Playing stupid

It appears that there is a new generation of cop shows hitting the air waves lately. I admit I've been watching some of them.

Naturally these programs universally portray cops as the protagonists, which clearly is the truth with almost every confrontation they show. In reality, though, cops are not always the good guys. Even in these videos, the cops are not always the good guys. Some of the cops blatantly disregard so many laws, it just blows my mind. But the ex-cop narrator never says a word about the cops' unlawful actions. He just blows his wad again and again as the sadistic abusers of authority "protect" people by victimizing them.

Anybody ever heard of that United States Constitution thing? It goes a little something like this:

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen video of cops violating this undeniable right of the American people. One example I saw recently involved a female cop who stopped a male driver for a minor traffic violation. The driver stopped the car and cooperated fully with the cop until she took his wallet from him and began looking through it.

That episode, to this point, constitutes an unlawful search and seizure, a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The cops have absolutely no right to take my wallet or your wallet or anyone else's wallet during a routine traffic stop.

After the cop took the driver's wallet and began violating one of the most basic rights given to EVERY HUMAN BEING who sets foot on American soil, the motorist was not very happy. So he tried to take his wallet back from her, as she had absolutely no justification to take it from him in the first place. However, believing she has every right to strip this man of his Constitutional FREEDOM, simply because she is a cop, the cop resisted, and the previously calm situation became something resembling a fight.

In the cop's mind, the situation had now become an "assault on an officer" or "resisting arrest," so she treated it as such. That is, after she provoked a peaceful man to forcibly--not violently--assert his rights, she had the balls to pretend her unlawful actions did not cause the whole episode. Of course, the cop never got in trouble for it. In fact, it appears as though the "justice" system thought of her as a hero after a subsequent illegal search of the man's vehicle netted a hefty amount of cocaine.

Oh, but the cocaine justifies everything, right?

No, it doesn't. And the fact that this kind of thing happens every day ought to scare the shit out of every American. The fact that most viewers of these cop shows don't know their Constitutional rights ought to scare the shit out of every American. The fact that our "protectors" are a bigger threat to our safety than "criminals" ought to scare the shit out of every American.

This stuff ought to scare you so shitless that you actually feel compelled to do something about it. Write a blog entry. Write to the producers of these shows. Tell your local police chief that your community will not tolerate abuse of authority. Press charges on the cop who stripped you of your rights. Just don't continue to allow this kind of behavior because it will happen to you someday if you keep playing stupid.

Pissing off cops is not illegal. Calling cops names is not illegal. Asserting your Constitutional rights to cops is not illegal. Fighting back is not illegal.

Protecting your liberty is not illegal. It is mandatory.

I don't dislike cops. I dislike bad cops.

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer

For your editing pleasure

I've been really bored lately, but Stephen Colbert has saved me.

Last night on The Colbert Report, Stephen made some comments about Rahm Emanuel, a pussy congressman with no sense of humor. Emanuel has advised new arrivals in congress not to appear on Colbert's "Better Know A District" series because The Colbert Report edits the interviews to make the representatives look really stupid or outrageous. It's all fucking hilarious, and I would totally get a kick out of it if they did it to me. But many congressmen are pussies who cannot deal with looking stupid for a minute, even though everyone knows these interviews are doctored and otherwise manipulated.

So Stephen put himself through the same thing. He participated in a fake, scripted interview with someone on the show's staff so people like me can take the footage and edit it into something that makes him look like a total asshole. It's already god-damn funny, but it can be edited into something ridiculously funny, and I'm going to give it a try.

I might be really good at this. Not necessarily a good editor, but good at finding the right things to edit because I tend to get really focused on things that interest me. Couple that with the perfectionist and crossword puzzle freak inside, and I might end up making a totally bad-ass video. We'll see. I'm downloading the source video right now on my dad's Mac.

I think this is a contest, but I'm not sure. Time to get to work.

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer

Goodbye to another friend

My little buddy Homer's heart stopped beating today at 3:14 PM EDT. He died peacefully.

