Did you know?

Here's a funny little thing I saw today. On my oh-so-extensive IMDB biography, check out my "Birth Name"...
I had no idea I'd been going by a stage name my entire life! Why wouldn't my parents have told me that?

Hooray for love.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and one thing our family is thankful for is how awesome Lauren & Michael's wedding was!

It was this past Saturday and everyone agrees that they got hitched without a hitch. From the rehearsal dinner (at the Old Red Museum & Courthouse) to the ceremony (University Park United Methodist Church) and especially the reception (the Stoneleigh Hotel) everything was absolutely perfect! Lauren was radiant and I can't think of a better match for her than Michael. The band was excellent - big shout out to Amanda Baker (McKinney High alum) and Random Axis for keeping the party going. The Seely and Dorff family and friends in attendance were a blast to celebrate with. Mom and Dad did a great job in their Mother & Father of the Bride duties (bonus points to Dad for keeping his composure throughout the festivities).

I don't have any pictures yet - I'll let Leeanne post some when she gets around to it - but I did create some little posters for the occasion. Michael's mother commissioned me for these to display at the rehearsal dinner. There was kind of a Tex-Mex theme to the event and she let me have fun with it. She was also cool enough to print extras for guests and I was happy to see plenty of folks taking them home.



This was pretty funny to me when I was putting them together. Look at the side-by-side comparison, how Michael and ol' Tyrone Power are in nearly the exact same position. It's like he was channeling the spirit of Zorro - mask and all!

Also, Jeff helped me out with this little bit. A couple of posts back I talked about his music blog soundscountry, well, through that Jeff recently met with Rhett Miller, solo artist and lead singer of the Old 97s. He did a song for Jeff's blog and was a good sport by giving Lauren & Michael a wedding wish. I put the two together for a little surprise video for them at the rehearsal. It's a great live acoustic performance, but make sure you watch at the 3:35 mark. Hooray for love indeed.

New radio.

Nearly back to back music entries! Also consecutive Jeff-related entries!
Dallas has a new radio station, KXT 91.7, and the timing couldn't be better after the promising rise and disappointing fall of both Lonestar 92.5 and Quality Rock 93.3. Lonestar went from a great roots-rock, Willie Nelson-endorsed, commercial-free format to your cookie-cutter classic rock variety station, followed by Quality's amazing start with a just-off-the-mainstream"quality" playlist to an even more insipid version of Kiss FM.

But now, KXT has somehow combined the good parts of those two experiments, and coupled it with the non-commercial sensibilities (and hopefully stability) of NPR. It's a member-supported station with a varying playlist and eclectic shows like the celtic-inspired Thistle & Shamrock. So that means instead of gentleman's club ads you get good music and news from NPR at the top of the hour. Also, local acts, deep cuts from great artists and a lot of live performances, such as the in-studio appearance last week by Pete Yorn (below).

And how is this Jeff related? It just so happens he is the main marketing man there who started the same day as KXT went on the air - very similar to how I started my new job on practically the same day as the NBA season opened. Like learning to drive on the Autobahn.

If you listen to KXT and would like to become a member, click here.

If it sounds country...

Uncle Jeff has a (relatively new) music blog called Sounds Country.

It covers that area of music that encompasses alt-country, rock country, folk country, roots music, some bluegrass and americana. Intentionally excluded, the crossover stuff of pop that's prevails on mainstream country radio today.

It's what Sounds Country has bolted on the masthead:

If it sounds country, then that's what it is, you know — it's a country song. – Kris Kristofferson

So say hello again to ol' Kris, Lyle Lovett, and Robert Earl Keen alongside the Old 97s, Jayhawks, and Drive-By Truckers, and to paraphrase a recent country-fied pop exchange:

Taylor Swift: Thank you so much. I always dreamed about what it would be like to maybe win one these someday but I never actually thought that would happen. I sing country music so thank you so much for giving me a chance to win a VMA award...
Kanye West: Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you…I’ll let you finish. But...

...you don't really sing country music. Thanks for the great blog, Jeff, with interviews, reviews and - what a lot of music blogs forget about - music!

Mavs Man.

