SETIstars: SETI Institute Using Crowdfunding
Yesterday’s post about SETI was in the works since last week. Soon after it went live, I found out about SETIstars, the SETI Institute’s effort to raise $200,000 so they can get the Allen Telescope Array out of hibernation and … Continued
The SXSW Film Festival Bag!
As mentioned in last week’s post, here’s the bag Robert Darden sent me, full of groceries. It was part of his SXSW swag and, generous soul that he is, he gave it to me. In my thank-you e-mail I wrote: … Continued
John Muir, Always Quotable.
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. Muir was talking about the natural world, but I like to think this applies to many things, including film editing. One … Continued
What Makes Me Happy? Gifts from You!
Recently, a person who wishes to remain anonymous made a generous contribution to A Life’s Work, and to show my gratitude I sent Anonymous a DVD of my short films and some other things. The cycle of thanks continued when … Continued
The Other Subject – An Etruscan Expert? A Clip
I had an idea early on that I wanted to include someone trying to decipher an ancient language; code breaking, essentially. I researched and discovered that Etruscan was one of these undeciphered languages. Etruscan. Tuscany. My ancestors. Very exciting stuff. … Continued
Why Is This Pinned to My Corkboard? Part 4
I came across this excellent blog post, Developing Your Creative Practice: Tips from Brian Eno by Scott McDowell. There’s a nice paragraph about a tool Mr. Eno uses: Oblique Strategies cards, a series of prompts modeled after the I Ching … Continued
How Do You Know When You’re Done?
I met Josephine Crawford, artist, one time Arcosanti resident, and A Life’s Work supporter, via the wonderful world of Facebook. We’ve had interesting exchanges over the course of our friendship, mostly via the FB comments. She left the first comment … Continued
Is Production Really Over?
Documentary filmmakers frequently encounter a dilemma: how do you know when to say, “production is over.” You can always shoot more, especially now with video. For Grey Gardens, a film I reference frequently, the Maysles shot more than 70 hours … Continued
Ask the Filmmaker and He Asks the Magic 8 Ball
Dear Filmmaker, Do you know what your next project will be? Curious in Caldwell. Dear Curious, Yes, I do. Thanks for asking. David in New York City. … Okay, I don’t usually reveal future projects but I consulted my Magic … Continued
You’re not getting older, you’re getting better!
Thirty years ago, I used to be able to play this fairly well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTnLcOYEGE Not as well as Maestro Segovia. I mean, come on, he’s Segovia! And not as fast, either. Segovia is playing this monstrously fast. But I played … Continued