Misguided Distortion

President Obama Can No Longer Ignore Iran?

2011-12-11T11:17:00.000-06:00

Sure, this is a bit dated, considering the recent drone incident, but the issue is the same. Back in October, FOXNews columnist Micheal Goodwin wanted Obama to stand up and make a clear statement on Iran. The drone only forced Obama's hand. The following is a refutation to Goodwin's article I wrote for class before the drone was captured. -

Obama is dodging a clear stance on Iran in the media; however, the Bush administration’s plans for Iran carried over and even intensified when Obama took office. Iran being the “Greatest Threat on Earth” seems a bit out of the ballpark. The United States’ sordid affair with Iraq and Iran in the past only confuses the issue of whether or not we should even be involved in the Middle East. Blaming the Iranian threat on the “unintended consequence” of killing Saddam Hussein is like saying the unintended consequence of installing a door is that it opens to the other side. The “gates to the Arab world were opened” long before Saddam was a factor.

Obama is no fool; the same weapons being used by the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq are readily available to us should Iran become a serious threat.

“They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran," according to Dan Plesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London. "US bombers and long range missiles are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours," he said. "The firepower of US forces has quadrupled since 2003," accelerating under Obama (Chomsky).

Does Goodwin want Obama to come out and be completely transparent? Clearly, the current sanctions and trigger fingers trembling to blow the holy hell out of Iran are in place; don’t fret Goodwin, we got this.

Is Iran our greatest threat? A quick Google search has no mention of Ahmadinejad or Iran being the pinnacle of evil. In fact, a search for “the greatest threat on earth” describes everything from global warming and asteroids to the actions of the entire human race. Maybe I’m being susceptible to mainstream media, but my understanding is Iran is a threat only because of direct U.S. influence in the past. Maybe we should just leave them alone. Sometimes it’s hard for the U.S. to look in the mirror and recognize the evil that lies within.

The United States has been treating Iran and Iraq like marionettes long before Hussein was ever around. In 1953 the CIA staged a coup d’état in Iran to place a pro-American Shah in power under the guise of stopping communism involvement, but it was mostly to gain more access to Iran’s oil resources. The U.S. continued to support the new Shah until all hell broke loose because of human rights violations and a very angry anti-American public. The people revolted, and guess who decided to sell weapons of mass destruction to Iraq in order to keep Iran in a destabilized state while they tried to get a better grasp on the situation? You guessed it… good old America. Better yet, we pissed off both countries by selling weapons to both sides. So we backed Iran, we backed Iraq, we backed Iran, we backed Iraq, we backed and sold weapons to the Taliban when Afghanistan was at war with the Russians...sigh. It’s exhausting how many red-headed stepchildren the U.S. has produced, supported, and subsequently had to squash within a couple decades. It’s starting to sound like that Brady Bunch episode when Bobbie didn’t want to play on the soccer team. Carol Brady approves while Mike Brady does not. Alice (we’ll call her the U.N.) balanced it all out.

The consequences involved with Hussein were pretty evident; an angry sibling of a not-so “Reaganesque” H.W. Bush had a horrible rapport with Iraq. Sure, Reagan ended the cold war, but he still sold weapons to Iran when it should have been a no-no, poor Oliver North, he’s Lee Harvey Oswald all over again. Jump-the-gun Bush Jr. decided the root of all evil and 9/11 was all Saddam Hussein’s fault. Bush, being an oil and lumber man, decided Iraq’s resources were worth fighting for. “Iraq has weapons of mass destruction” (duh, we sold them to him) unfortunately, he had used them all up on his own people by the time we got there. The only terrorism in Iraq was the fact that they weren’t giving us all of their oil and Hussein had the audacity to wear “tighty-whiteys” in captivity. No. Hussein had nothing to do with Iran’s threat, aside from Saddam being our sadistic little puppet for a decade. Hussein was our man, we created him, we supported his fight with Iran, these things don’t just happen out of the blue.

Does Iran need nuclear weapons? Does a 4 year old boy need a firecracker? Does an imperialist entity need to police the earth? Is the United States in a constant juggle to keep its past mistakes in check? Don’t get me wrong, the U.S. is the greatest place on earth (aside from Disneyworld), but should we continue to misinform the populace as to why we’re cleaning up messes that are half a century old? Does the public even know why Israel exists? Are the “Arabs” all that scary? Where does propaganda play a role? You think Iran is scary? Turn the camera around and see our mistakes, our atrocities. Is Iran really a threat, or are we the biggest threat?

Chomsky, Noam. "The Iranian Threat." chomsky.info : The Noam Chomsky Website. Noam Chomsky, 2 July 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.

The Continuing Misadventures of Captain Cake and the Hammerstrings Theory

2011-10-27T17:58:00.000-05:00

The captain has a new ride and he's fighting the evils of randomness across the universe. I'm really starting to question my sense of humor. (This is actually a photo I put together for photography class.)

And here's part one of Captain Cake's ongoing battle with absurdity (from two years ago).

Analysis of a Magazine Advertisement

2011-10-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

Thrown into Elle Magazine is a “Lollipop Bling” ad that attacks the senses with color and candy. Had anyone other than Mariah Carey been the center of attention, slinging candy and cleavage, they would have probably been arrested (picture a creep in a dark blue van without windows and the acrid scent of exhaust in need of a trip to the muffler shop). An air-brushed Carey wears gleaming ring pops as she sits on a pink cloud of teenage girl delight. This is clearly not an ad for women past their prime, or is it?

The last time I heard Mariah Carey having a breakthrough on the car radio was twenty years ago or maybe it was when I was at my mother’s house on her 54th birthday. Do teen girls even know who Mariah Carey is? Does she have that kind of sway over the target audience of the ad? Does my mother really want to wear candy rings and smell like a bomb-pop? I shudder to think. I had to dig deeper to really get the goods on “three irresistible flavor inspired fragrances.”

Sold exclusively at Wal-Mart for around thirty-five bucks, it’s clearly a product for teenage girls or twenty-somethings that haven’t quite made it out of the dance club scene. Carey is almost saying “you work too much” or “you study too hard, you should just relax and be more sexually active.” Carey is clearly not wearing any pants and her shirt is completely unbuttoned, all the while smelling like candy and adrift in some kind of creepy drug-induced ‘60s dreamland. Maybe I have the target audience all wrong; this is looking more and more like a strip-club flier. I wonder how many exotic dancers purchase these perfumes; maybe I should do some more research on that. Maybe I’ll just assume Carey is not attempting to get girls to dance naked and smell like candy.

All-in-all the ad is certainly inviting, with its bright colors and star power it entices you to relax and enjoy the sweeter things in life. Purple and pink bubbles rise and float around the page suggesting that maybe, just maybe, wearing this perfume will give you a bubbly personality and you’ll stick out from the drab gray faceless masses. Apparently candy is no longer just a treat, it’s also an accessory.

It has also come to my attention (from various web sources) that the image used in this ad is actually just a Photoshopped version of an old promo picture of Carey.

A few photos I took for digital photography class.

2011-09-08T20:47:00.001-05:00

New Peoria Blog - Real Food Peoria

2011-08-14T11:43:00.001-05:00

Blogger Lori Koch and I have started a brand new blog named Real Food Peoria. Food and related issues have become a bit of a passion for us and we're eager to share the love. We'll be posting recipes, news and product reviews, and we'll even be discussing the occasional food documentary. Have questions or post suggestions? Email us at realfoodpeoria@yahoo.com. We're looking for guest bloggers as well so hit us up!