Guess who got a job doing what he loves for his favorite NBA team!
...
No, guess again.
...
What? No - seriously? Don't you know whose blog this is?
That's right. I'm working as the Creative Editor & Producer for the Dallas Mavericks! That's my official title anyway, although I've heard it also referred to as a "Preditor," PRoducer/EDITOR. Sounds cool.

Basically, I'll be working to produce top-notch video productions for in-game entertainment, TV spots, promos, and online content for the Mavs. I started on Monday and the first game of the season was Tuesday so my head has been spinning. But I've had an all-access pass to see how the whole show is run, I've met some really awesome and nice people (including Mavs Man), and I'm excited about all that we're going to be doing - the All-Star Game is in Dallas this year, too.

It's just been such a blessing and so evident that God's hand was in this. Like I said, I'm a little overwhelmed - there's so much I could say, I just don't know where to start. Go Mavs!

I love you, OU & U2 too.

Last weekend was a big weekend.

First and foremost, Leeanne had a special birthday! She turned __ years old, and for a gal who's __ years old and pregnant, if I met her for the first time tomorrow I'd still fall in love with her.

Also last week, my buddy Brad called with an extra ticket to see the OU/TX game. Huge thanks go out to him for that. We rode the DART down to Fair Park and hit the State Fair a little early before the game. I made the delicious mistake of trying chicken-fried bacon. I gotta say it tasted pretty good, but a little definitely goes a long way.

As for the game itself, it was ugly football. Don't kid yourselves Longhorns, y'all played ugly, too. But like good sports we managed to keep the peace in the spirit of a bipartisan nation when we ran into Drew after the game.


Then, Sunday we went up to Norman to see U2 in concert. Neither of us had ever seen them before - they've been on my list of must-see concerts for a while - and it meant getting back home to Dallas at almost three in the morning, but even Leeanne will tell you it was worth it. It's hard to explain but you can't watch them perform live and not think that you are watching the best band in the world. Bono is an iconic rock star, and they are an iconic band. It's truly an uplifting experience and I would love to see them again.


So truly a great weekend, on many levels, more of which we'll share soon. As everyone keeps telling us, the best is yet to come. So get on your boots!

Just in time for Halloween.

An Oscar-nominated Hollywood heartthrob and his best friend round up a bunch of instruments-- some of which they don't know how to play-- and a massive children's choir and make a concept album about the supernatural. Seems like a recipe for disaster, right? Guess again. - Pitchfork.com

It occurred to me that I haven't written about any albums in a while. It also occurs to me that if you had said that the next album I wrote about would be by an actor, I would have laughed. Like most people, whenever I hear that an actor has decided to put out an album, my natural reaction is to roll my eyes. The last thing the word needs is another vanity project from the current Tiger Beat cover boy or Hanna Montana of the week. Past attempts have resulted in such bargain bin albums as Bruce Willis' Return of Bruno, Don Johnson's Heartbeat or opening acts like Keanu Reeves' Dogstar and Jared Leto's 30 Seconds to Mars. If you haven't heard of these, not to worry, it's likely best that way.

But sometimes...sometimes you get something really worth listening to. Past examples are She & Him, a collaboration of M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel and the recently released Breakup by Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson. But now, Ryan Gosling has quietly and with little fanfare put out an album that is all concept and no conceit, experimental not overexposure, and pretty dang good. That would be Dead Man's Bones.

First as an actor; every woman in America knows Ryan Gosling from The Notebook, but if you've never seen Half Nelson I recommend you do. It's a powerful performance. Secondly, he's got some legitimate music chops. Like Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, Baby Goose (as I like to call him) was a member of the Mickey Mouse Club, and like those two (the exclusion of Britney Spears is intentional, y'all), this kid can actually sing.

He's put together a little band that consists of him and his best friend, and combined their mutual fascination with ghosts, monsters, graveyards, zombies or anything deathly to create a spooky little indie record.


They've enlisted a choir from the Silverlake Convervatory of Music, the Los Angeles music education facility co-founded by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The choir members' ages ranged from five to 17. Every Sunday afternoon for several months, Gosling and his buddy Zach Shields would rehearse and record with the kids. What's really surprising is the results. The sounds reflect a wide range of influences - a little bit of doo-wop and artists such as The Shangri-Las, The Cure, Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens. And the choir is reminiscent at times of A Charlie Brown Christmas, although this one would be more fitting for The Great Pumpkin.

