Christmas re-imagined

Now that the re-imagined trailers have taken off, people are re-cuting and dubbing in new sound to create new videos.

Videos here

Here are a few from 10 Zen Monkeys, via Boing Boing and Candleblog

Boing Boing's videos linked to in '06

New look coming

Blogger is offering a new look. I will migrate soon.

This also features multiple authors and an RSS feed, so I'll be getting a little more into the 21st Century. Looking forward to having other folks being able to publish their thoughts and photos here.

Bronx sunrise

I have ben working on a short film and had to be in da BX at 7am. It was pretty nice out and the sunrise was partiularly stunning.

Kalua

I was giving Charles (who's name is actually Chris), one of our PA's, a ride to the LIRR after a long day of shooting. After dropping him off at the Jamaica Station, I was looking for the way back home, when I spotted a likely place to pull over and look at the map. I looked across the street and I was in front of Club Kalua, where Sean Bell was killed. Very weird.

Hopper Exhibit at the Whitney

My good friend Christopher and I went to the Whitney last month, to see the Edward Hopper exhibit. We're both fans and a good chunk of his work was given to the museum, including sketches, notebooks, ledgers, etc. Hopper is one of my favorite painters and probably one of my biggest influences.

As we left the musem, we decided to take a walk and look for somewhere to have lunch. Around the corner from the museum we found this signpost, where people leave their Whitney ticket/sticker. Like good museum goers, we added ours to the post.

Manscaping made easier?

Most of the time, Earthlink has really annoying ads in their bannerspace. Really annoying ones. Just now a rather funny one is running. It's for Norelco's Bodygroom. I clicked over to the website and the intro is pretty hilarious. After it runs, Mr. Handsome model strikes a new pose, or does a humorous move.

If you're really bored, you'll have a good laugh.

Watch Don't Sweat It, Saturdays at 11:30AM, on HGTV!!

That's right! Steve's Got the bull by the horns.

Mark Very unhappy now :~((

BUT...

Don't Sweat It makes Mark Happy :~))


More random pix from DSI:

Monica and I at the wrap party. Monica was always fun to have on set and she has a good sense of humor.

Not bad for a girl.


Me and Sean. I've comandeered his doo rag.

Comedy Webisodes Mark shot coming to you soon, via those internets

A couple of weeks ago I shot three "Webisodes" for Turner's new broadband comedy network. Yep, I'm gettin' in on the ground floor. I'll let y'all know when the webisodes are posted. I've been ordered to change this post, so It's more generic. Keep an eye out for updates once Turner's site launches. Sorry 'bout that Turner, just trying to get the word out.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cable network owner Turner Broadcasting System on Monday said it plans to launch a broadband comedy network in January as parent company Time Warner Inc. bulks up its Internet businesses.

The company that helped popularize cable television with CNN and TNT cable networks will launch Super Deluxe, an advertising-supported Internet site that features originally-produced comedy videos aimed at young adult viewers.

The move comes as big media companies race to profit from a surge in online video viewership by making many of their television shows available for free or a small charge per episode.

Web video growth has been dominated by the viewing of quirky, viewer-created clips and pirated segments of copyrighted programs on sites such as YouTube Inc. Google agreed to purchase YouTube for $1.65 billion earlier in October.

Turner said it aims to create and distribute "television quality" short-form films and episodic shows featuring established and emerging actors.

Super Deluxe shows will also be available on cable TV video-on-demand services.

CBS Corp. also distributes originally produced video programs on the Internet.

Reuters, via Yahoo News

Rush Limbaugh is a fat stupid fuck

There, I said it . But then, we all knew that, right? Spewing all that hot air and bullshit, I'm going to say that Limbaugh is the source of global warming.

Here endeth the rant.

Watch Don't Sweat it on HGTV, Nov. 4 at 11:30 am

The show that I gaffed on this past summer, Don't Sweat It, with Host Steve Watson will premiere on November 4 at 11:30 am on HGTV -Home & Garden TV. Check out the schedule Here.


The Gang.



Steve Watson, Host of Don't Sweat It. He funny. He make things.




Drew our on air Carpenter, was discovered at the 23rd St. Home Depot.



Jane, Steve's Co-Host and Teh Hott Sidekick. That's Max, one of the homeowner's dogs.

