BONES BRIGADE

I don't usually get star struck. I've seen rock stars, famous actors and NBA legends in person before and I always think to myself "Hey, there's so and so. That's pretty awesome."

Then they're gone and I forget about it a few minutes later.

Last night was different.

The Sundance Film Festival is in town this week. I didn't have tickets to anything and I hadn't even looked to see what was playing, so I just kind of figured I wouldn't be going to anything and I wasn't too bummed. Everything was already sold out anyway. I checked Craigslist and KSL, but all the tickets had already gone up to more than double the original price, so I didn't think too much about it.

Then my friend Casey texted me.

"I got you a ticket to Bones Brigade."
"I don't know what that is."
"Stacy Peralta's new movie about the Bones Brigade."

That's when I got excited. I was never huge into skateboarding because I was always afraid of hurting myself and I never had anyone to skate with. Most of my friends were far more into baseball and basketball than skateboarding, but I did have a few that were. I watched the Bones Brigade Video Show more than a few times and even managed to get a second hand Powell - Peralta board that I rode up and down the street, maybe to the nearest store—which was only a few blocks away. I never had the guts to try any of the tricks in the video, but that didn't stop me from watching it.

Last night Casey, Brook, Brandon, Andy, Dan and I lined up in the basement of the Rose Wagner theater downtown. We joked and had fun like we always do, then one of the Sundance workers came down with an announcement.

"We have some people from the film here and they'll be signing posters for anybody that would like one."

Everyone in our group kind of looked at each other and shrugged. We didn't really care about getting an autographed poster. What are we? 12? We didn't have any room in our homes for autographed skateboard merchandise from one or two random people in the movie.

We joked around a bit more and then we looked up the stairs just as the entire Bones Brigade made their way down. Stacy Peralta was in the front followed by Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Mike McGill, Rodney Mullen and Tommy Guerrero.

Every one of us shut up, looked at each other and then back at them.

"Holy shit," said Brook, "that's all of them."

We were star struck. Every single one of us.

Five minutes before, none of us wanted anything to do with a free poster. Now we all wanted one and we wanted it signed by everyone at that table.

One by one we made our way through the line shaking hands, getting autographs and talking to our childhood heroes.

It was like we were twelve years old again and we didn't stop smiling the rest of the night.

Oh, the movie was great too. Funny, touching, heartbreaking and amazing all the way around.

But that 20 minutes before the movie started was the best part of the day.

CATHEDRAL TATTOO

I've written about these fellas before—because they are all gentlemen, scholars, fine tattooers and also good friends of mine.

It's good to see them getting a little press here and there and they've just finished an interview with Gavin Sheehan—himself a fine gentleman that I've worked with a time or two before—for his City Weekly blog called Gavin's Underground.

You should all read it.

Gavin's Underground -- Eleventh St. Electric Gallery came to an end back in 2010, a lot of the patrons of the shop were curious what would become of their favorite tattoo location. The business essentially split in two, one-half continuing on as Yellow Rose Tattoo (whom we'll try to chat with down the road), while artists Tyler Densley, CJ Fishburn and Jake Miller formed a new place under the name Cathedral Tattoo. They took up shop along 400 South across from the Main Library and a major Trax station, welcoming all former clients as well as new downtown walk-in traffic, becoming one of the fastest-growing tattoo shops in years.

Continue Reading...

GOALS

I don't like New Year's. I mean, I don't like it as a holiday. Generally, I have no feelings about a new year, but New Year's is silly.

That's why I spent my New Year's home sick, watching 30 Rock, writing and thinking. I did a lot of thinking.

I thought about things I accomplished in 2011 and I don't really feel like I accomplished much. I worked a lot, which made doing things I wanted to do much easier, but it also left me tired and without energy for much else. There were some things here and there that I got done, but nothing I'm immensely proud of.

2012 will be different.

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, because I feel those are too easily forgotten and a resolution implies that you need to change who you are. I like who I am. I don't need to change, I just want to focus on doing more of the things I love to do already. That's why I want to set goals instead. Goals for myself that might seem lofty, but shouldn't be and aren't. I spent far too much time sitting around my house watching TV on DVD or bullshitting at coffee shops last year instead of getting things done. I'll still have time for both of those things, but I need to get other stuff done, too.

And rather than make these goals in my head or on a little piece of paper that I'll misplace (or more likely that Harley will steal because it moves slightly when the heater blows on it), I'm going to do it here. I'll just throw it out on this blog, because there's probably only like 8 people still paying attention to it since it never gets updated (see goal Number 4 below).

Here they are in no particular order.

1. Write/produce comics - I can't draw for shit (as we've covered before), but I have incredibly talented friends that can. I've got two in the works. One is scripted and (almost) ready to draw and the other is in outline form that I'll hopefully get to this week.
- Untitled Space Adventure with Gardner Seawright
- Grudge City with Candace Jean

2. Art show at Cathedral Tattoo in July - Gardner and Candace are going to have pages from the books on display and we'll have the books to sell. It's part of Gallery Stroll that month and already booked. Now we've just got to get it ready.

