Had to share this. Enjoy!

Hilarious!

It was 40 years ago today that man first walked on another world. To say it was the pinnacle of human achievement may be stretching it a bit, but then again, what have we done since that has equaled this event? On July 20, 1969, the world collectively held its breath and gasped as one, not once but twice, when the lunar lander first made contact with the surface, and again when Neil Armstrong took his first brave steps down that small ladder.

The Eagle has landed.

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

It's forty years later, and these words are still as powerful (and oft quoted) as they were on that day.

What other event brought the entire human race together so closely as this one? What other event made us all believe that peace was actually possible, that people could work and live and hope as one, regardless of borders and backgrounds? That the future was something glorious, to be embraced and aspired to, not feared and dismissed as bleak and hopeless?

None that I can think of. And what a shame that is. I wasn't alive yet when man first traversed the cosmos, but I am old enough to remember the optimism and dreams it spawned. I wish the futures of my childhood were the futures of today. Flying cars, vacations on the moon and Mars, robot sidekicks, spaceships, Tomorrowland realized. How wonderful that would be. Instead, we have pollution, overpopluation, hunger, wars and squabbles, same as ever.

Worse yet, we don't really look forward to anything anymore. Talk of future moon landings or trips to Mars are dismissed by many as a waste of money and resources better spent here on Earth. Money has in and of itself become the goal, not what we can do with it. The future used to be about how we could better the human race. Now it's about how we can better line our pockets. What a shame. What a terrible shame.

I want my futures past to be the futures of tomorrow. I hope we won't have to wait another forty years for an event like the moonlanding to bind us all in unity and optimism. The future is there, but we have to work for it. Just as our predecessors did. Maybe even harder. But I say it's worth the effort. Let's take that giant leap, if for no other reason than to enable another glorious small step.

Had a wonderful time last night. Saw a great performance of The Wizard of Oz. The entire production was inspired. Great casting, starting with a great Dorothy, with a fantastic vocal range. I haven't heard a version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" that good since the original film. Awesome vocal range. Between you and me, she did a better job than Judy Garland in a few of the spots.

The Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion were all so good. The standout for me was the Lion, who added a great comedic touch to his performance. And the Wicked Witch of the West did a great job.

It was nice to see a slight departure from the film in that they added plot points from both the Broadway play and the original book (like the Tinman's back story, which the movie ignored outright).

Oh, and the Munchkins were adorable. I was sad to see my favorites, the Lollipop Guild, not do their signature playing to the crowd when they give the lollipop to Dorothy (I love that bit in the movie).

The set design was about as high quality as it gets. Set pieces that moved all over the stage with ballet-like simplicity, visual effects that rival anything seen on Broadway, great costumes, and a nice touch of the cast breaking the fourth wall in a few places. Wonderful, like the Wizard.

Then, Curtis' birthday get-together at Tzin, a great little wine bar with a distinctly SoHo feel, was a marvelous way to cap off the night. The wine flowed as freely as the laughs, though by the end it became harder to gauge which resulted in which. But, really, who cares? Great times all around, and that's all that matters.

Philips :: Carousel campaign (Adam Berg + Stink Digital) from Designloops on Vimeo.

There's just one word for this...awesome. Totally frickin' awesome. Guess that's three words, but you get the idea...

So we saw Julius Caesar last night. Wonderful play. The acting was spectacular, particularly between the four leads (Julius, Cassius, Brutus, and Mark Anthony). It was the classical Shakespeare dialogue, but in a modernized setting - I love it when they do this. You didn't notice the modernization as much until the second act, which focused on the after effects of Casar's murder and the battle at Phillipi. The soldiers (and leads) were dressed in fatigues and had rifles, and the sounds of gunfire, explosions and helicopters permeated throughout the venue.

It might sound strange, but I really like it when classical plays / stories are modernized to a great effect like this. The obvious references are the movies Richard III and Macbeth. You might remember the former, starring Ian Macellan (of Gandalf and Magneto fame), but if you haven't seen the latter, do so. It's an Australian indie flick, with the setting of a crime lord's rise and fall. So very well done on a smaller budget.