Homer was very full of life until about six weeks ago, when the feline leukemia started kicking in, causing him to eat less and lose weight quickly. Even though I knew the end would come soon, I never gave up on him.

The thing that really sucks about this illness is that you can tell the cats really want to eat. When they hear you open that can of cat food, they immediately perk up and get all excited. Then, when you put a spoonful of food in their bowl, they just sniff it and look up at you like, "No, seriously. Give me something remotely edible." So you open another can of cat food and try again. Same result, so you do it again with a different flavor. But the cat still doesn't eat what you give him, so you start picking human food out of the refrigerator and pantry. Tuna, pepperoni, mozzarella, Skyline chili, hot dogs, etc. Occasionally you find something the cat will eat, but usually you can barely get the cat to eat anything.

Eventually the cat becomes nothing but skin and bone. With almost no fat or muscle remaining on the poor critter's body, he becomes very lethargic. You know the end is near, so you just shower him or her with as much love as you can.

I fucking hate this. I am so god-damn sick of losing all my little buddies like this.

Fortunately Twerk ("Tee-werk") tested negative for the disease last summer (when he had to have his leg amputated). Having tested negative, we made sure he got all the shots he needed, so he should live a long, healthy life. Regarding the amputated leg: He doesn't know the difference. He gets along just fine without it. I've noticed lately that sometimes he appears to use his right hind leg as a substitute for his missing front leg (like when he buries treasures).

Homer wasn't ready to go. He stayed around for at least a week longer than I expected. Fortunately for my sanity, he didn't seem to suffer. Even an hour before he died, after he'd become completely immobile, he would flip his tail when I said his name. That makes it a little easier for me to handle, but I still hate this.

I spent the final six hours of Homer's life right beside him, petting him and holding his paws. I hope that made it easier for him.

I love you, Homer. I'll miss you. Goodbye.

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer

Keeping it real

I occasionally have to remind myself that I really don't care how much traffic the Aimless web site receives. Although sometimes it may appear as if I want everyone to know about Aimless--that I want everyone to think I'm doing something fabulous--really, I don't care. I have no reason to care because Aimless is a very personal project. In fact, it all grew out of a desire to just disappear, to become invisible.

Aimless has already been a success, even though I don't have much to show for it yet. I mean, I didn't even want to be alive a year ago, but I kind of enjoy living right now. Maybe it's because I am living, instead of just pretending to be alive, like most people do. Maybe it's because I decided for myself what constitutes real living, instead of buying into "conventional wisdom," which is total bullshit.

Still, I do care how much traffic the web site receives. Not because I want people to adore me or because I want people to think I'm important. No, it's because I want to reach the right people. I want to reach people who would like to be a part of Aimless, people who want to benefit from helping me create a professional documentary instead of a glorified home movie. I want to reach people who possess the ability to recognize how much I have to offer the world around me, regardless of whether it's through filmmaking, operating a profitable pizzeria, or just being a good thinker or writer. I want to reach people who understand the economics of life and living.

If I wanted to improve my odds of impressing people in high places, I could censor myself by deleting a lot of blog entries, like the one I wrote recently about getting fucked over by National City Bank. I could stop saying 'fuck' so much. I could subscribe to the myth that Wal-Mart actually saves people money instead of stealing their money. In other words, I could sacrifice my integritah and suck up to people with whom I'd rather not associate. It's the American Way.

Yeah, well maybe that's why American life has become so fucked up for most people.

I love the United States of America. I love the American people--liberals and conservatives alike. I love the Grand Canyon and the Rocky Mountains and Death Valley and New York City. I love rattlesnakes and great hamburgers. I love crazy people and homeless people, too.

I don't love the US government. I don't love illegal wars. I don't love banks or Wal-Mart or McDonald's or Barr Laboratories. I don't love fascism.

A lot of people believe the path to happiness lies in working your way up the corporate ladder, "networking" and impressing rich and powerful people along the way, either through merit or deception. I take a lot of shit from people like that for refusing to play the game. But isn't it funny how very few of those people seem remotely happy?