This is the video for their song "In the Room Where You Sleep." In the clip, Gosling and Shields lead a bunch of kids, all dressed in Halloween costumes, through a spare acoustic lament.

It's creepy and catchy. It sounds like a middle school assembly gone goth. - Pitchfork.com
All of this gives Dead Man's Bones the feeling -- in the best possible way -- of a bootleg recording of an elaborate grade-school Halloween pageant. - AMG

DEAD MAN'S BONES - "NAME IN STONE" from biz3 publicity on Vimeo.

Can't start too early.

My pops got this for our future Manchild Warrior (name still pending, although based on information currently available, our little one is a boy - Leeanne is still a little shell-shocked, her initial reaction, "I don't know what to do with a little boy" met with my knee-jerk response, "Same thing you do with me" which made me realize how outnumbered she truly is).

Will Tiger Woods still be playing competitive golf in 20 years? I don't know but if we start this little guy early El Tigre may finally have some stiff competition come 2030.

The OU hat placed for size comparison, not pride in our unfortunate performance last Saturday (quiet weeping). I had an interesting discussion with Leeanne about whether losing the game and losing Sam Bradford to a sprained shoulder was adding "insult to injury" or "injury to insult" - I contend it's the latter. Sigh.

First came love, then came marriage....

...and as of March 2010, we will be in need of a baby carriage!

It is official, we are having a baby! Our plan had been to wait until I turned thirty but God had other plans and we are thrilled. It is such an odd thing that most of our friends can probably relate to. Jason and I knew pretty early on but wanted to wait to until we had seen/heard the heartbeat, had all the tests and felt like we were in a good place to tell others. In the meantime, we just got so used to the idea and used to not telling people that now that we finally are, it seems so new again! I don't know if that makes any sense, not much I do or think these days does.

I am just overwhelmed at the love and excitement our sweet friends have given us. Everyone has a great story or experience to tell and I am so grateful for all the advice and encouragement I am getting from all you girls who have done this before.

So, like it or not, I am sure this blog will have a more "child-friendly" theme from now on.

Here is a picture of our little nugget a little over a week ago. It was really cool because he/she was wiggling like crazy and kept putting his/her hand up to it's face. You can kind of see a profile with it's little nose, mouth and huge forehead.

This is what my super creative husband sent to his friends to tell them the big news.

And this is an example of the type of picture I promise NEVER to post of us.

And a big congrats to our dear friends Craig and Sarah on the birth of their baby girl, Elizabeth, yesterday!

Rings and things.

A week ago I lost my wedding ring. I haven't the slightest idea where it might be or how I lost it.

Like most things you misplace, I have a strong recollection of having it on the day it went missing, but only a vague impression of the points leading up to when I discovered it was lost.
So basically, it could be in the yard, in a crack behind the dresser, or in the bottom of a box of Froot Loops for all I know. Maybe a hobbit found it and is taking it to Mordor as we speak (nerd alert).

I have to admit, I was pretty upset. Leeanne had the inside engraved and though it was a little bit large - my fingers are what you might call "dainty" - I wore it every single day since we've been married with few exceptions. For the few days after I lost it and had to go without it, I was really bothered not having it on my finger.

It made me think about what a wedding ring actually is and more importantly, what it stands for. Humans as a species tend to put so much emphasis on a symbol, be it an object, tradition, or act, that we completely lose sight of what that thing is symbolic of.
The wedding ring is a symbol of my marriage to Leeanne. Even without that outward symbol on my dainty digit, I'm still married to my wife. Heart and soul, I am hers and she is mine.
Just as our rings are a symbol for our love and devotion to one another, our marriage is a symbol of our relationship with Christ. Heart and soul.

A ring, a marriage, a saving relationship with Jesus. Out of those three, I'd much rather be without the one that has a tendency to slip off my finger when my hands are wet. I lost an object, a token, a reminder of more important things. Things that are so special, amazing, undeserved, and, thankfully, can never be lost.

On August 6, 2005 Leeanne and I got married in Brentwood, Tennessee. Today marks our four year anniversary. I love you, sweetheart, heart and soul.

