Hunter S. Thompson Film: Gonzo June 7, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : News, Quotes, Video, Beer, Film, Orlando Weekly, Storytelling , 2 commentsThe man who invented Gonzo journalism is a guy who I’ve really been meaning to check out on a deeper level for quite some time. I love the film versions of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I actually share a birthday with him - we were born 45 years apart, and he ended up living to be 68.
One of my favorite things about Gonzo Otaku is Flying Dog’s Gonzo Porter - a seasonal beer dedicated to Hunter, featuring the artwork of Ralph Steadman (he does all the art for Flying Dog), with a dog-portrait of the author, clutching his signature cigarette holder and wearing sunglasses. Apparently H.S.T. was a friend of the brewers. He is quoted on their site as saying:
“Good People Drink Good Beer”
So far the closest opening for the film is 4th of July in Atlanta, at Midtown Art Cinemas 8 (an eight-screen art-house? Que?)
In other Gonzo trivia, I would classify local Orlando Weekly columnist Billy Manes as a disciple of that style of journalism, if you’ve never read his weekly back-page column, Blister, you don’t know what you’re getting in to.
Hopefully I’ll have a chance to see the film some time soon, until then, do some LSD, smoke, drink, go for a drive, and don’t forget to bring your lawyer with you!
May is a Kickass Month for Arts Events in Orlando May 15, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Orlando, Music, Drupal, Events, Film, Fringe, floridacreatives, Likemind.orl, OrlandoScene, Arts, bloggingfringe , add a commentWhy is May such a great month for holding events? Sure, for our Northern friends, it means the end of bad weather, the opening of roller coaster parks, and a change in the scenery as the trees and flowers start to show their summer colors, but here in Florida, it’s more like the start of the summer’s hot, humid, rainy monotony, the arrival of the tourists, time-share owners, kids on summer vacation, religious zealots protesting Gay Days, and of course, bad drivers in rental cars.
The main reason I look forward to May every year is the arrival of the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival (Thursday the 15th through Monday the 26th). Every year, theatre companies, dancers, comedians, clowns, musicians, improv actors, writer/directors, solo acts and large ensembles, exuberant teenagers and road-hardened veterans alike grace Loch Haven Park with their creativity and energy, and Orlando gives every ounce of it (and more) back to them as many of the national and international acts begin their Canadian Fringe circuit, which brings them to a new city every two weeks. Show prices range from free (as in free software) to $10, and all shows require the one-time purchase of a $6 festival button - 100% of your ticket money goes to the artist. This is one of the only unjuried, uncensored events I know of in Orlando outside of a few open-mic nights, and even some of those are passing judgment on the performers (the other best example here is BarCamp).
18 months ago, I started gathering a group of my friends together every third Monday of the month for an event called Florida Creatives Happy Hour (Monday the 19th, 6PM @ Loch Haven Park). Now, those original 8 friends are hardly in the same room, but the group has grown to something resembling a small political party representing the creative professionals and hobbyists here in Central Florida (with a group getting started in Jacksonville as I write this). This month’s Florida Creatives falls during the Fringe Festival, so at 6PM on the 19th we will be descending upon their “Green Lawn of Fabulousness” to have a beer and some soul food and socialize. At 7:45, we will be attending American Squatter, starring Barry Smith, the creator of last year’s sell-out hit Jesus in Montana. Tickets are $10 plus your $6 Fringe button.
Despite the fact that Fringe starts on the same day every year, another festival seems to think they are better than the Fringe, by starting on the exact same day. Yes, the Florida Music Festival runs Thursday the 15th through Sunday the 18th this year, at pretty much every available venue downtown. In past years, you’ve been able to buy a one-time pass that gets you in to all the shows for the whole weekend, as well as nightly passes - buying a ticket to just one show will hardly do such an event justice. The festival also has a short film as well as an art contest, check these out too if you can find the time in between all of the other events happening at the exact same time.
What other events? How about that bizarre craft bazaar held semi-bi-anually at Stardust Video & Coffee, Grandma Party? (Saturday the 17th, 10AM to Sunset) For some reason they opted out of celebrating Earth Day in favor of overlapping with FMF and Fringe this year - the reason why is left as homework for the reader. Actually, if you find out, please try to explain this one to me too. At G-ma Party, you’ll not only find loads of handmade goods, like the cereal-and-eggs inspired work of the Breakfast Bunch, but trendy t-shirts, buckets of buttons, live music by some of Orlando’s best local bands (at least those who are friends with the festival organizers), a bal-looney community pool, and of course rummage piles and raffles.
