Music Videos of my Life

MUSIC VIDEO VAULT

THE GREATEST MUSIC VIDEOS OF ALL TIME:

Remember when MTV used to show music videos? I must have been around 4 or 5 when I watched my first music video. I remember MTV used to stand for Music Television. The times change. Now, in order to watch videos, we must go on YouTube. MTV has become a farce. What was once a music revolution, has now become a place for pseudo celebtards to dish about fabricated gossip. The Hills are alive indeed and they have destroyed our medium.

In 1928, Swedish engineer John Logie Barid invented the first working television system. The first transatlantic television transmissions were held at the Bird Television Development, LTD. It transmitted the waves from j England to Hastings, New York.

If I was a female music artist, I would be a cross between with Lady Gaga,Madonna, and Fiona Apple . I don't even like Lady Gagga as a persona but she is radical just like me and I love to push the envelope. I would also be like Madonna because just like her, I will find a way to be original. I hate artists like Gaga herself who shock us for the sake of shocking us. They want to be avante-garde but they come off as completely banal. I also love the element of incorporating a jazzy noir tone to the voice. Apple sublimely tormented us with her seducing voice. I love the way she haunted us with her instrument. I think it is special and I would love to add that quality into my creation.

If I was a male music artist, I would be a cross between David Cook (singing and songwriting), David Bowie, and Johnny Cash. I love the idea of creating an enigma. With that subtle image, we allure our fans by the sound of our voice. David Cook has that powerhouse, almost Celine Dion-esque voice. It makes me sad that such a proficient talent was discovered on American Idol. This boy is nothing short than a prodigy. He has pitch perfect voice and his falsetto is to die for. But what makes Cook brilliant is his lyrical prowess. With lyrics like:

The painting's worn pale
Your eyes have started fading
Were they ever even really there
Nothing to give with everything you take
The cracks in your smile make it impossible
To decipher something legible
Your porcelain face and a heart of glass

-David Cook, "Porcelain"

His writing is awe inspiring and Cook needs to get more recognition for his talent but he is the new generation's leading man. In the 60's and 70's we all hailed at the sight of rock's most enigmatic and provincial talents. One effeminate Londoner and one Memphis rebel blazed the trail of Rock N Roll. Before there was Cook, we had a King named David, that's David Bowie. He was the man of many characters. He lived his life on Mars and went through the changes but he was always Ziggy Stardust. Cash, on the other hand Talent is not what you display for everyone to see. Talent is the natural born gift coded in your DNA. It's the criteria that doctors would die to recreate. Bowie was a pioneer in the androgynous movement. He eradicated gender characterization and parlayed human rights to his masses. Mr. Johnny Cash was the enigmatic man in black. His richly deep songs cemented his stay as the Man in Black. Cash ushered in the decades as main presence. By 2003, at the end of his life, he was still on top. His rendition of "Hurt" was fresh in its solace. I personally thought it was better than the original, written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

Before MTV was corrupted by The Hills and Jersey Shore, music videos took center stage. I love the art of music videos and what they used to stand for. Videos were not just a collection moving images. They were short films with a purpose. Whether it was to shock or move you, music videos became the catalyst of our music industry.

Artists used to solely rely on touring and radio to garner sales and recognition. With MTV, music videos became the vehicle to promote their products to the public.

Here in a vintage ad for MTV, 80's pop icons like Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, and Billy Idol declare their want for MTV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxTE3YlV1vM

Here are a list of music videos that changed my life:

The pain inside this video is harrowing. Eddie Vedder championed the cause for the decease Jeremy. His life was heartbreaking and difficult yet in his honor, we were educated about the importance of being loved. A living man that is not loved is not alive at all. He is indeed dead. Jeremy is loved and Jeremy proved it.

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  Madonna- Vogue

Madonna's ode to fashion and old Hollywood immortalised her as a pop culture icon. She is no longer apart of the 80's, 90's, and today but a symbol of reinvention. She popularized the subterreanean world of vogue dancing and ushered a wave of eroticism in which most pop stars now abide by.

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  Nine Inch Nails- Closer

I love the world of the freaky and disturbed because I believe we are all a bit crazy. Some of us are just better in hiding it. Nine Inch Nails' Closer video embodied the depravity of our subconscious. It was not afraid to show us our thoughts and fetishes. Closer is the want and desire for companionship, in mind, body, and spirit. We will never be honest with ourselves if we do not treat ourselves in little bit of debauchery. We hedonistic humans with cravings. It is normal to act upon them. The more we supress it, the more bitter we grow.

