Whispering Train

McCain Believes Wiretapping is Constitutional !!!

2008-06-07T18:33:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON: A top adviser to Senator John McCain says McCain believes that President George W. Bush's program of wiretapping without warrants was lawful, a position that appears to bring him into closer alignment with the sweeping theories of executive authority pushed by the Bush administration legal team.

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Class, Trust

2008-04-16T01:04:00.004-04:00

I love my film theory and criticism class. It makes me realize that I really can think on the same level as professional filmmakers; my education here is actually paying off! (Who knew?)

I'm almost positive that I completely raped and aced the exam, and I feel at least five times more equipped to think rationally about my own film ideas. It gives me a grounding base to begin to develop my own aesthetic, even though I have no product to show for it (yet). All this creative energy very healthy.

The university is a bit slow in the collective head and sent me my "Official Senior Checkout Form" about a year too early. I have my work cut out for me next year, and I have decided to take it easy when it comes to extra-curricular activities. I still would like to film my B/W short, but we'll see if I will be able to fit it in. I'd love to do it at the end of this year, but two weeks of shows, two trips to NYC, Foxed/Pigged events, faux-dates/cuteness, graduations of close friends in far away places, and academia sort of rule that out. Who knows, though, maybe I will learn to make time from nothingness. Wouldn't that be fancy, eh?

I've been working on my short-story-turned-screenplay also. I am not typing it until I finish it, so if you're curious, you'll just have to wait. Darn.

Spring finally FEELS like it is upon us, and I feel great in some brand-spankin'-new clothes that I bought over spring break, and I am finally free of the curse of the ridiculous hair. Zinn cut my hair very short, and it's pretty sweet. Pictures to come.

Lastly, I feel the need to share another poem. I am reasonably happy with this one; it went through at least 3 versions before its final state. It's short, but I think it is effective. Enjoy...!?

TRUST

It is inevitable
We will not stray from this course
Laid before us by decades of
Feature films

But as our train whispers on
I shall never remember to forget
Each and every moment of
Agonizing pain
Or the color of your eyes

iPhone

2008-03-23T20:15:00.001-04:00

I laughed at this.

Enjoy.

Gobama

2008-03-23T12:48:00.006-04:00

A little bit late, yes, but I found this speech interesting.

Enjoy.

Also, Bare is over. Like the end of both shows, it makes me both happy and sad. Even though I'm not completely happy with my work with the sound for Bare, it still was well received, I met cool people, and it looks very good on my resume, haha. So, thanks to Anthony for pulling it all together.

Also, I know that it's only been a few days, but I feel like Veganism may stick with me for a long time. We'll see. For now, I watch The Mighty Boosh Live DVD. Hilarious.

On Writing

2007-06-21T20:39:00.001-04:00

So, I went to Borders and I bought a nice blank notebook/journal to begin writing story/script/screenplay for my upcoming film project. I began to write the story overview, I got lost in the pages somewhere. I began recording all the thoughts I had about the story and what it means to me. I finished writing, and then put it down for an hour or so. When I went back, I was amazed at the levels of depth that I pulled from a simple story idea. It was very fun and rewarding to think that something that I could conceive could hold up under my own scrutiny. I really hoping that when I get to filming that it still surprises me to read my own stuff. I'm also glad that I have some friends that I respect to help me out. I'm being pretty ambitious about this whole film, so I hope that the rest of pre-production goes well. I'll most likely keep writing about it, because it's on my mind a lot.

RISK/Reward

2008-03-22T03:03:00.006-04:00

I have now been officially introduced to the world of professional theatre. I was recently hired as a sound intern for a company called New York Stage and Film, and I'll be spending 8 weeks of my summer at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY at NYSAF's Powerhouse Summer Theatre. I am so glad now that I took that trip to NYC to go to the A.R.T./New York internship fair. It feels so strange to be interacting with the outside world of theatre, since nearly all my theatre experience in college has been in the classroom or with student groups. I feel like I'm skipping a few steps in immersion in the real world, but I know that this was the next logical step. It's sort of strange that I feel almost pensive about the whole thing at times, because it signifies the beginning of the end of my youth. I see employment, moving, and financial woes moving closer and closer to me, while luckily I seem to be holding onto my highest dreams and desires. I am truly grateful to be privileged enough to study something that I love.

That being said, I'm extremely excited to be working for NYSAF. They were my top choice out of all 14 companies that I gave my resume to at the fair, and I was delighted that they contacted me before I could contact them in the days following the fair. The New York Times quote on their website seems to sum up their mission well:

“New York Stage and Film at Vassar College is not about the value of name dropping. It is about what the theater is supposed to be about: the process, the ensemble, the evolution of the work, the work itself. It is not about commerce; it is camaraderie and collaboration. And it is art.”

