The two directors at the studio I work for have always been fans of puppets. We had some down time last year and made a short movie with some puppets they made. We created the entire set in the conference room and spent about 3 days shooting. We edited together a short trailer of the show, but only until recently we've uploaded it to the web for everyone to see.
Check it out (and be sure to vote "FUNNY or DIE" at the end):
We're thinking of editing together the entire show and uploading it in short 1 minute episodes. I also put together a gallery of photos I took during the production - check them out at the link below:
Perfectly Frank - Production PhotosFunny?
Labels: Perfectly Frank, Puppets
I've always had trouble shutting off my brain at night... tossing... turning... thinking about everything - thinking about nothing - thinking about myself thinking about nothing... etc... etc... I remember shutting myself up with Excedrin PM's back in middle school. Once my body would start getting used to the Excedrin, I would switch to Unisom or whatever store brand was available. Those over the counter pills work at shutting you up, but in the morning they leave you with that kind of head change where your eyes feel really good when they are closed. Certainly not the best feeling to have in your first class.
Prozac regulated my sleep for a short while when I was in High School. I hopped around from a few different anti-depressants until I realized they wouldn't allow me to feel any emotion and I stopped taking them. I always thought they would just suppress the sad emotions, but they had a grip on the good ones too and thats just a crummy way to live. Eventually my mind started to speak up again and I was back on the over the counter pills. Those worked fine when I was working 3 to 11 each night but once I started working at 8 in the morning I had to find something else.
My doctor recommended Ambien - It knocks you out quick and only stays in your system for 4 hours - Perfect! What my doctor didn't tell me about were the other things Ambien brings to the table. I'm not going to lie - its actually a lot of fun once it kicks in. About 20 minutes after taking it, you start to feel a little euphoria - a dreamlike head change. The euphoria last for a good 20 or 30 minutes before your brain stops recording whatever it is your doing. Sex is amazing while you are on it, food tastes great and things couldn't be any funnier. Drinking alcohol with it can have both fantastic and really bad results - you'll either be awesome to be around, or you'll be a complete ass - there is no middle ground, its a very fine line. 20 minutes... That's when you are supposed to go lay down and close your eyes. However, if you don't go lay down and you stay up - the drug takes you on quite a ride.
I first noticed Ambien's power while using the computer. The text on the screen seemed to jump off the monitor - sort of like it was on a piece of transparent paper between my face and the monitor. Eventually I would wake up in the morning and find things in my apartment weren't exactly how I remembered them being. I'd have no recollection of laying out clothes for myself to wear the next day, making a pitcher of CoolAid, or building a fort for my cat. I still have no memory of doing those things - its as if my mind really does shut down.
I've woken up to find really strange things... I found a computer keyboard completely taken apart once. Everything was meticulously laid out on my coffee table - each screw laid in a line from largest to smallest. I've organized my closet, painted paintings, and even baked cookies. All without a single memory of it. As expected, it's also made me do some really stupid things - like talk to people on the phone or having a video chat over xbox live. Apparently it works as a truth serum, or so I am told. I've had people tell me I sound completely coherent - maybe a little goofy, but thats not too uncommon for me.
I've called friends, family, and worst of all girls while tripping on ambien. Once I had gotten into an argument with a girl I was dating - decided to sleep it off, so I went home - took the ambien - then apparently called her and completely made up with her. The next morning, I had no memory of the talk we had that night. I was still upset about the argument and decided to call her the next morning and end things with her. She told me I had nothing but sweet talk the night before and even made plans with her to go away for the weekend. I'm sure she still thinks I was making it up when I told her I had no memory of that conversation.
The scariest incident was when I had to drive myself to the hospital about an hour after taking it. I had fallen asleep on my couch and something woke me up. I got up to get into my bed and noticed my left elbow was all swollen up. Something bit me - probably a spider - I had two small bite marks and my hand was starting to go numb. I called my dad to get his advice on what to do and he told me what I was dreading - I needed to go to the E.R. There is a hospital about a mile south of where I live and I remember debating on driving or calling for an ambulance. I stumbled my way down to the car and drove with one good arm and a head full of ambien. I made it there in once piece somehow and my arm ended up being okay - the swelling was pinching the nerves going to my hand - causing the numbness. After a tetnis shot and a $500 ER bill - I was all good.
