CaseyMOORE

Movies in 2012

2012-01-29T16:47:00.002-06:00

The Adventures of Tintin
Ides of March
Warrior
Real Steel
Hangover II
Out of Sight
The A-Team
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The Long Goodbye

Scanned

2012-01-26T15:53:00.001-06:00

My friend Ryan produced this short:

SCANNED from New Orleans Video Assist on Vimeo.

Violence - The Shoulder

2012-01-18T11:11:00.002-06:00

He tries to raise his right arm. He gets the gun up; points it at the door. Then the arm drops. He tries again. Holding it there. Shaking. Pain. His arm drops again. He looks down at the blood coming from his shoulder.

“Figures I get shot in my shooting arm,” he thinks.

He reaches over with his left hand and picks up the gun. It feels awkward in this hand. He raises it and points at the door again. Propped up in the bed like a sick school boy. Waiting, his left arm shakes not used to the weight. Holding the gun. He knows his aim will be off. But at this distance, all that matters is he hits center mass. As long as he can stay conscious. The blood flowing out of him. He waits for the door to open.

Mark Wahlberg On Filming in NOLA

2012-01-14T16:13:00.000-06:00

From Mike Scott's interview with him:

"You know what you've got here?" he said. "You've got the best people -- great city, great people, hard-working people, great crews. Really talented, smart people. And it's no-nonsense, no B.S. You know, if you're a good person, they love you. If not, they've got no time for you. Don't bring no ego down here.

"But if you're a good guy," he said, "they give you a lot of love. And I appreciate that. I'm a simple guy."

Spy Comics

2012-01-14T12:13:00.001-06:00

The best spy literature I am reading right now is in the comics medium.

Nathan Edmondson came out of the gate strong with Who Is Jake Ellis?:

Jon Moore is the most sought after spy-for-hire in Europe's criminal world. This is because of Jake Ellis, a psychic man who is invisible to everyone except Moore. When a deal goes bad, the only one who can protect Moore from Europe's most dangerous criminals is Jake Ellis. No one but Moore can see Jake Ellis. But Jake Ellis can see everything.

Now he has an ongoing series called The Activity about a real life special unit of the military:

And soon Edmondson will have another espionage comic called Dancer:

Also, I am currently reading Pigs which is about a sleeper cell of KGB agents kids who have come to America to complete the mission their parents started:

When the second generation of a loyal KGB sleeper cell is given the signal, they must finish the mission that they have been raised their entire lives to complete: overthrow The United States of America, no matter what it takes. Writers Ben McCool (CHOKER, MEMOIR) and Nate Cosby (Jim Henson’s Storyteller) are the creative minds behind this new ongoing series from Image Comics, a character-driven modern espionage thriller entitled PIGS.

You can also never go wrong with heading back to Greg Rucka's Queen & Country which is heavily isnpired by the British TV series The Sandbaggers:

And finally, I came across Brian Michael Bendis' book Fire:

The story, a spy thriller, is centered on a young Jewish-American man named Benjamin "Ben" Furst, who is initially introduced as a college student studying political science. After passing several tests, including a fake mugging, he is recruited by a beautiful young woman named D. D. into the Central Intelligence Agency and told that he is going to be the first agent of Project Fire (hence the title of the comic), an experiment to test whether training agents out of ordinary citizens can be successful.

What Google And Facebook Are Hiding

2012-01-09T09:34:00.001-06:00

Books in 2012

2012-01-05T08:11:00.000-06:00

Time To Murder and Create

Movies in 2012

2012-01-02T20:54:00.000-06:00

The Adventures of Tintin (Theater)

Books in 2011

2011-12-29T20:16:00.000-06:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution
The Sins of the Fathers
The Green Ripper
Free Fall in Crimson
Cinnamon Skin
The Lonely Silver Rain
The Hunter
The Man With the Getaway Face
The Deep Blue Good-By
One Shot
Drive
The Rum Diary
Diamonds are Forever
Nightmare in Pink

Screenwriting and Directing Videos/Talks

2011-12-15T11:29:00.001-06:00

The Hollywood Reporter 2011 Screenwriters Roundtable.

The Hollywood Reporter 2011 Director Roundtable.

Charlie Kaufman on screenwriting.

Books in 2011

2011-12-13T11:23:00.001-06:00

The Vesper

2011-11-20T21:49:00.001-06:00

From the WIkipedia entry:

"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."

"Oui, monsieur."

"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"

"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.

Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."

Loose - Microfiction

2011-11-18T21:19:00.001-06:00

“Whoa.”

He realizes he almost hit another car.

Switched lanes too close, he thinks.

Wheel feels loose in his hands. Car speeding up. Not really thinking through the driving. Just doing and reacting.

He enters a turn.

Car feels like it is sliding in the bend. He knows it isn’t, but in his head he isn’t holding his lane and is sliding out through the outside lanes.

“Hold on.”

He races to catch them. He knows they are somewhere ahead.

“Get control.”

Two cars ahead. One right in front. The other on the left. One in front is going to slow. Gap between is shrinking.

The Husband

2011-11-15T08:17:00.001-06:00

“You need to stay away from my wife.”

He stares at the Husband across the table.

“I can’t threaten your kids. That is what I would normally do. But, as she has told me numerous times, they are her heart.”

“Bastard. You - “

“Yes. So, I can’t threaten the kids. Or her. But, I can threaten you.”

The Husband blinks.

“Oh, I won’t kill you. I can, however, make you suffer.”

“There is nothing …”

“Trust me. There is plenty. Suffering in all new ways. I never have to touch you even.”

“She doesn’t love you.”

“Yes she does. She just never got the chance before.”

Books in 2011

2011-11-13T21:46:00.001-06:00

The Rock - 5 Years Quote

2011-11-13T09:11:00.001-06:00

"Think back 5 yrs ago. Think of where you're at today. Think ahead 5 yrs and what you want to accomplish. #BeUnstoppable"

- The Rock

Scary Knowledge - 1

2011-11-07T06:37:00.002-06:00

A man and a woman walk through a large box store. He stops when they get to the massive aisles of cleaning supplies.

“This is one stop shopping for chemical warfare. Ammonia and bleach next to each other: I love it.”

“Your knowledge base scares me.”

They walk on. He looks at a row filled with Tide.

“Know what this aisle is?”

“What?”

“The beginning of napalm.”

“Why do you know this?”

“Gotta survive the apocalypse or revolution that is coming.”

They walk past cosmetics.

“In there: fingernail polish remover. Shit can warp a pan it gets so hot.”

She sighs.

“How do you know this?”

“Practice.”

