TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2013Andy Skib Music
Everyone knows how simply proud I am of my younger brother Andy. This year, he and his amazing
wife, Jennie, packed up their house and dog and moved to Nashville, TN for Andy to start a new
adventure, his solo music career.
In the past month, I've not only seen him grow up more than he has ever done, I've seen him change
and become this amazing human, husband and musician we have always known he could and
would be. With the support of his friends and family, he has been able to start establishing
himself in this wonderful new city.
With a new tour on the horizons, a new website and new songs, which I am sure he will share with the
world as soon as he finds them as perfect as they can be, he has sure made a remarkable entrance to
this new adventure. I only ask you for you to support and "Like" his new Facebook page to help him
out on this new journey!
You yourself can invite Andy to play in your hometown! To learn how, check out his website!
Thank you!
Andy Skib Music Andy Skib Facebook Andy Skib Twitter Andy Skib YouTube
Friday, February 22, 2013
Andy Skib's newest endevor
I wanted to promot Andy Skib's newest musical endevors but there is no way I could do better than his big sister Alexis did on her blog earlier this month. Instead I decided I'd just share the post from http://www.fifthfloorup.com/ which is an awesome blog if you like interior design or New York City
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Saturday night adventure
Blame it on boredom...
or the intense winter...
Saturday night Lauren and I were babysitting and decided we should go see if we could see Christoph Waltz as he entered 30 Rock to host Saturday Night Live.
After waiting a few minutes we got impatient and I went in to ask the desk clerk if he had come in yet. I figured I would need a story to get an answer so I told Lauren to be prepared, she was either sad because she was dumped or fired and seeing Waltz would cheer her up, which was why I asked. "Right," she replied. "First rule of improve, never say no."
I got a bit carried away however because the conversation went like this:
me: I was wondering if you could tell me if tonight's snl host came in yet?
cute security guy: Chris Waltz right? Why do you just looove him?
me: No actually it's my sister. He's her favorite actor and she was dumped and fired and the only way I could get her out of the house tonight was to suggest we might see him.
CSG: Listen if you go in the middle of the building, tell them, the line isn't that long. They'll probably let you in.
me: Oh for the show? Thank you but um we can't stay.
I promptly left and told Lauren because, while we'd love to see him and the show the baby in our charge isn't old enough to see it. We spent most of the walk laughing about what we would've happened if the guy felt so bad he'd called up and had us meet Christoph Waltz and she was holding this baby carriage. "I'd have said things like, he's gone and I don't know how I will support the baby."
We also took a drunk train home so hilarity ensued there as well.
or the intense winter...
Saturday night Lauren and I were babysitting and decided we should go see if we could see Christoph Waltz as he entered 30 Rock to host Saturday Night Live.
After waiting a few minutes we got impatient and I went in to ask the desk clerk if he had come in yet. I figured I would need a story to get an answer so I told Lauren to be prepared, she was either sad because she was dumped or fired and seeing Waltz would cheer her up, which was why I asked. "Right," she replied. "First rule of improve, never say no."
I got a bit carried away however because the conversation went like this:
me: I was wondering if you could tell me if tonight's snl host came in yet?
cute security guy: Chris Waltz right? Why do you just looove him?
me: No actually it's my sister. He's her favorite actor and she was dumped and fired and the only way I could get her out of the house tonight was to suggest we might see him.
CSG: Listen if you go in the middle of the building, tell them, the line isn't that long. They'll probably let you in.
me: Oh for the show? Thank you but um we can't stay.
I promptly left and told Lauren because, while we'd love to see him and the show the baby in our charge isn't old enough to see it. We spent most of the walk laughing about what we would've happened if the guy felt so bad he'd called up and had us meet Christoph Waltz and she was holding this baby carriage. "I'd have said things like, he's gone and I don't know how I will support the baby."
We also took a drunk train home so hilarity ensued there as well.
Monday, February 18, 2013
New Music Monday
Go grab the new IdoVsTheWorld (formerly Lion of Ido) album out this week on iTunes. I've seen Ido many times and he has a great indy-rock vibe
It's All in My Head - EP by IdoVsTheWorld
https://itunes.apple.com/cz/album/its-all-in-my-head-ep/id599081357
It's All in My Head - EP by IdoVsTheWorld
itunes.apple.com
It's All in My Head - EP by IdoVsTheWorld
https://itunes.apple.com/cz/album/its-all-in-my-head-ep/id599081357
It's All in My Head - EP by IdoVsTheWorld
itunes.apple.com
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Filmmaker lessons from Terry Gilliam
I never had film school training but neither did Gilliam so maybe one day I can do what he has managed to do; maybe we all could take back thinking cinema!
