Happy Anniversary to the Love of my Life!

Some years ago, back when I was a high school senior (and very full of myself) I met Pamela. I haven't been the same since!

(This is a picture of her building her burlesque costume from scratch. I dig this picture. She's so intent on what she's working on. It turned out great, by the way!)

Great observation from my new favorite writing guru. He calls it the "Rule of Joss":

I'm working on my metaphysical pay cable series, and as a massive sf&f geek, I find myself tending to look at episodes from a point of view of "what is the cool sf&f antagonist in this ep? And I have to remind myself of (what I'll call) the Rule of Joss: don't start with the sf&f antagonist. Start with where is the hero emotionally? What is Buffy's real-world emotional problem this week? Now, what is the sf&f antagonist that best catalyzes that emotion or problem?

Read the whole entry. And then read the rest of his blog. And buy his books.

Alex Epstein is awesome.

I finally got my own Disembodied Animal Head Theatre t-shirt!

See, I realized that I had enough CafePress bucks to buy one.

Funny story ... Pamela and I are still working on a Documentary entitled "My Trip to the Nude Beach" all about recreational nudism and how it's actually pretty cool to drive down to the beach and "get your kit off" as Tex might say. So I decided to go ahead and make some "My Trip to the Nude Beach" t-shirts to help fund our little film.

I had made a bunch of "Dal Motion Pictures" stuff for the same reason (to fund some projects) so I figured why not go for it?

I made a few uninteresting items with slogans like "Born Nude," "I'd Rather Wear Sunshine," and of course "Happiness is No Tan Lines."

Guess how many "Dal Motion Pictures" t-shirts, tote bags and coffee mugs I've sold? What was that? "Goose egg?" Very close. In all fairness, I did sell one Dal Motion tote bag ... to Pam.

For reasons I have yet to grasp, people really love "Happiness is No Tan Lines." They really, really like it. They like it enough that I didn't have to pay for my DAHT shirt.

So it goes!




UPDATE:

For Pamela, the uncropped photo showing off the "guns":

They're much more impressive when flexed.

Stunning shadow puppetry from Triumvirate Pi Theatre:

But watch the whole thing! The first half of the video is the performance; the second half shows how it was done!

Outstanding work.

(They're also on MySpace.)

ADAPTABILITY

A couple of years back, I ran across this picture of (left to right) Herbert, Julius, Leonard, Milton and Adolph Marx. Five brothers who look very much alike! Heck, they could be twins. Well, except for the height difference.

And here is a good lesson in adaptability.

Although the palates are very much alike, add in different make-up, wigs, costume pieces, etc. and you have completely different characters that bear little resemblance to each other:

Relating this to puppet design, it is possible to build up many different characters off of the same basic frame. Take a look at the photo gallery at Project Puppet for an example of this in action. Or how about this old favorite:

... which just goes to show that what makes a character a character is the individual artist's touch; the whimsey that an artist brings to the table.

UPDATE: To illustrate my point further, take a gander at this pic that I swiped from www.puppet-planet.com:
Here you can see the Fraggles at different stages in their construction. Same basic frame, a glorious multitude of possibilities!

Irony, Wikipedia Style:

Finally!

I remember hearing nothing but good about My So-Called Life back in the day. Just like Freaks and Geeks, I never caught the show when it originally aired. Unlike Freaks and Geeks, it has taken forever for My So-Called Life to come out on DVD.

Seriously, the show ended in 1995! WTF?

From all that I've read, this show has much in common with Felicity. The narration of the lead character, occasional dips into the supernatural (for instance, both series have episodes that use the tarot as a narrative device,) and of course the complex relationships in which young adults can find themselves embroiled.

My So-Called Life debuts on DVD October 30th, 2007.

I'm posting this a bit late, but I need to give props where props are due.

I think the world of my wife. She's the coolest person I know, and she has certainly had a positive influence on me. Finding her all those years ago was like locating something I didn't know I had lost.

On Saturday the 21st of July, 2007 Pamela made her onstage debut in a burlesque show. The show was the culmination of a full day spent in San Bernardino, California. Pamela enrolled in burlesque workshops during the day (while I read Harry Potter) and performed that evening.

This was also my first time to see live Burlesque performed in the traditional fashion (ala Gypsy Rose Lee, Sally Rand, etc.) We have been to the El Cid to watch the Hollywood Pin-up Girls in their Super Sexy Show, but that's more of an homage to Bob Fosse.

Pamela's new found interest in this field, plus a play I'm working on has resulted in much research. We've watched quite a bit of burlesque on video, from the overly Hollywood-ized (Gypsy) to old stag reels (The "Something Weird" series.)