Books in 2011

2011-10-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

Books in 2011

2011-10-30T17:25:00.001-05:00

Credits - September 2011

2011-09-30T15:59:00.001-05:00

Production Secretary - "Hide" 2011
TNT MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Production Secretary – “Ricochet” 2011
TNT MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Production Secretary – “Memphis Beat” 2011
Season 2
Warner-Horizon/TNT TV Series
UPM: Chris Morgan

Office PA – “Worst. Prom. Ever.” 2010
MTV MOW
UPM: Cyndi Brenner

Production Secretary – “Memphis Beat” 2010
Season 1
Warner-Horizon/TNT TV Series
UPM: Chris Morgan

Key Office PA – “If God Is Willing & Da Creek Don’t Rise” 2010
HBO Documentary
Line Producer: Butch Robinson

Production Secretary – “The Mechanic” 2009
Millennium Films - Feature Film
UPM: Matt Leonetti

Production Secretary – “The Expendables” 2009
Millennium Films - Feature Film
UPM: Josh Throne

Production Assistant – “Alabama Moon” 2008
Faulkner Productions - Independent Feature Film
Line Producer: Rob Ortiz

Production Secretary – “Final Destination 4:3D” 2008
New Line Cinema - Studio Feature Film
UPM: Todd Lewis

APOC – “Welcome to Academia” 2007
MAP Productions - Independent Feature Film
UPM: David Stuart

Office Production Assistant - “Racing for Time” 2007
Lifetime MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Accounting Assistant - “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” 2006-2007
Paramount Pictures/Warner Brothers - Studio Feature Film
UPM: Danny Stillman

Office Production Assistant - “Life is Not a Fairy Tale” 2006
Lifetime MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Office Production Assistant - “The Riches” 2006
Fox Television Pilot
UPM: Paul Kurta

Production Coordinator - “Labou” 2005-2006
Independent Feature Film
UPM: Mike Greene

Mal Reynolds/Firefly Quote

2011-09-27T15:31:00.002-05:00

"You don't know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: if I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed."

- Mal Reynolds
Firefly

Hip Hop Is Alive

2011-09-27T11:41:00.001-05:00

Hip Hop Is Alive

It's not just poetry. It's not just art. It's not just black or white, rich or poor ... It's a movement and it lives in us all.

Hip Hop Is Alive, a stage play by storyteller Davida Chanel, will debut at the 2011 New Orleans Fringe Festival at Cafe Instanbul in the New Orleans Healing Arts Center (located on 2732 St. Claude). Show times will be: Nov 16th at 9 pm; Nov 18th at 11 pm; Nov 19th at 7 pm; and Nov 20th at 5 pm. The production features a set of vignettes dissecting stereotypes about the music genre by delving into its lyrical core. Actors portray scenes common to the overall human experience with dialogue taken primarily from Hip hop songs. Infused with dynamic dance performances & a featured DJ nightly, this play asks us to open our minds about hip hop.

"I grew up enthralled with poetry from greats like Nikki Giovanni and Maya Engelou," said Chanel. "As I grew, I found myself more attracted to the poetry and prose offerings of true hip hop artists. This play is an attempt to show how these poetic lyrics can apply to life scenarios we all face; regardless of gender, race, or socio-economic background."

The 2011 New Orleans Fringe Festival, November 16-20, will be an extraordinary five-day spectacle of theater and performance art. Fifty groups from New orleans and around the country will be presenting over 150 show in venues across the city. Cafe Instanbul is a 3,800 square foot, handicap-accessible performance hall with a mission of fostering, encouraging, and promoting the performing arts in New Orleans. From its inception, Cafe Instanbul has been designed to be a top-notch platform for local artists making it the perfect venue to host this powerful production. For more information on Cafe Instanbul and the Fringe Festival: www.nofringe.org.

Davida Chanel works in the film and television industry in Louisiana. She is currently on the USA series Common Law. The Plaquemine, LA native is a graduate of Southern University and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. She is a member of the Melanated Writer's Group of New Orleans and the New Orleans Film Society.

The Finder: Quirky Travis McGee?

2011-09-23T14:14:00.001-05:00

Trailer for the spinoff from the Fox TV show Bones. Looks like a quirky Travis McGee:Geoff Stults has the right look for McGee, and have to say, I like Michael Clark Duncan in the Meyer role. I just don't think there is anyway for the series to live up to the fin of that trailer.

Relax

2011-09-10T22:47:00.001-05:00

He realizes his hands are gripping the wheel too tight.

"No reaction time."

He breathes heavily. He feels his weight settling and everything relaxing from the head down. The car in front is coming up fast, but he must take these few seconds. Finally it hits his hands, and they loosen on the wheel.

He presses down on the accelerator and moves to the right passing the car.

He can see the lines now. Not real lines. not hallucinations. These are lines he superimposes as hem oves through the traffic to show all the ways around and through the other cars.

Relaxed he presses play. The music starts, and he presses down harder on the accelerator.

"Stereotype."

The car is moving faster now. He checks the dashboard clock and his watch.

"Soon."

T.S. Lee - 1

2011-09-03T12:53:00.004-05:00

He stares at the doorway watching the rain and the wind.

"What's the weather like?"

He looks at her. Just looks like he doesn't know what she is.

"It's a tropical storm. Sitting right on top of us. Three days of wet and windy."

"When does the bad stuff get here?"

Stares.

"Go look at the radar on TV. All that green and yellow - us for the next three days."

She walks away. He watches.

He turns back to watching the rain fall and the wind move the rain and trees all around.

He hopes she knows what disdain he has for her; but he knows that like the storm it might be too complex a thought.

Mississippi State Creed

2011-09-03T11:27:00.001-05:00

The Mississippi State Creed

“It began atop the untilled soil of Mississippi.
The burden of breaking the soil lay of diligent men,
A burden lifted by sweat and steadfastness,
Evidence that a man is only good as his day is long
And revealing the merit of companionship against the common struggle
Cooperation breeds vision, and seeds were planted with a future harvest in mind.
In 1878, Mississippi A&M was sown into the soil of Mississippi.

Today, I am the yield, my roots running deep into the soil of my State.
They stir with industry, humility, and graciousness,
Forever entangled with the roots of my fathers, brothers, and sisters,
For those who sow and those who reap share in the return
All these truths bestowed upon me, indeed define who I am,
Champion of the Maroon & White, and a Mississippi State man until long after
I regard this identity as rich and deep as the soil from which it sprang.”

Gameloft Opens Game Studio In NOLA

2011-08-16T08:47:00.002-05:00

From NOLA.com:

Gameloft will develop software in New Orleans

Published: Monday, August 15, 2011, 2:02 PM Updated: Monday, August 15, 2011, 5:31 PM

By Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune

Mobile and online video game developer Gameloft is expanding into New Orleans with the opening of a software development studio in the Crescent City, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Monday.

Gameloft, which is based in France, is expected to employ about 20 people in its first year in New Orleans and grow to a staff of 146 in 10 years, said David Hague, studio manager for the New Orleans office.
"Gameloft is our biggest digital media win, yet." Jindal said. "Companies like Gameloft are going to keep our young people right here in Louisiana."

The company creates games designed to be played on mobile devices including the iPhone, Android and other portable gadgets. Software developers will earn an average salary of $69,000 plus benefits. The company is now hiring employees.
The Gameloft outfit will differ from that of its gaming counterpart Electronic Arts, which established a software testing facility in Baton Rouge in 2008. Instead of testing games, Gameloft employees will be creating them, a job that requires employees with a more complex skill set, Jindal said.