Tarantino: The Rise of the New Violence

2011-07-30T13:07:00.009-05:00

Reincarnating the Spaghetti Western and exploitation films from the 1970s, Quentin Tarantino has injected an overdose of violence and non-linear scripts into mainstream cinema. Some of his writing and directing techniques have influenced other filmmakers and his glorification of violence has spawned a whirlwind of controversy, real-life violence, and heated political debates. Tarantino’s mark on cinema triggered a new era of bad conquering good and the opposite of the happily ever after Hollywood ending. Blurring the lines between good and evil by injecting sympathy for the enemy and provoking emotion through music and violence, Quentin immersed the viewer into the counter-culture underworld.

Born in 1963 and named after a character played by Burt Reynolds, Tarantino dropped out of high school and pursued his film addiction by working in a video rental store (Walker). Eventually he made it the Cannes Film Festival with his film Reservoir Dogs and subsequently started the A Band Apart production company to continue his film career. Tarantino’s influences range from J.D. Salinger, fast-food culture, and French New Wave cinema, to Akira Kurosawa (Phillips). Although Quentin mostly wanted to become an actor, his disjointed scriptwriting and films became his calling card.

Tarantino’s signature writing style often portrays plots and characters in no linear chronological order, unlike most films, it’s almost as if he writes a normal script and then throws the pages into the air letting them fall and gathering them up in no particular order. While Tarantino did not invent non-linear narrative, he has definitely brought it back into the mainstream.

In the past fifteen years, Tarantino’s “wild” techniques are probably the most visible influence on unorthodox film narration, and to that extent we can speak broadly of a “Tarantino effect” to indicate the rising number of alternative narratives over that time. This is not to say that other filmmakers… all did not have an impact, just to credit Tarantino with leading the latest parade. (Berg)

Many successful films have been influenced after Tarantino’s lead of non-linear narrative, although they have not been nearly as influential. Young directors and writers today cite Tarantino as a major influence, and this will not likely change soon. Some may say Tarantino has only regurgitated already over-used plot formulas, while this may be true; Tarantino has simply made movies he already loves but with a newer twist. In fifty years, it would be laughable to see Michael Bay’s Transformers being cited as the main influence for cinema in the late twenty-first century. Not only has Quentin’s writing been an influence, but his directing techniques have gone on to influence others as well.

One weapon in Tarantino’s directing arsenal is the “trunk shot.” A “trunk shot” is a scene where the camera is placed inside the trunk of a car or in a briefcase (at least that is what Tarantino wants you to believe) with the camera pointing outwards at the actors as they stare down towards it. This gives the viewer the illusion they are actually in the trunk, immersed in the scene. Tarantino did not invent the “trunk shot” but he has made it a more popular technique in modern cinema. “The very trunk shot is a kind of in-joke for the director’s (Tarantino’s) fans” (Lyman) since Quentin uses the angle in nearly all his films. Even the recent comedy The Hangover employs this technique, while there is not much research on the origin of this angle it will certainly be an easy to pull off homage to Tarantino in the future. While new film techniques are difficult to invent, one thing Tarantino has no trouble inventing is controversy.

The most controversial film Tarantino is responsible for is Natural Born Killers. Written by Roger Avery and co-written by Tarantino, the film was again rewritten to suit Oliver Stone’s needs when he directed it (Phillips). Although Quentin Tarantino has tried to distance himself from the film as Peter Travers finds in his interview “‘It’s just kind of out there, and it doesn’t have anything to do with me’ he says after being coaxed to elaborate.” It’s undeniable the film was Quentin’s brainchild. The film involves two outlaws deeply in love with one another, all the while on a murderous rampage. Natural Born Killers has been blamed for many real life murders including “the decapitation of a thirteen-year-old girl by a fourteen-year-old boy in Texas” (Phillips). Oliver Stone even ended up in court because of the controversy surrounding these murders. Senator Bob Dole used the film to attack violence in mainstream cinema along with the loss of values in America. (Phillips) Regardless of whether or not this was all truly Oliver Stone’s fault, or whether or not you can cite a violent act as being an immoral addition to humanities, Tarantino could only feel like a scientist who worked on the first atomic bomb without realizing it.

Quentin is certainly no angel when portraying violence in the films he writes and directs. Reservoir Dogs shows a torture scene where the bad guy cuts off an undercover cop’s ear, the movie ends with nearly all the characters being shot to death. Tarantino’s Kill Bill series often shows heads and arms being cut off, and then voluminous fountains of blood spurting in all directions from the wounded area. Inglorious Basterds shows a military group shooting Nazis with machine guns nonstop for nearly two minutes. Obviously, Tarantino was not the only one portraying violence in his films. Violence in the media is an age-old debate, but the debate has not deterred many from continuing to show it. Was Tarantino responsible for the rise in the portrayal of violence in film? He is certainly not responsible for all of it, although he did make it “cool”. The Persian Gulf War had just ended in 1991, it being the first most televised war in history because of twenty-four hour news channels and other technologies. Reservoir Dogs came out only a year after the war ended. Our culture allowed Tarantino’s portrayal of violence because we were becoming immune to it. Tarantino may have merely jumped on the bandwagon, but his films secured ultra-violence at the movie theaters for another twenty years. Aside from romanticizing brutality, Quentin also swayed the industry for years to come through his meticulous casting.

Steve Buscemi had appeared in a few floundering movies along with some bit parts on television, but Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction thrust him into a life-long career where he is usually identified by his odd face and crazy teeth. John Travolta’s career was jump started again after appearing in Pulp Fiction. Even Uma Thurman could give a nod to Tarantino for pulling her out of the superhero, comic book based movie trenches. Quentin Tarantino has had a wide influence on all aspects of the movie industry and on pop culture.

The best way to judge Tarantino’s influence on our current culture is to imagine if he never wrote or directed any movies. Where would cinema be today had he not written so well or not been so successful in his endeavors? How would we make fun of the French name for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or the audacity of a five dollar milkshake? Would we even know who Samuel L. Jackson is? Would we have been able to laugh at violence so easily? Where would the attraction of empowerment come from if Uma Thurman had not single-handedly killed dozens of ninjas in a matter of seconds with a sword? What about smiling like a child as we watched Hitler being pumped full of lead? Tarantino made, and continues to make his mark, just as violence in cinema continues to spread.

Works Cited

Berg, Charles Ramírez. "A Taxonomy of Alternative Plots in Recent Films: Classifying the “Tarantino Effect”." Film Criticism 31.1/2 (2006): 5-61. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 27 July 2011.

Lyman, Rick. "Tarantino." The New York Times (n.d.): LexisNexis Academic. EBSCO. Web. 27 July 2011.

Phillips, Kendall R.. Controversial cinema the films that outraged America. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2008. Print.

Travers, Peter. The Rolling stone film reader: the best film writing from Rolling stone magazine. New York: Pocket Books, 1996. Print.

Walker, Andrew. "Faces of the week ." BBC News. BBC, 14 May 2004. Web. 27 July 2011. .

Gavra Lynn's Downtown Peoria Gallery

2011-07-28T21:03:00.001-05:00

I attended an art and music showcase at Gavra Lynn’s gallery down on Jefferson across from the Civic Center (the storefront that says "Art Show"). The gallery is a great spot to see work by local artists and hear some local musicians; from time to time Gavra has even hosted some local filmmaker’s events.

