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Matthew's Journal
Jun. 18th, 2005
11:06 pm - You What?!
So, I'm in Phoenix, and it's been pretty nice. Hung out with Nick and been stood up by countless other friends... so then I went and hung out with Nick again, which is awesome because he is my best friend. Sorry Andy, I love you and if Nick dies, you're second in line for my best man... but for now, he wins. Anyway, some odd goings on lately. I've decided it was time to go to Africa. That's right, starting Friday I'll spend a glorious month shooting a documentary about AIDS in Africa. What am I doing? I don't know. Why? No fucking clue. All I want to do is make movies that people like and meet an interesting member of the opposite sex. I never asked to travel the world or make films with purpose. I am however eating a ton right now, because I figure no matter how much weight I put on in the next two weeks, I'll lose it by either malnutrition or some sort of disease (dysentary, a tape worm... something). So right now, I'm up contemplating this because I've just finished talking to Brooke since we're both very confused about where we are in life right now (by the way, she reads my journal, and if you don't think this is a bad thing, go back and read September 4, 2004. Oh.. and Hi Brooke, how are you?). So "Swingers" is on and I'm thinking about having a midlife crisis. It seems so interesting in the movies. By the way, is it possible to turn "Swingers" off when its on late night cable? I would like to think that Bill Simmons is right when he says its one of the top 5 most rewatchable films (atleast of the last 10 years).
Side Note:
My Top Thirteen Rewatchable Films of the Last Thirteen years (alphabetical).
Now understand, they're not all great film (some are) but more importantly they
all can be watched at anytime of any day for any reason. They're also very
hard to turn off once they're on television because they all make you feel better
about your station in life... so without further aduei'.
Almost Famous
Clerks
Dirty Work
Few Good Men, A
Happy Gilmore
Major League 2
Mallrats
Poolhall Junkies
Reality Bites
Rushmore
Sgt. Bilko
Sneakers
Swingers
Speaking of movie watching, thats pretty much all I've been doing for the last 2 weeks. I wish I could remember all of them, but I definetly watched "The Air Up There" twice and I have no idea why. I caught a couple I've been meaning to see, which is nice, and I've rented a couple I've been wanting to see. "Meaning" to see and "Wanting" to see are two totally different things by the way. I've been meaning to see "Anger Management" and "Freaky Friday"... like if they were on TV (which they were) then I would watch them, but I would never go out of my way. But I've wanted to see "Badassss" and "We Don't Live here Anymore" so I rented those. By the way, the latter were both very good, while the former were not. So now I've made absolutely no sense I'm going to go do something better with my time. Have a good night.
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quixoticJun. 4th, 2005
08:21 pm - Evil, they name is Coach...
I guess Tyler Durden was right when he said that consumerism is a main cause for the downfall of modern humanity. I was at Scottsdale mall watching thousands of people spend money they didn't have on shit they didn't need. It blew my mind. I want to be successful in the film world as far as a fan base goes, have a nice house and maybe win some awards, but if I'm ever spending a lot of money on completely irrelevent things, kill me. This does not include a nice car, but it does include multiple nice cars. Other than that I've had a fine grip of days watching Starz and doing nothing. I also watched what I consider my second favorite sports event of the summer, aside from the NBA draft, and that was the Scripps National Spelling Bee. I watched all six hours. Next year I think i'll tape it, and then get all my friends to watch it together. We'll make a drinking game out of it. If you spell the word incorrectly, you take a shot. Last one to succumb to alcohol poisoning wins. I think I spelled three right all day (kick ass!). Alright, I'm going to get back to watching Bloodsport and wondering why I have no friends. Maybe when thats over I'll go rent a movie and grab some Morgan's Spiced.
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boredJun. 2nd, 2005
08:43 am - Fucking Cops...
So I got pulled over twice yesterday, both for the same offenses... speeding and lack of registration. One of the cops was cool, since I was only going 11 over and I couldn't get my new tags without getting my emissions test, which I couldn't get in California. The other guy was a prick who pulled me over for speeding as 2 other cars passed me on both sides. I fucking hate cops who target my car. I think they should die horrible horrible deaths. Add this to the fact that the Suns lost and you can see that I had a pretty bad day yesterday. I'm now back in Arizona, but the parents are out of town for the weekend, so it should be relaxing at least for a couple days. The ankle is healing, but every time I get angry, I punch things and I think my right hand it starting to get pretty messed up. I should probably stop that... but I probably wont. I think I'm going to get my emissions tested and then watch "The Empire Strikes Back" and get drunk.
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pissed offMay. 31st, 2005
04:16 pm - Ah Finally...
Yes, I haven't updated in a while, but my dear its been a good 2 days. Sunday, I worked all day as a Production Assisstant on "America's Next Top Model" season 5, and then stayed at my fathers work apartment in Burbank. He was back in Phoenix with my mother, so I had the place to myself. I layed around most of the day, went off and ate, bought some DVDs and hung out at an internet cafe, and then came back, watched those DVDs and crashed. This mornings I continued where I left off and watched the new Star Wars "Clone Wars" cartoon series on DVD. It was awesome. My father and I then went out to a place called Yankee Doodles, which I assume is much cooler at night then during the day, and then I came back and crashed infront of Real World/Road Rules Challenge. I can't tell you how nice it is to get a couple days off without anyone bothering me and without any errands to run. I do miss being able to hop on my computer at will, but not enough to care. The Suns also won last night. I did not watch the game for fear I would kill someone or something if they lost. Thankfully they didn't and I remain at peace... for now. Hope everyone is doing well. I'm new to facebook and Myspace... so if you're on either of those, look me up. Until then, have a good day.
