double rainbow

Double rainbow...yeah yeah. But this one was and the central rainbow was the most vivid I have ever seen. And I have seen a few good ones. This was concentric and focused. Look at the difference in color from the inside to the outside of the rainbow. Blue on the out side and light on the in side.

the acting

I can yawn. And I can pretend to be cold. Now is a the challenge. Can I yawn and act cold at the same time?

I'm sticking my neck out and going to act. I know for sure I could never have done this at 22. I had no self -confidence then. Or little that is. But today, I have confidence combined with a bit of "who gives a shit". Take a chance.

So I'm ready to step off the cliff. And at this point in my life it's not a huge cliff. If I can't fly then I drop 12 feet. Might hurt a bit, but it's not like a so serious. I think worse case I find out I'm a good character actor but not a lead.

december

Ok, another year has almost slipped by. The tree is up. The lights are on. (sigh) What have you done in all that time? Did you do most of, or some of what you wanted? Some.

I saw a girl today in a Beatles concert video from 1964. She reminded me of someone I used to know. Someone I was in love with a long time ago. I see people in old movies. They look like people I know. Sometime like two people I know combined.

When I watch old movies my favorite thing to do is watch the extras not the main characters. I always want to know their story. I imagine being there. On the exact day. They show up to be extras on a movie. Real people usually. And they stand around in the background. Then someone yells "cut" and they walk off back into the real world. Back into their real lives. WHo are they? What happened to them? I pick a person out and wish I could find them today and just hear their life story.

Anyway, I saw this girl in a Beatles concert film from 1964. She looked amazing and reminded me of someone I used to know. She was really happy and just loving the moment. And there in this old film are thousands of lives captured . And how cool would it be to have a time machine and go back and just sit next to them for a moment. To clap with them. To lightly touch them. That's what I'd do with a time machine.

Obviously watching the Beatles since this is the 30 year. Since JL was murdered. What a rip-off that was. I wish I could go on iTunes and thumb through all the other albums he would have made.

chicago-land

Just got back from Chicago. Spent 10 days shooting two commercials. Had a lot of fun. We stayed at the Sofitel Hotel about 2 blocks from the John Hancock building. Got to see some fun stuff there. Ate some Chicago style hot dogs and deep-dish pizza. Went out to see my grand parents old house and the house I first lived in.

Met a lot of cool folks up there. Had a good time. Shot some video. Ate some food. Stayed in a fancy hotel.

I have a woody

Well, we had a bunch of woodies. We got to shoot in an amazing location yesterday. A warehouse full of woodies. And this warehouse was insane beautiful.

Double Rainbow

Double Rainbow all the way. So bright so Vivid. Oh My God! There actually is a second one it there but it was real faint. This rainbow was so interesting a couple of news helicopters hovered over my house taking shots of it. lol.

Ok, just cooling off. It has been all of a sudden super hot. 113 here on Monday. Trying to sleep at night reminds me of being in college back in Austin. No AC and just laying on top of your bed naked. Maybe with a wet cloth on your face. And it gets down to 85 at 4 am. It's been like that here for the past few days. We have a wall unit in the bedroom but in this heat it's like trying to put out a fire with a squirt gun.

Anyway, the heat wave is slowly going away. And we had a bit of rain today.

cardboard

Now it's fall. Going to the L.A. County fair. It's pretty big. Not as grand as the Texas State Fair. But bigger than the Rhode Island one I guess.

Plugging away at the movie business. Such a short strange trip it's been. But now on LSL we have a script and it being sent to "talent'. It's crazy. Fingers crossed as we go. But we are in the pond with the big fish. Who'd a thunk it? I guess I did at some point else I wouldn't be here.