The gallery is quite large and there are paintings and sculptures all over the place. To keep the gallery running, Gavra hosts benefit events and invites musicians to play and even show their own art work. The admission fee is usually not required but is encouraged as a donation. While the crowd size varied throughout the night there were usually about fifteen people wandering about and eventually settling to hear the next music set. Overall, Gavra had invited ten bands to play over the course of seven hours and the genres involved varied from folk and progressive rock to experimental.

If you weren’t listening to music you were either chatting about the artists or grabbing a beer or some wine from the mini-kitchen. The evening was great but I only watched a handful of bands, I did not plan on attending for all seven hours. I was there to play a quick set with my band and then hang out for a bit to chat with friends. I haven’t really been to this kind of event in the past, but I have seen galleries and concerts. One series of paintings by Anthony Couri has caught my eye every time I have visited Gavra’s gallery.

Anthony has created some interesting works using merlot and cigarette ashes as his media. The red splashes of wine almost look like accidental spills and the black ash marks contrast with the white paper (or canvas) he uses. The pieces almost seem as if the fallout from a late night party has found its way on to an open sketch book sitting on a coffee table. Most of the shapes seem random and organic so it’s quite pleasing to the eye, any tension may be derived from the overall appearance of a spill or a mess needing to be cleaned up. Anthony was present at the event to play some music as well.

Unfortunately I only caught the tail end of Anthony’s music set. His band Gypsy Gypsy Gypsy is labeled “Psychedelic, Trance, Visual” and I could certainly tell this was an appropriate assignment. Anthony sat surrounded by percussion instruments ranging from a small hand drum to a rather small gong cymbal. It was a very trippy mix of shimmering chimes and gong howls all sitting nicely with an electric bass guitar drone. If you’re expecting some catchy hooks or pop lyrics, look elsewhere, this music was truly psychedelic with no discernible structure. It was a nice display of the genre and it would have been very enjoyable to anyone who is into that sort of thing.

Gavra and her gallery are a breath of fresh air for Peoria, and the community she has created is unique. It’s about time downtown Peoria has a nightlife other than a bar. I would suggest a visit to anyone who hasn’t been down there yet.

Forks Over Knives at the Peoria Theater

2011-07-13T15:20:00.003-05:00

I attended a showing of Forks Over Knives at the Peoria Theater, located within the Landmark Recreation building just off of University. The Peoria Theater is host to cult films, documentaries, independent films, and even the occasional concert. The audience at five-fifteen in the afternoon on a Sunday was by no means large, let alone rowdy or overly social.

While Peoria is not known for its receptiveness to plant-based diets, there were several people at the theater ready to “fork over” seven bucks to reinforce their veggie-friendly mindsets (me included). The showing of Forks Over Knives is one of many trendy films and events informing the public about the industrialization of our food sources, diets, Western medicine, and the overall embarrassing health statistics in our society. Some other recent mentionable films are Food, Inc, Go Further and Farm to Fridge. While the Peoria Theater does not have the most high tech equipment or the biggest screen in town, their mission is to communicate the message of the film they’re showing, not to wow audiences with giant 3-D stadium seating, IMAX spectacular, or THX approved subwoofers. Forks Over Knives, I believe, has a different demographic from most of the hip vegetarian documentaries currently available.

Forks Over Knives has a different message than most of the recent documentaries pertaining to meat consumption, mistreatment of livestock, the definition of “Grade A” meat, and CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations). Forks Over Knives addresses the overall health of Americans, their diets, and the pharmaceutical companies directly. Most of the experts and patients involved are middle-aged or older. Instead of using abused animals to tug on your heart strings, they make it more humanistic by discussing obesity, cancer, heart disease and diabetes as examples of the downfalls of animal-based diets. Most documentaries have a bevy of graphics, interviews, and testimonials; this film was no different.

The graphics used in the film were satisfactory, but not revolutionary. The promotional advertising used to spread the word about the film was miles above anything used within the film. The 3D graphics used to portray statistics were clear, consistent, and easily understood. The lower-third graphics used during the interviews and datasets worked, but they weren’t very flashy or as professional as you would see on networks such as CNN or FOX News.

The interview progression throughout the film was well thought out and kept the movie flowing at a decent pace. The framing of interviewees was never fully centered, thus using the rule of thirds effectively. The interviews consisted of quick snippets and were never monotonous. However, there were no dramatic B-rolls or flashy zoom techniques which may have emphasized certain aspects. Like most informational documentaries, this film used interviews of experts to push opinions. Interviews with experts in the appropriate fields (PHDs, MDs, and political figureheads) as well as patient testimonials were used to provide the information and results in layman’s terms.

Unlike most infomercials, documentaries give you an in-depth approach to a consumer’s start and end point; Forks Over Knives was no different. The film used several examples of patients facing dire consequences, which were reversed with extreme diet changes. The beginning of the film showed the first patient, who drove to his destination while drinking two Red Bulls and nearly two Coca-Colas. He met with an expert in nutritional health, switched to an all plant-based diet, and within several weeks began showing vast improvement. The film never touched on whether or not the patient strayed from his diet, but the end result played straight into the film’s message. All of the patients portrayed in the film had similar positive results. However, patients with detrimental reactions to the diet (if any) were never addressed. This film may not have had the highest budget or flashiest graphics but I felt as though there were no loose ends once the film had ended.

In my opinion, Forks Over Knives is most likely the bearer of bad news to the human race. As we all eventually suffer from some kind of ailment, and we see our loved ones pass away from preventable diseases, we must question what we have been taught for generations or suffer the consequences. As they said in the film, we must learn to "eat to live, not live to eat."

Quick and Easy Editing To Make Your Images A Whole Lot Better

2011-02-25T14:30:00.000-06:00

MM140 - Multimedia Production - Photography Project

A recent project involving a photo shoot and some post production in Photoshop has greatly improved the appearance of my photographs. My instructor threw in a tutorial mostly involving adjusting levels, burn, dodge, and sponge tool options, along with applying an unsharp mask.

Adjusting Levels (image~adjustments~levels)

Bring in more black by sliding the black arrow over until it reaches a peak

Unsharp Mask (filter~sharpen~unsharp mask)

Use to sharpen your photos

Amount - 50-60%

Radius - 1-2 pixels

- The following tools can be found by clicking and holding the dodge tool on the toolbar. -

Dodge Tool (toolbar)

Use to lighten areas

Set range to highlights or midtones

15-20% exposure

Burn Tool (toolbar)

Use to darken areas/shadows

Set range to shadows

15-20% exposure

Sponge Tool (toolbar)

Use to saturate/desaturate areas

15-20% flow

Using this too much can make your photos look "shopped"

Using these fairly basic tools you can make your pictures brighter and sharper. The flow and exposures are set pretty low, so as not to dramatically change the areas you apply them to. Minimal changes can make a big difference to your photos. Another rule of thumb our instructor gave us was spend no more than five minutes overall adjusting your photos with these tools. Spending too much time on them will make them look overworked and unnatural. The images below are the photos I used for the project. See the comparison side by side, to give you an idea as to what little you need to do to improve the look of your photos.

Graphic Design 140 - Tivoli Project - Workflow

2011-01-09T14:54:00.001-06:00

This last semester at ICC I attended a Graphic Design class taught by Roseann Tomko. The class was a bit slow at first, as our first teacher Zachary Bean decided to leave and begin his career in law enforcement. Roseann took his place and picked up the pace considerably. Since I haven't blogged in a bit, I figured I might as well blog a design workflow as instructed by Tomko.

