Haven't had any time to blog recently. The end of the school semester is always a very busy time, and the Biology class is really turning the screws on me. I've a term paper, an activity notebook, and two exams in the next two weeks. This class really feels like two classes. But as long as I cut unnecessary activities, I will be able to pass it. Come May 16 I'm going to be in the mood to do some serious partying.
One thing I can't cut out is this weekend's Maryland Film Festival, which will take place at The Charles theater. I should be there on and off through the weekend, but specially on Saturday. Don't ask me yet what I'll be watching. I've only had a few minutes to take a cursory glance at the schedule and I won't be making picks until sometime late Wednesday. If I have some time, I'll post my picks. Also, Creative Alliance will have a tent across from The Charles and I'll be there Saturday from 5:30pm thru 7pm meeting and greeting folks. Come by and say Hi if you have a minute.
Sometime this weekend, I also gotta go and catch 'Iron Man'. It's looking really good. I'm looking forward to it, and also 'Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull'. It's going to be a great summer for popcorn movies.
I'm really acheing for some free time. I'm itching to get back to work on my short film. I also have that music video to complete, and a couple of key reviews for Horror-101 to do. But the class is key. I didn't go back to college to be a slouch and 'just barely pass classes' as some students do. I'm trying to get a high B or an A here. Plus, I'm actually interested in the genetics stuff, and I've an idea for a future film that this class has helped me to develop.
Regardless of how busy I sound, I've been doing great lately. Most of the key steps I've needed to take to graduate from UMBC this Fall have fallen into place. I'm enrolled in the appropriate classes, and my financial aid has come thru. I also had a particular personal experience which put a huge smile on my face last week... but I can't share that here. That one will go in my 'memoirs'. I don't 'kiss and tell'.
Oright, I gotta get going. Time to make the donuts! And, oh, if you're looking for a good horror flick to watch, check out 'The Ruins', a really underrated flick which most people should have gone and seen instead of that 'Prom Night' junk. It has several great cringe-inducing moments, and at its very core, the movie deals with the fascinating concept of carnivorous plants. Great scary flick.
They worked me hard this past week. I've not had the time to blog in over a week. I got assigned a dayjob work detail that's challenging, but involves dealing with a lot of paperwork. At school, I've my second major Biology exam tomorrow night, and the Lab notebook is due on Wednesday, so I've not had any downtime and have had to pass on some invites to get-togethers and screenings.
I missed the DC Cherry Blossom festival this year. A shame. Every spring for the last few years, I loved to walk among the cherry trees and take pictures. I had to shoot a music video last Saturday, and the Sunday after the weather was so cruddy it was best to stay home and study.
I'm editing that music video this week on my newly-purchased copy of Final Cut Pro. It should be fun taking the time to fully learn the program (more or less the reason why I shot the music vid), as FCP is slowly becoming the industry standard and is widespread among the independent film community. This week I should also have time to get back to my short film and feature length scripts. They're both swirling--almost fully formed--in my head. I need to find the time to write.
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I leave you for now with this Youtube video. It's called 'Shift Happens', and is a fairly popular video posted a little over a year ago. Perhaps you've seen it. It's on the subject of Globalization, and how the exponential growth of technology has changed the way we community, the way we learn, and the way future generations of students should be educated. It's also, in a sense, about evolution. The video was a presentation made by a teacher named Karl Fisch.
For those of you without the ability to look at Youtube (it's becoming regularly blocked from at-work computer networks due to how much bandwidth the website consumes), there's a transcript of the presentation below.
Nothing ever stays the same. The only constant in life is change. The longer you life the more you learn to cope to how unpredictable change is. You can't completely control where your life is heading, and the best you can do is learn to enjoy the ride. Shift Happens.
