scissor circus

JSF / Wexner Selections Out Now!

2009-04-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

SELECTIONS FROM THE ART & TECH RESIDENCY PROGRAM
AT THE WEXNER CENTER FOR THE ARTS

ABOUT ART & TECH:
Since 1989, the Art & Technology residency program, part of the Media Arts department at the Wexner Center for the Arts, has provided in-kind, post-production support for over 250 artists working in film and video. This volume of The Journal of Short Film represents some of the highlights from the past 10 years. Art & Tech has been a sanctuary for artists who are looking for support (sometimes technical, sometime creative, and often both) and an environment that encourages experimentation and welcomes the technical challenges that so often result.

These works represent only a handful of the many that have been supported during our tenure. It has been a pleasure to work with such an amazing group of artists and we look forward to the next 10 years!

Jennifer Lange
Associate Curator, Media Arts

Paul Hill
Editor and Studio Manager

SELECTIONS Playlist:

1. Jem Cohen - Blessed are the Dreams of Men (2005, 9:17) minutes
2. Andrés Denegri - Uyuni (2005, 8:08)
3. Natasha Spencer - The House She Flew In On: The Video (2002, 2:48)
4. Joe Sola and Will Eno - Watercolor (2006, 4:13)
5. William E. Jones - Mansfield 1962 (2005, 9:29)
6. Vanalyne Green - Saddle Sores (1998, 19:45)
7. Kelly Reichardt - Travis (2004, 11:46)
8. Deborah Stratman - The Magician’s House (2007, 5:45)
9. Leah Gilliam - Apeshit (1999, 6:23)
10. Sam Green - lot 63 grave c (2005, 9:47)
11. K8 Hardy and Wynne Greenwood - New Report, Artist Unknown (2006, 16:26)

Visit www.thejsf.org to order yours today.

February 22, 2009

2009-02-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

Calling forth that ol' time relijon

Today we celebrated my daughters 7th birthday. A surprise treat amidst all the gift wrapped laughter, gossip, and a dozen cups of casually sipped coffee, was this impromptu session with my father in-law and various extended family. These old boys relished the chance to fall back through the years to when they were younger, and bluegrass/country music was a rage.

This made my day...

See some stills in this set

CIF+VF 2008 is Faster, Stronger, Better

2008-10-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

While the festival season officially began in September with a pair of docs about Ohio's less than adequate election track record, Free For All, and How Ohio Pulled It Off, the final film in the trio may be the most well timed.

Murder, Spies and Voting Lies screening just one week before election day, at the Drexel Theater, should make even the most skeptical of soccer moms sit up and take notice.

Can we trust the back-room relationships between a corporation building our vote-counting machines in secret, and the campaigning politicians lobbying to win bids of support benefiting said corporation? Join us to discuss on Oct 28th! Perhaps you will end up in another article in the Huffington Post as did our last event screening at Studio35.

Until then, feel free to connect to our various online nodes:

Pride 08

2008-06-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

While I'm up late trying to tie up lose ends... I'll admit that when the PRIDE Parade evolved into a march during the last leg of its trek downtown to the statehouse lawn - I was happy to join in. This clip is from the corner of High and Nationwide Blvd. in Columbus Ohio June 28th. Some folks just weren't in the celebratory mood.

May 16th opening: Inside the office

2008-05-17T21:40:00.001-07:00

May 16th opening: Inside the office
Originally uploaded by Scissor_Stills

My selection of photographs from the GROUNDED series opened in dowtown columbus at the offices of GRIP Technology... across the street from Brioso coffeshop, and one block west of TIP TOP.

The opening reception was smooth sailing, with gorgeous weather, and gorgeous people!

Thanks to everyone who came out, we had a helluva good time! Extra props go to my wife Sarah who surprisingly only gave me the "I want to remind you that I can make your life miserable" look a few times during the run up to the show.

Thanks to Dustin at GRIP also for hosting this thing - and for the cold beverage selections.

The show will be up on the walls at 17 e Gay st until July 1.

UPDATE: Critical Art Ensemble

2008-04-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 21, 2008

CONTACTS:
Email: media@caedefensefund.org
Edmund Cardoni: (716) 854-1694
Lucia Sommer: (716) 359-3061

JUDGE DISMISSES MAIL FRAUD CASE AGAINST BIO-ARTIST KURTZ

Buffalo, NYA process that has taken nearly four years may be coming
 to 
an end. On Monday, April 21, Federal Judge Richard J. Arcara ruled to 
dismiss the indictment against University at Buffalo Professor of 
Visual Studies Dr. Steven Kurtz.

In June 2004, Professor Kurtz was charged with two counts of mail fraud
 
and two counts of wire fraud stemming from an exchange of $256 worth of
 
harmless bacteria with Dr. Robert Ferrell,  Professor of Human Genetics 
at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

Dr. Kurtz planned to use the bacteria in an educational art exhibit 
about biotechnology with his award-winning art and theater collective, 
Critical Art Ensemble.

Professor Kurtz' lawyer, Paul Cambria, said  that his client was 
"pleased and relieved that this ordeal may be coming to an end."

The prosecution has the right to appeal this dismissal. How the 
prosecution will proceed is unknown at this time. If an appeal were 
undertaken the case would move to the New York Second Circuit Court of 
Appeals in New York City.

Lucia Sommer, Coordinator of the CAE Defense Fund, which raises funds 
for Kurtz' legal defense, said, "We are all grateful that after 
reviewing this case, Judge Arcara took appropriate action." She added
 
that "this decision is further testament to our original statements 
that Dr. Kurtz is  completely innocent and never should have been 
charged in the first place."

BACKGROUND ON DR. STEVEN KURTZ AND CRITICAL ART ENSEMBLE

Critical Art Ensemble (which Kurtz co-founded in 1987 with Steven 
Barnes) has won numerous awards for its bio-art, including the 
prestigious 2007 Andy Warhol Foundation Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of 
Artistic Expression Grant,  honoring more than two decades of 
distinguished work. The group has been commissioned to exhibit and 
perform in many of the world's cultural institutionsincluding the 
London Museum of Natural History; The ICA, London; the Whitney Museum 
and the New Museum in NYC; the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington, 
DC; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de 
Paris; der Volksbüne, Berlin; ZKM, Karlsruhe; El Matadero, Madrid; 
Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Museo de Arte Carrilo Gil, Mexico
 
City and many more.

For more information  about the case, please visit: caedefensefund.org

###

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AGORA COLUMBUS 08 - two more weeks!

2008-04-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

AGORA COLUMBUS 08
Sat Apr 19 Main Event, 3pm - 11pm
@ Junctionview Studios
West of Downtown Columbus

Too many artists, musicians & performers crammed into one space... making the perfect target for an anti-creativite extremist plot. Let's skip the facade and just announce the orange alert now.

Reminds me of FIREXIT on steroids, for those of you who may remeber a little Columbus art-collective history. AGORA is the new FIREXIT multiplied times ten, with an overactive "promotions" gland and a heartfelt bent toward citywide change.

WHO?...

a few namelinks - in no way authoritative or comprehensive:

Jason Mowry
Amy Hargus
James King
Rob Jones
Eve Warnock
Robert Trautman

+ fifty or sixty more more more

Sat Apr 19 Main Event, 3pm - 11pm-ish

WHERE? ...

2008-03-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Press release: The Journal of Short Film Releases Volume 10 (Winter 2008)

Columbus, OH ...The Journal of Short Film released Volume 10 (Winter 2008) today. The JSF is a quarterly DVD magazine of today’s best, peer-reviewed short films. To date, the JSF has published over 100 filmmakers from 10 countries.

Volume 10 lives up to the Journal’s reputation for diversity, with three of its films coming from Eastern Europe and half of its filmmakers being women. As always, the collection contains most genres of film, including narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, and, for the first time, 3-D film.

Following is a list of the films in Volume 10:

The Journal of Short Film releases Volume 10 (Winter 2008)
(In case you missed Volume 9 - check it - [9 lineup])

Volume 10 lives up to the Journals reputation for diversity, with three of its films coming from Eastern Europe and half of its filmmakers being women. As always, the collection contains most genres of film, including narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, and, for the first time, 3-D film.

