9/2/10

Did Obama really say, during his Mission Accomplished speech, that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was to "disarm a state"? Did he really go on to nearly praise the traitorous criminal George Bush? Maybe they'll go on the road (ala Clinton/Bush Sr.) for their Rewrite History tour.

8/31/10

I just realized that next April I'll be 666 months old - the  birthday of the beast.

8/30/10

My impressionistic view of the Mexican border town of Algodones.

8/26/10

Ominous weather in Spokane right now. Reminds me of Firestorm '91 (not a heavy metal concert, but what seemed at the time an actual storm of fire). Temp in the Eighties. Sustained winds of 35 to 40. Smoke and dust and strange colors choking the sky.

8/25/10

An amazing (but unintended) psychological experiment is being conducted right now in that mine in Chile where a group of trapped miners will have to spend at least 90 days before being rescued. Can you imagine being trapped with the people you work with? 

8/3/10

Keeping the revered art of arm chomping alive at Mootsys Tavern.

8/1/10

Because of the Chelsea Clinton/Marc Mezvinsky wedding, look for a Clinton grandchild within a year. But, if the ex-Prez offers you a cigar - DON'T TAKE IT!

7/29/10

A researcher from John Hopkins reported that he has found hidden images of a brain stem and spinal cord in Michelangelo's depiction of God in the famous Sistine Chapel painting. Across town, motel workers found the image of Mary in a squished Hostess Twinkie. 

7/28/10

So the US government can't account for for 8.7 BILLION dollars supposedly spent in Iraq, but they know for sure that I owe $370 in back taxes? I'm thinking they'll recover neither.

7/5/10

Jesse and I have fun with firearms on Fourth of July morning.

6/30/10

Welcome to Earth John Jude Darley. TEN POUNDS, 22 inches. Granddude number five. Texan number two. The team is now composed of Hazel, William, Bella, Jack, John. That's an infield. Right field's on deck. Put's things into perspective. 

6/29/10

And then a loud whoosh! and . . .

6/28/10

Besides the monumental acts of rudeness, the body fluid soaked streets, and the gunfire, the real tragedy of Hoopfest is that these thousands of brain-damaged people come to our city and breed like chimpanzees, creating even more Hoopfestered creatures, and perpetuating the madness for decades to come.

6/25/10

Chef Dave with Kitchen Confidant. 

6/22/10

If, on my last post, you would replace "bit Fellini's boompole" with "chomped Sofia Coppola's matte box," I would be much appreciative. Sorry for any inconvenience.

6/21/10

All of our ideas bit Fellini's boompole and we ended up not submitting anything to the film contest. Still had fun failing though.

6/18/10

Tonight is the beginning of the summer version of North by Northwest's 48 Hour Film Contest. Wish us luck!

6/14/10

 Here's our "mind blowing" promo for the Summer 48 Hour Film Contest.

6/13/10

I explore the Great Salt Flats in northwest Utah.

6/9/10

I realize there are no thirteens in Las Vegas.

6/6/10

I'm baaaa-aaack...

5/24/10

I'm about to set out for parts unknown. 

For the next two weeks, I'll be updating my Facebook but not OtherSpokane.com 'cause it's a hassle to do it from my iPhone. 

5/20/10

Last night. Outside my living room window.

5/19/10

First, California boycotts Arizona. Yesterday, Arizona - whose power plants provides one fourth of Los Angeles' gluttonous electrical needs - threatened to pull the plug in retaliation. MAYBE THEY'LL DECLARE WAR ON EACH OTHER! I'm sorry, but this level of surreal potentiality excites me greatly.

5/17/10

 
Jesse checks out the 
2010 Lilac City Tattoo convention. 
I follow along with a camera.

5/16/10

Ledger is my favorite float in the Armed Forces Torchlight Parade.

5/15/10

Tonight is the Armed Forces Torchlight Parade, Spokane's annual glorification of militarism. The theme is - believe it or not - FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. This misleading, ridiculous slogan - which was first popularized while we were invading a non-threatening, sovereign country - is a slap in the face to Thomas Jefferson who wrote that people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That means free.

5/14/10

The innovative band The Hold Steady was on The Colbert Report last night. I saw them at The Big Dipper last October. Scroll down to 10/22/09 to read my mini-review.

5/12/10

5/6/10

Bankers of the world repent, or come up with a real good disguise. 
Greece is the word.
_____

When KXLY local news reported on the Picasso painting - "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" -that sold for a record 106.5 million, they actually put black bars over the "naughty parts."

5/4/10

The band Black Happy will reunite in Spokane, Friday, August 6, at The Knitting Factory. The band graced the cover of issues #1 and #8 of The Scene Magazine in the early '90s. We should schedule a Scene reunion on Saturday for any non-deceased, non-incarcerated ex-Scene editors, writers and artists. Yes? No?
_____

Did you see the video of the kid getting tasered during the Phillies game? This is what we've become: tasers of children - which can and does kill people - for good ol' non-threatening, American rambunctiousness. Local newsreaders all made light of this, saying things like "Guess he won't be doing that again." Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic.