We had a lot of fun, worked hard and made some pretty cool stuff. The crew was really great and we all got along, even when it was hour 14 and there was still a few more hours to go. Hopefully there will be a second set of episodes. We shot the first thirteen episodes from the beginning of August 'til the end of September.

When Ed wasn't fixing his hair, he was helping me hang lights.


Moto, my good buddy and Key Grip/Swing. Not sure what he's doing there.


Our DP, Matthew, doing what he does best.




Jimmy, the guy who made it all happen. He took everything we could throw at him and he just smiled. A true Professional.


Kim directed a few episodes. There, there, punkin. It'll be alright.

Each episode took two days to shoot. Sometimes day two was long. Really long. I got to scout the first two locations, but after that, every time we arrived on location, it was like hitting the beach at Normandy. We just looked around real quick and then I stuck lots of Kino tubes on the ceiling.
I invented a rig to help me do that. Patent pending.

Bras in the news

Two stories in the weird news section that make a nice pair.

Teen Faces Litter Charge for Bra Antenna

From Associated Press

October 13, 2006 4:57 PM EDT

TOLEDO, Ohio - A teenager who put her bra on a car antenna before it flew off and led to a highway accident will be charged with littering, a prosecutor said. Emily Davis, 17, of Bowling Green, told investigators she took her bra off while her friend was driving on Interstate 75.

James Campbell, who was driving behind the girls, said he swerved to avoid the bra and his car flipped several times. Campbell, 37, broke a vertebra in his neck during the Sept. 26 accident. His passenger, Jeff Long, 40, broke several ribs.

A State Highway Patrol crash report, obtained by The Blade, said that the girls told investigators that before the accident the men were motioning to them to lift up their shirts. Both men denied making the gestures.

Davis will be charged next week with misdemeanor littering, said Tim Atkins, a juvenile prosecutor in Wood County. Atkins said he'll meet with troopers before filing the charge.

The girl's friend, Tabitha Adams, 17, of Bowling Green, said she told Davis not to hang her bra outside because she knew it would fly away, according to the report.

Atkins said no other charges were expected.

All I could think about while reading the story was: what did the bra look like? Did it look like this?


New Jail Visitor Dress Code: Bras a Must
From Associated Press
October 16, 2006 5:48 PM EDT

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Revealing tops are out and bras are now a must for women visiting prisoners at the Vanderburgh County Jail. Jail officials imposed a new dress code policy after several incidents in which women visiting the jail exposed themselves to male prisoners.

The new policy, posted at the jail's front desk, states that women cannot wear halter tops, sleeveless dresses and shirts, see-through garments, revealing dresses, and shorts cut higher than 2 inches above the knee.

Spandex and "extremely tight fitting" jeans or pants also are frowned upon.

"Adult female visitors, as well as females who would have need of a bra, shall be required to wear a bra," the draft policy also states.

Since the draft policy was posted last month, the jail has turned away a few women, said Katie Roy, a receptionist. Those include two women who tried to get in with low-cut shirts with spaghetti straps.

"When they came back, they had on hooded sweat shirts," Roy said. Unfortunately for those two, the jail also forbids hooded sweat shirts because they can conceal contraband.

The jail's commander, Maj. Dave Wedding, said some women have exposed themselves to male inmates in video visitation booths, located in plain view in the jail's main lobby.

Inmates who encourage women into acts of indecency can lose their visitation privileges for weeks, Wedding said. Inmates are permitted up to three 30-minute visits per week.

Many female visitors bring children, and Wedding said he hopes the dress code will create a more family friendly environment.

He expects to complete a final version of the policy within a month.

Wedding said he modeled his dress code after a similar one used by the Branchville Correctional Facility outside Tell City. The prison has turned away visitors, mostly for inappropriate tops, said spokesman Richard Newton.

"We've actually had people leave and drive into Tell City and buy a shirt at Wal-Mart," Newton said.

---

Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com


My apologies to the Carmelite Sisters, but it was the only image I could find. Carmelita hold me tighter...

Random pix

Posting various photos that I've taken over the past few months


Virginia did the make-up for the on air talent on Don't Sweat It (DSI), the TV show I gaffed this past August and September. A fun shoot. I shot this while Virginia and Jane were straightening out Seth's very curly hair. More pix to come of THAT.



Jane and I compare tongues during the Karaoke Night we had during DSI. Lot's of alcohol and singing. We all had a great time. I'll post more pix frm that night soon.