I think it is. (Not necessarily funny, but ironic.)

When you're a fraud, it doesn't get you anywhere. Not in professional relationships, nor personal relationships, nor romantic relationships. And by pretending to be the person you think the higher-ups want you to be, you also lose out once you finally encounter someone who's looking to team up with the person you would have become if you had only remained true to yourself.

Being a corporate ass kisser doesn't connect you with the right people. Being a "BUM" leads you to the right people. I know because I have met some of the most awesome people on the planet by being a bum. I may not have met the right person or people yet, but I have met good, honest, incredible people. And that was all in the span of about ten days.

You know why I think Dave Chappelle is so great? Not because he's famous or because he's funny or because he'd loaded. No, I admire Dave Chappelle because he is honest with himself and his world. He walked away from $55 million because he believed deep inside that the consequences were not worth the reward. He has taken a lot of shit from fans, "friends," and critics for walking away from Chappelle's Show and disappearing to Africa (because his decisions did not conform to "conventional wisdom"), but I'm positive he did the right thing.

I don't know Dave Chappelle, nor have I ever met him, but I do see him up close on a regular basis, and I see a happy man who can hang out in his hometown every day without being mobbed. I see a man with a beautiful family and a supportive environment. I see a dude who really has his shit together and has survived the temptations that ruined and killed so many other famous actors and comedians. I see a man who does good things for this world.

I most likely will meet Dave Chappelle sooner or later because I know a lot of people who know him. And who knows, maybe Dave will end up helping me with Aimless. One thing I do know, though, is that I'll never ask Dave Chappelle for money or monetary support, nor will I expect it, even if I end up knowing him well. And I take pride in the fact that I don't have selfish intentions.

I'm going to leave this place in about four weeks, to be a bum again for a long time--months or years. Except this time I'm really going to have nothing. No emergency credit card, no ATM card, and probably not even $100. I'll almost certainly be carrying the same crappy camcorder that I had with me in 2006, and it's very unlikely that I'll have a laptop by then. So what! I'll get by. I'll reduce myself to nothing and I'll get by. And I'll be much happier than I am right now, despite the pain, fatigue, hunger, and general discomfort I'll experience almost constantly.

I can't wait to get on the road again.

Thank you Brad Perkins and Luke Swilor for digging Aimless. Thanks also for posting stuff about Aimless on the drum corps forums, Brad. I really appreciate it, and someday I intend to show my appreciation instead of just saying I appreciate it.

Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer

The Daily Show

I want to be on the Daily Show. Not next week, not next month, but eventually. Perhaps whenever I Aimless my way to the New York City area. That would be cool, and I happen to believe I'm doing something worthy of earning me a few minutes of hanging out on TV with 'the man' Jon Stewart, as will become more evident in time.

Hell, I could even make an appearance "in character." I'd just take my dad's cheapo-ish camcorder onstage with me and tape the whole thing. That is, unless someone out there who fancies himself or herself a wise investor starts realizing that they could cash in by providing me some better equipment. Then I could take a nice prosumer camcorder on the show with me.

Now who's done that before?

I don't mean "Who has appeared on the Daily Show before in character?" because I can answer that one myself. What I mean is: Who has appeared on the Daily Show, creating their own independent video entertainment project at the same time as being the guest of the day's Daily Show? It's entertainment within entertainment. It's exponential! It's even better than having Chris Dodd on the show.

Jeez, they ought to be looking for people like me to invite onto the show occasionally anyway, instead of inviting a bunch of people whose only reasons for appearing are to complete the talk show circuit, to promote their big-budget films and books for big-business studios, publishers, and PR firms (and other shit like that).

So Jon Stewart, Google your name soon and follow the link to this blog entry.

Wait a minute, I probably ought to include some more words if I can expect this post to ever turn up near the top of a "Jon Stewart" search.

