I have the first two of those films ready to edit! I produced and directed one film over the weekend and on Monday a friend of mine directed the other film which I also produced.

We shot in HD, but the project will be down-converted for normal DVDs. Not quite ready to produce in HD yet, but the footage is there if we ever do want to release it in HD!

The film I wrote and directed is based on the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). I’m excited to be able to show you all a rough cut within a couple of weeks.

The other story is about a doctor whose brother gets killed moments after he leaves him. The killer then steals the doctors car, and… there’s a point later in the film where the doctor has to decide how to respond to the man who killed his brother. Carter Mason played the brother who got killed in the film

This project needs to be “in the can” by October 1, so I have time to get DVD’s ready for sale by Soularize.

So alrighty then, I’d appreciate your prayers that the editing and sound mixing goes well for this project… there’s a lot more to do, even though all the footage has been shot…

Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog describes how some small-scale recording artists are succeeding on the web. One interesting bit mentions the ‘pay what you can policy’ used by Jane Siberry. The result: People wind up paying more than they would at iTunes.

Like many, I’m restless and impatient with living in a world where people are made to feel like shoplifters rather than intelligent peoples with a good sense of balance. I want to treat people the way I’d like to be treated. ‘Dumbing UP’ (as opposed to ‘dumbing down’)….You decide what feels right to your gut. If you download for free, perhaps you’ll buy an extra CD at an indie band’s concert. Or if you don’t go with your gut feeling, you might sleep poorly, wake up grumpy, put your shoes on backwards and fall over. Whatever. You’ll know what to do…This is not a guilt trip. Feel no pressure. The most important thing is that the music flow out to where it could bring enjoyment. And THAT is the best thing you could give me.

The current pricing statistics listed at the site:
18% Gift from Artist
18% Standard
05% Pay Now
58% Pay Later

Avg Price/Song $1.17
07% Paid Below Suggested
80% Paid At Suggested
14% Paid Above Suggested

(Via Signal vs. Noise.)

I wonder what it would be like if authors started allowing their material to be available like this? I know I tend to read stuff on my computer more than others, so I’m not sure if it’s ready for that yet. Even if I send a four-page short film script out, I usually find printed versions when I meet with the person. I know I’d be much more likely to buy a book online where I can throw a few dollars directly to the author than to purchase another physical product which I probably won’t touch for months.

Weeds Season 2 can now be pre-ordered on Amazon.com!

Update: And now…

Click for Weeds Season 2 on iTunes!

Weeds has become one of my favorite shows, and judging from the hits from searches for the show on this site, I’m not alone. And with a pre-order price of just $25.99, I imagine a lot of you will be ordering your copy now for July delivery.

If you saw season 1 and have not yet watched season 2, you should really get the DVD’s as soon as they come out. Season 3 is likely to start in August again just as it did last year.

Why do I like Weeds so much? It’s got all of the elements of good television. Compelling storyline and characters, strong writing, consistently excellent performances from the cast, and that charm that just comes from chemistry (not just the actors but production and everyone involved with the show… some shows just have that synergy). But mostly, I love Weeds because it makes me think while often causing me to laugh… and sometimes cry.

So any way, I squeezed a few hours in this morning to have a photo shoot for some new headshots. That way I can audition again, and be even more busy

My favorites from the shoot

Yes… I use a professional name. Please don’t use it in the comments. I separate my acting name from my real name for many reasons, and one is when people want to know about me as an actor, I want them to find information about that if they google the name and not my many, many theological ramblings. Any comments using that name will of course mercilessly be deleted (or not approved to begin with if its your first comment!).

If you do, however, want to help me pick out headshots, that of course is fine

I just was looking online at tvguide.com to see what’s on, and I realize my episode of Untold Stories of the ER is rerunning! I watch it, and it’s just so strange to me thinking that thousands of people are seeing my mug on television right now. It’s just weird.

Unfortunately, it’s a non-union spot that doesn’t pay very much (although it’s decent for a spec, but that means you probably won’t ever get to see it, unless I’m allowed to post it on my acting website).

As you can see, I’ve changed my theme. Connections was breaking on some pages, and to be honest, I was a little bored with having a theme that a million others had. I’ll probably start finding sites with this theme all over the place… but this summer I’ll have time to design my own. Which is the way it should be, since I am a web developer and all

Any way, I wanted to provide more details than typing in slowly on my phone allowed for any way.

So I got a rush call for an audition. I have an oil leak on my bike, so I use it as little as possible. I saw that the time for making the metrolink was quickly approaching, but I thought I could make it if I hurried. So hurry I did!

