Neglect

Goddamn, have I been neglecting this blog. Oh well, that’s what it gets. This filthy, whorish blog.

I’ve been busy. I started a film company with my brother and my cousin. We have several projects that we’re working on, and one of them is going into pre-production now. I’ve been slaving away at some of the necessary pre-production things…shot lists, getting new script revisions in from my brother, etc., etc. I’m going to be approaching this film with more seriousness and really do a good amount of pre-production to make sure that this film kicks ass. The website for the film company is almost done being revised. I just have to go over to my brother’s for a final revision and then I’ll post it, so look for that in the next couple of weeks.

http://www.westernsubvertstudios.com

I’m hesitant to announce the film yet, becuase I kind of want to wait until the website is published, because it’s on that. Yeah…I’ll wait. But soon, you’ll get an announcement. I need some good crew for this as well, no experience necessary, but willing to work hard. Casting will take place soon as well.

Anyway, that’s enough for now. I’ll post more after the site goes live.

Picture blog

I started a Tumblr blog for a new experiment I’m going to try and test myself in. My goal is to take at least one creative photograph everyday, so I set up a Tumblr blog to try and motivate myself to do it. So far there’s 5 pictures up on there if you’d like to check it out!

Feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed on it so that you can see a new picture everyday.

http://taylorgenovese.tumblr.com

That’s my annoucement for now. Prepare for a filmmaking blog very soon. Several large annoucements will be coming!

Garmin Nüvi 270 GPS Unboxing

Recently, I pulled an “ol’ one-two” to a credit car company. Well, not really, because people do this kind of stuff all the time, but it’s cool to get free stuff. Anyway, recently, I was turned onto the site mygpsoffer.com* from the SomethingAwful forums.

If you signed up for their credit card, you get a free GPS. So I said what the hell…got approved for the card instantly (good credit) and bought myself a Timbuk2 Messenger Bag that I had been eyeing. I was going to get one anyway with the recent acting gig money that I was getting, so why not get a free GPS along with it?

Well, today it has finally come. Here are pictures of it’s unboxing for those interested:

Here be the Nüvi!

The coverage area on the Nüvi 270 is really good. All of the blue is covered. The advantage of the Nuvi 270 is that it offers coverage of not only all of the U.S. and Canada, but also most of Western Europe (and parts of the Baltics and Western Asia).

The first thing you see is pure AWESOME.

Everything that comes with the Nüvi in the box. From left to right, dash disc, car charger, the unit itself, and a dash mount.

Apparently, Garmin likes to cut down alot of trees and ship ELEVEN manuals in different languages. 

Anyway, that’s it for now. I think I’ve lost the blog off this month, AGAIN. I got too busy in the middle of the month.

*The offer is currently unavailable, but it doesn’t seem like it will be forever. If you’re interested, bookmark the page and keep checking back. The card itself isn’t such a bad deal, actually, and now I have Miles if I end up wanting to keep the card.

Featured on the BREAK A LEG Thank You Video

If you’re unfamiliar with the internet sit-com “BREAK A LEG” then you are WAY out of touch. I’ve been watching this show since it’s began. It’s one of the unique times that you can start watching a show in new media when it just starts because you have the ability to openly communicate with alot of the people who are making the show. I did this and have talked to the shows creators and stars on several occasions. I’ve gotten shooting advise from several of them as well. Always very approachable and always very friendly and helpful. 

Anyway, awhile back, as they were starting to get popular and gain sponsors/backers and trying to get into the public eye, they held a contest where you would vote and review them, then send in your name and they’d add you in their credits. I, of course, did this. I was the second or third person to do it, actually, I think. I’m sure that this, and because I talked to them, asked them for advice, encouraged them is why they had my name in their thank you video.

Awww yeeah, boyyyyy! I also got an ENTIRE VERSE devoted to me. And how I make Mint (a character in the show) so CRAZEHHHH, in the HAZEHHH, FO SHAZEHHH. You can watch it at 1:18 in the video below.

Sukki’s Bag of Tricks

Well, it is currently 3:45 in the AM and I just got back from a shoot with Brian at his gig at Casino Del Sol. This was my first time stepping inside of a casino, and the only word to really describe this evening is: surreal. I saw some crazy shit tonight that I am glad to have brought my camera for. Brian had never done anything like this, as it wasn’t so much stand-up as it was to mingle around the huge bingo hall and make fun of people between games. He did great and people liked him, but there were some strange people there.

The first and foremost that needs to be talked about is an older, Hispanic looking woman who must be a regular there, because every knows her and her infamous purse full of dildos. Her name is Sukki (I don’t know how it is spelled, but I’m spelling it the way it is pronounced, which is “Sue-kee”). Not even two minutes into Brian’s routines, Sukki comes up to him and grabs his dick. No joke. Just walks right up and grabs his shit. Needless to say, this startled him quite a bit, and also needless to say, this was excellent footage. Brian’s relationship with Sukki lasted most of the night, climaxing with Sukki handcuffing him to her and dragging him into the family bathroom to pretend to have sex with him. This ended with Brian playing along and then subsequently pretending to shit on Sukki’s chest. This also on film. The crazy thing was, Sukki had her entire family there with her, INCLUDING her mother, who must have been in her 80s. She was unfazed by the bag of dildos.