OK, I'll mention Stephen Colbert, too. Stephen Colbert: If you want to beat your mentor to it, I'm sure you could probably get me to appear on your show. Just talk to my people. (I am my people.)

Aimless: The Adventures of an American Vagabond
Quasi-Aimless Trailer

Biggest scam on the planet

Have you ever thought about how bad your bank rips you off?

First you give them all your money, which they turn into more money that you never see. Then they demand that you pay them service fees and maintenance fees and a hundred other fees. They charge you for the "convenience" of using certain ATMs, even though ATMs and the internet have saved them billions of dollars by eliminating labor, possibly putting you out of a job at the same time. And when they finally take all the money from your account, through these bogus fees and charges, they have the balls to send you a statement that says you owe them.

Your bank isn't providing any services for you. No, it's the exact opposite. You are providing services for your bank by allowing them to invest your money. In effect, you pay them to take advantage of you!

I do it, too.

Well, I did it until today.

* * * * *
I received a statement from National City Bank about a week ago. It was the first statement I'd received from them since I don't know when. The statement said I owe National City Bank $10.16--up from $3.16 a month earlier--due to maintenance fees on an account I haven't touched since November. (I admit it; I have a very high-maintenance bank account.)

Last time I took money from an ATM (in November), I received a receipt that told me I had a balance of about $18 in my account. Having received nothing from the bank between then and now, I was a little pissed off to learn that my $18 had somehow become -$10.16, or ($10.16) for all you accountants out there.

So I went to the bank today to take care of it. All I wanted was for them to turn the ($10.16) into $0 and close the account. I had no intentions of demanding a return of the $18 their employer stole from me. Just close the account and let me walk away, motherfuckers. And no, I didn't call them motherfuckers, nor was I the slightest bit rude to any bank employees. In fact, I informed the teller that I was pretty upset about the piece of paper I'd brought with me, and I told him right away, "If I end up getting defensive about this, I want you to know that my anger is not directed at you. I know you had nothing to do with this." But that doesn't matter anyway because, like I said, I was civil about it.

The teller was not able to solve my problem. He said he could reduce the balance to ($3.16), but he apparently did not have the authority to erase the entire negative balance. Additionally, he said the office manager was already gone for the day. The thing is, I wasn't going to allow National City Bank to steal even one more cent from me, so I asked him if he could give me an e-mail address for the office manager. After he mentioned something about the customer service department, I told him I don't want to talk to customer service people who are going to give me the runaround for two hours on the phone; I want to contact someone who can actually do something, so he gave me the office manager's card. Magically, though, the absent office manager's Wonder Twin powers instantly allowed her to take the shape of some other woman who'd been in the little cubicle right behind me since before I entered the bank.

The teller informed me I could speak to her.

(Just to be clear, I have no problem with how the teller interacted with me. He tried to do what he could, and he fed me the bullshit his superiors commanded him to feed me, but we all know he is essentially a powerless drone standing behind a counter with a computer. Like myself, he was civil.)

* * * * *
I walked over to the cubicle and began speaking with...

Andrea L. White
Office Manager
andrea.white2@nationalcity.com
National City Bank (Georgesville Square)
1699 Holt Road
Columbus, Ohio 43228

After I told her my objective--to erase the account balance and close the account--she started looking at her computer. Treating me like some kind of complete idiot (because, as everyone knows, all guys with long hair are stupid), she said all she could do is remove the most recent $7 maintenance fee because the previous fee did not occur within the last 45 days.

Unacceptable.

As I grew more persistent (yet completely civil), she grew angry because I wouldn't accept her fucking bullshit explanation. Then she made it personal. She insulted me. I can't remember what she said, but she became verbally abusive toward me. I said, "Look, I already told you I have no personal animosity toward you, but you just made it personal." Then, angrily, she told me to get out. She said she'd do what I wanted her to do; just get out.

As I walked out I said "Thank you" to her. Not even in a sarcastic tone. No, I said it because she did the right thing and I appreciated it, even though she had to be a fucking twat about it.