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  Britney Spears- Stronger

Britney Spears' Stronger is a song about human empowerment. We are strong because we have the power to walk away and become better human beings. We have the ability to learn from our mistakes and overcome our adversaries. We are pillars of strength. No matter what happens to us and the hardships that we encounter, we can see past that and overcome it. Britney Spears is a brilliant example of a person that overcame her struggles with the media, yet she has pushed through. She has survived. We are flawed yet we are not broken. Our flaws are what makes us beautiful.

Michael Jackson- The Earth Song

I have been called many things in my life: pretentious, snob, harpie (none of them are TRUE and if they are true I will gladly admit to them) but I have never been one to be deemed as an environmentalist. With that said, The Earth Song punctures your soul with its vivid imagery about how the pollution is killing our animals, Jackson described a world destroyed by our selfishness.

Other Videos:

Lady GaGa- Bad Romance

REM- Losing My Religion

Music videos were apart of my life. Yes GaGa's video is recent yet, it is one of the only video of this last decade to have a clear cut artistic direction and meaning. It was a surreal music video that would have made Rene Magritte proud. I love art and what it stands for. Music videos today are obscene and distorted. They are banal and lack any true merit. They are just as cheap as the popular "artists" of today.

"I wished to go completely outside and to make a symbolic start for my enterprise of regenerating the life of humankind within the body of society and to prepare a positive future in this context." Joseph Beauys

A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM

A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM

INCEPTION

Marion Cotillard- The Shade; Leonardo Dicaprio- The Extractor

Tom Hardy- The Forger; Ellen Page- The Architect

Joseph Gordon-Levitt- The Point Man; Ken Watanabe- The Tourist

Cillian Murphy- The Mark

Inception is a deeply profound cinematic masterpiece. Christopher Nolan has not failed us. The wizardry in this movie is unlike any movie experience I have encountered. I'm beginning to think we must abide by a need creed; In Nolan We Trust.

Inception is one of the most original endeavors ever to make a splash in the box office. We gripe when a beloved film is remade and justified it with "nothing is original." Nolan takes that idea and like Inception, he goes inside our minds and implants us the idea to make us believe we were the authors of that new idea.

The film talks about exploiting one of the most private possessions a human possess, a dream. Dreams are the visions that lie inside our subconscious. In our dreams, we create levels of alternate realities where we can create new lives very different from our reality. But when the dreams takes a life of its own, the line between reality and dreams are blurred.

An Inception is when you go inside someone else's dream and implant them  with an idea. The person can take that idea and use it as their own. The Dreamer is the Architect. He creates the blueprints of what we see. The Subject is the person of interest in the dream. Everyone else are projections.

Dreams are mysteries. Everyone has dreams. I should know. I dream about people I have never met. I know so much about a person because of my dreams. Through dreams, a person can travel to mysteriums they've never visited before.

Inception changed my life. I have never seen a film were I felt so in tune with the characters. For years now, I have felt this eternal struggle with the visions I see at night. I hate going to sleep because the man is waiting for me. I've become an insomniac because the subject is taking dominance over my life. With Inception, not only are dreams are real but they serve has a common thread who are in sync with your mind. Dreams can be horrifying when you realize someone else knows your thoughts.

We can debate the truth about Inception. Does Cobb dies? Is he in limbo or in the reality? Who's to say the world we know is real. For all intensive purposes we might be awake only when we're dreaming. Sometimes I believe that's true. I'm happy when I sleep, even though the constant presence of the man who will remain nameless lingers on. His is like my Mal before the inception was planted on her. Inception is one of those movies where it is up to you to solve the maze for yourself. I cannot do it. I have my theories.

I believe Cobb's totem was his wedding ring. He only wears his ring when he's dreaming. With Mal, his ring is present but when he's in the real world, his ring is off his finger. In the final scene, Cobb does not wear his ominous ring, therefore, proving my point that Cobb is really seeing his children for the first time since Mal's death. Then there's the toppel. I believe the toppel was close to fall before the credits roll around. But this ending is subjective and what's my idea might not be yours.

