Doggies on the Westside.

I'm a dog person.  This is an understatement.  I'm also a cat person, but not to equal affinity.

I like big breeds, but I have room for the little guys as well.  

At this very instant, two adorable pit bulls are taking a little nap on the couch adjacent to where I'm typing this.  

I could make a hyperbolic statement like so; "I just don't get people who don't like dogs".  Or, "I can never trust anyone who doesn't like dogs."  In both statements, you can superimpose dogs for any animal, or, actually, just about anything.

I hear statements of this type constantly.  And, I’m sure at some point or another I've made similar creeds.  I mean, HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU NOT LIKE DOGS?  Really, they directly sped up human evolution.  They're also cute as a mofo.  And loyal.  And they love you, for being you.  So, while the rest of the world is busy trying to shame you, the dog, she just wants her tummy rubbed and a little snack.

One of my uncles came to visit from another country recently.  He’s not American.  He's old school.  Where he's from, at least in his times, dogs were not thought of as pets, the same way we think of them.  Dogs were mainly used for working or even when identified as pets, they were kept outdoors exclusively.  And, all the while, carrying around with them an antagonistic stigma, that they were dirty (this is of course true in the literal sense at times).  Dirt equates to not cleanly, thus, not suited for man to sleep next too, on the couch.  

In fact, this is one of the reasons your favorite MC/Weird Loveable/Crip creature Snoop Doggy Dog changed his name to Snoop Lion. Turns out that them Rasta's think dog's are a lowly animal (pop culture ya’ll).  Still love Bob Marley, even though he thought your dog was filthy, like a pig? (pigs are cute as well, and the answer coming up)

So, keep this little thing in mind.  Not everybody thinks about things like you do.  And, that's probably a good thing.  Once you set outside of your worldview, you might open the door to a little more empathy because you’ll be working to look through someone else’s lenscrafters.  Of course, you can still love your doggies the same.  You might even love the human race a little more, you misanthropic scoundrel. 

Roscoe & Buckley do the dew.​

Aint Nobody Got Time 4 Dat.

Time management is a weird enterprise.  The more discipline, the more inflexibility.  Things get done at the expense of other things.  

Possibly, things of a more pressing matter.  Not crisis mode stuff, but, important, relationship building, people stuff. The quadrant 2 stuff.    

At the other spectrum is the no discipline approach.  The world of stoners (not talking about you PHD having mofo's who smoke pot all day, you know who you are) and TV, and wine, and stupid meetings on top of meetings.

I like discipline.  Sometimes it strangles your relationships though.  Be careful not to worship your schedule. 

finite musings.

​finite musings.

Title #23

Sitting, watching the humans pass by.
Many shapes, all sizes.
What is the reason they've all decided
to pass my window today?
Was it appropriate yesterday?
Tomorrow?
Humans, pass by.  
It's ok.  I enjoy your smiles.
I enjoy your frowns.
You have no choice but to pass by.
But you have a choice in how you pass by.
That is good enough for our species.  
A great responsibility.

The Rick Rubin Experiment

I visited one of Rick Rubin's original LA home studio's recently.  Full of ancient technology, beautiful rugs and a thickly, creeping atmosphere of legend-itis.

Amid the analog gear, there exists a tiny digital corner, consisting of a Power Mac, a small sequencer, midi keys, a couple pre-amps and a compressor.  About 1/20th the size of the analogue space.  

I don't know if Mr. Rubin still uses the place, but I do know someone else who does.  And he wouldn't have a clue how to fire up the old 1000+ button board.  Must have been manufactured in the UK, I'm guessing.  Neve?  Probably.  

No,  he doesn't touch the practically priceless gear.  Doesn't need to get "that sound" that people used to talk about all day.  But he does get to work.  Granted, he is sitting in an inspired place, but, he gets to work.  And with the tools that he's familiar with, to produce results quickly, so that it can feed the loop.  

What's my point?  

Terrence Malick Yo Momma

Terrence Malick is the silent type.  The myth of the artist who lives on his own terms, without the need to do interviews, photographs, premieres and anything  else having to do with the world outside of his own.  (addendum: fucking spoiled brat)

I respect that.  In a perfect world, that's what I would want.  Or, at least, that's what I thought I wanted.

We live in the extreme opposite of that world nowadays.  Everything now is about connecting.  Everything is about being honest, raw, out in the open.  Dignity separates the attention whores from the sincere.     

If you were like me, one who wished that they could get even a small slice of that Malick land, or even the Daniel Day Lewis world of compartmentalized secrecy, best of luck to you.  

Times have changed, and we don't travel to a place we once were culturally.  No, only time we do that is when we pick up pieces to throw in our post-modern potluck.  It doesn't stay, nor last.

