inspiration to the n-th degree

I just spent the better part of last weekend [and quite a few evenings last week too], watching a wide variety of videos and films and assorted media at the 20th Annual Dallas Video Festival.

Even from the first screening, I got that same old feeling of “Hey, I could do that. I could make a film. A short one of course, but yeah, I could do it.” So now I have burned into my mind a long list of images, sounds and ideas that were are dying to pop up fully formed as the next brilliant video. Or film. Or doc. (That’s inside-lingo-talk for documentary, donchaknow?)

Can I say the 2 pieces that have stuck with my the past few days couldn’t be more opposite. One’s a slow, quiet deep-dive into the making of a Steinway piano [review in local paper] and the other was 3 clips which preview a gritty, down-on-the-ground and terrifying look at the forgotten war in Afghanistan, and the soldiers fighting it. The Forgotten War [(Scott Kesterson)]

I would love to see Note by Note again (the lush, visually stimulating story of pianos) – yes it was that good. In a former life, filmmaker was a graphic designer. >> about the filmmaker

And I am of two minds about Scott’s work – I really do mywant to see the piece when it’s all finished, but I don’t know if I can watch that so-very-up-close-and-personal look at war. Man’s inhumanity to man is more than tough to watch. Not sure that I can stomach it. I feel squeamish even now just thinking about it. >> about the filmmaker

odeo still a bit of a mystery

So I did finally get some audio posted; it took me quite a while to figure it out. It seemed that one audio file had to be uploaded again and again until it finally was playable. Don’t have a clue as to why.

But what I really wanted to post was the odeo player. Like this. I’ll just keep working on it…

2 resources that often focus on artists

I regularly listen to my car radio when commuting to and from my day job. And more often than not, I tune in to NPR (National Public Radio).

So if I am lucky over the weekend, I am always pleased when I catch these 2 shows.

“Get inside the Creative Mind” on Studio 360
– and –
TTBOOK means To The Best of Our Knowledge.

Design for the Real World is a great series on S360 and one story that stands out is this one about Tract Houses. When I heard it originally, I wondered what Dean Terry would think of the fan of the suburbs.

And then just when I was thinking of my far-away friend who IM’s me regularly (it’s my opportunity to brush up on my IM-speak) and so this book review caught my ear.

and here it is on TTBOOK.

I found this to be HI-larious

Found this on the new-and-improved delicious site: Don’t download

And if you’re just too-too exhausted and can’t possibly be bothered to click the link above to get there, I will try to post it to Odeo over the weekend. It’s an experiment so I can figure out how to post my first composition in GarageBand.