It was two years ago that I started filming and producing Time Shower with my good friend John Espey. The absurd concept was a mad scientist builds a time machine out of his shower (which later morphs into a shower staff for some ill-defined reason). Sort of a Dr. Who (which I had not seen until recently) meets HG Wells. It was meant to be both an outlet for creativity and a means to promote a project I was working on at the time called minutaur.com.
After attending a CLAW meeting recently, I was encouraged by fez wearing colleagues to make more Time Shower episodes. Though I finished editing the 4th episode two years ago, I still have footage we shot for a couple more. This weekend I decided to jump back into the footage and see if an episode really could still emerge. It’s fun for me to look back at those filming memories of what we put together and try to reconnect the dots of how we planned out the shoot to flow into the editing room. I’m pleased to be able to present another episode in the Time Shower series. While the chances of further episodes are low (minutaur is fledgling if at that and John and I no longer live in the same state), there’s still a smile on my face when editing this one and thinking of the future.
A bit about minutaur:
Rodney Flores spent over 35 years in the restaurant business and is now combining his passions for nutritious food, Crossfit and cooking into a project called The Primal Effect. The focus of this project is a video cooking show called Primally Plated which I will be filming and editing hopefully twice a month. I just finished producing our first episode which can be seen below.
Rodney is an incredibly passionate guy with a lot of exciting ideas. I look forward to seeing how this project materializes.
Asleep, I play guitar
Stroking every chord and string with virtuoso speed and guile
Any tune is reality, any song committed to vibration
But in reality, failure is polite
Is quitting still quitting after trading practice for afternoon cartoons
After falling behind in class
After giving up on myself
“Love me tender” by Elvis Presley
Is the only song I’ve learnt fully
On my red Pevay Predator no less
A song which I didn’t even know the words to
Until grandma sang over my playing
Guitar, I regret you
You, my perennial failure, are not alone
My grandfather’s name is Stanley Allen
Or Allen as he preferred to be called
Or Papa as we called him
Papa was always known as a quiet man
Even in death, he went with as little fuss as possible
He wore large, but thin-framed, square glasses
The type you think about when considering Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation
His hair, a gray matted toupee, always gently and neatly combed to the side
Displayed a constant appearance of formality, of honor, of duty
Coming of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War
Papa was a workaholic
Although the details of his death are limited to
Images of my grandma returning from a day’s shopping
Finding Allen’s silent body quieter than usual
Realizing he isn’t responding to her questions
Moving as quickly as her body could take her to call 911
My understanding of his heart-attack through litterings of family conversation
Suggest a struggle to deal with a recent retirement
Retirement being
A notion unthinkable and unknown to the greatest generation
Papa was a Navy man, so my father tells me
During WWII it was his job to flash Morse code signals to other boats at night to communicate
And I can see him there
Standing silently in a starry night
The boat drifts up and down over the sea
Waves splash lightly on the ship’s hull
Allen’s lips sealed and his eyes sternly focused on
The dark distance
He’s waiting
Waiting there listening
And watching for the birth of a new star
It’s the type of night a man like Allen would have found peaceful
My father proudly recounts the story of a horrible
Stormy night aboard Papa’s Navy ship
The fists of Gaia pounded the vessel back and forth
Threatening to shred it apart
And my Papa, still a young man, fearful for his life
Made a wager with god
Should the storm break and he live to see home
He would never complain again
And as far as I know
He never did
That’s really a good way to understand what Allen was all about
He never complained about anything and
Never smiled greater than when taking that big silver dollar out of his pocket
Showing magic tricks to his grandchildren
Waving his hand like a magician
Making that flashing coin jump behind our ears
As if it was never actually there
Chuckling heartily at our surprise
While I admire the bits of his life that I know
Through these stories or childhood memories
I can’t say I know my Papa
And though I may someday learn to play guitar
There are some things I’ll never do
Off in the distance
In the fog of a deep night
Flashing code to me
It shines like a silver dollar
Always in the distance
And when I look for him
He’s not there
Correspondents Zack Smith and Ian Toner provide commentary for a semifinal game. – Photo by Discraft Inc.