During the van rides home, I would sometimes take pictures. It's a fun way to pass the time. Usually rides lasted about an hour, sometimes more if we were coming home during rush hour. A few times we got home pretty late. Once we got back at around 2:30 am if memory serves. Anyway, I shot a lot of pix of things I thought were interesting odten the light was doing interesting things. Most of the time I rode back in the 15 pass, but a few times I was in one of the minivans designated for talent and higer priced crew.



While visitng Chris W., he and Jessica were in the middle of a pretty intense editing session, so we ordered lunch. There were a lot of left over condiments in the bag, so I assembled them in a neat and orderly fashion. This is the resulting sculpture.

Last Weekend

Last weekend I spent Saturday and Sunday shooting three webisodes, probably watchable in January. We need lots of hits, so that they'll pick up the show and order a full season of episodes. That means Mark gets gainfully employed for a few months (hopefully).

The theme song that seemed to be most popular on set was Iron Maiden's Run To The hills. The link goes to Maiden's official site. Scroll down the page, and in the lower half of the page are photos and video links. Hi rez or low rez.



Later, at about hour 20 Everyone's Talkin' was sung by Dan, the lead character. which was very funny since we were all pretty punchy.

There was a scene where there's a fire in the office. To represent the company's mainframe computer, we put a red light in a closet with our Gaffer, John, flashing it on and off rapidly and Moto was in there too, operating the smoke machine. While they were in the closet, madly flashing and smoking, there was a flash and a pop as some kind of electrical short in the red light occurred, which we captured on tape. Luckily the light kept flashing and there were no ill effects. There was a duet of "Whoa" that came out of the closet when the light shorted. It was kind of funny. We did three takes in quick succession, as the office quickly filled with the fake smoke. There was only one electrical flash

Photos Courtesy of Iron Maiden

More work

(Click on link below)

Good news sports fans, Mark has been hired to shoot an episode of Psychic Detectives for Court TV. I'll be going down to Florida for about a week. I'll be shooting some 16mm film as well as MiniDV. Psyched about the 16mm, because that's the "Psychic Vision" camera, so I can do all kindsa fun and funky stuff. Superfine Films is the production company and they are really cool.

Other good things are in the works for me, but I don't want to speak too soon.

Psychic Detectives

Naked Man

I was taking the subway home Thursday night and while waiting on the platform I noticed the girl next to me taking a photo with her phone. She was smiling and seemed to be having a good time. I looked past her and noticed some guy with long hair in his underwear. He seemed to be changing out of some other clothes and I assumed he was feeling a bit stiffled and needed to get semi naked. Thankfully he kept his rainbow striped underwear on.

Once on the train, I saw the man wearing a maroon track suit. Very odd. I askled the girl if she would email me a pic, she said yes, but I haven't gotten anything. I hope she sends a pic.

Part of the show

CSS

Last night (Wednesday) I went to see Ladytron and CSS at Webster Hall. They were both really great and I had a blast. I think the best part was when CSS's lead singer, Lovefoxxx, came off the stage and into the crowd to dance. I was right in the area that she wandered into and she sort of launched herself at me and I ended up catching her, but I almost dropped her. She did this a couple of times and I picked her up and spun her around a bit. It was really hilarious and fun. CSS stands for Cansei De Ser Sexy, Portugese for Tired of Being Sexy. A line Beyonce said once. They are a really fun party band from Brazil.


Ladytron
Ladytron was really good. I think I liked their music more, but CSS is so much fun! Ladytron reminds me a bit of Gary Numan but with a modern edge, a really propulsive sound and weight. I haven't heard their albums, but in concert they really kick ass. Oh, yeah their light show and video were pretty cool too. It was really weird because they started their show by playing the 70's Jeff Wayne War Of The Worlds album featuring the voice of Richard Burton as The Journalist and Justin Hayward, of the Moody blues, singing the lyrics of the songs. They played Sir Richard's narration and then Forever Autumn, the single from the album.

After CSS's set ended, I went out into the hall for a beer and to get their CD. I noticed Lovefoxx talking to some of her friends, so I went over and thanked her for the dance. Realzing I had an opportunity, I went back to the merch table and got a Sharpie, which Lovefoxxx used to sign my disc. She wrote: "LuvFx Thanks for the dance.

More silliness

On set at Don't Sweat It, Mitch has been doing some Randy "Macho Man" Savage impressions that are funny, especially at one in the morning and you've been on set since 8am, the previous day. Here are some Macho Man links from Youtube. Enjoy, Ooh Yeeaahh.