More important however, is that it's not about Malick or Daniel Day Lewis, or anybody.  It's about you.  And your choices. You're under no obligation by some force field of protocols that you need to behave someway to be some idealized version of what YOU SHOULD BE. 

First step, kill your heroes.  Not figuratively.  But really, destroy them.  They are just like you.  They worked hard.  They got some breaks.  

Work hard.  That's what you can control.  Learn.  Do. 

Make your own rules.  (yeah, we got cheesy toward the end, but, I'm on that caffeine 101 and some pent up aggression from losing a rap battle last night)

​Terrence Malick Yo Momma.

Biggie Arts vs Lil Arts - A fools paradise

(note: This was inspired by reading a piece of Hugh MacLeod’s new book in progress.  I have often thought about this and it’s been heavily discussed within my inner peer group, because, well, why the hell not)

I have a friend who draws mini cartoons everyday.  He puts them up on his instagram, or website and releases them out into the world, several times daily.  It's effective, he is fast and consistent and his fan's appreciate it.  They share it, link to it.  

At first, I advised him to not go crazy with supply.  You know, hold out a bit.  I think I was a bit off on that one.  But, I’ll still argue with consistency either way, as long as you keep em coming.  Too much too fast and burnout city man, like whoa, you dig.  Too little too slow, and you're a bum.  Or, a dinosaur of old art.  

Scarcity hardly works these days like it once did, unless you established that record a decade or so ago, because frankly, abundance and choice is out of control.  And waiting is not the name of the game anymore.  I WANT IT NOW!  That’s your little inner child yelling at you.  Or, your actual child screaming in your ear.  Either way, we are in the sphere of the NOW.  Eat a spoonful, and lay back down on your coach.  It’s not going away fatass (that was clearly a subconscious dig toward the “imaginary” mailman who hasn’t taken my outgoing mail in the new place I’m staying at for a few days). 

Going back to my friend, he does what can be labeled as “lil art”.  Edward Gorey (the recipient of a recent Google honoring), Charles Schultz, Hugh MacLeod and many many other people do lil art.   Of course, the term “lil” is subjective and based on context.  Alan Moore does “lil art” compared to Dostoevsky.  But, what the hell does that mean anyway?  I’d like to define it as somehow both related to length of time to produce, and production costs.

I have a directing friend who just wrapped principal photography on a 3 million dollar movie.  He does “biggie art” compared to a Sunday editorial cartoonist, but even his 3 million dollar movie doesn’t stack up to Kathryn Bigelow’s ZERO DARK THIRTY when we talk about biggie in terms of size.   Still,  we are familiar with tons of names of biggie art.  They are part of our folklore.

The real question however is, is there are a difference in what that piece of art ( or gift if we are being generous)  provides between these two places of the biggie and lil.  Between a Charles Schultz or an Orson Welles or a Leo Tolstoy?  

Aside from the medium, and its size, nothing.  This is not as simple as I'm making it out to be, but getting past the intellectual bullshitting, it all comes down to a FEELING.  And, quality.  It’s resonance to the individual.

How did that MAKE ME FEEL.  Was I moved?  Did it connect?  

And, when it comes to that, certainly lil art has affected me just as much as biggie art. 

These days, so much of biggie art is squeezed under pressure.  The zeitgeist, especially now treats everything on the same leveling field.  So, lovers of the biggie, don't forget to look into the lil once in awhile.

Even as far as filmmaking is concerned, look into your lil cousin, television to tell you times a changing.  “Small is the New big” as that luxurious nerd brain Seth Godin states.  He probably means something else, but this isn’t his space now, is it.

Ball So Hard.

If you are an outlier, outlie the fuck out of the world.  Outlie so hard, that people can't look away.  

The other choice is to follow the herd, looking to fit in with whatever is the flavor of the moment. 

It just so happens that the mass market flavor of the moment(long drawn out moment) is REALITY TV stars.  Drink that sugary, sticky, coagulated syrup.  Just make sure you don't choke on it.

​An Image that may or may not have anything to do with the words above. 

The Good Girl.

She was a good girl.  Full of the ethereal and effortless.  An experiment, named one of Darwinian's favorites.  A winner as far as any society was concerned.  

But, she had secrets.  And without a pass into the frontal lobe, the rest looked just like a lizard.  

"Even the best ones look convoluted on the insides", said a grizzled beast downing his tall can inside a black hole, once.  

"Not always, but sometimes", I fancied.

Be careful when you envy perfection.  

​Image courtesy of the artist, Ali Sabet © 2013

Tools of our Childhoods

My first computer was an IBM XT Clone.  It's expense rivals a pretty,  customized new Imac, notwithstanding inflation.  This was the greatest gift I had ever received (and it probably still holds as the most expensive) and I'm sure, my newly American parents thought it would give me a major headstart into the new world (thus, the ability to pay them back sooner then then later).

It had a VGA monitor.  My cousin got the Super VGA.  I was seething with envy.

