What Does Everyone Do on a Film Set?

I occasionally get asked what all those credits mean at the end of a film. This 25-minute video from Filmmaker IQ gives an accurate breakdown of the credits as you'll see them on a major motion picture. At least, I think it does.

I actually just watched the first part about the above-the-line people to make sure they got writing credits right. For all I know, the rest of it degenerates into an hilarious-but-incorrect detailing of the on-set responsibilities of people like the "Chief Pig-Sticker" and the "Ergonomic Lube Dispenser."

Enjoy!

My hope is built on nothing less than Queen's Bohemic Rhapsodness.

When you're raised in the beating right ventricle of American evangelical Christianity, you're trained that hope comes from one place and one place alone: JesusGodHolySpirittheBible. As an ongoing fan of JesusGodHolySpirittheBible, I'm attuned to the mystical power of this idea and have personally experienced the ways in which it can blow past all rational objections to heal gaping, impossible wounds.

But, but, but...

But now we live in a world where the gurgling right ventricle of American evangelical Christianity seems to exist only to gush putrescent cancer-bile into the body politic, and hope (at least for this country) feels in extra-short supply. It's more an unveiling than anything, but it's an unveiling that hurts because, goshdarnit, it takes something important from me, y'know? It used to feel so GOOD to throw myself into the unthinking togetherness of an ideological mosh-pit and just BE. At some point, though, that got icky.

aversion

for a long, long time I wrote no fresh poems
and then, just now, there was this...

aversion

In the morning

when my son’s cherub face smiles down

from his high bed  

—his gently wandering eye synced by night,

but still puffed with sleep—

he slurs his morning,

smooth like a jazz-drum-stop.

Muted, like a deliberate lie

as he declares the peace

of a no-dream-night.

Terror-free.

But though I know

and see

I let it go.

I say okay, fine, I’m glad.

Because who wants morning tears?

Who wants fears,

shining back?

Better the placid blur,

the tight smile,

the subtle wave from his tiny fingers

receding into his high bed,

fading off into the sky.

I'm on a List!

I've long assumed that the only list I'd ever get to be on is the one the government has created of people who whine on the internet about its hegemonic nonsense. But given that said list includes well over half the country (and most of the rest of the world), it's nice to have recently made it onto a much more exclusive list.

That's right, possibly-fictitious-internet-people, the Austin Film Festival has placed me on its list of 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2017. I met a fair-few of the others on that list at AFF last year, and let me tell you they're a fantastic, super-gifted crowd. Check 'em out at THIS LINK.

nom nom nom

And for the easily-amused, I also caught a little video...

"Look & See" A Wendell Berry Documentary

One of the pleasures of my tiny little life is that my wife and I had the pleasure of whiling away a couple of hours in the home and company of a writer I love, Mr. Wendell Berry. He and his wife gave us water in mason jars and we talked of farming and the world, and Hannah and I told him (the first!) that we were getting married.

Mr. Wendell Berry is a national treasure, and a documentary about him is now playing in select theaters... so check it out!

Arting

I got a little frustrated with a few of the elements in my book of visual art, so I dug back into it yesterday. Mostly just rewriting the prose (no new  visual art), but it looks and reads better now, and should be back up on Amazon in the next few days. For now, you can pick up a copy directly over on CREATESPACE. And if you do (bonus!!) I get a much larger cut of the profits than if you buy from Amazon. Thanks!

photo friday

The little wooden hummingbird I hung outside my window has been caught by vicious spiders and flies no more. Another pointless tragedy.

Ha, ha. Just kidding.

Everybody acts like hummingbirds are the most wonderful birds in the world, but they're terrifying. Imagine the day when the hummingbirds go berserk and decide they want to take our eyes. Could we stop them? Not a chance. They'd blind the world in a matter of hours.

I'm glad the spiders caught this guy. Makes me feel like we have allies.