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refreshedApr. 20th, 2005
12:15 am - I'm back Doc, I'm back from the future...
So why Have I not posted in 4 months? Did I stop caring about life? About my 3 fans? About my sense of purpose to bring joy and laughter to the masses. Oh no my friend, I haven't stopped posting, but since Livejournal ate my last 2 posts (which caused me to have to get a new mouse after the last one hit the wall of speeds exceeding 60 miles an hour) I felt it necessary to take some time off. I'm back though now, and maybe better than ever. Let's see... what's changed? I'm still single. I still talk about fantasy sports even though no one cares (not even Fatz anymore). I still eat pretty poorly. Oh... I now write for film reviews for the student paper. I got a kick ass new grey suit for the film festival (which "A Thousand Hearts" will be premiering at). I finally got paid by the 2,427 people that owed me money. We'll be living in the seafoam pleasure palace of Tropicana for one more year. That about does it. Hopefully I'll be on here more often, but I say that all the time and it never happens. I was finally convinced to get a myspace... and a blog with my roommates but I still hold my livejournal fans in my heart. Hope you're all doing well. Late.
refreshedJan. 25th, 2005
09:10 am - Day 13, 14, & 15: Finally...
The word finally can explain a lot of things. The Suns finally won again after Steve Nash finally came back. We finally found Sgt. Bilko at a video store in Israel (much to the enjoyment of the family who all happen to be military). We finally got an interview with Laura, the house mother at Save a Child's heart, and finally... I'm finally leaving for home. It's been 15 days in Israel, and there have been a lot of eye opening experiences. Everything from the Old City and seeing the path of Christ, to communicating with kids who don't speak english, to maybe... just maybe... liking jewish people. We had 3 off days in a row, because Friday we were exhausted, Saturday is sabbath so we can't do anything but go to church really, and then monday (easily the most frustrating day of the trip) nothing got done because of some very lousy organization on the part of Save a Child's Heart. Tuesday morning, it was just Alison and me, since Anna was taking off to tour the Jerusalem tunnels. Alison and I went to the house for Save a Child's Heart after having some breakfast back at her house. We interviewed the house mother, and hopefully got good enough sound since the interview went really well. It better have since she avoided it for the last 15 days. Then we went to the hospital and checked up on some ICU patients that we've been watching. We noticed one of the kids who just had surgery wasn't there anymore, but don't worry, we found him later with his mother in a hospital room. She let us film his progress, but once again declined to be interviewed. We did finally get an interview with a mother though. In the hospital there was a chineese mother staying with her child who had a great story and was willing to share it with anyone willing to listen because she was so happy her child was alive. Apparently she had given up completely on the life of her child when some American (assholes) organization said they couldn't help her for a couple months, but ironically, the same day she heard about the possibility of getting help from Save a Child's Heart, they were doing a clinic in Bejing. She went right over and was flown to Israel a couple days later. Fascinating stuff. We went to the ICU for hospital ambience, and then headed home. I had a screw driver, and a sandwhich, and then as our possible final shot for the film, we grabbed some sunset shots out at a beach by the mediterranian sea. The sun was setting through the clouds so the sky was purple, red, and orange. Just amazing. So that's it... 15 days of shooting, and hopefully a documentary from the footage we've captured. If not, we've wasted 4k and taken a money from a kid who could have had a heart surgery. If so, we could raise enough money for heart surgeries for a hundred kids. Pretty wicked swing if you ask me, but hopefully it turns out alright. Today we're going into to tour Cesserea, and then hopping on a plane tonight after dinner to head back to the states through Newark. If I wasn't getting in at 5am I'd call you all and see how you're doing, but I guess I can wait until I'm in Phoenix. Until then, have a good night's sleep.
Sidenote: Totally stayed up to watch the NFL playoff games until 5am, and then stayed up again last night watching family guy until my eyes started bleeding (after PTI was over of course), so hopefully that will destroy my sleeping habits enough to not have too hard of a time getting on schedule when I'm back in town. Speaking of the games, man I was disappointed that New England won. If Terrel Owens is back I'm taking Philly, if not I'll have to put my money on New England.
2nd Sidenote: Took first in my fantasy basketball league the other day. Yes, of course I check everday in Israel... and one more thing... YEAH!!!
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complacentJan. 22nd, 2005
02:14 am - Day 11 & 12: The Home Stretch...