* * * * *
The customer is always right. There are some instances where that's not necessarily true, but this wasn't one of them. Not even close.

Fuck you National City Bank. And fuck you Andrea L. White, you stupid cunt. If you just would have done the right thing in the first place, you may have saved the business of a good customer who's gonna have a fuckload of money someday (that he'll probably have to keep in a bank). But you had to stand behind the criminals who employ you, over three dollars and sixteen cents that you would never have seen anyway. You had to lie to a customer, just to try to rip him off SOME MORE. Fuck you!

I'm not pissed off about this just because it happened to me. I'm pissed off because it happens to just about everyone. And you know why it happens to just about everyone? Because collectively, as Americans, we're too stupid to know when we're being ripped off, and because we're too chickenshit to do anything about it.

I'll probably put my money in a bank again someday, but it won't be National City Bank, and I won't allow any other bank to take a fucking cent from me, for any reason.

Aimless

Impulsive bastard

But here is the map of all the places I've driven alone. Believe it or not, most of these lines represent the routes I've taken to get from Point A (Columbus) to Point B (Las Vegas) or vice versa. Yes, even the Pacific and Atlantic oceans lie between Ohio and Nevada if you are creative enough.


Aimless

Impulsive bastards

I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but I finally took the time today to "draw" up a map with lines representing all the places Jeff and I have been together. I don't think any of our trips were planned. We just took off and ended up somewhere.


Jeff and I are both extremely impulsive and we both love to travel, so when you put the two of us together in one place, we're fucking gone in no time. Like that one time when I was 18 and Jeff was 20. It started out with me driving over to Jeff's house just to hang out or maybe go to a movie or something. Then I think it went something like this...

(Columbus, Ohio)
Jeff: You wanna go to Indianapolis or something?
Ryan: OK, why not.

(Indianapolis, Indiana)
Jeff: You wanna go to Bloomington or something?
Ryan: OK, why not.

(Bloomington, Indiana)
Jeff: You wanna like go that way (west)?
Ryan: OK, why not.

Somewhere between Bloomington and St. Louis, we knew it was on. We were past the point of no return. We ended up going to Six Flags Mid America in St. Louis and Six Flags Great America in Chicago. We didn't have any changes of clothes or anything, so I remember buying a "St. Louis" t-shirt somewhere near Six Flags.

Oh yeah, and we didn't tell anyone what we were doing or where we were. So when we returned, about five days later, I found out that I was reported missing.

When looking at the travel lines on the map, keep in mind that Jeff and I have lived thousands of miles from each other for most of the last 12 or 13 years. (When did you move to Vegas, Jeff?)

I moved to Vegas in January 1997, at which point Jeff and I were roommates for a year. It wasn't too long after that when Jeff moved to Ogden, Utah, then Yucaipa, California. Then I moved back to Ohio in November 2000. So the year and a half when we both lived in Vegas is the only time we've lived closer than a few hundred miles from each other since about 1995. (And we weren't on speaking terms for a while after our apartment lease ended.)

Ah yeah, you gotta hear the other stories.

Aimless

It's damn near time to vamoose

In my most recent post I alluded to an anonymous professional golfer who seems to be a regular reader of this blog. He e-mailed me shortly before I wrote the entry, so he's no longer anonymous to me. But because he chooses to comment anonymously, I'm not going to reveal his identity. (I will let you know it's not Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus.)

"Mr. Golfer" is not one of the guys you see on TV every week (if you watch golf). He is climbing the ladder to become one of those guys, participating mainly in US Pro Golf Tour events. To put it in his own words: "I am a professional golfer out of [Some City, Some State], trying to make it to the bigs."

Allow me to digress...

I can't remember if I have revealed any of my Aimless plans around here yet, but I've been planning to hit the road again in about mid-April. That will leave another six weeks of potentially cold or cool weather here in northern latitudes before summer temperatures kick in full-time. I won't be taking any heavy clothing (like, say, a jacket) with me, though, because it will just end up as unnecessary weight, which I'll need to carry constantly. So when I begin my next adventure, I'll be going where the sun keeps shining through the pouring rain; going where the weather suits my clothes.

