Ok, so, if you didn't see it on facebook, I've completed another video for the White Ravens:

I posted these to my facebook, but I figure they'll be better preserved here...and someone might even watch them!

I signed a petition to Terry Jones today, and wrote the following along with it:

"You cannot blame all of the faithful of Islam for the 9/11 attacks, simply because the 9/11 terrorists professed to be Muslims. Burning the Quran is an act of hate aimed at all Muslims, many of whom are fellow US citizens and every single one a brother or sister under God. It's no different than burning Bibles to remember April 19th, the day of the Oklahoma City bombing.

"If you think that this all boils down to a war between religions, and that one faith is right and another faith is wrong, then you are just as confused and deluded as the murderers who flew the planes into the twin towers. We are all God's children, regardless of religion, and can best serve God by uniting with our brothers and sisters of all faiths in weeding out every last blaspheming wretch who would murder in the name of God, whether they be Christian, Muslim, or otherwise."

You can sign the petition here, if you like:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/condemn_terry_jones/?rc=hlinko_20100909_Koran_ad5

It probably sounds a bit preachy. I apologize, but it's pretty close to what I believe.

I've found myself getting passionately angry lately about a handful of political issues. The Tea Baggers, for example, touting themselves as patriots is a complete disgrace. They scream and holler at every effort Obama makes to set things right, but where were their objections when W. was busy butt raping our country? I'm sadly worried that the world will end in 2012 right on schedule when Sarah Palin gets elected.

A subject that's got me even more distressed is the rampant islamophobia in our country. It breaks my heart that anyone in this country could possibly think that one group of people has any less right to worship than another, or that because the 9/11 terrorists happened to be Muslims that it's ok to burn copies of the Quran on the 9th anniversary of the tragedy.

I want to eradicate this stupidity. I want to obliterate it with a giant hammer. I want to spray it with pesticide so that it dies and can never grow again. But in the end I feel powerless against it.

In the British mini-series Jeckyll, the Hyde charachter at one point asks the doctor "Why am I not Superman?" That's what I feel like right now.

New video I shot and edited for a client. Hope you like it!

So here it is. This was directed by my friend, Shaun Jackson, and consumed a good portion of my weekends for a month or so. Hope you like it!

RIP Hunter. 199? - 2010

I wish I would have pet you more.

It's like if Guillermo del Toro and David Lynch had a metal yoga baby together.

Watched I Am Legend last night. One compound word for ya: subpar. The story was mediocre, the supporting characters had no development, and worst of all, the cg was terrible! In a world where we have The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, and Transformers...all movies that plug in computer graphics almost seamlessly with live action footage...why in that world do we get this shit that makes Jumangi look cutting edge?! I mean first and foremost, what was the purpose of making the mutants cg? Even the crappiest make up job on a real person is gonna rival a half assed computer generation.

Ok...had an idea the other day. Now, I'm not particularly aiming to regularly write fantasy works or conspiracy thrillers, but these two synapses just clicked together in my head. I think it'd be neat to write a script about a shadow government (one of the few conspiracy theories that I think is VERY plausible), and this shadow government is comprised of some form of immortals... probably vampires.

My reasoning is this: If you're one of a very minute few who have the key to immortality, you would have unspeakable power, and you probably wouldn't want to share it with a whole lot of people.

The inciting incident in this case most likely be some sort of outcast from this shadow government, who's trying to bring the secrets to life via the main character. Or perhaps the main character is working to develop a cure for cancer, unknowingly under the guide of this Immortal Outcast.

I would have to develop a specific way this privileged few operates, to get what they want. I would say the group would not exceed a dozen or so, and their pawns, CEO's, world leaders, etc, would have no idea about their immortality. They may have one triggerman/assassin who's blessed with their gift, only because he's very good at what he does...or what she does.


How's that sound to everybody? I haven't totally plagiarized anything have I?

Hey all,

Still alive...more or less...

Kinda at a really shitty low point right now. I really pissed off a very close friend of mine. Havin' trouble sleepin'.

But hey: at least I'm not on drugs, or a starving little kid in a war torn third world nation. To countless millions, my Hell would be Heaven.


Oh...and now the real reason for my return: just found this delightful site, and had to see what they had to say about one of my favorite films: Quills.

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/q/quills_2000.htm

For a site that's supposed to be lookin' out for the little kiddies, they leave very little to the imagination. Hell, they go into detail about some sex acts I don't even really remember happening in the movie. Ah well. Here's to little kiddies gettin' off on readin' parental reviews!

