World’s Best Sideburns

Give ‘em HELL, Eric!

Owen Wilson

Bernie Brillstein on Owen Wilson’s Suicide Attempt 

This Guardian Unlimited story has the best two sentences in journalism history:

Many Hollywood insiders believe Wilson’s setback will be short-lived and that he will continue to enjoy big-screen success. “He’s loved,” Bernie Brillstein, a veteran Hollywood manager who worked with John Belushi and Chris Farley, said Tuesday.

Brillstein continues with more brilliant insights like:

“it’s a singular case. Anyone can have a bad day, a very bad day.”

and . . .

“There is no boundary. This [kind of thing] has happened for years but the press was never so vigilant in reporting bad news.”

Does this guy sell gift certificates for his career management services???

YouTube Revolution?

When it comes to the YouTube Revolution, as some call it, I feel what it has really revolutionized is people’s ability to accept poor image quality and dull content as entertainment worth spending a lot of time consuming. Who knows how this audience will react when you give them world-class content that is free or nearly free. Clearly there is always an audience for junk, but no one can survive on junk alone. I feel what people really like about experiencing YouTube is not its content in and of itself, but rather the ablility to share that content with others. “Look at how cool I am, look what I found and/or created,” is the unspoken mantra underlying every YouTube link you receive. Just check the one below for proof!

Of course this not to say that there is not high-quality content to be found on YouTube. But it certainly didn’t make its name with it! When was the last time you saw something really profound on YouTube? To me, an HD cable box with a DVR inside is a lot more fun and fufilling than YouTube.

It’s interesting to see how the computer and the internet have become a communication tool more like the telephone than the movie theater or TV. I remember in the mid to late 1990’s everyone was predicting how video was going to be the next big thing on the web. But what actually became the next big thing on the web were blogs. Text. No one was predicting that simple writing like I am doing now would become a big thing on the web and affect mainstream media, especially mainstream news media. Did anyone predict blogs? I may be wrong, but I don’t think so. Yet look at the impact blogs have had. And no one saw it coming! Blogs are arguably the single most influential thing on the web. A blogger started the chain of events that led to the U.S. House of Representatives vote to impeach a standing U.S. president. So beware of predictions and those who make them. Surprises will never be obsolete.

I do believe the internet will continue its growth as a way for people to communicate with one another. But until there is a huge increase in internet bandwidth for the home user, to say 1 Gbit/s, I do not see the internet changing fundamentally. And even at those speeds and greater, unless some brand-new form of media is invented, computers and the internet will only then be able to match the media viewing experience of technologies that already exist like HDTV and film. Technologies, it should be noted, that aren’t static and are changing and evolving themselves. I am willing to bet cold hard cash (and in a way actually have) that 70-inch and greater HD flat-screen monitors in the home will cause a sea change in the media consumption habits of people. But of course I may be unpleasantly surprised!

Lest we forget, the only true new form of media that the internet has been able to offer has been websites. Everything else on the web is merely existing media distributed in a new way. So: “Don’t believe the hype, it’s a sequel.”

Mark Cuban Can’t Spell(check)

Dead and Bloated Internet

More On Monica’s Murder

Suspect Charged

Geek Speak: Headphones

Yeah, headphones baby!

So my dog chewed off the plug to my main set of cans, a Sony MDR-V600, and I was forced to buy new headphones after I realized that I could not repair the cable myself. The research for the best new set began. I had three main qualities I needed in these headphones: they had to be under $100, they had to be really good, and they had to be available at a store within a ten minute walk from my studio. Turns out that Tekserve sells cans! They have Sony MDR-7506’s for $99, the same price as at B&H. It’s always good when a store has the same price as B&H. And Tekserve is right around the corner. Mission accomplished.