FILMS in Volume 10:

1. CONVERSION: Nanobah Becker (2006, 9:00)
2. GUM AND TEA: EE Miller and Samuael Topiary (2005, 4:45)
3. MILKY WAY: Ivana Mladenovic [Romania] (2006, 10:00)
4. PAPER: Elliot Blanchard (2006, 2:00)
5. SCENIC HIGHWAY: Evan Mather (2007, 17:00)
6. HOME: Paul Negoescu [Romania] (2007, 14:00)
7. SISTER CITIES [3D]: Joe Merrell (2006, 10:15)
8. PAINTER OF THE LAND: Joel Fendelman (2004, 8:00)
9. WAR NEXT DOOR: P. Politzer [Hungary] (2005, 10:00)
10. A WILD BEETLE CHASE: Sarah Jackson (2007, 13:10)
11. HER HEART IS WASHED IN WATER AND THEN WEIGHED: Sasha Waters (2006, 12:45)

1. CONVERSION – Nanobah Becker (2006, 9:00) CONVERSION portrays a Christian missionary’s dubious influence over a little girl and her family in the remote Navajo desert, circa 1950. 2. GUM AND TEA – EE Miller and Samuael Topiary (2005, 4:45) A collaborative meditation on intimacy and U.S. currency. 3. MILKY WAY – Ivana Mladenovic [Romania] (2006, 10:00) While Romania enters the E.U., Titinel and Mihai, two shepherds, live by their own rules in the outskirts of Bucharest. 4. PAPER – Elliot Blanchard (2006, 2:00) A man wakes up to unexpected new guests—and they have their own ideas about who should be in charge. 5. SCENIC HIGHWAY – Evan Mather (2007, 17:00) Baton Rouge’s colorful history is exposed in this darkly affectionate memoir. 6. HOME – Paul Negoescu [Romania] (2007, 14:00) On Christmas Eve, a taxi driver takes home a man returning from working abroad. 7. SISTER CITIES [3D] – Joe Merrell (2006, 10:15) Non-local awareness on a 3D walk through Los Angeles. 8. PAINTER OF THE LAND – Joel Fendelman (2004, 8:00) A glance at a man of a dying culture of farmers and how he uses the earth as his canvas. 9. WAR NEXT DOOR – Péter Politzer [Hungary] (2005, 10:00) It is Christmas night. The war is already raging in the neighboring city. 10. A WILD BEETLE CHASE – Sarah Jackson (2007, 13:10) Dr. Ivie searches for a beetle in Italy and shows that failure is just another step in the process. 11. HER HEART IS WASHED IN WATER AND THEN WEIGHED – Sasha Waters (2006, 12:45) When you die, everything you know disappears. A love letter to the abject beauty of human frailty. In three short acts.

The Journal continues to have a free and open submissions process. Submissions should be sent to The JSF, PO Box 8217, Columbus, OH 43201, USA. The Journal remains ad-free and committed to independent and underrepresented work.

Contact: Karl Mechem, publisher, The Journal of Short Film, contact@theJSF.org

ImageOHIO 8

2008-03-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

A pair of photographs from my new series titled GROUNDED will be included in an upcoming group show organized by Roy G Biv Gallery and Curated by photographer Lori Nix.

ImageOHIO 8
March 10 - April 11, 2008
Shot Tower Gallery (map)
546 Jack Gibbs Blvd, Columbus, OH 43215
Opening reception is Friday March 7 from 6 to 8pm.

Roy G Biv Gallery's annual ImageOHIO exhibition will be held March 10, 2008 through April 11, 2008 at the Shot Tower Gallery on the campus of Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center as a satellite exhibition for ROY G BIV Gallery in Columbus, Ohio.

Juried by Lori Nix, whose work can be viewed online at www.Lorinix.net.

Shot Tower Gallery Hours: 8-5 pm Monday through Friday

ROY G BIV Gallery for Emerging Artists
997 North High Street | Columbus, OH 43201 | 614 297-7694
info@roygbivgallery.com | www.roygbivgallery.com | myspace.com/roygbivgallery

Staring contest as dating theme

2008-02-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

February 15 2008

Anna and the Androids

2007-12-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

Living mannequins, Anna and the Androids, during the recent Holiday Hop in Columbus.

The Androids, er mannequins, are the very talented members of The Anatomical Scenerio Dance theater.

I shot these using an amazing DSLR (Nikon D80), for which I must thank my good benefactor and friend Cosby Lindquist. Check his work out here.

Petra makes waves

2007-11-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

Ritual repeat circa 2000,
Sitting alone at coffee shop ubiquitous
To hear, voice in ear
of new flesh, heart, earcurve, breath.
Born 24 November.

Petra makes waves, planet sized,
through his and her lives.

MADLAB Theater

2007-11-14T06:19:00.000-08:00

TOO MUCH PHOTOGRAPHY
MADLAB THEATRE, COLUMBUS OH
Opening: December 1st, 5-7pm
Show Dates: November 29th-December 22nd

I'll be showing a few pieces from my GROUNDED photo series, cannibalized aircrash carcases, at the annual group photo salon, TOO MUCH PHOTOGRAPHY, at MADLAB gallery.

The show opens Saturday, December 1st from 5-7 p.m. to coincide with MadLab's presentation of Too Much Christmas, a nod to the commercialization of the holiday season written by MadLab Theatre's Ensemble of Elves. I hope to see you there.

Artist list:
Feather, Jenn
Cummings, Rebecca
Anderson, Kara Ashley
Luna, Terra
Zufall, Brian
Mravec, Bryan
van der Velde, Yvette
Dawson, Rocky
Price, Jessica
Winkeljohn, Megan
Irwin, Kirk
Presz, Brandon
Jackson, Jerremy
Jackson, Jon
Bowers, Mark
Mattiuz, Michelle
Hopkins, Hanna
Harris, Joseph L.
Spangler, Tuesdey
Achor, Jonathan
Tietjen, Taylor
Smith, Abigail
Brooks, Lauren J.
King, Daniel J.
Hlad, Allie
Trautman, Robert
McElwaine, Bryan
Dyer, Kristen B.
Laughlin, Bryce
Lincewicz, Marc
Neviani, Paolo
Giles, Colleen L.
Merrick,Rick
Hot Shit
Emma
Ryan McGuire
Cross,Melinda
Aitken, Rob
Kossoff, Nina

The lab is located at 105 North Grant Ave. at the
corner of Grant Ave. and Long St. in downtown Columbus.

ALMA, Makino short screens and wins

2007-10-25T06:33:00.001-07:00

Although this excerpt is a bit old (published July-07), the short film I worked on as on-set photographer, has been actively screening and attention-getting across the country.

This is an excerpt from the Tucson Film Office site:

--"Locally Filmed Alma Continues To Win

Local director Yuri Makino won the Best Director Award at the Reel Sisters Film Festival for her short film Alma. The film, directed by Makino and executive produced by Victoria Westover and Brian McLaughlin, also took home an Award of Excellence in the Independent Short film category from the 2007 Accolade Competition. Alma recently won Best Narrative Film at the annual University Film and Video Association Conference Faculty Juried Screenings. Alma was filmed in Tucson last July with a crew comprised of industry professionals, UA Media Arts faculty, alumni and students, as well as students from Pima Community College. Alma premiered in April at the Humboldt Film Festival where it won The Ledo Matteoli Award for Best Immigrant Story. Click here to read more about Ms. Makino and her short film."--

My stills here.

2007-10-19T05:50:00.000-07:00

Making a comeback!

CinemaSlam is a microcinema based out of Ann Arbor Michigan.

I'm very excited to be included in the screening program!

Showing twice:
Tuesday Oct 23 at 9.30pm
Sunday Oct 28 at 1.30pm

The program includes the following films:

Film Camp Highlights
Selected works from the Michigan Theater Young Filmmakers’ Camp (30 minutes)

My Own Private 8 Mile
by Michael Pfaendtner, Macomb, MI (travelog, 3 mins)
Along the boundary between Detroit and its suburban neighbors.

Famous Last Words
by Keith Jefferies and John C. Ardussi, Ann Arbor, MI (comedy, 5 mins)
Another opportunity to see this award winning comedy.

Authority Head Exorcism
by Daniel King, Reynoldsburg, OH (experimental, 2 mins 30s)
Found footage, personal memories and still images manifest a psychological landscape where the personal and political collide.

Huge Balls
by Trevor Stone, Ann Arbor, MI (documentary/art, 5 mins)
Giant gum balls as an interactive artwork.

I’m A Big Brother
by Marty Shea and Ian Bonner, Detroit, MI (narrative, 12 mins)

More at:
michtheater.org
cinemaslam.com
myspace.com/cinemaslam

Journal 9 is out, and a few new youtube posts

2007-10-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Journal of Short Film Vol 9 is out this week. I watched about a quarter of it last night, and must admit it caught me off guard. This issue is a collection of video's in the "citizen journalist" vein produced by peoples indigenous to the subjects in the videos. Recent international media attention on government ordered violence in Myannmar (Burma), the humanitarian nightmare in Sudan's Darfur region, and even the overly marganalized issues of great importance such as forced labor in Brazil. All the video shorts are produced or distributed in partnership with WITNESS.ORG

Well, I have to admit once I joined the ranks of the unemployed, it's the little things that count.

For the first time in many months, my wife and I have spent more than an hour together doing little more than laughing. At what? Not much - perhaps one another, perhaps our indivisible fortune in having each other as life long partners... or maybe it was the way I announced I was making a cup of tea to enjoy with my coffee and beer last night.

I will take each laughable moment as it comes, for these tiny memories can sneak up later as defendable life monuments - proving that we had it good in 2007.

Speaking of tiny memories, here is a recently edited piece from an unspoken holiday in 2006. This is the first in a series of very short pieces which I will be creating using the following parameters:

1. three shots or less
2. ambient sound
3. minimal camera movement

M1, Daniel J King - 2007

UNUSUAL ANIMALS: Portland PDX & the JSF

2007-09-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

The Journal of Short Film in Portland! What? The center of poor cool? That's right. With some amazing musicians @ some sensative filmworks... care of some extra-ordinary and highly unusual animals indeed!

DETAILS:
FREE! SAT. OCTOBER 20th 3pm : ASTHMATIC KITTY and JOURNAL OF SHORT FILM presents, UNUSUAL ANIMALS : music by HALF-HANDED CLOUD, LAKE, THE BEAUTY, UPSIDEDOWN CAT and KELLI SCHAEFER, film by JEREMY BIRD, ULI BEUTTER, RYAN JEFFREY, KARL LIND, MATT MCCORMICK, VANESSA REDWICK, STEPHEN SLAPPE and CHEL WHITE!

Film, puppets and music.

Impure Cinema, San Fran!

