Roll up your sleeves and work.

I'm rather a limbo slump at the moment. I'm loving life in Los Angeles and doing all the right technical things I can possibly do on my own, whilst apartment hunting and visa applying but truly until my visa has come through I may not by law work for anyone else. 

In the meantime, I write new work that I may produce myself on little-to-no budget. Though in the past few days, I've struggled to motivate myself to do that because, let's face it, limbo sucks.

This morning, however, I read something that has completely reignited that fire in me (and I am going to have it printed and put on my wall right away).

"The best advice I can offer to those heading into the world of film is not to wait for the system to finance your projects and for others to decide your fate. If you can’t afford to make a million-dollar film, raise $10,000 and produce it yourself. That’s all you need to make a feature film these days. Beware of useless, bottom-rung secretarial jobs in film-production companies. Instead, so long as you are able-bodied, head out to where the real world is. Roll up your sleeves and work as a bouncer in a sex club or a warden in a lunatic asylum or a machine operator in a slaughterhouse. Drive a taxi for six months and you’ll have enough money to make a film. Walk on foot, learn languages and a craft or trade that has nothing to do with cinema. Filmmaking — like great literature — must have experience of life at its foundation. Read Conrad or Hemingway and you can tell how much real life is in those books. A lot of what you see in my films isn’t invention; it’s very much life itself, my own life. If you have an image in your head, hold on to it because — as remote as it might seem — at some point you might be able to use it in a film. I have always sought to transform my own experiences and fantasies into cinema."

-Werner Herzog
(full article here)

Not Your Average Joe

This time next year, I'll be living in New York City.

(Now that that's out of the way):

Today I was at a restaurant I go to at least 5 times a week. An unusual looking guy (I guessed around thirty or so) sat at the bar about three chairs down. I caught him looking at my sushi. I was annoyed - typically timid South African, I didn't want him to talk to me. I'm usually much more comfortable pretending to text or to be on the phone or to think really hard and to avoid eye contact completely - anything's better than talking to a stranger.

"What's that you're eating?"

HOLY SHIT: HE'S AMERICAN.

I was shy but quickly convinced myself to strike up a conversation with him (especially after he told me he lives in NYC). And I was so proud of myself. We chatted for the rest of the meal. He showed me pictures of Hurricane Sandy, his home, his halloween outfit, etc. Told me he was there at the restaurant (eating Sushi) because it's Thanks Giving today. I said "not quite a turkey" and he laughed. It was sweet of him.

We chatted away, he could hear me (I worked quite hard not to mumble) and he introduced himself right at the end as 'Joe from New York City'. And he wasn't a jerk, or obnoxious, or loud, or stupid or naïve, or any of the other equally as presumptuous traits so many South Africans readily lend their Western counterparts. He was just Joe from New York City. And it was so nice to meet him.

I'm so excited for next year.

Thinking Outside the BOX.

It is an experiment. It is long and you should listen to it properly or not at all.

I read a play called 'Box' today by Edward Albee. The entire piece is a voice over. On stage is a box. That is all. The voice comments on the human predicament and, in consequence, the effects of art. And the box. Which I thought would be quite interesting stuff to contemplate in the wake of the Zuma-Murray Spear/Smear saga.

Osamacide.

FB post of the day by Daniel Jake Sher - kak funny:

Have a good one.

Dr Strangelove, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

Best Line: You can't fight in here! This is the war room!

I watched Dr Stangelove last night for varsity and it was a good laugh. In a good way. I always enjoy spotting the terrible 'visual effects' in oldschool films like these - it makes them awfully authentic though, in my eyes anyway. Dr Strangelove himself is so bloody weird.

If you're feeling up for a lovely mockery (intended or not) of the Cold War, watch it.

Cheers x

Mu-Barack

I'm not an activist enough to make any sort of bold statements about the president of America, Egypt, or even Zimbabwe. But the thought just crossed my mind that:


Robert MUgabe and BARACK Obama = Hosni MUBARAK.


I'm just saying.

+

=

?

Gay Marriage, Horse Affair, Mexting.

This video is off the.onion.com - wonderful spoof of homophobic homosexuals.



Breaking: Anti-Gay Congressman Caught In Affair With Horse

Bernie got Brains.

My cousin brought this video to my attention.

Now, I know most of you will see the length - 13 odd minutes - and not want to watch it. But if I you have a moment, really, give it your time. It's so refreshing to see an American speaking passionately about one of America's greatest problems, namely: the war being waged by some of the wealthiest, most powerful people in the country against the disappearing, shrinking middle class of the country.

He brings up statistics and many great arguments that go with them that are very interesting, including a personal story about Christmas shopping. But to simplify, what Bernie is saying is that there is a tiny-weeenie percentage of the world population (10 million peeps, to be exact) that fall under America's label for the top 1 percent of highest-income-earning mofos and that that little tiny-weenie percentage is so well-catered for that their tax backs (generally speaking about R100 000 per year, per rich guy) are put at a higher priority than the government has currently placed education, health, child-care, etc... i.e. they're making the rich guys richer and the ones who can't pay for all the good stuff don't get given shit to change that.

This top 1 percent of income-earners earn more than the bottom FIFTY PERCENT of all income-earners. I'll paraphrase: 10 mil of our population earns more than the bottom 3-billion-and-whatever do, altogether. My maths isn't great. But that's round about how shocking it is.

"Mr President, while the middle class of this country collapses, and the rich become much richer, the United States now has by far the most unequal distribution of income on earth in history." - Sies.

Now according to this guy, there are some Americans who get it and who aren't ONLY into earning more money and more power. So, no, not all Americans are bad. At all. I know a couple great ones. But fuck, some of them really do need to wake up and smell the poor people. Hell, even the middle class people will do.

Crocodile shoes.

Yep.