Monday Song - Angel

Mr. Matt Nathanson

What a week...!

I'm going to keep it as short as possible...

Hit four years with Brie...  She is still the best.  Ever.

We went to NY to see Jim Henson's Fantastic World...  And I'm inspired all over again.

Brie even hooked me up with a awesome t-shirt...  Featuring a Jim Henson quote I often steal for my own work...

Got a cool package from my Aunt Rita with another awesome Muppety shirt...

And now a day off...  In the studio!

Monday Song on a Sunday Morning...

Too alarming now to talk about.

Take those pictures down and shake it out.

Truth or consequence, say it aloud.

Use that evidence, race it around.

There goes my hero,

Watch him as he goes.

There goes my hero,

He's ordinary!

Don't the best of them bleed it out,

While the rest of them peter out?

Truth or consequence, say it aloud.

Use that evidence, race it around.

There goes my hero,

Watch him as he goes.

There goes my hero,

He's ordinary!

*Kudos* my hero,

Leaving all the mess.

You know my hero,

The one that's on.

There goes my hero,

Watch him as he goes.

There goes my hero,

He's ordinary!

(Foo Fighters)

Turn Up Your Speakers and Play As Loud As You Can!

20 Years ago this summer, this was the rock song on everyone's Walkman...

I remember sitting in front of my brothers giant stereo speakers blaring the single as loud as we could...  I think the tune still hold up!

So to my brother and my bros...  This one's for you, Happy Labor Day!

Support the MDA!

Happy Labor Day!

Support the MDA!

New Resident in My Studio

Thank you Rachel and Chris!

A new blog to read...

My buddy Jim started a new blog, so I figured I'd give it a little plug...

Could be interesting to see where he goes with it..

The Fat Bastard Chronicles

Monday Song - Fair

Hey, are you lonely?

Has summer gone so slowly?

We found the ground

And that damage was done

It's cold as you fade into the sun

Where'd you go? To me?

But you're alive!

Well, it's only

Fallen frames, they told me

You stand out, it's so loud

And so what if it is?

It's cold as you face into the wind

Where'd it go to? tonight the sun shall see its light

So what if you catch me,

Where would we land?

In somebody's life

For taking his hands

Sing to me hope as she's

Thrown on the sand

All of your work

Is rated again

Where to go ?

And you were somehow the ran thing could allow

But it's all wrong

You're so strong

And this life and work

And choice took far too long

Where'd it go? tonight the sun shall see its light

So what if you catch me,

Where would we land?

In somebody's life

For taking his hands

Sing to me hope as she's

Thrown on the sand

All of our work

Is rated again

When I was sure you'd follow through

My world was turned to blue so thin

When you'd hide your songs would die

So I'd hide yours with mine

And all my words were bound to fail

I know you won't fail

See, I can tell

(Remy Zero)

Cloudy with a chance of Apocalypse?

Not really.

Raining...  Windy...

Got a mug full of coffee, doing some writing, and listening to The Green Album...

Hurricane Schmerricane

Weather Warning!

So the East Coast is looking like we're gonna get hit...  So SpongeBob is singing a song to make us feel better...

I love seeing that there are people out there with way more time on their hands than I have.!

Bowie!

Monday Morning Song - I'll Be Here A While

I'll be here a while, ain't going nowhere

I'll be here a while

Far is solace in the maddening pace

sad state written on my face

not a tight rope walk but dance

uncertain game of chance

but I'll see it through in time

I'll be here a while, ain't going nowhere

I'll be here a while

And if a person place or thing can deliver

I will quiver with delight

tempted by the hand that could

blind my vision and sight

but at twenty years of age

in frolic and in rage

I will see it through in time

I'll be here a while, ain't going nowhere

I'll be here a while

But the dawn has come into the endless night

and everything's going to be alright

but at thirty years of age

through frolic and in rage

all regressed and healed in time

I'll be here a while, ain't going nowhere

Said I, said I, said I, I will survive

(311)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REN AND STIMPY!

