Ode to Emmy

Here's a picture + song combo tribute to my brother's dog, Emmy, aka The Muppet. Just a few days ago she was a fun-loving, hair-covered, clapping fool. Now she's a shaved nightmare.

"Come Closer" by Anis Mojgani

Thanks to my friend Susan for sharing with me another poem from this amazing artist. This one needs multiple listens for all its goodness to sink in. And check out his shirt. I wannit. Enjoy!

Meaghan Smith

I'm in the final stretch of the latest rewrite of my screenplay. The deepest part of my soulgut (where all creativity comes from) is a buzz because my three favorite words: FADE TO BLACK, are within reach. I've had a blast reworking this sucker. I feel like I've gotten the chance to turn my Model T into Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. (Is "gotten" a word?) Anyways, the point of this post is to share an artist I stumbled across thanks to NPR. Meaghan Smith is Canadian. Don't hold the closing ceremonies against her. I've been quite inspired by her sound. When I hear my movie I hear her. She's timeless and fresh all at once. Much like good art.

Path

It might lead to a fantastic demise. Some kind of terrible cliff. It might just lead to more trees. More nothingness relatively speaking. Or... It might lead to the most amazing treehouse ever built. Maybe a village of them. Something you only see in dreams and silly movies. Regardless, you gotta step out and go see. Right?

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The Batman

It's over there, man. How can you not see it?

I'm sorry. I just can't.

Are you looking where I'm pointing?

I think so.

Are you?!

Yes! Why are you so mad?

I'm not mad.

You're yelling like you're mad.

I'm just frustrated. There's a really cool pizza place right over there and I just want you to see it.

Have you been to it?

The pizza place? No. I never have. I hear it's really cool though.

Maybe later we could go?

Yeah. We'll see how the day plays out. I'm not sure I'll feel like pizza later. My point is that it just looks really cool.

I wish I could see it.

Portuguese Muffins

If I were to list my top life-changing events of the last decade it would go:

1. Getting married
2. House fire
3. Discovering Portuguese muffins (aka bolos levedos)

I'm not exaggerating when I say Portuguese muffins might be the greatest thing to ever happen to me. We had them this past weekend in NYC. They were the perfectly sweet but not too sweet buns on the most delicious mini burgers I think I've ever had. The best way I can describe it is it's like I've been friends with Richie Cunningham (English Muffins and other boring breads) for my whole life and then all of a sudden Arthur Fonzarelli (bolos levedos) walked thru the door.

Leah asked the owner of the restaurant for the website of the muffin maker. We travelled home dreaming of ordering our very own, only to find out they discriminate against non-restaurants. So Leah, in her angel-like ways, found a recipe and recreated them. We ate chicken, brie and apple sandwiches last night on homemade Portuguese muffins. I've never loved Leah so much in my entire life.

Here's the recipe.

Pomplamoose: Lady Gaga Telephone

Full Circle

Nearly a decade ago I took a quarter off from school and came to Venice Beach. "It's just something I have to do" is what I told the various people who rightfully questioned my decision. I realize that sounds a little melodramatic. But, the fact is it was dramatic for me, a 20 year old kid from Ohio, to drive across the country with no job and just the idea to spend all day every day reading and writing on the beach. It was my first true adventure. I had hardly any money. My budget was about $3 a day. And nearly every day I spent $1.25 of that at a wonderful little coffee shop called The Cow's End. I could get a small french vanilla coffee with one refill (the first and last time I had a "usual") and write until my laptop battery died. I really feel it's where my desire/need/joy to write was born.

So today, Joe Boyd and I flew out to LA for a week of meetings about our upcoming movie. We are sitting in The Cow's End now. He is writing our investors. I'm about to work on the final draft of the screenplay. This "full circle" moment is just about the craziest thing my brain has had to process since a road trip to Emmaus, PA in 2008. If it's not a God thing it's a pretty unbelievable coincidence for me to finish my first major project where "it" all started. I'm gonna give God credit for his ability to craft complex plans that we'll never understand or predict. We don't have to understand them. All we have to do is step out and take a risk when we feel deep down that there's something we have to do.

OK Go = Wizards

I find an almost euphoric amount of inspiration from these two videos. Thanks to Dan Cox for sharing the first one with me. It's the same song in each. I can't decide which version is better. It's pretty much guaranteed that both will influence the latest edit of my screenplay. You're gonna want to watch them both full screen.



Click here to watch the below vid on youtube

Is this art?

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Is this art?

Serious question.

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Modern Family

If you turkeys aren't crushing on Modern Family yet you need to send your DVR to deserving kids in Africa. In my opinion, Phil is the best character on the ole' picturesqueezebox since Buster from Arrested Development. I'd like to buy his writers a box of their favorite savory snacks. We'd laugh about current events and stuff Matt Lauer said. They'd see how I shared their brilliance and invite me to write with them. We'd win an award on a stage and they'd let me thank the academy. We'd then laugh about even currenter events WITH Matt Lauer in our posh, backstage dressing room full of awards and swag. I'd wear my new Rolex and tell people that my good friends the academy gave it to me. Young aspiring writers would bring me boxes of snacks and I'd tell them about Matt Lauer and how he can play the acoustic guitar surprisingly well if he gets enough bubbly in him.

Book It

Two very good friends released books this week. I can now say that I have author friends. That's pretty cool. I'm very proud of them and hope billions of people will buy their books. You could be one of those people today. All proceeds go to curing space.

The Sickness

Between Two Kingdoms

Canada's Closing Remarks

I loved the Winter Olympics this year. I was blown away by Canada. Over the past couple weeks I considered moving to Vancouver. It looks amazing. I find the name Whistler so appealing that I want to ride a train there tomorrow. Canada knocked my American socks off. Then the closing ceremonies happened. All those prejudices I abandoned about Canadians being moose-punching, beer-drinking, maple syrup-covered snowbillies turned out to be the truth. When given their final shot at putting the exclamation on a two week, successful re-branding of their country they blew it. Literally. They blew up giant beavers and moose and mounties and bragged about saying "sorry" too much and let us know in a big way that we were right all along. They're a bunch of doofuses. Yesterday we found out (painfully) they're awesome at hockey and awkward goodbyes.

So nice try, Canards. You almost tricked me into believing I had you wrong all these years. Crazy goofballs.