Not as culturally significant, but still worth a mention, the second ever Florida Drupal User Group meeting will be held at the offices of MindComet in Maitland this Saturday (May 17th, 1PM). Check out the event and any follow-up at groups.drupal.org/florida.
Still more to come in this round-up of events, because I couldn’t write such a blog post without mentioning the Corazon Art and Music Festival being held at the Orlando Brewing Company (Sunday the 18th, starts 1PM, All Day). As I’m writing this I don’t have access to any listings, but I know tickets are $5, and I can give a serious recommendation, as this event is being thrown by Robert and Jonathan from Gamble Records, the folks who brought us the ELLA Music Festival in October. I expect you will see lots of singer-songwriter type acts, and you can trust Robert Johnson’s rolodex to bring you some great music (and art?).
There must be more happening during the next two weeks, but isn’t that enough? Of course, we can’t forget about this Friday (May 16th, 8AM-11AM) and the Likemind Orlando coffee meetup at the Lake Eola Panera Bread. This month there will be free coffee and hopefully a few free copies of a book called Murketing - I don’t have a lot of details about it, but I know the publishers of the book are sponsoring the coffee and snacks all over the US, so they get serious props.
If I’m missing anything here, please leave a shout-out, and I’ll try to include it in the next bulletin. Until next time, have a great May!
Video Uploads to Flickr April 9, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Podcasts, Orlando, Events, Video, Film, Reviews, Trends, MySpace, photos, Facebook, BarCamp, Storytelling, Viddler, Web Services, Flickr , add a comment
My First Video on Flickr fit the new requirements perfectly: less than 90 seconds, and less than 150MB. That’s fantastic, and the streaming in good, embed codes, tagging, fits right into my flickr photo/video stream, awesome.
The videos on Flickr are going to make YouTube obsolete, or rather, the MySpace to Flickr’s metaphorical Facebook. The content in each place is different. I don’t go to MySpace or YouTube expecting quality, art, or intellectual content of the least kind. However, I know some real life people on Facebook, and some really serious photographers on Flickr.
By creating a constraint like this, the “90-second short film” will gain a place on the internet. I wouldn’t doubt if the next set of consumer-level cameras have an option to limit video clips to 90 seconds to allow for easy Flickr uploading.
…and it is SO easy. The same exact experience as working with a photo - I haven’t tried geotagging, but I bet it works. Now if they can get Viddler-style deep tagging working just like Notes on photos, I’ll be a very happy man.
David is a total goofball, now you can see it at 30FPS. Thanks Flickr!
What every small town local bookstore should do April 1, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Markteting, HowTo, Video, Film, Shopping, Trends, Books, Travel, Contributors, OrlandoScene, Teaching, open source, Branding, Storytelling, Love , 2 commentsI jsut finished reading Rent Girl
However Michelle Tea and this book are not the subject of this blog. At least, not directly.
I picked up this indy book at an indy book shop - I was on vacation, visiting Tempe, Arizona, walking to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, hiking the Grand Canyon, getting yummy sandwiches from the co-op and drinking local beer. And next to the Trader Joe’s in the adobe-colored shopping center (really, they all were) was this little book store, Changing Hands.
Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe Arizona, corner of McClintock and Guadalupe. There was a café, I think, and there was a section up front with fun games - the kinds of stuff you’d see on the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble next year once they hit critical mass. Like all indy book shops, there was a table near the customer service desk with eye-catching books, new arrivals, and the ever-present signed-or-to-be-signed books. And here was Rent Girl
I only read a few pages on the plane, it was too naughty. I actually couldn’t wrap my head around this book until recently, somehow I feel that by absorbing some women’s media I can try to understand the industry a bit better - things aimed at guys are too easy to understand, low hanging fruit - women’s music, film and books are another beast.
But I digress. I want to plant a seed at Changing Hands in Tempe and Urban Think in Orlando and the Bookmine in Jacksonville, and all the other places where you feel proud buying a naughty graphic novel. This advice isn’t exactly ground-shaking, but I think it makes sense:
Every small town book shop should:
- Print their own books.
- Teach classes about how to print your own books.
- Sell said hand-made and self-published books.
- Sell books by local authors on the internet.
- Show and sell art on the walls.
- Have free and open wi-fi.
- Record video/audio podcasts with visiting authors.
- Have a space in-store and online for customers to have a conversation, either about books or what happened on last night’s LOST.