5/3/10

All it would take is a few altered traffic cones and tens of thousands of Bloomsday runners would tumble into the Spokane river like lemmings. I'm surprised nobody's thought of this before.

5/2/10

Spokane would be more tolerable today if you could get all 50,000 Bloomsdayers to dress up like zombies.

5/1/10

Happy May Day, comrades! 

To celebrate this overlooked holiday, may I suggest two films about the wild man of philosophical theory: the eminent Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek. "Zizek" explores his eccentric personality and esoteric work in general (much of it drifting far over my humble head). But in particular, I highly recommend "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema" - his interpretation of David Lynch, Hitchcock, the Marx brothers, and more, from a psychoanalytical, Marxist, pie-in-your-face perspective. A true intellectual maverick.  

4/29/10

I'd believe the whole 2012 scenario if it was 10 or 12 years away.

4/26/10

This should scare the hell out of you. Yet another ridiculous report from KXLY news: Kids Go to Prison to Learn a Lesson.
_____

Here's an experiment I did yesterday with time lapse, fast motion and unruly editing. 

4/25/10

Only a cook would see the irony in the fact that recipes for Puttanesca call for extra virgin olive oil.

4/24/10

I just watched "Naboer," (English title: Next Door) a Norwegian, erotically charged, psychological thriller by Pål Sletaune. The protagonist, John, becomes acquainted with his super hot neighbors who seem to know way too much about him. It becomes clear that he is victim to a twisted game. Maybe. "Naboer" received an over-18 rating (essentially an X), which has been issued to only four other films in the history of Norwegian cinema.

4/23/10

Am I unduly freaking out about this report from KXLY news? Read my comments at the bottom of the page.

4/22/10

You know, the thing that bugs me about Earth Day is this: We'll buy Earth a present made in some sweat shop in Indonesia, spew mega-carbon getting it to us, wrap it in paper with multi-images of Bugs Bunny planting a tree which will end up in a landfill, and ultimately Earth will end up re-gifting to Neptune or Pluto. Still, happy Earth Day. I guess.

4/21/10

The Balch-man is back! Check out the book from my friend and former Scene magazine collaborator, Darren Balch, rock photographer extraordinaire. Scrape up some cash; there's room on your coffee table.

4/19/10

Just watched a wonderful movie: Special (Specioprin Hydrochloride), about a humdrum dude who takes an experimental antidepressant and realizes he has "special powers." Some people might argue that this is not a great film because of some script problems, but it's not enough to deter this excellent story, good acting, and inspired filmmaking. An unknown Indy gem. This is why I love cinema.

4/16/10

Shots from The Great Tax Day Tea Party Party 2010:

God Bless America.

I might disagree. But I saw just as many "wackos" at the Anarchist march or the Cheney protest.

My favorite of the bunch.

 

Family photo.

 

How can you not want to party with her?

 

Or her?

 

"Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: 
 fight against them that fight against me."



Itch.



Evidence of Obama's job creation.

 

Fashion statement.

Talk is cheap.

Yes, sir.

 

Yes, ma'am.

Yes, indeed.

(More photos on my Facebook page.)

4/14/10

Re: Yesterday's photo. 

Yes, it's an actual art exhibit in downtown Spokane. But someone scratched out "-erflies" at the end of "butt." The art team, "Boys Who Like Butterflies," is working with Lutheran Community Services, Odyssey Youth Center and Partners with Families and Children on this exhibit about gender and sexual violence.

So, that clears it up, right?

4/13/10

4/12/10

Wow! Where did this guy come from? Check out this episode of The Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC. The banking scam explained. He essentially calls Alan Greenspan the world's biggest criminal. (I wonder how Ratigan gets along with co-worker, Andrea Michell, NBC's Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and wife of Alan Greenspan?)
_____

Later today I'm playing the part of "Man Reading Paper," for something Jesse's shooting. Sounds like yet another thing I'll have to beg him not to put online so to prevent future death threats.

4/11/10

Bizarre timeline:

August 2008: A top Russian general warns that U.S. missiles near Polish/Russian border  "won't go unpunished."

January 2010: Poland agrees to deploy U.S. missile on Polish/Russian border. 

April 2010: Polish plane crashes near Russian border, killing nearly 100 of Poland's elite politico, including the president and his wife, the army chief of staff, the navy chief commander, and heads of the air and land forces.  Russian soldiers arrive at the scene minutes after the crash. Putin personally takes charge of the investigation.

April 2010: U.S./Russia sign treaty to cut nuclear weapons.

4/9/10

Just watched an amazing movie called "Funny Games," with Naomi Watts and Tim Roth. It seeks to challenge the way we look at violence in cinema. It's extremely violent; yet it's not. It's an excellent script; yet it's not. The acting is great; yet it's not. I really liked the movie, except that I hated it. I never want to see it again; yet I'm gonna watch it again right now. I'll let you know what I re-think. Or not.