How was your day? I am sitting here with a cool breeze on the back of my head. The cat's are creeping around. Confused. My wife is in bed early and has the bedroom door closed. This is not normal for the cats. So they prowl around the house looking for her black hair to kneed. But it's behind a closed door. So they are confused.

kings canyon 2010

Kings Canyon 2010

right outside our tent

view from Bubb's Creek trail

I don't know who is going to read this whole thing but I wrote it anyway. Melissa and I have been going to Kings Canyon off and on since 2002. I know that I will continue to do so for the rest of my life. We both really love the place. It sits at the end of a dead-end road which I think is part of it's allure. Once here I don't have the usually 'road fever" I get on vacations. "what's around the next bend?". Well, there is none. You are here and this is it. And it is amazing. Reading forward you'll find a broad decription of what you'll find in the canyon followed by a short description of what we actually did.

cold beer after a hike

Kings Canyon National Park is one of California's best parks in my estimation for a variety of reasons. The park sits on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains just north of Sequoia National Park and to the south of Yosemite. It's location at the end of a dead-end road makes it the least visited of the three parks. People don't just pass through and stop. You have to take a rather narrow and windy road to get down to it's head quarters at Cedar Grove. It is a spectacular drive but the 36 miles can take you much longer than you think since you'll be going 15 miles per hour at times and dropping up and down several thousand feet.

hard to see in the picture above but there is a car in the lower center for scale

the road

But let me back up a tiny bit first.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon - two parks in one.

When you first enter Kings Canyon National Park you'll most likely enter through Grant's Grove. While this is actually part of Kings Canyon NP it really could be part of Sequoia NP. There is a bit of overlap here between the two parks. Grant's Grove is located at 6500 feet and the main attraction here is the giant Sequoia trees located at Grant's Grove. So if you are heading for KCNP you get a two for one since it's only a 5 minute detour to visit the massive trees. Located here too is the visitor center, market and restaurant. I'd suggest getting any last minute essentials you might need at the market since they may be out down in the canyon. You should have already bought most of what you need back in Visalia or else where since these markets carry only basics. This year I bought a can of propane. Which was smart since they were out at Cedar Grove. They do have a coffee bar. And the visitors center is worth a visit.

Usually we drive up to Grant's Grove on day one of our trip and camp at the Azalia camp ground. There are several other camp grounds there but this is the one we like the best. Day one gives us an easy drive and a quick way to get into camping mode. It is at 6500 feet so it can be cool at night. If the weather is warm it's worth staying up at GG for and extra day. There are some nice hikes in the area. One in particular is the Boole Tree Loop. Here you can get up close to the Sequoias. But you have to hike a bit to do so. You can also visit Stump Meadow. I'll leave you to guess what you'll see there.

The Lincoln Tree

Once we leave Grant's Grove we are now headed into Kings Canyon on HWY180. This year we were stopped for a little road work which is common in the mountains. The signal man can over to tell us to wait and we engaged in a little small talk. " you going camping?" I'm guessing all the camping gear in the back of my truck clued him in. I felt like saying " wow, you must be psychic!" But that's city rude. I just said "yes, can't wait". He then told us it was going to be smokey since there was a fire burning down in the canyon. WTF? This fire has be burring since July. A controlled burn. I never saw it mentioned on the NPS website. ( I did find the notice when I got back home but it seemed like a footnote.)

Once we got the "all-clear" we continued on 180. This road was built in the 1930's and opened in 1940 . You'll be amazed when you drive on it thinking about how they did it. There is an area called Convict Flat which might give you a clue. But before you really head down you might need to take one last detour to Lake Hume. It is the last place to get gas. I always fill up there. ( there is no gas at GG or in KC ) The road to Lake Hume gets really narrow and needs some pot holes to be filled. The lake is very scenic. Here you'll find a summer camp and a gas station. There is a National Forest campground on the lake but all the good sites are by reservation and always taken months in advance.

Lake Hume

Once you fill up with gas you get back on 180 and really head into the canyon. The road is basically taking you east and down. You will normally be greeted with amazing views of the high Sierras and two canyons heading back into them. These are formed by two forks of the Kings River. This year it was very hazy due to the smoke. As you drive you head out of the pine forest and into typical California chaparral country. All the while the road will become increasingly narrow and windy. You will pass Kings Canyon Lodge. ( This technically is the last gas station but they only sell you 5 gallons for emergency use.) Past this point the outer canyon really starts. Here you'll begin to have steep drop off's on one side of the road. This outer canyon is completely different than Kings Canyon. This is a river cut canyon. A gorge really. Very narrow with nearly vertical walls. The rock wall here is red stained. Pull over at a few of the vista points. The views are amazing. You'll be able to hear and maybe see the river hundreds of feet below.