August 11, 1991 Ren and Stimpy first aired on Nickelodeon.

We should all celebrate by eating some Gritty Kitty Kitty Litter and playing with our Logs!

Thanks to John K. and his crew for the laughs!

Five Stages of Grief (for a Zombie)

Gotta give Julie all the credit on this...  

I was lucky enough to work with her on this in a great stop motion workshop this past week that was given at the Faxon Library in Elmwood (Yay!)

Thanks to Joe, Dan, and Tessa for putting on the workshop and letting me be part of it!

Check out Julie's awesome work HERE 

And thank you Heather for suggesting I try the workshop out!

Monday Late Nite Song - Stand Up And Be Strong

You might be right 

You might be wrong 

You might just think your life has gone on for too long 

Your knees get weak 

Your heart grows cold 

And your tired of doing everything you´re told 

And nothing can take away from you 

And what you take what you´ve been through 

Stand up and be strong 

Stand up and be strong 

It wont take long 

You cant go on 

Stand up and be strong 

You might have to fight 

You might have to cry 

You might have to cry 

You might have to fight 

Stand up and be strong 

You live in the hills 

You take too many pills 

If you´ve lost the thrill against your own will 

Stand up and be strong 

And nothing can take away from you 

And what you take 

What you know what you´ve got to do 

Stand up and be strong 

Stand up and be strong 

It wont take long you cant go on 

Stand up and be strong 

If you get all depressed 

When you get undressed 

If your life is a mess 

Remember you´re blessed stand up and be 

Stand up and be 

Stand up and be strong 

Stand up and be strong 

It wont take long 

You cant go on 

Stand up and be strong 

Stand up and be strong 

Stand up and be strong 

You can't go on it wont take long stand up and be strong 

(Soul Asylum)

Borders... If you see me getting high, knock me down...

I saw a great t-shirt on a kid today. It said:

"Buy Art Not Shoes"

I intentionally keep my day jobs away from my presence on the internet. But since I haven't worked for Borders since 2004, and soon they will just be a memory I figured, who cares?

People keep asking me about how I feel about the end of Borders. And I keep saying nice simple, short things like "It's too bad." or "Shame so many of the people I care about will be out of work" and so on... And them I'm asked: "No, really, what do you think?" And I've been brushing off answering it. I wanted to make sure to use the right words. And as a writer, it's easier to sit down, with a coffee or a beer and think it out.

Well, I think it sucks.

I went into the Farmington Connecticut store tonite with Brie. And it actually made me sad. I didn't give as shit when Strawberries folded, and when Media Play shut down I smiled. When Record Express went under I saw it coming... I worked at all these places too. But there is something different about Borders. I don't know what it is.

I spent five years working for Borders. The golden years, when the staff was specialized, and the stock was varied... It was a place to buy that book no one else had and get a CD you'd never thought any store would have in stock. As I was in process of leaving in 2004 I saw the writing on the wall for it's demise if things didn't change quick. I'm not going to get into why Borders is no more... I'll let Slate writer Annie Lowery do that HERE.

What I'm going to do is babble here about my experiences with the shops... And what its meant to me.

What I did get for five years at Borders?

Love. Inspiration. Friendship.

To this day I still talk with people I met while working there. There wouldn't even be an Elmwood Productions as we know it if it wasn't for Borders. It's where I met Jim and Russ. We worked there together, and the seeds were planted there for a wild future. The main character for "Josh and Todd" was created there and inspired by a co-worker named Josh, who also did time in Elmwood Productions... I could list the friends I made here, but that would be a post all by its self so please don't be offended if I didn't name drop you! I came up with Johnnie Sojive while working in South Tampa at Store 148. I was over caffeinated, working in the cafe with Collin and Chip. We were goofing around doing Morris Day impressions while taking orders from customers and I blurted out something so incomprehensible we couldn't stop laughing. And the voice stuck. And Johnnie Sojive was born. So many great ideas started in those two stores.