Roseann, having some friends in New York, decided the class would work on a new poster for the Tivoli Bread & Baking Co. Annual Pie Contest. First off, we had to do our research on the town and the baking company, then write a paper showing we did. Here's my paper:

About an hour’s drive north of New York City, nestled along the Hudson River, lies Tivoli, NY. The village of Tivoli was incorporated in 1872 and was coined “Brooklyn on the Hudson” by New York Times’ Griffin Dunne in 2006. Before President Roosevelt took Eleanor as his wife, you may have caught her in Tivoli on a Saturday night enjoying the evening with her rich family in the 1920’s. Today, Tivoli often welcomes the overflow of autumn leaf hunters during the fall, and provides a small town feel to visiting tourists. A quick drive around town and along the outskirts shows a collection of large, gorgeous properties with wrap-around, covered porches, and small businesses far from the prying eyes of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Nearly Norman Rockwell in flavor, Tivoli is New England’s delight. Aside from the local, liberal Bard college, Tivoli hides a quaint little bakery with delicious, highly sought after baked goods.

Tivoli Bread & Baking Co., owned by Mikee Gonnella, just might be the baking capital of the world. At least that’s what you’d expect from reading customer reviews online. Lemon squares to die for, baguette, cinnamon buns, scones, and brioche line the counter and fill the air with sweet hints of sugar and fresh baked bread. Although Tivoli Bread & Baking Co. does not have an official web page, Mikee stays connected online as “Mikeethebaker” through various sites including Twitter and YouTube. “I love you from the bottom of my flour bin,” he tweets with a true baker’s tone of humor. Mikee also judges the annual Tivoli Pie Contest along with his eleven-year-old nephew Alex Gonnella.

Every year on Tivoli Yard Sale Day, Tivoli Bread & Baking Co. sponsors the Annual Tivoli Pie Contest. Contestants from around town come up with their best pie ideas, bake them up, and rush them to the drooling judges. There’s no sign up fee, and keep your canned filling away! Don’t expect to take first place unless you’re using local fresh fruits. You may slide your canned fruit past a couple judges, but I highly doubt it’ll blow past Mikee’s palate. The contest boasts celebrity judges, and to the winner a $100 gift certificate for dinner at Mercato in Red Hook.

If you’re looking to run away from the daily grind, the hustle and bustle of New York City and its sobering, grey, concrete rivers, you might just want to rent a car and head north. Keep driving until you can see the sun reflecting off the Hudson, take a right, and rent a room at a B&B in Tivoli. You may gain a few pounds, but you won’t regret it.

________________________________End

Once the research was done, pencil, paper, Adobe Illustrator, and InDesign finished the job.

Thumbnails (25 all together - some not pictured)

Roughs:

Final: (Illustrations done in Illustrator, layout in InDesign)
(this is a scan, so the quality isn't great)

The final class project - A "clean" Abercrombie & Fitch ad.
Using Adobe Photoshop to isolate the girl (using quick select) and a text align clipping path.

Production Notes - The Aposematics - Hands On - Stop Motion - A Blue Civilian Production

2010-11-19T12:00:00.000-06:00

The latest release from The Aposematics and Blue Civilian Productions is the 2:40 stop motion video set to the tune of "Hands On". Weighing in at about 1,200 still shots after editing, I ended up cutting out about 300 photos. The majority of the video was shot sequentially, making most of the editing easier.

After experimenting with a little bit of stop motion I decided to shoot a full music video. We shot the stills exclusively on Lori's Nikon D40 with an attached SB-400 Speedlight. Unfortunately, continuous shooting ate up the flash's batteries quickly and caused darker frames to litter the video. External static umbrella lighting was used when necessary. A laminated sticker and dry erase marker were used for the doll's face and Hershey's dark chocolate syrup was used to simulate what little blood is present in the film. The stop motion action shots of Ken and Dan playing bass and drums were shot in the Morton building we use as a practice space (partially). The higher angles were achieved by attaching the Nikon to a tripod and triggering the shutter with a remote. Lori cleverly thought up the paper hearts and confetti for her kill scene finale. Some thought went into picking colors that would show up appropriately in black and white. Ken, being the “man behind the curtain” was potentially the hardest message to get across, but we easily conveyed the idea by transposing the last bit of paper hearts over the blank monitor, and then again by cutting back to the doll with a similar facial expression.

All of the images were resized, cropped, auto-adjusted, and converted to grayscale with Adobe Photoshop batching. The images were then imported into Adobe Premiere Pro at 2 frames per still at 24fps. My ramshackle attempt at stop motion ran too quickly and was a little confusing at 2 frames per still. I eventually extended the stills to 3 frames per second; this effectively slowed down the action but made the video a bit choppy. The graphics were then added at the final stage and everything was nested and exported out at 720p.

Overall, this shoot was an incredible learning experience and required more precise edits than the other Aposematics videos. I really loved putting this video together, but it will take much more than just a whim for me to attempt another stop motion film anytime soon. I only have the utmost respect for the real kings and queens of stop motion. I have no doubt their patience is greater than mine.

James R. Minchin III

2010-10-28T18:50:00.002-05:00

The Verdugo Mountains softened the horizon and grazed the high cotton clouds. The wooded peaks surrounding the valley appeared more like crumpled blankets than their true unforgiving dirt, mud, and stone. It was noontime in the spring on Lake St. in Burbank, California and the sun was glowing, reflecting softly off the hoards of dusty windshields in the used car district. Barreling down the street with a loud muffler-less growl crawled a large, red, rusty Ford truck. It was making its way to the side parking lot of a very unassuming, fly-by-night, built in a couple of days, pre-fabricated steel and cinder block building which housed Tranzformer Studios. Inside the truck, gripping the wheel and scanning house numbers was James R. Minchin III, Rolling Stone photographer.

The rusty red truck with South Dakota plates and a mismatched topper slowly bellowed into the parking lot. It coughed and wheezed as James cut the engine and exited. The door protested with a loud creak as he pushed his long, skinny, denim-covered leg out and to the ground. His worn, gray Converse shoe twisted on the pavement as he stood up and out of the truck cab. A tall man, James looked to be in his mid-forties with an early graying of his short, messy hair and trim, yet bushy beard. His long face was accented by his receding hairline and low, dark brows. A large, rounded nose made him look more like a professor of Biology than a rock star photographer. If not for his inked arms, wrinkly t-shirt, and flower child pendant you’d probably want to raise your hand before addressing him. In a relaxed stride, James made his way over to the side wall of the building and leaned back, kicking his knee up and crossing his arms like some plywood cut-out cowboy.

Inside the building was the large, open space studio that Bryan Carlstrom and Dave Jerden called home. Carlstrom and Jerden were audio pioneers in the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, recording everyone from the Rolling Stones and Talking Heads to Alice in Chains and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Gold and platinum records dotted the walls, along with works from local painters from Los Angeles. Mood lighting, accent walls, uncoordinated couches and an abundance of recording equipment filled the inside to give a cozy atmosphere and fuel any creative sparks. James was commissioned by Rolling Stone magazine to be there for a photo shoot that day.

