nostatic at all...

A rare fit of rain, so what better to do than hop on the bike and chase the falling sun.

Neighborhood bars can be cool. SF was full of them. The westside - not so much. But there is one...still trying to figure out the scoop on it, but they sure make a great hoagie. And no driving necessary..just a walk past the tailors.

you can see forever

wait, when did I order this?

The bane of my existence. "Your stance could be lower..."

I thought tai chi wasn't supposed to hurt. Silly me.

Working on a video loop for a conference, and as usual for me, trying to do production bass-ackwards by creating the soundtrack first. No dialogue in this, just some sfx. I'm going for the heartbeat thing, quickening as the piece goes along with an increased pace of visuals and repeated hammering of the message with text. Of course I can't get the heartbeat to increase like I want (arrgh), and then I get the brilliant idea to add breathing to heighten the drama. Once I get it roughed out and play it back, it ends up sounding like a porno video. Maybe I shouldn't have used a woman's breath sample...

Not Italy, but rather LA, b-day party, cold west wind, fast lens.

just say no

Monday off to a bang. Or a whimper depending on how you describe it. Seems that the meetings never end, and the phone keeps ringing. Maybe I'm overcommitted...

One can't really begin editing until one cleans up their hard drive. Well, actually it goes beyond just procrastination...in this case I didn't have enough room to make anything. Something about the 50+ gigs of photos and other stuff. Time to backup, cleanup and get to it...

And so the weekend begins. Well, not really, first on location in the dust storm (poor cameras and hard drives), then the gnawing fits of worry because the rough cut isn't anywhere near cut. Or even rough. Hrm...

sitting in a blue flaky tube
wondering if the peels are talking
about something i should know about

a dirty mercenary sings
while Luke mugs on screen
listening to the conversation
canceling noise and meaning
i'm clear in my mind
steering my kindness

wishing for stinging obsession
naked and alive in my bed
a toe dipping into my head
needing a second pair of shades
pushing back the innocence lost

faults in all and seething still
that familiar ache wearing thin
unable to feel the skin
trying to hard to touch
the singing obsession
lit by candles

i'm keeping it to myself
Luke still struggles with two
a suburban dream
stigmata aside
my patience on needles and pins

spinning around to catch a glimpse
of that sad parade of players
serenading an empty table
the tenor stumbles
endless summer going down
fires burning hazy streaks
into a lazy sideways

my darling daydream
harmonics hanging like
notes sliding just below
perfect pitch
nobody cares

i don't hear him any more
letting my battles slide
watching Luke try to touch
a blue wall
whatever, amen

keep on talking
hearing the party late
burning up midnight oil
sagging mattress swallows
a sitting duck
how many nights can
you go without sleep?

fumbling around and rolling over
and cover with the little blonde around the corner
swinging for the fences
but the director can't save
the second act
an original sin

he's taking pictures
i'm seeing my reflection
neither are pretty
stay away from the sauna
it'll leave you less
that you started with

never outside this state of confusion
can't remember who gets the bill
living five minutes at a time
means the clock does a lot of work

steering clear of the dusted neighbors
we brew our own concoctions
beautiful plumes
drawing back
making sure it's red
before you push it down

a hazy couch is sweet relief
i've seen that iron pot before
a little water in the bottom
to keep from sticking

back to the obsession thing
no way to sustain
and why does misery connect
pop, smoke, stay down
i've been hit

a window seat
in an aisle world
the system of the doctor
a frequent flier hell
just what you need
to make you feel better

looking outside
trying to change the weather
increase the temperature
to a balmy 42
wind at my tail
see your pink disk
show down the slowdown

quick cuts trickle down fast
stabbing glass and gamma rays
burn a hole in the collective
fueling my sleeper cell

where do we go from here
where do i go from here
i don't want to hear that song again
and long for the obsession
just because i said it
doesn't make it right
getting up in the middle on the night
watching the round and round
for the fiftieth time

heading north like a fragrant bird
bouncing lively and stiffening
to another southern breeze
twang and then it's gone
roll off the tele

saint theresa once sang about florida
or some such nonsense
i lost track of who's on the corner
making money and full of trash
bold as the hollow lights
higher than the king
higher than jesus
makes you feel like it at least