Here it is...the end of January, and I find myself thinking back on the last year of my life (and damn, it has been a busy one). But more specifically, I'm thinking about what I accomplished on the artistic front.

Art and creativity have always been important to me, even if there were times I let that side of me slide (or allow it to be stifled)...be it for the sake of work, family, or certain relationships. But I always came back to it, and I've always needed it as an outlet.

For the past few years, I've rediscovered certain creative ventures (such as drawing and writing), and I've found brand new adventures (such as acting and filmmaking). A lot of it is due to the people I've surrounded myself with, who are supportive and creative themselves, willing to critique and challenge me as much as I do myself. And the results speak for themselves, as each year has been better than the year before in terms of personal achievements.

So to get to it...The year started with a starring role in ODC, a gritty Irish crime drama, and my first ever feature film. Not bad for a guy with only a year's acting experience under his belt, huh? Then, I got the chance to see myself on the big screen in front of a few hundred people as a lead in the wonderful short, Love Hate Tragedy, a dark, modern-day Romeo and Juliet retelling. That little gem is currently making its way around the film fest circuit, and I'm hopeful it'll get some screening time around North America. It was so much fun playing the villain...hopefully one or two big time directors or producers will like the performance as much as the hometown crowd did at the premiere. And the year rounded off with another starring role in The Academy, a kick-ass action feature, that's sure to turn a lot of heads when it comes out.

On the writing side, my first feature screenplay did well at a number of festivals and writing competitions. I placed several times, and I'm proud of that for a film that's quite dark, and admittedly would be a smaller money-earner (think Se7en meets The Crow)...but I honestly think it would find an audience. I also managed to churn out a whack-load of scripts this past year. I wrote an hour-long episode teleplay for a TV show pitch (and a basic treatment for the entire season). I wrote a screenplay for a Heroes-like short film as a favor for a friend (and it's something we'll film soon). And most importantly, I finished my second full-length feature screenplay, this one being a sci-fi flick that's unlike anything anyone's seen before. Can't wait to get it out there and garner some interest. Not to toot my own horn (too late, I know), but this one has the potential to be a blockbuster!

I don't know what the future has in store, even though there's already been talk of starring roles in up to three more features for this year (though scheduling might be a little tight to fit in all three), and an amazing little short that I can't wait to be part of (if the director can secure the funding by the summer), and I'm already hard at work on a Western-horror feature screenplay (that one filmmaker has called "a seriously cool and original idea"). And with ODC and The Academy in post-production as we speak, I can't wait to see the end results and how well those films do.

With my schedule, it's not an easy thing to do so much, but I find each year has been more successful than the one previous. I've been extremely lucky. But I've also busted my ass to get as much done as I have. A lot of it's on me. The rest is up to luck and fate. I just hope they stay on my side a little while longer...

Saw Stomp last night. What a great show! We had front row center seats (still not sure how we lucked out into getting those), and it was worth every cent. Over two hours of high energy percussion, breakdancing, tapping, comedy and audience participation made this the show to beat so far this year. Every single cast member was fantastic, and they were each different enough in their skill sets and personalities to stand out at each point in the show.

The bar has been set, and it'll take a pretty damn impressive show to make me say otherwise.

Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2009 is a great year for all of you.

So let's start the year off with one of the best fan films I've ever seen. I have to admit, the casting choices are pretty awesome. I just hope when the real Thundercats movie comes out (and it's pretty inevitable that it will), it looks this good.

Ever wonder what Captain Kirk thinks of the Star Trek remake? Click play above and wonder no more...

So we saw the New Kids concert last night. Fun evening. We had floor seats close to the stage (my ears are still ringing), and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. It wasn't a sold out crowd, but it was close. And when Donnie got the crowd going, my eardrums almost popped from so many women screaming.

At one point, they disappeared off the stage, and reappeared on a small revolving stage just a few rows away from us. As you can imagine, pandemonium pretty much broke out, and the crowd pushed their way to get close. Andrew and I stayed on the outskirts of the mostly-girl mob as Chris and Laura got closer to take some great pics. Actually Andrew probably got the best photos of all of us, since he was just coming back into the stadium from a bathroom break just as the small stage raised right in front of him. So he took out his phone and took some quick shots.