And I made the train. I also ended up in one of the kewl cars with outlets, so I was able to plug my laptop in and not drain all my battery power. Then, right before the first stop, all of the power went off on the train as the train jerked a little. I grabbed my laptop which was sliding off the table, and I looked around. I thought the electical just went out on the train and caused the jerk, then the conductor says, “Uh… yeah, we just hit a car.”

Then I hear an awful screech and some clunking below (I was on the top of the train car I was in). What you see below is the final result.

The woman driving the car is okay… because she got out of the car before the train hit. She’d evidently tried to make it through the intersection before the little arms came down, and the last one came down on her car. Rather than plow through the arm, she left her car there to get pummeled by the metrolink train.

After waiting around awhile, the train started to get too hot (the electrical was still out, so no a/c), and we were let off the train. Outside, I hear a man and a woman trying to convince a police officer they were injured in the accident. Uh huh. I didn’t even know we really hit something until the conductor tells us, and they had serious injuries? Yeah… Justice has a way of rearing its ugly head, however, and the two persons regretted talking to the police. They hadn’t purchased tickets, you see, and their insistence on their injuries led the police to ask them to see their tickets So instead of getting money from bogus injuries, they got citations for stealing away on the metrolink train.

I called my commercial agency and let them know I was going to be late. An hour later, I called and said I didn’t think I was going to make it because I was still at the train station. Then with some maneuvering, I made it at 5:08 (they told me the last time they were seeing actors was 5:15). They took us by charter bus to Union Station, where I jumped on the red line, and I had a friend in L.A. meet me at the Hollywood and Highland station and take me to the audition. With seven minutes to spare. Then the fun began!

The theme of the commercial, which I’m really not supposed to write about was… well… let’s just say what would a certain mob boss on a cable tv show do? Yeah, you guessed it, wwtd? So I got to improv beating the tar out of my boss at work on camera. Yeah, buddy. And because I was late, I got to do it a couple of times because they needed my part to read with another guy. It all worked out in the end!

Ask and you shall receive. I searched for open source screenwriting software, and voila, I found there was a most excellent piece of software called Celtx.

The writing tools included give it a leg up on Final Draft, believe it or not. Sure, there are some features of Final Draft Celtx does not have, but the writing tools gives Celtx a leg up. And you can’t beat the price

FreeMind is a premier free mind-mapping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map) software written in Java. The recent development has hopefully turned it into high productivity tool. We are proud that the operation and navigation of FreeMind is faster than that of MindManager because of one-click “fold / unfold” and “follow link” operations.

I just found the most excellent open source software, FreeMind. It works on just about any OS, so check it out. I’m using it right now for developing screenplays, but it can be used to organize all sorts of information. Probably would be a great sermon prep tool for those who do not think in a completely linear fashion.

So… here goes. We either need an investor to come in to purchase a camera (we’ve been using a Panasonic DVX100A) or a generous person to loan us the money. These cameras hold their resale value, so one option would be that after the documentary is finished, we sell the camera if we are unable to sell the project itself.

Ideally, we need $3,000 to get the camera and some accessories for shooting. We could do it for $2,000 (there’s a camera on eBay right now for $1800 Buy-It-Now!), as getting the accessories on loan is a lot easier than getting the camera consistently.

There’s a time constraint on the project, which is why we don’t just save up and buy it in a month or two. We need someone to come in basically now (last week would’ve been nice ) if we’re going to get this thing done in a way we can complete it and sell it (very marketable documentary).

So if you’re of the investing ilk… or just a generous soul who feels compelled to help out a couple of starving filmmakers… please contact me, and I will give you the full details of the project via private email communication (or a telephone call, if you want to send me your phone number).

Thanks for taking the time to read my shameless request for investment or loan

Edited: There’s also a couple of spiritual short films we’re looking at shooting, and that could be worked into the investment proposal as well. Points on those films in addition to the documentary.

But if you are one wallowing in the terrible decision for the academy to award the best film to Crash… get over it. It’s just an award. There’s certainly no anti-gay conspiracy in Hollywood. From what I understand, Brokeback isn’t even an agenda movie and was purposely written and directed as a character-driven tragedy. The film was not out to make some huge statement about gay rights, and if it was, it would not be the Best Picture for that reason. I’m not saying because it would be pro-gay, but because propaganda films are not Best Pictures. That’s why Passion of the Christ was never even in the running for that award. Maybe propaganda is harsh for Passion, but at a minimum it was an incomplete story that required an insider’s view to make any sense whatsoever.

