Stuff that happened this week

April 7

(my film)
Picture lock, waiting for sound to be finished. Sent in film to apply for "grant" from IC for finishing costs (~$900). I say "grant" because they just refund the money after the fact, so if you don't have enough to finish in the first place, you're shit outta luck. It's really quite unfair to those who are making good films but don't have the initial funds to get them finished. I'd rather see final prints of those any day than watch the rip-offs I know are probably going to get some money that they really don't need.

Seen this week:
Kip Fulbeck's Game of Death, and another short by him about the place of Asian males and females in films. Low-budget video projects that prove anyone with two VCRs can get their message across. Game of Death credit sequence was especially funny. Not in-your-face, but not passive, either. Kip was definitely a presence in his videos.
Student rushes/dailies:
Eh... I don't know... I'm glad these were just rough cuts.
Currently reading: still picking up Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan once in a while. Halfway through I Am Jackie Chan by of course Jackie Chan, and who knows if I'll finish it. Hollywood 101 by Frederick Levy has provided some good web sites and postal addresses.
Finished recently: Thomas Harris' chilling Red Dragon--highly recommended. Also the dated but worthy of a read Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney.
Listening to:
The Aphex Twin's "Classics." Wordless techno at it's best. Nice beats, but I can't tell whether or not I want to relax to it or get up and try to dance. Needs more listening time.
Banco de Gaia's "I love baby cheesy" remixes. Besides the fact that it's the same song done 5 different ways, I really really dig this group. Their beats are indescribably cool, a mix of vocals and drums that you can't help but feel at least a little.
"American Beauty Score". After repeated listenings, I'm wondering why this is so short--40 minutes. I still think the music is beautiful, but it really creeps me out sometimes when I inadvertently associate at it with its relative points in the film.

Weather is horrible, what can I say? I have no tolerance for this snow and rain crap anymore. It was 30 degrees last Wednesday. Give me a fucking break; it's APRIL!
Campus police pulled me over for not "stopping" at 2 stop signs. He asked if I'd ever been given a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign before. I said "no," which isn't a lie. Okay, I was pulled over before by Ithaca police for that same reason, but I wasn't issued a ticket. I got out of one again with the campus police. I think he just wanted to make sure I wasn't drunk.
Street cleaning fiasco:
Here's the deal--the City of Ithaca Department of Public Works sets up NO PARKING signs for every street in our entire neighborhood. At least 100 cars have nowhere to park for that day, starting at 7am. We at our house park on the lawn, out of the way of the street cleaner. 8:00 am: Knock at the door. It's a man trying to convince us that if we move back out on the street we'll only get an $8 ticket instead of $15 for parking on the lawn. Adding in towing costs for parking on the street that day: $200 at least. Gee, I wonder which one I'd rather pay--$20 or $208? We asked where we were supposed to go, if we can't go on the street and we're not supposed to be on the lawn... he says, "Go shopping." At 8 am.
Here's a way to solve the problem, city of Ithaca: clean the streets during spring break. No students, no cars, no problem.
No brains.

I really don't want to discuss this anymore. I'm considering cancelling this particular column. Previous weeks:
March 4th
March 12th
March 20th
March 25th
March 31st

	(my film) Picture lock, waiting for sound to be finished. Sent in film to apply for "grant" from IC for finishing costs (~$900). I say "grant" because they just refund the money after the fact, so if you don't have enough to finish in the first place, you're shit outta luck. It's really quite unfair to those who are making good films but don't have the initial funds to get them finished. I'd rather see final prints of those any day than watch the rip-offs I know are probably going to get some money that they really don't need.
Seen this week: Kip Fulbeck's Game of Death, and another short by him about the place of Asian males and females in films. Low-budget video projects that prove anyone with two VCRs can get their message across. Game of Death credit sequence was especially funny. Not in-your-face, but not passive, either. Kip was definitely a presence in his videos. Student rushes/dailies: Eh... I don't know... I'm glad these were just rough cuts. Currently reading: still picking up Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan once in a while. Halfway through I Am Jackie Chan by of course Jackie Chan, and who knows if I'll finish it. Hollywood 101 by Frederick Levy has provided some good web sites and postal addresses. Finished recently: Thomas Harris' chilling Red Dragon--highly recommended. Also the dated but worthy of a read Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. Listening to: The Aphex Twin's "Classics." Wordless techno at it's best. Nice beats, but I can't tell whether or not I want to relax to it or get up and try to dance. Needs more listening time. Banco de Gaia's "I love baby cheesy" remixes. Besides the fact that it's the same song done 5 different ways, I really really dig this group. Their beats are indescribably cool, a mix of vocals and drums that you can't help but feel at least a little. "American Beauty Score". After repeated listenings, I'm wondering why this is so short--40 minutes. I still think the music is beautiful, but it really creeps me out sometimes when I inadvertently associate at it with its relative points in the film.
	Weather is horrible, what can I say? I have no tolerance for this snow and rain crap anymore. It was 30 degrees last Wednesday. Give me a fucking break; it's APRIL! Campus police pulled me over for not "stopping" at 2 stop signs. He asked if I'd ever been given a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign before. I said "no," which isn't a lie. Okay, I was pulled over before by Ithaca police for that same reason, but I wasn't issued a ticket. I got out of one again with the campus police. I think he just wanted to make sure I wasn't drunk. Street cleaning fiasco: Here's the deal--the City of Ithaca Department of Public Works sets up NO PARKING signs for every street in our entire neighborhood. At least 100 cars have nowhere to park for that day, starting at 7am. We at our house park on the lawn, out of the way of the street cleaner. 8:00 am: Knock at the door. It's a man trying to convince us that if we move back out on the street we'll only get an $8 ticket instead of $15 for parking on the lawn. Adding in towing costs for parking on the street that day: $200 at least. Gee, I wonder which one I'd rather pay--$20 or $208? We asked where we were supposed to go, if we can't go on the street and we're not supposed to be on the lawn... he says, "Go shopping." At 8 am. Here's a way to solve the problem, city of Ithaca: clean the streets during spring break. No students, no cars, no problem. No brains.
I really don't want to discuss this anymore. I'm considering cancelling this particular column.	Previous weeks: March 4th March 12th March 20th March 25th March 31st