Beautiful Day

Happy Friday everyone.

I'm not going deep, I'm not going for anything except beautiful images. So, I present you with two short pieces from opposite sides of the world (ok - not that opposite, but enough that you'll understand what I mean).

The first is a snapshot of Iceland. God, how I want to go there after watching this.





This next one is for you mom. Just a little slice of home and a stroll along the memory banks. Although, I wish that Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" was playing in the background.

It just seems fitting doesn't it?




And I won't lie - this just makes me miss Fantasy Island even more.

Salt

She hopped out of the truck as soon as they got there, even though he wasn't sure where there was. From the beginning, all she promised was a safe place, somewhere they could live without worry, as close to normal lives as possible.

It had taken days, most likely beyond a week to get to their destination. It was so hard to tell with the sun no longer falling from the sky. Driving had become difficult - hours stretched on, the sun besting down, driving him into a sort of limbo - unaware of if he should be asleep or awake. Thank god she was with him to pull him through it - to clear away the fog that had gathered in his mind.

He had always dreamed about going on an adventure with her, packing up their things and driving far off, to spend time together, go places they had never been. Laugh often, briefly live together. It had all been a fantasy and now it had become a reality. Not by choice of course, but of necessity.

As she wandered around, scoping the landscape out, he couldn't help but let his mind drift. All he could think about was walking up behind her, gently spinning her to face him and kissing her gently on the lips before she could say anything - lying her down on the moss below their feet and caressing her neck. He wanted to taste the salt of her skin. He just wanted to be with her.

But he knew he couldn't.

The world had changed. People had changed. Being part of civilization was no longer safe. It was now just the two of them. Dependent on one another.

His want of her couldn't exist anymore.

Now he had to protect her.

Lawless

There is something about period pieces that really grabs me. I can't put a finger on it. Whether it is how the people in them dress, talk, or the ability to see how we all lived well before our time - I'm just sucked in.

Coming out this summer is a film called Lawless and not only is it by a fantastic director (go see The Road if you haven't already - although it is brutal to sit through) it has one hell of a cast: Gary Oldman, Guy Pierce, Tom Hardy (who you can see as the villain in The Dark Knight Rises), Jessica Chastain (from The Help), and Shia Labeouf.

Ok - I'll admit, Shia is kind of a throw away - but I promise you, Tom Hardy is about to become HUGE. After the Dark Knight Rises and his performance in this film, he is going to explode in the American film scene. Just wait.

And yes, of course since I work at a trailer company I'm more prone to be excited, but come on, watch this is tell me it doesn't suck you in. It has family turmoil, emotion, violence, historic accuracy, and an overall beautiful look to the footage.

I know I've expressed how big this summer is for films before, but I'm counting down the days until August when this comes out.

Molten Beginnings

Back before any man set foot on this planet, they were here, The Ancient Ones. Roaming around the slag of rock that would later become Earth. They had no true goal. It wasn't their first time building a world.

It is what they did.

They'd travel far a wide, throughout the galaxy, creating new planets, new worlds - life, anywhere they deemed fitting. Today, the chunk of molten rock that they hovered above would soon be know as Earth.

They began moving the crust. Directing the flow of the magma that bubbled and churned below them, sending it flowing over and under the layers of rock they were creating. Everything moved by their glance. No effort was needed. A simple thought seemed to command anything.

The sea roared and hissed as the bright orange blood of the newly forming planet fell below it's waves, solidifying and it sank deeper and deeper into the blue. Volcanoes seemed to grow from no where, spewing ash and molten bits high into the sky. Quickly, masses began rising out of the depths of the water. Continents were being formed with mere thoughts.

They had terraformed planets before. They were no stranger to creating life.

Today was no different. Collectively, they thought about what form of life they should seed. Something in the waters.

Just like that - the single-celled organism, that we are all related too, fell into the ocean and began a series of chain events that would lead us to where we are today.

To us, it is life and we are thankful for it.

To them - it was all just a game and we were merely an experiment.

Everything Is Prettier...

...when slowed down.

Let's not lie. You all know I have a love affair with slow motion video. I won't hide it or deny it.

And it's Friday - so you should all know what is coming next.

I'd love for someone not to be enamored with this. It's. Just. So. Awesome.

Cinemograph

I cannot wait for my new camera.

Except for a few (obvious) things - I can't wait to try and mimic all of this:

SPF 15

I miss the days when playing on the beach was the only option that mattered to you. You'd wake up early, rearing for the day, ready to bound out into the sun, to begin your day of frolicking.

But no - first you had to stand there, and endure the slathering of lotion from your mother. It wasn't that it was all that bad - it was just so damn cold. Your skin was ready to be kissed by the sun and instead, a cold goop would fall on it. No matter how much you'd prepare for it, you were never actually ready. And lets not hide the fact that you thought hunching over, shoulders wide would somehow diminishing the feeling. Hah. You were such a fool.