I have, of course, taken a picture of Sukki for everyone to see. Here’s a picture of her and Brian before we took off.

Now, onto my observations from tonight. This was my first time inside of a casino. The times when I wasn’t filming or after Brian was done and we were wondering the casino floor, I had alot of time to observe alot of the casino people. They are a strange breed of people. As I walked around, or observed people, I couldn’t help but think about the American Dream. People were getting genuinely pissed off whenever they didn’t win. Each one of those people in there came there to strike it big. They were going to win the jackpot. The constant grind of loss must have driven many of the people, including Sukki, insane. I witnessed Sukki flopping a giant dildo around in Brian’s face and waving it around for all to see. I saw a lady playing a “Skin Flute”, a flute in the shape of a cock and balls. What exactly is wrong with these people? What happened in people’s brains that allowed all this to be socially acceptable. You would never see someone waving around sex toys in public, would you? You would never see anyone becoming the Pied Piper of Penis in public, would you? I’m not refuting how entertaining it was, but I’m just curious as to why it’s acceptable in a casino and not outside.

Anyway, I’m just rambling now, but it’s something to think about. That’s all I have for tonight. Stay tuned for more updates about the documentary I’m filming.

Camera and Storytime

There it is! About a month ago, I found this camera on a listing on cinematography.com (which is a great forum if you’re a filmmaker, by the way, check it out) and in my mind I said, “I MUST HAVE IT!”. The reason I needed it was because I used to be able to borrow an XL2 from Robert Encila, but because of certain circumstances, he needed to give it to this other guy, Tom DeMoss. Now, prior to this, Tom DeMoss seemed to be a nice guy. However, the moment he got the camera, he turned into a cocksmooch. 

First of all, this guy didn’t know how to use this camera whatsoever, but that doesn’t matter so much. We had both been borrowing the camera from Robert previously. Well, I needed to use it, so I e-mailed him asking for it back. He returned an e-mail telling me that he owned it now and that he didn’t like lending out HIS equipment. I’d been using this camera for months before he came into the picture, so it didn’t make much sense to me. So this asshole started to get all arrogant towards me about the camera and owning it and stuff. 

Well, in order to appreciate the absurdity of this, I think I need to tell you what he project was he was working on with the camera. He was going to get one hundred people and have them sing “100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” one-by-one. I usually don’t like to judge other people’s film project, especially before I see them, but…give me a fucking break. You don’t need an XL2 to dick around.

So anyway, fueled with a great want to up him in terms of camera equipment and fueled even more so by the NEED of some high level camera, I was able to secure $4100 loan from my parents and bought the camera you see above. 

My first project that I’m working on is that I’m making a mini-documentary on Brian Neufang, the homeless comic, while he is still around town. Tonight I head over to some casino to record some footage at a gig he’s doing. I’ll do another post about it later.

Update and October Post Off

Well, I haven’t been able to update my blog in awhile. I’ve been so incredibly busy, it’s been ridiculous. So I’ll attempt to write a not as long update on everything that’s been going on. I have to save myself for this month because of the Post-Off, which I’ll get to in a little bit.

The main reason why I haven’t been able to post regular blog posts is because I’ve been doing back-to-back shows for…well, I don’t even know how many months now. It can really kill you doing shows back-to-back at a repretory theatre like Top Hat Theatre Club is. For example, my schedule for these past several months have been: rehearsals Monday-Thursday and then shows Friday-Sunday. Absolutely no break, although there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I should be able to get a break after we open “The Nerd” on Friday. Come see it by the way…it runs October 3 – November 16. 

Also, on September 29th, I scored an acting gig thanks to my good friend Brian Neufang from homelesscomic.com. Apparently in Japan, karaoke videos have videos playing behind them. So I scored $150 for only 6 hours of work (in actuality, I only spent 2 hours actually working). So that was actually pretty interesting. It was cool to see how different cultures film movies as well. Here’s a few pictures I took on my cell phone on the set:

They were shooting on Sony HDV for anyone that is interested. And that second picture is the camera mounted on the truck that I had to drive. Pretty crazy, but it was fun.

Now, the other reason that I’m starting to post more starting now is because it is a blog POST-OFF, yet again! Back in June, Jacob Karnas and friends had a blog post-off, and we are doing another one for the month of October. So far, the contestants include:

Myself
Jacob Karnas
Ryan McShowoff
Nikki Brzescinski
Kate Russell

And hopefully more to follow!

Anyway, that’s all for now. Next post will be about my new camera, etc.

One toke? You poor fool! Wait until you see those goddamn bats!

I’m beginning to think the most common way I start a post is to say “Well, I haven’t posted in awhile, so…”. I really should fix that and just post more often. I do, however, have a feeling this post is going to live up to it’s “Crap post” category quite nicely.

I’ve been on another Hunter S. Thompson kick recently (hence the title). I’m reading through an oral history about his life right now that I shamefully borrowed from my brother without telling (I’ll be returning it tomorrow). Very interesting life, very interesting character. I get in Thompson moods sometimes where I’ll just consume all of his articles (not just the Vegas book, as he used to call it).