Monday's announcement was the culmination of a yearlong wooing period that saw Louisiana move from completely off of Gameloft's radar to the top slot on company's site list.
While Gameloft executives believed that Louisiana's incentive program and culture were attractive enough, they weren't convinced that New Orleans could supply the number of qualified employees it needed to build a top-level software development studio.

"The main concern was that there's not a lot of gaming industry here," Hague said. "To make a good game, you need experienced veterans. Without that, it was a major concern whether we would be able to attract it."
But Gameloft's position changed after the state's office of economic development launched an online recruitment campaign on Gameloft's behalf, before the company even agreed to settle here. Using Facebook and other social media, the state advertised software development jobs with Gameloft in New Orleans. Users were invited to submit their resumes online. The idea was to demonstrate that the state could attract the level of talent Gameloft desired if the company agreed to expand here.
In eight weeks, the jobs page received about 1,350 resumes, said Jeff Lynn, executive director of Louisiana FastStart, the state workforce training program that oversaw the effort. Gameloft considered 700 of those as legitimately qualified applicants, Lynn said.

That result made Louisiana and New Orleans the "clear choice," Gameloft executive Samir El Agili said.
As a software developer, Gameloft qualifies for the Digital Media and Software Incentive program, which provides a tax credit of 25 percent of qualified digital interactive media expenditures made in Louisiana and 35 percent tax credit for payroll expenditures for Louisiana residents.

Gameloft also will receive a discretionary incentive package worth $3.7 million. The bulk of that money, $3.5 million will be paid out over 10 years and go toward offsetting the company's facility's cost, Secretary of Economic Development Stephen Moret said. The remaining $200,000, for moving expenses, is available immediately.

Gameloft employs 4,000 worldwide and sells about three games every second, El Agili said. The company's games include N.O.V.A 2, Star Battalion and Assassin's Creed. Gameloft has only one other domestic software development unit in New York City.

Gameloft will operate from a temporary site in downtown New Orleans for six months, before settling in a yet-to-be decided location in either the CBD or Warehouse District, Hague said.
Hague said he's eager to get to work developing in New Orleans because of the unique perspective the city will provide developers.

"What makes a game is the little details," Hague said, adding that it wouldn't be unlikely to find bits of New Orleans' architecture or events in the company's upcoming games. "Being in San Francisco, you don't see something like the Red Dress Run."
Economic development officials hope New Orleans won't just become a character in Gameloft's games, but a serious contender in the gaming industry. Michael Hecht, president of regional economic development agency Greater New Orleans Inc., said he believes the company will act as a sort of "fertilizer" for the regional digital media industry, readying the area for like companies.

"It sets the stage for the future," Hecht said. "This is an outstanding opportunity to nurture and grow a new industry."

Jaquetta White can be reached at jwhite@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3494.

Unaired Plastic Man Pilot

2011-08-15T08:06:00.001-05:00

i so wish this had been taken to series. Had me laughing out loud at work.

PLASTIC MAN:

Summer Reading 2011

2011-08-06T18:43:00.001-05:00

Action! Romance! Social Justice!

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: July 9, 201

SUMMER reading often consists of mindless page-turners, equally riveting and vacuous. So as a public service I’m delighted to offer a list of mindful page-turners — so full of chase scenes, romance and cliffhangers that you don’t mind the redeeming social value.

These are 10 triumphs of fiction, both fun to read and significant for literary or historical reasons. I guarantee pleasure and also bragging rights at your next cocktail party. And if your kids read these, I bet they’ll ace the SAT.

I did lard my list with great novels relating to social justice: at a time when inequality in America has soared to historic levels, it seems useful to exercise the conscience as well as the imagination. So here’s my quirky list: Best Beach Reading Ever.

“Germinal,” Émile Zola’s masterpiece, describes coal miners in France during a strike in the 1860s. Its description of the idealist Étienne and his love interest, Catherine, and of their struggles and dreams of a better life, makes this an enchanting read. You’re transported back into one of the battlegrounds of the Industrial Revolution, and come to understand the labor movement’s origins in a way that no history book could teach.

“Pale Fire” isn’t as well-known as the wickedly funny “Lolita,” also by Vladimir Nabokov, but it should be. “Pale Fire” is a dazzling feat of imagination and literature, unlike any other novel I know of. It’s an epic poem, an adventure about the mysterious land of Zembla, and most of all a puzzle: Is a key figure insane?

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was born 200 years ago this year, is the novel that made slavery impossible for America to tolerate any longer. It’s a profoundly moving read, a tear-jerker, and a shattering window into one of this country’s original sins. Some schools today ban it because of its use of the N-word, but it remains a powerful and illuminating exploration of the human dimensions of slavery in America.

“The Grapes of Wrath” is John Steinbeck’s legendary account of an Oklahoma family’s struggles during the Great Depression. Tom Joad and his family abandon all that they have and make their way to California in hopes of a better life — but find the playing field always tilted against them. With the nation still recovering from the Great Recession, this is the perfect time to read about Tom’s travails.

“Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontë, may be literature’s greatest love story. Catherine must choose between her soul mate, Heathcliff, who lacks status and education, and the far more respectable Edgar. The characters are achingly luminous: they are shaped by 19th-century presumptions about class and male dominance, but are subject to irrepressible human emotions.

“Our Man in Havana,” by Graham Greene, is a comedy and spy thriller that might seem a bit low-brow for this list. But two of the lessons we never quite learn in foreign policy are that nothing goes as planned, and that intelligence scoops are always suspect. Greene’s story of a hapless spy in Cuba makes those points in an unforgettable way. The spy has nothing real to report, so he begins to make things up, and then the drama becomes deadly.

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” by Erich Maria Remarque, may be the most renowned war novel ever. It tells the story of a young man and his school friends who join the German Army in World War I, and their discovery that war isn’t glorious, it’s a tedious nightmare.

“Les Misérables,” by Victor Hugo, tells of Jean Valjean, who has just been released from prison for attempting to steal a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s family. He is relentlessly pursued by Inspector Javert in a nail-biting yarn, with better chase scenes than anything in a James Bond movie. This is also a beautifully crafted exploration of social class, justice, redemption and mercy.

“The Mysterious Stranger” isn’t Mark Twain’s most famous work, and it doesn’t make you laugh out loud like “The Prince and the Pauper” or “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” But it is a short story that wrestles with questions of God and evil. It tells of a callous angel who drops in on a village and wreaks havoc. The angel makes tiny clay people come alive and then, for amusement, destroys them with a storm, a fire and an earthquake. Like all Twain, it’s immensely readable — and more than most short stories, it makes you think.

“Scoop,” by Evelyn Waugh, is a hilarious dissection of the tabloid news business, centered on a nature writer who is mistakenly dispatched to cover a war in Africa. I wish I could say that “Scoop” is simply an absurd comic satire. But anyone who has covered Iraq or Afghanistan knows that it is still resonant — and relevant. And if you read it, you’ll get a sense of the uncertain and often unreliable path by which news coverage reaches you.