Random memories from Tampa and Farmington... Lunches at China Pan and J. Alexanders... 6 AM Snowball fights... Collin's California Turkey Wrap... Joe calling me "Jerkface" when he found out I was quitting... Andy Witts... Goldenboy... The look on Russ' face when I can back from Florida... I could go on and on and on...

I remember the first time I went into one. It was the store I worked at in Farmington CT, Store 55. I think it was the first on in Connecticut too. A Barnes and Noble opened up in 1993 and my mom and I would go there from time to time. She was a huge reader and really got me into books. We thought it was odd Borders would open across the street. The weekend they opened in 1994 my mom wanted to go. So I went with her. I wasn't planning on buying anything. Just to check it out. I left with a Kermit the Frog doll. Ha ha ha... I still have it.

And my mom bought me something too, when I wasn't looking. It was a book also by Kermit the Frog, called "One Frog Can Make a Difference: Kermit's Guide to Life in the '90's". I loved the book, still do. I still have it. It's long out of print, sadly. But it's a great memory of time spent with my mom. It was a place to hang for me, before I worked there, and after. A place to meet up with friends before a night out, or a concert, or a place to meet for a coffee and catch up. It was a place to feed the soul.

Borders was good for that. It made some great memories. I could go on and on and on forever here on this blog going over memories. But I won't bore you any further.

I'll end it here, with a quote from the book my mom bought me that first time I went to a Borders... And I dedicate it to all of you who were there with me, and those who stuck it out till the end, and to my friend Lisa, who started there right after I did, and will be there till the bitter end...

"Look before you leap" - KtF

I always had a feeling we were all really battery operated puppets!

Monday Song - I Love Your Goo

I love your guts, I love your goo Your ugly blood, your creepy heart The heart that's true to me and you I thank you  I'd eat your gum, I'd eat your goo I love the blood that lights your eyes And makes your lips the colour blue I thank you  Your flesh and your insides Your blood and your outsides You're blameless and I'm shameless  I am the shit upon your shoe Your creepy blood is in my heart The heart that's true to me and you I thank you  Your flesh and your insides Your blood and your outsides You're blameless and I'm shameless  I'm in the mud, I'm in the goo Your face is cold, your lips are blue But your heart is true to me and you I thank you  Your flesh and your insides Your blood and your outsides
You're blameless and I'm shameless
(Crash Test Dummies)

"The Muppets"

Hot Damn! This is gonna be great!

Nobody Weird Like Me

"If you're feeling lousy 'cuz you had a bad day...  

Welcome to the human race..."

I think it's clear that when I was a kid I was an oddball.  Wanting to play with puppets and put on shows, playing with my Indiana Jones action figures, and sometimes break-dance to the Thriller album when no one was looking.  I wasn't into joining any sports teams (but loved playing with my friends), never had the chance to go to camp, and probably spent too much time in my room drawing.  My parents were OK with this though, and made sure I got the sketchbooks, and the Kermit puppet, and the records (or tapes) of music I loved.  But even they knew I was weird.  I didn't have many friends at school, I did in my neighborhood (we all hung out together).

But it's not to say my parents didn't worry at all.  

They had a weird way of going about it too...

For my eighth birthday the got me a book and tape set called "No More Feeling Weird".  But they kinda goofed when giving it to me.  They had wrapped that up in the same wrapping paper another record they were going to give me.  They were going to give me "Weird" on my actual birthday, but the weekend before t hey had the family come over for cake and birthday stuff and slipped and gave me"Weird" in front of the whole family...

My family is a blast.  No one made fun of me, and they wanted to play the tape and look at the book.  I was mortified.

My entire family called me out for being the weird one.  After one song on the tape they stopped and my mom or dad put on the radio, or something...  And I realized they weren't making fun of me, they were embracing the weird.