After a little research on the web I found that Ambien is a mild hallucinogen that the government considers as a controlled substance. That means I can't just put one in my pocket - knowing I am going to probably crash for the night at a friends or a dates house. If I were caught by a cop with Ambien outside my prescription bottle, I will go to jail. From what I found on the web, a lot of people have the same exact side effects that I have with it. I now have a better understanding for how it works with my body and I rarely trip out on it anymore. The guarantee of a good night sleep far out weighs a few random spells of amnesia for me. I am useless without a decent night of sleep.
Addiction problem?
Labels: ambien, sleep
I discovered the world of video production (editing, camera work etc.) in an elective class I was randomly given my freshmen year. At the time, I was quite the jock - balancing my time between the varsity soccer and JV baseball teams. I remember thinking the class was a waste of time, especially since I had the class during the last period of the day and all of my teammates had P.E. during that period. I butted heads with my teacher for a few months - earning me a few lectures... but one day Mr. Starbuck showed us how we could use a computer to edit video. I was blown away! Eventually I was finding any excuse to stay in the class and get more time on the computer.
Sports eventually took a back seat and as I learned more and more about the process of video production I soon had a clear goal of what I wanted to do with my career. I decided I wanted to get out of High School as soon as I could and start working in the television industry. My parents weren't entirely sold on the idea of me skipping my junior year of High School, but after they seen the passion I had for production they supported me 100%. My Mom's only requirement was that I walk with my class at graduation. After talking it over with my school councilor we worked out a plan to get me out of High School a full year early - and walking with the class of '98 instead of '99. It was really quite simple to do within the California school system - all I had to do was go to summer school to get the required credits for English and take two art classes at a community college to replace my foreign language credits.
I remained in the Video Productions class throughout High School and my primary project was the "Sultana Video Wakeup". It was basically a news show that would broadcast on the TV's in each of the school's classrooms. Regardless of how interested I was in the behind the scenes work of the show, I took on the role of news anchor - being the guy every student sees on TV each morning. We tried to have as much fun with it as we could - always adding in as much humor as possible!
During all this time I took a part time job at the local TV station - KHIZ Channel 64. I started doing simple editing jobs on commercials and eventually was running the studio cameras during the nightly news. It was a super ghetto TV station that primarily ran reruns of Gomer Pyle and infomercials, however they had a small nightly news broadcast that was about 20% local news and the rest was just filler we threw in from our affiliate CNN. I convinced them to allow me to do a 2 to 3 minute segment focused around teens and was soon spending my time on those each week.
Last week, I finally imported some of the video clips I had on VHS from my time in Video Productions class and at channel 64. I still can't believe its been 10 years since I made these! I've uploaded a handful of them - check em out and be sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Video Wake Up
Video Wake Up - Intro
Commercial
Rumors lead to fights
Tradition Begins
Teen Update - Snowboarding
Teen Update - Teenage Driving
Teen Update - Mr. Sultan Contest
Labels: High School, KHIZ Channel 64, News, Sultana, Video Productions
RADIOHEAD released their new album 'In Rainbows' today. In some what of an experiment, the band decided to allow their fans to pay as much or as little as they want for their seventh album. They have left their record label Capitol/EMI Records and are running solo now - with all revenue from the album sales going to the band instead of the label.
When I logged into the website this morning, I had the option to download the album to my computer in MP3 format or purchase a deluxe BOX-SET that will be shipped to me in the mail. A minimum processing fee of $1.27 is charged to your credit card prior to the MP3 download, however you have the option to pay whatever you'd like. I purchased the BOX-SET that includes the album on CD, two vinyl records, extra tracks, artwork, lyrics and the digital download of the album for a fixed price of around $56.
So, what do you think? Is this a good idea? I think this is something we are going to see more bands doing in the future.
Labels: Download, MP3, Radiohead
My boss Sue bought this for my cat on her recent trip to Hawaii. Star is going to be stoned on catnip tonight!
Labels: cats, star, stoned