2007-09-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

Impure Cinema: Hybrid Works Rupturing Media Boundaries

Friday, October 5th, 2007
9pm
Studio 27689 Bryant Street
San Francisco, CA
Admission is free

Studio 27, a microcinema in San Francisco, presents a screening of
short films and videos that intermingle different mediums or genres. By
synthesizing traditional media and techniques with newer technologies,
these filmmakers have created hybrid forms to express new ideas in their
work. Some of these pieces draw attention to their own construction by
the conventions of genre, while others either question or highlight the
distinction between different visual technologies. The artist Federico
Campanale will be present.

The Arsenal at Danzig by Timothy Hutchings, 2001, 8 mins., USA
Anticipation by Johanna Vaude, 2007, 12 mins., France
The Tree With The Lights In It by Jason A. Harrington, 2007, 5 mins.,
USA
Authority Head Exorcism by Daniel King, 2006, 3 mins., USA
Inkjet Printed Film Process by Jesse England, 2007, 1 min., USA
Vide-Uhhh! by Jesse England, 2005, 2 mins., USA
This video edited by computer by Jesse England, 2005, 1 min., USA
Blobsquatch: In The Expanded Field by Carl Diehl, 2007, 11 mins., USA
The End of The Universe as we know it? (Cosmic) by Anders Bojen &
Kristoffer Orum, 2007, 8 mins., Denmark
Kogel Vogel by Federico Campanale, 2007, 6 mins., The Netherlands
Mother on Trial: Gathering Voices in the Theater of Attraction by
Kristine Diekman, 2006, 12 mins., USA
Nebula by Hilary Harp and Suzie Silver, 2006, 10 mins, USA

Running Time: 1 hour, 19 mins.
Curated by Wago Kreider & Jessica Allee

SOLDIER

2007-09-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

SOLDIER

Today I listened to an interesting podcast interview with portrait photographer Suzanne Opton. Her series of large scale images of our servicemen and women upon their recent return from deployment in Iraq and Afghanastan first hit me sometime last year, while I was still detoxing, er- decompressing, from my own time in the military.

She is exhibiting these images in a variety of contexts, besides in the white-walled gallery, including online and on roadside billboards in Buffalo, NY. These remarkable images speak in a soothing voice to the complexities of the human beings who are serving in life and death, a historical moment which we are far from through with. Generations will weep, these images may help my children's children to read their history books with some sense of reality.

Listen to interview here, part of Studio 360 weekly cast.

STUDIO 27 Screening in SF, CA

2007-09-05T06:08:00.000-07:00

AUTHORITY HEAD EXORCISM has been selected for a show at Studio 27:

"Impure Cinema: Hybrid Works Rupturing MediaBoundaries"
Friday, October 5, at 9:00 PM

Studio 27
689 Bryant Street,
San Francisco, CA
Admission is Free

According to Studio 27

"a screening of short films and videos that intermingle different mediums or genres. By synthesizing traditional media and techniques with newer technologies, these filmmakers have created hybrid forms to express new ideas in their work. Some of these pieces draw attention to their own construction by the conventions of genre, while others either question or highlight the distinction between different visual technologies."

Small victories

2007-08-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

NYTimes Video highlights the recent outcome of the Picture New York campaign to stop the proposed restrictive camera laws in NY City.

Antimatter X in September

2007-08-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

My film Authority Head Exorcism has been selected for screening at the tenth annual Antimatter Underground Film Festival, September 21 to 29, 2007 in Victoria, BC, Canada. antimatter

Undermining First Amendment

2007-07-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Can you Picture New York without pictures of New York?

Take a second to click here to sign a petition regarding the rules
recently proposed by the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theater, and Broadcasting.

Introduced quietly just before Memorial Day weekend, the regulations could severely impede the ability of even casual photographers and filmmakers to operate in New York City. A group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than a half hour (including setup and breakdown time) could be required to
get a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance.

Please take action before August 3rd:

1) Click here to email comments
to the Mayor's Film Office and the City Council committee that oversees them.

2) Click here to sign a petition.

a pdf of complete rules being proposed.

According to the NY Civil Liberties Union, "these regulations violate the First Amendment right to photograph in public places, and open the door to selective and discriminatory enforcement."

E - Ladyfest Ohio

2007-07-26T12:50:00.001-07:00

IMG_0895
Originally uploaded by DIYphotobooth

E -Last Saturday's LADYFEST OHIO Carnival of Craft, in the Pirate photobooth. Thanks again to DIYPhotobooth's Daina and Stonewall Columbus for the exciting puppet making classes!

T - Ladyfest

2007-07-26T12:47:00.001-07:00

IMG_0894
Originally uploaded by DIYphotobooth

T - on Saturday's LADYFEST OHIO Carnival of Craft, in the Pirate photobooth. Thanks to DIYPhotobooth's Daina and Stonewall Columbus for the exciting puppet making classes!

Design Samples

2007-07-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

I've recently decided to look for a few freelance jobs this summer, to help get my wife started in nursing school. We're doing everything we can to cut out all the extras, trim down our budget and make it work...

More samples online -- design portfolio.

A recently completed postcard series for the Journal of Short Film

Extreme Shorts 10

2007-06-25T09:07:00.001-07:00

Authority Head to screen at Extreme Shorts 10 in Houston, TX next weekend. This year’s juror was Jytten Jensen Curator of Film for MoMA, New York.

The festival will run June 30, 8PM, and July 1 at 3PM & 5PM.

Documentary about Asperger's Syndrome (AS)

2007-06-20T05:40:00.001-07:00

As some may already know, my son was recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at the Ohio State University Medical Center Nisonger Clinic.

This short doc helps to expose in a very approachable way, some of the challenges AS folks have to face.

tinypost

2007-06-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

worth looking at:
spoonbox, a sound sculpture by Nick Zammuto, one half of the group THE BOOKS. My new favorite band by the way... after Orchestra Baobab.

bitbabble.Media.Tech.Video.Art

2007-06-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Spend a moment to visit Bill Shackelfords new blog bitbabble. His blog covers all things art and tech that catches Bill's fancy. And let me say, it's quite fancy.

He's got the kind of inclusive sensativity that we need to see more of in the world. Plus his video and tech art is stripped down spectacle, a raw approach to asking the kinds of questions that we all want answers to. His spam trap is the feel good piece of winter 06, and HOME MOVIES made me smile.

Taste Like Chicken

2007-06-07T04:54:00.001-07:00

A short blurb about my film AUTHORITY HEAD EXORCISM is up on the Tastes Like Chicken website. Focused on interviews with cultural icons, new upstarts, and spoofed news - TLC is a Milwaukee based print monthly, with an international web presence.

You can find the entry, dated May 6, 2007, just below the interview with BOB ODENKIRK (of SNL).

go here: http://www.tlchicken.com/

and subscribe. It's a fun read.

Daniel J King

re_scissored@yahoo.com | www.scissorcircus.org

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ADD Artists

2007-06-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

MY INTEREST: Artists with attention deficit disorders, creative process integration and how to achieve a balanced studio productivity?

"How do artists with attention deficits integrate creative processes and tendency toward constant distraction?"

Within the last 50 years medical communities seem to have continued proposing pharmacedical corrections for attention deficiencies. Although the medicine, knowledge, and co-existence of behavioural & environmental therapies have improved, I wonder how visual artists deal with these sensory and attention disorders. So that's what I'm getting at...

Through this conversation I hope to re-evaluate my own attention span difficulties within my working process, and better understand how I might help my son.

My son was recently diagnosed with, among other things, Attention Deficit Disorder. He is just finishing first grade, an uphill climb and an accomplishment within it's own right. Our homework sessions often drag out to an hour long reminder to "finish number 3, OK now finish #4. You're doing great now let's finish # 5..." He has trouble just staying in his seat at the dinner table. At home he's constantly standing up and sitting down, kneeling on a chair and walking around his side of the table. We've been informed that he has many of the same troubles at school, which makes staying on task very difficult for his teachers.

I am taking a look at my own tendencies within the photographic and filmmaking process. Over the years I have been able to take advantage of my roaming interest and drifting focus but still I have trouble completing projects, if there are distractions nearby.

Can we overcome developmental shortcomings in our ever shortened attention spans? Do we rather find ways to work with these attributes and by doing so define them as strengths? What sorts of environmental & personal-space design contributes to effective productivity?

I'll be posting on this topic more throughout the month of June.

DETROIT is to ROCK what SCREEN is to FILM

2007-06-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Just heard news that my short piece, Authority Head Exorcism, will be screening outdoors in downtown Detroit, MI with the June edition of the CINEMA D Detroit Film Festival. This plays nicely into my trip to Detroit that weekend to attend the 07 Allied Media Conference. I'll update this post with additional information once I know more. Screenings will kick off after about 11pm - in the Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit. Film festival is free.

saturday's wexarts screening

2007-05-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

--at Bento A Go Go sushi bar reception, after the screening

The screening at the Wexner Center went very well. My film was near the end of a strong program of diverse film. The evening was an eye opening experience to the variety and fortitude of the heartland state's film community.

The highlight for me was the chance to finally meet the documentary filmmaking partnership, Ohio's own Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert. Two delightful filmmakers whose work I admire, proved to be overwhelmingly approachable - at one point Julia took me around to be introduced to the other filmmakers I hadn't met. It was a good evening.

You should make time to see their film A LION IN THE HOUSE, and go check out the PBS site featuring bios, production blog, and back story on the crew and subjects of this award winning documentary about childhood cancer patients. It's worth your time.

