I rented [[imdb:0323633 Melvin Goes to Dinner]] on a lark, as it was mentioned on Bob Odenkirk’s website, which I was viewing becuase I was reading up on Mr Show. There was a funny clip on the website that I actually thought was part of the movie. Woops, it was not, but what I found instead was a real treat.

It turns out that the movie is an adaptation of Michael Blieden’s play Phyro-Giants. He wrote and starred in his own play, along with several other actors, the most well-known being Anabelle Gurwitch. Bob Odenkirk and his wife decided to turn Michael’s play into a movie, and admirably decided to keep the original cast, rather than turning to big names. The result is a dinner table discussion that goes from hilarious to disturbing and playful to serious. The writing is really good, and the cast’s timing is impeccable due to their year and a half’s practice in front of a live audience.

Bob’s choice of using multiple cameras was still fairly unconventional, but I think paid off. The result almost invites you sit at the table, feeling like you’re a part of the dialogue. Blieden also edited the film together simply using Final Cut Pro, and the result really works. Using different film stock and media during the flash back sequences wasn’t totally original, but it was effective.

It was a real bonus on the DVD of having two commentaries, one with the cast regarding the acting/writing/adaptation aspects, and the other of the technical crew discussing the challenges of multiple cameras/budget/production. Also check out the amusing Frank’s Film Festival vignette.

Its been a very long time since I’ve written anything here. I hope this isn’t the beginning of the end of my blog. I just haven’t felt very interested in writing here lately, for nearly the whole month of February actually.

Stuff has been happening in my life though. Lets see. We’ve hired a new engineer at work, on the east coast. So he started last week, and is trying to learn how our crazy business works (and doesn’t). Tanaka is out visiting this week as well, to help him with his training.

I’ve been collecting vinyl like a madman. I have to recommend Chemcial Records in the UK. Their shipping is dirt cheap and their selection is only one or two weeks behind Holland’s release schedule. They’ve shipped faster to me than Satellite Records in NY can. I’m trying to be a good boy and practice mixing, but I seem to only be managing it once or twice a week. Had some records I ordered directly from Anjunabeats waiting for me this evening, so that was quite cool.

Last week my freetime was mostly spent on two websites, my old friend Damian‘s and Jason‘s, a guy from work. I finished Jason’s last night, so that’s cool, and I’m waiting on Damian’s feedback. I’m not sure why I decided to take Jason’s on. Initially I thought it would be good PHP practice, but now I’ve been consumed by PHP at work, so that didn’t work out.

Went out for drinks with Stacey and Tanya on Friday. We went to Woody’s in Raleigh’s City Martket, a crazy little dive that I actually was in with Jake and Halle when I was first thinking of moving here. I thought I’d only have drinks for a couple of hours, but I think we were there from like 6:30 till close to 11. I’m not complaining though, it was fun, although there was this terrible singer/guitarist duo performing. Tanya also had a dinner party a few weeks ago on Grammy night, with Janet and Scott, her old friends from California. They couldn’t stop singing the praises of their real estate agent Melissa, who Tanya had actually hooked them up with.

So, I called her up, and went house hunting on Saturday. The first stop was a gorgeous little house in Mordecai, one of the older historic neighborhoods near downtown Raleigh. It was freaking adorable, and I got very excited about that house, it was by far the best house of the day. I’m still trying not to get too excited about it, I would prefer to have a good look at all of the options first.

Just got back from Halle and Jake’s superbowl party at their new house. I’m no big football fan, but it was a pretty good game. Unfortunately, the Carolina Panthers didn’t win it, even though it nearly went into overtime. But it was a good time, there were tons of people there.

Saturday I had a good time visiting the Carolina Brewing Company down in Holly Springs. Every saturday they have a free tour with free samples. Its a really nice business, run by three guys who just like making beer. I bought a six-pack and a few pint glasses. Greg from work is a friend of one of the owners, and he invited me and few other guys from work. This weekend they were premiering their new stout, of which they sold out their 70 or so cases in a couple of hours. It was a pretty awesome turnout, I’m glad to see a local business get such support. And it was a fun time, just hanging out, acting stupid, and drinking beer. Good times.

We got a bunch of snow and freezing rain last Sunday, which made driving quite miserable for a few days. The office was closed Monday and Tuesday, and driving Wednesday was somewhat precarious. Our parking lot was seriously ice-rink quality ice, very smooth and slippery. My all-wheel drive really didn’t afford much assistance, slippery is slippery, with two or four tires. But its all melted now.

All the gear I bought arrived this week. The turntables had some trouble in their transportation and arrived somewhat broken. I’m working with the seller to fix the issues, we’ll see what comes of that. But I’ve been practicing spinning on them, and I can tell that I’m already getting better. The biggest problem I’m finding is having my speakers loud enough that I can beat match properly. I don’t want to piss off the neighbors, but I need to be able to hear the bass drum of what I’m trying to match to using a different ear than what I’m matching from. Oh well.

I got some more vinyl too, so I’ve got 32 records now. And actually there’s about 8 more on the way. I found a record shop in New York that ships for much less than the shop I found in Holland, and I found a really cheap little place in LA but they don’t have a fantastic selection of new stuff. Oh well, I’m sure it’ll take a while figure out where the good places are, too bad they’re all over the net and not local

[[imdb:0283900 L'Auberge Espagnole]] is a French expression meaning melting pot, or “Euro Pudding”, depending on who you ask. Literally translated it means Spanish Inn. In this case it is a nice pun, as both apply very well to this enchanting movie about seven very different, young europeans living together in an apartment in Barcelona.

This is not your typical movie. Its almost an ensemble cast, there is a main character but you grow to love his flatmates equally. There’s not much of a plot, its more of a slice of life movie. Mostly being character driven, I think either you connect with the people and their situations or your don’t.

I did, and absolutely love this movie. Its a fairly lengthy, running 2+ hours, but I was sorely disappointed when it ended. I really recommend this movie, I’ll be thinking about adding it to my collection.