The joy of doing media appearances to promote yourself — Muckfuppet, in this case — is getting up at the asscrack of dawn in order to make a three minute appearance on local morning shows.  It sounds like nothing, but that’s a demographic — specifically, people that are awake before noon, and probably not hungover, maybe even employed — that I don’t have a lot of contact with, so those three minutes could really bring some good extra attention to the film.

So I stumble through my morning routine and heavier-than-accustomed traffic, and make my way up the hill to the local Fox affiliate’s studios.  All the way through the check-in procedure (security gate guard, front desk guard, segment producer), people keep blinking at me when I tell them my name, then asking who I’m with; when I answer that I’m part of the Sidewalk Film Festival, they ask if I’m with Jennifer West (the director of Piece of Cake; we’re supposed to be splitting the segment).  I figure at this point that, since she got Mo Rocca in her film, they’re just putting her as the marquee name instead of confusing the media people with two names, so I just nod appropriately.

I wait fifteen minutes, and then Jen and I are shuffled to another area of the studios, a break room.  We get a little coffee, joke about meeting deadlines (Chance put the finishing touches on Muckfuppet Sunday night; Jen’s still working on the color correction today), and then are finally shown into the studio proper.

Where I am informed that they only have time for one of us, and it ain’t me.

This isn’t really a big deal to me.  The whole point of these appearances is to draw more people to the Alabama Theater at 1:30 PM on Saturday, September 23, 2006, for the Alabama Shorts #2 block at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival*.  Jen and I are in the same block, so as long as one of us is on, people will come (and to be fair, Mo Rocca is a much better draw than “award-winning screenplay”).  Still, I got up about two hours earlier than usual, paid extra for a BetaSP of a clip from the film, and Chance put some extra time into pulling that clip, so I’m a little offput by the situation.

Jen does fine — exactly as Wade, media relations guru, had coached, and the segment is done.  Rick Journey, the Fox morning anchor (who has a lot of experience with Sidewalk, handling emcee duties at more than one of the closing night ceremonies in the past) comes over an explains the situation to me.  Apparently, the Fox management was concerned about the title; it wasn’t time, but fear of my film that got me bumped.

It’s not a big deal to me, really. In fact, although I’ve already taped my segment for Tapestry, a local NPR arts shows, and have been featured in other local outlets (with the same film title, mind you), I can understand the concern.  It’s a stretch, but then, keep in mind that this is the same town whose ABC affiliate ran a piece on the local production of The Vagina Monologues without ever once using the word “vagina.”

Seriously.

Besides, I now have a new tag for my film.  “Muckfuppet: Too dangerous for Fox6.”

Really, just because no one can say the title without slipping and risking FCC fines, I don’t see what the big deal is.

Muckfuppet is showing at the Alabama Theater at 1:30 PM, Saturday, September 23.  It’s part of the Alabama Shorts #2 Block of movies; admission is $7.  More details can be found at www.sidewalkfest.com.

* See, self-promotion isn’t that hard, if you keep your eyes open for opportunity.

(This appeared in its original form at www.muckfuppet.com on October 25, 2005)

I have a feeling that making films turns out to be well worth the effort for some people, but to date, I’ve not made anything that I would think is worth the time and energy expended on the project.

The writing is the easy part, for me. It hits me in a flash; I put the story on paper, in some level of detail; I sit on the script for a month or so, doing my best to forget about it; and then I return to the script and make tweaks as I need to.

It’s really that simple for me. Always has been.

Making the film, though… that’s another story altogether. Reminds me of making a song that was written on acoustic guitar into a full-blown arrangement in the studio, only more torturous. There’s a billion more things to think about, it’s more expensive, it requires more people to help out and do it right…

Oh, and thinking visually is not something that comes naturally to me. Not like thinking aurally (and that’s not even something that I feel like I do well).

No, what I do is write stories. Thank god I’ve got a lot of friends and acquaintances who know all the other parts of the equation.

Today:

Looking back on this, I’m really glad — and fortunate — to know the folks that I do.  I saw the final cut last night (the edit has actually been done since March, but there were some technical issues that required going back through and replacing every shot with the same shot from a different source), and it’s really, really good.  Looks good, sounds good, flows well… Not only do Melissa and Scott and Donna do a wonderful job bringing the characters to life, but Chance and Chris somehow managed to make an 8 minute conversation in a booth at a diner look interesting.

Finally, I have something that I can feel proud of on film.

Muckfuppet is showing at the Alabama Theater at 1:30 PM, Saturday, September 23.  It’s part of the Alabama Shorts #2 Block of movies; admission is $7.  More details can be found at www.sidewalkfest.com.

Michael Hedges may be gone, but his legacy lives on:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb9cidk0Bfs]

Next week, I will be appearing on Fox6’s morning show, as well as on Thursday’s edition of TAPESTRY on WBHM, in support of Muckfuppet. Which is just my way of letting you all know that you might want to tune in to Fox Tuesday morning, because it’s live TV, and you never know how many manners (or how much common sense) I may forget that early in the morning.

And because I’m such a narcissistic whore I love you all, I’ll make sure to include the video and audio (respectively) once they’re online.

Remember: Exhibit(s) CD release party at Bailey’s Pub on Friday night (come get your special limited edition of the new CD for only $5), Muckfuppet world premiere at the Alabama Theater on Saturday at 1:30 PM (part of the Alabama Shorts #2 block of films). Fox6 Tuesday morning, Tapestry on WBHM at 6:30 PM on Thursday, and pick up the Birmingham Weekly this week just in case, because this time, someone else brought the vaseline to the party.

