Graham, Scott and I went to Bloor Cinema on Saturday night for a double screening of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, hosted by Edgar Wright, who has a really funny voice. Really nasal. And British. He took a photo of the fans who stuck around for the QnA. I am in the top left holding up my paperback copy of Dune, pretty much only because I had nothing else on me to hold up in the air. See graham to the right of me.
Check out Edgar's blog, he posts a picture every day showing his adventures, being a film director and all.
http://edgarwrighthere.com/
I guess you guys don't know who Graham and Scott are. They're friends that I'm doing a few projects with. One is a top-secret movie that's gonna be huge. The other is a series that we might be seeing later this summer. Stay tuned.
I never really liked the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I've tried, believe me, I've tried. It's weird because I love funk rock fusion. I love Fishbone, Faith No More, Praxis, Primus, Urban Dance Squad, and even Mr. Bungle's demos; all those early 90s alternative crap bands. Give me some fat bass, schizophrenic guitar, and clever or explicit lyrics, and I'll be a happy man.
But for some reason Chili Peppers just don't mesh for me. I've tried. I was even listening to Blood Sugar Sex Magik when I started writing this, but after a song I got bored and put on Urban Dance Squad. By the way, if you haven't heard of them, they were pretty much the Dutch version of Rage Against the Machine, but with metal traded for a bit more hip hop and pop sensibility.
Anyway. Point is, I'm not some douche who has a thing against RHCP... the fact is, I want to like them. Their output over the past few years (californication and beyond) I feel especially neutral towards, but BSSM, Mother's Milk, Freaky Styley are all albums that I should love, as they contain my favorite, most indulgent, musical ingredients.
As this battle rages in my head every once in a while, I stumble across something that puts my mind at ease, and makes me comfortable with the thought: "I don't like the Red Hot Chili Peppers". Examples of this could be anything, whether it be a new single, (I couldn't stand By the Way, which at least in Ontario, still got regular airplay 5 years after the album's release.) or RHCP kicking Mr. Bungle off of festival lineups for a decade-old grudge that started with Kiedis bitching about Mike Patton "stealing his moves".
Once again, while browsing the vast media entity known as youtube.com, I came across the most recent addition to my list of "Why RHCP sucks" list:
Now, maybe you have to be a Zappa fan, or maybe you just have to be as neurotic as I am for this to bother you. For whatever reason, this bothered me. I'm not sure why, as obviously they're just goofing around. Butchering beautiful songs might bother the pretentious fan, but not me; hell when my next musical project hits the stage, I plan on ruining plenty of old classics, including a Zappa song or two. Maybe it's Kiedis' joking arrogance? I'm really not sure. It just doesn't feel right in my gut. Whatever it is, they're doing it rong.
Realistically though, in a month or so, I'll be at a party, or in a friend's car or house, and Red Hot Chili Peppers will be playing. And I'll like it. I might even move my hips or bob my head. Then I'll go home, all excited to hear Freaky Styley, only to turn it off after ten minutes to put on Fishbone's Reality of my Surroundings. Rinse and repeat.
Here's a real version of Inca Roads. If you aren't familiar with Zappa, this is in my opinion, one of his best "serious" rock pieces.
So what did you guys think of the RHCP clip? Did it entertain you? Annoy you? Am I crazy? Leave a comment; share your thoughts.
So I got another package from the LumberJerks. It had this nice card, a vhs tape with their latest work, a new show called "Bill's Home Videos" and a note promising another episode later in the month.
So I suppose it didn't occur to them when sending a Christmas card, to send it in advance so it arrives before Christmas; not to put the card in the mail on Christmas. Oh well, I still enjoyed it.
I've uploaded the first episode of Bill's Home Videos, catch it here.
Also, I recently put together a silly little short from old footage, so that'll be up soon. It stars... Brian and Corey, of course. I mean, I have plenty of friends, but... well it's not like they're my only friends.
So Happy New Years! And if you missed it, a couple days ago theoffline.com was a google adds site briefly. Here's a screenshot just in case you wanted to know how you could speed up Outlook or get a trial of Paintshop Pro.
For the interests of anyone who saw 6 hours away, either at this summer's Drop Your Shorts festival, or on DVD: Graham and I are working together again on a new film, to be shot next year. All other details are secret. Mainly because I don't even know them yet myself.
Drop your shorts is coming up again this month, and I will be submitting something perhaps the newest LumberJerks bit, which will also be available on theoffline.com by Sunday night. This newest one is by far the shortest, but funnily enough, took the longest for me to work on. Those assholes out in BC (I know you're reading this!) sent me an 8mm film reel, and I had to, surprisingly for the first time in my life, go and get it transfered to DV.
Corey Stevens, Ben Cooper and myself shot a little short recently. It's a little... risky. And by that I don't mean subject matter, but rather process. It might just be a giant, self-indulgent turd, or it will be a very clever, simple and fun piece. Updates on that as they come.
Paul and I are putting together a very epic short film about... internet memes.
That's all for now. Enjoy the video Corey and I submitted for the Halton Skills Competition when we were 17. SPECIAL NOTE: OUR VIDEO GOT THIRD PLACE. TAYLOR NORRIS' VIDEO LANDED FOURTH.
The LumberJerks Trailer is out if you haven't seen it yet, check it out @ theoffline.com
A new episode is coming up this weekend, and another one two weeks after that.
I'm also working on putting together a new weekly show, hopefully I'll be shooting that with Ben Cooper.
The Say Anything interview I mentioned earlier is about to go up as well.
On to talks about music:
I've been listening to John Zorn since I was in highschool, but lately, I've been really into it. Here's a great Naked City song; it's been one of my favorite Zorn compositions for years.
Soon on the offline.com we'll introduce a new show. It's not so much of a show as it is a compilation of content, all produced by LumberJerk Film Co.
The LumberJerks are a film collective from some small logging town in BC, and "LumberJerks" will feature their content as it arrives to us in the mail. (They don't have regular enough access to the internet to use ftp) They make shorts, trailers, documentaries, and whatever else. Basically it's some goofy shit, and we're always happy to include other work from people who show promise, energy, and grassroots attitude.
I'm currently working on setting up the php and xhtml to get their material connected into the site, but it's a steep learning curve for me; it's been about five years since I've done any coding, and that was java and C++!!
Anyway, peace out and check theoffline.com often; we're about to explode with a whole bunch of sticky content!!
This is my blog. Hopefully you're here because you're a fan of theoffline.com. Here at my blog you'll be able to get the inside scoop on the site, additional videos from the various other projects I have my fingers in, and random thoughts if I feel they might actually be worth writing about. Hope you enjoy, and please leave comments encouraging or berating me!