The last couple days have been nothing short of great. If any of you don't know... being a jewish state, the country pretty much shuts down on Friday and Saturday, so we really can't do anything over the weekend, and we just get some time to relax... maybe site see, and generally have a vacation. Thursday... or shall I say "Christmas Morning" was great. We woke up at 8 and ran over to Alison's house to open gifts. I felt so bad when I had about 8 gifts under the tree. I was thinking I'd have maybe one from the parents like candy... and one from Alison or Anna. Oh no my friend. First off, I had a stocking on the mantle with 3 christmas CD's, a tool set, and candy and peanuts galore. Then they went too far. Alison's parents got me a gift card for Express (which happens to be the only store I shop at). Her Brother and his wife got me a Fez hat in Cairo when they were there... they thought it would be a great prop for my next movie. Her sister and husband got me a film book from a book store in London, which is one that I've been looking at for a while, and Alison got me the London production of Les Miserables... the one I lost (and by that I mean the one I'm pretty sure Tegan stole from me). I was very excited. I'll be getting all the men the new Top Gun (all 3 of them are or were fighter Pilots), and all the women something homey. It's been great. Sadly in the middle of the day we were called in and had to interview a doctor around noon, but we were back home by 3 to enjoy a nice little 8 course meal. I helped make the spinach souflee and scalloped corn... which were both pretty good I might add. Then... finally having an official day off... I slept until 2:30 today, woke up and ate, went to Phantom of the Opera (which was good), watched PTI, and now it's time for bed again.
Sidenote: Remember how I said that they have awkward intermissions in Israel... this one happened in the middle of a song. Just awful.
Tomorrow will most likely be an off day, but we're going down to the beach to shoot the sunset and see if we can use it in the film, and then we're back to work Sunday (which is like their Monday) filming 2 interviews and another heart surgery. We have roughly 10 hours so far... so I hope that's enough, but I just don't think it will be. We should get out of here with 12-15 hours. Here's for hoping. Talk to you all soon. Goodbye.
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relaxedJan. 20th, 2005
02:03 am - Day 9 &10: Awesome...
It's been a really good couple of days over here in Israel... and things are finally coming to a close. On Tuesday the three of us (myself, Anna, and Alison) got to scrub in and film a heart surgery. My camera was about 3 feet from a child's heart that happened to be beating outside of his body. Nice! We also got to interview Dr. Hari, who is one of the founding doctors of "Save a Child's Heart". Alison's mom made chicken casserole, which was excellent. It's been a lot of fun to be here with the fam now since her brother and sisters are all in town with their husbands and wives. Last night we played a dice game called chicken, which once again had Alison throughly embarrassed to be part of the family. We woke up early this morning, after a late night of watching PTI again... now our daily tradition, and went into the hospital to shoot an interview with a Palenstinian mother about her son, who is now recovering from a surgery where they took a cow's jugular vein and made it into a human aaorta for the kid. Needless to say an interesting case... but she declined to be shown on camera because of her race. Then we headed over to the recovery house and group of clowns came to help the kids not only play and have fun, but get some much needed excercise and nourishment. The kids played and laughed for what seemed like forever, and I got a bunch of great footage. Matti, our favorite little patient, wore a pink velour track suit that was donated to the foundation. I think he really liked it. Tonight was Christmas Eve for the Murphy's, who finally have all their kids under one roof, so Mrs. Murphy made swedish meetballs that were to die for. Tommorrow were going over early to open presents... and apparently a couple under the tree are for me. Rock on! So with sugar plums dancing in my head, I will say goodnight. Love you all.
Quick sidenote: It's raining cats and dogs on this side of the globe, and Alison's parent's couldn't drive us around todayand didn't trust Alison, so I got to drive, and let me tell you... it was an experience. I learned the valuable rule when it comesto driving in Israel, and that is, do whatever the hell you want. If you think you should get to drive in the emergancy lane... go for it. Don't like the speed limit (which is shown digitally and varies due to traffic)? Break it. You think you shouldn't stopat a red? Go right on through. I tell you it's very liberating... you should all try it some time.
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contentJan. 18th, 2005
02:07 am - Day 8: Awkward...
I woke up this morning in a new bed. We were kicked out of our old house by Alison's parents because the rest of the family is coming for their late Christmas celebration which is Wednesday and Thursday. It's a shame too, since their house was so nice... but I guess it's okay to sleep in a queen size bed and have a window that overlooks the beaches of the mediterranian sea. I guess I could take it or leave it (jealous yet?). We went back to the hospital today and shot footage of kids playing around and getting their blood drawn and tested, and well as being put on heart monitors. I think the footage will look really good. We then got screwed by about 3 people saying that they couldn't interview with us today so we'll do it tommorrow. It'll be a busy day tommorrow, since we'll most likely be starting by going down to a Palestinian check point that just got bombed so we can pick up some kids. Lots of interviews and hopefully a lot of good footage of the kids, as well as another possible surgery. This is going to be a wicked hot documentary. After that we came home and slept a couple hours and then woke up for dinner with the fam. Sour cream chicken... it was like an orgy in my mouth. Possibly the best and most awkward part of the trip is when Barry (Alison's brother) and Jenny (Alison's sis) started telling funny stories about her... and then found it necessary to get out the box of pictures that every mother has to torture her children. Not only that, but they proceeded to send the worst ones of Alison around the dinner table. She was so pissed, priceless. Came back, checked dailies, watched PTI... got pissed that the Suns lost again, and now it's time to go to bed. Tommorrow is going to be hell, so you'll probably all throughly enjoy the post...
