Coffee, Cards, and a Goatee.
1.30.2006
Anxious Without Anxiety
Anxious about what you ask? I'll tell you.
Anxious about performing this new routine developed by myself and Mr. Jeetendra Lalchandani (try committing that one to memory). I really just want to see how it plays. See, a routine never really starts to grow until after its been performed, and by George, I want to give birth to this one. It's really the first thing I've ever done that's completley original (though inspired by others, namely Derren Brown, but then again, who isn't?). Methodology, performance, it's all me (and G). And that feels good. Really good. Once you break down that wall and are able to create on your own, you've finally opened the door onto everything. Especially in a realm like magic, where anything is possible to begin with. God I love this hobby.
And we have one confirmed show - another program in Seneca. But this time, with a decidedly more mentalist feel. It's gonna be good. I just have a feeling that it will be good. Especially because anyone who remembers from last semester (and apparently there's a lot of them, ask they asked for me by name), is expecting card tricks and coin tricks, etc. But now we're coming from a completely different angle, a new theory, a new way of operating. And I am pumped...PUMPED I tell you...to get started on it. I really haven't felt this excited about something in magic for a long time. Card tricks have lately been leaving me cold. Coin tricks were never particularly exciting. So...this is good. Really good. Will I get into all the theories and ideas that go into this new-school kind of mentalism that I'm so excited about? I could, but I won't. Putting you to sleep isn't entertaining unless there's other people around to witness and its intentional.
Now, on a more practical level, I need three things from you faithful readers. I've done nothing but give to you people. You owe me.
Anxious about performing this new routine developed by myself and Mr. Jeetendra Lalchandani (try committing that one to memory). I really just want to see how it plays. See, a routine never really starts to grow until after its been performed, and by George, I want to give birth to this one. It's really the first thing I've ever done that's completley original (though inspired by others, namely Derren Brown, but then again, who isn't?). Methodology, performance, it's all me (and G). And that feels good. Really good. Once you break down that wall and are able to create on your own, you've finally opened the door onto everything. Especially in a realm like magic, where anything is possible to begin with. God I love this hobby.
And we have one confirmed show - another program in Seneca. But this time, with a decidedly more mentalist feel. It's gonna be good. I just have a feeling that it will be good. Especially because anyone who remembers from last semester (and apparently there's a lot of them, ask they asked for me by name), is expecting card tricks and coin tricks, etc. But now we're coming from a completely different angle, a new theory, a new way of operating. And I am pumped...PUMPED I tell you...to get started on it. I really haven't felt this excited about something in magic for a long time. Card tricks have lately been leaving me cold. Coin tricks were never particularly exciting. So...this is good. Really good. Will I get into all the theories and ideas that go into this new-school kind of mentalism that I'm so excited about? I could, but I won't. Putting you to sleep isn't entertaining unless there's other people around to witness and its intentional.
Now, on a more practical level, I need three things from you faithful readers. I've done nothing but give to you people. You owe me.
Needs For The Advancement Of Psychological Illusion, Magical Artistry, And Independent Student Cinema
- Demonfish Studios and A Memory Of Dan Productions both need websites. Anyone willing to do this for us, to our satisfaction as "The greatest website a couple of Binghamton students can afford" will be awarded a free lunch at Moe's, or $5, whichever comes first.
- Related, but not exactly the same, I need a website touting my expertise in the first two areas listed in the title of this list. The same offer stands as for #1. If you do both, I'll throw in, oh I don't know, something worthwhile.
- I need a place for the performance and filming of stuff for the next special. Contact me for details.
I could also use a lot of other stuff. But I don't want to burden you people. Get crackin -- you've got a lot to work on.
...please?
...please?
1.27.2006
All The Leaves Are Brown, And The Sky Is Gray...
...I went for a walk, on this freaking cold winter's day.
In other news, G and I are planning yet another special, which is already promising to be better than the first. When Tarantino was asked about his first movie (not Reservoir Dogs, you QT newbies), My Best Friend's Birthday, he replied that it shouldn't be seen by anyone. Even he, a master of cinematics, acknowledges that your first time out is always your first time out, and that it is a necessary evil. You have to learn from that experience before you can go on to make anything truly worthwhile. You figure out what works and what doesnt, you find your own way of expressing certain things with particular elements that work well for YOU, and you also experience the strange fact that the camera is not a replacement for a human eye. It never blinks, it is unforgiving, and it captures everything. So you have to cater to that. To that wit, I present to you my list of Things We Know After Magic/Mirror:
Oh, and Heather's here 'til Saturday morning, and its awesome. So as you can tell, between those two things, I'm a happy little movie-maker.
