for the past five nights. I woke up at a 5:45 this morning to get ready for the train back to NYC this morning and I feel oddly awake and energized. Maybe after exhausting myself, I just appreciate the sleep that I did get.
I’ve recently started excavating the fat away from my face and discovered traces of cheekbones. I’m hoping that a continued excavation will uncover other such features.
My proposal for Berlin seems to have hit a roadblock at the moment. I hope to restart it again in the coming week or so and send it to a few professors for review (and hopefully have them help me find some funding). For those interested, the “Berlin Proposal” at the moment consists of a game plan and well, a proposal to send me and a small group of students of varying disciplines (history, media, film) to Berlin for a week in November in order to create a documentary piece and possible a written “thesis” on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the start of reunification. Just think that in some ways, this “new” Germany is only 20 years old. I’m older than Germany! Not really.
I completed a rough cut of my film and I’m hoping to hand it over to another editor to try their hand at it with the hope of having a more concise piece.
Do you like how this is basically an extended “to do” list?
What’s left to do? Start writing on Sociology of Musical Theatre. Yeah, that semi-thesis idea I’ve been working on should really get started. I’ll have to dig up whatever notes I did take when I saw musical theater in Europe. The list was:
“Elisabeth” in Berlin and Budapest (two incredibly different productions)
“Rebecca” in Vienna
“The Phantom of the Opera” in London (trust me, there is a reason I saw the show overseas)
“My Fair Lady” in Berlin (a VERY modernized version of the classic show – I briefly wrote about this when I wrote about Theater des Westens)

I missed/passed on “Rudolf: Affair Mayerling” when I was in Vienna for financial reasons and also because I was traveling with my dad who lacks interest in theatre and we wanted to make the most of our time together in Vienna.

And how about I post a picture too like I’ve said I’ll try and do?
A church (I forget which of the many) from Budapest, Hungary.

Speaking of which...

2009-07-15T00:02:00.001-04:00

I wasn't expecting this a few hours after writing today.

Only For A While to Feature Previously Unreleased Recordings from Phantom's Steve Barton

By: Andy Propst · Jul 14, 2009 · New York

On September 7, the UK label Stage Door Records will release Only For A While, the first retrospective of vocals from Steve Barton, who originated the role of Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera in both the West End and on Broadway.

The disc will feature 14 previously unreleased tracks provided by West End lyricist Dee Shipman and Denny Berry (dance captain for 'Phantom'), and it represents a unique collection compiled by Barton's family and friends that pays tribute to this performer who passed away in 2001.

Among the selections on Only For A While are Barton's very last recording sessions for the musical Emma, which were recorded just months before his death.

Pre-orders for the disc are currently being taken at the Stage Door Records site and will ship earlier than the September 7 release date.

For more information visit, www.stagedoorrecords.coma.

Hey there

2009-07-01T15:29:00.003-04:00

I think I want to start getting in the habit of writing again. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote and I find it weird that I haven’t documented any of it. Who reads it anyway? At least for my own benefit I might be so lucky as to trick myself into remembering things that happened a few years down the road.

I’m lucky to have some encouragement from friends and reassurance that it’s okay to not have written for some time. I’ve argued that the blog makes me upset because every time I refer to it, a post about Chet stares me rudely in the face. I won’t delete it. That wouldn’t make much sense. But maybe that’s a decent reason - the desire to write fades when I’m reminded of something like that. The posts after that have been limited and basically meaningless. I'm happy to at least be reassured (from feedback) that writing what I did about Chet was a necessity to more than just myself.

But a summary of things I’d like to at least touch base on, at least for my own benefit:

My return trip to Europe with my dad

My freelance work

Val’s Wedding/Photography

My new place in Brooklyn (which is awesome)

Something comical?

Oh and because I promised to help spread the good word, check out Noga’s new cooking blog at steakcookbook.blogspot.com.

And how about a photo so I can pretend I’ve been up on my photography.

Special Thanks?

2009-07-01T15:02:00.005-04:00

Val's brother compliments my photography:

Message from Eric after asking for his mailing address:

The Study of Video Games

2009-05-06T17:43:00.002-04:00

A top video game analyst?

Now this?

2009-05-04T20:36:00.003-04:00

Should I enjoy that sinking feeling whenever I hear of a new Hollywood endeavour particularly those that are of remakes? I already posted and said my piece about the Three Stooges, but what about the Sorcerer's Apprentice? It's Disney re-vamp of the classic Fantasia piece originally starring Mickey...and now starring Nicholas Cage.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A stunt man filming a car chase in Times Square for a new Nicolas Cage movie crashed his Ferrari into a store front and two pedestrians suffered minor injuries, police and the film's producers said on Monday.