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bouncyJan. 17th, 2005
07:30 am - Day 7: Surprise
Well today was a very long, very interesting... very long day. First we got up early on Sunday and headed into old Jerusalem. We stayed there most of the day, got some great footage of the city not only from a distance but up close as well. I visited the wailing wall and the church of the Holy Seplecur. I got to see the place where they think Christ was buried... where he was layed after death... and I got to touch the rock his cross was plunged into. I got footage of all the important artifacts including my peronal favorite, which was the crack in the foundation that God's power left on the ground of the temple after Christ died on the cross. We also went through the market where I bought a gift for my father which is pretty awesome, and then ate some falafel before getting out of town before sunset (apparently it's very dangerous for whitey after sunset). Then we headed back and watched the Vikings game which I was throughly disappointed in. During the Vikings game we decided to head to the mall and get a blank tape so we could tape the Golden Globes since they're on at 3am here. Much to our dismay, the concoction of both Israeli and American audio/visual components didn't help the matter. After trying forever to figure out how to do it, we simply stayed up to watch the awards live. We also watched the Indy vs. New England game which ended up being a worse game then I could have ever thought possible. So yes, it's 7:30am here and I'm still up. I was astonished by some of the results of the Globes (Aviator), confused by some (Jamie Foxx over Paul Giamatti?), and delighted by a couple more(Sideways...although I wish Hotel Rawanda had made a better showing). All in all a very good... very very long day. One last note, I saw a 3 for $20 (or 3 for 100 Shekels) bin at the local tower records and decided that 3 hebrew DVD's were just what the doctor ordered. The best part is that two of them were foreign films. So I bought City of God, a brasilian movie, at a hebrew store, for my American viewing pleasure. You don't get much more cross cultural than that. I'm starting to really miss Arizona and California. Mostly the people since the city here is so lovely. Hope you're all doing well.
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nostalgicJan. 15th, 2005
11:25 pm - Day 6: Bitterness
I'm writing this one now because I'm staying up late to watch the Steelers vs. Jets game, so I figured I'd pound this out now in case I fell asleep on the couch. Today was pretty much a total bust. We woke up early and went to chruch, since that's what they do here in Israel. Alison's church is actually pretty neat. It's really small and the music reminds me of when Will Ferrel and that unattractive lady who plays Martha Stewart on SNL get together and do the skit with the teachers singing about how drugs are bad. Other than that, you can tell everyone really cares about eachother. When we got home from church, we were supposed to head out and site see so that we could get some B roll of some Israeli landmarks, but the weather didn't permit such a trip. It's been raining with lighting and thunder the past 2 days. Hopefully we can do some of that shooting tommorrow, and if not, we'll find something at the hospital. In my dismay, I watched television with the family (including Teen Wolf) and then took a nap. I was awoken by the girls and we went and saw Closer. I had already seen it, but really enjoyed it, so I was willing to go again. Even better the second time. You catch so many more of the subtleties. Really a good film. Israeli theatres are weird though. First of all there are assigned seats... and they have those at the arclight sure, but at the arclight, fights don't break out when you're sitting in someone's seat... theres just some sort of compromise. Next is the fact that there's an intermission no matter how long the film is. Closer is an hour and a half on a good day... and it feels shorter than that... but right around the hour range, the film cut off mid sentence for 10 minutes, and then started back up at the end of intermission. The subtitles really threw me off too, since the film is in english. I'm so used to having to look down at the subtitles, that I caught myself attempting to read the hebrew subtitles along with the film, and then realized I couldn't read it and my eyes went back onto the screen... until the next subtitle came (repeat this process for the next hour and a half). Anyway, for being a pretty big bust, today wasn't too bad. I'm going to go watch the game now... I hope tommorrow is a brighter day... litterally.
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irritated02:14 am - Day 4 and 5: Inspiration?
Day 4
Well we finally had some time to recoup from jetlag yesterday. We took the day off and I slept in until about noon, then woke up and watched Drew Carey for a couple hours before we got ready and headed off to the mall. The shopping in Israel is great, it has a lot of the same stores as the american malls do... only less of them. That didn't matter to Alison though since she had to hit all her favorite stores (castro, hunigman, bebe, and the view) twice... so we spent just as much time as we would have at any other mall. Sidenote: Israeli women are very beautiful when they're not covering their hair and faces with veils... nice natural skin color and nice features... just something to think about. We then stopped at Zozobra, which is an asian cuisine type of place, and had chicken dumplings that were excellent. This was also where the invention of the Indonesian Charliehorse of Justice too place... but i'll get back to that. After our night out we came home sadly to an empty house, and I had leftovers from the previous 3 nights for dinner, then we watched the Mavs game which was on delay, and waited until 9 to go out to Gaga, which is a bar in town. I had a screwdriver and met some of Alison's friends from high school. They're film nerds too and want me to come speak in their videoproduction class... as well as show The Boss. (Speaking of which, we didn't get into the aspen film festival... so that's officially dead now). I probably will go sometime later next week. We headed home and caught Around the Horn, PTI, and Sportscenter which plays live at midnight here (i've been staying up all week for these shows) and then fell asleep to family guy.
The Indonesian Charliehorse of Justice: I invented a drink at Zozobra that we later tried back at Alison's house with her father's left over liquor (he doesn't drink but being a diplomat, they give it to him as presents all the time). What you do is take a shot glass and mix vodka with Soy sauce... heat it up in the microwave and toss it back. It actually tastes really good, and then the burning starts. We think it needs a garnish, so its not perfected... but it's well on the way.