So here's another crack at a routine. I'm gonna try and get help this time. Alright...first of all: Nutrition. Note: I said nutrition, not diet. I'm not going on a diet, because diets are for posers (my apologies to any dieting friends I may have just pissed off). I'm going to try and limit the amount of sweets and red meat I'm eating. I'm no longer going to eat red meat or sweets on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays. I'm also not going to drink any alcohol on Mondays or Wednesdays (you gotta drink on Friday). The rest of the days of the week I'll limit myself to one pop and one other sweet, one red meat, and one drink. Friday and Saturday I'll drink as much as I damn well feel like ("yay, I'm gonna be sick!")

Excercise: Here's where I'm gonna try and get some help. I have a friend in town, and I'm gonna try and con her into being my jogging partner. That shouldn't be the hard part. The hard part'll be persuading her to wake up at 7AM (and persuading myself to wake up at 6:30). I'll just have to use my cunning, charm, and good looks I guess.

Oh, I'm also gonna go back to not playing video games during the week. Might be hard to fit my video games into the weekend, though, because that's when I'm gonna be doing all my drinking. Well, there's always Sunday. "And on the 7th day God said, 'let there be The Sims 2, so people can pretend to be me,' and he saw that it was good."

Wish me luck, and that I get Hugh Jackman sexy on my new routine.

Worked on this one a while back with my buddy John Inwood. Most of the work I did on this one was in front of the camera.


Lay Me Away from John on Vimeo.

[mood| accomplished]
[music| Eagles - Lyin' Eyes]

Looks like Eddie finally got that Public Service Announcement I helped him with up. Hurray...more me!

New video! Not my best, but it still made it into the WCC Film Festival last night.



And here's the 30:



Special thanks to Ashland for helping out on that one.


Speaking of the Film Festival...that was pretty crazy...in a good way. My face was all over the first act. "It's All About Me" went up pretty close to the beginning, and I became known far and wide as 'that Hamlet guy; I was in John Inwood's bit about the suicidal farmer (which I hope to have up very soon); I was in Eddie's zombie PSA, and then I was also in a documentary about WCC filmmakers.

Oh! And my PSA on plastic bags tied with another piece for best short. It's getting passed on to another film festival.



It's been a crazy couple of days...in a good way...

Had an interview for a teller position at a Bank in Ann Arbor this morning...AND...The Purple Rose Theatre has agreed to interview me sometime in the next two weeks for an apprenticeship I applied for there. Wish me luck!

[mood| productive]
[music| Animals - House of the Rising Sun]

New video! Enjoy!

I got a new camcorder. Yay! My ass belongs to HSBC for a little longer now. Yay! It's a nice camcorder though. And it'll be even nicer when I buy the drinks and fries that go with it: a 4 year service plan, an attachment for mounting photography lenses, photography lenses, a carrying case, a steady-cam so I can do super sweet and smooth hand held shots of EVERYTHING! Yay!

Join me next month when I buy a super tricked out MAC Pro so I can actually edit all the cool stuff I shoot on my new toy. Hmmm...I should name my new camera. Any suggestions?

[mood| slightly buzzed]
[music| Dresden Dolls - Coin Operated Boy]


Oh, and anybody who hasn't checked out my newer Nerdier LEGO page, totally should.

Feeling ambiguously optimistic. Kinda bittersweet. I feel like everything's gonna be alright. Maybe it's the music I've been listening to. Maybe it's just knowin' I have people out there who care about me, and that's really all I need.

[mood| content]
[music| Devendra Banhart - Cosmos and Demos]

Watched a part of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams today in class. Between him and David Lynch, I've decided I need to make my own surrealist film, based on some of the dreams I have. I mean, how many times have I started an entry saying, "Whoa, I had this really trippy dream last night!"

I've compiled a list of prominent dreams I've had, some fairly recent, and some dating back to when I was three years old. Some of them have recurring characters (people I know).

I'd like to maybe shoot this for an independent study project this summer. There's a couple stylistic issues I need to work out first, though. I want to remain as faithful to the dreams as possible, but I think some artistic embellishment may be necessary in order to create a through line of action. How do all of the dreams relate to each other. Also, I'd like all of the shots to be subjective P.O.V. shots, but I'm worried that if I don't do that just correctly it might end up extraordinarily bad. Perhaps I could just use a lot of subjective shots and some objective shots. I might even have a stand in "dreamer" for any third person shots, and have their face completely covered, masked, or silhouetted.

Also I'm not entirely sure what to do about dialogue. I might just skip it all together. But have you ever noticed in dreams that nobody ever really talks, but you understand some sort of communication twixt you and them? It's as if they spoke to you without moving their lips or making a sound.

It's storyboarding time!

[mood| artistic]
[music| Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)]

Just finished another video! Gotta do some edits to it before I can have it up on the net, but soon...ish.

Oy! Probably spent about twenty hours in the edit lab to finish a video that only runs two minutes and eighteen seconds. Totally worth it, though.