Crash won for two reasons: it was an excellent film that resonated with many who saw it. It caused evaluation and reflection. Certainly it was not a perfect movie, but most of what I’ve seen criticized was almost certainly done intentionally. And you can’t avoid a certain amount of caricature when you have such a broad cast in a two-hour movie. The actors and the director did a tremendous job making the characters interesting.

And the other reason Crash won… it had a lot of great actors turning in excellent performances. And the largest voting block in the Academy is… actors. I shouldn’t have been so surprised by the victory myself. It is the film I wanted to win, which rarely happens.

I have no problem with people voicing their opinion about the movie and even hating it. What irks me is the talk of like the world is caving in because the Academy voted for a film nobody outside of the academy expected to win. It’s not anti-gay. It’s not even a political choice. The Academy voters felt Crash to be the Best Motion Picture. And I agree… at least until I see Brokeback Mountain and Capote.

Update: A good article on the subject from the San Francisco Chronicle.

There is one more possible theory, albeit one that’s not getting much attention this week: After so many critics fell in love with “Brokeback Mountain,” voters simply thought “Crash” was a better film.

Loved what Clooney had to say, though.

Parton’s song was just interesting. Spielberg didn’t look too happy about it while he was clapping.

I try to keep the acting stuff as separate as possible, because I use a stage name. So again, I’ll be posting info to my acting site.

Any way, I don’t want to offer up a lot of details here. I’ll post more info about it on my acting site after the shoot a week from Sunday.

And it’s really, really funny, although I think flawed for the purpose the director obviously meant it for.

If any one is interested in having a discussion about how this video misrepresents certain beliefs, I’d be up for it.

Now, I have to wait until the movie comes out on DVD, because I’m pretty sure it’s not in theaters any more.

At any rate, Firefly is a western style television series set in space. Captain Malcolm Reynolds was a sergeant in an inter-planetary war which led to an Alliance of planets… Mal, as he’s called, was on the wrong side. After the bloody war, Mal became a smuggler and purchased a Firefly class spaceship named Serenity (which just happened to be the name of the final bloody battle of the war where a half million men on both sides lost their lives).

On board the Serenity are an off-kilter yet beautiful mechanic, a pastor with a mysterious past (they call pastors “shepherds” in the world Joss Whedon has created), a trigger-happy thug, a brother and sister on the run from the feds (whose story I believe is the main plot of the movie, but I’m not sure since I haven’t seen it yet), a professional companion (basically a registered prostitute… her profession is esteemed in the world Whedon’s created… but not by all. Mal uses the derogatory “whore” at times, and the good Shepherd Book doesn’t approve, yet he stands above judgment and condemnation), a geeky pilot who is pretty funny with his off-the-wall humor, and a soldier who served under Mal… and she also happens to be married to the pilot.

The casting is phenomenal, the writing extraordinary, and the story compelling. You care about these characters Whedon has created, and you want to know where their story goes. Unfortunately for us, Fox bailed prematurely on the show, and the movie didn’t do well enough to warrant a sequel (I hope I’m wrong!).

Check out Firefly, you’ll be glad you did!

I also find hope in the show, as even though their relationships are often on the rocks, the characters help each other through the darkest times. And, like real life, sometimes our supporters flee and leave us out to dry. But also in real life, our true friends realize their mistake and quickly rectify it. Or at least try to.

The show is on late, and if parents are really concerned, simply USE the parental controls on your cable or satellite tv box. Don’t stop quality television just because you’re not smart enough to engage story and look merely at what the characters actions are. This story doesn’t glorify the sex and violence on the show, it exposes its true nature.

Aaron’s full post: link

The Great Divide album’s title track can be heard in its entirety by playing the music video on Scott Stapp’s website. link

The video’s not much more than Stapp singing, but you can hear the whole song. I almost purchased it from iTunes, but I want to buy the whole album I think. You can pre-order it on iTunes for 9.99.

Feels a little bit like a documentary at times, but a good documentary.

I wish I would’ve found out more about Murrow’s life after McCarthy. Not far after, but it ended before all of the McCarthy stuff was really over.

I had to get on the internet to find out McCarthy drank himself to death in ‘57.

In reading up on the infamous senator from Wisconsin, I ran across a paper supporting McCarthy written in 1987. It was a pretty unbelievable denial of history. If you google mccarthy one term (he actually had two, but that’s what I was looking to find out) I think it’s one of the first five links.