A Learned Man

In the coming months I will embark on a great journey. A journey that not many people of this society have had the pleasure to discovering or experiencing. For that I am honored and deeply touched by what fortune has smiled upon me. In the coming months I will be.... going.... back.... to school!!!!!! (cue crazy guitar riffs and loud drum rolls as the camera zooms back and forth on my jubilant expression) I will be going to film school.

Cut!

This time I want you try something a little different.

I can not wait to go back to school. More importantly, I would love to learn a trade that I have put off for a long time. My love for film has been a long courtship. It started as a child when I would rent up to ten movies at a time from the local library. I would go home and systematicly watch them like is was doing research. Over the coming years I would grab my friends, literaly grab them, and make them watch movies that they would have never watched in a million years. I was educating them in cinema. I was such a film geek that I would sit in that same library for eight hours in a day and read all their old Variety and Hollywood Reporters.

Cut!

That was fine. Now give me something real. Confess.


For years if you were to ask me what I do, I would respond with " I am a (blank)." pause and cue mutual silence. "But I'm also writer". Cue sudden interest and a myriad of questions. From "What do I write?" to "Have I gotten any work from it?" or "Am I published yet". This is a two parter that ends with a question.
One: No.
Two: Did you not hear me say I'm currently employed as (blank)?

Cut!

This time reveal yourself to me. Make me feel it.

A few weeks I was helping a married couple with their purchase at my job. In the middle of speaking with them they cut me off to ask a question.

Gentleman:
I'm sorry but you are a real good orator. What do you
do.... besides this?

I blushed.

James:
What else do I do? You mean in my free time?

They nodded.

James: (cont'd)

I sit around a pretend to write

Now at the time I meant it as a joke. A slight, but true deprecating remark about my inability to finish a script. As a side note, I would say off hand I have about seven unfinished screenplays and stage plays. I have about four or five outlines for script ideas and one first draft of an original screenplay I finished last April. Not to say I don't complete anything. I have written two children's stories and have completed somewhere close to a hundred poems. One fully produced stage play, but that was eleven years ago. I just haven't turned one of these things into a means to live. So when I say I sit and pretend to write, I mean to say "I have things in this life I wish to do, but I'm so afraid of failure that I run from success."

Cut! Cut!

Okay... Maybe too much. Why don't you wrap it up.

This is me chronicling my efforts at the newly minted age of thirty three to attend film school. I know nothing about how to choose a school or how I will afford such a thing. But it'll all be right here. Right here for all the thousands of three people I know who will read it. Who I'm sure will know it all anyways by just asking me.

Proof There is a God

Last year was a tough year for me. I was at my worst financially. Since moving out to California I have craved more things New York than when I lived there. I was always a fan of the NY Mets. Followed them very closely but never did I have a "crazed fan" thing about. That has changed. Distance does make the heart go fonder. Every year that I've been out in L.A. (going on six years now... yikes.) I have made it a point to catch the Mets when they play at Dodgers stadium or see them when I'm in New York.

Back to my point.

Last year I was very poor. When the time came for the Mets to come to town and play I was stressing my inability to go see them. I felt very strange about breaking this tradition. As if by breaking it something would go wrong with my team, the way pitchers won't change their socks if they're on a win streak. I do believe it was the week before they would be coming and I was moping around the house trying to figure out a way to see them.

I'd just like to stop a second a say I'm not normally this pathetic. I mean... I know it's just a baseball team for Christ's sakes.

A few days before the the game an envelope arrives at my house. It's from Dodger Stadium. At first this doesn't faze me. I figure since I've been going to the stadium for the past five years they must me sending me promo stuff. I opened it up. Inside were two tickets. My heart raced with excitement. Where did these come from? From who? There was no note. The tickets showed as being sent directly from the ticket office. I called my girlfriend and thanked her. She knew nothing about it, but was excited for me. I had her call her mother and father. Neither had done it. I called my grandmother and aunt... my dad.. my mom... no one want to take credit for this great deed.

If one is to except the situation at face value... one would have to conclude that this came from a higher power.

Bob Barker? No, higher.

Sherman Helmsley? Higher.

Neil Diamond? Closer.

Could it be...? Naw... it couldn't.... could it? God? Are you (me) suggesting that G-O-D in the sky put his hand in this? This must be. This must be the sign of a higher power that I've been waiting for! I believe! I believe! I believe. Sweet Jesus I Believe!!!!!!

Then the Mets lost. So much for faith.

Well that's the fate God deserves for his taunt. There. I don't believe in him....

At least till he sends me my next set of tickets this year. But I want better seats this time! He that buddy!!!!!