HWY 180

Eventually you will work your way down to the river near Boyden's Cavern. (more on that later) The road crosses the river and heads into the park with the river roaring on your right hand side. You'll see people fishing mostly. This year we got to see smoke and fire. There were some fire crews milling around and flames and lots of smoke. But soon enough we past all that and crossed the river again. Hear the canyon starts to widen out a bit and we come to our first campground, Sheep Creek. Next is Cedar Grove where you'l find the ranger station, visitor center, Sentinel campground, KC lodge and the market. We always check Sentinel first for a good campsite. If you can't find one here go back to Sheep Creek and pick through what is available.

View from our campsite

Sentinel campground is like most campgrounds. Out of 89 campsites there are about 12 really good ones, 12 really crappy ones and a everything else. Sentinel has a a few campsites right on the river but is also has a meadow with campsites around that too. There is one site in particular we like and this year it was open. It sits on a corner of the meadow with the river just across the road. There are no campsites next to it but there is one sort of behind it. But it's mostly on it's own and unlike the other meadow sites it has open access to the meadow. So you can pitch your tent right on the edge of the grass. Which is great since most car-campsites are very dusty. The river is close enough too to walk right over to and drink a beer. Each campsite has a fire ring and a bear box. Did not see any bears this year unlike 3 years ago when we saw bears every day. We are thinking the proximity of the fire may have sent them to different section of the park.

late afternoon at our campsite

The other facilities here include the visitor center where you can get trail info, weather forecast, etc. And across another bridge is the lodge and market. The "lodge" should really be called the motel. Since it has none of the things you think of a lodge having. There is no massive fireplace and lobby. They have a cafe and basic rooms. We have eaten at the cafe once. Breakfast I think. Basic and what you'd expect. They do have hot showers there for 4 bucks. The market has basics: Beer, soda, ice, canned goods, ice cream and basic camping gear. They even sell a small assortment of hard liquor. You can buy fire wood here too. But you are allowed to pick up any fallen wood you find so we usually go out and collect a huge pile in no time.

a little farther to go

So now we are at Cedar Grove but the real canyon is just up the road. Don't get me wrong. At this end we have very high granite ridges and it's very nice but it gets better. It's about six miles from here to Road's End. It's great name, Road's End. Between here and there we have the inner canyon, Zumwalt Meadow, Roaring River Falls, Muir Rock and all the trail heads at Road's End.

The inner canyon widens out even more and it reveals the vertical granite walls and flat bottom that tell you this is a glacial valley. Just like Yosemite. In fact this is a smaller version of Yosemite. Of course it's not as big and fabulous as Yosemite but it's close and it has about 90% less visitors, which is why we come here. There are numerous water falls but like Yosemite the early summer is when they are at their height. Roaring River Falls seems to run all year though. It's just off the road and really amazing.

Zumwalt Meadow

Zumwalt Meadow is next. It's a beautiful meadow, duh, right? There is a 1.2 mile trail that takes you around it after you cross the river on one of the numerous foot bridges you'll find in the park. Right by the foot bridge is a nice sandy beach I always keep meaning to eat lunch at. And possibly, I mean maybe, jump in the river. The water is effing cold. But people do jump in. Just don't get swept away cause you won't last long.

Down to Road's End

Road's End is where you'll find Muir Rock and trail heads into the back country. Muir Rock is just south of the parking lot. Walk to river and there it is. John Muir used to give talks standing on the rock. In fact the park was originally going to be called Muir National Park. 3 years ago there where all these teenagers jumping off the rock into the frigid water. They were having a great time. I would have done it but I had just washed my hair the night before.

Muir Rock

Jump in

The trails that lead out from Road's End are Mist Falls, Bubb's Creek and Copper Creek. We have done all three and this year we did Bubb's and Copper. Copper we did for the first time this year.

