Finally, Take Two

The aforementioned laptop didn’t have a firewire port! After lots of searching and research, I found a USB to Firewire Adapter but, as awesome as this holy grail was, it still didn’t help me because my camera is a Sony and it absolutely will not work with anything but a bone fide iLink cable. Fortunately, usbfirewire.com has a risk-free money-back guarantee. From beginning to end, their customer service was awesome.

So I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my eMac. Installed 2 GB of RAM, bought 1 TB of storage and upgraded the OS to Leopard. Sadly, the latest version of iMovie needs an intel processor but I’m happy just finally be able to edit some video. Eventually, I’ll get me some Final Cut Express.

Finally

Got a new computer. A laptop with the software and power to edit video. It’s only MS MovieMaker but it’s better – way better – than nothing!

I’ve Been In Florida Almost 9 Months

And it’s been even longer since I wrote a relevant, interesting post.

A couple nights ago I read about the First Annual Village of the Arts Short Shorts Film Festival. Deadline is January 24, 2009. Right here in Bradenton, FL.

Here we go, again.

My first thought was to pick up Buscar but my time limit is 10 minutes. Madre is exactly ten minutes but I want to make something new and I want to film it in Bradenton.

Horror is a good place to start

Got some groovy books from la biblioteca esta noche:

• The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films
• Horror Movies by Tom Powers
• Fangoria’s 101 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Seen
• The Horror Film: An Introduction by Rick Worland
• The Rough Guide to Horror Movies by Alan Jones
• Horror Movie Stars by Michael R. Pitts
• I Was A Monster Movie Maker: Conversations with 22 SF and Horror Filmmakers
• How I Made a Hundred Movies and Never Lost a Dime by Roger Corman
• Make Your Own Damn Movie by Lloyd Kaufman

Goodbye, My Beloved

My dear Detroit, I will miss you.

My Magic Land of Michigan – I didn’t see enough of you even with 38 years to do so.

Al Bundy

I keep hearing Al Bundy in my head saying to his wife in mock affection, “Ah, my little thumbscrew.” My favorite was, “Ah, my little albatross.”

Thumbscrew

I just love that word. I’m working on a picture of a thumbscrew for a piece of technical instructions, that’s why.

DVD Commentaries

I’ve been listening to some at work. I’ll have the DVD playing on my second monitor or minimized while I’m actually doing something other than watching it. I really like Ron Howard’s commentaries.

I wish that when you read a review of a DVD, they reviewed the special features. More often than not, it’s a review of the movie which you’ve most likely already seen. I want to know if the DVD is worth buying. Are there two editions? I want to know if the extra money would be well spent.

Speaking of … I can’t wait until Grindhouse special editions come out.

Opportunities

I’ve been offered three side-job paying gigs in as many days! Yay! A private Excel class, some video editing and some photo/video shooting at a wedding. Wow. I’m super geeked and grateful to God, man, let me tell ya.

Zoinks, Scooby…

Several minutes later I went to warm up my food for dinner and the clock on the microwave said 5:55

It doesn’t show seconds, but I’ll bet it was 55 of them.

Dude, that last post

Was saved at 5:55:55

No joke.

Books

Got a few books on directing and producing documentaries from the always awesome Canton Public Library. The CPL even surpasses the Plymouth library in selection and greatness. They have everything. The Detroit library absolutely sucks. Even if their catalog says they have something, neither you nor the librarian will likely be able to find it and if they do find the book and you do something as ridiculous as request it to be held and delivered to a location more convenient, be prepared to wait several weeks and more likely than not to make several follow-up phone calls to move things along.

Why Am I Learning Spanish?

On the way to work this morning, I realized people far too often ask me the same stupid “why?” question about learning Spanish. I am reminded of a joke:

If you know three languages, you’re trilingual. If you know two languages you’re bilingual. If you only know one language, you’re American.

I don’t like being a stupid American. I also hope to make more money someday. I also enjoy learning things and being able to do new things. These are many of the same reasons I like making movies for fun & profit. I want to make more money with a better job so I can provide for my children better. I want to know a second language so I can pass it – and the desire to learn and increased capacity for success – to my children. I want to be able to communicate with and serve and sell myself and my skills to more people.

Even more so than with filmmaking, the question isn’t why am I doing it – the question is why aren’t you?