Year Two

Wow! I have to say... I really suck at keeping up with a blog. I had grand ideas for my Blog... Potpourri of Mediocrity if you will. But such is life.

Shit I didn't even realize that anyone had left comments on any of my blogs till today. These comments were over a year old. YIKES! Talk about turning off your audience. Who knew?

Let's talk about what came from this blog. My first two posts pertained to research I was doing for a script. From that research it took me one full year to squeeze out fifty pages of the little fucker. But I must say... to my credit (which I love to take it where I can get it), in the past three months I've added thirty plus pages to it. I'm currently hanging out at the ninety page mark. Which to that I say "Kudos for me".

So here I've come. Come back to where my journey began to keep my end of the bargain. This blog will be dedicated to..... to ..... Ah Ha! To blogging to myself, about music and movies that I think are important. I will commit to blogging to myself on the progress I already know I'm making. And most importantly I will be giving myself all the hugs I could want for a job well done and for every mission accomplished.

And this I promise to you.

Myself.

30 yrs and VH1 is all I get.

I am almost thirty. A milestone to those vain enough to start a blog entry with "I am almost thirty". And to thirty I say "yuck!" Now that I'm older and entering the age of reflection (soon after is the favorite age... age of senility).

Years back in the late eighties I was sitting at a friends house watching VH1. I was watching a B52's video that was on. I couldn't tell you how I ended up on VH1, but I do know that I was watching MTV only moments before that. More than likely I was running away from a Jodi Whatley video. But back then everybody was running away from a Jodi Whatley video and into the arms of Taylor Dayne. As I watched the end of the B52's video a fear rolled over me. A fear of what was going to be on next. Will it be Hall & Oates ? Gasp! Will it be solo Mick Jagger? The Horror! Or will it be... no!... anything but....NO! Rod Stewart!!!! From the depths of hell, why?!?!?

When you are eleven or twelve years old Rod Stewart is the ultimate old fart music. The kind of music that makes your repressed house mom come out of her momminess and into a hip shaking, gyrating horror show. Isn't that enough reason to hate Rod Stewart? Yes. But there are more reasons. Reasons that will go unmentioned. It'll take too much time and there are other things I need to do with my life. But in short.... I'll mention the semen/stomach pump incident. ( I know, I know... you heard the same thing about Bon Jovi... I think they were in the same room)

The point being, when you are a kid there you'd never think to yourself there would ever come a day where you would be a watcher of VH1. As the thought would be, you would never be a watcher of a Rod Stewart video. Since VH1 has a hard on for Rod Stewart, you would think they will always be playing Rod.

In the recent years VH1 has taken on programing. As we all know MTV has been nothing but programming for the past 10-12 years. To appease us they gave us MTV2, but that's a separate story in and of itself (next time). For years I struggled to keep MTV on my T.V. screen. I stayed when they put on Singled Out. I stayed when they put on Road Rules, then Real World/Road Rules Challenge. I almost made through Room Raiders before I realized what most had given into by now. MTV is not a channel that wants my thirty year old ass. That is what they made VH1 for. A retirement home for old MTV watchers. They make it as comfortable as possible. When watching VH1 now, you can see all sorts of things of interest. For one thing when they do play music videos (which is late at night), and the videos are waaaaay better than the choices on MTV. From VH1 you get: Death Cab for Cutie, Goldfrapp, White Stripes, The Frey, Morningwood (the last two are alright, but in comparison with another G-Unit video.... I'll take it) and more! But it gets worse! And by worse I mean better! All their programing is geared for nostalgia. Any program they have that starts with " I love the..." is great. They do specials on the "Awesomely Bad (fill in the blank) Videos". What's better than watching bad videos and making fun of them? Watching VH1 tear down Rod Stewart on one of those specials, that's what. They have the freak show that is called the Surreal Life and it's spin off's. The channel has won me over over. Nothing saddens me more than the thought of liking VH1. The question becomes: "Do I like VH1 because they pander to my age range? Leaving behind those they used to embrace (like MTV) or is it that I'm old and don't have my finger on the pulse of America youth?

Soon I will be thirty. I think of myself as a hip music guy. I own my copy of Arcade Fire. I'm a college radio music fan. An indie rock scene fan. I'm a snob. But I'm also a VH1 watcher. So fuck MTV. I want my. I want my. I want my VH1.

And if you happen to be older than me.... say by eight years. They gave you a convalescent home in VH1 classic. Where you can widdle away at your golden years in senility, watching Rod Stewart videos and imagine he's right there in the room with you.

On a side note. I highly recommend clicking on this weeks links I placed in this post. You won't be sorry. On second thought.... you might.