4/8/10

dewD wrote:

Giant Fetus walks into a bar with a steering wheel in his pants. The bartender says, “Hey, Giant Fetus, why do you have a steering wheel in your pants?” and Giant Fetus says, “I don't know but it’s driving me nuts.”
_____

I returned:

Giant Fetus lives a long, happy life so he takes his wife to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. Next day he's telling his friend about how great it was: excellent food, phenomenal prices, wonderful service. Naturally his friend asks the name of this amazing restaurant.

"The name?," says Giant Fetus. "Ah... Um... Oh, dang. Okay, what's the name of that one flower, it's really pretty, smells really good, and has thorns on the stem?"

"A rose?" says his friend.

"Oh, yeah. Hey, Rose, what's the name of that restaurant?"

4/6/10 

I heard from my old friend, dewD. Here's some background.
Warning: What follows is an actual letter.

Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik:

Long time no taco. Say, have you see Pan’s Labyrinth? He left it around here somewhere. Seriously, a good film for you to add to your list of documentaries. Others should include The Piano, China Syndrome, The Late Great Planet Earth, and Debby Does Dallas (have you ever seen this film – perhaps one of the most referenced?). I hear they’re combining the remake of DDD with No Country for Old Men. Seriously, I don’t care what you say, Cormac McCarthy is a freaking genius – I am reading The Road at this point.

During fueled conversation amongst FaceBook chatters, I somehow was designated as the “guy who holds the candle for Obama,” even though, as one chatter acknowledged, I “appear to be a libertarian kind of socialist”. BTW, I am also a large reptile that eats dinosaurs. The take home message? I feel your pain. I have come to the conclusion that Obama is merely Richard Nixon without the Watergate mess. The guy is so damned moderate, he’s almost an extreme moderate. I think the “Right” in the country have gone so far right they’re over the edge. For example, would a good libertarian (or even a conservative) want legal or illegal wiretapping? For some reason the Right in this country have all become the right-wing nutjobs they snickered at all along the way. Eagerly they give up their rights and vote for tax breaks for the extremely wealthy, labeling any benefit for themselves or the rest of us as socialist. The everlasting battle for the hearts and minds of men, is the way Chomsky put that. It has everything to do with corporate media. Who says you can’t fool most of the people all the time?

dewD

_____

I responded:

dewwwwwwwwD,

If eons were burritos it's been a Juarez Gut Bomb since I've seen you. How's it fan-danglin'? BTW, you forgot to include in your recommended documentary list: Bambi, all blacksploitation films and Saving Ryan's Privates (another classic).

I've been thinking a lot about Giant Fetus lately, so I wrote this story about him: Giant Fetus takes to chewing tobacco and eventually becomes the evil dictator of the world. As it turns out, these two guys are really pissed off and decide to kill him. They know that Giant Fetus drives through this one particular intersection every day at 1:30 pm, without fail. So the two guys finalize their plan, synch their watches, set up their assault rifles, rig the explosives, sharpen their machetes, etc., etc. Next day, 1:30 comes and no Giant Fetus. Then 2:15 - no Giant Fetus. 5:00 -  no Giant Fetus. Finally the one guy turns to the other and says, "Gee, I hope he's okay."

Anyway, I told you that story to make this point about Obama: at least he's not some evil, dictatorial, tobacco/spit dripping Giant Fetus who's not on time.

Stik

[Editor's note: dewD did a comic for The Scene Magazine called Giant Fetus. Very psychedelic, yet astonishingly poignant.] 

4/2/10

April Fools! The Kepler's Jazz Club sign was put up when a movie was shot at the Otis Hotel. Also, I didn't really have 1.2 trillion web hits last month. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

4/1/10

Past history revealed at the now defunct Otis Hotel.
_____

Total hits for last month: 1, 230, 358, 593, 021

3/27/10

JJH's film picks:

Conversations with Other Women
Best example of what you can do with a solid script, 2 actors, a couple of digital cameras and a vision.  The ending is amazing in its simplicity.

Good Dick
Another great example of a solid screenplay with a small crew, and an ending that changes the way you look at the whole film.

[Ed note: I finally saw this. And it was good. But I dare you to tell someone you like it.]

11:14
Good Pulp Fictiony type of film. Intertwining stories.

The Girlfriend Experience
A neat little surprise. Plus I've been watching the leading lady's porno for a few years now.

3/24/10

Locked Out 

3/23/10

Systoom

3/21/10

Killer Cook

3/17/10

Sorry. Had a little anger to work out.

3/16/10

I just watched Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story - arguably his best documentary yet (with the possible exception of Bowling for Columbine). 

While the libertarian in me forbids any leap onto some socialist party boat, the combo of cynic, survivalist and Bob Dylan in me sees that some big change is gonna come. 