But why I am writing this is to mention just how good the 7506’s are. I’ve used these headphones before as they are the industry standard studio reference headphones. I always meant to get a set, but I figured the V600’s where good enough to the point where I would not notice the difference. Wrong! I still have another working pair of V600’s as I need two sets, one for home and one for work, so I did the old side-by-side comparison. It’s amazing how different the two are. The V600’s are muddy and wet against the 7506’s, whose brilliance and clarity is amazing. You hear everything. With the 7506’s you get this nice flat response where no one frequency is favored. I never realized just how bass-heavy the V600’s are. It’s all mud covering up all the good stuff. The 7506’s are so nice and true that you can hear things in tracks that you NEVER heard before. Things like: the artist’s breathing, guitar pick noise against the strings, doubled vocal tracks that you always thought were single, and all sorts of fine nuances in the layering of tracks like very subtle panning and flanging. In fact these cans are almost too good as MP3’s of low and even normal quality sound like ass. You really need to replace all your MP3 files with nice fat ones if you are going to use a pair of headphones like these. Sure there are even better headphones out there (think Ultrasone) but none can make this claim: there’s a really good chance that MDR-7506’s were used in the recording and mixing process (when headphones were called for) of the music you are listening to, more so than with any other set of headphones. So why not listen to this music as the artists, producers, and engineers did when they were making it?

The only thing is that the form factor of the V600’s is definitely more comfortable than the 7506’s. That is not to say the 7506’s are uncomfortable per se, it’s just that the V600’s are better if you ask me. (But these 7506’s are far more comfortable than their main competition, Sennheiser HD-280’s.) Of course, my V600’s are old and entirely broken in to the shape of my head. The new set still feels a little clampy, if you know what I mean. The 7506’s are definitely of better build quality, with far less plastic parts than the V600’s. And all that plastic tends to creak and squeak, and transmit more cable knocking noises like a bad stethoscope. This may seem like a nit-pick, but when you use headphones to QC audio, it’s a real issue. Many parts of the 7506’s are held in place with bonafide screws! And they came with an exploded parts diagram, something that I thought was a goner in the disposable age we live in.

Anyway, I could not be more happy with the Sony MDR-7605’s. Good stuff. Get yourself a set if you need great, affordable cans. One caveat: you may find yourself listening to all your music all over again!

Suspect Caught!

Monica’s Murder: Suspect Held And Questioned

helmsford Independent 1

Chelmsford Independent 2

Lowell Sun

Rest in peace Monica.

Amber Lee, the Obama Girl!

In King Magazine . . .

On uTube . . .

knew her when . . .

Video Schooling

Today a producer I work with asked me to draw up some video guidlines for cameramen to follow when shooting video that is to be used on network television news. You’d think anyone with pro-caliber equipment would already know this stuff. But not all do. Here’s what I came up with:

Guidelines to Cameramen and Videographers for ENG Shoots

Due to the ever-changing nature of video and video cameras in the digital age, and due to the varied experiences of cameramen and videographers, it has become necessary to outline some basic guidelines regarding video shoots. If you have any questions about anything before or during the shoot, please ask. Please allow the producers to be involved in decisions regarding the look of the video. If the following guidelines are not followed, you risk full or partial forfeiture of your fees.

For standard definition shoots, ALWAYS shoot NTSC 4×3 interlaced video at 30 frames per second (60 interlaced fields per second). DO NOT shoot 16×9 or progressive video unless asked to do so.

For high definition shoots, ALWAYS shoot NTSC video at 1080/60i and frame for 4×3. DO NOT shoot progressive unless asked to do so.

It is worth repeating a third time: DO NOT shoot progressive unless asked to do so!

Never shoot 24p or at 24 frames per second.

Never use “cine-mode” or any other film look camera setting.

Never use a high or low shutter speed. 1/60 of a second is perfectly fine.

Bring enough lighting equipment to be able to shoot at a normal camera gain setting.

A nine-inch (or larger) broadcast-quality interlaced monitor must be at all shoots. All cameras on set must be able to be viewed on this monitor.

Audio is to be continuously monitored by someone with headphones. This can be the cameraman.

When performing a camera move, hold the starting and ending compositions still for at least five seconds each.

Pause the camera when recomposing it between shots.

Breaks in timecode are to be kept to a minimum.

Use a tripod. Handheld shooting is to be avoided at all cost. If handheld shooting will be necessary due to the nature of the subject, always use a shoulder mountable camera, or mount your camera on a shoulder brace.

During a two-camera interview shoot, the second camera must be locked down on a wide-shot. This camera is NEVER to be recomposed during the interview: no zooms, pans, tilts, etc.