I also had the chance to meet Matt Meindl, who's no-budget handmade films are sooo lovely. big discovery: we live less than 20 minutes from one another. Small world. His film LOLLYGAGGER is on the most recent issue of the JOURNAL OF SHORT FILM (vol 7).

DRIFT

2007-05-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we post things of interest, guilty pleasures.

I'm crazy about Lee Ranoldo's work. I'll admit it. Either audio or visual, he has a sensative eye and a delicate ear.

Screening at Wexner Center, OH Showcase 07

2007-04-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

[:29 sec. preview]

AUTHORITY HEAD EXORCISM - Accepted into the Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio Film & Video Showcase 2007. Screening May 12, 7pm, Columbus, OH.

Films offer perspective to discovering sexual identity - Arts

2007-03-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Just sharing one of Columbus's amazing new offerings...

Films offer perspective to discovering sexual identity - Arts: "os"

The folks at the Wexner know how to bring it! If only they would open their doors to local artists more often...

2007-03-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

Rob Nilsson stopped in Columbus, Ohio at Columbus College of Art and Design on March 5th. I was present to capture some audio and video clips of his presentation which turned out so very badly due to the low light and sub-par equipment I used. I will try to edit the uadio together and post it soon. The video is best left on my home computer, trust me.

Lightcone needs your help

2007-02-28T06:31:00.000-08:00

It's time once again to make our collective voices heard.
Global responsiblity is at your doorstep.

Let your urge to help someone direct you to signing the Lightcone Petition today.

Light Cone is a not-for-profit distributor of an international collection of over 3,000 experimental films ranging from 1920's avant-garde to contemporary works, and whose survival is now menaced. Without this collection, the programming of a great many retrospectives of the past years wouldn't have been possible. Light Cone is a vital tool for ensuring the dissemination of these works, in particular in their original medium, for furthering knowledge of their contribution to the history of art, and the vitality of this field of reflection.

In addition to the fast archive of experimental film, Light Cone also has a well established Documentation Center including books, periodicals, and visual and sound material on avant-garde and experimental cinema, including many rare or out-of-print items such as English-language publications, exhibition catalogues, magazines from the '30s, '50s, and '70s, etc.
Files on individual artists and institutions in the realm of experimental cinema and artists' films. A photo library open to critics and programmers. Information on screenings, festivals and, more generally, on the current state of experimental cinema and artists' films.

Lightcone is located in Paris France.

2007-02-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

Ari Sandel is nominated for an Oscar in 07!!!

I met Ari in Spring 06 while organizing a filmmakers panel discusion and screening with the University of Arizona and the Arizona International Film Festival. His nominated short film West Bank Story, if you haven't seen it, is a hilarious musical take on one of the most troubled regions in the world.

Read more about Ari, the Tucson film scene, and more on the University of Arizona Media Arts Blog.

ALLIED MEDIA CONFERENCE 2007 "Breaking Silence, Building Movements"

2007-02-15T10:05:00.001-08:00

The 9th annual Allied Media Conference:
"Breaking Silence, Building Movements"
June 22-24, 2007
Detroit, MI
www.amc2007.org

Because so many voices have been silenced by corporate media. Because media should be a tool for communication and transformation and not a commodity to passively consume. Because our stories have been misrepresented, misinterpreted, and straight up missing…

We need a participatory media movement to change the world.

AMC 2007: "BREAKING SILENCE, BUILDING MOVEMENTS"

It's getting louder and louder out there. Though much of humanity is still silenced, more people than ever are speaking out. Whether it be with high-tech tools like blogs, video cameras, and MPCs, or lo-fi tools like spray paint or the spoken word, people are voicing their truths and forging new connections. For eight years, the Allied Media Conference has contributed to that by providing hands-on trainings, accessible discussions, and a supportive community.

Now in its ninth year, the AMC will continue to provide a critical space for us to strategize on the role of media in our communities and movements. In a time of escalating war, and the daily violence of neoliberal policies, we need media that amplifies the voices of those most affected by these crises. We need media that not only breaks silence, but mobilizes people to envision alternatives and to take action.

DON'T WAIT! REGISTER TODAY AT
www.amc2007.org

The Allied Media Conference brings together a phenomenal cross-section of media workers: daring filmmakers, ambitious radio producers, serious publishers, skilled web designers, and artists whose work makes revolution irresistible. It is organized by a team of activists in Detroit, supported by many local organizations and long-time conference participants.
Be a part of it at www.amc2007.org.

Hey you! Get at the AMC myspace:
http://myspace.com/alliedmediaconference

ALLIED MEDIA CONFERENCE 2007 "Breaking Silence, Building Movements"

2007-02-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

I just heard about this years Allied Media Conference, and I'm very excited to have the chance to go this year!

The 9th annual Allied Media Conference:
"Breaking Silence, Building Movements"
June 22-24, 2007
Detroit, MI

AMC2007
Because so many voices have been silenced by corporate media. Because media should be a tool for communication and transformation and not a commodity to passively consume. Because our stories have been misrepresented, misinterpreted, and straight up missing…

We need a participatory media movement to change the world.

AMC 2007: "BREAKING SILENCE, BUILDING MOVEMENTS"

It's getting louder and louder out there. Though much of humanity is still silenced, more people than ever are speaking out. Whether it be with high-tech tools like blogs, video cameras, and MPCs, or lo-fi tools like spray paint or the spoken word, people are voicing their truths and forging new connections. For eight years, the Allied Media Conference has contributed to that by providing hands-on trainings, accessible discussions, and a supportive community.

Now in its ninth year, the AMC will continue to provide a critical space for us to strategize on the role of media in our communities and movements. In a time of escalating war, and the daily violence of neoliberal policies, we need media that amplifies the voices of those most affected by these crises. We need media that not only breaks silence, but mobilizes people to envision alternatives and to take action.

DON'T WAIT! REGISTER TODAY AT
www.amc2007.org

The Allied Media Conference brings together a phenomenal cross-section of media workers: daring filmmakers, ambitious radio producers, serious publishers, skilled web designers, and artists whose work makes revolution irresistible. It is organized by a team of activists in Detroit, supported by many local organizations and long-time conference participants.
Be a part of it at www.amc2007.org.

Hey you! Get at the AMC myspace:
myspace.com/alliedmediaconference

JSF Vol 6 out now!!!

2007-02-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

The Journal of Short Film releases Volume 6 (Winter 2007)

Columbus, OH (February 6, 2007) -- The Journal of Short Film released Volume 6 (Winter 2007) today. The JSF is a quarterly DVD publication of exceptional, peer-reviewed short films. Volume 6 contains the JSF’s
first films from Australia. To date, the JSF has published 61 filmmakers from 8 countries.

The Journal welcomed Sam Green as a guest editor on Volume 6. Sam was a noted short film maker before making the feature documentary “The Weather Underground,” which was nominated for an Academy Award. Sam has helped to fulfill the Journal’s mission of supporting diversity, experimentation, and independent work.

1. WE’RE GOING TO THE ZOO – Josh Safdie (2006)
2. ALICE SEES THE LIGHT – Ariana Gerstein (2006)
3. THE SASKATCHEWAN TRILOGY, PART I – Brian Stockton (2002)
4. FIRST LADIES – Natalie Frigo (2006)
5. LUCKY – Nash Edgerton (2005)
6. RUMSFELD RULES – Bryan Boyce (2006)
7. CARMICHAEL & SHANE – Rob Carlton and Alex Weinress (2006)
8. INTERSTATE, PART I – Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin (2006)
9. DON’T READ NOW, PART I – Michael Saul (2006)
10. REMOTE COMMOTION – Catherine Galasso (2006)
11. THE TOUCH – Vanessa Woods (2005)

---Oscar news:
A film that appeared in Volume 4 (Summer 2006)—Borja Cobeaga’s “Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)”—was just nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

New twists & a few turns

2007-02-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

I've somehow fallen into a slump - perhaps the post holiday blues? Although this implies that the holidays produced an upward spike in my psycho-emotional map, whereas it tends to create the opposite. I haven't had the heart to post anything for a bit. Just wanted to sketch out a few things that have been happening lately.

In January I was brought on as the official graphic designer for the previously mentioned Journal of Short Film , an opportunity to support an exciting program right here out of Columbus.

Following a month and a half of cold weather, I'm just about finished with the whole thing. I'm reminded of summers in southern Arizona, the heat would increase the stress levels - and reduce each of us to a dehydrated shriveled mess, hiding in the house, in the car, in the department stores, groceries and bars. This cold perspective injection recreates the dynamic, replacing heat with freezing temperatures. We're running from house to car to work to survive this dreaded threatening frost bite.

From inside my small apartment, looking out upon a frozen suburban manicure, it all looks so plastic, slick roads and rounded edges. Again and again I'm surprised at just how cold it is upon opening my front door. Have I forgotten my hometown this quickly, five short years?

A playful experimental documentary called Dial H-i-s-t-o-r-y, directed by Johan Grimonprez (1998?) which I found at the public library (god bless) was an inspirational 70 minutes on Saturday evening. Grimonprez plays with international TV news footage of airline hijacking, hijackers, victims and corporate response, inter-spliced and countered through voiceovers narrating selections from Don Delillo's books White Noise and Mao II . Both books relay a narrative in which writers (artists) struggle to find a place in our new world in which terrorists have displaced writers and artists as the last remaining cultural revolutionaries.

Jan 4 Helen Hill

2007-01-08T07:01:00.000-08:00

helenhill.org

Helen Hill, Experimental filmmaker (Animator) mother, and good deed doer, was killed last week.