The crash, which happened early on Monday, was captured on amateur video that was posted on the New York Post web site, www.nypost.com.

It showed two cars weaving in between other traffic before the front one skidded out of control, mounting the sidewalk and crashing into the window of an outlet of an Italian chain restaurant.

Normal traffic in Times Square had been shut down for the filming of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and all the cars in the video were part of the movie shoot.

Police said a 23-year-old man was hit by a falling pole and complained of a head injury, and a 21-year-old woman suffered a foot injury. Both injuries were considered minor and the stunt man driving the car was uninjured.

"On site production medics responded immediately and two pedestrians were taken to the hospital for evaluation," said a statement from the production of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," which is a Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films production.

"One person has been released and while we were told the second person was also released we have not been able to confirm that," said the statement. "All safety regulations were followed and second unit filming will continue as planned."

Due for release in mid-2010, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is the story of a college student reluctantly recruited to work for a sorcerer, played by Cage. Set in contemporary New York, it is based on the segment of the same name from the Disney animated film "Fantasia."

I Drive Trucks

2009-04-21T16:13:00.001-04:00

Shortest Teamster?

Contributions

2009-04-07T19:25:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Zach for this...poor thing.

Dicktopia.

Yesterday at 8:41pm

As I am writing this, I am still a bit in shock at the realization that a place like this exists. Yesterday, as myself and four of my esteemed colleagues searched for a future place of residence, our real estate agent took us into a place that would soon become known as to us only as Dicktopia. The owner called it a museum, wore a hotel bathrobe, and pointed out the particularly disturbing ones. The landlords felt awkward the entire time while trying to sell the place to us, but all we could do is laugh and stare in amazement. I could only get a small fraction of what was all over the house, but I managed to get a fair share of the interesting ones. After about 15 minutes in this place we were left in a strange daze for the rest of the day. Enjoy.

Listen. DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK if you don't find hilarious/disturbing drawings of dicks funny.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37136765@N04/sets/72157616351585717/

Disney Eggs

2009-04-03T18:58:00.001-04:00

Thank God, because I wasn't eating eggs before.

Color Sync in the Can

2009-03-31T21:43:00.000-04:00

I SHOT MY INTERMEDIATE FILM.

TEMPORARY FREEDOM

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

www.theparkfilm.blogspot.com

WHY?!

2009-03-26T00:20:00.001-04:00

Dear Hollywood,

You took "The Pink Panther" and you took "Underdog" and you also took "Bewitched." But this?!?!

'Three Stooges' coming together at MGM

Wed Mar 25, 2009, 02:54 PM ET • Source: Hollywood Reporter

(WireImage.com/Sony Pictures)

Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

MGM and the Farrelly brothers are finally slapping together their high-profile cast for "The Three Stooges," a comedy project the filmmakers have been developing for years. Sean Penn is set to play Larry, and Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly. Benicio del Toro is a rumored possibility for the brothers' taciturn leader, Moe.

The studio is looking to start production in the fall for a 2010 release slot.

The project was originally set up at Columbia, which produced the 1930s Stooges shorts. C3 Entertainment Inc., which holds the licensing rights to the Stooges brand, then sold the feature rights to Warner Bros. in 2001 for the Farrellys to write and produce the movie. Eventually, Warner Bros. let the rights lapse and MGM's Mary Parent scooped them up along with the Farrellys' continuing participation.

Peter and Bobby Farrelly wrote the script, which Bobby has referenced as "Dumb, Dumber & Dumbest," and will produce with Bradley Thomas and Charlie Wessler. Earl and Robert Benjamin of C3 will executive produce.

The film is not a biopic but a fictional treatment that maintains the Stooges' gleeful slap schtick updated for a modern milieu.

Originally constructed as four separate shorts, the feature screenplay has since been streamlined into a single narrative. Included in the story line is an opening that shows the Stooges as kids in an orphanage, a device that will require some "Benjamin Button"-style visual trickery to place the adult actors' heads on child actors' bodies.

The Stooges maintain remarkably global brand recognition, and their shorts, films and cartoons are still broadcast in 30 countries. The Farrelly brothers' latest comedy "The Heartbreak Kid" grossed $124 million worldwide.

Penn is repped by CAA, Carrey by CAA and the Miller Co.

Google results can be fascinating

2009-03-21T02:20:00.000-04:00