I'm leavin', not on a jet plane...

I'm leaving for Park City, Utah tomorrow. I'm super excited. I hope I can remember how to snowboard. I know I'll remember how to Rock Band (yes, it's now a verb). I'll take some photos and maybe post some here, if you're lucky.

I'm in between classes right now, so I have a week break. It feels necessary...although I'm actually really excited about the upcoming class called The Art of Film. That should be a lot of fun to teach.

Also, last night I saw Thunder Power!!! and Honeybee at The Waiting Room. Both bands were great. It was the first time I've seen Honeybee live, and I was really into it. They're catchy and have some interesting instrumentation (say that five times fast). I can't wait until they have music on a physical CD.

Also coming up next week: Mamma Mia, the online premiere of the Thunder Power!!! video I directed, Tilly and the Wall at The Waiting Room and much, much more.

the best purchase I've made all year.

New idea

I've got a new idea for a short film that I want to film this summer. I'm not far enough along to really talk about it in detail yet, and I don't want to jinx it in any way, but I just wanted to document my excitement for this project.

I'm going to start writing.

This is pretty funny.

Rainn Wilson interviews Todd Haynes, in preparation for hosting the Independent Spirit Awards.

Rainn on Film With Todd Haynes
Uploaded by filmindependent

American Apparel opening

For those of you interested in keeping up with the changing cultural landscape of Omaha, American Apparel will open in the complex that currently houses Slowdown, Film Streams, Secret Penguin (graphic design), BBB Ltd.(skateboarding and urban apparel shop) and Urban Outfitters. It should be open in a few months.

There's definitely an interesting discussion to be had about owner/CEO Dov Charney and his behavior at work and official statements, including testimony from his current sexual harassment trial (3 counts), but that's a longer story/post...maybe for another day...

The Reptile Garden

The Reptile Garden was the fiction piece in The New Yorker a few issues back. I read the short story on the plane to Florida and loved it. I love it when The New Yorker introduces me to writers that I haven't heard of or read before, like Marisa Silver and now Louise Erdrich. The story really stuck with me, so I thought I would share it with anyone who might be interested. Also, for you Minnesotans, the author Louise Erdrich owns a small independent bookstore in Minneapolis called BirchBark Books.

Musica de Omaha

Friday night Thunder Power!!!, Flowers Forever and Baby Walrus played at the Bemis. What an awesome line-up. For those of you who read this who aren't in Omaha (which is probably most of you), please check these bands out. They all make really great and different music. You can buy the Flowers Forever album at Team Love, and the Baby Walrus one here , and you can listen to Thunder Power here. The show was to celebrate the releases of the Baby Walrus and Flowers Forever albums and also a fundraiser for Kianna from Tilly and the Wall's bulldog Foot Foot who needs ear surgery. The Bemis is a great place for shows -- it's a basement art gallery and the shows are usually in this small room off the gallery. So it's basically a warm, sweaty, sometimes smelly place with no stage and very little light.

Thunder Power!!! played a great set and sounded really good. Flowers Forever played their album in order. Derek was his usual energetic self, and the crowd was really into it -- a lot of dancing. Baby Walrus closed with another amazing set. I'm always really impressed with how good they sound live, especially since their songs have unusual arrangements and layers and stuff.



Flowers Forever.


Baby Walrus.