Kid, you'll move mountains!

It's pretty much become a cliché for graduates to be given the Dr. Seuss book Oh, The Places You'll Go! So much so, that I doubt the majority of those who have received it in the past few years has even taken the time to read it. That's a shame.

I just finished working on a baby shower invitation with a Dr. Seuss them for one of my sister's friends. And while doing so, I took the time to read Oh, The Places You'll Go! I probably had not even looked at it since receiving it from my folks over 13 years (yikes!) ago.
What I found was not the simple book of rhyming platitudes I had come to think of it as, but a poignant and encouraging look at life. At success and opportunity, yes. But also at failure, loneliness, and waiting for change.
As one of the many who are waiting on a change in the economy, looking for employment, or any change in there circumstances right now, I found some encouragement there.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

Anyway, I just thought I would share that. And I would encourage you, if you have a copy somewhere (I would bet that you do), to dust it off and give it a quick read.
Also, I'd like to share the invitation I did. The nice girl I did it for had seen one done like this and wanted me to try and recreate it. It's actually based on the cover for another Seuss book, The Lorax. It was a lot of fun to work on, and I even found a fun Dr. Seuss-themed font in the process.
Here it is, and I should say, all credit to the original designer and of course to Dr. Seuss for his incredible body of work and who continues to inspire.

So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

First Dates

I really want to be a good blogger. I read other people's blog like its my job but have been lazy about updating my blog that my husband is so much better at. I too have stories and experiences to tell but find myself becoming self conscious when I sit down to write. I am determined to get better even though there may be only 3 people ever reading this.

Tonight brought back a lot of fond memories. Jason and I went to Magianno's for the first time since we had our first date there over 8 years ago. We were living in Los Angeles and went to Magianno's then saw Black Hawk Down (not the best date movie, but with the best date). As we enjoyed our dining experience there I got to thinking about how different things are 8 years later.

1. While waiting for our table, Jason decided to pull out his iPhone and take a "cleavage shot" of me because my tank top was unusually low cut (it's 100 degrees people). 1st date Jason was sweet enough to open doors and maybe (?) held my hand in the movie theater. I guess I am flattered.

2. Also while waiting for our table, we got bored, made up a word game, then went on to play it through our salad course. I remember our conversation being a little more formal and nervous all those years ago....I think there may have been a few awkward silences as well.

3. Jason and I split an entree! We laugh that pre-me, "Jason doesn't share food". He has always eaten a lot and a little territorial about his food. I didn't even have to ask tonight, I knew what I wanted before we got there and he gladly shared and even had leftovers for tomorrow.

4. We realized we were out of milk on the way home and had to stop by Target...very romantic.

5. And the best difference between now and then....we ended the night under the same roof in the same bed all this by 10:30 on a Saturday night.

Changing horses.

JG is a man with connections. It's good to be connected with a dude like that. One of those is a friend at the Granada Theater, a really great music venue in Dallas. Sidenote: the first time I went to the Granada was back in the mid-90s when it was experimenting with the Studio Movie Grill formula of dining while watching a big-screen movie. The movie I saw that night was Primal Fear with Richard Gere and Ed Norton. What sticks out most in mind was during the brutal murder scene, thinking that shrimp cocktail is an odd dish when accompanied by violent cinema.

Anyway, last week we went to see Ben Kweller play. He's a semi-local boy who grew up in Greenville, TX and has since moved on to be a critical darling in the quote-unquote indie music scene. His last album, appropriately titled Changing Horses, finds him exploring his Texas roots by putting out some straight-forward country songs, a departure for him although his off-kilter/rock voice assures us you won't hear him on the Twister anytime soon. It's too bad though, because his songs have more heart than most of the faire you'll find in mainstream country right now. I challenge anyone to listen to "On Her Own" and try to tell me that if Tim McGraw did a cover it wouldn't be #1 with a bullet.

The great thing about the show was he brought the guitar/pedal steel sound from the last album and applied it to the rest of his rock catalogue to really awesome results.
So, consider this a recommendation to check out Ben Kweller's album Changing Horses.
And consider this an attempt at arty-iPhone photography.


