Dear Santa,

Please bring me:

A RED ONE Camera System or
or CANON XL2
or CANON XL1
SONY PD150 or SONY PD170 -
CANON GL2

and an $8,000 credit limit in a local camera store for filters and accessories - and a $10,000 Lowes gift card if its not too much trouble, and world peace ..... yeah that too.

                           Thank you in advance,
                                                   Little Tommy P

 

Something tells me by the time that I can afford a RED ONE  I'll be able to film my shots with a wristwatch because the feature of telling time will be obsolete by then ( a stab at the fact that no one uses a phone to talk anymore, just text and update Facebook and play mp3's.). Scott Pilgrim was a awesome thing to get for the holidays though. I think that this movie will have to be up for some award at the very least for special effects. Don't get me started because I just can't say anything negative about this film. That being said Blue-ray is a great format I'm falling in love with, but there are some trends that I wished the big companies would not exploit. I love watching a movie FOR the movie and xtras, but it seems now that Ad's intruding every aspect of your life wasn't enough - yes even on these very pages - UNIVERSAL  - thought it a good idea, even necessary to make ads that teeter dangerously close on the side of obscuring the cinematic experience. More specifically in the case of Scott Pilgrim, the ads appear over the full motion video in the background just to the left of the actual menu itself - its highly distracting, even ugly, hocking dates and times of network TV programs, much like those animated pop-ups that interfere with television programs. When I author a DVD I look at it as a package as a whole - extras, commentary, etc. I put special care into the look of a DVD - ensuring it has character and above all reflects the tone of the material about to be experienced. I did not appreciate pop up ads on an otherwise spectacular Blue-ray experience. Its tarnished now ... shame on you Universal. If I were the Producers and Directors I'd be quite possibly pissed.

After getting these Blue-Rays as one might imagine I was stoked and couldn't wait to drop my eyes on it. I'll stop right here to remind all of you bleary eyed right after Christmas trying to get these players hooked and working, remember to make sure the firmware is up to date. Save yourself some headache and a trip or two back to the store returning "defective discs ". Like I did with the new release of Fantasia that was in fact a new generation of Blue-ray. I watch mine on the studio computer, so I actually had to update the software which brings me to something else. Updating firmware for players and if you have a PC update the program which sometimes involves buying a NEW program after the one that came with the computer or drive when you bought it. On the low end these players are about $79 for the programs, and after updating my player recently it lost DVD functionality because DVD's are running copyright protection. I do not condone piracy and in fact in this very site is mentioned numerous times and even links to legitimate ways to watch and enjoy content. But i wonder where is the limit? At what point does the endless copyright applications, ads, and adware that hassle you overpower the desire to have a meaningful cinematic experience. The fact is, it taints it rather heavily. After getting all of my blue- ray issues straight it was a few hours later a lot of wasted time and I didn't even feel like watching a movie then, the fact is there are very few movies worth going though all this for. If you read up after unwrapping the those shiny new Blue-ray players on Christmas, be aware that if its a newly released Blue-ray disc - my experiences so far are from Disney and Universal but may include all within this generation of discs. So don't take it them back to the store like I did, (the first one played fine just the second disc didn't) and don't throw your player out of the window - which i was tempted to do. After the eggnog wears off think about it rationally, make sure everything is up to date and start considering a boycott as a consumer of any Studio in the industry puts out Blue-rays with extreme over intrusive adds and ridiculous copy-protection and studio adware ( yes there is that too).

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Merry Christmas and all that jazz, and thanks for stopping by,
                                                                                                 TJPARSONS

How I wish I would have had enough time to write something to invite together all of the artists  in this area to partake in this event along side me.

It just happened I was caught off guard because this was an early Christmas gift from my love who knew that I was a fan of his acting and was interested in exploring his work as a live performer , author, and director.

What movies to take for him to sign? It was a frenzy through my house (not in a fanboy way, but in a poorly decisive way) at the end of a very busy day that ended in a totally overkill and cartoonishly ridiculous pile of DVDs. In my haste during the course of the day I figured I would choose/weed through the pile on the way to the theater.  Decided to purchase two of his books - " Oak-Mot " and "Rat Catching" which I cherished for their simplistically minimalist yet dreamlike surreal nature. Little did I know what was in store when the "real performance" began that is to say a complete performance in the form a larger than life "slide show" of  eight of his books, punctuated and read with conviction by his animated persona.