Day 5
The Ethiopian kids finally came in today around 11:30, so we were there to meet them at the airport. It was great walking around and acting like we had full run of the place with all of our equipment, I felt like a news team out on a story. We then took the kids back to the Save a Child's Heart care house, and taped them eating and playing and such for some bleeding heart shots we can throw in as b roll most likely. There we met Matti who is one of the Ethiopian kids, and is, as I like to call him, the face of the film. He looks like a cross between and indian (dots not feathers) and an african, and has eyes that could make you cry and a smile that you can't help but laugh along with. Much to my suprise and happiness, he's one of the sickest kids here, so we get to follow him the whole way through his process. We went with him today to the hospital, filmed him getting a check up and getting echoes done with his heart. I was crushed when they said his veins may not be proper for surgery (in a bad way as in it may be too late) but pleased when on further review they decided that they can definetly treat him. He's the face I'm telling you... there's always one (like he doesn't know how to play to the camera... yea right...). After that we came back and Alison and Anna refused to let me sleep since they claim I'm not over jetlag yet. I fell asleep a couple hours later watching family guy again, and woke up to enchiladas by Mrs. Murphy. The we watched The Great Waldo Pepper, which is one of Mr. Muphy's favorite movies... met a couple of Alison's friends, and decided it was time to sleep. I missed PTI, so I'm kind of pissed, but I'll get over it. Tommorrow we're touring just to shoot b roll... so its a nice easy day again. Israel's really nice, I'm enjoying my time immensely, but I miss some of you. To the others... see you soon. Later.
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mellowJan. 13th, 2005
02:06 am - Day 3: Crash and Burn... huh Mav?
Wow, today was the most tiring day of my entire life. I woke up and showered at 4am after only 4 hours of sleep, and then was told that the plane of ethiopian children was delayed 2 hours. So I stayed up watching family guy and at 6:30 we headed off for the airport... only to hear that the people in Ethiopia wouldn't let the children on the plane for one reason or another. What a collosal waste of energy! We then went to the hospital to film a surgery in the cath lab, but due to the fact that the child was israeli, we had to wait a half hour for the next surgery. Not that bad, so we went down to the mall (which is attached to the hospital) and I got a bite to eat. The doctors called us and we went back up to film the surgery of a palenstinian boy with downs sydrome who was not expected to make it through surgery. After 45 minutes, we had enough good footage of doctors performing the surgery that we decided it was time for us to break until we could interview with Dr. Tamir, the head of the organization (he's heading to Canada on saturday and this is the only time he could talk). We had to wait another couple hours for that, so we headed back down to the mall, and I was so tired I crashed on the lunch table right as we sat down. I woke up a long time later to the news that Dr. Tamir was ready for us... we conducted a 45 minute interview, and then headed back to the house where I crashed for another 2 hours until dinner. This time Alison's sister made stuffed chicked and rice... my dear Lord the women in this family can cook. Alison is single to anyone who's interested, and no... I am not. Tonight I stayed up until 1am so I could watch the 4pm (az time) sportscenter on ESPN, and now it's time for me to say goodnight. Tommorrow's a day off, so hopefully we can get some rest, and then get plastered at the Israeli bar down the street before heading back to the airport friday morning at 4am when the ethiopian children should really be coming in this time. I am so tired... goodnight.
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tiredJan. 12th, 2005
04:13 am - Day Two: What the Hell am I doing here?
It's 4 am again and it's weird thinking that as I'm just waking up, Melissa and Jt are probably going on break, Lindsey is entering a movie, Lashawn is puting his kids to bed, and Josh and Nick have just started drinking. This time I'm awake for a good reason though because this morning we're picking up kids from the airport who are flying in from Ethiopia to get checked by the doctors for possible heart surgerys. Apparently I'm one of the first white people they'll ever see... sweet... and terrifying! These are the kids we're going to follow through their diagnosis and all the way to their surgery. Yesterday was a good and short day. We went to the hospital around noon, and met Dr. Tamir, one of the founders of the organization which is called "Save a Child's Heart". There were 3 new kids today, one of which we watched go through an echo (kind of an ultrasound for the heart) and had the doctor point out the rarities of their condition. Then we saw the same child admitted to the ICU. The footage was excellent, and I'm finally getting very excited about this project. Sometimes I feel like a bastard though since I'm maintaining a purely objective view about the footage, and thus can't really get that attached to the children... that'll happen more in the editing process though. After we were done shooting, we went home and fell asleep to Seinfeld, and then woke up to another excellent dinner by Alison's mom, looked through Alison's pictures of her awkward growing up phase... awesome... and then it was off to bed again so we could get up early. Today is going to be a long day so they'll be a lot to hear about soon. Hope you're all having fun in the states, keep praying for us as we're going to go to a Palenstinian check point in the next couple days, and personally I like my life back in America. Until then...
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excitedJan. 11th, 2005
04:19 am - Greetings from Israel...