Also, I’ve added my sister’s blog to my links section to the right. Check it out! My brother’s blog, however, remains deceased.

Humadah, humadah, what else…started school, blah blah, going to be purchasing a nice camera so I can start doing some filmmaking again. Also possibly purchasing a Rebel XTI for photography class and hobby.

“138″ is chugging along. Hopefully, my brother will have the screenplay’s first draft popped out soon and pre-production can begin.

Psha! The courage to rage; and kill is cheap.

That’s all I’ve got.

Peace, love, and the cold side of the pillow.

P.S. Tomorrow this blog will be one-year old. Huzzah!

Dr. Horrible

As I sit here at my parent’s house because of a very heavy rains tonight that made all exits flood over, I decided to write a blog that I’ve been putting off writing for too long, which is a shame.

A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon Joss Whedon’s (of Fiirefly and Buffy fame) project that he started during the writer’s strike when everyone was out of work and wanted to work on projects that were outside of the conventional Hollywood circle. Whedon, along with Neal Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and Felicia Day created a supervillian musical called “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”.

I have come to say that: IT IS PURE GENIUS.

This looks like it would be an amazingly fun project to do and it’s very funny. Everyone does great performances and the show itself ranges from hysterical to the sucker-punch sadness at the very last 2 seconds of the series that Whedon is so good at doing.

It was shown over the course of a couple weeks, and is in three Acts. It’s supposed to be taken down by Sunday at midnight EST, but it’s well past that and I’m still able to view it so I don’t know. If you know me, and want to see it, let me know because I am going to be purchasing it from iTunes (it’s only about $4 and it’s worth it).

Anyway, check it out: www.drhorrible.com

ALSO: The Dark Knight was incrediable. I hate superhero stuff and I absolutely loved this movie. As well as “Batman Begins”…it’s something about these new Batman movies that are really great. See that too.

My Plugging Has No Shame

Well, how shall I start this…

First off, everyone knows by now that I do an internet radio show every Sunday at 10:30 PM EST called The MT Ironstag Show. No, that was not my ONLY shameless plug for the evening, which shows how deep I can go.

Anyway, I ride my bike 6 miles everyday that I can (when it isn’t raining, too much homework, etc.) and I ride from my house down to the University and back. Well, due to me having an excess of homework tonight, David and I decided to postpone the radio show until Wednesday night. As the night went on, I began to feel the guilt of not doing the show bubble up in me so I decided to take my bike ride after I finished homework.

As I peddled through the bricked bikepath, the guilt approached me once again, but I tried my hardest to push it aside and enjoy the muggy, but decent evening.

I got to the University and walked around the Main Library. This aimless wandering is something I’ve grown accustomed to recently, and it’s rather enjoyable in the dead of summer with very little students around. So I walked into one of the corner study rooms and I rather enjoyed the sight. It made me log this location away for some film that will eventually need a location like this.

Trust me, my mobile picture doesn’t do it justice.

Anyway, as I was looking around the room, I spotted a white board. And a marker. This is when the guilt of not doing the show set in again. I knew what I had to do:

SHAMELESS PLUGGING OF COURSE!

It was at this point that I realized that there were several other study rooms, all over the 5th floor, so I conquered them as well:

After storming all of the 5th Floor study rooms, I realized the 4th Floor has them too…actually EVERY floor has them! But wait, I mustn’t get too cocky here. I’m not entirely sure if this is allowed or not. The UAPD will do anything just to arrest some punk kid, so I’d better tread lightly.

I slyly race to the elevator and punch the “4″ and ride down. I didn’t want to take the stairs, too noisey. This is Covert Ops, goddamnit.

The elevator doors hiss open (ok, they didn’t actually hiss open, but I’m writing this gonzo style and I’m allowed to stretch the truth a little) and I roll out, looking around for anyone. The floor looks empty. Silent. Waiting. I bolt to the same corner that the study rooms were on the 5th Floor and sure enough, they are in the same place on the 4th.

I dash in and do what I was trained to do.

It was at this point, I got a little too cocky. I dashed into the last room and as I was just finishing up the last board, I turn and look out the window. There, staring back at me, is some student or someone, walking down to the study rooms. Now, mind you, I am writing all this in the darkness of the room and only switch on the light to take these pictures, so at this point I get a little flustered and embarassed. I’ve already finished all the other rooms. I realize I must look like one of those creepy hobos that sneak into the library to masturbate. Well, I assure you that I am not, and I don’t wish to be viewed this way. So I flip on the light switch and act like I’m waiting for other students to arrive for study-time.

He eyes me, but then opens the door to another study room and walks in. Shit, I say under my breath, I’ve already done that room…what if he’s a library student worker? So I quickly grab my shit, pull out my camera for the last snapshot:

And I high-tailed it out of there. I stole their Expo, and I feel a little bad about that, but I wasn’t thinking. I think I’ll return tomorrow night and try and tag up the 3rd Floor and then return the Expo.

And there we are, the tale of how far I go to shamelessly plug.