The monster that capitalism has become - with its subversion of democracy and common decency - is on its way out. Replacing it will be either whatever political/economic yearnings claw to the top of the angry masses; or, by the outright tyranny of the super rich. 

The rich and powerful are united in their goal of taking EVERYTHING and turning us into their serfs. And they have the jump on us - as well as 95 % of the money. The rest of us (at least those not too sedated) are mired in relatively petty differences.  

Common ground must be established between the so called right and left. So, how about this: at least we can agree that the international bankers who just robbed us of hundreds of billions (or is it trillions?) of dollars are in fact irredeemable souls, and only worthy of being dragged into the streets by their Gucci ties, beat senseless with rubber hoses and hanged upside down like Mussolini.

Work with me. It's a start.

3/10/10

Check out Jesse's new excursion into bizarre territory.
_____

The reason I took James out of the will:

Text from Me: "Hey, I feel snow coming."
James: "Gross. That's Mom's dog's name."
_____

Here's my take on the whole Toyota Mysterious Acceleration thing: The problem is not mechanical, it's spiritual - the cars are being possessed by ANCIENT JAPANESE SAMURAI  DEMONS!!!

I'm simply asking you to consider it.

3/9/10

This Netflix thing has to stop. 

For the past month I've done NOTHING except watch documentaries and movies. Which was fine, for the first three or four thousand hours. But now it's time to pay whatever's month rent is due, shovel out the kitchen, see if I still have a job, etc.

I saw:

Fitzcarraldo - Just one of the great works of art directed by German genius Werner Herzog. Film students who deny themselves this film and Herzog's earlier Aguirre: The Wrath of God are crippled among us enlightened ones who have suffered his bug bites and come out of his films wanting to kill and eat some slithering, disgusting reptile.
Burden of Dreams - A film about the making of Fitzcarraldo. Yeah, they really did pull that ship over the mountain. Yeah, Kinski really was a dick. (So much so that the actual native chief in the film offered Herzog to have Kinski killed for him.)
My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski - Herzog's documentary about the maniacal actor Klaus Kinski, who played the lead role in Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre and other Herzog classics. 
The Silence - Perhaps the greatest filmmaker of all times, this is Ingmar Bergman nearing the height of his creative genius. Following this film he did Winter Light and after that Persona, which is on my list of the 10 Greatest Films of All Time.
CSA: Confederate States of America - What if the South had won the Civil War? This mockumentary nearly gets mired in its own cleverness toward the end, but it's definitely worth watching.
Caligula - A ridiculous attempt by Penthouse Magazine editor Bob Guccione to merge porn and Hollywood. This Netflix version cuts out much of the hardcore porn shots which, sadly, was the only things that made this pig worth watch waddling. 
Antichrist - One of those films you can't get out of your head. Willem Dafoe stars in this surreal bellyflop into the collective psychic goo. A film by the amazing Danish auteur Lars von Trier. 
Inside Deep Throat - An in-your-face (sorry) documentary about the social implications of the film.
The Story of O - Oh...
Dead Snow - Nazi zombies. What more do you want?
Snuff - A mildly interesting documentary about snuff films.
Maid-Droid - If you thought the Japanese were weird before...
Sex and the Cinema - a documentary about...
The Pervert's Guide to Cinema - Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Zizek puts David Lynch, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx and others on the couch in this heady, enlightening and entertaining essay.
Fausto 5.0 - A wonderful Spanish surprise. Never heard of it before. 
M - Fritz Lang's first "talkie" from 1931. Peter Lorre as the cinema's first serial killer.
Examined Life - A collection of philosophers talking mostly over my head.
Solaris - The Russian sci-fi classic from the early 70s.

2/27/10

I just watched the documentary "Zoo." Later, I went for a ride out in the country where I encountered this group of horses and I noticed that this one was, like, totally checking me out. So I said, "Hay."
_____

This website set a new daily record last Monday: 1607 hits.

2/25/10

I can't believe everyone's freaking out about this woman who was killed by a KILLER whale. She got into the water with a KILLER whale - a KILLER whale who had killed before.  Gee, what a surprise; she was killed by a killer KILLER whale.

2/19/10

I'd tell Tiger Woods to kiss my ass but I wouldn't want him to mess up his "therapy." 

2/18/10

Yo, Joe. Why didn't you just write a song about flying a plane into the Austin, Texas, IRS offices instead of actually doing it? Huh? Think about it from your purgatorial perch. You would have gotten lots of attention. No doubt some gun ho, mid-level, governmental administrator would have made it his personal mission to rid society of your likes by abusing his power to make things even tougher on you than they already were, which would have undoubtedly went bad and been exposed by some equally gung ho, young Austin journalist - and you would have gotten even more attention. Having read your manifesto, it's obvious you were relatively sane and quite articulate. You would eventually have become a regular on the Alex Jones Show, and/or you could have written a book, or at least you could have sold survival packets or water purification tablets or some other dumb fucking thing on the side and you would have reached thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people who, like you, have a bona fide bitch about the IRS. 