Nothing compares to the real thing, live. Burlesque is a perfect theatrical artform; really pay attention to a well done burlesque routine, and you'll learn everything you need to know about how to stage a play.

Okay, back to Pamela. I know the girl's got moves. She's been a dancer as long as I've known her, and I've seen her dance. Heck, I danced with her for a ballroom dance infomercial! Well she completely surpassed my expectations when she took the stage (along with her workshop mates) Saturday before last.

She's awesome!

J. J. Abrams is teh bomb!

This is a bit stale now, but there's a great article about all that "Cloverfield" hooplah at SlashFilm.

If you're not following the story (and I can't imagine the fourteen of you who read this blog aren't following the story. Well, maybe my mom isn't.) "Cloverfield" is the codename for the "Untitled J. J. Abrams Project" that is set to hit movie screens on 1/18/07. I prefer calling it "J. J. Abrams' Birthday Present to Andrew." Little is known, but the movie is said to be a $30 million monster pic consisting of footage shot by civilians witnessing an attack on New York. Sort of a bigger budget Blair Witch Project.

You can see the mysterious trailer here or here. There are two "viral" websites up, http://www.1-18-08.com/ and http://www.slusho.jp/. And best of all, here is the Wikipedia entry on this whole mad thing.

So the latest article on SlashFilm reveals that in all likelyhood, J. J. Abrams himself cut the teaser trailer. And this is why Abrams is so damn cool. He's just producing this thing and will probably get a "story by" credit; yet he cares enough about his pet project to cut the trailer himself (on his Mac laptop, no doubt.) He gives it his own touch, and thus sets the tone.

This is something to aspire to.

Pamela convinced me to go to Borders Friday night to pick up my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was an easy sale. I'd have a few hours of downtime the next day in San Bernardino, California. Trust me, there's nothing much else to do in San Bernardino, California on a Saturday morning. Unless you're Pamela.

I wasn't worried (well not much) about not getting a copy. I figured that Scholastic Press must have made history with the number of books in a first printing; Harry Potter Book Seven has to be the most widely anticipated novel in history! So I left the house at 11:00 pm, already a bit tired from a full day's work.

"My" Borders is in West Hollywood, just down the road a pace from where Pamela studies dance and takes pilates class. I've done quite a bit of writing and re-writing of plays and screenplays at the Seattle's Best coffee shop on the second floor. It feels like home.

Los Angeles is a weird town. I always think of metropolitan cities as "never sleeping." I guess that's just New York, but it still astonishes me how dead Los Angeles is after ten p.m. Borders looked cozy and inviting in the muggy dark. No sign of a line stretching out the front door: fantastic!

Inside the store is a different matter entirely. Gobs of people were milling about, excited yet sleepy-eyed, awaiting the big moment!

I quickly found out where to go first, and soon found myself in line number one: the line to check in. This line extended out the back door and into the parking lot, but only because the check-in table was just inside the door. Borders had an interesting system worked out, and I suppose it was as good a system as any.

The lady at the check-in table asked if I had a copy reserved. I didn't, so she gave me a slip of paper good for one copy of the book, and a little wrist band with the number "270" written upon it. At first I though it may be the lost wristband of Godric Gryffindor, and a likely horcrux for the Dark Master. Alas, it merely established my place in the "first come, first served" order.

I'm making an assumption here, because I don't know for sure. I believe that the folks with reservations had all the low numbers.

Now, armed with my wristband (and a cup of coffee from home) I milled about just a bit, and tried to locate line number two.

The idea was for us to all get into numeric order. It was just after 11:30, and arranging us all (I'd say about four-hundred people. I really wish I was overestimating) took only twenty minutes or so.

My part of the line wound through the magazine section, and I got to read up on house remodeling for half an hour.

Seriously.

Even after they brought the books out (I couldn't get a clear picture) we didn't move for half an hour. I'm not sure why. But we did eventually move, and it wasn't too long before I could see the registers! How exciting!

The line really started to pick up speed. We wound our way through the stacks, and I perused the many different titles around me, in all different genres. I'm a bookstore browser, but I usually have a good idea of what I'm after when I cross the threshold. This time, I had the opportunity to really let it all kind of sink in; the sheer number of titles is staggering!

There are the books I've grown to love, books I should love but haven't gotten around to reading yet, books whose titles I know but never plan on reading, and yet untapped treasures I have never even thought to pick up! Such a vast treasure trove!

Finally, the home stretch. The Borders clerks were becoming hoarse with every cry of "Next customer, please!" I could see the books, orange and green, in pretty little rows. I figured early on that they wouldn't give out wristbands if they didn't have the books to cover them. Imagine the riot that would ensue! Still, there was the fear that somehow they would run out before I got to the counter. Seeing the ample supply of books gave me my second wind! I sprinted to the lady who called out for me:

"Next customer, please!"