In other news, G and I are planning yet another special, which is already promising to be better than the first. When Tarantino was asked about his first movie (not Reservoir Dogs, you QT newbies), My Best Friend's Birthday, he replied that it shouldn't be seen by anyone. Even he, a master of cinematics, acknowledges that your first time out is always your first time out, and that it is a necessary evil. You have to learn from that experience before you can go on to make anything truly worthwhile. You figure out what works and what doesnt, you find your own way of expressing certain things with particular elements that work well for YOU, and you also experience the strange fact that the camera is not a replacement for a human eye. It never blinks, it is unforgiving, and it captures everything. So you have to cater to that. To that wit, I present to you my list of Things We Know After Magic/Mirror:
- All film ventures need a focus and a theory. Even if that focus is to not focus on anything, it needs to be explicitly stated and carried out. Magic/Mirror kind of walked a very blurry line between magic special and magic documentary, and I don't think it turned out as well as it could have. It was confusing, and confusion is usually just boring unless done correctly, which we are not smart enough to figure out. Yet.
- Things will go wrong. No matter what you try to do, if it involves a lens and a person, something is going to happen. Whether this is a small thing or a big thing is left in the air, but something will impede your progress, and you need to be prepared for it. Example: always film the actual proceedings BEFORE the introduction to said proceedings. And never be afraid to test things out 1,000 times before. Regardless, it will always fail on the 1,001st time.
- Audiences can think. There's no need to lead them by the hand through your film. They'll fill in the gaps and figure stuff out for themselves. In fact, that's what makes or breaks a lot of great movies -- giving the audience room to just think. The structure to Magic/Mirror was good for the documentary we had originally planned, but for the part of it that was a magic special, it was almost...demeaning. I.e. - "Hey, we're going to do some card magic now", and then there I am with the cards. I think they understood that point already.
- Tripods are heavy.
- Never leave your camera alone in a room with curious people abounding. Shit happens.
- Just when you're about to give up on something, give it one more try. No, give it ten more tries. Trust me, if you knew how many times we wanted to give up on that balloon swallowing thing...but we perservered, and its probably my favorite part of the entire movie.
- People are generally good-natured and want to help, but you have to understand that you are invading their space, and they have no idea who you are running over with a camera. Always be cordial and get permission first. We learned this one quickly.
- Coffee is your friend. Coffee understands you. Coffee will save your soul.
- It's always important to always think of your work as unfinished. Never be satisfied. And when you are satisfied, assume something is wrong. That being said, don't second guess yourself, and know when you have a good thing, and leave it as that. Its a strange balance. A magician once told me that the best way to look at your routines is to perfect it as much as possible, then don't look at it for at least a week. Once you've more or less forgotten a lot of it, pick it up, and pretend that it was written by the biggest hack in the world. Pretend it was written by someone who didn't know the first thing about anything. Treat it like shit. Then, assume that you know much more than the person who wrote this offensive bullshit, and revise it and make it better. Repeat the process a few times. You'd be surprised how freaking well this works.
- Finally, if you're going to be shooting in a public place (and we ALWAYS are), choose your times carefully. Too many people and the noise and commotion is distracting. Too few, and it looks like you just broke into someone's house. No people is fine, but set the scene nicely. Basically, make it look like a place where a program of your nature should be set.
Oh, and Heather's here 'til Saturday morning, and its awesome. So as you can tell, between those two things, I'm a happy little movie-maker.
1.15.2006
One more thing, quickly...
And thanks to G for commenting two posts ago...if anyone would care to make a Demonfish tag, or A Memory Of Dan tag, it will most certainly be posted here. I do not possess the technical prowess to do so. If someone could point me in the right direction of a program or something that would enable me to make said tag easily, I will do it myself and proudly display it.
Wait...
What the fuck's a tag?
Wait...
What the fuck's a tag?
The Iceman Cometh.
Heather went back to Syracuse today. Shit. I know she has to go back, but that one kind of crept up on me. And I really enjoyed having her around on a daily basis. And so I repeat...shit.
Which also means that I'll be going back to Binghamton in about a week, leaving:
A) My grandmother still in rehab (the physical kind, not the drug kind)
B) The comforts of home
C) The ability to be completely lazy
D) Free food (If you go to college, you know this is just as upsetting as anything else)
E) Lots of other stuff I'm too lazy to think about and list. Hence why C was so important.
Again, shit. It seems to be a motif to this post.
Otherwise, I learned an important lesson today. IMDB cannot always be trusted. 99% of the time the factual information is true enough, yes....but opinion-wise, well, its still just opinion. And opinions, as we know, are like assholes. Everyone's got one. That was a bit vulgar, but if I had said elbow instead of asshole, you wouldn't have laughed. So accept the asshole, accept that everyone poops, and we'll all be fine. Except for those of us who are constipated. Because they don't poop. And now this joke is old.