But, furthermore, your daughter would still have a father. Your wife would still have a husband. And you, Mr. Andrew Joseph Stack, would be 100 percent less dead.

Still, you selfish, misguided son-of-a-bitch, may you rest in peace...

2/10/10

D'oh!  I just realized that Donald Sutherland played Homer Simpson in John Schlesinger's cinema classic "Day of the Locust." (And I shop at Boo Radleys to boot.)

2/6/10

I've long been saying that video games are one of the signs of the collapse of world culture and general sanity. Here's more proof.
_____

Arp and I built my super-computer last weekend, but he won't give it to me yet. He claims it's "a bit unstable." I told him that I'm also a bit unstable at times and that he shouldn't sweat it. He says there may be a fairly simple software fix (for the computer, not me). I'll keep you posted. 
_____

Also, been pumpin' some iron...

2/1/10

Yes, I know it's obsessive, but I can't help it. It's a phase; bear with me.
More amazing films I've seen lately: 

"C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog)," by Remy Bevaux (1992). A black and white, French film which was strangely billed as a comedy. (Well, maybe a very, very dark comedy.) As a serial killer creatively applies his "art," a film crew records the exploits and eventually becomes intimately involved. Very entertaining, but with some truly horrifying scenes.
"Julien Donkey-Boy," (1999) by Harmony Korine. The surreal exploits of a schizophrenic teen and his ultra-dysfunctional family. This film is similar in style to Korine's amazing film, "Gummo," from two years prior. "Gummo," impressed me like no other movie since Fellini's "8 ½." (The sound you just heard was the collective gurgled chagrin of professional film critics.) Even if you don't like Korine's bizarre style, you should see "Julien Donkey-Boy" if only for the performance of legendary German director, Werner Herzog, as the abusive father.
"Quarantine," (2008). While shadowing L.A. firemen, a reporter and her cameraman get trapped in a quarantined apartment complex with a slew of rabies-infected zombies - while the camera rolls on. Okay, okay, it's yet another zombie flick. But this one rises above the fray in that the entire movie is seen through the lens of the entrapped cameraman. 
_____

OtherSpokane.com total hits for January: 16,206

1/25/10

I just got NetFlix, so I've been watching A LOT of movies lately.
Here are the ones that really impressed me:

"Following," (1998) by Christopher Nolan. A beautiful, complex, black and white film about a man whose obsession with following random people draws him into a dangerous criminal underground. Few people have seen this film, maybe because it was overshadowed by Nolan's next movie, "Memento" (an even better film). Both projects are similar in their use of a non-linear timeline.
"The Brood," (1979) by David Cronenberg. Violent and grisly, but intelligent - one of his early horror films, and his first film using quality actors. This film is currently being remade by a different director.
"Inglourius Basterds," (2009) by Quentin Tarantino. A mad, ingenious, new kind of fairy tale by a mad genius/fairy tale character. 

1/23/10

Conan's last show TOTALLY ROCKED LAST NIGHT!
_____

More Arp links. I think the boy has seriously lost it:

1/22/10

1/17/10

Just watched three amazing films:

 "La voie lactée (The Milky Way)" - by Luis Bunuel. (1969) His uber-original take on religion. I don't understand the charges of blasphemy against this film. The portrayal of Jesus is right on, as far as the gospels are concerned, and (smilingly) refreshing. 
"Unser täglich Brot (Our Daily Bread)" by Nikolaus Geyrhalter. (2005) A dialogue-less documentary about modern food production. Amazing digital filmmaking. Who'd of believed that industrialized hog slaughtering could be a thing of beauty?
"Bruno" (2009) - It's possible that I damaged myself internally from laughing at the final scene.
_{_____}

Here's the computer that Arp and I are building. (We don't actually have it yet - the parts are in the mail.) Any thoughts?

     ¶ GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD5 ATX Intel Motherboard
     ¶ CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
     ¶ Intel Core i7-920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
     ¶ CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory
     ¶ Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
     ¶ SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 100283L Video Card
     ¶ Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders

1/15/10

My prediction regarding the late night talk show war: LETTERMAN WILL RETIRE! and will bring Conan in as the complementary butt cheek in his Worldwide Pants - pitting him chin to chin with Leno at 11:30. 

1/13/10

Early this morning.

New Year's Eve (?)

The last time it was really, really cold.

1/12/10

So, I asked my friend Arp Xigar to do some research into building a new computer for me. Revelation: Be careful what you say to a computer nerd. I need something to edit HD video, but Arp is considering the long term probability that I might need to someday travel back in time, or hack NORAD, or control hurricanes. Knowing I have the technical wherewithal of a salamander, here's some of the links he's sent me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9MGreSRG0c 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZezTOXxBAw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK_elZ0sxAE&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsw9wMikp_8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY15hOBM9do 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1adBBwHMnU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnL0PFIcnN4

1/09/10

Here's North by Northwest's YouTube site of all entries to the 48 Hour Film Fest.

