long time, no "e"

Hello, all! Well, how the heck are ya? Sorry it's been so long since I've last posted. It's partly due to "sacred excrement, I've got a lot to do!" and partly just that I haven't posted. La!

I've been doin' a crapload, though. First, let me introduce you to "The Hornman," my 22 minute documentary on the life and times of Bill Nemoyten (my father-in-law), the Hornman.



Any of you editing geeks out there know that this took me some time. (quick aside - OMG! I just saw the first full X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer. Frickity-dickin' awesome. Hugh Jackman gets to carry the whole movie. Yes!!! Okay. back to the previously scheduled, and all that.) This was the first time I've had this much footage to wade through - around 14 hours. All my previous projects were around 2 hours of footage and, for the most part, the story was already written for me. Wedding's, parties, vacations - stuff like that. Mostly chronological. But this one, I really had to get a story together. What's the theme? What's the central part of his life? And, almost more importantly, what's the central part of the film? What's the story? I think I figured it out. But I'll let you be the judge. Enjoy!

I also got laid off a few weeks before my last post. I probably posted about it, but I'm not sure. Anyway, still looking for a job. However, I recently got recruited for a position. It's by no means a sure thing, but it seems like it's right up my alley, and hey: when the recruiter heard about the job, she said to herself, "I know who's perfect for this. Ian!" So, I'm definitely on their radar. I've been through two rounds of interviews already, and I'll hear about the third next week. Regardless of whether or not I get the job, I'm getting a terrific arsenal together of interview pieces - written and in person. It's good. (For now, I'm going to play the details of the job a little close to the vest. I'll let you know more after I know more. ;)

What else? I went to Toronto for a weekend. THAT was fun. Got to hang out with my Dad and his sister, which I very rarely get to do. They're lovely people, and family, and we're all pretty good communicators and have most of our family crap out of the way by now, so it was just easy and fun. I even got to geek out for my aunt, who's the only other mac-geek in the family. I showed her context-sensitive help, which she'd never known about before. She's a person without a lot of time, and she hates wasting it, so this was a good piece of information for her. I also got just the right amount of cold, snow, slush and ice. And a couple great shots of Toronto, especially down by the water. And a lovely afternoon with my Dad in a bar called Fitzgeralds.

A really nice time, and it reminded me how much I love to travel. I really, really do. I'm a total homebody, so it's very easy for me to stay at home and just enjoy its environs. But once I'm out and about, and meeting new people and seeing new things, I'm totally diggin' it. Then I like to go home again, too. I appreciate it more then, for sure. And my sweetie and my kitties. Yay!

We premiered "The Hornman" at Bill's 80th birthday party, and the crowd loved it. Some of them chanted my name at the end! ;) Yay. I gotta say, that was nice. But nicest was the hug I got from Bill after. He really, really liked it. And that feels great.

Allright. I'm at Ritual Roasters in the Valencia. I'm starting to get shpilchus in my tuchus, so I think I'm going to jet. Stop by my favorite bookstores (Dog Eared for used, and Borderlands for every other little thing), and then home. At 5pm, got a phone meeting with a potential web client - this is like our 3rd or 4th meeting, and I think it's going to go through. We'll see. And then, maybe dinner and Xbox 360 with a friend! yay!

I'll leave you with another gem. This is a little show I wrote for a performance back in early '05. Some of you have seen it, some of you haven't. I think you'll like it. ;) It's a little thing I like to call: "Air Guitar - To the Future!"

Ciao!

a cool one

i'm sitting here at home, feeling the cool. It's been 80 around here, and dangit, that's just not what I moved here for. today, the fog has finally moved back into my neighborhood, and it is blessed relief.

i'm working on the business plan for my new vid biz (www.foolishtreefilms.com). it's actually kind of fun. i'm using the one page business plan, by jim horan. it's laid out in a workbook format. it's really quite simple, and i'm burnin' right through it.

listening to joe satriani's newer piece, "professor satchafunkilus." it's pretty good. it's no steve vai or john petrucci, but it sure beats a poke in the head with a petrified salami. and that's literal; no metaphor there. just to be clear.

i should be finding out this coming week if my company is going to have another massive spate of layoffs. better to know than not know.

praise fog!

supernatural sounds

this weekend, i attended a wonderful musical event. it was the "Animals and the Arts" benefit for Pets Unlimited (http://www.petsunlimited.com/). they're a no-kill animal shelter and special needs veternary center. they'll patch up cats and dogs that many other shelters would euthanize, and they'll keep the critters until they find good homes. our first kitty, Missie, was there for a year and a half before we adopted her, and our second kitty, Dennis, had a horrible leg injury. they had to take the leg, but he's happy and healthy now, and full of plenty of mischief. please check out their website, and if you can and feel so inclined, support them in any way you can. they're good people.