In the end, dreams are powerful because everyone dreams. Dreams are unavoidable. I wish I can never dream. I have had dreams were the events have come true. I have predicted things I should not know. I have learned things about people that I have wished I've never known. Some say I'm clairvoyant. I do not care but I do believe in inceptions. People come to strangers in their dreams to solve the ties between them. Dreams reveals bonds between the unknown and the subject.

"You create the world of the dream. We bring the subject into that dream and fill it with their subconscious."

LIFE... LIBRETY... AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

I AM BACK... AND I'M INSPIRED

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am back. After two enteries, I took a prolong hiatus. Somewhere deep inside of me was an angry person that would not let me succeed. Somewhere in the bottomless pit called a soul, a purille jealous monster craved my potential prosperity. I just could not succeed, until I heard the voice within.

I steadily became me again. I used to be a straight A's student. I faltered but I finally picked myself up again which leads me have found my next theme for the week.

INSPIRATION

Tonight's film is the spectacular The Pursuit of Happyness by the wonderful two time Academy Award nominee Will Smith and his gifted son Jaden.

The Pursuit of Happyness is the inspirational story of Chris Gardner, a genius, who in 1981, gambled his life savings to invest on a Bone Density scanner. Unfortunately is family was shattered and his wife left his son and him in complete destitude.

Chris believed in the quote: "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," a famous quote written by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. The powerful triparite motto motivated him to pursue his happyness and dug his family out of the hell he created. It was a beautiful, optimistisc look on determination. At ttimes, it was saturated but the meaning of hope still lied in the words of Chris and his son.

Will Smith and his son, Jaden

Will and Jaden were the powerful protagonist of the film. From the delivery and pathos of the young Jaden, it is clear he has inherited the wonderous talent Will possess. Like the father, Jaden is charasmatic and magnetic. His beautiful eyes express the many intricacies that his character needed. It is safe to say Jaden has never been poor and he will never be poor. His father's global box office is $5,771,022,176. The elder Smith gets $20 million dollars plus 20% of backend for almost every film. He is the most bankable star in the world so chances of his son knowing anything about poverty is none. Yet, even with all the money, just like his father, Jaden delievered an earnest depiction of a child coming to terms with his temporary poverty. He assess the situation like a young man. His connection was nothing short than a discovery of a child's untapped talent.

The Pursuit of Happyness will make you cry. It will make leap out of your seat and praise the Heaven's that we all have angels guiding us through the hardships. Through the path of poverty, they found out the only person worth fighting for is each other.

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” Gail Devers, three-time Olympic winner.

The Art of Fight Club

Welcome to fight. The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club. The third rule of Fight Club: if someone yells "stop!" goes limp or taps out, the fight is over. Fourth rule: only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule: one fight at a time, fellas. Sixth rule: the fights are bare knuckle. No shirt, no shoes, no weapons. Seventh rule: fights will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth rule and final rule: if this is your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight. 

These words were spoken by the egnimatic Tyler Durden. Fight Club is originally a 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. David Fincher acquired the rights to the book and in 1999, the film starring the seriously underrated stars Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, alongside the novel, became cult classics.

Fight Club is a morbid tale of how we are beguiled to be consumed by the things we owe, so much so that they end up owning us. The best quote in the film the relationship between The Narrator and Tyler Durden is “the things you own end up owning you.” We are obsessed with the things we don’t have and the people we were never meant to be that we become blinded and we create an image of ourselves to fill up the void inside. We buy things we can live without because we are vacant inside. What influenced me about Fight Club is how beautiful the violence is and the brutality is rightfully exercised because we live vicariously through The Narrator who walks us through his deranged self in form of Tyler Durden, his alter-ego. He walks us through his propensity to use the vulnerable to make himself feel alive. What fascinated me the most about Fight Club is the way David Fincher used Tyler Durden as a device to mask The Narrator’s hidden desire to fight the hierarchy; those who deprived him of sleep, those who lied to the public so they can use us. Together with Tyler, his alter-ego, he creates fight club to release his repressed male aggression against a society of liars. I’m influenced by Fincher’s ability to set up an alluring mystery with an unusual dark whimsical touch. He aggregates a beautiful brutality and demonstrates a graphic glimpse into a world verging on cognitive insanity. I love how his film plays the minds of the viewer which is great because it is the glue to having a sustaining fan base.

Brad Pitt and a bar of homemade soup.