Skyd Magazine was named the Official Coverage team of the 2011 Club Championships that took place in Sarasota, FL on Oct 27-30, 2011. Working in conjunction with USA Ultimate, Skyd brought a team of top notch correspondents down to the heat (and rain) to cover the action as the nation’s top teams in four divisions competed for gold. Skyd provided a video stream of games as well as daily preview and recap shows, write-ups, interviews and more.
Read all about Skyd’s coverage here and check out one of our preview shows below:
I’ve been selected for the second year in a row as the Official Videographer of Seattle SketchFest – the longest running SketchFest festival in country. Organized by Clayton Weller and crew, Seattle SketchFest brings together some of the finest sketch comedy groups in North America to the Theater off Jackson including the likes of Ubiquitous They, Charles Comedy and Dk & Morgan. This year, I was please to be able to catch and film the work of Peter & Chris, Charles Comedy, Comedian Barbara Holm, the Don’t We Boys and more. Congrats to the Seattle SketchFest team for putting on another amazing show.
Last year at the Fest, in addition to helping to film SketchFest’s project called MashUp, I put together a documentary about Ubiquitous They and the creative process. Below you’ll find a Ubiquitous They clip from last year’s SketchFest.
Not only was I pleased to have the honor of playing an awesome season with an incredible group of guys, I was excited to be a part of the design task force that would outfit and create a look for one of Seattle’s Elite Level Open Ultimate Frisbee teams – Seattle Voodoo. I built a wordpress site, augmenting a template and with Adam Restad and Vehro Titcomb of Five Ultimate helped make decisions about jersey designs and logos.
I also filmed a number of player profile videos for individual roster pages. You’ll find a good example below.
Founded in December 2010, It’s Recess is an event management company dedicated to reclaiming the moments of childhood where play and fun were the most important, most treasured things in the world. We organize events that recreate the best parts of the playground experience.
It’s Recess’ first event is the Seattle Tug of War Spectacular which pits like organizations against each other in a one-day tug of war tournament and benefit for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound. The event will bring in over 50 teams and upwards of 400 participants to compete for the Seattle Tug of War Championship in what may be the most exciting Saturdays of existence.
Find out more at ItsRecess.com and check us out on Facebook.
Seattle Tug of War is a one-day tug of war tournament and benefit for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound. The event will bring in over 50 teams and upwards of 400 participants to compete for the Seattle Tug of War Championship in what may be the most exciting Saturdays of your existence.
Teams of eight compete in multiple matches toward the Tug of War Championship. Teams can consist of anyone: your buddies, your coworkers, workout-partners, cubicle-mates or people you just met. The event is set up to encourage “grudge matches” in which industries compete for the best of each category (cafe vs. cafe, gym vs. gym, office division vs. office division, etc.). Each team will compete in at least four matches over the course of the event. Matches includes up to three “pulls” in which teams tug against each other. On the whistle, teams have up to three minutes to tug the middle of the rope (indicated by colored tape) over their line. Once the colored tape clears the line, a whistle is blown and teams are allowed five minutes to reset. Like all great competitions, best of three wins.
Teams work their way through brackets with the opportunity to make it to the 2011 Seattle Tug of War Championship bout.
Sign up your squad and find out more at SeattleTugofWar.com.
Check us out on Facebook and RSVP to the FB Event.
UPDATE: Unfortunately this event has been cancelled.
This past weekend I spent time 5 days in Boulder covering the 2011 USA Ultimate College Championships for Skyd Magazine. In addition to producing a ton a videos, liveblog, webcast, tons of recaps, interviews and photos with an excellent team for Skyd, I worked with CBS Sports and USA Ultimate to do voice over and talent work for a few daily recaps.