Copper Creek trail head

Copper Creek Trail is one which I wouldn't really do again. I hate saying that since any hike up here is amazing but the amount of effort to reward ratio is out of balance when compared to the other hikes. Copper is all vertical gain and switch backs. We did about 4-5 miles up gaining about 3000 feet. The view was amazing. You can see into the Sierra backbone and the western divide. But like I said it's very taxing to get up there. So we did a 9-10 mile round trip. Hard to say how far we went since there are no markers on the trail. We did about 2 1/2 hours up and we both walk pretty fast. We can easily make 2 miles per hour even on a steep trail like this.

smokey view from Copper Creek trail

The other two hikes from Road's End are better I think. Both trails share the first 2 miles which is over even flat ground. This section always seems longer on the way back and on a hot day can be really hot and dry. This flat section takes you to a junction where you can either go across the really cool bailey bridge and take the Bubb's Creek trail or hang left and take the Mist Falls / Paradise Valley trail.

river bridge at the trail junction. 2 miles from Roads End

The Bubb's Creek trail takes over the bridge and through a thick pine forest and through what I can only describe as a delta. Bubb's Creek comes down through this area in several fingers and the trail takes you through this. You'll cross 4 more but smaller bridges as you walk up a slight grade. Here you'll see small water falls and wild flowers, ferns and up-rooted trees. Eventually you'll come up to the granite shoulder of a massive valley wall. Here the trail begins a series of switch-backs. This is the hardest section of the trail but it's not too hard. You do have to gain about 800 feet overall. The views become increasingly rewarding with some of the best panoramas of the entire canyon I think you'll find. You also get views of Paradise Valley. Once you beat the switch-backs the trail rounds the shoulder and takes you up to Sphinx Creek Junction where you'll find a bridge. To this point is 4.1 miles. We really like this trail and it seems like a good trail to do when we first get up to the park. The round trip is 8.2 miles with about 800 foot gain. In 2007 we came across 4 different bears up here. This year none. By the time we reached the bridge the wind had pushed the smoke back to the west so the views were unobscured.

crossing the bridge

Mel on one of the many foot bridges in the park

The Mist Falls trail really gives you a great variety of terrain. It is however the most travelled trail in the park I would guess. Mist Falls is the highest water fall in the park so everyone wants to take a look. Once you split at the bridge the trail takes you through a fern gullies and shaded forest. It can be a bit buggy at times but is really cool. The trail follows Wood's Creek and at times it is right there next to you. But eventually you'll hit an upgrade where you'll start gaining the 600 feet you need to get to the falls. You hit an exposed zone with excellent views both up and down the valley. There are sections where you can look down into a very deep gorge with the creek a couple hundred feet below. Eventually you'll come to Mist Falls. It is a very cool water fall. My only complaint is finding trash up there. I'd really like to catch someone leaving behind a one gallon plastic water jug or a beer can. Melissa and I went up above the falls for even better views of the valley and less people. Round trip on this trail is 9 + miles. We didn't do this trail this time. We wanted to finally check out Copper Creek. No question that I'd do Mist Falls over Copper any day of the week.

trail head

The other trail we did this time was Yucca Point trail. We decided that since it was so smokey in the valley that we'd try something back up the road. The trail head is very near the Kings Canyon Lodge. ( not the park lodge but the private one further back .) The trail takes you down through chaparral hill country down to where the middle and south forks of the Kings River meet. There are no milage markers but we guessed it would be about 1.5 - 2 miles one way. It's rather dusty and dry but you get some great views of the middle canyon. Before we made it all the way down the trail started to follow Ten Mile Creek. Here we could see a massive granite wall where the creek water falls down. There isn't a lot of water in September but you could tell that in early spring this would be crazy. Even in September you get some waterfall action. There is a spur that we took that takes you right down to Ten Mile Creek. Really amazing jumbles rocks and water falls. We ate lunch here and lazed around in the sun. It's a good place to wash your feet and look for fish, etc. Here we met a guy and a girl who where going canyonering . They were donning wet suits and helmets with the idea being to navigate down Ten Mile Creek and then take the trail back up. I think I'd actually like to do this. We basically did this when we are kids but with-out the gear. We didn't have a cool name for it either. We just called it being stupid. In a good way.

We did look for a trail at Convict Flat campground. On old couple told there was some kind of trail but it looked hard and dangerous and who knows where is goes? So we did the Yucca Point trail instead.