James has photographed the likes of Tom Waits, Avril Lavigne, and Kings of Leon; a quick Google search would show you just about any popular artist’s photograph accredited to him. James has been working with Rolling Stone for many years and has the stories to prove it. “I spent a day shooting Kings of Leon during rehearsal and then afterward getting to know how they are outside of the band,” James reminisced. “It would take a lot for me to do it again. Those guys are crazy; they’re all brothers and they fight like it, too,” he claimed in his soft, mid-range, relaxed voice. “They would go out to drink and get in to knock-down-drag-out fights, leaving each other bloody and bruised when the smoke cleared,” he went on, “but that was back when they first started to gain popularity.” James was done talking; it was time for him to survey the studio and get ready to shoot.

A plain, oversized, white van rolled into the parking lot and several guys jumped out to begin unloading all of James’ photography equipment. First to be hefted inside was lighting. Two short trolleys were pulled out of the back of the van full of car batteries, lighting stands, umbrellas, cables and anything else you can imagine that would be needed. There was so much equipment scattered about, it looked as though they were about to light up an entire stadium for a major baseball game. Heavy-duty, black and silver cargo cases poured out as the men unloaded. A cart loaded with a dozen cameras ranging from high-end digital SLRs to expensive instant Polaroids sat in waiting near the entrance of the building. This was when it became clear James meant business. His busted truck and disheveled appearance were misleading. He was there to work.

Once everything was set up, James grabbed a Polaroid and started snapping test shots to get a feel for the lighting and color. Two of his equipment handlers acted as stand-ins for the shoot, and the three of them joked and laughed as the test subjects struck strange, dramatic poses and sang into the microphone prop. James would snap a shot, move, snap another, grab a different camera, then snap some more. Once he was happy with how things were turning out, he asked for the real models to come out from the makeup area. He shot through five rolls of film and filled a couple of memory cards as he danced around the set, grabbing sideways shots at all different angles, remaining professional and courteous at all times. James would tell jokes when he wanted smiles and asked for seriousness when he didn’t. Hot lights in umbrellas, strobe flashes, and quick clicks of the shutter filled the room as he held up his camera, signaling his assistants for a change in medium or lenses. James was talented and ran a well-oiled machine. I’m certain any number of the thousands of shots he took that day would have fit the bill.

After a few hours the magic subsided, the equipment slowly disappeared, and there was James, helping to break it all down and carry it outside. In the past, I have only heard of big time photographers barking orders, throwing their arms up in frustration, and ultimately storming off the set. Seeing one up close, I realize they’re just hard-working human beings with an eye for art and a need to pay the mortgage. I’m sure James pays his bills like everyone else; the difference is he has a passion and a love for his career and is talented enough to do it for one of the most creative industries on earth. I didn’t see James leave, but his old truck announced it clearly as it rumbled off into the tepid evening air. The next time you see a flower child past his prime choking down the highway in a broken down truck, assume nothing. It might just be James on his way to photograph your next big obsession.

Insight into a (many self-deprecating adjectives erased) middle-aged student.

2010-10-21T02:32:00.001-05:00

These bones they fuckin’ clink and crackle, smearing the mud about. Buried below are the programmed television past times, scratching at our too little, too lates. Technological daydream distractions swallow you up and spit you out in your mid-thirties.

The fear and urgency swells up to a rage – you realize the only skill set you’ve acquired is how not to drunk text your ex-girlfriend at four a.m. on a Monday morning. Your penniless fortune of plastic and steel, DVDs and mp3 players piled high in the corner, sold off by the pound at two percent of the original cost.

84 billion channels to watch and nothing’s on, but you watch anyway. Drooling your way through four-hour-long-variety-show-marathons where they spackle on the makeup, and everyone sounds like Christina Aguilera on methamphetamines…

Facebooking non-existent words in run-on sentences about your 3-D, Blu-Ray, laser-guided edition of the 2015 remake of “Encino Man.” You doze off on your computerized couch as your robotic cat malfunctions, sparks, and sets fire to your living room rug.

The firemen sit and watch as you crisp alive, because you forgot to pay a parking ticket from six years ago.

Go BOLDLY, fruitful friggin’ youth, and don’t forget to write your god damn congress man. As if the congress actually turned someone into a man... hallelujah! Jesus was born!

One Year Ago Today in Burbank

2010-04-14T23:28:00.000-05:00

"We didn't call him Eno, we called him Brian" said Jerden. I had just asked THE Dave Jerden what it was like working with Brian Eno. Dave was rough around the edges, quick phrased, and he had a harsh voice, so he didn't waste it on words. "They ripped off an African soul musician on that album, completely ripped him off", Dave balked about Talking Heads' fourth studio album "Remain In Light". Apparently Dave was wary to admit how groundbreaking David Byrne and Brian Eno's creation really was. I could have disagreed, but obviously Dave knew way more about it than I did. I actually didn't like the album the first time I heard it, but it grew on me, and before I knew it, it was my favorite Talking Heads album. There I was sitting in Burbank and right before my eyes was the man who engineered and mixed that very album. He was tall, grey haired, and the whole time I was there he was wearing his black leather jacket and often sitting out under the gazebo with a cigarette. I remember him saying that "things are different now", which I suppose he couldn't be more right. I can't really give the guy any justice in a blog post, the man has worked with more influential artists than I have fingers and toes. Either way, here was a man that had a direct influence on my musical teens and twenties. At this point I couldn't even imagine the headache of mixing "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", I'd only wish to have the caffeine and the patience to deal with that much content.

Lori and I saw little of Dave while we were in Burbank, but when he was there he made quick decisions and was gone in a flash. Our final day in the studio was made up of mostly vocals and that was the day Dave sat down and worked with Bryan to comp out several of my vocal tracks. It's a brave new world when someone like Dave is talking out the lyrics you wrote and saying which parts of which take should go in the final mix. I remember many times during our few days in California looking at Lori with that "Holy Crappuccino, I can't believe this is happening" look.

When it came to the nitty gritty Bryan Carlstrom was the workhorse. Bryan was either sitting at the studio's gorgeous giant analog console, tapping on his iPhone, clicking at Pro Tools, adjusting a mic here and there, or puffing at a cigar out under the gazebo(actually Bryan's right-hand man John Nuss was the one making mic adjustments and fixing cord issues most of the time). Bryan seemed the more personable man between him and Dave. Bryan waxed philosophical about his days at Capitol Records, when reverb was made with speakers in empty concrete bunkers in a basement on Hollywood & Vine. These had in turn become the smoking dens for many an artist once digital reverb came along. I also remember a mention of the maintenance elevator that went to a secret floor where the booze was kept. The illustrious red light on the top of the Capitol Records building that flashed ever so steadily in the California midnights was actually Morse code for something or other (a certain vulgar phrase about a particular studio manager comes to mind).

Bryan, who was from the Midwest, just happened to be the pioneer of Pro Tools. He singlehandedly had a stress attack, an epiphany, and then re-routed a few wires to make the first hit album using Pro Tools, turning it into an industry standard. He has worked with just about any hit '90s act you can think of, and, to me, seemed full of steam to keep working for another ten decades, if it was at all possible.

The one wish I have now, a full year later, is that I could have heard what Lori and I created in the midst of such genius. Unfortunately, Konami created a sub-par game, and had an even more sub-par development department. The game had already flopped by the time we hit the tarmac at LAX. Our song never saw the light of day. I still feel, however, that this was my greatest musical achievement, I came, I saw, I conquered. Here's to the future!