My Credits - August 2011

2011-08-05T10:34:00.001-05:00

Production Secretary – “Ricochet” 2011
TNT MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Production Secretary – “Memphis Beat” 2011
Season 2
Warner-Horizon/TNT TV Series
UPM: Chris Morgan

Office PA – “Worst. Prom. Ever.” 2010
MTV MOW
UPM: Cyndi Brenner

Production Secretary – “Memphis Beat” 2010
Season 1
Warner-Horizon/TNT TV Series
UPM: Chris Morgan

Key Office PA – “If God Is Willing & Da Creek Don’t Rise” 2010
HBO Documentary
Line Producer: Butch Robinson

Production Secretary – “The Mechanic” 2009
Millennium Films - Feature Film
UPM: Matt Leonetti

Production Secretary – “The Expendables” 2009
Millennium Films - Feature Film
UPM: Josh Throne

Production Assistant – “Alabama Moon” 2008
Faulkner Productions - Independent Feature Film
Line Producer: Rob Ortiz

Production Secretary – “Final Destination 4:3D” 2008
New Line Cinema - Studio Feature Film
UPM: Todd Lewis

APOC – “Welcome to Academia” 2007
MAP Productions - Independent Feature Film
UPM: David Stuart

Office Production Assistant - “Racing for Time” 2007
Lifetime MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Accounting Assistant - “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” 2006-2007
Paramount Pictures/Warner Brothers - Studio Feature Film
UPM: Danny Stillman

Office Production Assistant - “Life is Not a Fairy Tale” 2006
Lifetime MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Office Production Assistant - “The Riches” 2006
Fox Television Pilot
UPM: Paul Kurta

Production Coordinator - “Labou” 2005-2006
Independent Feature Film
UPM: Mike Greene

Commercial Submarines

2011-08-02T08:26:00.003-05:00

Research. Commercial/personal submarines being used to go very deep and do some actual work:

New York Times story:

By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: August 1, 2011

A new generation of daredevils is seeking to plunge through nearly seven miles of seawater to the bottom of a rocky chasm in the western Pacific that is veiled in perpetual darkness. It is the ocean’s deepest spot. The forbidding place, known as the Challenger Deep, is so far removed from the warming rays of the sun that its temperature hovers near freezing.

When I was a kid, I loved not only amazing ocean exploration but space, too,” James Cameron, the director of “Avatar,” “Titanic” and “The Abyss,” said in an interview. “I can think of no greater fantasy than to be an explorer and see what no human eye has seen before.”

The would-be explorers can afford to live their dreams because of their extraordinarily deep pockets. Significantly, their ambitions far exceed those of the world’s seafaring nations, which have no plans to send people so deep.

The billionaires and millionaires include Mr. Cameron, the airline mogul Richard Branson and the Internet guru Eric E. Schmidt. Each is building, planning to build or financing the construction of minisubmarines meant to transport them, their friends and scientists into the depths. Entrepreneurs talk of taking tourists down as well.

The vehicles, meant to hold one to three people, are estimated to cost anywhere from $7 million to $40 million.

The first dive is scheduled for later this year. Since secrecy and technical uncertainty surround many of the ventures, oceanographers say the current schedules may well change.

The rush is happening now in part because of advances in materials, batteries and electronics, which are lowering the cost and raising the capabilities of submersibles. Still, the challenges are formidable.

Hardest to build are the crew compartments, whose walls must be very thick, strong and precisely manufactured to withstand tons of crushing pressure. Designers are using not only traditional steel but such unexpected materials as spheres of pressure-resistant glass.

Humans have laid eyes on the Challenger Deep just once, half a century ago, in a United States Navy vessel. A window cracked on the way down. The landing on the bottom stirred up so much ooze that the two divers could see little and took no pictures. They stayed just 20 minutes.

Forays to lesser depths have multiplied over the years. Since the discovery of the Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic in 1985, hundreds of explorers, tourists and moviemakers (including Mr. Cameron) have visited the world’s most famous shipwreck. It lies more than two miles down.

The Challenger Deep and similar recesses are part of a vast system of seabed trenches that crisscross the globe. The deepest are found in the western Pacific.

Over the decades, biologists have glimpsed their inhabitants by lowering dredges on long lines. Up have come thousands of bizarre-looking worms, crustaceans and sea cucumbers. More recently, undersea robots have filmed swarms of eels and ghostly fish, their tails long and sinuous.

In early April, Mr. Branson held a news conference in Newport Beach, Calif., to unveil his submersible. “The last great challenge for humans,” declared Mr. Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Galactic, “is to explore the depths of our planet’s oceans.”

His solo craft, nearly 18 feet long, looked like a white-and-blue airplane with stubby wings and a cockpit. The curve of the wings is meant to drive the vehicle downward as it speeds through the water, rather than upward, as with an airplane.

Graham Hawkes, the craft’s designer and a veteran maker of undersea vehicles, said in an interview that more conservative designs were possible but that his goal was “to advance the state of the art.”

The winged craft and its mother ship cost an estimated $17 million. The submersible is scheduled to plunge deep later this year, its pilot a colleague of Mr. Branson. (The venture is profiled at virginoceanic.com.)

A few weeks later, in late April, another team went public. It unveiled plans, rather than a nearly complete vehicle. The company, Triton Submarines, based in Vero Beach, Fla., makes tiny submersibles with acrylic personnel spheres that carry two people down a half mile or more. The clear spheres provide much better viewing than the tiny portholes of traditional submersibles.

The company announced that it was ready to build a submersible to carry three people into the Challenger Deep. The vehicle’s personnel sphere — seven and a half feet in diameter — would be made entirely of glass and open like a clamshell to admit passengers.

Glass might seem fragile. But as pressures rise, said L. Bruce Jones, the company’s chief executive, “it gets stronger.”

He said two people — a billionaire and a near billionaire — were talking separately about buying one or two of the craft, each costing $15 million.

A company brochure says investors can expect to charge $250,000 a seat for tours of the Challenger Deep.

Mr. Jones said the craft would drop fast, covering the seven miles in about two hours. That would leave hours of bottom time for exploration before the return trip to the surface.

“It’s not a publicity stunt,” he said of the planning effort. “We’re commercial vehicle builders. We want a product that can be used repeatedly without any difficulty — one that is very elegant, very safe and very competitive.”

The Triton venture is described at tritonsubs.com/images/36000-3.pdf.

Mike McDowell, a leading organizer of adventure tours, including dives to the Titanic, said he was talking to Triton and added that he expected the market for dives into the Challenger Deep to be relatively limited.

“It’s more an iconic experience than ‘Gee, everything was so beautiful,’ ” he said in an interview. “And you eliminate a lot of people on the fear factor.”

Mr. Cameron, the maker of Hollywood blockbusters, has kept a low profile and based his effort in Australia. Some five years ago, he formed a team that has been quietly building a submersible along traditional lines, only smaller. In an interview, he said its steel personnel sphere was just four feet wide and would accommodate just one person.

The sphere underwent a successful pressure test in September 2009, Mr. Cameron said. He said his team had overcome major problems with foam meant to buoy the heavy sphere: Early foam crumbled under pressure tests, threatening to rob the submersible of buoyancy and maroon it on the bottom.

“It’s not like you can call up AAA to come get you,” he said.