- Be a place where you want to come to read a book.
- Be a place where you would hang out with your friends.
- Be the first place you want to visit when you get off of work.
- Have space for local groups to hold meetings.
In London I saw a store that only sells Chess and Bridge supplies. They’ve got the largest selection of that stuff you’ve ever seen - no big box store could compete. And on the same block is a store that only sells Flutes. I’m told there’s a store on the other side of the river that only sells French Horns. Granted, in a big city there is a need for places that specialized, but I think even a small town book store can take some tips from these places.
I saw another place that was a grocery, bookstore, gift shop and restaurant all in one. They wouldn’t let me take pictures in there, it was so unique. They press their own olive oil.
In a certain way, Stardust Video & Coffee here in Orlando has achieved so much of what’s on my list, but the utility of the store, renting movies, was not lucrative enough for them, so they opened up to being more cafe-and-performance-space than video rental space. They’ve recently added a second stage with a strict “no dry-humping” policy, and they also sell hard liquor in addition to their amazing selection of beers, decent wine, tea, coffee, baked goods and original food.
I suppose if there was a local printer, they could achieve something similar without needing to do the actual printing themselves, but I guess that’s part of the point of the bookstore, yes?
As a “video and coffee” establishment, I don’t see where Stardust is the last word on video other than the selection, but I always felt like I wasn’t smart enough to rent there, that the right to rent a film was reserved for someone with a more cultured taste than I. However, the Thursday night Broken Speech Poetry Slam or the local rock shows they have are completely accessible, and I’ve played drums on stage at Stardust many times. Maybe that’s just partly attributed to my training as a musician, but why do I feel I’m below the film?
I guess I’m trying to encourage these book shops to become the Third Place that we are all craving here in Orlando right now. In the land of corporate coffee, the local coffee shop has evolved, mostly in order to survive. I think the local bookstore has a few more steps to take before they’re all grown up.
Which bookstores have you noticed fitting into their niche?
…continued…
This is an old meme I found via Tara Hunt and Pinko Marketing. I’ve been trying to describe local media (or at least the goals of the media I’ve been trying to produce) and what’s supposed to be for sale at Petentials and similar sites. The point isn’t to sell 24,000 of an item priced $1 but 1,000 of an item priced $24, let’s say.
Boutique (from my mac dictionary): French, literally ‘small shop,’ via Latin from Greek apothēkē ‘storehouse.’ Compare with bodega .
Some people are getting my reference to boutique mixed up with luxury brands. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead with Louis Vuitton bag and I’m sure most Boutiquers wouldn’t be either. The difference, as the diagram suggests (and there are many more differences than I quickly plotted in this image) is the motivations for buying. I said, “Bought for connection” because, as Sanford commented in the previous posts comment section:
“People go out of their way to purchase certain goods - like moleskine notebooks - or buy cheese from specific vendors because it broadcasts something about who they are. This statement can be personal/internal, shared with a small audience…”
The “small shop” concept is the feeling I got at Villandry in London - it was right in the heart of downtown, near the international embassy district, but instead of being generic, they were hyper-specialized. It was the kind of place you’d bring your aunts and uncles who were visiting town, to show off the awesome places that can grown up in your backyard, and they’d sit back and go “I would never buy anything in here, but I’m in awe of the place.” That’s how I feel at Stardust, that’s likely how some folks feel in the front room at Dandelion Communitea, or the co-op area at Infusion Tea in College Park. What does it all mean? How did these people come to create this art, or this custom stationery, or eco-friendly teacups, or press their own olive oil? Why are there hundreds of movies I’ve never heard of, and how in the hell can they organize them by country and director instead of genre? Who does that?
Boutiques do that. The perfect local bookstore would do that.
Take a look at people who use open source software, you’ll find the same aesthetic. Hand-made, personalized, specific, and powerful in the hands of a well-informed user, but you don’t need to be the guy who wrote it to use it or change it. You think there should be a French translation? That’s up to you. A sixth checkbox? Hack it in, contribute it to the repository. Make this the best tool for you, and therefore the best tool for folks who know where to look.
I could go on all night. Maybe I’ll go on this weekend at BarCamp. But I don’t title it “indy bookstore”. What is it?
Tampa Film Fan Immaortalized as a Comic February 26, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Blogging, Links, Film, Newspaper, floridacreatives, Tampa , 1 comment so farTampa Film Fan is written by Lisa Ciurro. It’s a local blog I read has been featured in the Tampa Tribune. My only question is this:
Your paper acknowledges bloggers?