For more information on this event please see the following posts:

Day 1 - Chasing The Sun

Day 2 - Into The Studio

Day 3 - The Work (The Fun)

Revolving Eyes - ART111, ART120

2010-02-20T16:49:00.000-06:00

My First Charcoal Drawing - 18x24 - Soft Vine Charcoal on Strathmore Drawing Paper-

I've been attending two art classes at ICC and have decided to chronicle my progress on my blog. The two classes include "Color & Design" and "Basic Drawing". I also have one other class at ICC, but it's math, so it's clearly not worth blogging about. A big thanks to Lori for taking the time to photograph the various projects.

Third Charcoal Drawing from home - 18x24 - Soft Vine Charcoal on Strathmore Drawing Paper

Second Charcoal Drawing - 18x24 - Soft Vine Charcoal on Strathmore Drawing Paper

Kimberly Graphite on Strathmore Drawing Paper - Balloon Animals - 11x14

Several more early Kimberly Graphite Drawings on Strathmore Drawing Paper- 11x14 - Rendering/Shading

Graphite Dust Eraser Drawing - Rendering - 11x14

Color & Design

Symmetry/Dominance Project - Tempera on Strathmore Drawing Paper - 18x24

Scissor Project - Tempera on Strathmore Drawing Paper

Materials Project - 18x24 - Prang Watercolor, Kimberly Graphite, Crayola Crayon, Bombay India Ink, Newsprint on Strathmore Drawing Paper

Figure/Ground Projects - Tempera on Strathmore Drawing Paper

Blue Civilian Stock Footage Compilations Featuring The Music of The Aposematics

2009-12-02T15:16:00.000-06:00

I take stock footage that I've shot and put it to music by The Aposematics (a Peoria based band). Check it out! These were all shot with my Sony DCR-DVD403 Handycam.

Find more of The Aposematics at theaposematics.com

Halloween '09 - Making of a Mad Hatter

2009-11-02T10:19:00.001-06:00

With great help from Lori, I decided to turn into the Mad Hatter this year, mostly based on Johnny Depp's character from the new movie of Tim Burton's take on 'Alice In Wonderland' (due to release next year).

I had it in my mind that I would make the hat out of a lamp shade, turned upside down. Here's my first draft prototype (made with two vinyl albums, and a lamp shade). The hat eventually ended up using no vinyl albums in the completed project.

A little cardboard, spray adhesive, and black cloth later, the hat starts to take shape.

While letting the initial coat of cloth dry I made up the hat pins, and broach made out of a trinket, some green gems, and some feathers I found at Michael's craft store. (along with a few wooden skewers colored with Sharpies.)

Once these were finished, I continued to layer cloth onto the lamp shade. Some green felt cut in strips and shapes first. Then two layers of black lace (found at Joanne's fabrics). Top it off with one of Lori's scarves and the flair, and I had myself a nice topper to go over any Fedora I choose.

Add plenty of white makeup, some eye liner, eye shadow, lipstick, hair teasing and coloring (all done by Lori of course) and I've got a face. After that, add a blue bow tie cut out of remnants, a ladies frilly blouse from the Salvation Army, some dress pants. some fingerless gloves, a 10/6 paper sign, gauze for my thumb, glow in the dark fingernail polish, a couple of burnt blister digits, and you've got a homemade Mad Hatter:

American English - September 11th, 2009, Peoria, IL - Summer Serenade Concert

2009-09-13T17:35:00.000-05:00

Lori and I headed to Lakeview Museum this last Friday night to check out American English. We both got some great footage and photos. They play Peoria at least once or twice every year, and they're definitely worth seeing. If you like the Beatles, you'll love the American English experience!

Video Pizza Unboxing

2009-09-11T09:06:00.000-05:00

Robbie Augspurger, an old friend of mine, recently sent me a free copy of "Video Pizza". This is a product of Wolf Choir, a small comedy/parody/anything under the sun group from Portland, OR. When you get a chance, check them out, they're all over the web and have many mediums to pass along their comedy goodness.

Here's a video of the unboxing Video Pizza:

http://www.videopizza.biz
http://www.wolfchoir.com

In Remembrance

2009-06-25T20:49:00.000-05:00

My Mom on the left, my Aunt Betty on the right.

So sudden, so sudden to me. I hope she is now without pain. I love you Aunt Betty.

Betty Stiles

East Peoria - Betty Kay Stiles, 59, of East Peoria, Ill., passed away on Saturday, June 13, 2009, at 7:05 a.m. at her home from complications of her extensive health problems.

She was born on Feb. 4, 1950, in Salem, Ill., to William and Pauline Friedrich and was raised by her mother and stepfather, Pauline and Herschell Trainor. She married Bert Stiles on June 8, 1968, in East Peoria. He survives.

She was preceded in death by her father and stepfather.

Also surviving are her mother, Pauline Trainor of Creve Coeur; one daughter, Jessica (Joel) Sassman of East Peoria; three sisters, Ginny (James) Zinkhon of East Peoria, Billie Jean Grillo of Ormond Beach, Fla., and Mary Lee of Georgia; and two granddaughters, Autumn and Haily Randall of East Peoria.

Betty worked as a cashier for the Kroger grocery store in Morton and as a bus monitor for Allen Transport Services in Washington.

She was a member of the First Church of God of East Peoria and the UFCW Local 536.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at 2 p.m., with visitation one hour prior to the service at Davison-Fulton Woodland Chapel in Peoria. The Rev. Terry Jones will officiate. Entombment will follow the service at the Chapel of Peace Mausoleum in Parkview Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the St. Jude Midwest Affiliate or to her church.

Online tributes and condolences may be submitted to www.mem.com.

The Aposematics in Rolling Stone today!

2009-06-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

The Peoria based group The Aposematics are on page 24-25 of the current issue of Rolling Stone (pink Lady Gaga issue) in the Konami Rock Revolution ad.

The Work (The Fun): Day 3

2009-05-19T10:35:00.000-05:00

Photo By Lori Brooks

Up again, a little later today. Bryan asked us the night before to be in the studio at 9AM, but this morning he calls my cell and asks for another hour. Awesome, this gives us some extra time. After breakfast we hit the pavement.

We hit the studio at about 10AM and I attempt my first real studio track laying. I bust out Lori’s acoustic guitar (not the greatest guitar, but I’ve grown to like it). Of course this wasn’t ideal and after trying to mic it up through both a vintage amp and a direct mic pairing, Jon gets the signal to run to Bryan’s house to grab his Fernandes acoustic-electric. Bryan runs it direct to the vintage amp and direct to the board to give it some color, he tweaks the gains a bit and we’re off. This guitar felt much easier to play than Lori’s Regent; however I had already been playing the song for about twenty-five minutes on the Regent so my rusty fingers began to sting a bit. I guess this is "rock ‘n’ roll". After cringing through about five takes the acoustic track was done.

Photo By Lori Brooks

Photo By Lori Brooks

Lori and I wandered outside during the break and a big old rusty pickup with a topper and South Dakota plates rumbled into the studio parking lot. Out hopped a tall lanky bearded man in jeans and a t-shirt, he tromped over to us and leaned up against the wall, his knee bent and protruding with his heel flat to the brick. This was James Minchin III. He was very polite, smiling, and happy. He had apparently been snooping around on the web checking us out because he had already heard our song. We didn’t have a clue who he was at the time, just that he was the photographer that Rolling Stone sent. He didn’t have a camera, but he didn’t seem too worried about it. We made our way inside, our eyes having to adjust between the searing, bright California sun outside and the dark ambient lighting inside.