During a two-camera shoot, both cameras must be of the same make and model, must be set identically, and must have matching timecode. No exceptions without prior approval.

During an interview, never set focus, change iris setting, or otherwise adjust the camera while the interviewee is speaking. Make these changes when the interviewer is asking a question. Or else ask the producer to hold the action so the camera can be adjusted.

Always have interviewees say and spell their name on camera. If applicable, have them say their company or institution name and their title on camera as well.

All phones, cellphones, pagers, fax machines, etc. must be set to not ring during the shoot. This includes EVERYONE on set, including: crew, producers, agents, talent, and interviewees.

Always shoot in SP mode when shooting miniDV. (LP mode is unacceptable.)

Always acquire 48kHz 16-bit audio when audio is recorded digitally. (32kHz 12bit audio is unacceptable.)

Always acquire at least 15 continuous seconds of quality room-tone for all interior locations.

All on-camera interviewees must each have their own lavalier mics on their person.

Wired lavalier mics are to be used during sit-down interviews.

Wireless lavalier mics are only to be used when on-camera talent is going to be walking or otherwise moving around. Sennheiser wireless lavalier mics and receivers are the only acceptable brand to use on these shoots.

DVCAM or DVCpro25 is always to be used instead of miniDV with cameras that have the option to shoot in these modes.

Always use the highest quality, professional grade tape stock. Sony, Panasonic, and FujiFilm are the only acceptable brands.

When shooting HDV, indicate it on the tape label.

When shooting DVCpro25, DVCpro50, and/or DVCproHD indicate which format you are shooting in by writing it on the tape label no matter what color the tape lid is.

Do not use flash drive or hard drive storage media to record a camera signal without prior notification and approval from the producer.

Keep in mind, this is electronic news gathering, not independent filmmaking. Video that looks like video is what is desired. Trying to emulate film is not the assignment.

Apple goes nuts?

Apple has “released” its “new” version of iMovie, iMovie ‘08. It sucks. Even Pogue hates it. Ditch iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and move to real video editing software from Avid. They even have a free ($0) program, Avid Free DV which kicks iMovie’s ass.

Avid vs. Final Cut Pro, why Avid Media Composer is better than Apple Final Cut Pro:

It’s a mature product with about two decades of updates and R&D behind it.

Avid makes all their own break-out-boxes.

Avid has superior customer support with 24/7 toll-free phone support.

With MC you can mix resolutions, HD and SD, within the same project. Not so with FCP. With MC you can also do a SD downconvert output while simultaneously outputting HD all in realtime. And this SD stream can be set to reformat the HD aspect ratio by either letterbox, anamorphic, or center-cut means.

MC has world-class video codecs, especially for HD, and has for a long time. FCP’s HD codecs for anything beyond HDV are a joke. With MC, you can transcode your HDV footage up to a stable, professional HD codec that can withstand heavy, multi-layerd compositing and its subsequent rendering – at manageable data transfer rates too. (HDV, while nice and used by pros quite often, is a consumer video standard and employs a heavy amount of lossy MPEG2 encoding and poor color sampling.)

MC has more realtime video effects and options. FCP’s realtime capabilities are really bad. It’s almost like Apple is using a totally different definition for realtime than Avid and the rest of the post-production industry.

The MC user interface has more buttons and is more customizable than FCP. The FCP user interface looks like a toy’s when compared to MC’s. With FCP, there’s like, nothing to click!

Once your footage is digitized in MC, you’re ready to edit, there’s no other processing or rendering required.

With MC, outputting back to tape requires less, if any, prep work or rendering. Almost everything, even lowly DV video over FireWire, has to rendered before output with FCP. How do you meet deadlines with that step looming over your head? I guess there are no FCP systems in newsrooms.

MC has better video effects and compositing and titling right in the program. You’ll use Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects far less often, enhancing your creativity and efficiency.

You can color-correct right in MC without having to launch another application and do any importing and exporting.

MC has infinitely superior media management over FCP. FCP media management is a joke. It really is. Honest. Take it from everyone who has used both applications.

MC has Script-Mode editing. FCP has nothing like this. And never will since Avid holds a patent on this technology.

