THE DIS COVERY OF MY OWN HANDS

Matt Kalish, who I often collaborate with, has been making one...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:00:00 -0800

Matt Kalish, who I often collaborate with, has been making one short film per week for the last six weeks. He has been doing this for the Second City Improv class he is taking. They started this thing called “7 Day Shorts”, where each week there is a random topic and people make films. They hold screenings of the films every Saturday night, here in Hollywood.

The topic for the above short was “Mouse”, and I feature it here because I did the music for this little thing. Our good friend (and awesome photographer) Kathy Levin is featured in the video as well. I think her camera is also responsible for shooting the video. Her personal photo website showcases her excellent work here:

http://www.katherinelevin.com/

I did not attend the Saturday screening of “Mouse”, but Matt assures me the film was well received, so much so in fact, that they featured this video on the “7 Day Shorts” youtube page. Although, it is not the featured video there anymore. But if you are interested in seeing more shorts by other people, then go here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/7dayshorts

Go work Matt! Although now that 6 week class is over, will he continue to make short videos? Only time will tell… tick tock tick tock….

*******************

Lock-Ran Poetry

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:15:02 -0800

Today I decided to google my good friend from the Ithaca College days, Michael Loughran (above pic was an image search result). He is an excellent poet who lives & teaches in Philadelphia. He got his MFA at the University of Florida. He grew up in New Hope, PA. He used to play high school basketball. We had a lot of fun adventures in college. He is a smart, great poet & thinkers. Here are two links to some of his poems:

Here is a link to Michael reading some of his poetry live at the New York Public Library:

http://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/geronimo-madrid-michael-loughran-and-barbara-wasserman

Here is a page from “Rate My Professor” where students can rate their professors. They call Mike “Mr. L” and overall, I think he got a pretty good rating (you can even rate “hotness”):

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=834315

Here is a link about Mike doing a reading at the Free Library of Philadelphia, and there is a photo of Mike’s face:

http://eventful.com/events/monday-poets-michael-loughran-and-lisa-sewell-/E0-001-025639265-5

And finally, here is a web page about a foundation for someone named Michael C. Loughran who, I think, was a fire fighter and who is no longer alive and he is not my friend Michael Loughran the poet, but his webpage has a song playing if you visit it:

http://www.billykayser.com/mikeloughran/mikeloughran.html

I should have posted this around Valentine’s Day, but I...

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:00:00 -0800

I should have posted this around Valentine’s Day, but I totally forgot. I made this last year. It was supposed to be a viral Pepsi Valentine’s Day thing. I wrote the song based on all the billboards around town, which were relatively brand new at the time.

My friends who work at a big time advertising agency shot & edited the video and did the performances. I don’t think I am allowed to name them or their agency (or else someone might get in big trouble). But I think they did a good job on it, they got a good response, “very Flight of the Concords” some people said.

I forgot to post it last year and told myself, “that’s ok, you can post it on Valentine’s Day next year”. But when “next year” rolled around, I forgot again.

People always seemed to enjoy this song, using words like “catchy”. I wrote & recorded it fairly quickly & without much thought, but sometimes that process works the best and results in something being “the most true”.

Beer Holder - one of our cat’s many skills. He has his...

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0800

Beer Holder - one of our cat’s many skills. He has his own blog now:

http://gentlemanspose.tumblr.com/

This photo was the inspiration for the “beer kitty” google image search (below).

Google Image Search Contest Results #15 - "Beer Kitty"

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:00:00 -0800

How can we really go wrong with the key search words of “Beer Kitty” ??????

Oh, and congratulations to myself - because three days ago was the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of me starting this blog/website. Will I survive for another year? Yes, unfortunately, I think so…

Anyway, enjoy these winning google results…

This is a photo of me in my cat costume.

One big, giant “Awwww….”

Whoa.. stumbled upon an awesome website for kitty fans HERE.

This kitty was crunchin’ too hard.

Next time I have a party at my house, this will be the flyer.

Oh man, I wish I had made this image, it is awesome.

Essential, existential, especial, experimental, etc…

Yeah son! If you usin’ the long straw, then you definitely partying!!

Every size from bulimic to obese!!

Thank you Schlitz!!

Here is another track from my dad’s old band. The song...

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:00:00 -0800

Here is another track from my dad’s old band. The song is called “Captain Bill” and my dad’s name was Bill, so not sure if their is any relation there. I really like this track - the singing and the guitar playing is TIGHT. And I especially like the “talking part”.

Again, I contacted my dad’s old buddy Phil Doyle (who is singing and playing rhythm guitar on this track) to get the low down on this song.