Photo By Lori Brooks

James surveyed the studio a bit and I hopped on Facebook. That’s when the people started pouring in. A couple Rolling Stone people including Kimbra, a few people from Konami including Ryan, Amy the hair and makeup girl, James’ gear and grip crew, and craft services. At this point Dave Jerden was there, and I think his agent even showed up. The studio was bustling and busy, it was a weird feeling knowing that we were the center of the project. James’ crew started moving equipment around, bringing in lights, moving couches, pulling art off the wall. They were going to do two different kinds of shots, one with Lori and me pretending to record, and the other, Lori and me pretending to play Konami’s Rock Revolution. Amy set up shop in Annette’s office, Kimbra had free Rolling Stones and some stuff from Lucky brand clothing for the shoot. The small dining area was full of people tapping away on their laptops.

Amy kidnapped Lori and made her up quite well, I wandered around, just trying to stay out of people’s way. I eventually found my way back to Lori’s laptop and hit up Facebook again. Once the set and lights were up James started taking Polaroid tests with his crew as stand-ins. This was only one of many cameras at his disposal, as far as we could tell he used film, digital, and Polaroid and took hundreds of pictures that day. Finally it was my turn for hair and makeup.

We took position in the mock up vocal booth James and his crew had made. With all the hustle and bustle it was getting warm in the studio, and obviously I began to pour sweat. I’m sure whatever makeup I had on was gone within minutes because of the sweat, let alone Amy having to dab my forehead with a paper towel every three to four minutes. The first twenty minutes was awkward, Lori and I standing under lights, pretending to play, several people standing behind James, watching, waiting to fix something if anything happened. Eventually James directed us to discuss and interact instead of fake play music. We had nothing to talk about, so we fake talked, (saying rutabaga, rutabaga) apparently this gives the appearance that you’re saying something, but not really saying anything at all (I’ve also heard watermelon can be used). James went through dozens of rolls, and then would hit the digital for a bit. He would snap Polaroids occasionally and hand crop them by folding up the edges, showing us the result. After a couple hundred shots he’d run off to Konami and get their input. This went on for what felt like an hour, snap, snap, last roll, snap, snap, digital, more rolls would come, snap, snap, last roll, snap, snap, digital high rate shutter snaps, almost done, snap, snap, rutabaga, rutabaga, snap, laugh, move the guitar neck out and back, snap, snap, use your hands more, snap, rutabaga, rutabaga, eventually I think we were a little delirious and started talking about nothing in particular, just common phrases used everyday, back and forth. Either way, we thought James was a genius by this time since Lori had talked with him quite a bit, and even did some web searches of him, seeing his past work, taking beautiful pictures of pop and rock icons. We would do whatever he wanted us to do. Done! Break!

We went outside to cool off while James took some more Polaroids of his crew in the next set. The set was a TV, a couch, a table, some other riff raff, the game and the Konami drum set that you can buy with the game. My favorite part of the set was the paper plate with cheese and crackers on a pillow in the middle of the room. Apparently this wasn’t a prop, it was for the crew, but it remained in the photos anyway. Actually most of the refreshments you’ll see in the final picture are actually what the crew was eating and drinking while doing the stand-ins. There’s also poster art on the back wall from the local LA artist Euthanasia. After a few touch ups by Amy, we were called back in to do the next round. Lori on the couch watching the TV, and me playing the video game drums. This time instead of playing “The Bridge Is Out” over and over again James busted out his iPod and asked what we wanted to listen to. We picked Wilco, and he had every album (Wilco rocks). So we put on “Monday” from Being There and started the shoot. Lori directed by James, and me just playing the drums and looking like I’m having a good time. This went on for another hour or so it felt. Lori was either pointing and laughing at me, looking really excited about what was on the TV, or just generally smiling and rooting me on. This was tougher than the other shot; we had to really fake it now. The game wasn’t actually on the TV; in fact the only thing we had was the drum set and the game sleeve. No Xbox, so no TV. In fact the TV actually only had white poster board taped across it, with a bunch of different colored transparencies taped haphazardly across it and a flash can pointed up at it so it would reflect the colors back on to Lori’s face. By the end I was pouring sweat fake banging the fake drums, but both of our smiles were sincere, we were laughing, making fun of each other, James was laughing and making fun of the situation. It was an utter pleasure to work with James, he made us feel at ease, and that we could laugh at what was happening, in fact, he wanted us to. Turns out the shot they used is actually of us laughing and being stupid, instead of us really trying to look like we were playing the game. The muscles on the back of my head hurt from smiling for so long. The shoot was done.

Right after the shoot, I laid down a few takes of the bass track. It was after lunch, I hadn’t eaten, but I was wired and excited, so I put in the work. Tracking the bass was a little different from tracking the acoustic because you didn’t need to sit in the booth, you just tracked right there at the board. I didn’t see whether or not the bass was straight in or ran to an amp somewhere in the studio. Bryan tweaked the EQ and gain, even tweaked the knobs on the bass itself as I played. I think the sound tweaking took longer than actually laying the tracks down. I thought I’d be nervous having to play bass right in front of Bryan and Dave (Dave, Remain In Light man, Remain In Light), but I pulled it off like a robot. Turns out I may have been a little too precise and robotic on the acoustic and bass, because Bryan mentioned he wanted to loosen the track up a bit (more on this later). We were released for dinner.

We headed to downtown Burbank again and ate out on the patio of one of the local diners. I had a couple Newcastle’s and a Cobb salad of some sort.

It was after 8 or 9 when we got back to the studio. Everyone was sitting out under the gazebo having a smoke and chatting it up, we sat down and heard more war stories from the industry. We talked about overweight felines and something or other. The work wasn’t over, but I was still wired and ready to play.

Photo By Lori Brooks

Bring out the Memory Man w/Hazarai. It took me a few minutes to find the settings I used on the original tracks I recorded at home, not quite exact, but close enough. This would be my Stratocaster's first appearance. This time Bryan actually ran the Memory Man in stereo through two vintage Fender tube amps about 35 feet away from each other. They were loud, very loud after a quiet evening dinner. I felt old thinking it was so loud, also I felt like we needed to turn them down as if the neighbors would complain (Loudness often equals guilt when you come from a town like Peoria.) This passed eventually and we set up everything in the control room to record my lead guitar parts. After about 5 or 6 takes Bryan felt he had enough to work with. The long day was over, and we headed back to the hotel at about 11:30PM. Wired most of the day, once we hit the hotel room all of the adrenaline wore off and we crashed hard once again.

New Gear

2009-05-17T13:43:00.000-05:00

My newest addition is this blazing hot compact disc!

Next up, the Univox U-45B tube amp made in 1965. This amp came from my Grandpa's old shed. I replaced the power cord (which was taped together) and put in a brand new fuse (which the old broken fuse was wrapped in foil). It sounds great, still has the original Jensen 12 in speaker made in Chicago.

Finally, the new Edirol MA-15D monitors I ordered from Sweetwater. A huge step up from my previous set up.

Into The Studio (Day 2)

2009-05-07T12:34:00.001-05:00

Photo By Lori Brooks

We were awakened by our alarm clock and then by our hostesses phone call. Not completely awake and surprisingly not jet-lagged (this came upon us the few days right after we flew back to Chicago), we dressed up and headed down for our free breakfast. The spread was wonderful, fresh fruits, an omelet bar, croissants, muffins, eggs, potatoes, bacon, and sausage (the breakfast bar became a daily occurrence, so I’ll only mention it once.) With so much free food, it was difficult to gauge our intake, so as not to become sluggish when the work comes.