The Kids may be older, but they know how to put on a good show. They still have the pipes and the moves. And they genuinely seem to be enjoying their moment in the spotlight. Must have been hard to walk away (or pretty much be forced to walk away) from that all those years ago. All in all, it was fun to be a kid again for a few hours...I think that goes for both the crowd and the boy band...

This is a pretty sweet mashup of the Batman movies to the question "Who's the best Batman?"

This may very well be the greatest superhero movie of all time...

No, not the ship from the last two Pirates movies, but the Wagner opera...Saw it last night. It was a good production, though like with most Wagner's work, was very heavy. Though I'm more of a light opera fan, with playful themes and fun melodies (Barber of Seville immediately comes to mind), this was quite good.

The performances were solid, and the set design put one in mind of 1984, with utilitarian bleakness and despair prevalent in both the cast and their surroundings. And the ship itself felt more like a vision of hell than anything else. Bold, but effective.

Had the big screening for Love Hate Tragedy over the weekend. It was the first time I got to see it since Matt finished editing, and it was the first film shown at the film festival on Saturday night. Went really well. It was a packed house, totally sold out. I'd love to say it was because of LHT, but the real reason everyone showed was for Tokyo Gore Police and the North American premiere of My Name is Bruce, the new awesome flick by Bruce Campbell.

That's not to say LHT didn't go over well. Quite the opposite, actually. I thought it was very well done. Damian and Robert were so good in it. Their peformances were very real. Damian's portrayal had real depth, real emotion. Mark my words, that kid's got a bright future in film. Ecko was really good too, though the sound levels could use some tweaking while she's delivering some of her lines...some dialoge tended to get lost. But overall, the editing and music were solid. Matt did great job.

It got a good response from the audience, and after the show, there was a Q&A session with the cast, where we all got up on stage to field audience questions. The crowd was really beind the film, especially since it was made by a local filmmaker, and they had a lot of good questions about the process, motivation, effects, budget, and plot.

We each answered some questions, but the highlight for me was getting cheers from the crowd when I was introduced. It's a pretty awesome feeling when complete strangers are calling out your character's name and saying things like "Yeah! Hindrance rocks!" or "You rule man!" Someone even came up to me in the lobby during one of the intermissions and said "Dude, you rocked in that flick. You should seriously do some more films. You've got a real presence up there." Guess it's true...everyone loves the bad guy.

So I went to my first NBA game the other night. Even if it was a preseason game, it was still pretty damn cool. The Raptors played the Nuggets, and it was a good contest, never more than a ten-point game.

There were solid plays on both sides, a couple of beautiful 3-pointers, and some great dunks. And the Raptors mascot is pretty awesome. He kept the crowd in stitches all night. Overall, it was as good as I'd hoped it would be.

So we had an Evening with Kevin Smith last night. If you ever seen the dvd's, it's basically a couple hour Q&A session with the man himself. Very fun. The questions themselves were pretty standard, and any lesser teller of tales would have taken only a minute or so answering even the most "difficult" of them. Example: "Would you consider doing a superhero movie?" Or "Have you ever been mad enough to fight someone?"

Even though he'd usually answer the question with a yes or no, the elaboration and backstory he'd give for each answer would go on for a good twenty minutes. And that's why we all came. It wasn't for the answers to strange, banal, or even cool questions. It was for the opportunity to see a master story-teller come up with material on the spot. Stories ranged from talking about his movies and actors (as one would expect) to gay sex to smoking weed with Seth Rogen to straight sex to family life to wheelchair sex to being so fat he broke a toilet to dog sex. In other words, a colorful variety to say the least.

Even so, my favorite answers were the shortest of the evening...When asked what advice he'd give to a novice filmmaker with no connections or ideas on how to break into film, he said simply, "Make Clerks." And when a budding comic writer asked what advice he'd give to break into comic books, Kevin shrugged and said, "I dunno, create Spiderman for the first time." Honestly, what else could he say? He created something worthwhile and got lucky. That's about all any of us can hope for...