And I got this lady. The only one of the Border's crew to bother with anything resembling a costume. I forked over my dough (well ... my debit card,) got my Border's card discount, and at long last put my hands on the last book in the Harry Potter series.

I left the store, elated! It was only 1:00 am, and I was on my way home.

The next morning, Pamela and I drove an hour out to San Bernardino for Stiletto 2.5, a burlesque workshop and showcase. For the four hours or so she was learning how to make pasties and strip, I was submerged in the book. I read on it when we got home that evening, read on it Sunday morning, took a break to make a ridiculous yet relevant episode of Disembodied Animal Head Theatre, and finally finished off the book that evening.

All I can say is, this is the best of the bunch by far. Rowling has set a new bar for this kind of expansive, "big universe" fiction. Yeah, yeah ... I'm sure Tolkien's work is much bigger and badass-er. Rowling's universe is more approachable, and that makes all the difference to me.

She ties everything up in this one. As my friend Garrick Pass put it so well, " She tied up strings I didn't even realize existed until the knot was complete." Simply masterful storytelling.

Most importantly -- and this cannot be emphasized enough-- Jo Rowling got people reading. And what's more, she got people excited about reading.

Bravo!

A recent argument (some may say "flame war") with a former friend got me to thinking about fat suits, and the ethics thereof.

In short, is it okay for a svelte actor to don a fat suit when there are so many out-of-work fat actors out there?

The actor in question is Travolta, who will shortly be shaking his padded ass in Hairspray. To me, it is fairly obvious that Travolta is a bankable asset in a movie musical. Studios deal in bankable assets -- this is Industry 101. When a studio fronts the money for a big production, they want certain "guarantees" that it is a wise investment. No one can promise a big box office take, but one can put certain elements together that will make a big box office take more likely.

It is no stretch of the imagination to say that Travolta -- whose big screen break was Grease, the highest grossing movie musical of all time -- will make more box office for Hairspray than would be made without him. And if the advance reviews hold true, Edna Turnblad may just be the best work he's done to date.

Is it wrong to put an actor in a fat suit? Maybe. Maybe Nathan Lane or Harvey Firestein (who played the character on Broadway) or even the highly controversial (and John Waters-esque) Chuck Knipp should have been cast.

To me, a fat suit is just another tool in Hollywood's storytelling tool shed. It's make-up; prosthetics. No different from putting a "pregnant belly" on a non-pregnant actress or pointy ears on Mr. Spock. No one expected Guy Pierce to really tattoo himself for Memento, and no one seemed terribly upset by Mel Gibson's facial prosthetic in The Man Without a Face or Kevin Spacey's in Pay it Forward.

You see, Hollywood isn't about reality; it's about creating illusions. The question is not "is this real?" The question is "does it sell?" All that matters is effective storytelling. The tools -- all of them, from how you frame the shot to digital effects added in post -- are there to serve the story. By all accounts, Hairspray is a good story. It sells.

(This is not to say that obese thespians are incapable of carrying a story. What springs to mind is the performance of newcomer Darlene Cates in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. A stand-out performance from a newbie. She moved me to tears. But let's see . . . wasn't Leonardo DiCaprio in that movie as well? Yes, that's right. Playing a mentally handicapped boy in an Oscar-nominated performance. Pity they couldn't have cast an out-of-work mentally handicapped actor, huh?)

Oh well. I expect my former friend to decry the evilness of Paul Giamatti any day now.

949!

This is exciting! As you no doubt know, I've been posting stupid little puppet videos to the web for some time now. Content intended to be seen many, many times. Disembodied Animal Head Theatre, episode 3 has been viewed the most (427 times.) It was posted on April 11, 2006.

Well, I posted this video on May 8, 2007 and it has been viewed 949 times:



Yes, it's my lovely wife pole dancing to John Mayer's "I'm Gonna Find Another You." Only 51 views away from breaking out of three figures! Wow!

(I think it's fairly obvious why this video would be more popular than my talking rubber chicken!)

John Travolta as Edna Turnblad:


There is something so very right about this.

I absolutely love the original film, and what music I've heard from the musical is hysterical ("Momma I'm a Big Girl Now" for instance.) I've been a fan of Travolta's since about age four (his "sweathog" days. The days of "Greased Lightning" and Saturday Night Fever.)

And now, in a mere week and a half, Travolta returns to the big screen in a movie musical! Geez ... it's been almost thirty years since Grease!