You have only begun to discover your tower of power


Green Eggs and Ham


Those cockaroaches!

The Vader Sessions

Update: The links below no longer work. So, Let's go directly to the source, akjak.com

Oh lordy, what to do when the romance been gone...







That's romantic enough, bubbles in yo bathtub.

Thinking of You

These are the people I work with.



Nice, huh?

A lovely fall evening in New York

It's wet and rainy tonight. The changing temperature and seasons have fog coming off the tarmac and the rivers.

I'm riding the Seven train home to Queens after a thirteen hour day. As we stop at 45Rd Courthouse Square, a young woman with long wavy hair jutting out from under her ballcap dances on the platform. Backlit from the mercury vapor lights further up the platform, she's dancing a kind of New Jack Swing/Paula Abdul style in the half light. Spinning and moving her hips, jump, hips, two fingers on the brim and a flourish. She spins again as we pull away. She's practicing her moves. Slowly, the train pulls away and she is replaced by darkness.

My mind wanders and then Manhattan is in view across the way. Blues and grays are rapidly overcome by the greens and browns of man-made light. Thin rectangles of office lights and the shapes of buildings, barely discernable. A jumble of light and fog, slowly moving past. It's a lovely fall evening in New York.



Thanks to Dylan for reminding me to write.

Kids these days

So, I'm walking home and I pass these little fourteen-year-old Korean girls, who are all saying goodbye. As they are walking away from each other, one of the girls calls out in a melodic tone: "Bye, my nigga". What's funny is that these girls are all fourteen, dressed in pink and white little outfits and they're Korean. Flushing is a 'hood, but it ain't Da Hood. KnowI'msayin'?

I've heard a few Chinese and Korean kids call each other nigga and a lot of the Hispanic kids too.

So, will "nigga" replace "dude'?

Nigga please!

As White Guy says: you are all my African Americans.

Iwo Jima Photographer Rosenthal dies

By JUSTIN M. NORTON (Associated Press Writer)

From Associated Press

August 21, 2006 6:19 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO - Joe Rosenthal, a photojournalist whose Pulitzer Prize-winning image of World War II servicemen raising an American flag over Iwo Jima became the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial, has died. He was 94.

Rosenthal, who took the iconic photograph on Feb. 23, 1945, while working for The Associated Press, died Sunday of natural causes at an assisted living facility in suburban Novato, said his daughter, Anne Rosenthal.

"He was a good and honest man. He had real integrity," she said.

He was also modest. Rosenthal preferred in his role as a combat photographer to chronicle the experiences of soldiers on the front lines, and liked to call himself "a guy who was up in the big leagues for a cup of coffee at one time."

A decade after the flag-raising, he recalled that he did not realize he had shot anything special until days later when the congratulations started pouring in.

"Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene," he said a decade afterward. "That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don't come away saying you got a great shot. You don't know."

The photo quickly became the subject of posters, war-bond drives and a U.S. postage stamp. It kept Rosenthal busy for years as he fielded requests for reprints. He said he was flattered by the attention, but added, "I'd rather just lie down and listen to a ball game."

Located 750 miles south of Tokyo, the small Pacific island of Iwo Jima was important to both Japan and the United States during World War II.

After 30,000 Marines landed there on Feb. 19, 1945, it took four days for a contingent to scale Mount Suribachi, the highest point. More than 6,800 U.S. servicemen died in the five-week battle for the island, and the 21,000-man Japanese defense force was virtually wiped out.

Rosenthal's shutter captured the second raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi after the Marines decided the first flag was too small. Rosenthal later wrote that he almost didn't climb the summit when he learned a flag already had been raised.

"What I see behind the photo is what it took to get up to those heights - the kind of devotion to their country that those young men had, and the sacrifices they made," he said. "I take some gratification in being a little part of what the U.S. stands for."

Besides being awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1945, the photo made No. 68 on a 1999 New York University survey of the best 100 examples of journalism from the 20th century. Sculptor Felix W. de Weldon used it as the pattern for the Marine Corps memorial, dedicated in 1954 near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to commemorate Marines who have died in the line of duty.

Rosenthal nevertheless had to defend the photograph against claims that the second flag raising he shot was staged for his camera. He said that if he had posed it, "I would, of course, have ruined it" by choosing fewer men and making sure their faces could be seen.

