Tucked away in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long, long trip that almost spans the continent. We're traveling by passenger train, and out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hills, of biting winter and blazing summer and cavorting spring and docile fall.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. There sill be bands playing, and flags waving. And once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true. So many wishes will be fulfilled and so many pieces of our lives finally will be neatly fitted together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering ... waiting, waiting, waiting, for the station.
However, sooner or later we must realize there is no one station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.
"When we reach the station, that will be it !" we cry. Translated it means, "When I'm 18, that will be it ! When I buy a new 450 SL Mercedes Benz, that will be it ! When I put the last kid through college, that will be it ! When I have paid off the mortgage, that will be it ! When I win a promotion, that will be it ! When I reach the age of retirement, that will be it ! I shall live happily ever after !"
Unfortunately, once we get it, then it disappears. The station somehow hides itself at the end of an endless track.
"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. Rather, it is regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today.
So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot oftener, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.
I wish I had time anymore to read. It depresses me because I used to be such an avid reader and lover of books. Sometimes I feel that I'll never really be able to sit/lay down and enjoy a book until I'm retired or have no obligations to my craft/work.
Lucy's video was recently featured on Youtube's main page. It caught my interest and I found myself hooked and decided to view all of her video blogs. But, things began smelling fishy to me. I read most of the comments on her videos and started to question the validity of her videos and her persona.
1) No one is ever in the office when she's recording her video blogs. She claims that they're all off to lunch when she makes them. Doesn't she ever go get lunch? What's the deal? Ghost town.
2) She's risking her temp job by making video blogs during work hours at her office. They can easily be found by her management/company through the click of a button as the video is amongst the most viewed/discussed on Youtube. If she's so poor (asking her mom for money, etc), why would she risk getting fired by making these blogs at work?
3) If she's so poor and new to LA, how can she afford a cameraman ("Karim") to take time out of normal business working days/hours to film her making video blogs? Surely he has better things to do, or a job.
4) The filming and editing of her videos is of high quality. Normally people use consumer digital cameras or webcams to record video blogs. She also neglects to respond to any inquiries made by users in relevance to the type of equipment she's using for post production of her video blogs. She incorporates various photos and video clips into her blogs that are very accurately and effectively placed.
5) Her Myspace profile's top eight consists primarily of film festivals and companies/organizations relating to the film industry. It seems that nobody she actually knows is on her friends list, as her first comment is by a member who obviously found her through Youtube and encourages her acting endeavors.
6) Probably most importantly of all, how convenient is it that after she's built a solid fanbase on Youtube that she asks for fans and subscribers of her videos to submit script ideas? Who knows how she or the people she is working for (Youtube or some other company working in partnership with Youtube) will use them? Perhaps a documentary, tv show, movie?
I know it's super trendy to like this guy, but I just found out that Mark Ryden designed/painted Michael Jackson's Dangerous album cover and I have a newfound respect and admiration for him. I've loved that album cover since forever. Utter brilliance. I also found out through some wikipedia researching that he graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (http://www.artcenter.edu) where I'm most likely attending this Fall.
I was watching this show called NEXT (don't ask why), where 5 female contestants try their game at seducing one male contestant who ultimately picks his favorite girl...
Well one of the girls in the bus was like "I'm SO horny!" after announcing that she was tired of waiting for her turn so she and one of the other girls start MAKING OUT on the bus for a good 10 seconds. So scripted and so trashy.
Each stemming from different artistic mediums, my top 3 influential artists would have to be Eugenio Recuenco, Mark Romanek, and Michael Jackson. I believe they are the true visionaries of this century. Trying to describe the work of visual poets can be the most difficult and pretentious task as there are not enough adjectives that can do justice to their talent.
Eugenio Recuenco, although relatively unheard of in the West, is revolutionizing the photography industry. Based in Spain, he creates visual storylines with his work that titillate the amateur art lover’s senses as well as impress veterans in the industry. His style is strictly avant-garde, unless doing work for specific campaigns that require otherwise. Completely cinematic and atmospheric, his work showcases mystique, wonderment, and the macabre. Heavy but effective post-processing of his images adds to their artistic appeal. He is clearly concerned about the impact of the entire image. His vision is inspirational and I emulate elements of his style into my work as much as possible while attempting to cultivate my own in the process. I’m a firm believer in learning from the great and this is no exception.