so. i'm at this show. and there were 30 odd classical musicians, a few operatic soloists, and quite an empresario showman conductor. i mean, these guys were world class.

and so was the clarinet soloist. holy *&%^. i can't remember the last time i've heard tones that sweet. which isn't strictly true. i was, until recently, working with a superb jazz clarinetist, and he's got some hellaciously sweet tones. but this was classical, and it is different. also, it was in the Herbst Theater on Van Ness, and the acoustics are crazy good there.

but i could tell that the operatic singing was coming from the bodies of the singers. the clarinet...it was like the sound came from the entire stage area, from the floor to the ceiling. it was amazing. it gave me shivvers and brought tears to my eyes. i loved it. and it gave me a new way to look at the instrument i've recently picked up.

although i'm not playing at all right now. focusing primarily on my video business (http://www.foolishtreefilms.com/) and secondarily on my writing (i'm way behind on my "story a month" thing). clarinet will, for now, have to wait.

and on the video note, something to look forward to: watch this space in the next week or so. i will embed my new documentary short film, "goats." it's about how the city of San Francisco hires goatherders and goats to trim the verge, as it were, in certain places. wow!

light

So, I'm starting this video bizyness (www.foolishtreefilms.com). I've done vid on and off since high school, and I'm no stranger to it. That being said, there's a heck of a lot I don't know about it; a heck of a lot to learn. Well, on Saturday, I'm filming my first outdoor, low-light event. I've messed with all the controls on my camera. I'll do a bunch of goodness in post. But nothing beats lighting the thing properly from the beginning.

Sure. Okay. Great. Errrr...that means I need lights. Like, now. So, I went shopping. I hit OSH, Home Depot, and Peir 1, for tripod mounted halogens, clip lights and a chinese lantern (in that order). Pier 1 was a bust, but the other two were good.

But before that, I decided to check craigslist for lighting. Better to get it used than new, if I can. Especially right now, fer cripes sake. I saw one promising lead for an 18" fixture, "old-style."

Cute, huh? It looked just like the sort of thing I was looking for, and the ad said it had an attachment for tripods. Excellent! Oh, and it was $5! Double excellent. So, it said to call "X."

(Quick aside: there's this awesome bookstore in the Mission on Valencia near 19th called Borderlands Books. They're a specialty store for fantasy, sci-fi and horror. www.borderlands-books.com. They have sweet, helpful, knowledgeable people and a wonderful selection. I was also in a writer's group, not affiliated with the store, that met in the back. I left the group about 6 months ago.)

Well, I only know one person named "X," and she's the manager of the above mentioned store. But I didn't twig to the number, and I called it. "Borderlands Books," came the voice on the other end of the phone. Oh! Holy crap! How cool! It turns out the lighting unit was owned (not any more - I own it now!) by the owner of the store. They said they'd hold it for me, and I could come by later that night, no problem. So I did. I looked at the unit, and besides being retro-cool (it must be 40 years old), it works like a dream. No surprise; this guy keeps his stuff in top condition. I'm very excited to try it out.

So, I'm chatting at the front with one of the long-time employees, who I haven't seen in a while because, well, my leaving the writing group was kinda awkward. And I think I just didn't want to be around the store because of the associations. So we're chatting, and I hear some folks talking in the back. I look over - and it's the writer's group!

Wow. Well, I'm stoked for them that it's still going; that's cool. And...I had to use the john. And the group was between me and there. And I decided that it was totally silly for me not to go. So I did. I spoke to them briefly on the way there and back, and realized something wonderful. I am really glad not to be in the group any more. They're good people, but it didn't work for me in a major way, and it had been time to leave, and leave I did. Yay! And now, I feel ready to hang out at my favorite bookstore in the whole world again. And that is a really good thing.

So, in my quest for light last night, I was enlightened, and I lightened my own load. Which is great, considering there's enough heaviness right now, and I'm finishing this entry up at 4:20 in the morning because I couldn't sleep, what with all that's going on.

But you know what? Good is happening too. My video biz is starting up with a whoosh, my short stories are getting better, and my general creativity is higher. I'm beginning to exhibit more "insufferable positivity." (for a good read on this topic, please visit lifepurposeworks.blogspot.com and read the Sept. 30th entry. Check it out - she's my best friend!) Not that I'm blind - just positive.

Light is good. So is darkness. They make shadow. A place for resting, and for greys. And a place to do whatcha want to, away from prying eyes.

Here's to shadow.

Update: This morning, I told one of my co-workers about it, and he pointed out that, if I so chose, I could see these "coinkeydinks" as the universe directly supporting my creating my video biz.

I so choose. ;)