In my early teens the tape and book disappeared and I didn't even think of it.  Then I grew up, and got weirder (so the tape and book didn't help me get less weird, but I guess I didn't feel weird, so it was a success!) and weirder...  I moved to Florida and back in my twenties and upon moving back randomly found the tape in a box of tapes...  And I had to play it...

It's all down hill after the first song; 'Welcome To The Human Race" (was "Welcome to the Jungle" a sequel to me at 12 years old?) and I could barley make it though the goofy stories in-between the goofy songs.  But I kept the tape.  I thought it would be great to use the song in a movie someday.  

And then I forgot about it all over again.  

About a month ago I was re-arranging my studio, and found a box of Elmwood videos.  At the bottom on the box...  Yup, the tape.

And I wondered  "Has anyone else ever seen this thing?"  So I hit Ebay, which is where I got the pic at the top of the post, and it turns out I wasn't alone...  Wow.  Other kids parents bought them this too...  Hahahaha...

Someday, somewhere, in an Elmwood movie you will hear that song...

And I'm still weird.

And as the Chili Peppers say "Nobody Weird Like Me"

Josh and Todd Screening at ConnectiCon!

This Saturday nite, "Josh and Todd: The Story of a Man and His Puppet" will be screening at ConnecitCon at 8 PM!

ConnectiCon has been great to us the past two summers, letting us screen shorts and do a panel on indy film making, and this year we're going all out with showing "Josh and Todd!"

To see the flick you do have to get a pass for the convention, or if you're already attending save the time on Saturday to see the dirty puppet madness!

Use this link for more on ConnectiCon and we hope to see you there!

Down With O.P.P. (Other Peoples Puppets)

Happy Independence day USA!

Monday Song - Breakdown

We all come in from the cold

We come down from the wire

An everybody warms themselves

to a different fire

When sometimes we get burned

You'd think sometime we'd learn

The one you love is the one

That should take you higher

You ain't got no one

You better go back out and find her

Just like children hidin' in a closet

Can't tell what's goin' on outside

Sometimes we're so far off the beaten track

We'll get taken for a ride

By a parlor trick or some words of wit

A hidden hand up a sleeve

To think the one you love

could hurt you now

Is a little hard to believe

But everybody darlin' sometimes

Bites the hand that feeds

When I look around

Everybody always brings me down

Well is it them or me

Well I just can't see

But there ain't no peace to found

But if someone really cared

Well they'd take the time to spare

A moment to try and understand

Another one's despair

Remember in this game we call life

That no one said it's fair

BREAKDOWN

Let me hear it now

Get down with yo' bad self

Alright

I've come to know the cold

I think of it as home

When there ain't enough of me

To go around

I'd rather be left alone

But if I call you out of habit

I'm out of love and I gotta have it

Would you give it to me

If I fit you needs

Like when we both knew we had it

But now the damage's done

And we're back out on the run

Fun how ev'rything was Roses

When we held on to the Guns

Just because you're winnin'

Don't mean you're the lucky ones

BREAKDOWN

Let me hear it now

"There goes the challenger being chased

By the blue blue meanies on wheels

The vicious traffic squad cars are

After our lone driver

The last American hero

The-the electric sintar

The demi-god,

The super driver of the golden west!

Two nasty Nazi cars are close behind

The beautiful lone driver

The police cars are getting closer-closer...

Closer to our soul hero in his soul mobile- Yeah baby!

They about to strike, They gonna get him, SMASH! RAPE!

The last beautiful free soul on this planet

But...it is writen if the Evil Spirit

Arms the Tiger with claws

Brahman provided wings for the Dove

Thus spake the Super Guru"

"Did you hear that" 

(Guns N' Roses)

Labyrinth

Per Russ' morning Facebook post, "Labyrinth" was released 25 years ago today.

And it got me thinking about writing a review.  I've done a couple reviews here before, and feel like today would be a good day for one.  But then I realized reviews are boring.  So instead I'm just gonna write about my experiences with the movie it's self.

