The Perfect Road Trip Songs

Yesterday, I was making my way home from a show in Ravenna, MI, which is essentially in the middle of nowhere. Mind you, I use the phrase "middle of nowhere" not as a sleight against the fine town of Ravenna, but merely as means of description. In fact, it's almost a complement. Many times, I find myself driving to work or a friend's house, staring down the highway, lusting for the "Nowhere" it leads to. Too often, I'm tempted to neglect all of my responsibilities for the day in order to serve my desires to explore the unknown that lies just over the next hill, but I digress...

The point of the story is this: The trip from Ravenna to Grand Rapids is decent enough, about 45 minutes. Not enough to be considered a "Road Trip" per se, but at a certain state of drowsiness, the crooked country roads wrapped on all sides by the furrowed cornfields of Spring create the illusion that I'm really very far away from home. On my own. A pioneer.

So, I started the trip out with "Golden Age" by Beck, which appears as the first track on the album Sea Change. It matched the situation perfectly, and I'll go so far as to say, if you're setting off during the afternoon or early evening (when the sun is not yet orange), and you're in the farmlands of the Midwest, you want "Golden Age" to be that first track of the journey.

It's a perfect Road Trip song.

In fact, the entire Sea Change album is excellent, especially in the car.

But we're not talking about albums, are we? We're talking about songs, and my pick for this week is "Golden Age".

What's your pick?



[Put your hands on the wheel. Let the Golden Age begin]

Straighforward Writing advice from David Mamet

Want to be a screenwriter? Here's a memo from David Mamet laying out a no-nonsense guide to writing good dramatic television.

It is totally kick-ass.

My favorite passages:

IF THE SCENE BORES YOU WHEN YOU READ IT, REST ASSURED IT *WILL* BORE THE ACTORS, AND WILL, THEN, BORE THE AUDIENCE, AND WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE BACK IN THE BREADLINE.

ANY SCENE, THUS, WHICH DOES NOT BOTH ADVANCE THE PLOT, AND STANDALONE (THAT IS, DRAMATICALLY, BY ITSELF, ON ITS OWN MERITS) IS EITHER SUPERFLUOUS, OR INCORRECTLY WRITTEN.

ANY TIME ANY CHARACTER IS SAYING TO ANOTHER “AS YOU KNOW”, THAT IS, TELLING ANOTHER CHARACTER WHAT YOU, THE WRITER, NEED THE AUDIENCE TO KNOW, THE SCENE IS A CROCK OF SHIT.




And there's plenty more where that came from. Please read, and enjoy.

THE MEMO


cheers,



[Let's fly away. If you could use some exotic booze there's a bar in far bombay]

Whoring Out your Art pt. 2

Going back to the whole George Lucas post from last week:

I suppose it's easy for us to heap all the blame on him. After all, he's the "mastermind" behind it all. He's the one selling out the galaxy for some extra green.

But who's putting all that green in his pockets?

It's us.

I went to see all the prequels in theaters, several times, knowing full well that they weren't great films. Then I bought the subsequent video games, and those weren't great either, but I played them 'till I beat them. Then there's the books, some of them are great, some are decent, and some a re just plain terrible, but I don't apply the same judgement to SW related things that I do with everything else. Because the original Star Wars holds such a place in my heart, I'm willing to accept a lot of mediocre crap just because it carries the SW banner.

I'm guessing I'm not the only one out there who feels the same way, and as much as I hate to admit it, we're part of the problem...



[Wild horses couldn't drag me away]

Site Updates

Lend me your ears....

So, you may have noticed a few changes around here. Let me give you the nickel tour.

1.) The url has officially changed from stephenpellmell.blogspot.com to the new, streamlined pellmellblog.blogspot.com. Why the change? I just like it better, and since I'm the master of this domain, I can do whatever I feel like. Well, maybe I'm more of a benevolent dictator.

2.) I've started a twitter account (this was covered in an earlier post), and if you've got a twitter account as well, you can sign up. Just click on the little twitter widget over there in the right column, and it's easy as that!

**UPDATE**
3.) Lastly, YOU CAN NOW SUBSCRIBE TO GET BLOG UPDATES VIA EMAIL. This is also easy as that. See that little silver box over there near the top right corner? Yeah, just type in your email address there and hit "submit", and every day, if there's a new post or two, they'll be sent straight to your email account. Convenient, no?


That's about it. Sorry for this little business related post, I've never been a fan of posts like these (They're like "clip show" episodes), but they are necessary to keep you up to date on all the new happenings 'round the blog. So, I thank you for your time and hope these new features will help you in your attempts to stay better connected with the site.


Keep reading, there's more non-boring posts. I promise.


[I heard your record on the telephone. It was my cousin, Joan, she picked it up on the top 40 rack and then...]