Slideshow and reading of 8 books:
He broke from the under the stage jumped up and raised his arms like the ring leader of a mad circus. Promptly telling the crowd matter of factly that he was going to now begin reciting "Eight full books" for our listening pleasure. And that he did,  to much pleasure indeed. I solemnly believe ( as the point was brought up to me first by the elusive Matt Chellini), being spoken live, due to the nature of the books in their physical form this was perhaps the optimum way to experience them. The Books are added enhancement to the performance. Crispin Hellion Glover began reading. I started taking notes but all in all it was not only an interesting way to publish; but the method of producing the material seemed to have the effect similar to uncovering anthropological discoveries, or historical artifacts illustrating psychic automatism.

Concrete Inspection - guide to inspecting with vigor and perfection
Rat Catching - an almost greys anatomy approach at times to the profession of rodent extermination
New World - seldom seen
The Backward Swing -  also seldom seen
Round My House - perhaps one of the most visually compelling
Happy Journey - ironic twist with visual eye candy
A Son of a Mother - blissfully fantastic and Freudian
What it is and How it is Done - indeed so


And then the Meat and Potatoes a la Fellini "Everything is Fine":
funded by Crispin Hellion Glover's very own production company Volcanic Eruptions. Steven C. Stuart (both writer and actor) plays Paul Baker a man in real life and on screen with cerebral palsy that induces the audience to entertain his most dark but sexually charged fantasies.  Other than that I truly cannot - in the spirit of the project give anything else away. I have seen many art films in my day, but this indeed does push many envelopes. So many in fact, that  it pushed the boundary of my own curiosity to peer over my shoulder at different intervals to see if the film had in fact rubbed anyone the wrong way in a ruffling surprise.

Signing and conversation:
The book and movie signing was set up to inspire an intimate environment ensuring that fans got a chance to get to know Mr. Glover, and feel an honest connection, and not feel rushed  through the meeting. I asked him to sign two of his  books: Rat Catching and Oak Mot along with a copy of David Lynchs's Wild at Heart, and a copy of Burton's Alice in Wonderland for a very special little boy. I asked what it was like to work with David Lynch and if per chance that was the beginning of his stream of consciousness. Remarking about working with David Lynch he said" Wow, who didn't watch Eraser Head dozens of times in those days". Anyone that knows Crispin Hellion Glover just by the many roles he has played is really not seeing the full picture of this truly unique individual. This experience changed my view of him in the most respectful way, and I encouraged him to keep doing what he is doing and work outside the "Hollywood box" as it were. I wanted to ask so many questions at the Q and A , as I was taking loads of notes, but the funny thing was that as he was talking about production, and the many bumps in the road and toils - he eloquently hit on every one of the points I had hoped to bring up, which gave me a little bit of comfort knowing that someone else out there shares many of the same sensibilities and longing to explore. If you are not aware of Crispin Hellion Glover as an Artist, Author and Autuer, and you are an artist yourself, you may be denying yourself a mind altering, maybe even life changing experience. I look forward to keeping a watch on his many future projects. I truly wish him the best as I know it may be tiring traveling like he does promoting his work for an audience that has grown obese on an oversaturated diet of Hollywood junk food.

This is the part of the article when  I tell you about the crude drawn in sunglasses in this picture - its a wonderous adventure about my eyes wandering to the Filmmaker /  Author just at the time it was snapped because he had asked me a question - is was pretty distracting so I decided to have some obvious fun with it. - and with all the tools before me, crayons seemed a tad sophomoric.

Met the owners of this Alamo Drafthouse franchise, and they seemed enthusiastic about helping worthy independent artists as well as continuing to offer the perfect synthesis of cutting edge films and technology and dining atmosphere with a surprisingly diverse beverage and food menu. They were in total control of the accommodating intimate atmosphere that Mr. Glover had requested to provide fans with ample individual time to make a meaningful exchange with the Author and Director.

Had a blast.

thanks for dropping by,
TJParsons