It's 4 in the morning, and jetlag is kicking my ass right now (incase you're wondering it's 6 or 7pm your time, depending on where you are) so I can't sleep. We've already had a good day here in Israel, after our painful flight in which my knees were pushing into the back of the chair infront of me prior to the woman infront of me leaning her chair back for her comfort (not mine). On the 10 hour flight I watched Dennis the Menace twice because the sound wasn't working on The Forgotten, and having already been through First Daughter with Andy, I decided against that one as well. Don't worry though, I checked ahead, and on the way back I finally get to see Mr. 3000, which I don't know why I'm so stoked for. On the plane I sat next to an Israeli soldier who liked american girls a little too much as his magazine selection, and ability to sit through first daughter showed me. Once he woke up from sleeping on top of me I brought out my portable DVD player and we shared Seinfeld season 3 together, it was a magical moment. Finally we got off the plane where Mr. Murphy met us, and pretty much did his thing so we didn't have to deal with customs... seriously I filled out half of my entry slip, but since he was with the embassy, it didn't really matter, they stamped my passport and we were in. We got to Alison's house around 5pm here, which is 3 or 4 am there, and since we were sick of sitting, we walked along the Mediterranian sea, which is just down the block, had a nice meal (if you've ever eaten anything Alison's mom makes, then you understand why I was willing to fly to Israel when she said she'd cook every night), and tried to get to bed... unsucessfully. Today we're doing some pre-pro work as were going to meet doctors and kids at the hospital, we'll probably shoot some B roll, but it's mostly just to get acquainted... and by that I mean figure out what the hell we're doing here. Here's to a good trip and a better documentary...
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exhaustedJan. 7th, 2005
06:45 pm - Real Quick...
As I'm getting ready for my trip to Israel, I thought you'd all like to know that one of the biggest obligations I had before getting on my plane was going through my fantasy sports website and picking my daily rosters for the next couple weeks, because the thought of not having my guys in for their fantasy games was more important to me than actually packing for my trip... thats some sick ass shit. Just thought you'd all like to know.
(oh, and guess who won the Fantasy Football league... beating Andy, who was 13-1, in the championship game, when my record was only 7-7? Me! Rock! I am the champion! Had to get that off my chest. Thanks to all who made this possible... like Daunte Cullpepper and his 39 touchdown passes...)
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hopeful06:22 pm - Everyone Loves a Jewish Boy...
So this is it. On Sunday morning, Melissa is picking me up at my house (we are dating by the way... i figured this out very covertly...) and we are heading off to the airport where I will hop on a plane and take an 18 hour flight to Israel to shoot a documentary about children with heart problems and the people that do what they can to save lives. I should be much more excited such an opportunity, but really I'm not. I'm exhausted from a killer semester (in which I scored 6 A's and 2 B's) and I haven't gotten much rest since I got home since I've been running errands for other people the entire time. Call me selfish, but I'd also like to spend some time with Melissa... but whatever. I have a somewhat positive outlook on this opportunity however, since I think that I'll actually learn something when I'm overseas. Maybe I'll stop hating Jews (nah!) or learn what I really want to do with this crazy film career. Maybe I'll come back as bitter as ever, I'll let you all know when I get back. Keep checking either back here or in your email for posts and emails about how the trip is going. Alison and I will remember to keep you guys well informed. Now onto more important matters...
Sure it's awkward when an ex-girlfriend gets married as you envision your ex getting plowed by another guy. The same can be said for when your sister gets married. So here's to JT, who gets to accomplish the great feat of having his sister and ex get married on the same day (no, not to each other, although that would be awesome for so many reasons). Let the drinking commence. Last time I talked to JT, he was fine with this, but I'm simply assuming that it's just denial or assuming that it hasn't quite hit him yet. Speaking of Heather and husband guy (I'm bad with names), I just have a couple things to say. One is that anyone who can't drink at their own wedding is way too young to be getting married, but the other is that while the couple is obviously very cute together they have awful taste in flatware. I went and picked up a 16 piece silverware set for them that they had picked out at target and my dear... they had these odd swirls, where oversized and hideous. I rechecked just to make sure it was right, and then after that I checked the list to see if there was anything else I could get them. I was oddly enough, against getting them a DVD for their wedding, so I went back for the flatware in disgust.
So now I'm off to a foreign country, this may be the last time any of you (and by that I mean Andy, JT, and Lindsey) ever hear from me again, so take that to heart. Pray for me and have fun on your breaks as I have fun on my "break". Talk to you soon... hopefully.
exhaustedJan. 1st, 2005
09:25 am - Hooray for the New Year!
So, if you've stopped reading this thing... I don't really blame you. I stopped posting mostly because I either didn't have time to say what I wanted to say, or really just had nothing to say, I'll let you decide. The truth is this has been the worst semester of my life, and thus with the begining of a new year, I think it's time to do away with 2004. Fuck 2004! Ah... that was nice. Truthfully, I rung in the New Year alone in my room watching Scrubs with a $3 bottle of champagne', that's how bad 2004 was. Now I'm looking forward to the future. I'm off to Israel in a week or so to film a documentary about kids with heart problems, but don't worry, I have no vision and have no idea what I'm doing. Rock! I'm still living in the very very dim limelight of "The Boss", praying to God it gets into the Aspen Film Festival so that I can feel validated one more time before I lock this thing in a vault and disavow any knowledge of it. I did however write 70 pages of a new script that I really want to shoot... although it will take about 30 or so more rewrites, because there are so many continuity errors that I don't even know if the guy went to his father's funeral or not. It has been nice to rest a while though. In the last 5 days, I've watched 3 seasons of Scrubs, which is proving to be one of my favorite shows of all time, and the only reason I'm typing now as opposed to watching season 4 is that the disk for some reason wouldn't play in my computer. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm dating someone... but not 100% sure, but don't worry, that's because I hate myself and think that no one could ever love me. So what's on the agenda for 2005... on to the list.