Of Writing and Boxing

Whenever I'm writing up a new story, script, essay, or blog, it's often a constant fight just to get it from brain to page. It's a boxing match taking place in my head. I feel like this is probably true for any creative or problem solving process, but since I know writing, I'll just stick to that.


First, I'll come in, gloves up, feeling out my opponent. Should I work him clockwise, or counterclockwise? There's a lot of studying there for a moment, then, I throw the first punch: right jab. I score a hit, so I go in for another, and another, but it's countered, and I'm hit hard with a left uppercut.

I'm dazed now. I back away. Gloves up. Watching every move. I switch up my stance to counter his own. Then I get in close and work him with some left jabs. they land harmlessly behind his head. I'm getting nowhere, and he makes me pay for it with a strong jab, jab, hook combo. I'm sent reeling. Back to the ropes.

I spit. That one drew some blood. No matter. I come back in, gloves up.

He's getting confident now, and he's turning into more of a puncher, so I let him land a few, just to feel out his techniques. After a few combos that really take their toll, I notice his right hook is a little slow. Slow enough for me to counter with a quick left jab. I wait for him to get into his rhythm. I can feel the hook coming, and I'm ready. There it is, and there I am.

My left hand knocks him out of his cadence. He coils back, I've got the momentum now. I come in with another couple right hands, then a left., then a right. He's cracked wide open now, and I'm letting him have it. I'm Terry Malloy at the end of On The Waterfront. I finish with a big right uppercut that puts him down.

I raise my gloves in victory. Drink in the cheers from the crowd. Flashbulbs burst. It's bliss.

But now, he stirring on the mat, and he's getting to his knees, and then to his feet.

He taps his gloves together and starts bouncing. Looking meaner than he ever did before.



Here comes draft two.


[Even in his heart, the devil has to know the water level]

Whoring out your Art

Oh, George Lucas, you leave me speechless at times....

It was released today that there is a new animated Star Wars series in the works, but this time, it will be aimed at a much younger demographic. How much younger? Try Kindergarten and preschool.

This makes me sad for many reasons.

First: Why do preschoolers and Kindergartners need a Star Wars cartoon aimed specifically at them when the movies themselves (4-6, mind you) are widely appealing to all age groups?

I remember watching "A New Hope" before I could tie my shoes. There's nothing really lost in translation there; it's a very simple "Hero's Journey" story which every human innately understands regardless of age, and there's no doubt that young kids would prefer the original movies to this "Jedi Babies" cartoon, which cheapens the original movies and sullies the entire SW canon.

I return the the question: Why do young kids need a Star Wars television show aimed specifically at them? They don't.

George Lucas does.

I'm finding it harder and harder to defend this man, I don't think I can anymore. I'll simply thank the 1977 version of Lucas, shake his hand, tell him how much I appreciate his contribution to my love of Sci-Fi, Filmmaking, and Princess Leia, and be on my merry way. Fast forward to Lucas 1999-Present: Green screens, contrived storylines, terrible dialogue ... Jar Jar... and now this.

Oh, George, why must you put Star Wars out on the corner? Whoring herself out so you can make a couple (million) extra bucks.

Though, I suppose we should have seen it coming.


Final thought: Parents and future parents, I urge you to show your kids the original Star Wars trilogy before they are exposed to anything else SW related. After viewing the originals, they'll be better able to decipher what aspects of the ever-exapanding Star Wars galaxy are True, and what are just wanton attempts to acquire cash.



[I drove to New York, in a van, with my friend]

Up... is Down?

Yesterday, I tweeted a promise that I would expound upon a preposterous idea; An insane notion; A crazy hypothesis.

What if gravity suddenly, and without warning, reversed itself? Instead of pulling us towards the ground, it would propel us with as much force towards the heavens.

Apocalypse, right? I know, it totally would be.

Here's the sitch: I've been mulling this scenario over in my head for years now (I'm not a paranoid, I just get bored a lot during class) and I figure the key to survival is a simple matter of right place, right time (and backflips, more on that later). For instance, if you're anywhere outside, you're in for quite the ride with the end most likely occurring due to hypothermia or asphyxiation caused by being propelled straight into the ionosphere.

So, that brings us to tip #1: Stay indoors.

But even the great indoors can be hazardous to your survival chances. Say you're in some grand building, the Mall, for instance, well, look up at the ceiling. Imagine climbing up a ladder to change one of those light bulbs, or squeegie one of those beautiful skylights. Pretty scary, right? That's a long way up. It would also be a very long way down if the gravity were to suddenly flip-flop.

So, tip #2: When indoors, make sure the ceilings do not exceed 10 feet.

Granted, that may be a hard tip to follow, after all, the Mall can be a pretty happenin' place, but you'll just have to do without it if you want to survive. You just have to decide how important your safety is to you. Besides, the shut-in lifestyle can be very rewarding. Think of all the facebooking you can accomplish!