The team is building cameras for three-dimensional filming, Mr. Cameron said. Despite reports that the vehicle might be involved in an oceanic sequel to “Avatar,” he insisted that the deep craft had “nothing to do with my feature life” — though a documentary or two might be forthcoming.

“The only thing it has to do with ‘Avatar,’ ” he said of the vehicle, “is that it’s slowing me down.” He said that the craft cost $7 million to $8 million, and that chartering a mother ship for the expedition would run from $30,000 to $40,000 a day.

Mr. Cameron said test dives were scheduled for early next year. In the summer of 2012, he added, he and his team will dive in the western Pacific 12 to 15 times. The goal is to plumb not only the Challenger Deep but the Tonga and Kermadec Trenches, which lie north of New Zealand.

The filmmaker added that he was talking to oceanic institutes about developing long-term relationships for use of the submersible.

“We’ve gotten a pretty resounding response from the science community,” he said, “because they have such limited funding and access to these deep environments.”

Perhaps the least visible of the entrepreneurs is Mr. Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google — and the founder of the Schmidt Ocean Institute and the Schmidt Research Vessel Foundation. The institute’s two oceangoing ships are quite large, 253 and 272 feet long.

Mr. Schmidt has also financed the development of an advanced submersible designed by Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, a company on Alameda Island in San Francisco Bay. Its founder, Sylvia A. Earle, is an oceanographer and a former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We were proud to help her launch the project,” he said. “New technologies are needed to explore, map, measure and report on the oceans and marine life.” The advances, he added, “will help everyone and everything on earth.”

The craft, Deepsearch, is large and sleek by submersible standards. It looks like a fish or a torpedo. Holding up to three people, it would plunge seven miles in little more than an hour. Its personnel sphere, like that of the Triton model, is to be made of glass for better viewing.

“The goal,” says a company Web site, “is not a stunt dive” to the Challenger Deep but “a world asset capable of providing scientists with unlimited access to the deep ocean.”

A submersible that incorporated “every cutting-edge concept” might cost $40 million, the company says. It plans to build a pair. The venture is described at www.deepsearch.org.

All the craft are to have large arrays of bright lights so they can illuminate the deep black sea.

If anyone thinks of the new explorers as grown-up children playing with expensive toys, ocean veterans reply that there is ample scientific justification for creating new technologies that can regularly plumb the full depth of the ocean, which covers more than 70 percent of the planet yet remains poorly explored.

“The result will be good,” said Don Walsh, a retired Navy officer who survived the descent to the Challenger Deep in 1960 and is advising some of the new ventures. “It will bring people around to remembering how little we know about the oceans.”

Virgin Oceanic

Triton Submarines

Books in 2011

2011-07-31T15:55:00.001-05:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution
The Sins of the Fathers
The Green Ripper
Free Fall in Crimson
Cinnamon Skin
The Lonely Silver Rain
The Hunter
The Man With the Getaway Face
The Deep Blue Good-By

A re-read for The Travis McGee Book Club that Drew McWeeney is doing at HitFix.

Custom Captain America Posters

2011-07-18T15:37:00.003-05:00

This is from Artist Tyler Stout:

These two are by artist Olly Moss:

These two are from Eric Tan:

A Morning Warm Up

2011-07-18T09:48:00.002-05:00

Something to try and get the brain working this morning:

"You think this is going to work out well?"

"I don't see why I shouldn't try."

"Pretty much puts you on one side."

"Oh darling, I was always on this side. You just didn't want to accept that."

Sunday Reading - The Art of Bond

2011-07-10T20:36:00.002-05:00

Fun but fluffy book:

New Orleans July Film Events/Screenings

2011-07-07T10:57:00.007-05:00

The Midnight Movie at Prytania this Friday and Saturday will be Purple Rain hosted by DJ Soul Sister.

The Harder They Come is playing July 16th at The Old Iron Works, 612 Piety Street at 9 pm. Doors open at 6 pm for drinks and DJ.

NOLA Drive In will have its next screening July 15th at the corner of St. Claude and Elysian Fields. Film starts at dusk. Dr. Strangelove is playing. $5 admission.

Also, the French Film Festival starts Friday featuring screenings of The Rules of the Game and An American in Paris.

Books in 2011

2011-07-04T00:34:00.002-05:00

DJ Davis Treme Season 2 Quote

2011-07-03T23:27:00.000-05:00

"Even if it isn't as it should be, even if they make it hard, where else would we go? Who else would have us?"

DJ Davis at the end of Season 2 of Treme

Books in 2011

2011-07-02T12:58:00.004-05:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution
The Sins of the Fathers
The Green Ripper
Free Fall in Crimson
Cinnamon Skin
The Lonely Silver Rain
The Hunter

Oysters at Drago's

2011-07-02T11:00:00.001-05:00

The best charbroiled oysters in New Orleans:

Nearly 6 Years On

2011-07-02T10:41:00.002-05:00

Took these pictures while driving around one day for work:

Canal Street Car

2011-07-02T10:38:00.002-05:00

Pictures taken last night while riding the Canal Street Street Car:

Captain America Posters

2011-06-24T11:02:00.005-05:00

My Current Resume June 2011

2011-06-21T16:31:00.001-05:00

My current film/tv resume. I am leaving off small, few days stuff now that I have a pretty full resume. I have been working solidly in the film and tv industry for 6 years now:

Production Secretary – “Memphis Beat” 2011
Season 2
Warner-Horizon/TNT TV Series
UPM: Chris Morgan

Office PA – “Worst. Prom. Ever.” 2010
MTV MOW
UPM: Cyndi Brenner

Production Secretary – “Memphis Beat” 2010
Season 1
Warner-Horizon/TNT TV Series
UPM: Chris Morgan

Key Office PA – “If God Is Willing & Da Creek Don’t Rise” 2010
HBO Documentary
Line Producer: Butch Robinson

Production Secretary – “The Mechanic” 2009
Millennium Films - Feature Film
UPM: Matt Leonetti

Production Secretary – “The Expendables” 2009
Millennium Films - Feature Film
UPM: Josh Throne

Production Assistant – “Alabama Moon” 2008
Faulkner Productions - Independent Feature Film
Line Producer: Rob Ortiz

Production Secretary – “Final Destination 4:3D” 2008
New Line Cinema - Studio Feature Film
UPM: Todd Lewis

APOC – “Welcome to Academia” 2007
MAP Productions - Independent Feature Film
UPM: David Stuart

Office Production Assistant - “Racing for Time” 2007
Lifetime MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Accounting Assistant - “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” 2006-2007
Paramount Pictures/Warner Brothers - Studio Feature Film
UPM: Danny Stillman

Office Production Assistant - “Life is Not a Fairy Tale” 2006
Lifetime MOW
UPM: Chris Morgan

Office Production Assistant - “The Riches” 2006
Fox Television Pilot
UPM: Paul Kurta

Production Coordinator - “Labou” 2005-2006
Independent Feature Film
UPM: Mike Greene

Books in 2011

2011-06-20T06:15:00.004-05:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution
The Sins of the Fathers
The Green Ripper
Free Fall in Crimson
Cinnamon Skin
The Lonely Silver Rain

Benjamin Buttons' Dad's House

2011-06-12T11:48:00.004-05:00

The house of Benjamin Button's Dad from the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Banjo Player in NOLA/So New Orleans

2011-06-12T11:45:00.004-05:00

Saw this guy while we watched Terence Simien & The Zydeco Experience yesterday:

So very New Orleans.