Although I never had the chance to meet her, I studied her book Recipes for Disaster last spring, when feeding a burgeoning love of handmade filmmaking while studying with Nicole Koschmann. Nicole knew Helen, and through reading the news articles and memorial impressions left by friends, I have the sense that the two women shared many of the same qualities. This incident is a confusing expression of the violence found in New Orleans.

Broken Headphones

2006-12-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

today I broke my second pair of headphones in a week. I do believe its a sign. Either I shouldn't be listening to music while at work, or I need to solve the problem of the roaming cord that seems to find it's way around my chair leg as I roll across my cubicle.

On an entirely unrelated note, I found some old video projects buried in the box of VHS home movies at the in-laws place. A lovely surprise, like an early christmas present to myself.

I also read today that my friend Johnny Pulley has his short film Move Me in the 07 Sundance Short Film Festival - a nice piece and good news for a great young filmmaker from Tucson, Arizona.
Check it out: Sundance Shorts 07 & Move Me on Myspace

A fine end to a banal week

2006-11-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

A note of good news this week, with the dem's taking control of house and senate - and Rumsfeld stepping down. And then this morning I'm wasting time at work again, checking up on all my comrades, and favorite sites when I read this nice piece covering my friend Mike Olenick from Columbus, OH. Back in July, the Columbus Dispatch compiled a "20 under 30" list of creatives in our fair city. It's nice to see old friends getting the kind of attention they deserve.

dispatch's 20 under 30 July 2006

Short films... in the mail

2006-11-02T12:13:00.000-08:00

Over the last year or so, I've been reading about, watching, and making short films. I once thought the short film was akin to a sketch, a study leading to a larger finished film - which was to be viewed in the context of a larger body of work.

My impression of the short film has changed.

Alas, I have sadly overlooked many wonderful filmmakers/ artists/ and films due to the generally less seen and less screened work which is usually difficult for theaters, even small art-house establishments, to book. Most short films are exhibited within a programmed group of films - and are extremely short run in any one location. Count yourself lucky if a short film screens more than once in your hometown.

Perhaps the short film is gaining ground with mainstream cinema audiences due to the outpouring of DVD extra's.

Besides the now ubiquitous online video sites, (once independent Youtube), other organisations now offer interested viewers short film collections on DVD, and in monthly screening programs. At my previous residence in Tucson, Arizona we enjoyed more than one microcinema event each month (microcinema refering to any public film screening dedicated to indepedent films, and alternative to the mainstream theater industry. usually organized in a non-profit vein). The Loft Cinema holds a short film contest each month, and the folks at Tucsonfilm.com present their Tucson Shortfest, a program of international and local shortfilms, once every few months.

There is however an undiscovered diamond, in the Columbus rough, called The Journal of Short Film. A collection of 10 short films on DVD available quarterly by mail. The JSF accepts submissions from filmmakers all over the world, listing more than 50 filmmakers and 8 different countries at it's recent one-year anniversary. The JSF is doing what only a handful of other organizations are even trying to do, and with gusto. Now, of course, in the wide world of indiefilm, shortfilm, and film/video art - the JSF is not breaking much ground. Since the JSF has no connect to a larger organization, festival, or event as of yet - it stands alone in it's singular interest of publishing works of short film for the benefit of the filmmakers and the viewers alone.

Check them out, The Journal of Short Film, as the price is just right for those of us on limited budgets. Karl Mechem is doing great things through his Journal of Short Film, and his rough little diamond is gaining exposure all over the place.

The JSF recently published it's 5th collection, including some wonderful films by Peter Sillen, Sara Zia Ebrahimi, Phillip Hastings, Jen Schneider and others.

Clamor @ ACME

2006-10-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

All in the name of supporting Clamor Magazine, and ACME art Co., in Columbus, OH. We should see more pics from COlumbus and other locations at Clamor Music Fest site.

TI-83 PLUS, after a little delay, brought the house lights up!

PINEBOX shapeshifting at ACME on Saturday night, making noise to a video montage backdrop- these boys could have gone on all evening.

Folks seemed to be having fun.

ZAS made good at about 1AM, playing playful for an enthusiastic crowd.

No Festival Required- Phoenix

2006-10-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

Found out today that my film "Authority Head Exorcism," was included in a screening at the No Festival Required microcinema in Phoenix, AZ on October 1. Ultra-uber Thanks to the NFR director, Steve Weiss for considering my piece. Steve is doing great things for lo/no-budget, and independent filmmaking in Arizona, managing one of the longest running microcinema's in the Southwest. Check out more of what Steve is doing here: No Festival Required

Saturday OCT 21:

2006-09-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

today

2006-09-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

The names at the end of the book, out of order, are the names of those who value creative explosions as viable solutions, as collateral damage prevention, as pumping heart-muscle fists. I'm taking radio production classes with a local community radio foundation. I'm listening to Third Coast Festival radio soundscapes at work. We're sitting with our son, after school, doing homework for an hour. Collapsing in bed, barely able to move, looking across the sea of thread. - Sept 28. This morning I received an email message from an ex-colleague at the University of Arizona. One of our graduate film students was recently killed in a car accident while walking across the street. I recall his open/honest face, and his pention for curiousity and discovery. (for Tim Morris)

Authority Exorcism included in Patriot Show II, Oakland

2006-09-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

My short film, Authority Head Exorcism was recently included in a group exhibit at the Cricket Engine Gallery in Oakland, CA - opened on Sept. 11 - appropriately so.

As I sat watching from the couch, 9-11 evening tv... I recalled 5 years ago, the cold windchill brought upon by hurried news explosions and fears of deployment. You see, I pulled myself out of bed that bomb-morning already heart-heavy because the previous afternoon I had pledged to the RWB flag - my ally status as I signed the bottom line into the United States Air Force. Although I wasn't due to depart civilian life for six months, my name (and ass) was on the line. Nonetheless, I survived my time in service, relatively unscathed.

In the years to follow I have been working through regret, fears, and guilt for a mixed bag of love/hate of country, god, man.

Authority Head Exorcism was an exploration of an inner conflict related to time serving our beloved country. It will also be on view at the Artist Television Access Film and Video festival in San Francisco, CA happening October 19-20.

A moment to reflect

2006-09-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

Back to OHIO, and the deadly grey horizon.

It has been a week and a half since we heard about Aaron's fatal accident. Although I wish I knew him better, my brother in-law will be dearly missed. His absence is a massive loss for the world - where he left an indelible mark with his smile and infectious sense of humor.

In the face of tragety, it is difficult to celebrate even the best of circumstances.

In light of this, I will simply list a few things going an around the house:

- Working on the Columbus Clamor Music Festival for October 21st.
- Hired on as a graphic designer at Mcgraw-Hill Educational Publishing
- Eliott started first grade
- Trying to decide if I truly want to stop smoking

My brother and his new wife return from Japan tonight - so we'll get to celebrate their return and hear all about their adventures.

arizona brother heads home

2006-07-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

Follow my brother and I as we drive through sun saturation, greasey spoon soak, and cult locale's on our return trip to Ohio.

http://arizonabrother.blogspot.com/

We depart Tucson, AZ Monday Morning - and should be arriving in Columbus on Thursday evening if all goes well.

A show of solidarity in a time of divide

2006-07-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

This morning I'm posting a portion of a letter I read that was sent out to the FrameWorks experiemental film listserv on Saturday July 22. A rarely heard sentiment in the US:

---A letter to Palestinian and Lebanese filmmakers to coincide with the opening of the Arab Film Biennial in Paris July 22nd, 2006---

We, the undersigned Israeli filmmakers, greet the Arab filmmakers who have gathered in Paris for the Arab Film Biennial. Through you, we wish to convey a message of camaraderie and solidarity with our Lebanese and Palestinian colleagues who are currently besieged and bombarded by our country's army.

We unequivocally oppose the brutality and cruelty of Israeli policy, which has reached new heights in recent weeks. Nothing justifies the continued occupation, closure, and oppression in Palestine. Nothing justifies the bombing of civilians and the destruction of infrastructures in Lebanon and Gaza.

Allow us to tell you that your films, which we try to see and circulate among us, are extremely important in our eyes. They enable us to know and understand you better. Thanks to these films, the men, women, and children who suffer in Gaza, Beirut, and everywhere else our army exercises its violence - have names and faces. We would like to thank you and encourage you to keep on filming, despite the difficulties.

For our part, we will continue to express through our films, with our raised voices, and in our personal actions our vehement opposition to the occupation, and we will continue to express our desire for freedom, justice, and equality among all the peoples of the region.

---signed---

Nurith Aviv / Ilil Alexander / Adi Arbel / Yael Bartana / Philippe Bellaiche / Simone Bitton / Michale Boganim / Amit Breuer / Shai Carmeli-Pollack / Sami S. Chetrit Danae Elon / Anat Even / Jack Faber / Avner Fainguelernt / Ari Folman / Gali Gold / BZ Goldberg / Sharon Hamou / Amir Harel / Avraham Heffner / Rachel Leah Jones / Dalia Karpel / Avi Kleinberger / Elonor Kowarsky / Edna Kowarsky / Philippa Kowarsky / Ram Loevi / Avi Mograbi / Jud Neeman / David Ofek / Iris Rubin / Abraham Segal / Nurith Shareth / Julie Shlez / Eyal Sivan / Yael Shavit / Eran Torbiner / Osnat Trabelsi / Daniel Waxman / Keren Yedaya

2006-07-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

(July 22, 2006) Gonzalo Amat(DP), Yuri Makino(Dir), Mark Braun(1st AD) just after sunset, discussing shot direction an lighting adjustments on the first day of production photography for Alma.