However, even a 10 foot fall onto your head is enough to paralyze, if not kill you. You may want to go ahead and layer your ceilings with a thick foam so as to reduce then impact to your skull. In fact, it may even be a good idea to pad the walls and the floors too. You never know what could happen.

Tip #3: Don't trust anything that isn't bolted down.

And I mean bolted down. When the gravitational reversal strikes, you have to remember that it wont be just you rocketing towards the sky, but all your stuff as well. My advice would be to make sure that your heaviest items are strapped down good and tight, and you may even want to go so far as to strap some essential items to the ceiling right now for easy access post-apocalypse. It's not weird... It's just being prepared.

So now that you've locked yourself in your house, unable to hear anything happening outside because of the heavy layers of padding, with an oven and refrigerator strapped to the ceiling, you can rest comfortably knowing that you're safe.


And that's what it's all about.

Tip #4: Sit back and enjoy your life, free of danger.


You're welcome


[Instincts are misleading. You shouldn't think what you're feeling]

Well... I guess I'll join...

Good news everyone! The pellmellblog now has its own twitter account! Isn't that great!

Yes, I have sold out.

It's more of an experiment, really. I've been looking for ways to expand my readership seeing as how I started this blog to reach a wide audience. I know what you're thinking, "Well, Stephen, how 'bout you post on a more consistent and frequent basis, oh, and you should cover topics that are actually relevant as well. Don't you have any helpful advice for me or light to shed on a tricky subject? Hey, blog about politics, that's always popular."

Shut up.

That's too hard. It's far easier to boil large, existential subject matter into 140 characters.

All joking aside, I'm going to still maintain this blog and provide the strange, meandering posts that you're used to, but I think that reaching out to the "twitterverse" is the next logical step if I'm to get serious with this blogging business.

So check it out, if you please. On Twitter as ---> pellmellblog

**Update** - I've just added a handy little twitter widget, or "twidget" if you will (you shouldn't), that can be found on the right hand side of this page, just below the blog archive. Just give it a click. It's easy as pie... is pie easy? Sure, Sara Lee pies are pretty easy, but you really shouldn't sacrifice quality for convenience, that is, pie shouldn't be easy, but rather, a labor of love... flaky, golden love filled with ripe fruits and sugar....

cheers,


[No sleep 'till brooklyn]

So Insane

It might be a little to early to tell, but this song is an early finalist for song of the Summer, 2010.

Discovery -- So Insane


[Oh, have I been too discreet? How long am I supposed to wait?]

When This Song Comes On The Radio, I Will Listen To It In Its Entirety... No Matter What.

"Born To Run" is a masterpiece. It cannot be denied. It must not.

Whilst driving to my writing session this afternoon, it came on the radio, and it suddenly hit me: "I would literally not turn this song off for anything. Even if I arrive at my destination in the next five seconds, I will sit in my car until the song finishes."

I don't care what you think about The Boss, "Born To Run" is a modern Epic. It's our Iliad. Pure poetry. American lyricism at its finest. (Too much?)

So, I turn the question to you. What song would you sit in your car for? What song so captures your driving self that it becomes more important than getting to that meeting on time?

Let me know.

"Together, Wendy, we'll live with the sadness

I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday, girl I don't know when, we're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go and we'll walk in the sun
But 'till then tramps like us, baby, we were born to run"

Discoveries on a day home sick.

Say what you want about NPR's news coverage (I'm not saying anything, but if you were to, you could), you can't fault their ongoing efforts to put good music and ground-breaking artists in the spotlight. For real, if you're an appreciator of fine music, there are few pages more addicting than that NPR Music homepage. It's digital crack, I swear.

Perhaps the best feature is that you're actually able to listen to big upcoming releases in their entirety BEFORE THE ABLUM HAS BEEN RELEASED. That's too good to pass up, am I right? I am. Here's some samples:

You may know that there's a new one coming out for Gorillaz, Plastic Beach, which features such artists as Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, and Lou Reed, just to name a few. It's decent, but not as good as there sophomore release, 2005's Demon Days, which was produced by Danger Mouse, of Gnarles Barkely fame (and Grey Album infamy) who is perhaps the best producer in the game today...

Speaking of: maybe you've always wondered what you'd get if you combined Danger Mouse with James Mercer of The Shins... Wish granted. May I introduce you to Broken Bells? May I also add that it sounds great? Peppy beats and Infectious synth work mix with Mercer's homegrown vocals to produce a record that, despite the electronic layers, feels very organic. An album worthy of a road trips and dance parties alike.