But of course, the lotion did smell good. Not in the sense of what one would describe as good - but it brought back memories of the summer, the beach, running as far as possible into the ocean before a wave kicked your legs out. It just brought you there - to the beach, as if the sand was really below your feet. Yeah, ok, it smelled good.

Today we still frolick. Just differently. Throw a ball, chase a frisbee, read a book or magazine, but mostly just lay out hoping to get tan, catch the eye of the passing man or woman. Its miraculous how age shifts the importance in one's life. Before, a mountain of sand could be in your pants, but as long as you were having fun, it didn't matter. Now, you just are there to get away from it all and relax - not do much of anything. We're ok with that though. It's who we are, what we become. It's only natural progression. You know what I'm saying.

Shoot. Wouldn't it be great to be spread out on the sand right now? Below a blazing sun?

Hold on, I'll be right back - I'm going to go take a whiff of sun tan lotion.

Beautiful Goodbye

He just couldn't believe that in a few short moments life as he knew it would be over.

Everyone took it for granted. Every day, hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of rock, ore, and other metals hurled passed the Earth, continuing further and further into space. Many entered the atmosphere, burning up before ever making contact with the surface. Occasionally a few would crash down, leaving a signature where they kissed the Earth.

Today one was going to enter the atmosphere. A big one. And it wasn't going to burn up.

All the great scientists of the world knew about it for some time. They projected it would barely miss us, passing closer than any other previous "life threatening mass." As time approached, they began to doubt themselves and embarked on a mission to try and divert it further away. Billions of dollars in tax money was collected and a probe was fired, with the goal of slamming into the mass, pushing it further off its trajectory. Not all went according to plan. Upon impact, the craft exploded, something which it should not have done, causing the meteor to shift in angle, pulling it in direct course with the planet.

Those men and women, who had sworn to protect everyone with their knowledge and technology, doomed the human race.

There just wasn't enough time to prepare. People had scrambled to build shelters, hoping to survive under ground.

He just stood there, out in front of his house, on the sidewalk looking up at it. It was just so massive. Its dark outline seemed to just lazily hover above the horizon, slowly growing.

He knew there was nowhere to go. The meteor that killed the dinosaurs had been six miles in diameter. What hung before him in the sky was the size of Texas. It was inevitable.

As he stood there, waiting for the end, so many thoughts flooded his mind. Did he lead a good life? Was there a heaven? Should he have had a family? Why didn't he tell the girl of his dreams that he loved her. He was going to miss his cat, the smell of coffee brewing in the morning. Laughter.

Just as it began to glow orange as it entered the atmosphere, all those thoughts left his head.

It was so damn beautiful.

Rebirth

It was that time of year when everything was wet. Droplets seemed to form on every ledge, falling down to the ground - into one of the many puddles that lay below.

The air still stung. When carried on the right breeze, it could cut through any amount of layers, slicing down to the skin - bringing forth a deeply rooted shiver.  Soon it'd become lighter, a bit warmer, and much easier to bare.

The plants could sense this approaching change. Every year, against what seemed better judgement, the trees would begin to blossom - the grass peaked out of the snow every so slightly, reaching up, fully stretched for the sun that was hanging high up in the sky, free from any clouds. Somehow the earth just knew when to reboot itself. It didn't seem to care that the ground was still covered in a layer of white - it could feel the warmth coming and it needed to do something about it. Make a statement.

It was easily his favorite part of the year. His lungs didn't hurt when he breathed deeply. The air smelled sweet as the flowers were beginning to unfold from their buds. He could feel his shoes sink into the soft, wet ground if he wandered off the sidewalk. It all brought a smile to his face. There was just something so magical about watching the world rebuild itself from the ground up after the long months of gusting winds and swirling snow storms.

There was just something to harmless and carefree to it all.

He was just a spectator, allowed to soak it all in.

Silver & Light

This guy is pretty amazing. Pretty damn amazing.

He works with his hands. Base chemicals. Raw materials. He doesn't just go out there and buy film to shoot on. He makes it, on the spot, on metal plates, and captures beautiful, breath taking images. Oh, did I mention he does it out of the back of a van also?

Holy shit.

This is the kind of piece that invigorates me to to back out and start shooting. To buy a new camera. Not only a new camera, but go back to my 35mm camera and begin loading it with film and capturing everything. I don't have the luxury of developing my own prints on the spot like Ian does - but there is something to mysteriously wonderful about shooting on film. You think you know what you captured, but in reality, you still have to wait for the prints to come back from the lab. Only then can you really see what you captured. Was it what you expected? Or was it something completely different?

God film is wonderful. The whole chemical process behind it - how light somehow is captured in the silver crystals, leaving a negative image within the celluloid. Crazy stuff.