The transcript:
9. Did you know . . . 10. Sometimes size does matter. 11. If you're one in a million in China . . . 12. There are 1,300 people just like you. 13. In India, there are 1,100 people just like you. 14. The 25% of the population in China with the highest IQ's . . . 15. Is greater than the total population of North America. 16. In India, it's the top 28%. 17. Translation for teachers: They have more honors kids than we have kids. 18. Did you know . . . 19. China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world. 20. If you took every single job in the U.S. today and shipped it to China . . . 21. China would still have a labor surplus. 22. During the course of this 8 minute presentation . . . 23. 60 babies will be born in the U.S. 244 babies will be born in China. 351 babies will be born in India. 24. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today's learner will have 10-14 jobs . . . 25. By the age of 38. 26. According to the U.S. Department of Labor . . . 27. 1 out of 4 workers today is working for a company they have been employed by for less than one year. 28. More than 1 out of 2 are working for a company they have worked for for less than five years. 29. According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley . . . 30. The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn't exist in 2004. 31. We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist . . . 32. Using technologies that haven't been invented . . . 33. In order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet. 34. Name this country . . . 35. Richest in the World Largest Military Center of world business and finance Strongest education system World center of innovation and invention Currency the world standard of value Highest standard of living 36. England. 37. In 1900. 38. Did you know . . . 39. The U.S. is 20th in the world in broadband Internet penetration. (Luxembourg just passed us.) 40. In 2002 alone Nintendo invested more than $140 million in research and development. 41. The U.S. Federal Government spent less than half as much on Research and Innovation in Education. 42. 1 out of every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online. 43. There are over 100 million registered users of MySpace.(August 2006) *Scott updated to 106 million for September 2006 and added this slide: If MySpace were a country, it would be the 11th-largest in the world (between Japan and Mexico)* 44. The average MySpace page is visited 30 times a day. 45. Did you know . . . 46. We are living in exponential times. 47. There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month. 48. To whom were these questions addressed B.G.? (Before Google) 49. The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population of the planet. 50. There are about 540,000 words in the English language . . . 51. About 5 times as many as during Shakespeare's time. 52. More than 3,000 new books are published . . . 53. Daily. 54. It's estimated that a week's worth of New York Times . . . 55. Contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century. 56. It's estimated that 40 exabytes (that's 4.0 x 1019) of unique new information will be generated worldwide this year. 57. That's estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years. 58. The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years. 59. It's predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010. 60. Third generation fiber optics has recently been separately tested by NEC and Alcatel . . . 61. That pushes 10 trillion bits per second down one strand of fiber. 62. That's 1,900 CDs or 150 million simultaneous phone calls every second. 63. It's currently tripling about every 6 months and is expected to do so for at least the next 20 years. 64. The fiber is already there, they're just improving the switches on the ends. Which means the marginal cost of these improvements is effectively $0. 65. Predictions are that e-paper will be cheaper than real paper. 66. 47 million laptops were shipped worldwide last year. 67. The $100 laptop project is expecting to ship between 50 and 100 million laptops a year to children in underdeveloped countries. 68. Predictions are that by 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computation capability of the Human Brain . . . 69. By 2023, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computation capability of the Human Brain . . . 70. First grader Abby will be just 23 years old and beginning her (first) career . . . 71. And while technical predictions further out than about 15 years are hard to do . . . 72. Predictions are that by 2049 a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the human race. 73. What does it all mean? 74. Shift Happens. 75. Now you know . . .
I caught the new Martin Scorsese-directed Rolling Stones concert film at a preview screening this past Tuesday night.
Impressions: I wasn't dissapointed. 'Shine A Light' is Martin Scorsese's love letter to The Rolling Stones. A fantastic concert film which intertwines a potent performance by The Stones at The Beacon theater in NYC with documentary footage of the planning of the event as well as archival footage from many stages of the band's career. The show itself is the thing, with Mick, Keith, Ronny, and Charlie demonstrating that rockNroll is the fountain of youth. Mick sings, hops and dances across the stage so sprightly you'll be wondering how can he keep so fit at his age. Keith, despite his leathery facade, comes across as the consumate musician that he is. Ronnie plays the slide guitar beautifully, and Charlie anchors the band with his quiet demeanor and great performance stamina.
Jack White, Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera join the Stones on some numbers, and they're all very good. It inspires me on to see people doing what they truly love to do, and The Stones 'started me up' with their energetic performance. Martin finishes up the film with a glorious shot which had people at The Senator theater here in Baltimore clapping.
Bottom line: Highly Recommended. If you wait for DVD to see it, make sure you have a great sound system to enjoy this beauty of a concert film.
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And a big thumbs-down to whoever came up with the excretrable idea to have a 'Guitar Hero III' showdown at The Senator before rolling the film. Hearing people mangle The Stones' 'Paint It Black' before the screening wasn't the best way to ramp up the event. Many people were visibly annoyed, and there were loud boos and noos by the time they got to the 5th attempt. I'm a gamer and can tell you that Guitar Hero is best enjoyed in the confines of your own house party, not at a major preview screening. Thank you, The Bay 100.7 for such a craptastic idea! I'll make sure not to listen to your station.
The Creative Alliance Moviemakers film collective has started a nifty blog spotlighting interviews with Baltimore-area filmmakers. They recently posted a short interview with me which you may check out here:
Remember, the CAMM cage has some great film equipment for rent: HD cameras, lights, sound equipment, and even Mac editing suites. They’re an essential resource for Baltimore area filmmakers. So check them out and apply for membership. You can even reserve equipment at their blog linked above; quite a neato tool.
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This week is catchup week for me. Last week was my Spring Break, but I hardly enjoyed the break (I still had to work my dayjob during the day). I also kinda spent the week in a funk and putting too much energy in empty pursuits. So now this week I’ve a lot of stuff to do. I’ve to do my taxes, apply for school financial aid, and do a lot of studying. All that, and I should be writing my new short film.
Last weekend I did manage to head down to DC, where I sat at Stonehenge 6 all day Saturday. Stonehenge is a mass casting call where 100 or so local area actors audition before 30 or so teams of filmmakers and theater companies. I saw some good actresses and character actors there, but there was a lack of leading men at the event. In any case, the first Baltimore Stonehenge will take place in May 18th and I’ll be attending that one also. I’m embarking on a long search for three very special actors.