Bonus: a "Where's Waldo" moment from the show - can you spot Jeff & I? Here's a hint, Jeff's keeping the beat and I'm pondering whether or not I'm too old to go to rock shows.

To coin a term.

My buddy Neil just added a new word to my lexicon: blandiose.
Essentially, something intended to be grand or important, possibly more complicated or elaborate than necessry, but affectedly boring.

Online portfolio is now...online.

Allow myself to introduce...myself. While the highly (or nighly) anticipated jseely.com is still very much under construction, I am pleased to say that I have finally got a makeshift portfolio up featuring a smattering of my design, illustration and ad work over at Tumblr (why no "e?" I hav no ida).

Check it all out at jseely.tumblr.com, and tell your friends.

Design on the side.

Latel, I've been keeping busy doing some design work here and there for my generous family and friends. I did a Save-the-Date for my sis (The Paper Lion in McKinney did a great job printing them up).
And on the heels of that, it just so happens that Lauren's future brother-in-law, John, is getting married this month. His sweet mother, being an advocate for the arts (and unemployed artists apparently) asked if I would design an invite for their rehearsal dinner.

The event is at the Sons of Hermann Hall, an excellent live music venue built in 1910, so I thought it would be cool to design the invite like a concert poster. Not only that, John's family has ties to the Texas Sons of Hermann fraternal organization dating back over a century ago.

For inspiration, I looked to the Nashville institution Hatch Show Print.
If you follow country music, country music history or the history, art and culture of the American South, sooner or later you're bound to run into the letters, images and unmistakable "look" of Hatch Show Print. They're one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in America, and over the years their posters have featured a host of country music performers ranging from Hall of Famers Hank Williams, Bill Monroe and Johnny Cash to present-day stars and bands like the Old 97's, Wilco and Coldplay.
With that in mind, as well as wanting something distinctly Texan, I chose to emulate the poster at right.

Below is my interpretation, created in Illustrator and Photoshop. You may notice that the cowboy and ring theme carries through from my previous design - what can I say, I like the imagery.

Click for larger view.

That was the initial design, but to include the family history, a couple other items of information and make it more interesting, I decided to take a more rustic approach in Photoshop.

Click for larger view.

It has been a lot of fun working on these, and if anybody's interested, I've got several more cowboy/wedding ring ideas in storage.

Oh, snap! "Yo Mama" jokes for Mother's Day.

From McSweeney's Internet Tendency. I love you, Mom!

RESPECTFUL
YO MAMA
JOKES.
by Lucas Klauss

- - - -

Yo mama is so healthy her BMI is probably exactly within the ideal range for a woman her age.

- - - -

Yo mama is so well respected within her profession that I bet she'll get another raise and promotion this year despite the downward trajectory of the economy.

- - - -

Yo mama is so good at cooking she should open her own restaurant. I'd be the first customer.

- - - -

Yo mama is so attractive she could be on the cover of Prevention.

- - - -

Yo mama is so Internet-savvy she should start her own social-networking site designed specifically for moms. It would be really popular.

- - - -

Yo mama is so well read she could teach a course on literature at an accredited university.

- - - -

Yo mama is so good at listening she makes you feel like she's put everything aside to focus all her attention on you. That's a really great trait to have.

- - - -

Yo mama is so skilled at coaching basketball she should apply for a job in the WNBA.

- - - -

Yo mama is so generous she just paid for everyone's meal at Applebee's.

- - - -

Yo mama is so supportive of you and your efforts that I wouldn't be surprised if you were incredibly successful as a result.

Do not want.

I saw this interesting little item on the internet today:That's right, eyeglasses piercing. They’re made by the Pierced Glasses company, if you’re looking to get a pair for yourself. I'm going to pass.

I like eyeglasses. They are the only acceptable accessory for your face in my opinion (apologies to all my lip, brow and nose pierced friends). I typically wear my contacts, but on days when I want to give my peepers a rest I pop on the specs.

Another reason I enjoy those days is I tend to get a lot of comparisons to Clark Kent. It makes me wonder why on most days I'm not mistaken for Superman, but I guess therein lies the genius of the subtle disguise.
My secret is safe for another day.

Oh Baby!