Since renting studio space a few months ago, I’ve been getting in to Gasworks Gallery here and there and started painting again. I’m still a bit rusty with everything, but I’ve been trying out some new techniques that have been rewarding. Here are a couple works in progress (click to embiggen):
New technique in progress.
Shot of the studio space I share with my friend Robert.
Ahoy matties! As you may be aware, I’ve been slowly chipping away at a documentary tentatively titled The Shape of Things to Come (STC) which is about examining humanities future based on different perspectives and encapsulate human progress. In a sense, the hope of this documentary is to present some vision(s) of our future.
Well I’m pleased to report that I have completed another interview, this one with political writer and cartoonist Ted Rall about his book The Anti-American Manifesto in which he predicts the collapse of the United States and calls for a revolution.
I first learned of Ted when CLAW’s RR Anderson interviewed him about his expedition to and stay in Afghanistan. I then learned he was speaking at Elliott Bay Book Company near where I lived so I made sure to see him. I was very intrigued by what Ted brought up at his presentation and new he would be a perfect fit for the project.
After digesting his book and finding the right time to meet with him, we arranged an interview and I fly down to San Francisco. With the help of videographer and artist John Espey, I was pleased to be able to sit down with Ted and record a fantastic discussion.
So there you are. I’m still chipping away at this project and will continue to do so. More updates when the next interview is set.
Founded by Ali Mastan and Brad Sliger, Bendercup is a new disc game which evolved out of similar varieties and challenges player accuracy and coordination. Played with a disc, four poles and four cups. Points are awarded when one team hits their opponents’ pole with the disc. The opponents have the opportunity to negate points by catching the thrown disc and the cup that is launched off the struck pole. Having played Bendercup myself, and as a big Ultimate player, I can tell you that this is real deal fun.
I met Ali through a mutual friend and we saw quickly that we would make a good team. Since then, I’ve been providing advice on reaching out and working with the Ultimate community and have provided additional web support.
Bendercup is currently raising funds through Kickstarter to launch its first round of production. You can head to our Kickstarter page and pre-order a set today. Your support will make this game possible and will help launch a whole new disc sport. Below you’ll find the Bendercup Kickstarter video that should explain more about the game and its development.
As you may or may not know, minutaur.com is a project I’ve been working on for some time now. In essence it is a Time Registry in which people can own and commemorate moments in time like a birthday or a special memory. minutaur provides the opportunity to claim your own holiday or make an entire year “The Year of Elliot” for example. What’s more, by collecting moments, minutaur is able to create a dynamic timeline of contextual human experience. Imagine being able to search a timeline and see all of the moments that are important to your friends and family and learn more about them through relevant videos and descriptions.
IndieGoGo Campaign
For the next 61 days, minutaur.com is running an IndieGoGo campaign to raise funds in order to develop applications for Facebook and smart-phones. You can support our project and help us bring it to the next level by chipping in some cash/money. In return you’ll receive a ton of awesome moments in time. Help support our project by giving the gift of time.
Thanks for your help.
I will always remember Juicy Juice
Eons ago
Cheeto dust stuck to our fingertips
Like an Orange Crush mirage.
We drank Coca Cola and laughed
Bubbles scratching our throats
Like Cherry flavored pop rocks.
In my memory, there is not a day without Cheerios
Not a day without Gatorade, Yoplait or Goldfish.
Times ago, we would gather, every man, woman and child
And in one symphonious voice shout out:
A large Dominoes pizza please! Delivery!
But, those days are as long gone as Pepsi Blue,
Collapsing upon themselves like a Neutron Gobstopper
And setting before an ocean of Sunny Delight.
These Starbucks notions were not rooted in skyscrapers
No. They stemmed from the nooks of the Earth
Where Mom would make you Pop Tarts
For nothing, but your love.