3. Read more - Pretty self-explanatory. I'm setting a goal of one book every two weeks. That doesn't include comics. I think I can do that.

4. Take better care of trevorhale.com - I just want to do more stuff on here. I don't know what exactly, but there needs to be more of it.

5. Make a movie - Andy, Casey and I have been kicking around ideas about how to make a 8-12 minute short over the summer. Well, Andy and I started talking about it and Casey  pointed out that he has exclusive rights as my producer, so he has to be involved. We have no idea what it will be about or where we're going to show it, but we're going to to do it.

6. Make a Zine - Not only do I have a lot of very talented artist friends, but I have a lot of very talented writer friends, too. I want to make an old school, punk rock style, DIY zine. Haven't figured out the content yet, but that will come.

7. Craft Lake City - This kind of involves numbers 1, 4, maybe 5 and 6 from the list above. Craft Lake City, if you don't know, is a DIY craft show put on by SLUG magazine every August. Since I don't craft, I'll have zines, comics, buttons and t-shirts at the trevorhale.com booth. I haven't applied yet, since it doesn't open until March, but I have a good feeling.

I think those are the big ones. I may add more throughout the rest of the week, but those are the ones I've been thinking about a lot for the past few days/weeks/months.

There are a bunch of other little ones, like stop eating dinner after 10 PM—which I've already broken several times and it's only January 9th—and take better care of myself by getting out and going to the gym more and things like that, but those are small potatoes compared to the big 7.

2012 is the year that I bring my punk rock/hardcore Do-It-Yourself roots back full force. It's going to be a good year.

BAD ASS

You guys remember the video of the old guy with the beard that beat the shit out of the other guy on the bus in Oakland? The one that was filmed and spread around the Internet like wildfire?

You know, Epic Beard Man?



Apparently that needed the big screen treatment, with Danny Trejo as Epic Beard Man. No really. Here's the trailer.



I can't help but think this is a joke. I kind of hope that it is, too.

Hollywood makes enough stupid movies every year as it is, and now they're trolling YouTube for ideas? That means that the quality of films we actually get on a regular basis can only go down from here. I want the opposite. I want talented filmmakers to make original movies. I don't want directors of car commercials being asked to implement studio money-grab films, which is exactly what this looks like.

It's a shame.

Even worse, I kind of really want to see it.

YIPPIE KI YAY!

DIE HARD was based on a book by Roderick Thorp entitled “Nothing Lasts Forever” - a sequel to another book entitled “The Detective”, which in 1968 was made into a film starring Frank Sinatra.

Because of a clause in Sinatra’s contract for “The Detective” which gave him the right to reprise his role in a sequel, he was actually the first person offered the role of John McClane, even though he was 73 years old at the time.

Also, coincidentally, Bruce Willis made his movie debut in The First Deadly Sin walking out of a bar as Sinatra walks into it.

(source: Film Trivia)

APOLLO

Of course I made Brandon take my picture next to an Apollo spacesuit at the Planetarium.

BEHIND THE MYTHS

I don't care what anyone says. The Mythbusters are awesome. They're doing a live touring show early next year called 'Behind the Myths' that's coming to Kingsbury Hall in SLC.

Pretty sure it's just going to be them doing a FAQ type talk like the last time they did one of these tours—which means no crazy experiments or explosions. Still sounds really interesting and I'm all in.

ARSON

This is my man Makena. It's his song, and the video that he directed for it. He's got skills.

He's also a hell of a writer. I worked with him at the Chronicle and on Red Pulse. Big things ahead.

GODLAND

Picked up this little guy today at Dr. Volt's comics. I've been moving away from buying single issues and more towards awesome hardcovers and trades. There are single issues I still want to read, but I hate storing them all—luckily, most of them are in my parents basement. I've been trying to make the switch to digital on my iPad, but it's been difficult (more on that tomorrow, I hope).

Either way, I'm excited to get going on this. It's on the list right after Patton Oswalt's Zombie, Spaceship, Wasteland and Greg Graffin's Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God.

GODLAND

"See how the greatest cosmic superhero epic of the new century began! See Commander Adam Archer, Maxim, Basil Cronus, Nickelhead, IBOGA and more in all their oversized glory! What other book delivers the secret origin of the universe? What other book squeezes your guts like an angry Torture-Bot? Only Godland gives you everything you'll ever need!"

JAMES ELLROY HATES EVERYTHING

James Ellroy is hilarious—mostly because he doesn't give a fuck what anyone thinks. He's been that way for years.

Every interview he gives he plays up a different angle. Sometimes he crass and awkward like he always was on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, other times he plays up the role of a callous, grumpy, bitter old man—like the video below. But he's not. He has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor and he likes playing up that image as much as possible.

Also, make sure you watch that Conan video just to see Ellroy interact with Dave Chappelle because it's fantastic.

I found this video on Warren Ellis' site earlier today and loved it. Figured I'd share it, and Ellis' thoughts on it, with you. He's in on the joke, too.

Watch the videos and then immediately go out and get some of his novels, American Tabloid, L.A. Confidential and The Black Dahlia are some of his best.