Photo By Lori Brooks

(Just a side note on the realization of how much money is in this part of the country. I’ve only seen a handful of Lamborghinis at car shows, and in big city areas. This one was no slouch. It looks to be a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, price tag of about $220K.)

Photo By Lori Brooks

The work never really came for us this first day in the studio. We arrived at about 9AM (nothing quite like trying to make rock ‘n’ roll at 9AM on a Wednesday) and were greeted promptly by Bryan, Annette, Jon, and Seth. I exported all of my tracks from “The Bridge Is Out” on Lori’s laptop, and threw them out on the studio server. Bryan imported everything into ProTools and began tweaking and mixing everything. This went on for a couple of hours while Lori and I explored the studio and snapped pictures. There was some discussion of drums, and thankfully all I had was one stereo track of drums, so it required that they bring in a real drummer. (Konami needed separated stems and midi notes embedded in the tracks for their developers to get the song ready for the game.) Bryan clued us in on the fact that the “greatest drummer in the world” just happened to be in the area from a break on tour, but the discussion stopped at that point.

They released us for lunch and suggested downtown Burbank’s Gordon Biersch as the place to go. They were right. At the time I was not aware that Gordon Biersch was a chain (Lori and I were hoping to eat at places in California that you couldn’t find anywhere else, or anywhere in Illinois for that matter) but their menu was different, their beer was delicious, and it just had that overall California feel to it, so it was truly worth it. Everyone on the wait staff was pleasantly attractive, very nice, and had very unique facial characteristics, almost as if you could tell they were all aspiring actors or actresses ready to hand out headshots at a moment’s notice.

Downtown Burbank was gorgeous, weird shops, all kinds of interesting restaurants, palm trees, expensive cars (without any rust), and the Cartoon Network building within walking distance.

After lunch we checked in with the studio and we were given the rest of the day off. It was time to see the sights, from a car (everyone knows that California and cars mix very well). Since we were in Burbank we decided to hit the studios first. We drove by all of them, and stopped at Warner Bros. for some photo ops. From there we hit Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and finally Rodeo Drive. Lots to see, Southern California is a very beautiful place. Lori and I snapped almost 1300 pictures while we were out there; we tend to be very shutter happy while traveling.

After many hours in the car, and the ever present piling up of work we decided we better see the ocean now while we still have the chance. We couldn’t be that close to the Pacific without getting a glimpse. Apparently no one else in Southern California had the same idea. The wind howled off the water and threw sand at us at breakneck speed. If it were anyone else, it would have been a horrible day at the beach. But we were still on cloud nine, getting to do all of this on someone else’s dime. It need not be said, but I’m sure this day would have only been better had we been cruising around in a fire apple red convertible the size of medium seafaring vessel.

About 6:30 we headed back to the studio to check in and Seth was attempting to lay down drums for our track, it was not going well, and I could tell Bryan was frustrated. He talked about having another 6 hours of work that night before we could come in and start recording. We were released again.

We were beat, but we headed back to the hotel, changed clothes, and since we knew the next two days would be treacherously long, we decided that, yes, we wanted to see more. We headed to the Hard Rock Café at Universal’s Citywalk. 100 or so pictures and an eight dollar cheeseburger later, we were headed back to the hotel for bed. Then I got the call from Bryan. “Hey, Gregg Bissonette has done me a personal favor, he came up to the studio and we were done in an hour”. This was the afformentioned “greatest drummer in the world” and he was now on our track (this is Ringo’s drummer man, he’s jammed with a Beatle, that’s just messed up man, far out). We could have only been happier if we could have met him personally, alas, this was not the case.

We sank into our bed and slept hard.

Chasing The Sun: Day 1

2009-04-29T16:25:00.001-05:00

Now that we're back from L.A. and sinking back into our normal routine, I've had a chance to reflect. I figure I better write it down before it all slips away.

We scrambled up to Chicago and to avoid confusion we opted for the $30/a day parking at O’hare, which made things easier for the trek to and from our terminal. It’s been a long while since we’d flown last, and a lot has changed. I don’t remember much from the last time I had a flight, but I was younger, which probably means I thought the seats on the plane were bigger (I've gained a little weight over the years). Upon arriving at the check-in we were surrounded by an array of screens, but very few people. It appears everything has moved towards that of a self checkout lane at the supermarket. This is the first time I’ve had any contact with these blasted machines and I felt a bit like a grandparent attempting to program a VCR, and if I hit the wrong button they’d cancel my flight and I’d never get to fly again because of some kind of esoteric blacklisting of idiots. Thankfully, someone intervened, probably because of the perplexed look on our faces as we tried to somehow instantly comprehend this new unknown airport jargon on the big blue touch screen in front of us.

Once this ordeal was over we were shuffled over to the security checkpoint, 75 guards, two gates, only a few rules posted and a sudden cold feeling on the heels of my feet as I took off my shoes and placed them in a Tupperware container. This was one rule I understood, it was an illustration of some loafers in a box printed on a big white sign next to the entrance, simple enough. The guards spoke very little if only to bark commands at you if you were doing something wrong. They certainly weren’t going to answer any questions on procedures BEFORE you screwed it all up. I wasn’t expecting to be spoon-fed the rules on how to get safely through the security checkpoint without anyone yelling at, or belittling me, but a free pamphlet before getting to the first phase would have made everyone's experience just a little easier.

The flight to Minneapolis was fairly short and somewhat pleasant. I was terribly nervous waiting to takeoff, I’m not sure how Lori was, but, my poor heart was trying to beat its way out of my ribcage between the third and fourth rib. I was wired on adrenaline for most of this flight, but the pilot made a very smooth landing and by the time we had a few drinks at the Chili’s next to our terminal I was actually looking forward to the rush of taking off on the next plane.

The flight from Minneapolis to LAX was longer, but Lori and I had a whole row to ourselves so we could spread out. It was still early evening for us, so we were wide awake and obviously excited about our destination. We drank a couple of Bloody Marys and tried to zone out on our zunes. However, the guy sitting behind us apparently had never flown from Minneapolis to LAX before (which, neither had I) because he was dumbfounded to hear that we’d be on the plane for three or four hours. He didn’t believe me. So he tried to make small talk with the middle aged woman next to him, she answered most of his questions with a somber one word answer, and then continued to read her magazine. He’d stretch and curse, yawn and curse; he was overall a pain in the ass. He ordered a Heineken and between every sip he’d let out a long “Ahhhhhhh, shit. Mmm, that’s the shit.” It sounded like he was making sweet love to his beverage. Now that I think of it, somewhere in that gargantuan noggin of his, he probably was making love to his Heineken. At any rate, I was pleased he wasn’t sitting next to us, or between us, because even behind us was way too close for comfort. That aside, soon we were on our descent and we could see the bright glowing lights of southern California. I put on my headphones, listened to some Soul Coughing “Screenwriter’s Blues” and zoned out on the magnificent light show. On the jet way we could smell the ocean, and we could feel a hint of the warm California air. We made it.

After a few freak outs, wide smiles, and our heart’s skipping a beat waiting for our guitars at the baggage claim, we jumped into our hostess' car and we were off to our hotel in Burbank. We couldn’t see much on the way to the hotel because it was about midnight, but we grabbed some quick blurry snapshots of the lonely lighted freeway signs and burger joints on the way.

I collapsed into bed at the hotel, and Lori jumped into the shower (because of time restraints in the morning). Short, but deep, relaxing sleep. We woke up on a king size bed that felt like a cloud of cotton candy. It was morning, and now the work has to begin.