Fight Club Synopsis

An unnamed narrator works as a Product Recall Specialist for an unnamed car company. He is responsible for determining if product recalls of defective models meet cost-benefit analysis. The stress of his job combined with his frequent business trips leads to perpetual jet lag. He comes to recognize that his identity is imposed on him by his job and by his possessions and that he is not in control of his life.

At his doctor's - perhaps facetious - recommendation, the narrator attends a support group for men suffering from testicular cancer, to "see what real suffering is like". He finds that crying and listening to the problems of others cures his insomnia. This treatment works until he meets another impersonator, Marla Singer.

The possibly disturbed Marla reflects the narrator's "tourism", reminding him that he is a faker and does not belong there. He begins to hate Marla for keeping him from crying, and, therefore, from sleeping. After a confrontation, they agree to attend separate support group meetings to avoid each other. The truce is uneasy, however, and the narrator's insomnia returns.

The Many Faces of Marla Singer

The gorgeous Helena Bonham Carta, Marla Singer, blowing smoke from her ciggarette

The narrator soon meets Tyler Durden, a cooler version of himself, and he begins to let go of his pinned up masculinity in the form of violence. He has a breakthrough euphoria when he fights. He soon realizes the man he truly is and hates the monster inside.

Fight Club catapulted the writing career of Palahniuk and cemented Norton and Pitt as icons. Fight Club did poorly at the box office but through word of mouth, its excellence signified its cult status. Fight Club spoke about how materialism is the death of a human. We've become walk endorsements for the companies we by for. We are slaves to consumerism. Fight Club helps the lost find refuge by taking out their rage against the world. The soon want to destroy the world for enslaving us to their propaganda.

Promotional DVD Cover of Fight Club starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton

The man who was once a slave is now the master. He takes the reigns and prepares the judgments. With the help of Durden, his alter ego, the narrator chooses his freedom.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is apart of trangressive fiction. Transgressive fiction have characters who are confined in social norms and uphold high expectations in society. They usually break free from the confines through illicit acts. The subject matters of this genra are taboo such as pedophilia, drugs, and crime.

Fight Club represents the death of GenX. The kids who grew up with Kurt Cobain...

 

Kurt Cobain

Were now unhappy 20somethings. They were slaves to materialism. The men of Fight Club used violenced to regain their lost masculinaty. Through violence it was man vs. himself. They fought against the beast that was dormant. We are beast! Repressing our anger to please the world is an excuse for slavery. Slavery is dead and so are we if we haven't realized it.

Thank you, Chuck, for waking up the dead.

Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

That's Fight Club in a nutshell. All hail Tyler Durden. Remember kids, "The things you own, end up owning you." Don't believe in the hype of buying the latest trend to compete with your peers. You're only competiing with yourself and nine times out of ten, you lose.

Are You MESMERIZED BY CONFUSION?

Apparently the people on Massify are. Massify is an amazing site that allows filmmakers to collaborate and make films. I am on the brink of discovery as my film Mesmerized by Confusion is getting buzz from that website.

 

Last Monday, I realized my life will never be fulfilled if one of my scripts never gets made into a film. Years ago, I suffered a heartbreaking wake up call when I realized my film, The Arts of Chaos, was actually a disaster. It really was. I never gave up. I hate quitters. I got back up and wrote.

Since then, I have written two scripts I consider my magnum opera: Under Canvas Skies (more on that soon) and Chameleon (more on that soon). The only problem is that these two scripts are sweeping epics. I needed a smaller film. Nobody is going to give me a huge budget. I need to wait and rewrite.
With Mesmerized by Confusion, I submitted a sample seven page script about a criminal psychologist studying four deranged female criminals who have turned their backs on authority and civilization. Together the women defy the law and uphold an anarchist regime.
Sounds simple, right? Many complimented it as a female Fight Club meets V for Vendetta.

Brad Pitt, Tyler Durden (left)

Edward Norton, The Narrator, (right)

Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman

I submitted my sample script at a comedy competition for Lionsgate and Massify. Although I got complimentary reviews on the script, [see here at http://www.massify.com/projects/mesmerizedbyconfusion,  http://www.massify.com/partnerships/lionsgate/makingcomedy/concept/entry/mesmerizedbyconfusion] it was obvious my film didn't fit the comedy mold. I was getting that although my script would make an amazing high concept thriller, it’s not a comedy! Quite frankly I'm not a good comedic writer. Actually, I'm quite terrible. Yet, I can act comedy well. My forte is physical comedy.