The summers where we had a wedding/wedding shower every weekend have officially ended and we have moved on to the baby phase! No news from my womb but pretty much every single one of our friends is expecting or have just had a baby. It is so much fun seeing our friends become mommies and daddies. As I write our friends Tim and Christy (mainly Christy) are in labor and are having a baby boy who we can't wait to meet.

We got to meet sweet Sadie Kay on Friday night. Rob and Kay had her on April 24th and she has the most hair I have ever seen on a baby...good thing her mama does hair! She was so fun to snuggle with and we are so happy for them.

New favorite show.

Deadliest Warrior, the ridiculously masculine series on Spike, just earned a spot on my DVR roster. Here's the description from Spike's website:

Each week on Deadliest Warrior, a new episode will pit two of the most feared warriors civilization has ever known against each other. Along with the use of 21st century science and the latest in CGI technology, each episode enlists warrior-specific world-class fighters and experts to provide insight into what makes these combatants tick, analyzing every facet of their unique skills of destruction, culminating in a head-to-head final fight between two legends of the battlefield that will produce the deadliest warrior.

Like I said, ridiculously masculine, basically a show for meat-heads, but I love the premise. I myself have had these type of questions/discussions/arguments with friends (when I was 12 years old, mind you, but as a matter of fact, one review actually reads, "If you love non-self-aware comedy or are a 12-year-old boy, stay tuned..."). These hypothetical scenarios make for good TV, and taking it a step further, great stories since most comic books and movie scripts are written based on these setups. Who would win a fight? Superman or the Incredible Hulk? Abe Lincoln or Ghandi?

Most of the time, the results of these match-ups are determined by the personal preferences of the writer. For example: Superman over the Hulk; Honest Abe over Ghandi (he's a pacifist for cryin' out loud). What Deadliest Warrior does is add a little objectivity to the process. Breaking down the weapons and then running all the determining factors through a program that simulates a 1,000 battles.

Other highly-anticipated showdowns this season include: Pirate vs. Knight, Viking vs. Samurai, Green Beret vs. Spetznaz, Maori vs. Shaolin Monks, William Wallace vs. Shaka Zulu, and Ninja vs. Spartan. Superman vs. Lincoln must be next season.

Incidentally, I am aware that this blog is quickly becoming the dorkiest thing on the Internet. I apologize. Actually, I'm sorry that I'm not sorry. This is my geek-outlet. And Leeanne doesn't post anymore, so it is what it is - all "He Said."

Winner: Supes

Nerd alert.

I first read J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings in college. From that point on I was hooked on all things Middle Earth. I would joke with Leeanne when we were engaged (and even yesterday when we were talking with some friends about wedding rings) that I wanted the "one ring" as my wedding band. It was that or a Batman ring, both of which unbelievably are available in the Skymall catalog, here and here. Pick one up for yourself next time you fly. Then when the movies came out, I, along with countless others (except for, inexcusably, my brother-in-law Jeff), became super-geeks upon seeing the universe Tolkien created faithfully given cinematic life. I love those movies, and while they are long, I'll watch them every time I come across them on TNT or AMC (same goes for Braveheart or Godfather II). Also, even though watching the entire trilogy would take a solid nine hours or so (not even including the indispensable bonus features) it takes considerable less time than reading the books - that takes true commitment, easy readers.

While all of the LOTR fans are waiting for the next movie to add to the collection - The Hobbit, split into two separate films, produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo Del Toro - in the meantime, here's something fun.

A group of "incredibly proactive dork- er, Lord of the Rings enthusiasts," recently shot a 40-minute, high-definition film in North Wales with an all-volunteer crew of 150. On Sunday, May 3rd, it will be released, online and free, at TheHuntForGollum.com. Check out the trailer below. Cheesy? Undoubtedly. Legal? Uncertain. Awesome? Undeniably.
Does it make you wonder how many of these dudes live in a basement and showed up to the audition already in full costumes their mothers made? Indubitably. And it's that kind of commitment I want out of film-making fans if I'm going to sit down on my couch and waste my time watching something for free.

THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM - FULL Trailer 1 from Independent Online Cinema on Vimeo.

Rumble grumble.