This list is a mixture of answers to interview questions, and comments made during a lecture.
1. Growing up is for losers.
As a child, I always drew funny creatures, funny characters. But I think the trick is not to grow up, not to learn to be an adult. And if you can maintain the kind of imagination you all had when you were babies, you would all be wonderful filmmakers. But the world tries to make you grow up, to stop imagining, stop fantasizing, stop playing in your mind. And I've worked hard to not let the world educate me.
2. Film school is for fools.
Live and learn how to make films. I didn't go to film school. I just watched movies in the cinemas. And probably my greater education was actually making films, so that's all I would ever say: watch movies, get a camera, make a movie. And if you do it enough times, eventually you start learning how films are made.
3. Auteurism is out. Fil-teurism is in.
Being an auteur is what we all dreamed of being, as far [back] as the films of the late '50s and '60s, when the idea of the auteur filmmaker arrived on the planet. And people kept using that term, and they do with my movies because I suppose they are very individual and they give me all the credit, so they say I'm an auteur. And I say no, the reality is I'm a 'fil-teur.' I know what I'm trying to make but I have a lot of people who are around me who are my friends and don't take orders and don't listen to me, but who have individual ideas. And when they come up with a good idea, if it's one that fits what I'm trying to do, I use it. So the end film is a collaboration of a lot of people, and I'm the filter who decides what goes in and what stays out.
4. Put your ideas in a drawer. Take them out as needed.
I do have a drawer in my desk with all the ideas that I have and that I scribbled out. I put them in there and some day I use them. At the beginning of a new film, I often go in that drawer and look at everything I've done and see if there are some ideas that might apply to what I'm doing. But things grow, so I just start with a sketch and then refine it. And you do it with other people's ideas coming in. That's the fun part.
5. All you've really got in life is story.
I think the important thing is stay true to what you believe. I mean it's much more important to make your mistakes than somebody else's mistakes. Like too many other filmmakers have compromised because somebody advised them [that] if you change this, the film will be more successful commercially. And then the film isn't successful commercially, and these people get so depressed and destroyed because they didn't ever finish making their film the way they intended it. You've got to believe in what you're doing. And you've got to be willing to take the consequences of whatever it is. If you succeed, fantastic. If you fail, you might have to get a proper job.
6. Command the audience with your lens.
I keep wanting to see more of the world always. When I'm looking through the camera, when we're setting up a scene, I don't feel like I'm in the scene. And the wide angle lens, because we see so much, it seems to wrap around me a little bit. I also like the fact that with long lenses, the director controls the audience much more because you show the audience only exactly what you want. Everything else can be out of focus. And I like it to be a little bit more vague so the audience has to be aware of the environment as well as what I want them to look at. I don't want to really separate the character from the world that it's in. So the world is as important, and the rooms and everything, as the character sometimes.
7. Nothing can defeat a director who is one with his actors.
I think the key is to make sure that the cast, especially if they're big Hollywood superstars, likes the movie. My first film in Hollywood was The Fischer King, and Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges are playing the two leads. And I knew as long as Robin, Jeff and I were united, there was no way the studio could break it, and the film would go out. Same way with Twelve Monkeys. Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis and I were one. In both instances those films went very smoothly.
8. Surround yourself with improvisers.
I like the actor to surprise me all the time because the problem when you're making a film, if you've written it and you're directing it, you've been with it so long, it becomes a bit rigid. It can become mechanical when you're shooting because you're just trying to do exactly what you were thinking about for the last year. And what's wonderful is when the actors come in and they do something that's completely surprising, and suddenly every day becomes fresh. And it makes me stay awake.
9. Directing is not for the faint-of-heart. Or the sane.
What I love about Don Quixote is that he keeps misinterpreting the world. He thinks the world is either worse or better or whatever. He gets it wrong every time. But in the end he has these heroic, epic moments, and he seems to be unstoppable. He just goes on and on and on. I think it's a great example for people, especially in film, in how to get through life, because film can often be incredibly disappointing. What I like about the Don Quixote documentary is that so many other filmmakers when they saw that, they started telling me their stories of equally horrible disasters. It's a very difficult business. [Lost in La Mancha] should discourage anyone who is not willing to live in a world where disasters like that occur. Don't make films if you're not going to be able to deal with things like that. I'm always working on it and one day it will happen. It's changed me. If you're going to make a film about Don Quixote, you've got to be as mad as Don Quixote, so the nature is helping me go crazy.