How pleasant would it be
To blame our greatest people-powered disasters
On outside forces
Like washed-up heroes
Desperate for an insidious plot
Finally our blanks penciled in
By a deception
We never thought capable
Or logical
On April 20th, 2010
When an explosion on the
Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig
Spilled history into the Gulf of Mexico
Spiking the punch of our ocean
Our Earth, once more
Finally, the truth of fault was uncovered
And we were not to blame
It was NOT our very human nature
Or a series of failed checks and balances
Hell no!
It was NOT a repugnantly ignorant CEO
Or a negligent administration
That let the sludge flow or caused it in the first place
Hell no!
Let there be pitchforks and
Riots in the streets!
The villain was instead the very wigs
Atop our bald or balding chrome-domes
A twist so bizarre
So preposterous
That its fibers
Have long been pulled down from our skulls
And over our eyes
Weaving through our history
The ancient parasite
A dormant relic of perverted evolution
Became attracted to the worst of us
When the first of us knew power and
Shame and
Like a leech
Began to slither its strands of mind-controlling corruption
In through our follicles, past skin and skull
To the brains of us
Susceptible to the possessed poets of cultural present
Saith Ovid of Rome
“Ugly are hornless bulls
A field without grass is an eyesore,
So is a tree without leaves,
So is a head without hair.”
Yes, it was the toupees!
Puppeteers of our experience
Spinners of our clay
Toupees that spilled oil onto the Gulf
Toupees that failed New Orleans
Toupees that killed the dodo
Toupees that murdered Professor Plum with the candlestick in The Conservatory
From Beethoven to Washington
From Caesar to Hitler
From Sinatra to Costanza
Our shame caps have been working
Their dark magic
A sick and divine plan
To first
Pollute our land enough
So that we are all left hairless
And second
To shame us into spreading their influence
In hopes of one day creating a race
Of toupee-wearing vassal mongrels
And taking over the universe
Muuhahahah!!!!
To you who this plot has just been revealed
Be wary of their influence
When the voice of BP tells us
That the environmental impact
Is likely to have been very, very modest
Or when BP assures us, it wants what’s best for us
As it or some other corporation-front leaks over 206 million gallons
Of crude oil
Know the truth
That Tony Hayward or any other spokesman fuck
Selling a strand of passing the buck
Is more likely than not
Just a pawn in the great toupee empire
Yes, if these vamparic toupees were our nightmare
And bravery to stand above social norms, our defense
The world would surely be a better place
But in knowing it is just us
All of us together
And not our parasites
Who have dammed our rivers
Dropped the atom bomb
Chopped our forests
And spit oil into our Gulf
Perhaps
We are better off
In December of 2010, I was asked by my friends at Ubiquitous They sketch comedy to shoot their performance and a behind the scenes documentary about their experience. The resulting 22 minute documentary features interviews with much of the UT squad as well as some of their performance.
Ubiquitous They began as a sketch comedy/improv troupe at my alma mater the University of Puget Sound. I helped write and produce two shows my senior year and acted in the second one. In graduating, many old members have formed a sketch focused group based in Seattle that started a few years back. They’ve become a major player (lolz) in the Seattle comedy scene and continue to make laughs happen.
During my tenure as a student at the University of Puget Sound, I contributor to The Trail, UPS’s student newspaper, as a cartoonists and writer. I was hired to develop a new site for The Trail in the summer of 2010. In checking in on it, I’m happy to see that they’re continuing to use its functionality to deliver the daily UPS happenings to the student body.
I recently read a short poem at whizARTbang called “Pilot, What’s the Destination.” It’s about airports.
It’s hard to imagine that CLAW has been around for two whole years now and my how we’ve grown. From the original four, CLAW now has 15 members. 15! That’s amazing!
Each year, we cap off all of our achievements with an end of the year ceremony, also known as “The Great Yearly Ceremony.” This is a time for us to swear in new members, allow for the replacement of old council members with new, honor our friends and watch a 30 minute slideshow while bellowing in pain. We’re lucky enough to be able to do all of this in Tacoma’s beautiful Pythian Temple. Take a look at the video below for the full event (minus the slideshow). It’s pretty awesome!