2010 was a bit smokey

2010 Trip

So, in 2010 we spent 5 days in the park. We had a lot of smoke from the fire but it made for some great light at times. The first day we got there the weather had been hot but a cold front blew in. So it was down into the 50's early in the evening and super smokey. And then it began to rain. Rain? In September? WTF? I was starting to think of plan B for the rest of our vacation time. But anywhere else in the mountains would be even colder. Maybe no smoke but colder. One of the nice things about KCNP is that the canyon is at 4000 feet. You still feel like you are up in the mountains but you get much warmer days and nights. Usually 10 degrees or so. But the next morning dawned bright and blue and no smoke. You could tell the day was going to be nice and warm. And the warming trend continued through the week. So it felt like full on summer still. The Aspen trees really didn't even have a hint of autumn on them yet. The smoke came and went. At times it was really noticeable but never severe. The Rangers said this was the best it had been in weeks. So while a nuisance it was never a real issue. Cough, cough.

the smoke did create a nice warm light every afternoon.

big head

For breakfast we had coffee and cereal. For lunch we'd make sandwiches to take hiking. Apples and trail mix too. For dinner we made things like quesadilla, grilled chicken, beans and vegetable tacos. The taco's were the best this year. We cubed a potato with some carrots and onions. Those were placed in a tin-foil tray with spice mix, oil and beer. That was cooked over the open fire. Then in another tin-foil tray we heated up corn torts with cheese. The stewed potatoes and carrots then went on the torts. Super good. Going to make that at home I think. We did a pasta dish one night that turned out blah. Mushrooms and white clam sauce. Conceptually it sounded great but it didn't work. We ate it anyway. And a good bar of chocolate always works for dessert.

afternoon book reading

Mel and a pinecone

table at night

campsite video

We didn't bring fishing poles. Maybe next time. You can't beat fresh trout. 2 trips back some fishing guys came over to our camp and asked if we'd want any fresh trout? They were over limit. We said no thanks, we don't know where that fish came from. The hell we did. The fish was even already cleaned! That was like gold dust as they say.

Each day after our hike we'd sit in the meadow and read a book or just relax and drink beer. That is about the best thing ever. At night we'd sit by the fire for a bit , drink some wine and then hit the hay. As you camp you hit the hay earlier and earlier and get up earlier. Our new tent is ok for a 100 buck tent. I would not trust it in a real reran storm but for this it's fine. We have a blow-up mattress and use flannel sheets and wool blankets rather than sleeping bags. It is so much better. Almost like your bed at home. Almost. I always put on clean socks and pajamas. Makes for a better nights sleep. We wash our feet and faces every day but other than that I don't mind being a bit dirty. At home I can't stand not to wash my hair everyday but when camping it doesn't bother me. I diid see this cool little camper. I have always wanted a tear drop camper but this seems like it might be a bit more practical. You can stand up inside.

maybe it's time to get off the ground?

Ok, so that was 2010. Not nearly long enough time up there but that's all our schedules would allow. I keep swearing that I'm going to get up there once or twice more each year. Next year I am going to be at Onion Valley for the meteorite shower in August. I promise. And then who knows maybe we'll be back in KCNP in September. Or maybe Hawaii. But in any case, we'll be back sooner or later. We have one last trail to conquer, the Don Cecil Trail.

buying some produce on the way home

HWY 178 closed due to fire

One last detour on the way home. A forest fire closed the highway along the Kern River. We were just 30 miles from Bakersfield but had to turn around and go through Mojave. I guess it added an hour to the drive home.

One last thing, usually when we get back into Los Angeles it looks really blah. Civilization, blah. But this time LA looked really cool and it was great to get back home.

just a few minutes from home

september?

already huh? Ok. leaving next tuesday for a week in the mountains. Kings Canyon. We'll stop and see the giant redwoods.

Mojowski hosts "American Music Scene" while deeply drugged out by the Hoffman gang. WTF is an electric box?

water in the face

shot a scene last night. I'm tied to a chair. Asleep. Big Matt comes in and wakes me up by throwing a glass of water in my face. And you want to know something? A regular glass off water just looks whimpy. So we used a whole pitcher full water.

So I sit there with my eyes closed. "Action" and I just wait. Then blam! Face full of water. The first take was bad. The bulk of the water sailed over my head. Take two was a keeper. Took all the water in the face. lol. I'm glad I didn't forget my lines.

