I’ve talked a little about the upcoming election but I’d like to now make my position clear. I support Barack Obama for president. I do so for a variety of reasons, but the main reason is because I see something different in him. I like the above cartoon because I think it shows a difference in attitude between generations. Barack Obama’s message is mainly just hope, at the heart of his campaign is the idea that we CAN fix our countries problems. I really do believe that it’s time for us to look inward and begin to work on social issues. Say what you want about our role as world police, but I think that it’s time to turn our efforts and money back towards our own shores. Healthcare, social security and our economy have been neglected and I think that a real change in the White House is what is needed to fix our problems. “Socialized” medicine is a must, our government could very well be headed for bankruptcy but it’s citizens are guaranteed it without healthcare reform. I hate how pessimistic people are about it though, how can you change something if you don’t believe it can be done? A lot of the people I’ve talked to say they don’t want socialized medicine because they don’t believe the government is competent enough to run it. They don’t want the government telling them when and where to see a doctor, they don’t want to lose their perceived control of their health. It doesn’t take more then a few minutes of research to find out that in other countries (like Canada or the UK) people aren’t assigned a doctor, they don’t have to go though miles of red tape to visit the emergency room. Doctors make good wages and the overall quality of care is, by virtually every study done, a lot better than it is in the US. There is a lie in our country that says that publicly funded medicine is bad, it’s been around for more then half a decade and it’s time for it to be stopped. We have government run police and fire departments, federal mail delivery and even television, people just don’t like to think about it that way. If something as important as a local police department is overseen by a city, county, state and federal bureaucracy why do we then not trust our government to run our healthcare system? We are basically the only 1st world country without it and our overall standard of living and life expectancy is far worse then most of Europe. We spend more then anyone and get the least in return.

The header of Barack Obama’s website says “I’m asking you to believe not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington… I’m asking you to believe in yours.” I’ll take that over someone who has only failed in the past, someone who changes his story to get elected, someone who brings up tragedy to scare up votes or even someone who’s ideas sounds good but are without substance.

This is Barack Obama’s response to the 2008 State of the Union address, I think it does a great job of showing who he is. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing skip ahead to about 4:00 and watch until the end. He’ll be here in Arizona on 1/30/08 and I’m looking forward to going and hearing him speak.

I’ve seen quite a few movies since I last posted. One was of course Cloverfield, which I loved. I think you can really tell a lot about someone’s taste in film by their opinion of that movie. Some others were There Will Be Blood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and The Lives of Others. I should have seen The Lives of Others like a year ago, it won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006 and has been on DVD and Blu-Ray for a while. I really enjoyed it, it’s about a man who works for the East German secret police and how he gets involved in the lives of people he is suppose to be spying on. I highly recommend it, it’s no surprise it’s gotten all the attention it has. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was also very good, it’s about a man who has a stroke and is paralyzed from head to toe. His only means of communication is to blink, and with the help of others he writes a book. The movie is more about making the book and how the man felt as he lay helpless in the hospital. There are excerpts of the book in the movie but I am excited to read all of what he wrote. The movie is a french film so finding it in a theater might be a bit tough, but it’s definitely worth driving across town for. There Will Be Blood was incredible, people have been calling it the director’s masterpiece and I can only agree. It’s a dark drama about an oil man, who’s greed and competition ruins everyone around him. It’s a must see, just be ready for it, you do feel every minute it’s two hour running time.

It’s day 2454 of the job hunt (ok I made that up, I’m currently too lazy to open up iCal) and things are still going alright. I’ll probably start working something next week to pay some bills, but I’m not giving up on an editing position yet. I have some new leads and I’ve recently tweaked my demo reel a bit so we’ll see what happens. I’m also, once again, trying to get on work study. Hopefully now that I am a little further removed from my old job I’ll meet the requirements. I am also mulling over getting a stipend from my student loan. I can not begin to describe to you how amazing it has been to just focus on school. Is it worth about $6,000? I’m not sure yet, but when you figure I’m going to owe an embarrassing amount of money anyway, I might as well milk that 20 year payment plan for all it’s worth.