Ours has plenty of bloggers that work for the paper or blog on behalf of the paper, but what’s all this business about recognizing a job well done? I won’t stand for it! (actually, I’ll give a standing ovation for it.
I’ve been called a cartoon character before. Now, according to the Tampa Tribune’s BlogJam section, I actually am one!
Visit www.myspace.com/wikiworld to see more of Williams’ talent and creativity on display.
I wouldn’t Steal, but I download movies January 20, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, News, Music, Video, Film, Trends, DRM , add a commentSteal with a capital S. When we get DRM-free movie downloads (akin to all the DRM-free MP3s we’ve seen floating around), then there will be no need for videos like this.
In a highly unusual move for any political group today, the Greens EFA party of the European Parliament have publicly expressed their support for file sharing on the Net.
OrlandoScene.TV and BloggingFringe.com Video on Revver June 20, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Site News, Podcasts, Orlando, Video, Film, Trends, Fringe, Liberatr, Restaurants, Entrepreneurship, itunes, statistics, Revver, Contributors, OrlandoScene , 1 comment so farI’m posting this because there should be an 8th video in this widget by the time you see it. I wish this thing would show the videos in reverse order, and perhaps it will - the first video should be OrlandoScene.TV 03 Taste, the second Heart of Coal, etc.
I’ve learned through the very useful and very pretty Revver statistics that about 5% of people who see my video play it to the end, and of those about 8% click on the ad. I think 8.16% ain’t half bad at all - what I wonder is if the “views” includes people who see the player and don’t push play. I don’t think it does.
If you haven’t seen all 8 of these videos yet, they are more than worth watching. If you’re using a feedreader right now, I’m not sure if you can see the player because of JavaScript. You can find my videos on the web at Revver.
OrlandoScene.TV, BloggingFringe.com - that’s where these videos live.
I love Motion Graphics June 3, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : Music, Video, Film, Design, Web Sites, Graphics , add a commentFor a while in college, I studied 3D graphics, motion graphics, animation, etc. I’m also a big music guy, and a huge fan of Japanese sample artist Cornelius. So when I see stuff like this, it really gets me going.
Orlando Scene TV 02: Enzian FILMSLAM March 12, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Site News, Podcasts, Orlando, Events, Video, Film, TV, Travel, Liberatr, Web Sites, itunes, Charity , add a commentATTENTION: All proceeds from clicks on the ads at the end of this video will be donated to the American Cancer Society for Relay for Life. No support is generated if you dont click, so make sure you watch all the way to the end and click to help us out.
Every second Sunday of the month, John Theisen and Brian Feldman host a program of short films at the Enzian Theater in Maitland by Florida Filmmakers. Winners are picked by the audience to advance to the Brouhaha Grand Slam in December. Michelle joined us and got a chance to talk with the organizers at the event.
At the January FILMSLAM, 6 Florida films were featured:
Security Deposit - Erica Matyas
Since September - Christopher Zawadzki (3rd Place)
The Blue Moon Pull (PART I) - Young Kim
Aging Imaginations - Kirk Murray
A Man in the Attic - Ali Imran Zaidi (1st Place)
SPEAKEASY - E.R. Jess
Orlando Scene appears courtesy of Liberatr.net
The February and March FILMSLAM events were also a great time, we highly recommend going out and supporting local film to the tune of a $5 bill. If you want to find out more about people producing video and film locally, our other blog, Orlando Video, allows creatives in Orlando to send us links to their video on the web. We have featured E.R. Jess’ group, Feedbag Films, several times now.
More videos coming out every week at Orlando Scene TV and on iTunes
Holly Riggs’ Farewell Show March 3, 2007
Posted by Ryan in : News, Orlando, Music, Links, Events, Film, Reviews, Trends, MySpace, floridacreatives , add a comment
Holly Riggs’ Final Farewell Hosted on ZooomrHolly Riggs began writing poetry after a rough break up. A producer from Nonsense Records discovered her talents at a performance and offered to produce a spoken word album. It came out great, and Holly kept performing around town. She was a regular at the Tuesday night SPEAKEASY at Will’s while it was still around, and she even appeared in the documentary about the event.
Apart from her music career, Holly makes jewelry and produces interactive, hip-hop inspired theatre as Starbananas Productions. I never got a chance to see the play they put on last year, but if I know anything about this girl, it was a sight to be seen.
Come out to Dandelion on Friday and help Orlando wish Holly a fond farewell and many happy returns.