And finally, here's another mashup of sorts. Do you like Peter Gabriel? How about Bon Iver? What's that -- both, you say? Well, what if I told you Peter Gabriel recently covered "Flume" by Bon Iver? You'd be ecstatic.... Be ecstatic.


Wow... Lot's of links on this one. Hope you click on them all. Nothing wrong with a little exploration, after all.



[Have I found you, flightless bird?]

Off our axis.

Did yesterday feel about a millionth of a second shorter than it usually is at this time of year?

Blame the Chilean Earthquake.

...maybe.



[just last night I woke with some unconscionable dream]

May the best film win?

I was going to write a post about the movement towards an "Everybody Wins" society and how it's effect could, in fact, lessen the overall quality of culture ... but then I found this brilliant article by Neal Gabler (written for the LA Times) which scores the points of the argument far better than I could have ever hoped to.

It's about the Academy's decision to nominate ten films for "Best Picture" instead of just five.

Below are some of the highlights of the article, of which the full version can be found here.

Read. Digest. Feedback. Cheers.

By letting more films compete for the top trophy, the academy is merely following where others have led. Call it "cultural inflation": a growing number of opportunities for the less deserving to get a taste of ultimate victory, as part of a growing aversion to disappointing anyone.

It wouldn't be the first time that the pursuit of money trumped the pursuit of quality, even in a contest purportedly designed expressly to reward quality. Indeed, one of the defects of capitalism is that it has only one standard of worth: monetary value. Money and excellence are certainly not mutually exclusive, but neither do they necessarily travel hand in hand. When excellence isn't profitable, it usually is usurped by something that is.

...cultural inflation is not only a function of money. It is equally a function of modern democracy. Put simply, people in a democratic society such as ours don't understand why they can't always get what they want. The culture obliges by pandering, which is what the Oscars are doing by expanding the field. It is a form of cultural demagoguery that doesn't dare disappoint people -- the adult equivalent of those children's soccer trophies. In effect, we live in a "panderocracy."

Just as printing more money depreciates its actual worth, cultural inflation depreciates the value of the honor, in the case of the Oscars, or the victory, in the case of sports. In effect, the NCAA and professional leagues have cheapened the championships by expanding the field, though they are savvy enough to realize that so long as the fans are satisfied, no one really cares. Similarly, the motion picture academy may risk tarnishing the Oscar, especially if votes are split and an outlier wins.

What cultural inflation fails to appreciate is that excellence is a moral quality. It isn't, in the end, subject to popularity or money or a sense of personal entitlement. Rather, it is endangered by all three. It is entirely possible that a great film will win the Oscar this year, just as it is entirely possible that the best team will win the Super Bowl, but cultural inflation lengthens the odds, just as it lengthens the odds of our recognizing which is best.

And if the best film or the best team doesn't win, we have no one but ourselves and our desperate need for gratification to blame, should anyone still care enough to assess blame.

[He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans for nobody]

Snippets

Lots of things on the agenda today.

First off, I hate Sydney Crosby, the reasons are wide and varied, and chances are, if you're not Canadian, or from Pittsburgh, or Gary Bettman, you hate him too. Grrrr...

Second off, I'm in the office all day, burnin' DVDs and representin', though, I left my laptop power supply in Traverse, so I'm forced to borrow a friend's for the day.

Third off, I saw Fantastic Mr. Fox last night at the cheap theaters. It's brilliant. Honestly, I'd heard mixed reviews on it, so I didn't know what to expect, and yes, the animation of the fur took some getting used to, but overall, I would recommend this to any of my friends. Smart, funny, undeniably Andersonian, yet, accessible and still a "Kid's movie", but without sacrificing story or a compelling plot to fart jokes and the other ADD tendencies of similar Kids' faire (Pixar excluded). Refreshing. Enjoyable. Definitely worth a purchase.

Fourth off, I was the Production Designer for a short-film, The Lost and Found Shop, which can be viewed here.

Fifth off, last week, I finished up my work on a feature starring 50 Cent... Never thought I'd write that... Lot's of stories from that experience... Most of them surreal....

Sixth off, I love Motown and Soul music. I'm talking 'bout the good stuff -- James Brown, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Four Tops, etc. -- and it's sad to see that this incredible genre has devolved to a bunch of auto-tuned idiots blathering on about clubs, sexual conquests, alchohol, cars, money, themselves, repeat, repeat, repeat.... But this is mostly true of any music genre. Once the record labels get their hands on something genuine and novel, it's only a matter of time before complete commercialization/ bastardization. But Truth, Beauty, and Music are resilient, and like tiny sprouts, they find their way through the cracks in the pavement to usher in a new life and a new generation. Keep plumbing the depths of the sounds, you're bound to find something you like. I guarantee it.

Seventh off, there is nothing more. Have a jolly good day.


[I was a fiend, before I became a teen/ I melted microphones instead of cones of ice cream]