Growing up a huge Muppet-head I devoured everything that Jim Henson and company was involved in.  Went to see The Muppet Movie opening weekend in 1979, had Muppet shirts, dolls, records...  Everything.  Love that Frank Oz was Yoda.  And when The Dark Crystal came out begged my mom to take me.  For the record it came out in 1982.  I was seven.  And not ready for it.

But I loved it.  Every second of it.

So I bet you think I saw Labyrinth the day it came out, right?

Nope.

I missed it completely in the theaters.

1986 I was eleven years old.  Puberty was setting in, and I was a total dork.  I still had a subscription in Muppet Magazine.  And Jennifer Connelley was on the cover with the Muppets.  And I was ready to check it out.  It looked cool, and Bowie's music was a fixture in my house.  What was not to see here!

But life got in the way.  And the movie also tanked in theaters.  It was out of the big theaters and into the .99 cent theater and gone before I even knew it.

Then, like so many other people, I rented it a year later.  I remember watching it with my brother and mom the summer of 1987, on a rainy day on the couch.

I liked it.  I didn't love it.  But I liked it.

Of course the puppetry and puppets and effects were amazing.  Of course Bowie's songs were great.  Of course Jennifer Connelly was easy on my 12 year old eyes.

And as a Henson junkie I was happy to see it wasn't just more Muppets.  

And then I went on with my life.

Six years later in the late fall of 1993 (I was 18) I decided to pick up a VHS copy of the movie, to add to my Henson collection.  I watched it that Friday night with my dad and brother.  As always my dad fell asleep, hahaha...  My brother and I got into it though.  Maybe it was nostalgia for being a kid.  Which I'm sure is how it got a cult following to start.  Maybe it was I finally got all the dirty jokes and perversion hidden in the flick.  I don't know.  But I loved it that time.

It was the last movie I watched with my brother.  He passed a week or two later.  I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but the last move we went to see in the theater was "The Muppet Christmas Carol" in December 1992

I bought the soundtrack a few weeks later and it went into heavy rotation whenever I was drawing or writing.

Over the years it's hit DVD three times, three different versions (different extras) and I've owned two of them.  When it first came to DVD I ate it up.  Watching it every month or so.  Analyzing the set design, the Froud designed puppets, the lighting, and so on…
It wasn't Jim Henson's masterpiece (that would be The Dark Crystal) but he was onto something.  It's too bad that four years after 1986 he would be gone.

I don't watch it very often anymore, but still own it.  I think the last time I watched it was last fall, and before that maybe two years earlier.  I did find a copy of the soundtrack on vinyl last year and added it to the collection though.  The last time I did watch it I loved it still, but saw all the huge flaws.  But in the end, it's a fun movie.  And I think Jim Henson was just trying to make people have fun with art.

I'm gonna go play that record now!

Monday Song - Not My Slave

With sadness in my heart and joy in my mind 

I thought about the ghost that we left behind. 

With everyone around telling us what to do 

With deafening sound whisper "I love you." 

The fire in your eyes-- may it never go out. 

The sweetness of your tears make it feel like night. 

I see no escape from the roles we always play 

What do we have to prove on this judgement day 

You're missing the whole point-- you're not my little pet 

Don't throw away your life-- The games not over yet 

I do not own your soul--don't want you in a cage 

I only want your heart to find a special place 

You're mine now But you're not my sister 

You're mine now But you're not my slave 

You're mine But you're not my child 

You're mine now But you're not my slave 

You're mine now But you're not my slave 

With sadness in my heart and clounds in my head 

I thought about us both and the lives we led. 

The pages on a book and pictures on a screen 

We shape ourselves like clay from someone else's dream. 

One second you are cast just like stones at my feet 

But I am not a king please don't worship me. 

With everyone around telling us what to do 

With deafening sound whisper "I love you." 