I mention IMDB, because of a film I just watched, entitled "The Chumscrubber". Those of you who just opened a new tab/window to go look it up on IMDB, please note the inherent irony in your actions, especially in light of what I'm about to write. The movie was excellent. I very much enjoyed it, and I'm fairly critical when it comes to cinema (and I almost always can back it up). Great satire, slightly over the top in points, but intentionally I think, and very subtle in other ways. Also always presenting two (or three!) sides to everything, and many times using a single symbol/metaphor in about 300 different ways. All in all, very good. IMDB had SCATHING reviews of it. They hated it! But why might you ask? And here's something else! Though it received a rating somewhere in the 6 range, most of the voters (over 50%!) voted it a 10! And the second largest category gave it an 8! We must rise up against this injustice!
CHUMSCRUBBER FOREVER!!!!
Those last two words may have been #1 on my "List Of Phrases I Will Never Get To Say"
...they didn't even get the point of the video game imagery in the movie. The character uses his head to fight off the zombies and "sub-humans". GET IT?!?!? The same way that a large portion of the message of the movie was to use your head to break free of the zombie-like lifestyle as portrayed by the townfolk? Sigh.
Again, shit.
Shitty shitty shit shit.
Which also means that I'll be going back to Binghamton in about a week, leaving:
A) My grandmother still in rehab (the physical kind, not the drug kind)
B) The comforts of home
C) The ability to be completely lazy
D) Free food (If you go to college, you know this is just as upsetting as anything else)
E) Lots of other stuff I'm too lazy to think about and list. Hence why C was so important.
Again, shit. It seems to be a motif to this post.
Otherwise, I learned an important lesson today. IMDB cannot always be trusted. 99% of the time the factual information is true enough, yes....but opinion-wise, well, its still just opinion. And opinions, as we know, are like assholes. Everyone's got one. That was a bit vulgar, but if I had said elbow instead of asshole, you wouldn't have laughed. So accept the asshole, accept that everyone poops, and we'll all be fine. Except for those of us who are constipated. Because they don't poop. And now this joke is old.
I mention IMDB, because of a film I just watched, entitled "The Chumscrubber". Those of you who just opened a new tab/window to go look it up on IMDB, please note the inherent irony in your actions, especially in light of what I'm about to write. The movie was excellent. I very much enjoyed it, and I'm fairly critical when it comes to cinema (and I almost always can back it up). Great satire, slightly over the top in points, but intentionally I think, and very subtle in other ways. Also always presenting two (or three!) sides to everything, and many times using a single symbol/metaphor in about 300 different ways. All in all, very good. IMDB had SCATHING reviews of it. They hated it! But why might you ask? And here's something else! Though it received a rating somewhere in the 6 range, most of the voters (over 50%!) voted it a 10! And the second largest category gave it an 8! We must rise up against this injustice!
CHUMSCRUBBER FOREVER!!!!
Those last two words may have been #1 on my "List Of Phrases I Will Never Get To Say"
...they didn't even get the point of the video game imagery in the movie. The character uses his head to fight off the zombies and "sub-humans". GET IT?!?!? The same way that a large portion of the message of the movie was to use your head to break free of the zombie-like lifestyle as portrayed by the townfolk? Sigh.
Again, shit.
Shitty shitty shit shit.
1.09.2006
Updates Galore
Just a quick note that I updated the links on the right hand side. Still waiting on suggestions for others. Comments people! Leave them! You don't have to be a member even!
Don't you love me?
Don't you love me?
Ch ch ch ch changes!
Sorry for the Bowie reference (see title of post), but ive been playing with blog templates a bit too long, and that's what came out.
As stated, I was trying desperatley to try and make this a unique and lovely blog with a very efficient and gorgeous design. That did not happen so easily, as most sites wanted money that I don't have for templates I didn't want. I did find a great one, but it had some code flaws that I was not savvy enough to fix. So I went with a standard one from blogger.com, but I did get rid of the little navbar with a bit of html tomfoolery. How sneaky of me, eh?
I know the links to the side are not there anymore, and in their place are google news and ugly "edit-me" links. I will change those. Tomorrow, hopefully. I forgot what I used to have there, so if anyone remembers or has one you think would be appropriatley titilating, leave a comment.
Damn you blogger. I'll find a template for you, I swear. For now, I sleep, but know this! I will not rest (for more than 16 hours at a time) until I find a suitable look for my blog!
As stated, I was trying desperatley to try and make this a unique and lovely blog with a very efficient and gorgeous design. That did not happen so easily, as most sites wanted money that I don't have for templates I didn't want. I did find a great one, but it had some code flaws that I was not savvy enough to fix. So I went with a standard one from blogger.com, but I did get rid of the little navbar with a bit of html tomfoolery. How sneaky of me, eh?
I know the links to the side are not there anymore, and in their place are google news and ugly "edit-me" links. I will change those. Tomorrow, hopefully. I forgot what I used to have there, so if anyone remembers or has one you think would be appropriatley titilating, leave a comment.
Damn you blogger. I'll find a template for you, I swear. For now, I sleep, but know this! I will not rest (for more than 16 hours at a time) until I find a suitable look for my blog!