Choosing a perm rather than a comb-over every time

2006-07-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

A wonderful evening at Plush, listening to Camera Obscura with some new found friends, Jason and Megan - new transplants from Ohio to Arizona. Jason is editor and co-founder of a wonderful publication called clamor magazine. Megan is becoming the local mistress of cat-sitting, master of dog-walking. Both bring the kinds of enthusiasm that Tucson desperately needs.

2006-07-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

Derek, Sarah and Lynl at Heart-Five in Tucson - June 2006. Two of the best neighbors we've ever had the pleasure of living next to. And they didn't even shoot holes in our walls!

2006-07-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Band of Horses at the Congress Hotel in Tucson, AZ June 2006

July final days, Tucson summer

2006-07-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

First production meeting for Yuri Makino's short film ALMA went well. Crew is much larger than I expected, with approximately 40 people apparently signed up, and a handful still being sought after.

I'm stoked to get to work with some experienced folks, like Michael McDonough (Cinematographer on Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore) and many other fine folks from the University as well.

Apparently the three lead cast members are being brought in from out of state (LA I believe). The shooting is scheduled for three over-night dates starting the 22nd (actually 23rd) at 8pm-3AM. I will post a few pics here once I've started shooting.

Sarah and Kids are back home in Columbus, where I'll be heading at the end of the month. My lil bro is heading out to Tucson to help with the move - and we'll truck it back and make a good time of it all.

On-set photography for a Makino short!

2006-06-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

Spoke with Yuri Makino, film professor and independent filmmaker, about her short, Alma, in production this summer. I'll be shooting production photography during her shoot - scheduled for July 22-24 in Tucson.

From the Phoenix NO FESTIVAL REQUIRED bio page on Yuri - "Ms. Makino is in development with Alma, a feature film about a nineteen-year-old Chicana who discovers she is not a U.S. citizen and is jailed in a maximum security prison. Ms. Makino plans to direct Alma in Southern Arizona and Mexico. Alma, co-written by Ms. Makino, was awarded semi-finalist status at the 1999 Sundance Institute Feature Film Lab and awarded the 2000 Roy W. Dean Grant (worth $40,000 in-kind). "

Yuri's films are wonderful, and have played a major role in opening my eyes to the power of personal documentary.

Moving to Columbus... and other adventures

2006-06-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Jason Kucsma is visiting Tucson, Arizona. It's hot down here... and dry. Jason and Megan are good sports, and they don't complain. But they certainly picked the right month to make the move.

Until a few days ago I had only known Jason through random email exchanges. I am in love with Clamor magazine of which Jason is the editor. Sarah and I had the chance to grab a bite.

In August he is moving from Ohio to Tucson, and I'll be making the return move from Tucson to Ohio. Perhaps we'll run into one another on the road.

Kucsma also edits an annual collection called The Zine Yearbook

My friend Dave Crosland turned me onto the Zine YearBook when his book Heaven LLC was included.

It's fun to play the degrees of seperation game when yer stressed out.

Check out Clamor blog at: www.clamormagazine.org/blog/

2006-05-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

Caveh Zahedi in class - what a good day. We watched I Am A Sex Addict, and talked with Caveh about such topics as the dirty penis, the making of his film and his recovery from sex addiction, and his shared prostitute fetish with Godard.

Finalized and in the mail

2006-05-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

Authority Head Exorcism, my first short film, was completed on May 3 - and screened at "Unseen Cinema," in the Director's Theater at the University of Arizona last Friday (May 5) with a collection of short experimental films and video installation art. I've also uploaded a short short preview on Myspace videos here.

Tucsonfilm.com Shortfest

2006-04-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday I was honored with the Film Community Service Award, by the Tucsonfilm.com Shortfest. The ShortFest awarded three individuals for their contributions to the Tucson film community. Peggy Johnson (The Loft Cinema); Rachel Sharp (Micro-Cinema Tucson) and Daniel King (U of A Media Arts).

More about the Shortfest here: Tucsonfilm.com

Ink Drop Film Soup

2006-03-17T08:31:00.000-08:00

Blop Map sequence frame. First in a new series of experiments with analog/digital/organic combination filmmaking process. March 17, 2006

A frame among frames, a piece of the puzzle. It's a simple starting point, a pinpoint from which many decisions will be made on the problem-solvers journey. I'm working on a film project using DV and 16mm film, laser printers, and things as organic as found materials, ink drops, archived video footage, and coolaborative audio recordings.

The Thematic starting point is "Forbidden Territories." This film is to be included in a program of Experimental film work at The Screening Room, (Tucson, AZ)in May. I'm very excited to combine materials in ways I've never worked before. This will be my first real attempt at audio recroding, interviewing, and DV editing.

I will be posting on my progress on this site from time to time.

EYE - moves into post-production

2006-03-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

EYE - 2006, 16mm handmade film, non-narrative, 1:00 minute (approx)

--- --- ---

I presented my first film, "EYE", created by hand with a laser jet printer on 16mm, manipulating image captures from Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou," running at a little over 1 minute in length. I screened the film with a placeholder audio, Mouse on Mars song Dispothek, from the 1999 album Niun Niggung

Student feedback was very positive. Aesthetically I was pleased, content was promising.

My next step is to transfer the film to DV, and overlay a finalized original soundtrack, titles, and credits.

2006-02-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

Roger Corman will be speaking at the University of Arizona on Feb 27.

Check this greate Corman interview out found on Schlockcast Radio... found on Cineschlock-O-Rama.

2006-02-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

How dancing becomes wrestling every time... Mid february 06

Starting 20 zot-6 with a bang

2006-01-27T17:01:00.000-08:00

ARRRRRRR! Eliott Turns Mighty Mighty 6

So we've survived the January lurch. Into the new year we bring flu, cold-bug, pirate antics and exhaustion. But we've survived the month. This weekend Sarah performs with NEWARTiculations Dance Theater for a three night run of a contemporary and playful take on an olf fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel. Not the best project they've put together, but a heartfelt attempt to open the company to a new younger audience.

As a side note, I've accepted a position on the Board of Directors for NEWART, which basically entails sipping wine and munching cheese while we try to help the modern dance company find a stronger, more substantial way of providing the kind of movement art that they've help to plant so strongly in Tucson. It should be an exciting chance to learn the ins and outs of a small non-profit arts organisation, and definitely plays into my passion for arts administration work.

I'm nearing the end of a start-stop-start effort to design a brochure for the Department of Media Arts, which has been an excersize in patience and political sensitivity...

(few days later)

This brochure will be the first step in integrating an overall visual presence through the Media Arts program. Next up is the premeir of our fundraising/ audience development "Friends group," which will directly benefit the Student Internship program, and hopefully bring in more well-known local celebs to our visiting speakers/filmmakers events.

The Friends of Media Arts group will have it's own tri-fold brochure, to compliment the content and outreach capabilities of the larger department brochure. Also - I have a few hundred square feet of wall throughout the department on which I must present the departments History, presence, mission, and "WOW." A series of significant event posters, and a "Wall of Fame," of our visiting artists/filmmakers/ scholars/ and professionals.

Also recently started developing a simple website for our student internship program. I have a couple of great student interns doing to prep work, and we'll finish this and go live in February if all goes well.

This site will serve both the students looking for internships, as well as the companies looking for interns.

More later.

This Year's Model

2006-01-06T13:03:00.000-08:00

This year's model, The third "Santa" image for TV-GUIDE December edition, modeled after dear old pa.

A startling discovery. Apparently for the last three years, the Illustration gracing the back cover of each holiday issue of TV-GUIDE has been created by C. F. Payne, and modeled after my father - who teaches with Payne at the Columbus College of Art and Design.

Now, from what I've heard, there is talk of a documentary being produced to unearth the mystery behind the "C.F. Payne Santa" character - which my father is of course graciously inclined to support. Seeing as though it means that he will not only be thought of as "looking like Santa" by my children, but also by the rest of illustration fandom, I can understand why he would enjoy this attention. The jolly old elf.

2006-01-06T12:58:00.000-08:00

Santa by C.F. Payne, for December 2003 TV-GUIDE (Model, Walter King)

2006-01-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

2004 Santa by C.F. Payne, for the back cover of TV-GUIDE's holiday edition. (Model, Walter King)

Nobel Prize, stand-up redemptions, comforting reminders of home

2006-01-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd start with this wonderful quote from recent Nobel Prize winnner, and playwrite Harold Pinter.

'There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.'

Harold Pinter, 2005 Nobel Prize, Literature (quoting himself)

Below is a poem by Harold Pinter titled "Death."

Where was the dead body found?
Who found the dead body?
Was the dead body dead when found?
How was the dead body found?
Who was the dead body?
Who was the father or daughter or brother
Or uncle or sister or mother or son
Of the dead and abandoned body?
Was the body dead when abandoned?
Was the body abandoned?
By whom had it been abandoned?
Was the dead body naked or dressed for a journey?
What made you declare the dead body dead?
Did you declare the dead body dead?
How well did you know the dead body?
How did you know the dead body was dead?
Did you wash the dead body?
Did you close both its eyes?
Did you bury the body?
Did you leave it abandoned?
Did you kiss the dead body?

Here, in the Arizona outside, teeth-whitener bright, I've returned from my week long trip to Columbus, Ohio. City of my birth, my young life, early experiences I barely remember. Upon each return I find dull pink memories enveloped in gray-glow daylight. Blacklights and the eversmell of cheap beer. This is Columbus for me, this is Bernies, this is High Street, this is South side, this is German Village, Pickerington, East end, Brice Road, Dublin and Dowtown.