1. Last year a resolution was to get something into the festival, and I did... I got the best damn film into the festival... and walked away with nothing. So this year, I have the exact same goal. Just get it in. I'm not worrying about winning, I just want to make something people enjoy.
2. I want to work at ESPN this summer, and I'm actually not going to stop until this happens. Peggy Rupple says she's helping, but I would bet money she hasn't actualy done anything about it, so I'm taking matters into my own hands. I looked back at my 8th grade graduation booklet, and my life goal back then was to work at ESPN, so 7 years later I'm on the right track. Sweet!
3. I'm going to watch Napolean Dynamite until I figure out why it's funny, because everyone keeps telling me it is, but guess what... IT'S NOT!! So since I'm sure Andy already owns it, I will watch it daily until it's funny, or kill myself.
4. I'm a big fan of Melissa, who happens to be the girl that I think I'm dating... and so I plan on not fucking that up too badly... (wait up I almsot forgot something. Sublist : Girls who broke my heart in 2004... January - Brooke Parmelly, March - Lindsey Mosher, August - Brooke Parmelly, September - Kari Winkelmeyer... and then I got really busy so I stopped talking to girls until November when I met Melissa at Kona, and talked to her on the phone a couple times a week until I came back in December and took her out... which was and is awesome!) If I'm lucky, there won't be a sublist next year. By the way, is it wrong that I get a little turned on when she threatens to kill her sister and all of her friends and I think she's actually going to do it. Oh and she uttered the words "I hate People" last night, which is kind of a life motto for me. So much hostility in one relationship, kick ass.
5. Alright, let's be honest I should probably eat better this year, but I won't, so I really don't get the point of puting that down on an official list.
6. This is the year that I work at Blockbuster dammit.... seriously why don't they love me.
I really don't have anything else. It'll probably be another boring and stressful year that takes another 3 years off the life of my heart... add salt on top of that, and that's another 2 years. So living this year will take 5 years off of my life... splendid! So all I can do is live a kick ass life, try not to kill Andy and Fatz, finally figure out if Tim is either a homosexual or he just doesn't understand that 99% of the women he meets are in love with him... and like 47% of the guys are. So good riddance to 2004 and here's to 2005. Hope everyone... and by that I mean Andy (who will should be waking up from what I assume is a heavy heavy hangover) Have a Happy New Year. And if any of you want to go to the Fiesta Bowl, I have tickets. Call me. later.
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indescribableOct. 19th, 2004
10:40 pm - Bo Sox Win!
I don't get excited about many things. Maybe the occasional girl, possibly my meager check every two weeks, and every so often a good movie comes out that makes me happy enough to remember why I want to make films. That said, tonight I was giddy. I was on a high above all highs about a baseball game that didn't even involve my favorite team. I was about to jump through the ceiling with joy and kiss everyone in the room. Man or woman, I didn't care. However, like a good boy, I clapped my hands and walked into the next room, and tried to contain every emotion dying to get out, so as to not make a scene. I've watched 61 of the 63 innings between the Yankees and Red Sox thus far. I've pounded my fist in anger and I've raised it with pride for a team I have no link to. My friend Fatz and I have made so many sarcastic jokes about the Yankees that we've begun repeating them... and we don't even care. I can't remember how many times A-Rod and Jeter's sexuality has been questioned in the last 3 days, and frankly, I don't want to. I don't know how many times I've rolled my eyes when Matsui gets up to bat, fearing the worst, or how many Vanilla Wafers I've eaten (I get hungry when I'm nervous). I also can't remember the last time I was this excited about anything. The Red Sox have done the unthinkable, they've were down 3 games to 0 to the Yankees and they could have just rolled over and given up. Instead they fought back to a tied series at 3 with game 7 tomorrow night. They haven't just won either, they've done it with big plays in bigger situations, and they've done it with class. Down 4 to 3 against a man whose blown one save in his entire postseason career, they win. The next night, the same story, both wins off the bat of Dave Ortiz, Big Papi, the new Mr. October.
The last two nights Fatz and I have been watching in painful anticipation, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for the Yankees to do what they always do. Win. But tonight, as we sat and decoded the bad reception in Tropicana, somehow we knew Boston would win, we just didn't know how. The other day, I told Fatz that Schilling (playing on an ankle that he can hardly walk on) was going to do something that would be remembered forever... whether he was going to let the Yankees score 20 runs, or shut them down, I didn't know. He shut them down. If they win tomorrow night, this game will be remembered for decades along with Jordan's Flu game, USA hockey, and at least by me, the guy who beat me bowling left handed, after breaking his right wrist not 5 minutes earlier. Then the men, who never stepped up, stepped up. Cabrera had 2 hits and a stolen base. Bellhorn had his 3 run homer off the stomach of a twelve-year-old female Yankee fan (sweet!), and Varitek went 3 for 4. Now I don't write all this out for you because I think you actually care about anything I have to say. The people who truly don't care have stopped reading by now anyway. I write this for a couple of selfish reasons. I want to remember the moments when I'm so excited, that I can't think of anything else for a week. I want to look back in twenty years and remember what true joy felt like. I want to tell my kids and grandkids that I witnessed history. I want to believe that good things still happen in this world. I guarantee in twenty years you'll hear about this series more often then September 11th, 2001. It's that big to the millions of baseball fans in the world.