Transitioning from still photography to film leads me to the legendary film director, Mark Romanek. A true perfectionist, he has produced work that is fundamental in the cultivation of many musicians’ superstar status and aesthetic appeal. Creating iconic and memorable imagery for the likes of Fiona Apple, Nine Inch Nails, Michael & Janet Jackson, and Madonna, his music videos can be paused on any frame and attain the quality of a beautiful still photograph. I’m obsessed with his shooting style and cinematic technique and the overall look and feel of his work. There are many music video directors whose emphasis is on quantity rather than quality and Romanek does not fit this categorization by any means. While his roster is not extraordinarily long, his work is of utmost sophistication and the stylization is epic. A prime example would be his video for “Scream”, now over 10 years old, which attains a production value and quality that exceeds anything currently produced for mass consumption on the market today.
I have been and always will be a huge fan of Michael Jackson. As commercial and globally successful as he was, the impact he made on me growing up is inexplicable and overwhelming. It is a known fact that he changed the music video scene and it’s a pity that this is often overshadowed by interferences concerning his personal life. His short films revolutionized the way musicians interpreted their music through visual pieces of art. No longer were music videos static and uninspired moving images, but they now had a storyline – a beginning, middle, and end. The longevity and overall commercial success of Michael Jackson’s career inspires me to follow in his footsteps, creatively. Apart from his talent as an artist and performer, his philanthropic endeavors add to his appeal as a person and humanitarian.
Fundamentally, I am concerned with creating fantastical imagery using the gifts I was given at birth combined with those of the people I work with. I admire individuals who capitalize and thrive on the fusion of their inherent talents and learned skills to create results that fascinate and bewilder audiences. I am obsessed with creation.
I worked with Ed Asner today on a feature film that's getting made. He has the longest list of credits on imdb. I hope my career is as illustrious as his someday.
In a new book by Michael Jackson's sound engineer Bruce Swedien "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook", Bruce talks about working on Billie Jean.
Perhaps no one else in the studio world can so aptly claim the moniker of �Godfather of Recording� as Bruce Swedien. Universally revered by his peers, Bruce has earned that respect thanks to years of stellar recordings for the cream of the musical crop. His credits could fill a book alone, but legends like Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Oscar Peterson, Nat King Cole, George Benson, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Edgar Winter and Jackie Wilson are good places to start. Then comes Bruce's Grammy winning projects which include Michael Jackson�s Thriller (the biggest selling record of all time), Bad and Dangerous, and Quincy Jones� Back on the Block and Juke Joint. As one who has participated in the evolution of modern recording from virtually the beginning as well as being one of its true innovators, Bruce is able to give insights on mixing from a perspective that few of us will ever have.
"How many versions of a mix do you do?
Usually one. Although when I did "Billie Jean," I did 91 mixes of that thing and the mix that we finally ended up using was mix 2. I had a pile of 1/2" tapes to the ceiling. And we thought, "Oh man, it's getting better and better.
What do you do to make a mix special?
I wish I knew. I have no idea. But the best illustration of something special is when we were doing "Billie Jean" and Quincy said, "Okay, this song has to have the most incredible drum sound that anybody has ever done but it also has to have one element that's different, and that's sonic personality." So I lost a lot of sleep over that. What I ended up doing was building a drum platform and designing some special little things like a bass drum cover and a flat piece of wood that goes between the snare and the hi-hat. And the bottom line is that there aren't many pieces of music where you can hear the first three or four notes of the drums and immediately tell what piece of music it is. But I think that is the case with "Billie Jean," and that I attribute to sonic personality. But I lost a lot of sleep over that one before it was accomplished."
Yesterday I get a text message from Chelsea (http://www.varietyshac.com) saying there's a party in 40 minutes in Hollywood. I rush over with a friend and it's at some person's house. We make our way to the backyard and I meet up with Shonali who was in the house and then Chelsea who was kind of drunk. They're very pretty in person and very down to earth/nice. We clicked and had a good time. We got talking about their careers and future for SHAC and I said something along the lines of "If Andy Milonakis has his own tv show, surely you guys can" and she informs me that Andy was at the party. I'm like "stfu hahaha" and sure enough I look behind me and there he is, laughing and drunk off his ass. I was very embarassed but I doubt he heard me. I went over to meet him and he was shouting obscenities and telling people to "get out of my house", lmao.
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