For the rest of the night I had to keep spritzing my face and head so I looked like I just got dowsed.

Dog days. Really?

Can't believe it's August already. So busy these days. We are making directors books for feature films. Fingers crossed. We are shooting Mojowski stuff. Getting past experiments and going into shoot stuff we will actually use. And making animation for the Ed Oven show. it's all good

Good? It's effing awesome. Doing some real cool stuff. Hopefully we can make some bucks too. But worst case we are having fun. So I can't complain.

Can't wait till September. Mel and I will take a week off and go to King's Canyon. It is a hidden treasure in CA. Basically it is a smaller version on Yosemite. Same geologic process. Same cake cut granite walls. Not 3 thousand feet tall but 2 instead. Looks just as impressive. And 90% less people. We will go up and camp for a week. Hike and fish and maybe we'll take bikes this time.

bike accident

my friend Claire was in a bike accident. She is lucky to be alive and lucky to be able to walk. Long story short, she and a friend went for a ride while we were shooting some video at the studio near downtown. She didn't see it but rode off a loading dock. Like when you don't know there is a hidden step. But this one was 5 feet down and she never knew it. The full force of it caught her in the lower jaw. The Doctor said she was lucky to be alive.

It is astounding how much damage was done, yet how worse it could have been. She broke her jaw in 3 places. The lower jaw punctured her upper palette. She broke her orbits and cheek bones. Broke her nose and had a 4 inch gash on her forehead. And she broke one of her vertebrae.

The last I saw of her that night was the ambulance driving off into the night. Then we walked the accident site with the police as we ...oh...looked for her teeth. There is some hope that busted teeth can be re-implanted. ( we didn't find any and it turns out she didn't lose but a few )

Anyway, she is a trooper. Which I have always known but she has proven it all the same. And she is making a remarkable recovery. It brings me to tears to think about it. My wife has been more than upset by the whole thing. After her accident she has a deep empathy for this in others.

When I did get to see Claire in the hospital the first thing she did was point at her head and give me the thumbs up. Her mouth is wired shut and she had a tracheotomy so she can't talk. But she wanted me to know she was fully in charge of her mind.

She has a long recovery but you can tell that she will overcome and be stronger. It is in her make-up.

Mojowski

still shot from our film project, Mojowski 77.

here Mojowski's car is pulling up to strip club. Shot it in a normal parking lot then added all the neon in post.

spring 2010

the spring 2010 media class. UCLA - Department of Film, Television and Digital Media. Professor ( lol ) William J. Barminski presiding.

the wife and her boyfriend

lol. He is from Germany and is 17 hands. How can I compete?

poppy fields

yes, poppies. California poppies. Whole hillsides of them.

Chris, Rose and I took the hour drive out to the Poppy Fields. You can see them miles away. Big swaths of orange on the distant hills. And as you get closer the orange light is everywhere. It is really amazing. Hill and dale full of flowers.

And the aroma is like a drug. More sage that anything else. All warmed by the sun and fragrant beyond belief.

Vivian

Vivian is gone. We got the call around 11 pm and drove for 2 hours . We walked into the ER and saw her. She was still breathing all hooked up to tubes and machines. But she was really already gone. A massive brain aneurism.

Somethings are like lightening strikes. A bolt out of the cold black night. They illuminate so much more than the trees. You see a quick flash of your own awe-struck eyes. Then all is dark again.

They took her, lovely sweet Vivian off the machines and put us in a private room with her. We stood the death vigil. Every breath you could hear and feel. After about 3 hours her breathing became shallow. And then it just stopped. It is a strange experience. One of those adult things. As much as I hated it, as much as I wanted to run away and hide, I would not have wanted to be anywhere else. A person deserves to have those who loved them be with them at the end. As much as it pains us to be there we own it to them.

back to school

a new quarter has begun. ( we at UCLA are on the 10 week quarter rather than the normal semester ) So I have a new cast of characters to engage with. All new faces. I try to pick out the one's who will be good and the one's who'll be slack. But it's far too tough on a first listen. Everyone tells me how much they want to be in the class and how hard they'll work. Time will tell as it always does.