Books in 2011

2011-06-12T11:39:00.002-05:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution
The Sins of the Fathers
The Green Ripper
Free Fall in Crimson
Cinnamon Skin

Brothers Bloom Mexico Quote

2011-06-10T10:36:00.002-05:00

"Well, I'm not thrilled they set this in Mexico. There could be legitimate reasons, but Mexico's - and I don't want to simplistically vilify an entire country, but Mexico's a horrible place. We'll be careful."

- Stephen from Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom

Books in 2011

2011-05-30T13:38:00.002-05:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution
The Sins of the Fathers
The Green Ripper
Free Fall in Crimson

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Red Band Trailer

2011-05-29T19:27:00.002-05:00

I think was a deliberate bootleg by the studio or by Fincher:

My Scott Pilgrim Action Figure

2011-05-26T07:45:00.002-05:00

Scott Pilgrim sits on my desk at work. Along with Thor, Hellboy, and Godzilla.

"Welcome son, to the Layer Cake."

2011-05-26T07:35:00.003-05:00

From Matthew Vaughn's Layer Cake:

Space News For the Week

2011-05-26T07:16:00.002-05:00

Research dump:

New space vehicle.

Even movie blogs are talking about it.

Apollo Astronauts are not happy with the way things are going with our space program.

It has been 5 years since Kennedy's Moon Challenge.

A new space mission.

Pyramids discovered from space.

Spirit has died.

Matthew Vaughn on James Bond

2011-05-25T09:14:00.005-05:00

Matthew Vaughn in an interview with Bleeding Cool:

I always wanted to do a Cold War movie and I’m desperate to do a Bond film, always have been, and here I got to have my cake and eat it. I got to do an X-Men film and a Bond thing Frankenheimer sort of political thriller at the same time.

I sort of want the Brocollis to regret never hiring me. I was very keen to direct Bond. I don’t know if I am any more, to be blunt, now that I’ve done this. I really love Daniel [Craig], though you know, it might be interesting if they one day decide to cast Fassbender as Bond, then maybe I’ll go “Hey!”

HitFix interview with Vaughn. He discusses a bit more of the Bond influence.

Norman Jewison on The Thomas Crown Affair

2011-05-23T19:00:00.002-05:00

From an AintItCoolNews interview with Norman Jewison:

Capone: You made a couple of films with Steve McQueen. Could talk about your relationship with him, and what you remember most about working with him?

NJ: Well Steve McQueen was kind of textbook bad boy, you know? He could test you pretty good. [laughs] I said, “I can’t be your father,” because he liked working with older directors.

Capone: So he had a father complex?

NJ: Yeah and so I said “But I will be your older brother who went to college. I’ll look out for you.” So we had a pretty close relationship from the very beginning, and it was simply because I did a little homework and found he had spent time in Boys Town, and he had had a rough upbringing and I think he was looking for a father, for kind of a fatherly influence, and that’s why he liked working with older directors.

Henry Hathaway used to do films with Steve McQueen, and I realized that he could get a better performance from Steve simply because he wanted to be directed. He wanted to be told. He wanted desperately, so I kind of found out a lot about him just by talking to him. So, we became pretty close, and then I did THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR with him with Faye Dunaway, and that was her debut really. She did a film, BONNIE AND CLYDE, but I felt that THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, when it came to style, it was really kind of style over content that film, and I tried to make it something totally different than we had seen Steve do before. So I put him in a $2,500 suit and gave him a different look, and he loved it.

Capone: It was a stylized version of him. It was heightened and classier than we'd seen him before.

NJ: There was something kind of elegant about the picture, and I had [cinematrographer] Haskell Wexler and some talented people working with me.

City of Kenner Wants to Change Demographics

2011-05-21T10:40:00.002-05:00

Today's Times-Picayune has a story about how the City of Kenner does not like the current demographics of its population. If the city wants to change these demographics, it is going to take some serious effort and sacrifice both from the government and the people. And the people have already voted down tax proposals which would have helped the city. And it is going to take a lot of public and private money to change the city of Kenner's demographics.

First place we can start is the Esplanade Mall. This mall used to be the mall in the area to go to, but it has in the last decade gone down hill drastically. The city and the mall owners need to stop leasing space to cheap, tacky stores, and start actively recruiting high end and unique stores (ie stores Lakeside and Clearview malls don't have). They need to also make the food court worth going to, and make citizens feel safe to go to the mall. Frankly now at night, it does not feel like a safe place.

Next, the city needs to look at Hollywood Cinemas 9. This is the only movie theater in Kenner, and outside of the Bollywood fair offered, it is a pretty poor theater. Supposedly there was going to be a new theater built in the area; but so far nothing has come from that. The city and the property owners need to create a modern, high end theater here (plus keep the Bollywood films showing there which gives the mall a very well educated base of customers). The city should also actively help whoever owns the old AMC theater building to bring in a theater there as well, perhaps an Alamo Drafthouse theater or something similar showing both mainstream and art house fair (similar to The Theatres at Canal Place, but maybe on a smaller budget).

Third, the city of Kenner needs to start recruiting high end realtors there. The current crop of places to live is not attractive to young professionals. There is no real sense of neighborhood anywhere. You want to have at least high end apartments for young professionals or single professionals. Go look at towns you want to emulate or should be emulating. The NOLA area is most often compared to Austin, Tx, go look there and see what kind of apartments and condos they have there.

Finally, join the 21st Century. The City of Kenner's website is a joke, and online services barely function. I tried to pay a ticket online for months, only to be told the site was down. When I went to pay it in person, the IT structure looked like it was held together by duct tape. Update the city government's IT to a fully functioning modern structure. Erect free Wi Fi towers throughout the city. Actively work to bring broadband to all communities in Kenner. Aggresively promote computer literacy through the Libraries and Schools in Kenner. Become a truly wired city.

Of course Kenner has to fight the hardest part of the city: who wants to live in Kenner? As I said above, there is no real sense of neighborhood in most of Kenner. The city sis actively shutting down River Town, an area which needs more attention and development not less. The police force is looked at as overpaid mall and traffic cops and frankly they don't do much to discourage that.

There seems to be no real sense of actually wanting people to move there aside from more tax revenue. Where is the recruitment for actual businesses? What firms want to move to a city where there seems to be no space or buildings to have an actual office on?

The rumor of the city trying to bring Coconut Beach to the lakefront facility is a step in the right direction, but the city really does need more forward thinking people both in the public and private sector if it wants to change the demographics and the crumbling effect now going on.

Vic Armstrong on Bond

2011-05-20T10:02:00.004-05:00

From Eric Vespe at AintItCoolNews' interview with legendary stunt man Vic Armstrong:

Quint: It seems to me the big three for me from reading the book seem to be SUPERMAN, BOND, and INDIANA JONES where it’s like those were almost like legacy projects for you. You almost began your career on a Bond movie and you’ve touched upon Bond through almost every iteration. I think the only ones… You didn’t work on and of the Dalton BONDs, right?