WarrenEllis.com -- "A glorious routine by novelist James Ellroy. And I think he was reining himself in, too.

Interesting interstitial things happen when a writer devises a character to be, for interviews and the like. Especially if someone’s been doing it a long time, and has gone through the cycle and, I suspect in Ellroy’s case, gotten back to the point where he hopes someone somewhere is getting the joke. Listen to how Ellroy speaks, now: more than ever, he’s speaking for tv, and speaking to be transcribed. A lot of media training under the bridge, there. And the little wink to the audience, if not his interviewer, is there too. Slowed down, like a big bit of bait being trawled across still water."

HUGO

I don't like 3D movies. They hurt my eyes, the bridge of my nose and the top of my ears get sore and I just get generally annoyed with the entire spectacle.

I didn't like AVATAR very much for that reason alone. It looked great, but every twenty minutes or so, I had to take the glasses off and rest my eyes for a minute and that lessened my enjoyment of the movie, I think.

There are some movies that use it in a way that I enjoy, and those are movies like PIRANHA 3D and A VERY HAROLD AND KUMAR CHRISTMAS. Those movies basically just poked fun at the 3D genre for an hour and twenty minutes and it was over. That kind of thing I can handle, but big epic, sweeping serious movies in 3D I can't.

That's what bothered me about HUGO so much. Normally, I love Martin Scorsese movies (with a few exceptions like BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, KUNDUN, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE) and there were aspects of HUGO that I loved, but it had a couple of huge problems that I just couldn't get past.

First of all, it didn't need to be 3D. He used it in a great way, but I didn't think it added anything to the story and when it comes on HBO in six months, some of the shot selections are just going to look strange and unnecessary. There were parts that were amazingly well done and the 3D technology was utilized well, but that's all. I just kept thinking about how much more I would have enjoyed it had I not had to keep taking my glasses off.

Second, it was too long. At 125 minutes, kids will (and definitely were in the screening I saw) start to get restless. I know it's an adaptation of a kids book (that I've never read), but from what I hear there were a lot of things added to it that extended the running time that maybe didn't need to be there. I don't know that for sure, but it was still too long.

That said, every actor in the film did an amazing job and the story is pretty good, but it's more like Martin Scorsese's love letter to film than a family/kids movie. I think that's where it lost a lot of casual viewers and why most critics were so kind to it.

There are A LOT of nods and references to the beginning of film, old movies and the growth of cinema. If you've spent years in film classes learning these kinds of things (like I have) or have just seen and are able to appreciate those early films (like most critics), you're in on it and it's fascinating. If you're not in on it, and you have no idea what they're talking about, it doesn't resonate. The people I saw it with, all of whom range in age from 19 up to 33 and have never seen any of the films referenced didn't care much for it.

The Film Stage did a nice job the other day of compiling a list of '10 Classic Films You Must Watch Before Seeing Martin Scorsese's HUGO.' It's a great, informative list and there are streaming copies of each film and a little write-up of what they are, what they meant and how they inspired the film. It's a really fascinating piece and if you have any interest in film history, they're all great to watch.

But it's also 10 films you need to watch in order to understand the importance of what HUGO is about for Scorsese. That's where the problem is.

I guess the bottom line is, if you're a film nerd like me and know what all of the movies on the Film Stage list are, check out HUGO and enjoy Scorsese's love letter to movies, because there's no one that does it better and there are very few filmmakers who have been able to stay at the top of their game for so long—seriously, Scorsese has been consistently great for nearly 40 years.

But if you're just an average filmgoer, this might not be for you.

RILL RILL

Even though those Heavy Metal Shop hoodies are ridiculously overpriced, I like the fact that so many bands still sport them.
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill from momandpopmusic on Vimeo.

SO CLOSE...

I don't think anyone can comprehend how excited I am to see this movie. I just want Thanksgiving dinner to be over so I can be sitting in the theater already.

WE SOLD OUR SOUL FOR ROCK N ROLL

So, Collapse.

We started practicing again last weekend. We didn't want to try and get a practice space since we didn't know if we were going to keep playing beyond this show, so we had to look for an alternative. We found one.

Clint's boss is letting us practice in their shop. They build custom covers for boats and have room for us to set up and even extra space so we can leave our shit there. That's the best part, because I didn't want to have to pack up my cabinet every time we practiced.

The only problem is that we don't have a lot of equipment. Well, I do. No one else does.

Clint is missing half his drum hardware and his throne. He's using a chair from an old boat they had lying around. We have no P.A. so Richard is yelling through a road cone—which works surprisingly well. Adam doesn't have a bass amp at all, so he stands around and plays along with his bass not plugged in to anything. Nathan sold his head, so he's using a 12" practice amp turned up as loud as it will go. I still have all my stuff, so I just stand on the 4-wheeler that's next to my cabinet to make myself taller.

The good news is that we already know 5 songs.

Whatever works, right?

BRAVE

Pixar is still batting a thousand in my eyes (maybe because I've never seen CARS or CARS 2, and deliberately so) and their next movie looks like they're going to keep it up.

Pretty happy they finally found a way to have a female protagonist, too. Changes things up a bit.