1/08/10

Here's something I shot a few weeks ago when I first got my camera. It's not HD, and I really didn't know what I was doing; and still, it's clearer than anything I shot with my other cameras.

1/05/10

1/03/10

We're preparing to shoot something very dark and very creepy. Most of the story takes place in Riverfront Park (the working title is "RiverDark Park") with a few scenes to be shot in a local coffee shop or tavern. If you've worked with us before and/or you want to be involved, get a hold of me or Jesse. 
_____

(Shhh! I'm trying to get my friend, Arp Xigar, to build me a computer so I told him I'd publish his web recommendations. Just play along 'til I get my riggin'.)

Omniscience For Everyone,
     Let’s begin the New Year with an overwhelming appreciation of those that make our everyday lives a little more exciting... Here’s a tune to get into your head Monday morning... And remember to be Joyous in your Industry; they are watching you and your productivity: Get ‘er done! And as Friday comes around, how about a grateful indebtedness towards our benevolent overlords. Also, Stik Mann needs a new computer! Let’s all help him build the greatest ENIAC we can! Punch cards and vacuum tubes are a must. Here's to the New Year!
     Your Humble Servant, Arp Xigar

(Remember esteemed readers, sometimes a Xigar is just a Xigar.)

Click Here to go to Arp's CowFacts, Arp's collection of facts about cows.

1/02/10

Yeah, yeah, okay. Jeez. Here's the winners:

Best Picture - Project Greenman
Runner Up - Exposure

People's Choice - Prove It
Runner Up - Exposure
_{_____}

Duuuh Department:
It's been brought to my attention that 0 plus 9 equals 9, not 10. That's right, this website - which was born at 11:59 pm on 12/31/99 in the midst of the Y2K scare - just celebrated its NINTH anniversary, not the TENTH. So, all that stuff I wrote earlier - forget about it until next year.
_____

Total hits to OtherSpokane.com on New Year's Day: 991
Total hits for December: 11,488

1/01/10

Happy New Year!

First, the bad news: The Spokane 48 Hour Film Fest's Best Film award went to someone who wasn't us. Similarly, the People's Choice award went to other non-us participants. 

The good news is that it was nonetheless an AWESOME experience. There is nothing like the rush of hearing people enjoy and applaud your work. I was at the first showing and the City Hall auditorium was packed full. The line waiting to get into the second showing stretched up the stairway and into the street. Well over a thousand people must have seen the eight finalist films throughout the course of the evening. 

A big tip of the official OtherSpokane artsy-fartsy director's beret goes to North by Northwest Productions for the expertise, time and expense that must have been required to make this extraordinary event possible. 

This just in: Because of the popularity of this year's contest, there's going to be a SUMMER 48 Hour Film Fest. Sincerely and ominously we say with our best Arnold scowl, "We'll be baaack."

12/31/09

If you're going to First Night in downtown Spokane tonight, be sure to visit the auditorium at City Hall to watch the finalists in the Spokane 48 Hour Film Festival. Our film, "bag," is one of the eight to be shown -  repeatedly - starting at 7:00 pm. Happy New Year!
_____

As of 11:59 pm tonight, this website celebrates its 10th anniversary! 

12/29/09

Wow! There's something to say about persistence. For the first time in 10 years, this humble website has topped the 10,000 mark for monthly hits. Yesterday set the record for daily hits with 731. 
_____

More fun with my camera...
(Click for a larger pic.)

12/28/09

Here's Jesse's new video in celebration of the new year. 
Come get your LOVE JOB.

12/18/09

This just in. Our film "bag" was one of the eight selected - from the 27 submitted - to be shown at Spokane First Night! Here's a list of those eight in alphabetical order:

1.  Blackbox Pictures - "Prove It"
2.  Breakfast Productions - "Exposure"
3.  Brundlefly - "The Abomination"
4.  Gonzaga Film Club - "Gotcha"
5.  OtherSpokane Productions - "bag"
6.  Seasoned Eagles - "Dust to Dust"
7.  Shorty Heaven - "Project Greenman"
8.  Wool Knit Cap - "Half the Battle"

These films will be shown in five different screenings on New Year's Eve in the City Hall Auditorium beginning at 7 p.m. They'll be awarding First Place and Runner Up in two categories: Judge's Choice and People's Choice. Show up and vote for your favorites! The winners will garner a spot in the nearly-illustrious Spokane Film Festival.

12/14/09

Click here to go to Jesse's YouTube favorites for a collection
of currently posted Spokane 48 Hour Film Fest entries. 

Some images emerging from the haze of those fateful 48 hours:

Jesse explaining why we need three different types of fake blood.
     "One is mostly non-toxic so you can put it in your mouth in case we need gurgling and spitting..."

The reaction of the bookkeeper at Luigi's when she walked in the back door and came face to face with Brynne covered in blood and holding a large knife.