You're missing the whole point-- you're not my little pet 

Don't throw away your life-- The games not over yet 

I do not own your soul--don't want you in a cage 

I only want your heart to find a special place 

You're mine now But you're not my sister 

You're mine now But you're not my slave 

You're mine But you're not my child 

You're mine now But you're not my slave 

Oingo Boingo

SADNESS

Check out Elmwood's blog for the sadness...

Well, it's not all sad.  I'll miss you two!!!

Monday Song - My Shit's Fucked Up

Well, I went to the doctor 

I said, "I'm feeling kind of rough" 

He said, "I'll break it to you, son 

Your shit's fucked up." 

I said, "my shit's fucked up?" 

Well, I don't see how--" 

He said, "The shit that used to work-- 

It won't work now." 

I had a dream 

Ah, shucks, oh, well 

Now it's all fucked up 

It's shot to hell 

Yeah, my shit's fucked up 

It has to happen to the best of us 

The rich folks suffer like the rest of us 

It'll happen to you 

That amazing grace 

Sort of passed you by 

You wake up every day 

And you start to cry 

Yeah, you want to die 

But you just can't quit 

Let me break it on down: 

It's the fucked up shit

Warren Zevon

Monday Song - Good For You

It brings me peace

When you're asleep

Alone together in a moment that lasts forever

And when you smile

It brings me peace

It's like everything I ever wanted

And I want so bad to be good for you

I could be good for you

I think I'd be good for you

Yes I think I'd be good for you

Just like orange juice

Or a walk around the lake

Like putting to good use

Something you thought was fake

And the afterlife

Who really cares?

This one's good enough just as long as you're there

And I want so bad to be good for you

I could be good for you

I think I'd be good for you

Yes I could be good for you

And what is sacred

This I know

It's just me and you

On a train moving slow

To heaven

It's just like my momma

She used to say

When I told her that everything's okay

She'd just say "Good for you

That's so good for you

That's good for you

I think it'd be good for you"

Yeah I think I'd be good for you

I could be good for you

I could be good for you

I think I could....

(Soul Asylum)

I Need That Record! I really do!

Music is so important to me, and how I work.  When I'm making puppet, or writing, or drawing, I always have music going.  In the car, when I'm in bed, whatever, there is music.

Some people come home from work and watch TV.  Not me.  I come home and turn on the turntable, the iPod, or a CD...

Right now I'm drinking my morning coffee with Cee-Lo, I know you wish you were here hanging with me enjoying my awesome coffee and Cee-Lo saying "Fuck You", hahaha...

I spent most of my 20's working in music shops of some sort.  My love of music got me there.

My first music shop job was in 1996 at Strawberries (RIP), then I went on to Media Play (RIP), and then Record Express (RIP), and my time in music shops ended in 2004 when I left Borders (Living On The Edge or RIP).  So when I first heard about "I Need That Record!" I was jazzed to see it.  And I have, and it's awesome.

I didn't know much about what stores would be featured so when the whole movie starts at the last remaining Record Express in Middletown (RIP) I got all nostalgic about my time at the Record Express shops in West Hartford Center and East Hartford.  Then I remembered those shops were both dumps and didn't feel so bad, hahaha...  But it is sad to see most people are losing the local small shop to get all the weird cool stuff along with the biggest hits.

Recently Books and Music in Plainville CT closed it's doors.  Which was even sadder for me since we filmed some of "Josh and Todd" there.

This Saturday nite at Paris In Plantsville I'll be hosting our Monthly Film Screening and we'll be showing "I Need That Record!" and the director, Brandon Toller, is set to attend and do a Q&A after.  I'm really excited to share the film with people, so I hope if you're in CT you come out!

And I can bribe you to come!  Anyone who comes and makes a donation of 5 bucks or more will be entered into a raffle to win a bag full of music!  Over a dozen CDs of independent and national music (even some Marvin Gaye!) and a few LPs!

www.ineedthatrecord.com

Down with O.P.P. (Other Peoples Puppets)

These sock skits crack me up every time...