So where might the weather suit my clothes in mid/late-April?

South.

South like New Orleans and Cajun Country. Yeah, remember when I was still in California and I said I hoped to spend a day in New Orleans on the way home? And do you remember seeing anything resembling New Orleans in either of the trailer videos? Well, you didn't see it because I wasn't there. And I have been dying to head that way for almost three months now.

End Digression...

While viewing Mr. Golfer's web site, I noticed he is scheduled to play in a USPGT event in Baatawn Roozhe from April 26 to April 29. For those who aren't very familiar with the layout of cities, regions, and states here in the USA, it just so happens that Baatawn Roozhe is right between New Orleans and Cajun Country. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Yeah, I've always been a big fan of the underdog and the little guy (except when they play the Buckeyes, of course), and I'd say Mr. Golfer is presently in that position (just as I am presently in that position). But Mr. Golfer might not be the underdog in five years; he might be Tiger's #1 rival by then. And wouldn't it be cool if I ended up being there to chronicle some of his ascent to the top? Cool for me and cool for him.

In fact, I think that's why Mr. Golfer "diggs" Aimless. I think he's rooting for the underdog, too. And I know I am a big-time underdog, even compared to him. I mean, at least he's making money being the underdog.

But I think Mr. Golfer may have been on the outside looking in, even recently. And just like me, he persisted. At times he probably wanted to give up, but he didn't, even though his dream sometimes seemed impossible. Not because he didn't believe in his abilities but because he hadn't met the right person (or backer). Then it happened.

I don't know. I'm just speculating. May have more to say about it later.

Mr. Golfer, I'll keep you anonymous if you want it that way, but I'd also be happy to link to your site(s).

Update: 3/10/2007: - Since "Mr. Golfer" has removed his disguise in the comment below, I guess that means he doesn't feel the need to remain anonymous. His main web site is lukeswilor.com, and he also has a blog at blog.lukeswilor.com.

Go Luke!

Aimless

Digg it!

Some anonymous professional golfer who lurks here recently told me about digg.com, so I just registered on Digg and entered some information about the Aimless trailer(s). I really don't know much about Digg yet, but it seems to be some kind of sovereign democracy. I guess if enough people digg your story, then even more people find out about it.

So I hope some of you folks might choose, with your own free will, to visit Digg and tell 'em ya digg the Aimless trailer.

Oh yeah, and I think I just decided I like the sound of Aimless: The Adventures of an American Vagabond much better than Aimless: An American Documentary. Seriously, the latter sounds really stupid. (I knew that as long ago as last summer, when I came up with it, but I just wasn't trying very hard then.) Well y'know, I'm always trying to improve things a tiny bit at a time. I think that's a pretty big improvement, though.

Aimless

Response to trailer comments

First of all, thank you everyone! Thank you for hanging around, thank you for waiting for the movies to load, thank you for your feedback, and thank you for giving my ego a boost.

Regarding the Pink Floyd tune: I don't think you can hear it (or notice it) without headphones, but Pink Floyd's "Any Colour You Like" was playing in the background of the restaurant where the "interview" took place. When I began editing everything, I was going to cut that clip right after I say, "...and I don't think he believed me," then include a split second of black space before continuing with the "AIMLESS" signs (with the music as it is). But after I watched it some more, I realized that the timing of my words was almost perfectly aligned with the change in the music in the restaurant. So I decided to let the clip of me continue all the way to, "...stop somewhere where they can get gas, while I get..." [AIMLESS] [AIMLESS] [AIMLESS]. I doubt that I could have planned it half that good. I think the Pink Floyd song is just about perfect for that sequence, too, for so many reasons.