John's on-camera rendition of "That's Amore." 
Which we didn't use (yet).

12/07/09

Here's our entry to the 48 Hour Film Fest. God help us all.

12/06/09

Just turned in our entry to the 48 Hour Film Fest. Look for the short film from OtherSpokane Productions entitled "bag." It's so bad it's good. It's insane and inspired. It's so good it's bad. Jesse was up all night doing the final edit. When I last saw him he said something about angels in drag and ended the sentence with something about Nazi death camps. We could all use some sleep.

12/05/09

We're in the middle of the Spokane 48 Hour Film Contest!
All twenty or so teams must include the following in their movie:
Prop: A zip lock bag
Location: A restaurant (!)
Dialogue: "It is your head, arms, legs, what? Just tell me!"
Each team drew a separate genre. We drew HORROR!.
(Wish us luck. The clock is ticking.)

12/03/09

I was having a drink with John after work when he morphed into one of the alien creatures from that Twilight Zone episode where the humans find one of the alien's books and translate the title "How to Serve Man" only to later find out "It's a cookbook! It's a cookbook!"

12/02/09

A local restaurant gets an unintended boost to its advertising buck.

11/25/09

Police divers practicing in Riverfront Park.

11/24/09

Jesse just entered us in the Spokane 48 Hour Film Festival. A contest where participants are given a universal theme, a prop and a line of dialogue that must used. Teams then have exactly 48 hours to write, shoot and edit a 3-5 minute short film. 

11/23/09

Been playin' with my camera...

     
     Jesse                                                       Nikki

   
      Matt Kelly                                     WillWill

11/22/09

The last thing I remember last night is working eleven hours without a break, stressed out, running up and down stairs, people tossing pans, people screaming, babbling, bleeding. (I work in a busy restaurant.)

No, wait... The last thing I remember last night is leaving work, dazed and confused, and having two drinks too many at Mootsys tavern.

No, wait... The last thing I remember last night is staggering home through the cold and the wet and laying in a very hot bath. Oh, yeah. Finally, life is good...

No, wait... The last thing I remember last night is being in the Arctic regions, snow and icy wind whirling about me, chilling me to the bone. A herd of penguins surround me. One of the horrid creatures says to me, "Dude, you look like shit." It never occurs to me that penguins can't really speak.

No, wait... The last thing I remember last night is waking up at 3:30 in the morning in ice cold bath water, shivering, shivering, shivering...

No, wait...

11/18/09

"Dude, this place is great."
James in Austin, TX   

11/15/09

Just got a new camera.
See?... 

11/14/09

11/09/09

Trip Clip. Trip Clip. Trip Clip
Descent into the Valley of Death

11/04/09

Another Trip Clip:
Ghost Town

11/01/09

I did another Trip Clip: 
Antelope Near Devil's Tower.
(See the others in the sidebar.)

10/29/09

Here's Jesse's Halloween video offering: A Leroy Lovegun Halloween. Leroy goes on an epic trick or treating adventure. Goofball awesomeness abounds. For more Lovegun goodies, click here.

10/26/09

Skull Studies (with smoke and mirrors)

I found this skull while on a bike ride in 
the Turnbull area near Cheney...

Where I always discover something new...

And unusual...

 Mysterious...

And strangely satisfying...

10/26/09

Here's one of our video offerings for Halloween: GUNTher - Ein fest fur GUNTher. 

GUNTher and friends come to realize that it's possible to party themselves...TO DEATH!!! 
Featuring Professor Terrington and Mr. Needles as their inimitable selves.

10/24/09

James' new ride - the Lite Foot Bike. He drives around Texas on this.

10/22/09

Unless you were at the Big Dipper last night, you missed out.

The Hold Steady - a Brooklyn-based, riff-heavy, post-punk band - rocked a relatively small group of Spokanites and groupies in an intimate setting that few are likely to ever experience again. (So intimate, in fact, that lead singer, Craig Finn, stopped the show to apologize to a girl who he whacked in the head with his mic.)

High volume, sweat and steam, bizarre religious imagery, wide-eyed groupies, an animal lib freak who stormed the stage, a lead guitarist with an array of impressive weaponry, a keyboardist who looks like Gomez from The Addams Family, and tight, hyper-fun, upbeat, lyric-heavy rock and roll - what more do you want for a Wednesday night in Spokane?

10/20/09

What is this?

I found it on the South riverbank, a few 
miles downstream of the Bowl & Pitcher

Aboriginal net weight? A relic from Spokane's industrial past? 

10/15/09

Okay, dudes, get a grip. The following video - HR 8791, the Homeland Security Preparedness Bill - is a hoax:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlvxIdSI7V4
It's from The Onion - a satirical "news agency." 

10/11/09

Snapshots from the Leroy Lovegun Halloween shoot:

10/09/09

POTUS to-do list:
1. Win Nobel Peace Prize
2. Expand war in Afghanistan

10/08/09

Yet another stuck truck. Downtown. About 3:00 pm. 
Maybe not all that dependable.