So why do I care so much about a stupid baseball game? And a series whose outcome has no affect on my immediate existence (save for the hours of pain my heart and stomach go through on a nightly basis)? A game between 2 teams I don't even cheer for during the regular season? If you don't know by now, then you'll never know. You can go on saying baseball is boring. You can go on questioning why a guy throwing a 1 hitter has pulled off "an amazing feat". You don't even have to understand how a guy who only hits 40% of the time could be considered the greatest hitter of all time. If you haven’t been bending over a couch on a full count because you're about the throw up, then you just don't understand baseball, and that saddens me. If baseballs not your thing though, I want you to find something that makes you tick. That gets you so riled up, you call your friends twice because you've called so many people you've forgotten who you've told. Find the thing that makes your knees weak and enjoy it. Listen to your music, make your films, paint, shop, drink coffee, read books by famous Russians, I don't care. Whatever excites you in life, go out and do it, and make the most of it. Find some happiness in your mundane lives of school and work. Trust me, you'll live a little longer, a little easier, a little better. Days will seem to have purpose, adrenaline will flow, and confidence will rise. So no matter what it takes to give you that natural high, go out and do something. Life is too short not to have your stomach turn over from nerves once or twice every couple months. As for me and my house, we will watch baseball.
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optimisticSep. 3rd, 2004
11:55 pm - The Remedy is the Experience...
So i know i promised the summer awards, but i'm still working on them. I decided i still wanted to post despite not being finished with them, because i've realize a problem over the last year, but it didnt hit me until the last month. I guess i'll start by prefacing that Brooke informed me that she's STILL not interested in me. This one was hard to take. I acted very cool that night talking to her, and truthfully felt that I was ok with it... and then i woke up the next morning. Have you ever suffered the physical pains of heartbreak? It's like something hits you like a ton of bricks in the chest, and you can't breathe for a second, and then you're stomach drops like the mid freefall of a roller coaster. If this happened once, I think it would be something pretty easy to deal with, but with heartbreak it's never that easy. Every song you hear that reminds you of that person, every thought in your head about them and it happens again, like a symptom that acts up in the usual circumstances. Once you can get through this there are two more stages...
Stage 1. You have to get past people asking these three questions. "So how's (name of interest)?", "So how's that (name of interest) thing going?", and my least favorite... "How was that (event at which this realization took place) with (name of interest)?". Now I understand that you're just being inquisitive and showing interest... but shut the fuck up. Seriously these question should be banned from all friendships on the mere possibility of heartbreak... although they could be deleted from from the American thought process all togther if people realize how annoying they were.
Stage 2. Talking to that person. Sure you said you were just friends, and sure you said that you understood, and that things wouldnt be awkward between you two. You probably even supported said interest in their pursuit of their future love. When you wake up the next day you'll realize that these were all lies. Nothing is the same, and you hate every time they mention their brother simply because he's a male that is not you. Now all you want is for them to call you and tell you that they made a horrible mistake. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO!!! So let's move on...
Now two questions arise. How long do I get to be bitter about this before i've reached that intervention stage and I'm forced to move on? And the second is, when is it ok to start going after freshman? This sounds like a catch 22, but they are completely on the same level, you just want to know what you can do to make the pain stop. You don't want to forsake them too early, but you don't want to sit and be depressed forever. I'd say that the greiveing period is 10 days, and then its open season. You're friends are obligated to get you over this, and you are obligated to take out the first vulnerable girl you see in any film class that you happen to TA in (ok, this one is specific to me, but it makes sense for everyone... trust me...).
(She just IM'd me... and cue physical, emotional... and spiritual pain... subside... continue typing. She wants to know if "I'm mad or something" and obviously, I don't want to make a scene... so I lie and say that I'm fine. I'm not really mad, just heartbroken, and even though I'm dangerously close to 21 i still don't know how to handle any emotional situations. She says goodnight and i tell her the same and that i'll talk to her later. Proceed to medicine cabinet to take anything and everything i can find.)
Last but not least, how do you deal with it. Everyone has their own ways of going about this, and I'm no different. I've become a disgusting workaholic. I have to find something important to fill every second of my day so I can't think of anything else at all but simply accomplishing something. Once it's accomplished, I feel good about myself, and want that feeling to continue, so I find something else to do . As a result of this method, I'm taking 18 units, teaching two labs, TA'ing for Craig Detweiler, leading Guerilla and finishing up a promotional video. Is this dangerous? I keep telling myself it's not, but i'm pretty sure I'm going to overwork myself like the piano player from Shine, have a brain anuerism, and end up in a mental institution. Actually at this point... that sounds pretty good...
So based on my own standards, i'm forced to be over this thing by Wednesday, and picking up on the freshmen in Visual aesthetics by Thursday morning. Why does all of this have to suck so very bad? Oh well, I've gotten over this shit before haven't I. Mabye one of thees days i'll have one of thos Rob Gordon lists for all of you to enjoy, but for now I think some bad music and some good sleep are what I need, so I bid you aduei'... here's hoping tomorrow is a brighter day.
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