His account was later bolstered by a frame captured by a military cameraman, Marine Sgt. Bill Genaust, who filmed the same flag-raising.

The picture later inspired Thomas E. Franklin of The Record of Bergen County, N.J., to photograph three firefighters raising a flag amid the ruins of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Franklin's photo, distributed worldwide by the AP, was a finalist in 2002 for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography.

Rosenthal left the AP later in 1945 to join the San Francisco Chronicle, where he worked as a photographer for 35 years before retiring.

"He was short in stature but that was about it. He had a lot of nerve," said John O'Hara, a retired photographer who worked with Rosenthal at the Chronicle.

O'Hara said Rosenthal took special pride in a certificate naming him an honorary Marine and remained spry and alert well into his 90s.

Chuck de Caro, a former combat reporter for CNN who knew Rosenthal for 30 years, noted his older friend's humility and commitment to his craft. Even after glaucoma affected his eyesight, Rosenthal never hesitated to share war stories and his contacts in both San Francisco and the Marines.

"He had gone through so much history that was sort of obscured by the Iwo Jima photo, and he was very matter-of-fact about it," de Caro said.

Born in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 9, 1911, Rosenthal took up photography as a hobby. During the Depression, he moved to San Francisco, living with a brother until he found a job with the Newspaper Enterprise Association in 1930.

In 1932, Rosenthal joined the old San Francisco News as a combination reporter and photographer.

"They just told me to take this big box and point the end with the glass toward the subject and press the shutter and `We'll tell you what you did wrong,'" he said.

After a short time with ACME Newspictures in San Francisco in 1936, Rosenthal became San Francisco bureau chief of The New York Times-Wide World Photos.

Rosenthal began working for the AP in San Francisco when the news cooperative bought Wide World Photos. After a stint in the Merchant Marine, he returned to the AP and was sent to cover battle areas in 1944.

His first assignment was in New Guinea, and he also covered the invasion of Guam before taking his famous photo on Iwo Jima.

Besides his daughter, Rosenthal is survived by his ex-wife Lee Rosenthal, his son Joseph J. Rosenthal Jr. and their families.

---

Associated Press Writer Greg Risling in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

---

On the Net:

More on Rosenthal: http://www.newseum.org/warstories/interviews/mov/journalists/bio.asp?ID32

More about the photograph
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAProsenthal.htm

Photos courtesy AP (one of my former employers)

Dave Chappelle

From the Man who brought you Black Bush and Black Tony blair (Jaime Foxx), Dave Chappelle. He's funny.

Found on Devil Ducky.

He's Rick James, Bitch!

Bush Inappropriately touching Chancellor Merkel

Okay, it's one thing to give a friend a hello hug, or grip, or embrace of some kind, but world leaders don't usually give each other shoulder massages. It's just creepy and wrong if the other world leader is female. Actually it's creepy and weird if it's a male world leader too.

This is realy, really embarrassing.

I think these are frame grabs from Russian TV. I got them from taylormarsh.com











I know, I know, "inappropriately touching" is kind of a PC term, but in this case it fits. Unfortunately. What a fuckin' doofus.

Here's The Daily Show's take on this debacle.

Francis' B-Day in Providence

Last week, okay two weeks ago, was my best friend Francis' birthday. He lives in FLA nad most of his friends live here in the Northeast. Wonderful man that he is he decided to come up here.


Drake made this cake. The candles were lit and everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" when she walked under the ceiling fan and it blew out all the candles.

I've never really spent much time in Providence, but I got the chance to walk around a bit and I like it.



It definitely has a Burlington feel to it, it's kind of small, but is has a vibrancy to it and a funkiness to it that I like.




Drake, our hostess, is the Director for The Steelyard and is totally hooked into the arts community. At Francis' party, we got to meet a lot of those folks, so it was neat. Very creative and interesting people. David Cole wants to make a mobile with pickup trucks, other people are sculptors, painters, graphic artists, a good mix.


Drake's livingroom.


The view out the livingroom window, 'round midnight.


The view out the front of the house, a few minutes later.

After almost a dozen years in Florida, Frank (I'm one of only about eight people allowed to call him Frank, and there were four of us there, with that priviledge, that weekend) is creating a move to Providence. Thank God. Florida was sucking the life out of him and he didn't really have many friends down there.

Looking forward to having him closer.

Here are some photos from the trip.

I'm starting a new series of Highway Photos.