Needless to say, I lost the competition. No hurt feelings. People still loved the script. The girl who won, Barbara Gray, had a timely script called The Wrong Guys for the Job. The sample was a brilliant piece about two buddies helping worthy job applicants find jobs by applying and blowing their interviews and in the process, helping the more qualified applicants get hired. Guess what it is? It's a comedy and a damn good one at that [check it out: http://www.massify.com/projects/thewrongguysforthejob]!
Last Monday, I had euphony. I spoke to my friend and asked, “How can I find investors who are willing to fund my independent debut?” He told me about product placement. Restaurants, cars dealerships, artillery, anything that I will use in the film! I think that's brilliant. Three years ago I wrote a thorough business plan for my failed script that was well loved. Eighty-two pages of dissecting the power of a failed script! Well last Tuesday, precisely at midnight, I posted jobs for the massify crew to come and audition for my film. By six o'clock that evening, as I waited for MJSBIGBLOG to post the song spoilers on American Idol, yes I watch American Idol but if I have to put the blame on someone a-la Rita Hayworth in Gilda [see the caption below] I wholeheartedly blame David Cook, season 7 winner for his breathtaking performances.

Still from Gilda (1946): The most beautiful movie starlet of all time, Rita Hayworth, singing "Put the Blame on Mame"

 David Cook, thanks man for turning me into a fan of the largest glorified karaoke show on Earth, but in your defense, "you can sing the phonebook" among other things. That does take talent. 

Anyways, I'm getting distracting. For now on, blame him! I was utterly shocked that in less than one day, I had eight incredibly gifted independent directors sent me submissions to direct my script. It's been a week and I have fourteen director submissions, three Ethan submissions, five Ethan submissions-in-waiting, two Kirsten submissions-in-waiting, three Leslie submissions, two Leslie submissions-in-waiting, and two sound production assistant submissions! WOW! Their resumes are amazing. I guess Mesmerized by Confusion is a good thing. I also submitted my project for funding at Indiegogo. I present the links and yes, I'll keep you guys posted on my project. We can make events. Word of mouth is the way to go. The internet is your friend.

Spread the word around! It needs your love!

This Mesmerized by Confusion plot and logline:

Logline:

A psychiatrist studies four deranged girls who terrorize a city. The girls turn their backs on civilization and juncture an anarchist regime.

Synopsis:

Outside his ideal world in the asphalt jungles, Ethan Donovan dwells among the vultures he once denounced. A former vagabond, he has become a bureaucrat working for the right side of the law. Ethan is a noted criminal psychiatrist and journalist. The FBI enlists in Donovan’s expertise to solve the breakout crimes of four notorious female assassins. The bright-eyed articulate man takes the case that changes the course his life.

Quickly, Ethan submerges himself in the case. As he studies the different women, he realizes their sole purpose for the city’s crime sprees.
The four female assassins take a grasp at the world of the powerful and corrupt. They are out to weaken them as a way to prove that our society can be easily bought. They want to eradicate the rules, the orders, the systems, and the hypocrisies. Their message is anarchy among the corrupt and the gullible. Ethan’s obsession leads him to stalk them. He will stop at nothing to bring the women down.
How far can Ethan go without realizing his sympathies for the beautiful women transcend in his loyalty to his criminal past, a past that intertwines him to criminal mastermind Vanessa Millian and Kirsten James. Together, they tie him to a schizophrenic assassin, Jacqueline Evans, and a sly silent killer name Leslie Adams.

Spread the word around! It needs your love!

If you want to read the sample come here:

http://www.massify.com/partnerships/lionsgate/makingcomedy/concept/entry/mesmerizedbyconfusion

If you want to audition, come over here: http://www.massify.com/job/manage

Help make Mesmerized by Confusion happen at http://www.indiegogo.com/Mesmerized-by-Confusion

Thanks... Let's blame Cook when this film happens. The soon-to-be MBC fans need someone to blame. I'm kidding. He's a wonderful singer. I watched American Idol because I wanted to but again, in my defense, he's a breathtaking singer and quite a looker. Mesmerized by Confusion is a possible dream and I need your help. I'll do whatever it takes to make it work. We'll all fight together.

Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

I belive in that quote. The script's core theme is "Press On." Let's "Press On" with Mesmerized by Confusion together.