The NBA playoffs are here and the Mavs have made it into the postseason. While I love the Mavs and am a Cuban-certified MFFL (Mav Fan For Life, probably not the best initialism, say all the mo-fos out there), I'm afraid my hopes and dreams don't extend past the first round. Sad, I know, but that's just how I feel.

Also in NBA news, the inaugural season of the Oklahoma City Thunder did not end with a trip to the playoffs. No one really expected it to, but that's not why I bring them up. This is a little old, but I was asked to comment on it. Bringing almost as much controversy as the relocating of the Sonics to OKC was the introduction of the Thunder's mascot, Rumble.

Now I love mascots, especially dunking ones. Dallas' own Mavs Man? Genius. He's made out of basketball. Of course he can do a somersault-jam off a trampoline.Then there's Rumble. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's all that bad, in fact, I'll go on record as saying I think Rumble is O.K. I like the fact that he's a bison - very appropriate choice for an Oklahoma team, tapping into the local culture. Way more thought must have gone into this than the team's actual name (still disappointed in "Thunder," I think "Marshals" would have been a much cooler and certainly less generic name, but at least "Rumble" as a name works for both a bison and thunder). But the fans and the media (at least the obscure segment of the media that deems this type of item worthy of comment) have given ol' Rumble a tepid reception and a resounding, "meh."

I think most of the people's beef has come from the fact that he looks very much like Teen Wolf. Though it should be noted that, in the relocation of the team from Seattle to OKC, the mascot came along as well. The Sonics' costumed representative was another hairy bugger called Squatch. Squatch was loved by the fans in the Pacific Northwest. Why? 1. Because he was hairy, 2. because he was part of local culture (yes, Bigfoot is an indiginous creature to Washington) and 3. because he could shoot t-shirts out of a canon (r.i.p. Maude Flanders). Rumble does all these things, and in reality, he is Squatch, albeit with a different head and jersey. But then again, isn't the team itself (different head and jersey, that is)?

And the Teen Wolf thing? How can that be bad? Have they ever seen Teen Wolf, he was awesome at basketball (ignore Teen Wolf, Too, I'm trying to make a point). Come to think of it, why hasn't anbody used him as their mascot? For further evidence read this - COVERING TEEN WOLF: ONE COACH'S GUIDE.

So, I think I've adressed that adequately, Rumble is perfect for the Thunder. Sadly, one other comment I read on a sports blog I have no defense for, and that is:
"This mascot will have sex with your wife." I mean, look at that guy. He's got bedroom eyes.

"They lifted the curse."

Today, Pearl Jam is releasing a remastered edition of their first album Ten.

Every time I hear anything off that record I can't help but be reminded of that time of my life, around 1991, when Pearl Jam and my burgeoning love of music coincided which ultimately created in me a mental autobiography marked by songs as much as events.

One of the seminal tracks from Ten is the song "Alive." Below is a clip from a few years ago when PJ did an episode of Storytellers on VH1, and Eddie Vedder tells a really beautiful story about the meaning behind that song and its transformation over the years.




Incidentally, Pearl Jam make the list below at #60 with a bullet. That's above average, but like I said, it's not a strictly scientific study.

Music that makes you dumb.

I love this. A guy named Virgil Griffith did this little study, comparing favorite musicians/bands (compiled from Facebook) with SAT/ACT scores (gathered from CollegeBoard) of those who listen to them, which ultimately is good news for folks who like Beethoven, Sufjan Stevens, Counting Crows, U2 and Radiohead - bad news for fans of Beyonce and Lil Wayne.

Go to this site, musicthatmakesyoudumb, to see how he did it, as well as a couple more interesting visual representations, like the one below, of the data.

While understanding that this is far from pure science, I am more than a little pleased that I have so many faves in the upper tier. Click here to see the straight list. Click on image below to embiggen.

Working on the world wild web.

I just noticed there's been no updates for a month. For shame on me (Leeanne I think has given up all together, but perhaps she just needs some encouragement?).

Part of the reason why is that I am working hard on getting my online portfolio up and running. Jeff is helping me out big time on this. First and foremost, he & Linde secured the domain name for me and staked out the little corner of the internet where it will be residing. Plus, he's helping me with all the dots & dashes/bleeps & bloops that make the internet work. So, hopefully, we'll be launching it soon!