Disc 2: Ike Reilly

There is music is this world that's for women and some that are for men. Ike Reilly is a man's man of music. He for the grounded intellectual music fan. His lyrics tend to be rough around the edges, but yet ring true in it's bluntness. When I think of Ike I think of the man who opened his first album with the line: "Last time I couldn't make you cum. Last time you didn't fake me out". That's how the man cares to open an album. Very blunt. Very confessional. His music doesn't appeal to to womenfolk for some reason. I've tried. They don't like it. Maybe it's the stuff about not cumming that turns a woman off.

On second thought... I'm sure not cumming turns them off.

This time around Ike has taking on a full band and add Assassination to the end of his name to make it the band's name. The album title is Junkie Faithful . Taking on a full band seems to have caused a back step from the level the first album was playing at. The lyrics aren't as sharp. Though they are still very dry and witty at times. If there is one thing Ike is consistent about is his sense of humor and his irony. But there is a problem with this album. The fun doesn't really begin until the sixth track, then sticks around till track 12 (the last song) which did nothing for me. What about the tracks before the sixth? Eh. They're okay. The four track is grating, the rest are good to poor. The album lost what the first had. That gritty, sitting in the bar drinking hard with all the other barflys that are sort of your friends but not really. Singing along and laughing, even when faced with harsh reality (wheather it be your own or Ike's).

So... the question remains: "Is this a buy?"

No it is not. Not unless you are fan already. If you've never heard of Ike Reilly, I suggest getting his first album Salesmen and Racists. If you like that, maybe buy this one used for no more than $5.

Disc 1: Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah!

Out of all the Cds that I purchased the other day, this was the mystery Cd. The bands name is Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah! I had vaguely remembered listening to a track or two of the album, but could not remember if I had liked it. So many times it was on the verge of being discarded for another Cd that I was more sure about. Something just kept buzzing in my head that should go and take the risk anyways. Then I took my meds and the buzzing stopped. But I still held on to the Cd regardless. As it turns out... what I had heard via Towerrecords.com was not something I liked. Fortunately I forgot. The album sounded nothing like when listening on my home system as opposed to the crappy Tower Records windows version of the song on my computer. I'd like to take this moment to say: Though I like the service the Tower Records site provides with allowing you to listen to 30 seconds of music for free of almost any band you can think of, but its at the cost of the music sounding like it's being sent to your computer via a tin can and some string.

When listen to the band there is a air of familiarity to the sound. What is this sound? The Talking Heads. Which is great for me, being the BIG Talking Heads fan that I am. Now their sound isn't some carbon copy of an iconic band... it's more like a riff. To put and accurate description of the vocals would be to say; It's like David Byrne if David took a lot of pain killers. Sort of this half sung, half closed mouth "cause it take too much effort to open it" sound. The album is fun and festive. Not too cheeky or jokey, but not moopy or self important. It is everything amodern indie rock fan is looking for.

I'm not a big fan of breaking down an album track by track, so I will just leave this posting with a suggestion. The album is a buy. As a fan of music you should own this and attempt to follow their career. At least till they sell out and I'm writing a blog post about "How they out lived their relevance". Stay tuned for more.

The Sorrow of The Broken Walleted

Recently I came into some gift cards. Let's say they belonged to the Bestest place you can Buy (according to them mind you). I had a total of $75.00 and could not afford to go over, which is what I normally do in these situations. It had been a really long time since I bought a CD that wasn't a promo or a previously used and I was excited by prospect of it. So excited in fact that I placed... I don't know... $250 worth of Cd's into my hand cart. I had to stop myself at the beginning of the M, because I knew I'd be making the end decision harder. I'm so used to buying from the $5.99 and below bin, I cruelly teased myself with stuff I can't afford. Here's a rough idea of what I had in my basket:

Deerhoof
Broken Social Scene
Local H
Blackalicious
Arcade Fire
Division of Laura Lee
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah
Ike Reilly Assassination
Interpol
Giraffes
Death From Above
The Go! Team
Danger Doom... and a few other I don't remember

In the next coming days I will write about each of the bands I selected to buy. I will let you know whether or not you should buy said Cd. Because we all know you hang on my every word. As if you are my sheep to my sheep herder. I will guide you.

Anyways. Here's what we will be discussing over the next few days.

Arcade Fire - Funeral
The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Danger Doom - The Mouse and The Mask
Ike Reilly Assassination - Junkie Faithful
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah

And that folks... is how far $75 gets you. For all the rest of the Cd's I couldn't buy... for you I shed a tear. One per CD.