PULIC DOMAIN [quicktime H.264 18megs 7min]
Here’s another killer short we just finished. I was sure that this one would get some sort of public recognition for its conceptual structure but it was whispered to me that collectivision films keep winning at the screenings so don’t expect any to be chosen this time, publicly. Later, the panelists praised this film in confidence.
***
dood, my car just got broken into around 7pm and the new 250 gig external i just bought to consolidate all my work on was taken. the universe keeps taking media away from me!!! wtf!!!! then again, it was right when i wished to learn how to let go of things… go figure!
so, my $300 drive is gone along with all my music video library, music library, cinema library, 6 short film projects, 2 documentary backups, 8 recording project sessions, tons of porn clips, and my archive apps, photos, and home administration papers. priceless shit, in other words.
funny, huh? yea, completely my fault. i parked on crack between cocaine and slimy whore with a cheap untuned guitar sticking out in the back seat, covering the drive where i didn’t see it. when i walked away from the car, i even joked around with my bandmate and childhood friend about how certain crackheads are nice enough to break the smaller window instead of the bigger one, which makes it less fucked up considering that they usually only take cheap shit.
we were on our way to eat at golden era (simply the best vegetarian restaurant in the whole fucking world! well, its sister restaurant in berkeley, golden lotus, is equally as good…oh! and herbivore on divisadero or valencia is good too…whatever, golden era got vegan milkshakes that fucking rule!) on o’farrell and leavenworth, the main crack vortex/portal corner of san francisco, (coincidentally, that’s also where my sister and i first lived in san francisco when my mom smuggled us in the country to avoid the coup/revolt back in the islands…and to save us from our evil foster mom my dad hired) where _____ was waiting for me and ____ to arrive for dinner.
originally, we should’ve been recording the drums for the album, but _____, our drummer, didn’t call back until late. _____ and i ended up splitting up at 2pm instead of heading to the studio so i could get something to eat.
***
i’ve been wanting to beat smoking somehow since ku asked me to stop a few weeks ago so i decided that whenever i get a nic-fit i’ll just run! like literally run away! i know i’m so retarded but i forced myself to smoke like a pro when i was 12 so i figured i’d have to force myself to stop likewise (although, i was forced to smoke for the first time when i was 6 by my evil foster mom).
about two weeks ago, ku and i were reading together a book called ‘Safety Bob and his dog Mabel’ or something like that. the main guy was a safety tip officer and he had a dog who helped him become popular. anyways, one of the health safety tips were ’stay away from cigarettes.’ when we read that part, ku stopped and was stunned. he looked at me and said, ‘but you don’t stay away?!’ i said ‘i should.’ he said, ‘daddy, that’s why you’re getting so fat, you are smoking. all that smoke gets into your belly and you get bigger like a balloon! and you’re gonna float to the sky!! all the way to outer space!!!! DADDY!!! I DON’T WANT YOU TO GO TO OUTER SPACE!!!!”
so, he negotiated with me how much i could smoke. ’saturday and sunday only, ok!’ i asked him again, ’saturday and sunday?!’ then he changed his mind, ‘no…just saturday…no just sunday! and not if it’s raining.’ it was sunday yesterday, and it was raining. i didn’t smoke. from that point on, i decided to beat smoking the same way i started…by self-punishment. tobacco cigarettes, after all, are harder to quit than crack cocaine.
***
so, i got the urge to smoke a cigarette and went walking all the way to the mission from lower haight, then back. instead of eating, i went to go look for everyone’s presents.
when i got back to molotov’s, the bar ____ went to, i still hadn’t eaten (with no presents). so, ofcourse, golden era for dinner with ____, our other comrade in arms, and had ourselves a merry little dinner complete with fake chicken and mean waitresses who snear at you. the one with the ‘bedroom eyes’ haven’t been there the last few times i’ve gone, but _____ has been trying to get the snearing one to smile for a while now (a feat only accomplishable when you smile ‘from the heart’ he contends) which he’s only been able to do twice.