10. Be an enlightened despot.
I expect the actors to really be totally committed to the film and to their character and forget about who they are. Get rid of your vanity. Just be whatever the character demands. I think it's horrible when I hear stories of actors coming and they bring their own makeup people and their hairdresser. Wait a minute, what's going on here? The power is in the wrong hands. And if you let the power go to the actor, then you're not directing the movie. And the actor is not thinking about the entire movie. Only the director is thinking about the entire movie. I don't ever want to be the guy that is saying, "this is the only way that it can be done." I don't want to be a dictator. That's not interesting. It's interesting if you can have a dialogue going all the time and trying to all agree to find what is the best way for this film to go.
This list is a mixture of answers to interview questions, and comments made during a lecture.
1. Growing up is for losers.
As a child, I always drew funny creatures, funny characters. But I think the trick is not to grow up, not to learn to be an adult. And if you can maintain the kind of imagination you all had when you were babies, you would all be wonderful filmmakers. But the world tries to make you grow up, to stop imagining, stop fantasizing, stop playing in your mind. And I've worked hard to not let the world educate me.
2. Film school is for fools.
Live and learn how to make films. I didn't go to film school. I just watched movies in the cinemas. And probably my greater education was actually making films, so that's all I would ever say: watch movies, get a camera, make a movie. And if you do it enough times, eventually you start learning how films are made.
3. Auteurism is out. Fil-teurism is in.
Being an auteur is what we all dreamed of being, as far [back] as the films of the late '50s and '60s, when the idea of the auteur filmmaker arrived on the planet. And people kept using that term, and they do with my movies because I suppose they are very individual and they give me all the credit, so they say I'm an auteur. And I say no, the reality is I'm a 'fil-teur.' I know what I'm trying to make but I have a lot of people who are around me who are my friends and don't take orders and don't listen to me, but who have individual ideas. And when they come up with a good idea, if it's one that fits what I'm trying to do, I use it. So the end film is a collaboration of a lot of people, and I'm the filter who decides what goes in and what stays out.
4. Put your ideas in a drawer. Take them out as needed.
I do have a drawer in my desk with all the ideas that I have and that I scribbled out. I put them in there and some day I use them. At the beginning of a new film, I often go in that drawer and look at everything I've done and see if there are some ideas that might apply to what I'm doing. But things grow, so I just start with a sketch and then refine it. And you do it with other people's ideas coming in. That's the fun part.
5. All you've really got in life is story.
I think the important thing is stay true to what you believe. I mean it's much more important to make your mistakes than somebody else's mistakes. Like too many other filmmakers have compromised because somebody advised them [that] if you change this, the film will be more successful commercially. And then the film isn't successful commercially, and these people get so depressed and destroyed because they didn't ever finish making their film the way they intended it. You've got to believe in what you're doing. And you've got to be willing to take the consequences of whatever it is. If you succeed, fantastic. If you fail, you might have to get a proper job.
6. Command the audience with your lens.
I keep wanting to see more of the world always. When I'm looking through the camera, when we're setting up a scene, I don't feel like I'm in the scene. And the wide angle lens, because we see so much, it seems to wrap around me a little bit. I also like the fact that with long lenses, the director controls the audience much more because you show the audience only exactly what you want. Everything else can be out of focus. And I like it to be a little bit more vague so the audience has to be aware of the environment as well as what I want them to look at. I don't want to really separate the character from the world that it's in. So the world is as important, and the rooms and everything, as the character sometimes.
7. Nothing can defeat a director who is one with his actors.
I think the key is to make sure that the cast, especially if they're big Hollywood superstars, likes the movie. My first film in Hollywood was The Fischer King, and Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges are playing the two leads. And I knew as long as Robin, Jeff and I were united, there was no way the studio could break it, and the film would go out. Same way with Twelve Monkeys. Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis and I were one. In both instances those films went very smoothly.
8. Surround yourself with improvisers.
I like the actor to surprise me all the time because the problem when you're making a film, if you've written it and you're directing it, you've been with it so long, it becomes a bit rigid. It can become mechanical when you're shooting because you're just trying to do exactly what you were thinking about for the last year. And what's wonderful is when the actors come in and they do something that's completely surprising, and suddenly every day becomes fresh. And it makes me stay awake.