John Stewart’s first Daily Show opening post-9/11; a very moving moment.

I’ve run across a lot of the 9/11 conspiracy sites. I’m fascinated to a shallow level with these sorts of things — how Kennedy was assassinated by shadowy groups of ultrapowerful political types, of how America never landed on the moon, of how 9/11 was really crafted in it’s entirety by the Bush administration to get popular support for the eventual war in Iraq. I say shallow level, because the insanity and idiocy that you can find on the fringes of these discussions will make your head swim.

On the surface, though, there’s some interesting points brought up.   Inconsistencies in the reports of how things went down, weird responses from within the government… All this to say that there’s enough in these discussions that — maybe it’s a little fuzzy around the edges, but it invites and prompts further questioning and examination.

Do I believe that 9/11 was caused by the government?  I don’t think it’s something that is above or beneath our government, on some levels — which is to say, big business, and the people who worship the bottom line more than the common man.  But I don’t think that this is to their credit (or blame), because our government is, generally speaking,  incompetent.

Yup, I really believed that the picture of Bush reading to the kids upside-down might have been for real.

I do think that the administration should be held to the fire for its poor response(s), for silencing critics of its actions with accusations of antipatriotism, for using nearly 3,000 victims of a cruel attacks as an excuse to further its own interests (be they political, financial, or personal), for making political slogans instead of real and valuable change.

I commonly mention that 9/11 didn’t really affect me; I’ve never been to New York, I didn’t know anyone who was hurt or killed in the WTC or the Pentagon or Flight 93.  But then I realize that we all — every American, every Muslim in the entire world, and every Arab now viewed as a terrorist because of their skin color, every airline passenger — were affected by the events of that September day in 2001.

And years later, I don’t know that it matters too much who is responsible for it.  The lessons to be learned — the most valuable ones, to me — have more to do with preparedness, with watching our elected (ha!) leaders more carefully, with not blinding ourselves behind a veil of patriotism.

And in the meantime, I should mention that as long as the victims are remembered and their stories repeated, they will never really be gone.

I’ve long had ideas about web design and development — one idea, specifically, has been bumping around in my head for well over a year at least.  And pursuit of those thoughts has led me into new areas — information architecture, bleeding-edge technology versus the limitations of the lowest common denominator, etc.

Web design and development (as well as implementation) has long fascinated me, and I realized today that that’s in part because it neatly balances the hemispheres of the brain.  There’s a lot of logic involved, as well as a lot of creativity.  You can get by in the profession lacking one or the other, as long as you specialize — I’ve got many creative friends who can design well but can’t implement their ideas in code, even with a Dreamweaver or FrontPage; just as I have friends who can program sleek and clean code but couldn’t design their way out of a paper bag.

I’m good at both without being great (just like all things in life); unfortunately, companies want specialization, without realizing that both sides also have huge egos, and getting them to meet in the middle (which is necessary to make websites work) is not a fun proposition.

At any rate… Having toyed with these theories of information architecture for all these months now, but not really progressing, imagine my surprise to find out that my ideas are currently being implemented, and in a very sexy way. It’s both bleeding edge and conforms to best practices and standards of the community.  It’s – well, to be redundant but verbose, incredibly stimulating.

I’m not sure what’s more disturbing — how overwhelming all this is to me, or the fact that I refer to (and think of) computing as “sexy”. Not that I’ll be buying a bouquet of roses for my PC, but a nice dinner seems almost in order…

I like to laugh at people who get caught up in fashion trends.  I’m speaking and thinking specifically of miniskirts in combo with those stupid eskimo boots with superfuzz on top, but this applies in a more general sense, too.

I think I’m really acutely aware of this because I work in a bar that serves college-aged kids, and I work also on a college campus (coincidentally, we also cater to college-aged kids).  I like to think this is more of a high-school thing, but I witness every day that it follows you in adulthood, too.

If a trend catches up with you, people will generally spot your honest intentions.  Just because suddenly everyone is wearing exactly the same things that you’ve worn for twenty years — because you’re comfortable in them, not because it’s kewl and trendy —  that’s one thing, and it’s okay.  Even if you’re the hideous woman who started the miniskirt and eskimo boot thing.

It’s when you’re dressing to impress that I laugh (or worry, or maybe both).  Who exactly are you trying to impress?  What does dressing like everyone else say about you as a personality?  And how can you afford to shift your wardrobe every year?

My views stem partially from necessity — I’ve never had the kind of money required to be overly self-conscious of what I’m wearing.  I could, of course, have taken the alternate route — the road littered with the refuse of a million slackers — and shopped exclusively at thrift stores, going for that “GenX/Skater/Too Cool for You” look.  But I never really wanted to look like Ethan Hawke, or anyone else from Dead Poets Society, for that matter.

Odds are pretty good that you’ll find me in a t-shirt  and jeans — maybe ripped, maybe not.  Depends on how old they are, and if I’ve felt like buying clothes in the last six months.  I own a fair number of button-down shirts, some sweaters, courduroy pants, shorts, even a tux — and you might catch me wearing one or more of the above.  Perhaps I’m in the mood.  Probably not.

My clothes can tell you a lot about me, if you’re perceptive and careful to analyze.  The only thing the trendy person’s clothes tell me about him or her is that there’s not much of a personality underneath.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgHfq0epSJg]

Why is it that we laugh so hard at Colbert and Carrell, but not when we read or hear this same debate between serious religious people?

Oh, wait… I do laugh then, too.