when we were all done and good, we walked back to the car and chuckled about finally getting the recording on. i insisted we record tonite because i borrowed thousands of dollars of recording gear just to do the drums. i even joked around with my buddy (who convinced me to do some community leadership time at his center in return for lending the mixer and condenser mic) about the gear getting stolen.
as we approached the car, i noticed the lack of reflection on the smaller window backseat rightside and said, ‘no fucking way, they broke the smaller window.’ ____ though i was kidding since i joked about it earlier. the guitar was gone…and i realized the new 250 gig backup drive i just got in order to do the record was also gone from behind the seat where i put it earlier but was hidden by the guitar. that fucking cheap guitar.
i immediately popped the trunk open and…well…everything was still there: the mixer, the condenser mic, my bass from demented (actually, it’s damien’s brother’s bass who i borrowed it from when i was a sophomore in high school…i haven’t given it back), my laptop, my pod amp, my audio interface, a roland hard disk recorder, my top 100 heavy metal records in a nice record bag, and favorite denim jacket…all there.
so i freaked for a second…got quiet. ____ and _____ both stood there as i said nothing for a good minute until one of them suggested to go and buy a drive around the corner and, hopefully, it’s mine. i got up and walked to every corner heavily eye-ing every mother fucking crackhead and pimp while retarded inbred street whores followed me trying to coax. i’m not sure what i was doing. there were crackhead block parties going on. the whole seedy street was laden with cracksmoking folk that just walking by them and smelling it reminded me of how great crack was!
crack
but, i was also looking to see if anyone would try to stab me so i could use that as an excuse to let all my anger out and seriously punish some other crackhead for my loss just for being a crackhead. kinda like that clemency thing with swarzenegger.
i walked through all the crackheads and as they all looked at me with amazement and laughed at me while i searched with futility, ignorant of the fact that the hit they just took was compliment of the guy who broke my window and took my guitar and external drive…my bread and butter. they had already taken my shit, sold it, bought crack, and had a crack festival right across where i parked, all by the time we got back…an hour later.
since the external drive was gone, we didn’t have any media space to track on. we cancelled the recording for the night, a definite defeat. the only thing we can do is set up to record another night but i’d have to borrow all the gear again, buy another drive, and get a babysitter instead of going shopping for everyone’s presents. luckily, they broke the smaller window…cuz i’m broke.
we ended up at ____’s house to smoke a bowl and chill the fuck out. his girly came home and i told her what happened. she’s real nice. i was trying to be positive after feeling murderous and guilty for not being as sharp as i should be. i should’ve known better than to park in crack vortex with important shit in the car. “at least they broke the smaller window, those nice crackheads!” to which she interrupted, “but, those are more expensive than the big windows…didn’t you know?”
i was stunned.
*trumpet here* (fwa fwa fwa-wa-wa-wa-wa…)
merry xmas whoever gets my drive!!!! i hope you look through it first before you delete it! tons of good shit! … =(
***
two pay periods ago, i recieved a paycheck that was mysteriously more than usual. i noticed that i was payed a rate 50% more than my regular rate for all the hours i reported (i’m normally at work 50 hours a week but only report 40). the surplus amount suspiciously equate the same as the money i owed the equipment rental department for the stolen camera several months ago. remember that? strange.
either there’s an angel looking after me, or someone made a big mistake. i figured i should say something to my boss in case it was his mistake. i wouldn’t want anything to bounce back at me and make things worse. when i talked to him, i simply mentioned that i recieved an erroneous check. he thought i got paid less, but when i told him i got paid more, he chuckled and said that the same thing has happened to him and he didn’t say anything. so i said, ‘phew’ and regarded it as a work of an angel. he chuckled again…then stopped and asked, ‘well…did you get overpaid for all 88 hours?’ i lied and said, ‘umm…not sure…i didn’t count that far.’
it was the same exact amount they charged me for the stolen camera.
***
resfest called. something is about to go down.