I've made a promise to myself. By July - I will have a new camera package. A Canon DSLR with a few lenses and I will start posting pictures on here as I shoot them. I will also clean my Pentax and load it up with some film. The first huge batch will definitely come on the road trip through California.

I know it's kind of the whole point of a blog, the association with writing - but I don't have to tell my stories with just words.

Monstas

Can you name all the classic movie monsters in the following piece?

I sure as hell couldn't:


ABC monsters from La Pompadour on Vimeo.

Caine's Arcade

Ok, I promise I won't make a habit out of this. I don't only post videos. I swear. Although that's all I've done the last week and a half. Shit.

So, I suppose I lied to you about that. Damn, It's not like I mean to only post videos, but I think I just hit a gold mine recently with these gems. Throw in some long days at work and a new exercise routine which zaps my energy, and I'm really beat by the end of the day. And yes - I know it isn't exactly fair to you all out there who may want something else other than a videos, but I'm sorry, until my batteries are fully charged (hopefully this weekend) - videos are going to be what you get.

So let's move onto Caine shall we? Kind of like the last piece, I'm not going to go into detail about it since it is all pretty self explanatory. But, that being said, this kid is the man. Such a creative dude! It's nice seeing someone that age with such drive.

Oh, and don't get me started on what Nirvan did for Caine. Such a sweet man.

If this doesn't bring a smile to your face - I think you're broken.


Caine's Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

Melodic Healing

I'm sure you're getting sick of videos. I apologize in advance - but it's just been so damn hard! Too many great pieces have been popping up not to show you.

And who could turn down an uplifting video like the next one?

I won't spoil it - but I hope you enjoy it. It is certainly depressing at moments, but I hope you see through to the brighter aspect of it.

Hopefully it moves you as much as it did for myself.

Round the World in 10 Days

Wow. Just wow.

Remember when I posted the video put together by the guy who travelled around the world, focusing on different foods and places.

Well, I have a newer version, by a different guy. And boy - is it great.

This guy was paid by Nike to create a commercial for their new exercise bracelet. What did he do with that money? He took it and travelled as much as he could, eventually running out after 10 days. Does it sound like he screwed over Nike? Yup. Does it sound irresponsible to do? Absolutetly. And you know what? The film he created is amazing.

It carries with it such a deeper meaning than I thought could be possible. It virtually has nothing to do with Nike's bracelet. Throw in the quotes that pop up throughout it, the music, and the actual physical journey - you have one hell of a message.

I hope someday, I have someone who will go on this type of adventure with me (granted we have to necessary funds).

Shit. This is just awesome.

Kony Squared

Happy Friday.

I'm beat again - but this cause isn't.

Please don't give up on it.




I know it has a lot of critics against it - but its heart is in the right place.

Help keep it going

Teddy!

As I'm sure you can tell - I'm posting "lightly" again today. You can chalk that up to  another 14 hour day this week. Very worthy of my brain being fried by the time I get home - complete and utter mush.

Case and point.

I know I posted this yesterday - but the new "green band (PG)" trailer has been released and I figured it'd make sense for me to post it as well. It has more acting, more footage, different jokes, and less raunch.

You can totally see where they have to cut around the adult humor.

And yes - you should still go see it.

Musical Jello

What will people come up with next?

   

Floating Cinema

Um...yes please?

I'mma Name You Teddy

Another long day.

Woosh - took the wind right out of me. On a good note - played tennis again for what has seemed like forever...at least six months and boy was I rusty. Its all good though - rust shakes off quickly.

So yup, tonight is another night to relax. I'm physically and mentally exhausted and it's only Wednesday! Gahh! One good thing though, is that I've been working late, cutting on a bunch of awesome projects and hopefully, some of my products will end up on TV - who knows though. You'll just have to wait and see.

One perk I have is being able to work on/see a bunch of new films before they come out. One of which is titled "Ted." I know this hit the web yesterday, but I thought I'd share it with you. Personally, I find it funny (it'll be sure to offend people), as raunchy as it is - but I promise it carries with it a pretty big heart.

What do you think?

   

Not exactly what you were expecting when the trailer began huh? I love the way Ted looks and its great seeing Marky Mark in a non-serious roll. Having seen the whole film though, I will admit it is a complete package and worth the price of admission when it is released in July. If you even remotely like Family Guy, I promise you'll enjoy this.

I like laughing - it's the perfect stress reliever. I hope this made you laugh or at least snicker as much as I did.

Old Man and the Sea

I don't really have much to say.

This video speaks for itself and I have to give credit to the artist behind it. The music choice is haunting, yet feel rights as it accompanies the drawing(s).

I absolutely love how one piece of paper is able to show so much of the sotry and how each picture leads to or plays off of another.

Well done.