10/07/09

Begins here account book of Chuck Palahniuk "Pygmy" by editor me. Easy read no. Style English broken. Boy Pygmy with group spies sent evil America so instigate Operation Havoc. Esteemed Palahniuk typical wallow in own cleverness perhaps excessive so yet wondrous still work much. Much enjoyed by editor me. 

10/06/09

Here's James being prepped 
for Jesse's short film, 
"Pussy's in the Well."

You'll never look at nursery rhymes 
the same ever again...

10/05/09

Right when you think it's about to climax, the Hardin thing just gets stranger and stranger.
___

I'm still amazed at the lack of press coverage of the violence at the G-20 conference in Pittsburgh just over a week ago. Few people are aware that police used sonic weapons on American citizens, or that a scene like this could happen on an American street. 

Dig Wesley's take on the G-20.
___

I just watched a lecture by one of my favorite Northwestern personalities, Pastor Chuck Missler, from Coeur d'Alene, ID, about UFOs, and how the Nephilims of the Old Testament could actually be extra-dimensional beings. Awesome.

10/04/09

Text from James:

I am at the site where David Bowie 
and the Spiders from Mars successfully defended 
a pile of rubble from one million Vietnamese. 

10/03/09

Upon seeing that I had befriended (on MySpace) the criminally insane, convicted murderer,  Phillip Paul (see 9/29), my non-murderer friend Jesse James Hennessy had a revelation. Last year he and my daughter-in-law Karen were out doing some promo work for his film "Leroy Lovegun" when they interviewed an unusual man playing guitar on the streets of Spokane. 

Check it out here at 1:46. The video was taken on August 10, 2008. Shouldn't Philly Willy have had some kind of Hillbilly supervision?

10/02/09

10/01/09

The Hardin story just gets bigger and bigger. (Sorry, I can't help it - see 9/30.)

Alex Jones claims that American Police Force (APF) in Hardin, MT is a Blackwater Front Group.

Even Michelle Malkin wrote about it. And yes, tried to blame it on Obama.

This just in: The Montana Attorney General announced that the kingpin of the APF is a Serbian immigrant with a long criminal record and that the AG is going to investigate the whole shebang. 

9/30/09

What's going on in Hardin, Montana? 

(First of all, let's be careful how we pronounce Hardin - it's "Hard-in" - despite the fact that it's near where Custer had his "last stand.")

Neil Katz at CBS News reported that "American Police Force, a little known company which claims to specialize in training military and security forces overseas, has seemingly taken control of a $27 million, never-used jail, and a rural Montana town’s nonexistent police force."

Google for yourself. (And don't miss the videos.) It's all quite unnerving. 

9/29/09

People are already lining up to buy Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue." Scheduled to be released November 17th from publisher HarperCollins.
___

Remember Phillip Paul, the criminally insane escapee from the Spokane County Fair? He just accepted my friend request on his MySpace page: Philly Willy and the Hillbillies. 

I can't get his very poignant song out of my head: "Rockin' and a rollin' in a mental institution. God only knows it's against the Constitution."

9/28/09

I wrote to Jennifer DeRuwe, from the Spokane Police Department's 
Public Information Office, about an extraordinary claim by Austin, TX, 
radio talk show host, Alex Jones, during his 9/23/09 broadcast.

After bemoaning government opposition to personal gun ownership, and the
rise of warrantless searches - which he called "knock and talks," he
claimed that Army officers have been assigned to the Spokane Police
Department "intelligence office" to investigate local threats to
security.

Here's the quote:

"Three or four or five Army liaison officers from the regular army, from
Homeland Security, have been given as a federal grant to Spokane WA
to...the police department, and they're gonna be assigned to the police
intelligence office, looking for local threats."

I asked DeRuwe if there was any truth in this. Have armed service personnel of any
sort been assigned to work with the SPD in any capacity whatsoever?

She wrote back:

"After checking, there really is no truth to those statements. We do not
have any Army officers working for us."

9/27/09

New cool tool! 

AM/FM, weather channel, powerful flashlight, cell phone charger, solar or crank powered. $30 @ rei.

9/26/09       

I tried, I tried to kill Stik Mann. But he wouldn't stay dead.

Blame this guy -

- the first cop, for the first time on American soil, to use the LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device), a sonic weapon - previously reserved for Iraqi terrorists and Somali pirates - on his fellow citizens.

On us.

His THOUSANDS of buddies - shipped in from all over the country to "keep the peace" at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh - joined him in the Benedict Arnold-a-thon, spraying tear gas, firing bean bags from shotguns, and tossing flash-bang grenades - at their fellow citizens. 

At us.

Please read the OtherSpokane DISCLAIMER

Stik Mann's OtherSpokane and all content within
Copyright © 2010, Steven J. St. George
(unless otherwise noted or as obvious as an earphone at a Christian militia meeting).