Another EP 2 Video

Recording Days 5 and 6

SO. MUCH. FUN. So fun!

Episode 3 in NYC

In Search Of...JFK

Yes, another video. This weekend I took a day and visited the Sixth Floor Museum at the Kennedy assassination site in Dallas. Since my degree is in Modern American History, I was quite thrilled to see it.

Religion and First Aid

Yeah I know...this is probably the weirdest film ever. It's not even on the same weird level as the chicken one. I'm not sure if it's the scary music, or the neosporin, or the gospel music. Maybe I'm just going avant garde. Respect the art, yo.

Recording EP 2: Day 4

In Search Of: The Luckenbach Chicken

I used to watch "In Search Of..." all the time...it was one some cable channel when I was a kid. They were usually hunting Bigfoot or aliens or something. I was looking for something far more sinister in Luckenbach, Texas.

Things to Do in the Van

A hint of the salsa song...and various hijinx...

Remember November?

I drove around a LOT.

I'm Not There

"Who cares what I think? I'm not the President. I'm not some shepherd. I'm just a songwriter." - Cate Blanchett as Jude Quinn who is really Bob Dylan I just saw the awesome Dylan biopic "I'm Not There." It's a trip. I need to go read about 5 more Dylan biographies and watch some documentaries again, but the relieving part of this venture for me is that I got most of it. Or I knew what was going on, anyway. The main point being...no one really knows what's going on. We see 6 different facets of Bob Dylan...the folk/rock electrified icon, the uber-religious convert, and the rambling outlaw among them. These facets are not all continuous or even sensical. "Wait, NOW he's a converted Jesus-freak? What?" But how many times have we changed our lives? I know I am quite the shape-shifter these days...it might be the early 20's thing happening, but I hold new values today that I had quite frankly not thought about a year ago. It's interesting, and I can't map the path or justify it or promise it will remain the same next year. No one really asks me to do that, either. Everyone was asking Dylan to justify his actions, to create a "next step" as a protest songwriter, to give his opinion on the war, on civil rights, on people, on politics. That's a hefty charge for a 20-something, to be a non-self-appointed voice of a turmoiled generation. So what did Dylan do? He denied it. He changed as he saw fit. He changed his answers for every interview because whatever he said was not going to stop a war, he believed. While all the suits and personalities around him called him selfish for doing so, Dylan was probably doing the most responsible thing. Also, a side note in the form of a letter; Dear Cate Blanchett, You rock. You were the most convincing Bob Dylan on screen there could ever be, and I am amazed because frankly I was quite skeptical. I will be applauding from the comfort of my pappasan chair here in Austin when you win an Oscar for this performance. Unless you invite me to be your seat-filler when you go onstage and collect your statue. That would be nice. And then maybe perhaps you could let me hold the Oscar, maybe while you you hobnob with the media and give nonsensical answers to their mundane questions. You did learn something playing Dylan, right? Anyway, good job, Ms. Blanchett...if that is indeed who you REALLY are. There you be. Go see this film.

A little Noodle Scar

Noodle Scar. I don't know why it's funny, but it is. Bonny Pierzina cracks me up. And this is about ponies and prancing, two of the funniest things ever. Enjoy a some Monday-of-the-holiday-week humor. From NoodleScar.com

Krapooyo by Yannick Puig

Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that we all have that Large Task of figuring out how we function in this world...some days we're just stumbling along, some days we find our wings. Yannick's site: http://krapooyo.free.fr/

Friday Feature: Tiny House

I first became enamored with tiny houses after reading this San Francisco Gate article. It seems that this is a trend that might be growing a bit, and actually encompasses a lot of issues confronting us socially and politically. Oddly, the trend might be boosted from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the popularity of (probably ill-named) Katrina Cottages, as blogged about over on Consumerist. Sometimes necessity in crisis brings about a shift in thinking. First thought upon seeing the photos of these tiny habitats was..."Yeah I could never do that." Then I got to thinking...I lived through 4.5 years of college in various dorm rooms of differing sizes. My sophomore year, I lived in the smallest room in a collective apartment...the room which my roommates affectionately termed "The Closet." (And here I always wondered why people were trying to hang their coats on my stuff.) I am currently living in a studio apartment, which is more than enough room for me and my collection of things. In fact I've recently taken to mentally paring down my belongings even more. While I do keep quite a bit of memorabilia like photos and mementos of cool things I've done, I absolutely abhor knickknacks and touristy crap that people buy just to prove they've stood on a beach in Hawaii. (Or maybe they didn't, and they just bought it at a thrift store because someone ELSE stood on a beach in Hawaii, bought the thing, flew it back home, and decided that instead of being a marker of ultimate culture and coolness, it was dust magnet. But I digress and maybe I am a curmudgeon). I do realize that choosing a lifestyle such as that of a touring artist means...I will be living in a cramped space for a while. I have also decided that there is really no need to acquire a lot of stuff, like perhaps an armoire or an entertainment center, if I will be spending more time in a vehicle than in a house for a few years. Maybe deep down I hope I'll just adapt to the Life of Less and be able to graduate to a more permanent Tiny House. How cool would that be? They're aesthetically gorgeous, they're cheap ($5 a month for utilities? No way. Yes way. Dude.), and they're still mobile. You basically park your house. If you feel like living in Montana one summer and Santa Fe in the winter, you just pack your house. Brilliant. Who knows where I will be living in 9 months and 9 months after that (maybe on your couch...yes, YOU)...but it's always nice to have several plans in place, eh? In the meantime...check out how Dee does it in this cool little vid: Technorati Tags: tinyhouse, sustainability, consumerist, katrina, living, noimpact, songwriter Powered by ScribeFire.

Friday Feature: Baghdad ER

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Friday Nite Movie: Four Eyed Monsters

This is awesome for a variety of reasons...one being that it is the first feature film available for free on Youtube and various other sites online. FREE. MOVIE. And it's doing well, and the filmmakers are rocking it, and this is the future of Web 2.0. Check it. Join Spout | Buy DVD | Watch Video Podcast | Get Code

Friday Nite Movie: From Curandera to Chupacabra...The Stories of Rudolfo Anaya

I first had to read Rudolfo Anaya in high school. We were assigned "Bless Me Ultima" and I remember thinking something along the lines of, "Why are we reading this dude if he lives in our state? Shakespeare, Hemingway, and Anaya?" (Did I mention maybe I was a stupid high schooler?) I got "skooled" quickly and was taken in by Anaya's way with words and fascinating ability to tell a good story while weaving in tradition, history, and folklore. It remains one of my favorite reading assignments of all time. Here's a doc from KNME about one of the best authors in America, right from my backyard.

Friday Night Movie: The Water Haulers

My business partner J and I worked as interns/associate producers at KNME-TV in Albuquerque for a year. We did cool stuff. We met the governor (or at least I met his makeup person and watched the governor walk by), produced some shows, got people water in cute little mugs. One of my bosses was Tish Bravo, a fantastic producer and all around good spirit to boot. Tish is off seeing the world in a VW van now, but before she left KNME, she produced this documentary that will make you go, "What. The. Crap." Did you know United States citizens still go without water hookups in a certain part of our country? Yeah. No water. They haul it themselves. They feed livestock, cook, bathe, and irrigate with water they haul themselves, because there is no infrastructure where they live. Even though the government has been promising to get crackin' on that for oh...30 years. I know. Take a look.