Rhombus

Friends, family, people who I don't know but are no less beautiful for it,

I have just agreed to start writing for a new online magazine called Rhombus. It's local--BYU students run it. It's also striving desperately to replace another local publication called Square Magazine, which was a little bit like Watchtower, left at your door, only vaguely interesting, and suffocatingly self-aggrandizing.

I have a review of the film 9 posted as of yesterday, so go check it out.

The sad part of this tale is that I probably won't be spending much time at all posting on this here blog as long as I'm writing for Rhombus. I want to see that online magazine succeed, so I'll be focusing all of my efforts and sweet skeeels in marketing toward getting that title out there.

Every once in a while, I'll probably throw up a post about something Rhombus probably doesn't care about. But my reviews, and my political views, and my thoughts about important things (of which I have SO many), have now all found themselves a new home.

So go there. And read my review. And then read other stuff too. Cause they got pretty good writers over there, and other pretty cool stuff.

One Item or Less

It's official, I'm making a movie.

Last Thursday, I and my fledgling crew had our first production meeting for the short film "One Item or Less." I wrote the screenplay, and I'm going to direct the film. Wyatt Strain will be producing, and A. Todd Smith is my cinematographer, which means this little movie's gonna be PRETTY.

Here's the short synopsis I wrote for IndieGoGo, and which I don't feel like rewriting. Ever. (Do you know how difficult it is to write a decent synopsis? I'll tell you: very.)

A mysterious caller gives a man a choice. What one thing would he save if his house was burned to the ground? It is an important question because the caller has promised to do just that.

And the tagline: "What one thing is more important than anything else?"

How cool is that? Right? Eh...? EH? (I'll tell you...)

Here are three links that are important:

Facebook Group

Facebook Page

IndieGoGo Page

This little film, as insignificant as it is in the grand scheme of anything, is nevertheless a bit of a big deal for me. I've never directed anything beyond the one to three minute exercises we do in our film classes. In other words, I don't know what I'm doing. All I've got is about fifteen hundred pounds of theory packed into my skull and an absurd belief in my own abilities. It's bound to turn out badly, but if I can create a short film that even some people enjoy, then I will feel encouraged to continue on in my aspirations to become a bona fide director. If not...I suppose I'll...well, I'll probably keep trying.

"Never give up! NEVER surrender!" (Name that film and you get a candy bar. It's true--just ask Kelsie. Right Kelsie? How was your Reeses?)

Mudbison

I'm not huge into the local music scene. Let's be honest with each other. Most of the local bands in Provo are...not very good. Certainly, there has occasionally passed through some very talented artists, but there seems to be an overall aesthetic of drab unoriginality to most of what passes for homegrown music here. Everybody is an acoustic-guitar-playing, Jack Johnson wannabe. Or they're...I don't know, Relient K? I mean, I have nothing against Relient K, but you really only need one of them. And the same goes for Mr. Johnson.

Anyway, there's one band that blows me away. Well, two, but one of them isn't quite local anymore. These two bands are RuRu (Isaac Russell), and Mudbison (Spencer Russell). These boys are TALENTED. I'm not talking clever or charismatic--they have serious talent. They are musicians of the highest order and songwriters to be reckoned with.

Isaac has gotten himself signed with a major label, and no longer qualifies to be considered part of the local scene.

But Spencer (of Mudbison) is just getting warmed up. You can still see him locally on a pretty regular basis. I tell you this with some urgency, noting that they probably won't stick around small time for long.

Here's an important article.

And here's a sweet song (which also happens to be a Youtube video):



I'll admit that the reason I know about these guys is because they are the sons of one of my favorite (FAVORITE) professors, Tom Russell, who teaches many important film classes.

Mudbison is a big deal. Go see them, if you can, on the 25th of this month at the Velour. They're wonderful.