The advance reviews on "Ain't it Cool News" have been very positive, And "Ain't it Cool" isn't known for pulling punches. A friend who attended a test screening had an absolute blast. And of course the entire ensemble is an awesome assortment of talent, with Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah ... the list goes on and on. I hear that John Waters himself makes an appearance (as the town flasher, naturally.)

Maybe I'm behind the times on this one. I don't know ...

Wasting some time on YouTube today, I ran across this video:



Hysterical! So I checked out the website, and found a number of other hysterical videos.

What I like about "How It Should Have Ended" is threefold: 1) The website is very slick and professional, 2) The animation is very well-done and easy to view, and 3) The videos are very thoughtfully scripted and rely on actual satire and parody for laughs.

I recommend the Blair Witch, Se7en, and It's a Wonderful Life videos.

Enjoy!

Vintage Jim Henson on YouTube:

Jim Henson is best known for his wacky, far-out puppetry. Some have falsely asserted that Jim was little more than an over grown hippie. What few people realize is just how shrewd a business man he was. His professionalism and serious-mindedness is perhaps his best kept secret:



(I really like the new use the puppeteers found for their puppets at about 1:54. Yes, those are Schlitz cans.)

It is no wonder that Jim, or "Mr. Henson" as he preferred, was so successful in the commercial field. Although the end product most Americans saw on their television sets was full of vim and vigor (not to mention bright colors and explosions), Mr. Henson took great care in pitching his small group of well=groomed puppeteers to prospective employers. If you didn't know better, you might think that the following video was made by a studious engineer of farm tractors and combines, rather than a man who learned how to stitch from his grandmother:



(The "number of hilarious acts" starting at 2:05 is particularly conservative and business-like.)

Videos courtesy of Batman1971.

Resistance. Is. Futile.

Is it just me, or is Apple slowly but surely becoming the "machine" they poked fun at in 1984?

Maybe it's the 2001: A Space Odyssey-esque monolithic iPhones.

But it's probably. The. Abrupt. Periods.

"Today." comes off as a blunt command. "DO IT NOW!" Compare to another Apple ad from a decade ago:

The computer coyly turned away from the camera, as if embarrassed to have its picture taken. The friendly Apple font. The neutral white background. And "Think Different" in the bottom right hand corner, a subtle reminder of one of the most inspiring ad campaigns in human history (really, the guys who did "Think Different" should be handed the Olympics.)

The iMac ad is light and fun, like a Rebel Alliance kegger.

And as for the iPhone, it looks cold and menacing, like a certain emperor's chamber.

After all, at&t has the exclusive license for five (I've also heard ten) years. And we all know about at&t, now don't we?

DAVE GROHL
IS
ROCK & ROLL

UPDATED 6/25/07!

First of all, let me just say that it was a treat to see The Police in concert. I'm so blown away by the live experience. I've been a fan most of my life, and dreamed of the day they'd get back together and do another tour. For me, it doesn't get any better than standing with 20,000 screaming fans, singing along with "So Lonely." Stewart Copeland is a god, plain and simple. When he left his kit to bang around of various and sundry chimes, bells and cymbals for "Wrapped Around Your Finger," I was so stunned by the beauty of it I didn't realize what song they were playing until the chorus hit. Andy Summers has an effortlessness about his guitar work that belies the complexity of what he's playing. And Sting . . . I was reminded that Sting is a rock star and a damn fine musician. I had forgotten that over the course of his past few albums.

Okay, that's out of the way. As much as I loved The Police, I must admit that Foo Fighters spoke to me more.

It hit me at the right time, seeing the Foo Fighters in concert. As Pamela mentioned in her blog, we've been watching the documentary about the Little Rock punk scene, Towncraft. This movie has brought back such wonderful memories and has reignited my love for that music, the folk music of my generation; the sweaty balls, ragged throat, whiplash music that I thrashed to at Kimmery Park.

So with my melon a' buzz and my spirits lifted, Pamela and I made the trip to Dodgers Stadium, and the most amazing thing I've seen onstage in a long time.

If you've read Pam's blog, you know what happened. The stage was set up deep center field. The diamond was cordoned off, but the rest of the field was filled with seats. Our seats were a cut above nosebleed, in the mezzanine area.

Halfway through "Stacked Actors" as the band is grooving, and you just know someone is about to cut loose with a bitchin' solo, Dave Grohl stepped to the edge of the stage, jumped off, leaped a barrier, and rushed into the crowd.

This is the sort of thing Jim Morrison did. It's not the sort of thing that happens now-a-days! He made his way down the aisle, and it became aparrent what his planned destination was: home plate. He made it to the tempory fence surrounding the infield, and kicked at it ... but alas, it wasn't to be. A handful of security guards got to him before he could cross the fence.

