"PUSHING DAISIES"

that is, Pushing Daisies, the television series.
mm. yes, good.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/pushingdaisies/
http://www.youtube.com/user/47alias47?ob=4




ps.
oh yeah, did i mention: PUSHING DAISIES!

Art Truck; Truck Art :: phase one ¡!

with plenty more to come...

'Paint My Truck' Day

Yeehau! ***Completely Uncensored***

Today, August 12th, is 'Paint My Truck' Day.

Once upon a time long ago there was a 'Paint My Buick' Week, but the Buick has since been dead and buried, mourned and... and Now there is a 'Paint My Truck' Day.

Come to participate with so many others on a crazy adventure for all ages. Contribute to this passionate and driven art.

From 12 Noon til Dusk and beyond, my gorgeous matte black canvas of a truck will be at the Black Elk Co-op at 902 Baldwin, Ann Arbor, MI.

Join. Paint. Be merry, and see Joey, who will not be censoring any of the painting. Paint whatever you like.
just do it.

I love you,
Joey

... and this is what i'm doing now...

Art House
http://www.savearthouse.com/

also, i made those website photos.

Fingers Trailer

a short film i worked on in Nashville, Tennessee, during spring break 08.

also, i met the King of Rock & Roll's studio piano.
we got lost in each other's eyes.



... --- it's all about the guitar placement. look for it. --- ...

How come musicians get to have all the fun?

"Bilal's Stand" Trailer One

This film premieres at the Michigan Theatre in April.
I helped make it.
Providing the light including the sun. (among other things)



It will be stellar.

Save Joey

Like most people, I am motivated when what I do is seen and encouraged.
Unlike most people , I need this motivation.
For some recent time, I (namely, my imagination, which is more important to my survival and personality than my brain and heart) has felt like a dead puppy.

Your mission - whether you choose to accept it or not - is to help bring me puppy back from the dead.
This is not a one person job; it is a community effort...
for all those who care about me, I challenge you to tell me what I could/should/(hell, what you would) do.

Joey needs your help.

Perfect from Far Away

I just spent eight days with two of the coolest nieces this side of the moon. It's been the most fun I've had all summer. It's a shame I'll have to go home tomorrow.

Also. I just fell in love with this Sam character in Garden State.


I'm afraid to make a big change because... what if I fuck it up again.
(don't tell me there's no reason to be afraid because I am.

I am.)

Me and Me from This to That

Marla...
the little scratch on the roof of your mouth
that would heal if only you could stop tonguing it,
but you can't.
-Ed Norton, Fight Club, 1999

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm a schizophrenic
And so am I
-Bill Murray, What About Bob?, 1991

From that day on,
we was always together.
Jenny and me was like peas and carrots.
-Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump, 1994

I Love to Make Movies

I just got home from the first of four days of reshooting/additional shooting for a movie I've been helping make for some time. Obviously - or not so much - it is the middle of the night. I still am amidst my fourth wind of the day, so I chose to exclaim about how I loved being on a set again today.

I love being creative. I love to solve the problem of how to make the story look best. I love to make pictures especially when they move.
I love the camaraderie of friends working together on something we enjoy and share a passion for. I love that we do it when many doubt that we can. I love that we do it here and now, in Michigan, as young adults, without hesitation, and because we believe that we've earned the right to do what we do.

I love making movies.
(and i love you.)

Recent Infrequency of Me

.woh...
When I actually get a regular job, keeping up with this all-too-frequent-ness of this story is going to be hard. I take a week("-ish") to mourn the loss of my Buick - which will become a part of this Detroit Dream Project. Then this week I am working on prep and reshooting of some scenes for a film. I am having trouble making time to tell the world about my adventures and thoughts,,, or thoughts and adventures,,, one or the other.
If my life, in fact, becomes all too frequent, I'm afraid this blog will... un-become... it... (all too frequent, that is.)

Will yous miss me more then?

The Buick Is Dead

On Monday, last Monday, I did a bit of work at The Second City in Novi with Amy Duffy, stage manager. I helped her build a new set for the upcoming months. It was fun.
I drove out there in my proud vibrant colorful car of character. Though some of us do not, I know most of us like the Buick... some of us love it.
But on that fateful evening, after I made my way to the car
parked just adjacent to the fancy restaurant patio
for all the rich food eaters to marvel upon,
I found it would not start. This has been a problem for weeks, ever since I returned from my trip out west.