I’m not sure if many of the people who read this have ever gone through a photoshop tutorial, but in my years of interneting this is definitely the best and most educational series I’ve come across. You Suck at Photoshop is a real step forward in tutorials, the host is lovable and confident and he always gets across exactly what you need to know. There are three other episodes, and I highly recommend watching them all. The third is one of the funniest and probably the most accessible. enjoy ;)

Until the next time I’m bored enough to write here,
David

I get to go see Cloverfield tomorrow, and I am already excited. A truly American monster flick? Hells yes. If this movie is a disappointment (which I really doubt it will be) I might cry. Above is the monster, I’m sorry if I ruined it for you. The look and capabilities of the monster have been secret for months and the only images of it are drawings by people who have seen advanced screenings of the film. The film’s producer J.J. Abrams was in Tokyo with his young son and after seeing him play with a Godzilla doll he realized that American cinema doesn’t really have it’s own legendary monster. King Kong was good at heart and Godzilla is obviously stolen from Japan. So he set out to make a good old fashioned monster flick, with a new character. Cloverfield has been a closely guarded secret ever since. So if you see 3 movies a year or 30 go see Cloverfield. (holy and delicious carp did I see 30 movies last year? :checks his bank account records: O.O)

My break was good. I spent a little over two weeks in Boise, seeing friends and hanging out with family. It was nice to be home and honestly kinda nice to let someone else buy my lunches for a bit. Boise was cold and there was some snow on the ground. The weather is absolutely gorgeous in Tempe this time of year, but I really liked the change. The air is just different when it’s cold, it’s crisp.

I got an internship last week and while that doesn’t help my bank account I am very excited about the work I’ll be doing. When I went in to talk to the company about it they had changed the permitters of the position since we first talked. It went from gripping on a simple shoot to being responsible for the whole project. I really do think that they expected me to respectfully back out, but I made it known that I am up for the challenge and that I’m ready to take it head on. In the end it’s not really that complicated of a project, although I am basically doing free freelance work now. I gave them a six month commitment, and by then I’ll have some great stuff for my demo reel and maybe paid work in the future. I’m not doing much else these days so I had no reason to not take it.
The job search is on going, I’m looking at just working a normal 9-5 for a while. I am doing some freelance photo work so I’ve got some money coming in. I miss the stability of a 40 hour a week job, but I love the free time I now have to devote to school and projects. Even if I do feel lazy some days I have been able to spend a lot more time working on some productive things. If I were twice the man I am I’d just give up the job search and go on an all out search for more freelance work. I don’t need much to support myself, and I definitely have the time, skill and access to equipment.

I got my 16mm film back and the project is looking good. I really do hate that I had to act in it, but I think it’l turn out fine. I’ve got some effects work I want to do on it to clean some stuff up, I’ll post it when its done.

I’m not sure what you are currently doing with the next 52 minutes of your life. but if I may, I’m going to suggest you watch this video. Scotch Mist, A film with Radiohead in it made for New Year’s Eve, 2007.

It’s their new album performed in front of a few webcams and where it lacks production value it more then makes up in music and intensity. For just being a few boring shots over and over it’s really easy to get sucked in by the performances. You can’t help but feel their passion for their own music, it’s engrossing. So watch it, and not just the first 30 seconds, watch the whole thing… or atleast to the second song, which is my favorite :D

Today’s soundtrack is by a band named Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, which is a great name for a band. I recently bought their album and like a growing number of bands they offer their music for download (duh) on CD (its sometimes nice to have a hard copy) and on Vinyl (yes plz) and I like that. Especially for a small band on a tiny label, I can really respect going the extra mile and getting it pressed into beautiful polyvinyl chloride. Not to mention that pretty much all records these days come with some free mp3s. The song Oregon Girls (to be honest I think Oregon has ugly women, there I said it) is from their old album, but they are said to be coming out with a new one this year. So look for that… if you’re into looking for things like that.

I’ll promise it won’t be another five weeks before my next post
Dave “the thrill ride” Hildreth