So, cheered on by the surprised and elated crowd, Grohl ran around to the speaker trusses near third base, climbed up on some empty travel cases and a porta potty, and played his solo. It wasn't home plate, but at that point, it didn't have to be!

So here it is: Grohl is one of, if not the greatest rock drummer alive. He writes tight music that demands your respect ... shit, even his ballads have testosterone to spare. The man forms metal bands in his spare time, and played Satan for Tenacious D. And for one bright, shining moment he gave convention (and common sense) the finger, and joined us in the house. So let's just say it, and let it be said henceforth throughout the land: Dave Grohl IS Rock and Roll!

UPDATE:



buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Here's an update on a few puppet projects I've been apart of/had brewing since the beginning of the year:

I'm going to start with Los Titeres TV, the web channel launched by the extraordinary Felix Pire! Back in April I spent half a day with Mr. Pire shooting material for upcoming webisodes. One of those webisodes, a episode of "Amor de Conchita y Ronaldo" is live! It's episode 1, entitled "You Never Listen." Note: not safe for work, and not for the kiddies! Very funny stuff. Towards the end Felix starts riffing on that infamous video of Lily Tomlin cussing out Dustin Hoffman. Funny stuff!

Next up is something that is kid friendly, a certain marionette project I recently worked on. (I don't want to put the title here, because I don't want Google to bring up this page! The target audience is little kids. Imagine if "Joe Five-year-old" accidentally clicked on Conchita y Ronaldo!) In addition to video of our live performance at B.B. Kings, there is a music video that we shot a couple of weeks back. I performed a few of the marionettes in the video -- I'd have a hard time telling you which ones -- but I know for a fact that whenever you see the puppet pictured to the left, I'm pulling the strings!

One of the exciting things about these two projects is that together with Uncle Grizly and Disembodied Animal Head Theatre, I have the making of a pretty good puppetry reel! Boo-Yah! My pal Russ put up his reel recently, and it has truly inspired me.

Also in the news, I finished up the Pepper puppet I blogged about some time ago! Okay, he still needs arm rods. And in all honesty, I never could've made this without the patient help of my lovely wife. I chose this really soft, luscious furry fleece for Pepper. Honestly, it feels like chenille! Unfortunately, it's a bitch to machine sew. Pamela instructed me to buy some interfacing, and iron it to the "back" of the fabric. Good idea! Only, I bought some kind of crazy appliqué "new sew" adhesive backing. Oops!

Fortunately for me, Pamela just happened to have some lightweight white broadcloth laying around, and so I glued the doodly furry fabric to the white broadcloth. Whew! I tried to sew the pieces together, but I suck at machine sewing. So Pamela tagged me out, and did the heavy lifting. At it so happens, I'm a good hand-stitcher, so I finished the sucker off. The eyes are ping-pong ball halves, attached in the super-secret Russ Walko fashionm with adhesive-back felt eyes. The nose is Sculpey. The spots and ears are brown polar fleece whip-stitched into place.

Pepper is built from the Glorified Sock Puppet pattern from Project Puppet. Friends, I cannot praise the good people at Project Puppet enough. Their patterns are affordable, easy to follow, and infinitely customizable. If you want to build a puppet and don't know where to start, start with Project Puppet.

I had some new headshots taken, some of them with Pepper. (My new profile pic is one such.) Pamela had this idea, and I think it is quite sound, that it would be helpful to have a headshot as a puppeteer. Why? Because there are more and more projects casting puppeteers, and your average casting director works with headshots.

For instance, NowCasting.com lists puppet gigs with some frequency. Guess what? No headshot, no submission. Also, I am selling myself as a puppeteer, not just my right hand. Casting Directors work with Andrew Moore, not Andrew Moore's right hand. They need to know me, what I look like.

That's probably a good summation for now. I'm working on some other things, including an interesting variation on that "Mimey and Clownie Show" idea I mentioned back in January -- and of course more episodes of DAHTv-- but that will hold for another time!

Where Were You in '92?

Dude!



Add this movie to my wishlist.

Now, if only someone would do the same for the Hot Springs scene ...

(more to come.)

Vietnamese Water Puppets

I could've sworn I first heard about this form of puppetry from Andrew at www.puppetvision.blogspot.com, but I can't seem to find the post. I was incredulous, but intrigued. The puppeteers stand behind a screen, and perform the puppets with rods that extend under the screen, under water. I did a Google search back then (a couple years ago? Maybe three?) and didn't turn up much data.

Today on YouTube I find this:



Very beautiful. I'm surprised at how articulate the puppets are!