Not to fall into the habit of name dropping, but they mention name dropping because NYSAF carries a huge list of big names associated with the company's summer program. Last summer, they premiered a new musical written by one of my favorite playwrights, John Patrick Shanley (Doubt).

In other news, I'm trying Veganism for two weeks. If you want to know more about it, feel free to ask me, and I'll be happy to explain it to you.

Now, a poem. I was going to edit it, but after all this thought about the impending end of youth, I couldn't bring myself to change anything.

RISK

I ran, skipped along
The cold red brick edge,
Navigated my steps, careful not to
Fall into the abyss that was the sidewalk below.
Now, I step up from that abyss
Separating myself from memory
With fifteen years of textbooks and essays

I stand on the bricks gazing deep
Into the eyes of the traffic passing me
In the opposite direction
“Am I so different than the boy
Lost to memory?”

The answer never came to me
As the sun began to set
And I marched on against the current
Of the great steel beasts
Dismissing the boy in my mind
As no more than a cold chill
Brought about by time’s winter breeze

So I walked onward
Feeling confidence shrouding
Doubt within my soul

Spring is upon us

2008-02-27T17:28:00.004-05:00

Spring has firmly taken hold of me and pulled me into its crazy grasp. I have a list of things that I must do every day and compiled them here.

1. Use my calendar/planner. I've never really made myself use one, so I've decided that now is a good time.
2. Read/do my fucking schoolwork. It's so easy for me to get behind, so I'm gonna not do that. Yeah.
3. Do some creative writing. Must...keep...writing...
4. Consider/balance my budget. I hate money. It makes me crazy. I've gotta fix that or else I'll be living on the streets of New York after I graduate without any sense of responsibility for money. I predict a mess, so I'm fixing that shit now.
5. Clean my living area. It only takes like 15 minutes, and I need to stop being lazy.
6. Push-ups/sit-ups. Before I go to sleep. Enough said.
7. Eat at least one salad. I like salad; I don't eat enough of it.

There. That's a decent list for now.

I'm going to see Eddie Izzard in NYC on March 6th, and I don't think I could possibly be more excited about it. Never put a sock in a toaster... or jam on a magnet...?

I'm also going to get my SLR camera from my house and start using it again. I miss photography.

Canned air is a fun thing to play with.

Being a Lifeguard

2007-06-24T19:55:00.001-04:00

So, this summer, I have pretty much the best job ever. I'm lifeguarding one-guard apartment pools in the Newark/Christiana/Bear area. I get to do just about 2 hours of work in a 7.5-9.5 hour day, and I get paid to read and write at will for the rest of the day, and get a tan. For those of you who think this would be boring, it's not. It's probably the best hours you can ask for. Most of the pools don't open until 11 or 12, and I get there half an hour early so I can vacuum the pool and stuff. I make enough money to make it worthwhile, and I work 4-5 days a week usually. I've read 4 books already this summer, and done most of my writing while at work. I can even make small-talk with the pool patrons and stuff. It's pretty much the best job ever.

On the Topic of Films, and other Nonsense

2007-06-20T18:12:00.000-04:00

I recently saw the film "Little Children" and decided to review it on Metacritic. Here is my review:

Andrew F. gave it a 4:
The boring photography experienced in viewing Little Children was only the least of its problems. The film was an all-too-bleak, dry, uninteresting window into the world of problems associated with suburban life, including a very choppy overused view on adultery. With a script perpetually spiraling nowhere, the writers opted to slap unrealistic epiphanies into the heads of the main characters by way of "terrible accidents/tragedies averted", and then tried to create a positive spin from them, when, in actuality, the concluding moments of the film felt forced upon the viewer because the writers hit a snag in moving the story toward a satisfactory conclusion. Any comparison of this film to CRASH is very correct; if you ate the spoon-fed archetypes and messages about racism and how to "conquer it" in CRASH, then you'll really love the baseless conclusion about how to conquer the problems of suburban life in LITTLE CHILDREN. However, if you want a powerful viewing experience that delivers the goods in the end, then look to AMERICAN BEAUTY. Comparing LITTLE CHILDREN to AMERICAN BEAUTY would be a crime.

Ichiban

2007-06-19T19:52:00.000-04:00

Well. This is post #1 for me here. I'll most likely document stuff that happens as it happens. Stay tuned for more writings on the topics of art, academics, pop culture, and many other worldly things.