Vic Armstrong: No I didn’t no, but it’s been a great series for me. I remember seeing DR. NO before I was in the film business and the effect it had on me and then to wind up on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE I bought my first car on it with 90 pounds, about fifty bucks for a car and to me it was just such an honor to work on a Bond movie. It was like “Oh my God, I’m on a BOND.”

CDC Zombie Preparedeness

2011-05-19T17:29:00.000-05:00

The Sky Today

2011-05-14T20:18:00.002-05:00

The French Quarter Today

2011-05-14T20:14:00.003-05:00

1009 Bourbon St. The house we lived in when I was born:

Duplass Brothers' Kickstarter Projects

2011-05-12T08:45:00.000-05:00

Kickstarter is a way for people to raise money for projects through crowd sourcing. The projects can range from a short film to science experiments.

Now, Mark and Jay Duplass both have projects on there.

Jay Duplass has a documentary called Kevin he is trying to get funded:

In Austin, TX in the early '90s, Kevin was my hero. He was the purest, most inspired artist I had ever seen. His fusion of all-American folk-poetry with a wild flamenco guitar style was completely original, and I went to every show of his I could.

But in 1995, Kevin disappeared completely from the music scene, and I had no idea why.

Two years ago I finally tracked him down, and we began a friendship. I learned about the painful events back in ’95 that shattered his lifelong dream of making and sharing music. I learned he had barely touched his guitar ever since, and forgotten how to play almost all of his songs.

But then, thanks to a magical twist of fate I could never have imagined, Kevin and I found ourselves traveling halfway around the globe and back. And along the way, I watched as Kevin’s dream reignited right before my eyes.

KEVIN, my documentary debut, is that story.

Mark Duplass has a project with his wife to fund a feature film:

This idea of making a girl-based thriller has been banging around my head for a while now... Which is interesting because I'm not actually a huge fan of the genre. Or at least what the genre is today. The thrillers I've loved are the ones like DELIVERANCE, CAPE FEAR even RIVER WILD… Where the threat to the characters is real. Very real. And, while you hope it never happens to you, the possibility that it could happen to you is almost just as terrifying as the film itself. No little white albinos crawling out of crevasses or long hair coming up from bathtub drains… Just the real deal terror that makes you look inside yourself and hope to hell there is a sharp-clawed survivor in there. Exploring that kind of movie really excites me as a filmmaker. So the challenge I have posed to myself is this: make a feature film, following all the rules of the thriller genre, but do it on my own terms and make a film the only way I know how, which is simply and honestly.

Sooo, it was over the holidays this past year that my husband, Mark, and I went to visit my family where I grew up on the coast of Maine. One evening, we drank some wine and took a walk. And everything was so beautiful… the water, the rocks, the trees… it was just insanely gorgeous. And we started talking about this idea I had of this girls' trip gone awry… how I wanted it to be brutal and ugly and real... and beautiful. Then we looked around and it struck us: What better place to set these girls in a life and death struggle than on the rocky, harsh, yet utterly breathtaking coast of Maine? And that’s where BLACK ROCK was born. Mark flew back to L.A. and, thanks a to blizzard-induced 12-hour layover, landed with a rough draft of the script.

And here we are now, one month out from production. It has happened so crazy fast! We have an fabulously awesome cast: KATE BOSWORTH, LAKE BELL, JAY PAULSON, ANSLEM RICHARDSON, WILL BOUVIER… and me. We have an amazingly talented crew that will be out there, helping me. And what was once just an idea banging around my head is now very real, with incredibly strong momentum behind it...

Which brings me to you. We want this move to LOOK gorgeous. In the past, the smaller films we have done have all had a similar, lo-fi look to them. And, while they are all visually interesting in their own right, you can only do so much with a low budget camera. I believe BLACK ROCK should look different, better. There is a new camera out now called the ARRI ALEXA and it can do amazing things like shoot really well in exterior low light situations (like maybe an island in the middle of the ocean in the middle of the night with no electricity) and it can shoot fast motion (like maybe girls running for their lives through the woods) without any of the bizarre digital quirks from other cameras. With this camera, our little movie will look as good as any big budget Hollywood movie. And, being able to work on this level opens up a whole new world of opportunities for a smaller film like ours.

So, I ask/beg/implore you to help us out… This film may have started small, but it has a big heart, and with your help, the potential to be ginormous! Be a part of it!

Mark and Jay Duplass are not novices to filmmaking. They have recently graduated from the indie utlra-low budget world to working on studio projects. So I find it really interesting that they are turning to Kickstarter for help for each of these.

I see Kickstarter as a way for the audience to actively participate in creating the content they want to see. No more bitching about if only someone would have funded this filmmaker or if only the studios would make certain kinds of films. With Kickstarter you can actually help make these projects come to life.

Having two filmmakers who are in the system going to Kickstarter might just lead to more. Here is a way to get that little arthouse film made. I think right now the only draw back is the Duplass Brothers don't seem to have a strong social networking strategy. I find the projects which usually get funded have strong support or talk on Twitter and Facebook as well as getting various blogs and websites to write about the projects.

Jay Duplass' project has 8 days left to be funded (I only found out about it with about 14 days left), and yet it is barely halfway to being funded. I wish he had approached some sites and writers he knows to get the word out there.

Mark Duplass' project with his wife has already shown up on a couple of movie sites already, so I have a feeling it will reach its goal.

Still, I applaud the two of them for getting outside of the rut of those who constantly want a studio or producer to pay for everything and trying to find a new model to fund certain projects.

The Return of Sabata Opening Titles

2011-05-11T06:38:00.001-05:00

I love the Sabata Trilogy, but these are also some of the best opening titles and songs ever. The Return of Sabata.

Target Comics T-Shirt Display

2011-05-08T16:44:00.004-05:00

Saw this display at Target last week:

If only comic books were pushed as hard as comic book character merchandise.

JazzFest 2011

2011-05-08T16:41:00.002-05:00

Storyland & Carousel at City Park 4.30.11

2011-04-30T17:25:00.003-05:00

Pics taken at Storyland and on the Carousel at City Park in New Orleans today:

Paul Pope's Strange Adventures #1 Cover

2011-04-30T10:17:00.002-05:00

Because I love Paul Pope. Plus space suit. His cover to Strange Adventures #1:

Green 4.30.11

2011-04-30T09:19:00.004-05:00

Pictures from and around our garden this morning. I loved the way the sun light was coming down.

Blue 4.29.11

2011-04-29T20:35:00.003-05:00

Pics I took of the sky and the pool today.

Books In 2011

2011-04-23T17:10:00.003-05:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution
The Sins of the Fathers
The Green Ripper

Interesting Pic

2011-04-23T09:27:00.002-05:00

My friend moved as I took this pic:

I just really liked what happened here.

Doctor Who Poster

2011-04-23T09:12:00.003-05:00

St. Charles Ave New Orleans 4.22.11

2011-04-23T09:08:00.003-05:00

Pics I took along the St. Charles Avenue Street Car Line yesterday, 4.22.11:

Cogan's Trade Pics

2011-04-21T08:56:00.002-05:00

Some pics I took around the Cogan's Trade set since we were filming right next door.

