Help me StayClassy on behalf of Office of Letters & Light

As most know, I’m soon going to see a similar banner soon – as I head out to camp.  Not only will I be this…

But I will also be this…

What does it mean?

“StayClassy is a fast-growing San Diego-based startup that develops an online fundraising product used by thousands of Nonprofit organizations around the world.”

Office of Letters and Light host most of the writing events I talk about on here.  Now OLL is aligned with StayClassy for secure fundraising.  Since I want to do something to help, I have a StayClassy account now; which benefits OLL.

if you didn’t click on any of the links yet, here’s my profile:  http://Mesnard.stayclassy.org

Even if you don’t want to donate, I say check the page out now or in June.  Maybe i get points for site hits?  No idea.

Thanks for reading all of this, and hopefully it can hold anticipation until the start of June.

Happy (I)B-Day, Star Wars!

Star Wars, wow.  You’re how old now?  Oh yeah – the older you are, the older I am.  Nevermind.

A few people knew I had to write something today.  Especially since I did make reference to it on the “unofficial” Star Wars Day, as I deemed it.

Some wondered what amazing thing I could bring to the table which would blow the minds of fans, geeks, G-to-the-L haters, and even film or tech aficionados.  I know the last thing(s) to blow me away were the “home movies” inside an Academy Award-winning commune the dirty couches, poor lighting, and plethrora of facial hair which went on to become the ILM we all know and love [or as I would say, they put the ILM in film™].  For those who never saw this footage, here’s some love.

Star Wars has a lot of names, abbreviations, and in-the-know jargon.  Today I’m talking about SW:ANH, I mean A New Hope – er, episode IV, um… 4 four.  Old school 1977 Star Wars (which I shall further call “Star Wars” to ease confusion).

I’m not going to call myself a hater, a purist, a convert.  I loved Star Wars as a whole and I still do.  I choose what I like and often my opinion can change.  Let’s set out to have an open mind – possibly unlearning, and rethinking spoon(s).

People have been complaining about Star Wars being changed and different.  Sure you have a laserdisc copy which is this and that, or you have this or that remix and you know what the original was.  Do you?  What if I was too tell you there there is another.  One which actually gets hunted down by the real-life version of Emo Anakin Vader’s posse of Force-user extinguishers?  It’s out there.  And its initials are IB.  Still curious?  Keep reading…

My “Work”Space: 2012.05.22

While gearing up for Camp Nanowrimo, I was trolling the forum and saw one asking where your writing is done.  The above is where I theoretically expound my creativity and all that jazz: since late 2011.  Somewhere on a camera drive is a pic from a couple years back.

Not complaining: merely a declarative sentence.  At least I know I can write about anywhere these days – including Mad Magazine’s depiction of ’80s downtown Beirut a PLO peace accord in the eighties.  Maybe I’ll find an older desk pic for comparison sometime.

I’ll do my best to clean the space before June first.  At least I’ll think about it.

Eclipsing Writing: Day Late and a Ring Short

Here’s what I saw the other day: with the help of a welding mask and a not-expensive DV cam thing: in case I fried the lens by being dumb.

[It's actually the "stalker cam" as I've been dubbing it; used to make the grainy images for current layout of this blog.  Who needs HD, right?]

A slight color shift was done to make more like our sun and not the original Kryptonian flare it was snapped looking like.

Heading to Camp Next Month

In order to get my Nanowrimo 2011 novel finished, I’m heading to camp.  Camp Nano, that is.

The idea is to write 50,000 words in a month – just as the November version.  What’s the difference?  There are two sessions to choose from: June and August – and instead of geographic regions, there are “cabins” consisting of a small grouping of people (four to six as I’ve heard).

This will be the best chance at pressuring myself into finishing my book’s first draft and scoring a printed copy.  The deadline for that would be the end of June, so see what I mean?

[Being only enough time for a first draft, I'll slap "uncorrected proof" on the cover and then see what feedback I get before making any drastic changes.  Surely much will need done in the proofreading department anyway.]

More to come concerning camping plans.  Curious to try it too?  Come take a look!

 

Licensed to 3: Yauch Concluded

(click image for full size)

part 1, part 2

When I was a kid and the Beastie Boys first got play for their music video, I had a hard time figuring out what the word Ill was, but I did know what a Roman Numeral three looked like. So I often wondered if these Brooklyn guys really had two other records out there and people were just saying Ill because they didn’t know. What could I say? I was a goofy kid.

Before I go on, Ch-Check THIS out. Neal Brennan (now know as awesome in my book) knows the pain we’re feeling. Co-creator of Chapelle’s Show, he unleashed an appearance of the Bea-stie-Boys LIVE outdoors in 2004 – never seen until now. Already erased by Viacom at least once, it’s back! I’ll make a dupe of this just to make sure it’ll be harder to kill than a certain Holiday Special. Hurry and watch the clip below – and get more blown away since I won’t say what song it is. [I’d say to watch out for language, but even work should let you blast this. You’re mourning, yo!]

This post was intended as a conglomerate of links and images. Since I came across some great articles and stories which I mostly hid in the other two posts, I figured why not make this subject a trilogy and make it a hodgepodge of links and images amongst additional material. To tease a taste, here’s someone’s tribute to MCA/Nathan Wind – delivering pizza dressed as Cochese.

New York officially mourns the death of Adam Yauch.  Don’t believe me?  Here’s the document for proof, or watch the video below.