The startup screen was MSDOS.  In those days, we all needed to learn a bit of programming to make that thing do anything.  Wish I stuck that one out a bit longer then a couple years, before the outdoors, BMX bikes and sports took center stage.

It clocked in at around 6MHZ.  It had a turbo button which threw it all the way up to around 8MHZ.  I don't remember the RAM capacity, nor the hard drive.  I'm guessing those where in the very low MB's and kB's range?  Maybe?  I don't want to check google.  I remember it a certain way, and hell, that's the way it should be.  After all, its my memory, I own it.

So, here this is what I might be getting at.  Isn't it nice to remember things without the NEED for precise accuracy?  I mean, I enjoy my childhood memories to exist in the imagination, not the facts.  Facts are boring, uninspiring.  Sometimes of course, they should be the first choice.  But not always.     

A little space between that objective and subjective lies the truth.  It feels right.  It's more personal that way.  

_______________________________

​Post Script Additional Anecdote:

I was given a gift of THE NEVER ENDING STORY during a Christmas party.  I was ecstatic   It was one of my favorite childhood movies.  It was fucking glorious when I first saw it.  I remembered all those magical moments.  Suffice to say, watching it in my adult world, in an adult loft in downtown LA, with my adult perspective was anything but magical.  Not to say that I didn't enjoy the experience fully, but it might have been better to leave the memory as was, then dilute it with all that junk and grime on our adult lenses.  I know some of you nostalgic nut heads can frame these things better then I.  Good for you.

Pick Yourself

There is a line, oft repeated in Seth Godin's newest book, "The Icarus Deception" in which he simply states, "pick yourself".  This is a profound thought, and in the simplest language possible.  

Here, he is referring to people who are waiting for a chance in the sun (but instead, can choose themselves).  People who wait for some authority to point them out, to lift them up and place them square into the X at the end of the rainbow.  Problem is, this is the worst type of game, with the worst type of odds.

Now, Seth comes from a marketing background.  He understands the world of business, entrepreneurship, marketing, etc.  But he tries to bridge the gap to the arts.  In many ways, he succeeds.  But, in his fury of words, the actualities and nuances get swept under the rug.  

For example, while you can DIY anything, the cost of traditional narrative movie making is very high.  Even the tiniest budgets rival the seed money for a new start-up.  And while you might not be promised a return, the business world is pretty straightforward.

With that said, his phrase, "pick yourself" still works.  Because, if you don't, your not living in todays world. You're looking at industries and systems of the past, and for the arts, this is especially the case.  

Even with the high cost of movie making,  when you "pick yourself", you have a sense of control, and a vision for tomorrow.  This of course means that some compromises might have to be made.  

But, the numbers tell the truth (at least for now).  Movie making that you remember from your childhood, will not be the same business in a couple years, then it was for the last 50 years.  It is hardly any different from the record business.    

Shit has flipped, and hard.  So, pick up the camera, or remix what's already available.  Or simply, write your dreams down.  That way, you are on the start of the journey of picking yourself.  A place exists for everybody who tries.

The new model?

-Does a new model exist?
-Does it have gatekeepers, and if so, who are they?
-Does an audience exist?
-If so, do you create the audience or do you find them?
-Why do you do what you do? (be specific)
-Do you hold the same heroes in your "calling" as you did 1/3/5/10 years ago?
-Is your "calling" going to exist in 3/5/10 years?
-What's your great fear(s)? (don't be shy, this might be helpful if your not too cynical yet)
-What's your favorite color and why?

"The Harlem Shake" - Don't let the silliness fool you.

Is the “The Harlem Shake” some sort of indescribable turning point
in media?  What is the precedence?  You can call it silly, or funny, or
whatever else you’d like, but, rest assured, the engine behind The Harlem Shake is worthy of consideration.  Think about this; This little dance movement is much much bigger, both in participation and in reach than YOUR MOVIE, or YOUR MUSIC, or YOUR ART PROJECT.  And it’s not just for the little indies, this thing blows away the big boys as well; ie: The Hollywood Machine in terms action.

Think about that for a second.  Advertisers spend millions of dollars trying to get you involved with whatever it is they selling.  When was the last time a seemingly spontaneous participatory movement occurred at this level.  It takes time, effort, creativity and resources for people to join in.  And join in they do, for free.  

Remember the days when some item of fashion, or car, or dialogue from a movie made its place into the public sphere with lasting effect?  It was probably a very long, long time ago.  

So, whether you “like” The Harlem Shake or not, it’s a piece of conscious harmonizing that is almost impossible to buy with money.  Professional advertisers living in the old model can write it off, but, they’ll be writing off their own existence if they don’t consider the new models and how it affects the world we are living in today, not 40 years ago.  

And I understand that this is very short lived, but so is everything else these days.