MC has ScriptSynch editing. FCP has nothing like this. And never will since Avid holds a patent on this technology.

In MC, keycodes and foot/frame numbers are all managed within the application, no need to use any other program or any third party plugin(s).

I’m not 100% sure about this one, but I do not think you can import FlexFiles from telecine directly into FCP. I know you can in MC.

FCP has really lousy keyframing in its effects toolset. You cannot even cut-and-paste a keyframe. Just how the hell do you edit without that ability???

FCP lacks any sort of fluid motion in its motion effect capability.

MC’s Multicam feature is far more reliable than FCP’s.

FCP and Apple offer no centralized and shareable media storage for multiple system users, and migrating from one FCP sytem to another is a real pain in the ass. Avid has made all of this simple and reliable. Okay, well, simple and reliable once you know what you are doing!

You can run MC on PCs and Macs. FCP is Mac only.

I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!

I finally figured out why George Bush wants to continue the war in Iraq forever. It’s the executive privilege that comes with being a president-at-war! You know, all that cool stuff like wire-tapping, military tribunals, and torture!! Who would wanna give that stuff up? If done right, you can really add some spice to your social life with those things.

Bush to Cheney: “Hey Dick, maybe you wouldn’t have so many heart attacks if you’d stop ordering Domino’s with extra cheese every night at midnight. You didn’t think I knew about that, huh? Wire-tapped your ass, Dick, gotcha!”

Bush to Jenna: “Stay off the drugs or I’ll lock your skinny ass up in Guantanamo. Don’t forget, I’m the decider!”

Bush to Laura: “Wanna do a little Abu Ghraib reenactment in the Lincoln bedroom tonight?”

With his approval ratings so low, Bush has got to have something to impress his friends with.

Vick’s a Dick

What’s up with Michael Vick? This guy is an NFL quarterback. What was he thinking? Was he sitting around saying: “This NFL paycheck just doesn’t make ends meet, how can I get a little something goin’ on the side? I know, a dogfight gambling ring should bring in some extra cash!” Here’s some million-dollar legal and PR advice: cop a plea and disappear. Douchebag.

“Wazzunt me.”

Rove’s out!

In the Bush administration’s favorite technique of preemptive war, Carl Rove resigns before the Democrats can string him up by his toes! Will Democrats reduce their attacks on Gonzales? Who will Rove start working for now? Will Bush’s favorability ratings now climb? Or will the marionette fall to the floor without it’s string-puller? My belief is that Rove will still counsel the president, he simply won’t be on the payroll! Brilliant strategic move by these guys, too bad they cannot run the Iraqi war with the same skill.

Got $350?

JSQ to G-street

Jersey City: Journal Square versus Downtown

The Slow Journey from Ward C to E

I’ve been living in Jersey City since 2001, mostly in the Journal Square area. The Marion section, to be precise. I moved there August 1, 2001. Yep one month before 9/11, what a tragedy. If I had moved two months later, my rent would have been half as much! Journal Square is the only place where my rent actually went down one year. It was only 25 bucks, but damn, when has that happened? It was like “yeah, it sucks here, but you’re white, so would you please consider staying?” But after five good years I said fuck it, and recently moved to the Downtown area of Jersey City to be with my people: hipster dilettante posers! I never figured out why the Downtown area is called Downtown, I mean it’s in the northeast corner of the city. Greenville is downtown. The Heights is called The Heights ‘cause it’s north and up on a hill. So what’s up with Downtown?

Anyway, I have a few initial observations and comparisons between the two areas, Journal Square and Downtown. First off, it took a little getting used to all the friendly people walking around Downtown. There’s way too much gentrification going on here, not enough crotchety old men to curse at you in Italian. The nice people of Downtown will often look you in the eye and nod and say “hey” as they pass you on the sidewalk. In JSQ, we avoid making eye contact altogether. And if you do, you never say “hey”, you say “why you gotta be like that?” or “fuck you man!” or “what’s up baby!” And people say “what kind of dog is that?” Downtown, not “does your dog bite?” Weird.

I prefer the JSQ PATH station to the Grove Street station. It’s bigger, brighter, and has more QuickCard machines. But it’s exposed to the elements, so I guess Grove will be better come winter. Plus there’s no hill to climb.