But I love being on campus. When I stroll around I like to picture myself as a 22 year old in Austin, Texas. Wide-eyed and full of wonder. I see the faces of the young people and send myself back to that moment when I was them. For a brief moment I am fresh-faced and naive.

And I am truly lucky. I get to work here and teach young people and be a part of this great university.

sprung

spring has. Been sleeping with the windows open at night again. Cool fresh air and the far off noise of the city all night. So good. I always remember the last and first day of the year we can keep the windows open all night. And now it is spring and the orange blossom fill the house with their fragrance.

I love waking up in the middle of the night. I can hear the hum of the city in the distance and feel the warmth of my wife next to me. The cool air drifts in in waves. The skunk stops by at some point and noses around at the screen door. The cats snore and crowd the bed. I tuck into the pillows and let my mind wander off.

movies

well, we make another step along the road to a feature film. We actually have 2 scripts in development now. Both are what can broadly be called rom-com. But we are heading for a smarter, artistic vision of a rom-com. I guess Mixtape will be a rom com if you consider Harold and Maude a rom-com. lol.

Been shooting loads of test shots for an action film we want to do. explosions and cardboard guns. It's a detective story about a "detective'" who has an imaginary partner. All the guns are made out of cardboard and we'll play with size and time to create a surreal vision. The whole thing is in his head. Or is it?

Anyway, got a break from school for 2 weeks for spring break. Frees up some time to shoot more and maybe to some sculpture.

Gary Ilson

just got back from my friends memorial service. Gary Ilson died of a heart attack. He was ten years older than me. A professional poker player and a poet. A real poet. He wrote poems about love and hate and all the foibles of human existence. He even wrote a few poems inspired by my paintings.

He was calm and quiet and full of mirth and good humor. And a real genius.

His service was interesting. I had put together the video/slide portion of it. I was sent a large stack of photos to scan. Here I found a whole new Gary I never knew. We had met in 1988 so my image of him begins there. But in the process of scanning and organizing 100 images I saw him in the fullness of his life. I saw him as a boy playing baseball. I saw him as a youth in the early 60's, a long haired rebel in the 70's.

At his service the two worlds of Gary met. The Gary I knew from dinner and parties and the Gary of the casino. Of course we knew Gary worked as a card player but I have always known him more as the guy who would stand with me and look at paintings and discuss the interplay of color and brush stoke. He was pure genius in that way.

One of his casino friends got up to speak. He looked right out of central casting, a guy who was almost good looking but had something to hide. Sort of like one of those Las Vegas magicians all dressed in black who waves his hand in the air while picking your pocket with the other. But his sentiment was real. He had love and respect for the man. And he stood up in front of a crowd of 90 people who he knew didn't know him from Adam and gave his testimony. He was here, a bit late and I'm sure heading out for long night at the tables. But he came and made sure that everyone knew that the Gary who went to the casino, where it is low down and cut throat, that that Gary was a gem, a jewel. Something rare.

anyway, I will miss him. I am full of regret. He promised to teach me golf and I had put it off till a better day when I'd have more time. And while I may have more time he won't be here. He was a sweet man. Like my wife said, "he was one of the few people I never had a cross word with and never had an argument with." But don't mistake that for shallow. You always had deep and thoughtful discussions with Gary. Discussions that went to the bone of decisive issues. Deeper conversations than you'd have with 99% of anyone else.

This while having some of the most intellectual discussions and talking about issues that usually end fist fights. He wasn't interested in having an argument but rather understanding your position or his in relation to yours.

Always a fan of JAckie Gleason, "So long old pal" as we'd say.

skateing

I think if I had several lives to live I'd be a speed skater in one of them. I always likes skating as a kid. I'd be really fast. Olympics fast. And then, after my knees give out I'd join the Olympic Curling team and play till I'm about 76 years old. Then I'd become the Curling team coach. I'd win about 4 medals. One gold, two silver and one bronze.

In one of my other lives I'd be a politician. I'd get elected mayor of a decent size town when I'm 28. That would lead me to a seat in congress. I'd give the response one year to the state of the union. That would get me elected to the senate. I'd run for president but not win. Not everyone can be president.