Rio Bravo Behind the Scenes

2011-04-19T16:32:00.005-05:00

All of these are from AintItCool.com:

"And boy what a pic. Hawks, rocking a cowboy and looking up at the unbelievably hot young Angie Dickinson. Can I hear an amen?

Rio Bravo was a flick I came to rather late (covering it early in my run of A Movie A Day), but one that I was on-board with after the opening scene that tells us everything we need to know about Dean Martin’s Dude and John Wayne’s Sheriff John T. Chance without one word of dialogue spoken.

The flick is a master class in western filmmaking. Hawks plays with western iconography and archetypes and makes it so damn timelessly entertaining. Walter Brennan’s worth a watch by himself even if you ignore Dean Martin’s surprisingly layered turn as the town drunk, Wayne at his most cocksure and Dickinson as her most hottie-hotness."

From AintItCool:

"I dig everything about this picture; John Wayne’s intense respect, Dean Martin playing with his gun and Ricky Nelson… well, looking like he knows he doesn’t really belong among such company."

From Aint It Cool News:

"Angie Dickinson was possibly the hottest woman on the planet when she shot Rio Bravo with Howard Hawks, John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. And I don’t mean just in physical attractiveness, either. Her personality shows through in every frame and I can vouch for that now since I spent Saturday morning sitting down with her discussing this film.

She is still adorable, confident and spunky to an unbelievably awesome amount (for instance, at one point we talk about Point Blank and she says “oh, what a great film… until they fucked up the ending”). That’s what makes her character, Feathers, so great in Rio Bravo; what makes her able to stand up to John Wayne so well."

All text from Quint/Eric Vespe at AICN.

A TV Production Today in NOLA

2011-04-13T15:47:00.001-05:00

First Orbit

2011-04-12T15:37:00.002-05:00

First Orbit

From the Wikipedia page:

First Orbit is a feature-length, experimental documentary film about Vostok 1, the first manned space flight around the Earth. By matching the orbit of the International Space Station to that of Vostok 1 as closely as possible, in terms of ground path and time of day, documentary filmmaker Christopher Riley and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli were able to film the view that Yuri Gagarin saw on his pioneering orbital space flight. This new footage was cut together with the original Vostok 1 mission audio recordings sourced from the Russian State Archive. The film features an original musical score by composer Philip Sheppard.

Official Site

YouTube page.

Yuri Gagarin Google Logo

2011-04-12T15:24:00.002-05:00

Awesome Google Logo today for Yuri Gagarin:

Venus Sunrise 4.12.11

2011-04-12T08:06:00.003-05:00

Pics taken of Venus during the Sunrise in front of 4001 Division St Metairie, LA 70002 today:

Books in 2011

2011-04-09T23:46:00.003-05:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution
The Sins of the Fathers

I am currently juggling about 4 other books right now. I picked up 11 books from the Matthew Scudder series by Lawrence Block today at Goodwill for $2.51. It was a deal I couldn't pass up, even if I do feel guilty for paying so little for so many books.

Precision - Short Film

2011-04-09T10:08:00.002-05:00

Precision, a sci fi short film written, shot, edited, and scored in 48 hours:

Andrew J Sykes', the director, thoughts and writing on the making of it.

Mike Sizemore's, the writer, thoughts on it.

Neil Gaiman on Doctor Who

2011-04-03T19:44:00.002-05:00

There’s a big blue box. It’s bigger on the inside than the outside. It can go anywhere in space and time, sometimes where it is supposed to go. Something will go wrong, and there’s some bloke called The Doctor who’ll make it all right because he’s awesome. Now sit down, shut up and watch Blink.

- Neil Gaiman on Doctor Who

Lonely Hellboy

2011-03-27T14:53:00.001-05:00

Hellboy all alone on my desk. He has a friend coming to play tomorrow.

Homeless man in Kenner, LA

2011-03-27T14:50:00.003-05:00

Saw this homeless man walking through the intersection of Chateau and West Esplanade yesterday in Kenner, LA.

I have been seeing a lot more homeless in Metairie and Kenner. Ignoring the homeless will not make the problem go away.

Pics of me

2011-03-22T22:02:00.001-05:00

Me on St. Patrick's Day this year wearing a shirt I have wanted for 2 years from Storyville:

Me at work taking care of Set Dec's plants (and the reason I prefer to wear button downs and not have my picture taken):

Rodarti: Aanteni

2011-03-13T19:56:00.002-05:00

PULPHOPE: The Art of Paul Pope

2011-03-13T19:50:00.004-05:00

I just finished reading PULPHOPE: The Art of Paul Pope. I am not sure I should include art books in my Yearly Book List. I am a huge fan of Paul Pope. I love his art and love the fact he crosses over so many mediums and areas. Great look into his art and thinking process. Check out his Flickr stream as well.

I am a huge fan of art books, whether they are from films or artists. I find them to be hugely inspiring.

Elijah Snow on Gotham City

2011-03-05T21:47:00.003-06:00

Here we are children. Old as New York, founded on the east coast and originally designed by English Masons on opium ... exacerbated by absinthe-fiend local architects in the Twenties, basically not suitable for human habitation ... Gotham City.

- Elijah Snow
Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth

Superman 50's Tv Series Intro

2011-03-05T21:01:00.000-06:00

Superman and the Mechanical Monsters

2011-03-05T20:37:00.000-06:00

Superman Classic

2011-03-05T14:12:00.000-06:00

1978 Lincoln Continental

2011-03-05T09:20:00.001-06:00

My work sometimes entails this:

Short Films at the CAC 2.21.11

2011-02-21T22:35:00.003-06:00

Books in 2011

2011-02-21T12:57:00.005-06:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Pictures at a Revolution

Books in 2011

2011-01-05T22:13:00.002-06:00

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

I think this will set the mood for the rest of the year. Bit weird, bit funny, bit sad. I hope to get through a bunch of Pynchon this year as well.

My Beer Yesterday

2011-01-04T11:13:00.003-06:00

NOLA Brewing Irish Channel Stout at Crescent Pie and Sausage Company.

First pic in awhile I have been happy with.

Books in 2010

2010-12-15T08:19:00.003-06:00

The Big Con
When the Shooting Stops ... The Cutting Begins
The Scarlet Ruse
The Turquoise Lament
A Voyage for Madmen
The Dreadful Lemon Sky
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played With Fire
The Empty Copper Sea
The Strain
Gone Tomorrow
The Hard Way
World War Z
The Fall
True Grit

Modernist School New Orleans

2010-12-13T14:32:00.002-06:00

Modernist school closed up and falling down next to Willie Mae's in New Orleans:

Going to have to go back another day and take more pics and try and find the story of the school and the architect who designed it. Reminds me of the Sarasota School of Modernist Architecture.

Train Pic

2010-12-11T20:08:00.002-06:00

Didn't come out as well as I wanted it to, but its better than I thought it was:

The Sky

2010-11-27T23:02:00.001-06:00