Singnature Bassist – Donald Dunn

According to longtime pal and bandmate Steve “The Colonel” Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn passed away in his sleep; in Tokyo while on tour.  As lore states (according to Blues Brothers Central):

“Duck’ Dunn was a member of Jake and Elwood’s Blues Brothers Band in the 1970s until Jake went to prison. He then joined Murph and the MagicTones along with several other ex-members, until he rejoined the Blues Brothers Band in 1979. After a very brief tour, he went to prison with the rest of the band. By 1998 he was out of prison and working with Steve ‘The Colonel’ Cropper hosting WEXR 103.7 Talk Radio in Chicago. It was there that Elwood Blues convinced him to come back to the band, where he remained for several more years. His current whereabouts are unknown.”

If you prefer the “IRL” story of Dunn, why read it?  Check this short retrospective; produced in 2005 by Dan Lakin for the Lakland 10th anniversary concert.

How do I remember him best?  As the genius of an electrician who was the only member of the band Jake Blues shot straight with and had the most reverence for.  Donald quit his job working for a burglar alarm company to help get the band back together, but absconded with forgot to return the company van in the process.  If you don’t remember that part of the movie, or if you love alternate histories of anything, then read the book!  It’ll make you love Dunn (and the other members) all the more.

Even though the obvious clip would be the snazzy version of Dunn and company backing Cab Calloway Curtis, what better way to show off this bassist’s moves than seeing “The Duck” shake his tailfeather?

Thanks for the grooves, the pipe, and the times you rocked the fiery halo of a hairstyle.

(click the pic for the bigger version)

Happy Mother’s Day 2012

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!  In a galaxy full of empty promises, I hope mine rings close-enough-to-true by saying I’ll do my best to cause less chaos than the guy above.

In addition to echoing The Pietà, I like how this image “returns the favor” so to speak; when Anakin last spoke with his mom.  Her coming back to offer comfort while he’s stranded on Mustafar speaks volumes – especially considering the depths this boy from Tatooine plummeted by this point.  That goes to show why so many cards get purchased around this time in May.

Don’t forget to pause a bit to think of at least one time mom was there for you – especially a time when it seemed nobody else was.

I came across this image when seeking out some Star Wars propoganda poster art.  Joe Corroney is a talented artist; doing work for a variety of licenses including Doctor Who; Marvel; Star Trek; 24; True Blood.  See lots more here.

Click the image above or here if you want the full color version.  For the larger black and white sketch, click here.  Added note: the original art for the color version is available for $600.  How’s that for a Mother’s Day card?

New short story: Brownstone, the Woman, and Soda Cans

In between all the writing I keep piling up for myself [finishing my screenplay from April's Script Frenzy; MCA thoughts and musings; finishing my Nanowrimo novel from November], I came across an appealing Figment Daily Theme – so I wrote another short story.

The site (though skewed towards a younger audience) has ways to stimulate writing and creativity with things like contests and exercises.  Click the above image or here to see the story, but keep reading to learn more about the writing instructions [which I'm still open to suggestion when it comes to the title].

Yauch Loss Committee Part Two

Instead of jumping on the “R.I.P. to the celebrity” bandwagon, “top ten” train, or writing a straight article, I hoped to give some of my own thoughts and memories intercut with glimpses or additions to what’s already been written about the man I never knew was Nathanial Hörnblowér {I assumed it was a name for the whole band collaborating or Spike Jonze – and can you blame me?}.  Even if you skim this one…make sure to check the very last video.

Getting carried away as usual, I did the smart thing and separated the meat from the milk – the reminiscing from the eye candy (best I could). Since it took so long to get the first part off, I hope this still seems vaguely unique and current: though I feel mourning or reminiscing doesn’t have an expiration date.

If I had to peg a favorite Beastie live television performance, only one comes to mind. The MTV appearance with the band wearing suits and getting way into it was cool – as the old knocking stuff over and prankster days also had great examples; when they assumed everyone was in on the joke (Weird Al had a big presence at the time, so I knew what a good parody was.  Sorry, fratboys).

MCA: Who Let the Beat Drop?*

*The title does NOT insinuate the subject dropped anything except amazing albums, forward thinking, and proving a man [or band] can embrace a past just as much as denouncing parts of it without needing to be defensive; along with unabashedly making a difference in this world.  Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA created the beat and passed it along to us: making it our responsibility not to let it drop…or fall silent on the turntables of today or the future.

It was downtown Chicago in the year 2000.  Rush hour as I remember it, but there was always some form of constant congestion; far as surface streets were concerned.  I couldn’t say there was any cruising on that occasion, but it sure did feel like it at points.  Blame/Praise the music for that.

There were two of us in a freshly battle-damaged Budget [rent-a-]van.  Going  between locations for a feature film, I was riding shotgun and intermittently wincing from the rays of “golden hour” whenever the sunlight slipped between buildings and connected with a direct hit to either eyeball.

Both windows were down and the sonic libations flowed freely – forming a sound loop engulfing a lane’s worth on both sides of the truck, which was rented on the dime of the “production company” as the duo referred to themselves.  Loud as it was, the driver could still shout over musical firepower of this magnitude: known as the Beastie Boys.

Happy Star Wars Day!

Many not “in on the joke” might question this post.  Especially people like me who are Star Wars OrThodox [*ahem* Original Trilogy, grammar police] and celebrate the actual Star Wars Day.  But why pass up a totally cromulent occasion to post something SW; even if it’s on the eve of free comic book day.

Enjoy the day.  Catch a cool fanfilm – or Episode IV of course.  I do have a post about A New Hope…  But that will wait for a less rushed time.  Epic can’t be rushed.

“May the Fourth be with you” – as is said today.

Figment Screnzy Summary Contest

I almost missed this contest opportunity, but I was busy writing.  Today I posted the summary for my Script Frenzy 2012 screenplay.

According to the site, it clocks in at 289 words and takes a minute to read.

Click the pic above, or click here to take a peek.  It’s free to read (no account needed), and having a Figment account means you can leave a comment or give a reaction.