nobody ever saw you the way i do
or maybe i just missed the signs
clouded by a sour act of contrition
and double crossed at the junction

a brown stocking cap pulled down
a strong gray rain failing down
never enough time to bring a dream
gently to a safe harbor

i’m sensing a storm that has been brewing
from a slow drip to a steady stream
infused with a helical twist
i’m seeing both sides now

he’s certainly no stranger to pain
if only there was another place to put it
instead it seeps out in a broadcast
trying to stay clear of interference

i always wished i could realize
that indelible image that exists inside
and show him a graceful way
to move through this fractured life

expectations from a blackboard
falling down with a heady pace
in another time I’d climb that hill
and unlock that gold glass door

do you think i can float
i look good in this black coat

hanging around and just hanging on
video village goes silent
streaking the pink and the blue
and a goatee that comes and goes

just a question if you can float
dust off that long black coat
smoke hangs low for your test
closing the coroner’s inquest

when did that chance pass by
to make it all right
instead I sit and craft
random cuts of nonsense

do you think you will float
I look good in a black coat

Chalk it up to the "one never knows" adage. Looking at a casting list and you see a name and think, "probably not." And then they come in, sit down, and knock the part right out of the park. It just goes to show you, that one shouldn't prejudge, and it is important to remain open to the possibilities and at least see/hear them out.

The Calvinator turns 12. Wonders never cease.

One of the reasons I spent money for the surround setup was so that I could hear...well, surround. Frustrating when you buy a brand new release (WALL*E), and it keeps playing in 2.0 sound. I don't want to PLX it, I want DD. So a few emails to the DVD and receiver companies to try and figure out why I'm not getting proper surround. Thankfully Oppo (www.oppodigital.com) checks their email on a weekend, and sorted the issue. Turns out that I needed to go into the DVD menu for the movie and pick 5.1 sound - it defaults to 2.0. DOH!

Well, we'll see if Jack is back. Of course I'm distracted as I have to finish my own masterpiece by tonight. Watch, cut, watch, cut.

Cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut

I wish I was referring to the band, but instead it is work. Back to FinalCut to try and make the next version...the *final* cut. Of course there was spending most of the day in meetings trying to wrangle a new project. Rust never sleeps. Oh wait, wrong band.

FC6 was the "final" final cut candidate, and she is put to bed. A test burn of a looping DVD went well, so tomorrow AM will see bug and non-bug versions burned and given the the courier who will whisk them away to Orlando for the big coming out party. I'd be celebrating if I didn't now have a proposal to write...by tomorrow. Holiday? Crazy talk!

While talking about counter IED proposal work, somehow Grouch Marx came up, and I tossed off one of my favorite lines, pulling the relevance in on the fly:

You're upset. Don't leave in a huff. Leave in a minute and a huff. If you can't leave in a minute and a huff leave in a hummvee.

Big guffaw from da boss...always a good sign.

New project, insane timeline, and guess who's on the hook? Two days of meetings and now a strawman proposal due by "26Nov08." That means I have until 11:59pm, right? Well, I hope so as the email went out at 11:47pm. I'm a dozen minutes early...

Plenty to be thankful for, including spending the day first on the road (on 2), and then with friends old and new. T-day at the ranch.

I'm the first to admit I'm a city boy (well, suburbs actually), so horses are rather foreign to me. The Deep End ranch had 10 of them, and sadly one of them developed colic on t-day. But since we're not in the city, there actually is a big-animal vet who makes housecalls, so it was some live theater at 1am seeing how you deal with a horse suffering from colic. I won't go into details, but the vet had the longest glove I'd ever seen and was wearing a short-sleeve shirt despite it being about 40F outside. Then there was the tube snaked down the nose and the mineral oil pump. Poor thing. At last report this afternoon he was wanting to get down and roll around again (not good), so he was off to the hospital. God speed, big guy.

not the horse in question, but a sibling

For those keeping score at home, Cappy (the horse in question) ended up heading to the large animal hospital where he was diagnosed with a fecal stone. Prognosis is good, and hopefully he'll pass it in the next day with more mineral oil.

Yeah, TMI...

One side clear, the other cotton candy. Then hot, then cold. Temperature and spice. Go figure.