Aesthetically speaking, DT has JSQ beat hands down. The architecture of JSQ sucks. You can’t beat all the brownstones of DT. And there are a lot more trees DT. I don’t even mind all the high-rise condos that are popping up DT, for looks anyway.

Location wise, DT has JSQ beat too. That PATH leg from Grove to JSQ is longer that you think! Plus DT you are closer to the waterfront and Liberty State Park. Hamilton and Van Vorst parks are great too. I dig the dog run in VV Park, even if it is kinda small. I swear everyone in the dog run is gay: the men, the women, the dogs, even the married couples and pregnant ladies. It’s true: male dogs are humping other male dogs all the time, female dogs engage in 69 with each other. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! There are more, but not many more, bars and restaurants DT. But they are all nicer than what’s around JSQ. JSQ has better drugstores and more open-all-night business though. Both neighborhoods score equal on Turnpike access.

Culturally DT takes the cake again. There is no culture in JSQ. Except for the Loew’s, which is quite a prize. (The Stanley looks nice outside, but don’t go in there!) And well there’s Little India too, so I guess there is some culture. Also there’s an Islamic center or two around JSQ, which comes in handy when planning your skyscraper bombings. The beer is cheaper but the selection worse in JSQ. And the wine selection is horrid. Socially DT has a lot going on. (See the Rock-it Docket.) Before living in Jersey City, I lived in just about every neighborhood in Manhattan over the course of nearly nine years. I also lived in Astoria and on Long Island for a while. Nowhere have I seen a better, more cohesive and lively social scene than in Downtown Jersey City. And I’m not talking about the bar scene at all, as one might imply when discussing the social scene of a city (think Hoboken). A neighborhood has to have something good going on if the band Interpol decides to live there. Jealous Williamsburg/Greenpoint? JC’s got all the hipness of Williamsburg and even more chromium than Greenpoint. That’s our slogan.

Oddly, I felt safer in JSQ. Maybe because I was out of my demographic and totally anonymous there. The token white boy: invisible. I’d leave the front door open on hot summer nights and sometimes forget to shut it when I went to bed. Never did I feel like I’d taken my life in my hands when I did that. You never heard about muggings on the block in JSQ. Sure there would be a shooting or two every now and then, but at least you’d see it coming and/or had it coming. Muggers are sneaky fucks. Nothing worse than getting mugged by a twelve-year-old with a butter knife. Also, I had a driveway in JSQ and never had to worry about my car. Well, actually I had to worry about it getting hit by a cricket ball or bat from the kids that would play street-cricket. I think the kids used my car as a base, or a wicket, or some such thing. I lived on a dead-end street, which in an urban area doubles as a sports stadium for kids. Three of my friends had cars stolen Downtown, and I must admit I feel just a touch concerned about it too. But I don’t drive a Honda, so maybe I’m okay. The alternate side of the street parking doesn’t suck as bad as I thought, you just can’t oversleep. That little Parking Authority scooter cracks me up. It’s like a golf cart and a Vespa had a baby. I’m tempted to tip it over and see if the guy inside can get out, or if he’ll be forced to do a David Blaine man-in-a-lucite-box type of escape. Hopefully.

All in all, I’m glad I made the move. I’m still in the honeymoon phase; it feels like I’m on vacation. Sort of.

Oh yeah, Downtown cost more. A lot more. But still less than Manhattan!

Brooklyn cyclone

A Tree Falls In Brooklyn

Who’s your daddy, Google Maps?

Hollywood! (No, not my dog.)

Make your own!

Jitterbug

Hey!

Have you heard of the Jitterbug cellphone? It’s a cellphone designed for the elderly. It’s simple and only works as a phone; no camera, texting, surfing, email, etc. They have a one-touch, three-button speed-dial model shown here:

These things are proving to be even more popular than the iPhone! Celebrities, politicians, agencies, and others are all rushing to have their very own one-touch custom Jitterbug made just for them. In a SynFlux scoop, we’ve been able to snag a few pics of some of these Jitterbugs that have been shipped. Check ‘em out:

Makes you want you’re very own!

Clever video

This video is clever.