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