Come on, Jay... You don't know the second song?!? Hell no, it's not Jeff Buckley. It's Harry Nilsson, the song from Midnight Cowboy. I love that song. Whenever I hear it, I can't help but picture Jon Voight riding a bus from Oklahoma (or wherever) to New York, so I had to use it.

Interestingly, though, that short clip of Memphis probably shows the spot where Jeff Buckley died. And when we were driving over that bridge, I pointed over there and told the trucker that's where my favorite musician died. Then I told him the story of how he died.

Who's holding the camera? In the restaurant sequence, Jeff's good friend Don MacKay operated the camera while Jeff and I talked. In the shots that show me waiting by the on-ramp, I "staged" the scene by placing the camera in various spots on the ground, or sometimes on the concrete barrier. Unless there is something I can't remember, the rest of the shots of myself are simply an arm's length away, like the final clip, where I say, "It looks like I'm not gonna be where I'm trying to be... when I want to be there."

Anonymous: What's Digg?

I wish I could post the trailer without all the compression and stuff. It makes a big difference. Whenever I figure out how to burn it to DVD, I'll try to get copies to anyone who would like a copy. If I have to mail any, I may ask for a small donation just to cover shipping. We'll see.

Also, the movies display darker on PCs than on Macs, which affects several of the clips pretty severely. I should be able to fix that pretty easily, but I kinda don't feel like it right now.

Lots more to say, but I think I'll stop for now. Again, thank you everyone.

Aimless

Trailer Part I is up!

I'm sure I still have a lot of work to do, to compress the size of the file and stuff like that, but Part I of the trailer is here, as is Part II.

Part I and Part II are supposed to be one file, and I'd like to make it that way, but I'm not sure that will be possible, due to the fact that it would be such a large file. We'll have to see how much I can learn about compression and codecs and shit like that. If I make the files any smaller, they either look like shit or sound like shit, and I've made enough compromises on quality already just to get them where they are right now.

I really want your feedback so I can find out what I'm doing right and wrong. Positive feedback, negative feedback, or any other kind of feedback.

Now check out my dang-dern videos. I have put my heart and soul into all of it.

(The videos may be kind of dark on PCs. I'll try to fix that ASAP.)

Aimless

Seriously, it will be here soon

If I can only figure out how to turn this FCE project into a reasonably-sized QuickTime movie (instead of a 41.7 MB QuickTime movie), the trailer will be here ASAP.

Aimless

Trailer is almost finished

I'm pretty much done with the trailer; just have some fine-tuning to do before I make it public. Right now I feel really good about it, with the exception of maybe a few small things. I may not be able to polish everything as well as I'd like, but I still feel good about what I've created. Currently the trailer is six minutes and twenty-eight seconds long, but it will end up a little closer to 7:00 after I add some text to the end.

One thing I really like is that the final clip is very deceptive, however unintentional. It is probably the best footage I have of me talking to the camera. Unlike much of the other footage of me talking to the camera, this footage feels like I didn't even know the camera was on (even though I was holding the camera an arm's length in front of myself). It's as if I was just thinking, but my thoughts made it onto a videotape. The best thing about it is that I can feel a lot of empathy for the guy who happens to be me. And if I can feel that kind of empathy, I can only imagine what someone else might feel, especially someone who doesn't already know the outcome.

The trailer is almost entirely in chronological order. I guess it's actually something in between a trailer and a mini documentary. I don't want to talk about it anymore right now because I'm going to end up spoiling it for someone.

Aimless

Referral spam: Please help!

If anyone knows how to combat referral spam (or referrer spam), please help me. I spend about an hour every day sorting through my referrer logs and adding new misspellings and whatnot to my .htaccess file, but it obviously does not work. It does drive away all the "referrers" with URLs containing the words and letter combinations I've added to the .htaccess file, but they come up with 50 to 100 new ones almost every day. After only a month, my .htaccess file is getting HUGE.

I really don't understand why they put so much effort into targeting this blog. I mean, I don't have a "recent referrers" list and I don't follow the links to their bogus web sites.

Someone please help!!! Thank you.

Aimless