Captain Bill - was, and probably still is one of my favorite songs. It was also recorded by another local group that was a successful club band, but none of their material was ever released. I’m singing and playing guitar, and Bill played bass and lead. A guy named John Valentis played drums. Though one of my favorite songs, I’ve never liked the way I sing it… very frustrating. Bill’s guitar playing is the highlight of this particular recording: for me, it’s like a case study in how to weave a very lyrical guitar solo around a vocal… complimenting it, but never getting in the way. Ironically, though recorded twice, the song was never finished (thus the ad libbed spoken portion). Our producer wanted the song on tape to play for someone, missing verse or not, so we did it. Perversely enough, people actually liked the spoken part.

Yes, I like the spoken part as well for some strange reason. Cool song. And I agree, the dad’s guitar playing here is pretty cool and perfect in the way it never over-powers the vocals.

DOWNLOAD THE MP3 HERE (for free)
yeah!!!!

OK, I am loosely trying to stay relevant with society at large,...

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:31:21 -0800

OK, I am loosely trying to stay relevant with society at large, and so I got into the spirit of things, and here is a Valentine’s Day Song that I made today. I suppose it is more for haters. But not too much so.

DOWNLOAD free mp3 HERE
“I know I’m in love, I don’t need it to be a holiday”
My wife & I tried to remember what we did last year for Valentine’s Day and neither one of us could remember. I guess we did nothing - we were too busy getting ready for our wedding. We already had enough love happening.
This year she got me some new Timberland boots and I got her a small diamond necklace. But other than that, we have stayed home all day, just kickin’ it, doing laundry and stuff. It’s a great day.

Time to post another one from my ghost dad’s old band....

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:00:00 -0800

Time to post another one from my ghost dad’s old band. Because I only have a cassette tape and very little other information to go on, I’ve been in contact with my dad’s old musical partner Phil Doyle, who enjoys receiving these digitized tunes that he hasn’t heard in years, and then he can give me some comments about the origins and situations of each song. Today’s song is titled “25 Silver Lake Drive”, which is a bit curious since I live in the small town of Silver Lake (Los Angeles).

Below is Phil’s response to the song and a link to download the mp3:

“Though not my favorite song, if someone asked me to play one song of what ‘The Group’ really sounded like it would be this one way before any of the songs that were released as records. That was our sound. What’s strange is that it sounded much faster here than I recall it being, so either one deck or another was off speed during copying or my memory is going. Brian Murphy played drums, Bill played bass and lead guitar (I played rhythm guitar) and Patty and I sang. The song is about 40 years old, maybe more. I was told to “write an acid song,” and so I did. The lyrics are nonsense, but I’ve always loved the energy of the music, and the way the vocals sounded.”

I agree, it definitely sounds like a trippy acid song. And I do think the vocals are good.

DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE

Matt Kalish is still finishing up the music video for this song....

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:18:00 -0800

Matt Kalish is still finishing up the music video for this song. It should be different & interesting and hopefully I will be able to upload it soon.

This takes the version of the song, which I did on my Tascam 388 tape machine, and imports it track by track into Logic, where I remixed everything. Then I played piano on top of it and added more vocals and some other background textures. My wife Chloe singing on this track towards the end is one the featured welcomed additions.

DOWNLOAD THE mp3 HERE :-0

Boze & the Hulkster: Friendz Forever

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:52:00 -0800

Boze & the Hulkster: Friendz Forever

“Pregnancy Scarey” - a short film about a baby that...

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 11:13:19 -0800

“Pregnancy Scarey” - a short film about a baby that refuses to die.

>>>>> Dad In A Balloon gif

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:10:00 -0800

He is part of the universe now, recycled. See you soon, good bye…

Video

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:00:57 -0800

HOUSE, japanese, 1977….. i have to see this movie…....

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:59:00 -0800

HOUSE, japanese, 1977….. i have to see this movie…. holy shit….

This is one of my cats, his name is Noogles.

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:05:00 -0800

This is one of my cats, his name is Noogles.

.........N. MILLZ REMIX POSTED....$$$$

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:57:00 -0800

yoyoyoyoyo….

http://auralstates.com/

A remix that I did for my man HEIGHT is posted at the above website (a music blog about Baltimore area stuff). This remix was also worked on with the help of my dude from L.A. Liquor Store Man, so I gotta give some props there, too.

Fuck what everyone says, just do what you want. DO YOU!!!

(via teacakes) I don’t reblog posts often, but this video...

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:55:36 -0800

(via teacakes)

I don’t reblog posts often, but this video brought about such mixed emotions of confusion, sadness, stupidity, and joy, that I felt the need to repost and share.

When I watch this video, it’s kind of like when I watched Avatar, and I just kept on thinking to myself “are they really serious here?”

This track features Medium Rare and Mr. Eye, 11 years old and 5...

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:18:40 -0800

This track features Medium Rare and Mr. Eye, 11 years old and 5 years old respectively. This track uses field recordings from some of the work I do.

here is the mp3

Life is complicated sometimes.

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 10:22:43 -0800

Life is complicated sometimes.

Those music was good.

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:41:00 -0800

Those music was good.