And the long lost physical presence of old friends regained. Radio DJ, Shepherding a flock - across the table Engineer under 30 nearly dotting the eyes on his PhD, and long time cohort/distant brother...Kindergarten Teacher in english turning Japanese. These momentary meetings bring me to my knees. Remind me of the microcosm within which I live, and make life big again. Thank you all for your ears, and the sounds of your multi layered voice. (Matt, Obadiah, Daniel)

Today, first day back on the job. Quiet University, returning faculty slowly file in one at a time... socialize and catch up with one another. Today, January 3, my first entry in 2006. I spoke for the first time with friends and family about this strangely hidden and personal online journal I keep. Scissor Circus, which for me has come to refer to the act of piecing together all the parts and snippets of my daily life, with the hope of eventually recalling moments of meaningful direction.

This blog, what started out so small and uncertain, has developed into the only vehicle for quiet contemplation and an outlet for creative and internal reflection.

Scissor Circus, when I'm too busy and moving too fast to keep track of it all, is a place to keep clippings of memory - I have two kids and a wife whom have lives of their own, and intertwinned lives with mine. From which we find our identity. This life, I find, is not my own, but ours to live.

I need to feel

2005-12-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

The way I see is comparable to the way musicians hear, something extra sensory. Not judgmental. I dont differentiate between an idea of what is beautiful and what is not. What I see is a reaffirmation of the many things I need to feel. It has to do with obsessive qualities, not explainable. I am a natural photographer. It is my language, I speak through my photographs more intricately, more deeply than with words.

_Richard Avedon

Notes from Yesterday

2005-11-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

Notes from yesterday...

NOV 22, 2005

Today spent all day at home, following an early morning sick-spell. [read:
sudden and unexpected vomit] Today is Tuesday, tomorrow the last day before
Thanksgiving.

We will once again spend our Thanksgiving as a family, quiet? Just the four
of us in Tucson. This year we've resolved to take the kids out for dinner.
Partly, I believe, to avoid cooking and cleaning all day, and thus avoid the
reminder of our distance from the rest of the family. We see how this plays out.

Spent most of Today catching up on correspondance missed on Tuesday. Trying to wrap my head around the problem of getting started on another project. A video based, process-oriented problem. I'm starting with two basic materials sources. First, the F.F Coppolla film, "Apacolypse Now," and the second being all the emotionally mixed media currents of our international role in the war on terror... as it is sold to us, as individuals and as participants in American culture. I'm not so interested in the questions of why, or how we fight wars... but in how we might take a fresh look at the constant barrage of violence imagery, the flood of media saturated violence as partiotism. The first step in my project is to remove all but the explosive scenes in A.N.

Cycle o' rama in Tucson

2005-11-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

Today (Saturday NOV 12) the kids and I weaved in and out of rows of custom bikes, small frames with large wheels, like bone-shakers, and mini recliners, recumbent bikes and scooters. We bought a few cheap nic-nacs and jumped back on our bike to ride through the streets downtown. We sat in the custom experimental speed "human powered vehicle" on view with the engineering students from the University of Arizona, maxing out at 35+ MPH in trial runs.

It was again this morning that I recalled the bloodless, cold process of drive-through commuting to and from work, school and home each day. After six months of living within the space of work and play, I can finally breath - it's as though I've thrown off a heavy burden, the shackle binding my every day actions to oil/ fuel/ and auto. This dependency is sold as the engine of independence. The ability for every individual to drive wherever they desire to go - on or off road, sun up or sundown, is supposed to offer complete independence - true personal freedom of movement. What it actually encourages is an impersonal, detachment from neighbor, friend and family.

Not only isolation, but also societal dependence on the world-wide oil/fuel/auto industries. An interdependent empire which could not survive without a co-dependent society like America, a society which has purchased stock in the myth of personal independence and freedom as an outgrowth of owning and driving large auto's, regularly and often.

Daniel King

"short enough to see up the skirt of subconsciousness, stout enough to brawl with real life" ~ Cold Albert, homeless midget

Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

Sound bloc material

2005-11-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

Shocking moments when sounds and streaming audio take a front seat position in the creative act. I never expected to be back here again. In a creative space where sound and image become so important.

Here is a wonderful; online exhibit of found sounds... sounds recovered from all sorts of places... on magnetic tape lying the sewer to old CD's stacked in a closet - unmarked. It's called Found Tapes Exhibition.

I'm excited to play and cut in this scissor circus that is today. I've been reading the Critical Art Ensembles book project called "Flesh Machine".

Aside from being incredibly engaging, if not a little hard to follow, it has ignited neurons in new directions in my little frumpy head. I'm thinking about all the self-imposed definitions and fences I use to derail my create interests. I've been blinded by the lack of free-play in the wide open garden of media/image/message/push that is like a fog around us everywhere we trek.

I feel like this is a good place to mention, my daughter refuses to fear screenal images. That is, images on-screen, whether in a theater or at home on TV. She just isn't afraid, no matter how demonic... or adult.

Whereas my son, well yes he's very afraid... often. He can't watch movies with monsters, movies with creepy dark corridors and the such. Although he does hanker to regurgitate every commercial that he sees. I'm just waiting for him to start quoting from Adult Erectile Disfunction Ads in public. Oh I can't wait.

stevekurtz ... wordmark for arts hero/everyman

2005-11-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

Steve Kurtz speaks like a kid in college whose every thought is an inside joke.

The funny thing is that we all get it, because he speaks to everyone's frustration of the system under which we live. Although he speaks with academic and scientific rhetoric, he manages to demystify the ivory towers from which his subjects cast their powerful spells. The scientist, genetisist, and even corporate laywer speak are grounded through revealing that their public image of complexity is a smoke screen.

Stevekurtz stands for versus-mediation, counter-mediation. His story and his work has opened something up to my senses that has long stood unrecognized.

Steven Kurtz Tonight - Critical Art Ensemble Member Visits Tucson

2005-11-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

A description used by the lovely communications folks at the UA College of Fine Arts:
"Bioterrorism and art make strange bedfellows. But artist Steven Kurtz knows a whole lot about both. Kurtz has been charged with mail fraud and has been under federal investigation since 2004 for the alleged mishandling of bacterial samples in relation to his artwork. A new-genre artist and cultural critic and a founding member of the Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), Kurtz also is an associate professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The CAE is a collective of artist with various specializations who explore art, technology, radical politics and critical theory."

I first read about Kurtz two years ago, while I was on active duty with the US Air Force. I was numb due to the constant flow of military jargon and pro-government rhetoric scumbling across the surfaces of my brain, I was ripe for getting behind an artist-activist like Kurtz. I'm very excited to hear him speak tonight, and possibly get my picture taklen with the artist who inspired me to work on my fleaflet bomb project.

More tomorrow...

Levant visit last year... the return

2005-11-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

"A veteran writer-producer of TV sitcoms and director of Hollywood family-oriented features, Brian Levant began his long TV career at age 23 when he joined the writing staff of ABC's Happy Days, a faux 1950s sitcom which cashed in on the nostalgia boom initiated by the success of American Graffiti (1973). He eventually became a supervising producer on the series and moved on to write, produce and serve as a creative consultant for the show's hit spin-off, Mork and Mindy (ABC, 1978-82). "
- Hollywood.com

Personal response to Levant's presentation at the University of Arizona on April 1, 2005:

$2.5 MIL for 25 second opener, CG, models, real-time in reverse, slow-play/fast play,

Paint outs, make outs and inside jokes. Million dollar tokes, references to the original Governor Arnold across miles of trash, lengths of cut film and recycled ideas. Painfully uncomfortable zoom-ins & zoom outs, superman stuntman original Betty. Turboman flying red muscle turned pre-pubescent Vader.

Paying the rent Vs. making the world a safer place

2005-11-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

Why should I have to choose between the two, keeping up on my bills or taking part in the historic events that will shape the world my kids grow up in?

My evenings seem filled with the constant attack of paperwork, bill paying tsunami's, trash and dirty whirlwinds of laundry. When I do finally step out into the night air, I'm lost in the vastness of quiet motion of the neighborhood. More to come.

Protest: NOV 2, 2005 - in Tucson Arizona

2005-11-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

Protester dones Bush mask, Nov 2, 2005 Tucson, AZ
The World Can't Wait: Drive Out the Bush Regime!

Today we gathered in the dowtown spaces of this dusty pseudo border town, Tucson Arizona to make some noise and wake the ghosts of the dead among us.

We marched with the World Can't Wait campaign, to Drive Out the Bush Campaign. We'll have more to share after tonights additional protests, in which my two children will share in the historic efforts to bring this country a little sanity.

2005-10-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

Terry Whitworth, Field Producer for SURVIVOR, discussing his expereinces sleeping next to a volcano.

+cornering+

2005-10-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Cornering the market on self depreciation
Sells records, sells books, sells sex
Sex sells, marking notches per day I'm alive
Living as though everyday was Monday
It's the last day - a phrase oft repeated in classrooms supermarkets
[boxed nutrition] forcing farce
on child simple faces facing
Squads firing machettes
Shaped to fit marketing niches
Sans humanity
Loping off ears
Off appendages, noses, tongues
Piling pieces of our generational nexts
Bagging extra's and differences
Tossing anything abnormal
This education ironmaiden academia
Cornering makeshift logic in the morning hours

2005-10-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

Artist, Illustrator Dave Crosland and I after a rousing, if not distrurbing, presentation on the art and business of Dave & Debbie.

images from home, one months worth

2005-10-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

A chance encounter in the space between adolescence and adulthood_ Sept. 2005

Finding the time to sit and write about all that has happened over the last few months is difficult when every waking hour is spent keeping pace with the world around me. God damn deadlines, headlines and time saving manuveurs. I'm feeling as though the second I pick up something of interest, another bill falls in my lap, another alarm rings, another phone calls me to answer for my lack of planning and poor time management skills.