9. Directing is not for the faint-of-heart. Or the sane.
What I love about Don Quixote is that he keeps misinterpreting the world. He thinks the world is either worse or better or whatever. He gets it wrong every time. But in the end he has these heroic, epic moments, and he seems to be unstoppable. He just goes on and on and on. I think it's a great example for people, especially in film, in how to get through life, because film can often be incredibly disappointing. What I like about the Don Quixote documentary is that so many other filmmakers when they saw that, they started telling me their stories of equally horrible disasters. It's a very difficult business. [Lost in La Mancha] should discourage anyone who is not willing to live in a world where disasters like that occur. Don't make films if you're not going to be able to deal with things like that. I'm always working on it and one day it will happen. It's changed me. If you're going to make a film about Don Quixote, you've got to be as mad as Don Quixote, so the nature is helping me go crazy.
10. Be an enlightened despot.
I expect the actors to really be totally committed to the film and to their character and forget about who they are. Get rid of your vanity. Just be whatever the character demands. I think it's horrible when I hear stories of actors coming and they bring their own makeup people and their hairdresser. Wait a minute, what's going on here? The power is in the wrong hands. And if you let the power go to the actor, then you're not directing the movie. And the actor is not thinking about the entire movie. Only the director is thinking about the entire movie. I don't ever want to be the guy that is saying, "this is the only way that it can be done." I don't want to be a dictator. That's not interesting. It's interesting if you can have a dialogue going all the time and trying to all agree to find what is the best way for this film to go.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Shame on the Girl Scouts of America
It's Girl Scout cookie time everyone, that once a year where people can buy the once a year treat from those little girls in cute uniforms. Oh wait? You have a food allergy, well the hell with you!
That is basically the message from the girl Scout organization who doesn't include one variety of gluten free cookies. They claim that due to their only producing cookies once a year it isn't financially sound to cater to food allergy or special diet. That said, they have the exchange information on the box for diabetic consumers and, every variety is kosher!!!
So let's look at some facts:
"Mission:Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place."
Well I can't argue with that.
"Today, there are 3.2 million Girl Scouts—2.3 million girl members and 890,000 adult members working primarily as volunteers."
In America, one in every hundred people has celiacs, more are intolerant, and many people are but haven't been diagnosed so really, it would be profitable actually.
But here's the real kicker
"Empowering Girls: In Girl Scouts, girls discover the fun, friendship, and power of girls together. Through a myriad of enriching experiences, such as extraordinary field trips, sports skill-building clinics, community service projects, cultural exchanges, and environmental stewardships, girls grow courageous and strong. Girl Scouting helps girls develop their full individual potential; relate to others with increasing understanding, skill, and respect; develop values to guide their actions and provide the foundation for sound decision-making; and contribute to the improvement of society through their abilities, leadership skills, and cooperation with others."
So the basic message of the organization is to make girls feel good about themselves and form community and camaraderie and what better way to do that then excluded all the little girls who can't eat gluten. The truth is the put money above all of their supposed values and g-free baking supplies are more expensive.
So, since G-free people and their loved ones are such a small market, let's all stop supporting them and let them see if they don't miss our money!
meanwhile this website ( http://blog.julesglutenfree.com/2012/02/round-em-up-girl-scout-cookies-gf-on-parade/ ) Has converted the recipes so you can bake gluten free versions.
Here is a run-down of some of recipes to wet your whistle (share yours here or on the Gluten-Free Cookie Swap!):
Jules’ Tag-A-Longs (also Egg and Dairy-Free & may be made Nut-Free & Soy-Free!)
Betsy’s Samoas
Betsy’s Thin Mints
Betsy’s Tag-a-Longs
Glutenista’s Thin Mints
Angela’s Kitchen: Do-Si-Dos
Glugle GF’s Thin Mints
Glutenista's Thrilling Thin Mints!
Roben Ryberg’s Thin Mints (reprinted in the Gluten-Free Recipe Box)
Broward-Palm Beach Times’ Do-Si-Dos
Broward-Palm Beach Times’ Thin Mints
Totally Together Journal’s Thin Mints
Art of Gluten-Free Baking’s Thin Mints
Whole Living’s Egg-Free, Dairy-Free, GF Thin Mints
Alisa Cooks’ Dairy-Free Thin Mints (NOT GF, but you could sub in my Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour in this recipe)
Scoochmaroo’s Shortbread Cookies (NOT GF, although you could just sub in my Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour here)
Scoochmaroo’s Samoas (again, NOT GF, but just sub in my Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour)
And for another great round-up of GF mock Girl Scout Cookie recipes, check out my friends over at The Gluten Free Lab!
Happy baking!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
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