She had trouble starting once on Ann Arbor, but we were able to resuscitate her with help of Mitch from MSU's baby black Beamer.
She had trouble starting once when I stopped at a gas station for a refill. It almost seemed to much for her, but a mechanic helped me revive her.
And then she failed to start again outside The Second City Novi. Amy tried to help me bring her back once more. We tried for a half hour... maybe more. But... but it was hopeless. I had to pull the plug. I couldn't bear hearing her struggle just to crank her engine once. Every turn of the key built a larger frog in my throat. On the verge of tears, I told Amy, "It's over."

I called my father to come help me unload my belongings - the trunk of fun, the Buick paint, the change I kept in her console we would use to pay the occasional parking meter. She would have to carry these burdens no longer.
Before I left her, I painted her over one last time, making sure to tag under her hood and around her interior. I wanted to leave her as pretty as ever.
Now I have.

Her empty shell sits in the rear of a lot in Novi adjacent a barren swamp. As much as I know her soul rests in a better place now, I cannot help but miss our rides together. For my own selfish reasons, I long for her to come back. But she cannot live forever.

Although there is the possibility - perhaps the probability - that what is left of the Buick will become part of a new public sculpture being called The Detroit Dream Project.

Nevertheless our days together are over. Things may never be the same.

I am Lloyd Dobler

I think... that I am Lloyd Dobler.
I just watched 'Say Anything' for the first time today...
and I think it was a mistake..to have never known this story before.

Lloyd is a gentleman.
Everyone trusts Lloyd because he exudes responsibility and confidence, but at times he is nervous or fidgety.
Even when he is unsure of himself, at least he does what he believes in, what he wants.
That Ione Skye has a nice smile. It's big. And happy. And resonates a lot of the same things that Lloyd is.
Lloyd is also hopeless.
Lloyd is also vulnerable.
But he is passionate, persistent...
"I'm not going to meet someone like Diane Court at a kegger."
Lloyd rambles in the same way that I think.
Lloyd makes sacrifices for his friends.
Is Lloyd charming?

Am I Lloyd Dobler?
Maybe I give myself too much credit.
I mean, I'm not a fictional character...
but I think I try to be...
at least, a little bit...
sometimes.

"Nobody really thinks it's going to work..."

David the Distraction

We were trying to work on a photo portfolio. I thought I could use his help or at least his encouragement, but all he wants to do is play games.

David the (Thieving) Gnome... and my wallet

I read the news like it's my job.

Really. I wake up every morning and feel like my day cannot begin without checking up on the world. Perhaps I need to make sure it is taking good care of itself. Do I need to save the day? Or do I just need to know it is safe to go outside?

The News is like my 'Good Morning' cup of coffee... although I hate coffee. It's usually a glass of milk I can't go without. Erases that parched feeling, you know.

In the morning, I always look at (in this order):
** the "Headlines" RSS feed in the Firefox toolbar - usually links to BBC
** CNN.com for straight-to-the-point fact-based news
** NYTimes.com for creative stories I more enjoy reading - if I were biased this is all I would read
** ESPN.com for sports news obviously
Then I link or search to wherever the stories I have read might lead me. Whether it's some new technology, a big game recap, discoveries in space or on Mars (my favorite,) or - what I expect myself to keep up on - art/film news, I always seem to look for something extra to read... especially if what I've read so far seems boring. I wouldn't want to start my day off feeling like the world is going to be boring today.

Today's topics of interest:
** a plastic plane - well... mostly
** the case of the missing lake
** “The Case Against Perfection”
** homeruns bound for "the drink" - I have no idea where I got that from. "The drink?"
** and the biggest annual bicycle race in the world

Naturally I am drawn to the articles with the most photos, or sometimes the prettiest photos. Some of which are just photo essays. Others are friends' blogs, especially when they keep them up-to-date. And sometimes... sometimes it's the facebook that has the best photos of the day. I usually don't even read a story if there isn't at least one picture.

Movie trailers are good to keep up on. I have a special place in my heart for talking robots. Not the lame-ass fictional kind, but more realistic ones.

And often enough, I have a soft place.

Oh. And I always check the weather too. Ann Arbor's, not Westland's, regardless of where I'll be. Dangerously hot today...

I think I'll go play some basketball before I get back to job searching... and law fighting.

Now On... and on

I like these guys.
In June, while I was out in LA working on a documentary, they introduced me to some of the hip-hop scene. (I ran into Andrew Kligier at a show they host, Elevation.)
They let us crash at their place a few nights too. And introduced us to some killer breakfast.
Good people... Now On:
DJ Haircut, IX Lives, and Jackson Perry
           = Drew Cohen, Mike Demps, and Jackson Perry

Broken Stasis

I have a sister.
My sister dates a boy.
This boy is in a band.
The band has four members.
These members are taking active steps to become recognized by an audience that could build them into a working and paid band, a mainstay, a name. And in doing so, they are earning the right to call themselves Broken Stasis.