I try to make an effort to frame small moments with the kids, with my love, with this family that I sometimes feel I'm just visiting. I try to keep track of growth milestones, and take notice of the changes my kids endure. I try to stay engaged with my wife as she explores her next stage of life, going to school - making big changes, sometimes falling but mostly flying. She's what keeps me awake in the world. Without her watchful eyes and soft-kiss reminders, I would just float off into the world of dreams and nightmares.

I want no more than to feel like I'm totally engaged in the life I'm living, I want nothing more than to continue to make a difference in my family's life.

Value: 1+ ?

2005-09-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

More than a months worth of ramblings and catching ups to do here. I finally had to convince myself that I had something worthy of writing. Worthy of remembering. Of course, it has less to do with that, than the waxing and waining of my own confidence that this journaling practice is of any value at all.

Of "value," I've been reading GONZO MARKETING by Christopher Locke, which has shed some light on my own personal definition of what is valuable vs. invaluable.

The link I've chosen for the above mentioned book is a reflection of a point Locke makes in an effort to point out how customers are the best experts of "demographic" or "niche." Amazon.com features it's characteristic "Customers who bought this books also purchased these titles..." catagory, which allow new customers to network with what others are reading, digesting and paying for. I wish this was a feature in the grocery store - on every product. Instead of flashy cartoon charicatures of sports and movie starlings - let's find out what is proven through practice and use, let's find out what holds it weight in $$$ outlayed.

Speaking of valuable, time is an essence that never stops pushing forward, dragging us from instant to instant into the unknown cycle of now, now, now. I'm done with this concept of time. By defining time as a product or material "thing" I begin worrying of how much of it I'm wasting, how little of it I have, and how expensive it can be. (I lay out upwards of $100 per week to a local pre-school, to care for my daughter, so that I have the "time" to go to work) A few weekends back I took the family to a saturday night gathering called Food Not Bombs, where we met many wonderful folks, all of whom want to give of their time and money and efforts to provide food for the local homeless and hungry community in Tucson.

This is something that I have been thinking about for months now, how through my family's struggles we have risen out of total poverty to a place where we can afford to eat, we can afford to "entertain" ourselves with the trivialities of materialism. What I don't want us to do, is to continue to fall into the cravass of American materialism which consists of working hard in order to entertain ourselves to the fullest. Seems no better that cultural masterbation. A lifetime of bought pleasures. No Value.

Food Not Bombs is the closest thisng to what I want to involve my family in localy, an effort that can be seen from beginning to end, in which my kids can begin to clearly see how this world works, and what it means to be an American, a human, a person. We don't need to buy happiness when we live it.

Well, now I've spent the better part of my morning writing when I probably should have been working. Until next time.

Crushing blows to the skull, and assorted eye candy

2005-08-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

And again, I've gone to long - wondering from work to home, and back without acknowledging the possibility of knowing myself with any certainty. Today was wet, a warm rain soaking the places I pass in the morning hour. This afternoon, Sarah and I enjoyed a quiet lunch at the laundermat - watching dogs run though water pooling in cracked concrete.

SCRATCH is a mighty fine glimpse into the nacent life of an artform and culture in it's infancy. A documentary on the history of turntablism. Once again the history and dance-performance elements and the creative-experiment is more interesting to me than listening to the finished product.

Spent most of my work-day updating the website for the Dept of. Media Arts. New web redesign has everyone up in arms over lost content. Things sgould level out as we make our necessary updates.

Nine Lives, a night out

2005-08-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Rodrigo Marquez, son of late/great Gabriel Garcia Marquez, recently completed his film Nine Lives

Last night we took dad out on the town. We spend the evening at The Loft, watching Nine Lives, a moving film by the son of the Nobel Prize winning author/poet Garbriel Garcia Marquez.

As I'm 3/4th the way through 100 Years of Solitude, it's a glimpse into the story telling tradition in genetic terms.

Before the film, we stop in at Heart-Five for a drink, empty and quiet. After the film we settle for a at O'malleys bar, overwhelming 5-screen wall of TV sports and news like a tsunami of distraction from the tradition of conversation, so well grounding in my family.

An Evening With Tsa-Tsa

2005-08-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Talula, Tsa-Tsa & Eliott, August 7, 2005

A wonderous surprise, to find my father standing at the window, in the rain, suddenly transported from memory to flesh.

Eliott donkey-kicking in the nude, yells, Tsa-Tsa!!
Talula Chimes in Grandpa!!

We spend our evening talking and trying to keep the kids from climbing all over him. I beleive he enjoys it, after he comments that Talula tells a joke but doesn't get it. He mixes memories of his two son's, James and myself telling jokes through the span of years.

All is well.

Our new place, red ant construction morning

2005-08-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

A new start - August 1 2005

2005-07-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

From above, our childhood playground seems less like heaven. Peel, Arkansas route 125. July 2005

Dave Crosland & the Ignominious Debbie

2005-07-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

See Crosland's Work Here

Dave and i spent many a cold winter Ohio evening locked in the Photolab, wrestling with the larger questions in life. (who's going out for coffee?) (Who spilled the fixer?)

Dave gave a seemingly Narcotic-fueled, 1 hour presentation covering the length and breadth of his life's work. It was very interesting and even I found myself enthrawled with the Man/ the Legend, and yet intrigued to watch Dave balance the admiration of so many young artists in training. He played it cool, and yet - I beleive he was sucking it up like a sponge.

His work is quirky and fun, like his personality. It was great to see him again, after 4 years. And yes, Dave, I will take you up on your invite to Hollywood.

2005-07-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2005 - Peel, Arkansas

Motorbikes, outfests and number crunching theorist my-space monks

2005-06-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

Three (3) days until our house goes up for sale. Been doing nothing but painting, cleaning, fixing for last three weeks. May pay-off if we can sell and make 30K in 8 months. (closed on the house in Oct 04)

Need a chance to breath, and read. Walk with me camera eye, and obsorb silent blue skyline, mixed signal stereo, and the lips of my sleeping partner, my silken, my forever girl. Sarah.

I find it hard to keep my eyes off your, when you walk by. I find it hard to think of anything but skeets and milk toast orgasms. Thank you for coming along with me. My tight rope quail.

We're headed to the Ozark Mountains for a week. Family reunion, BBQ, boats and beer. Fireworks bang out numbers in the year, reminders of when I could shoot bottlerockets from my teeth.

Shadow fall on my shoulders, to bear burdens of history. As do woman and men everywhere in all places, the Ozark Mountains. What is your claim to fame?

Cornering the past... Demanding an explanation

2005-06-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

My entries have been few and far between lately, due to lack of breakthroughs, interest and energy. Every monring I wake at 6AM, get cleaned up, eat a little something, wake the kids and feed them. Pack lunches, ponder over whether or not to make coffee or wait until I get to the office, dress my son, wrestle something clean onto my doaughters small frame, and tie them to their seats in my 1990 VW Fox.

I drop them off at pre-school after driving by the dino-musuem near the intersection of Granada and Speedway, and passing the two Cacti wearing T'shirts. I smile at the girl working at the preschool who has this certain way of looking at me. Then I park on 4th Avenue and walk about 3/4 mile to my building, take the elevator up one floor and unlock my office door.

I do this every morning Monday through Friday for the last two months. I spend my time walking, pondering where I left my creativity and drive, where I dropped my passion for contributing to the visual flow of daily life. Why have I stopped arguing with the images battere=ing my eyes and mind? I've given up. Yesterday I told myself... the problem I must conquer is one of emotionl dependancy on feeling "GOOD." Moments later I made a connection to my failure with financial management, when I have money I feel good, when I have money I feel great. But when I go broke, I feel failure.

I can't do this anymore. This game of attack and retreat, this game of defeat. Last night I opened my mail to find a letter from the IRS. FUCK! Here we go again.

On a lighter note, I spent some time talking with Hal Hartley last week, while he visited Tucson. Nice guy, a little quiet, which is discomforting... after seeing his films. Also, it looks like I'm headed back to Ohio in about six months or so. Wife and kids are headed back in two months, where they'll work, school, and look for a house. I still have to find work and sell our house here in Arizona before making the leap back home. Part of me hates to return, while deep within, there is a longing to be back amongst those I grew up with. The artists of my fathers generation, and those of mine. Now that I've worked off some influences and scaled down my ambitions - It's time to get back to work.

2005-06-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

April 05, glassy-eyed skeletal fashion show. MODA in Tucson.

Cornered in the ORTS Dance Space - I Watched Him, Rehearsed

2005-05-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

David Levi Strauss

Writer/Poet on Violence in Photography, studied under Duncan Snyder. Making good with the words while watching Abu Graib prison abuse S&M homemade-Porn. Pix we cannot live without, but cannot fully embrace. David spoke about his research into what each image reveals and revolts.

This work seems mighty close to what I one day strive to do. David and & spoke a bit about my Military experience as a PR officer - my job being to control the media, and by doing so, controll the information released to the American public. Shaping opinions and votes. That's why I left.