Saturday Mornings

Never easy - maybe someday?

2011-11-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

I will ruminate on this more in the weeks to come, but here's the low-down. The local (Nevada City) film festival recently rejected the film about my father for submission into its' Environmentally-geared film festival happening this coming January. As I couldn't believe my eyes upon reading the email, this rejection coming in the year of my father's passing, who has been a 35+ year resident and activist of the local area, I also was faced with a choice, to do something about this, or to let it go. As I thought I might very well "let it go," I began to spread the word locally, listening to people and finally being interviewed by the local paper: http://www.theunion.com/article/20111126/NEWS/111129871/1001&parentprofile=1053

Obviously, I did not, in fact, let it go. A local brouhaha ensued, with even a few long - time members of the non-profit involved retracting their memberships! A few heated phone calls, letters to the editors, and etc... resulted in a complete reversal:

http://www.theunion.com/article/20111129/BREAKINGNEWS/111129810/1066&ParentProfile=1053

The question then is, why? Why did I even have to go this far? Why did so many great local folks have to voice their collective frustration at this decision, to pass on a film about the true story behind the parks that John Olmsted saved? Why does nearly nothing in my life seem to come easily?

I don't have any answers right now, as I am trying to simply be excited about the festival. But in the long term, I continue to be bothered that I always seem to have to push, and shove, and prod, when all I would like to hear, just once is, "hey, this thing you did - this is great, we'd like to _________."
I realize that millions of artists and creative types are waiting for this same response, and so I share this with humility and honesty.
It's possible, however, and I'll try to find the quote I once read, that when you have a good idea, some will get it, some won't, but when you have something great, you'll have to "ram it down their throats."

Where are those cool buckets?! updated

2011-06-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.johnolmsted.net
Updated bucket list!

Bucket list
1. Barbara J. Rainbow Market - Hwy.49
1a. Linda Chaplin & South Yuba River S.P. 
2. Mark W. - Grass Valley Grass Roots Realty
3. Helena montelius - Mothertruckers Grocery
3a. Ridgestop cafe
4. Christie Sherr - Malakoff Diggins SHP
5. Loreen - Riverwood Inn/ Ave. of The Giants
6. Chris Weston - Eel River Trails Association
7. Carlos & bike monkey - Annadel S.P.
8. Joanne D. - Olompali S.P.
9. Carla - Roadhouse Coffee/Candlestick S.P.
10. Robin Lorentz - Austin Creek SP
11. Nick V.- Grizzly Creek Redwoods
12. Meredith Struthers - Sequoya Challenge
13. Michelle Luna - Austin Creek SP
14. Michelle B. - Samuel P. Taylor SP/ Marin Moms
15. Miriam L. - SYRCL
16. Cheri's Hand Dipped Ice Cream - Tahoe/Truckee
17. Jack E. - Big Sur Lodge
18. Mike/ Bogie's cafe - China camp SP
19. Maya - Petaluma Adobe SHP
20. Denby - Castle rock SP - Santa Cruz
21. Kim - Railtown 1897 SHP
22. Jarratt moody - CA park trip
23. Sandy Jones - Bothe & Grist Mill Napa
24. Frank - China Camp SP
25. Lyn - Plumas/Eureka SP
26. Erik - Real Goods / Hopland
27. Andrea - Fox & Goose Sacramento
28. Bill - Briar Patch Grocery - Grass Valley
__  Alden's road - trip - floating bucket

Support these great businesses that are supporting the parks!

Where are the buckets?

2011-06-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

So where are these crazy buckets anyway??

Head out this weekend and take a picture of yourself donating - then post it and spread the word! If there's no bucket in your area, just wait a week - I'm coming!

1. South Yuba river SP - 49 and Bridgeport
2. Grass Valley - Nevada County Land Trust
3. Mother Truckers Grocery Store
3a. San Juan/ Ridge
3b. Ananda (?)
4. Malakoff Diggins S.P. - Visitor's Center
5. Benbow Lake/ Standish Hickey - Riverwood Inn, Avenue of the Giants
6. Benbow Lake - Eel River Trails Association
7. Annadel S.P. - Bike Monkey Santa Rosa (3rd st.)
8. Olompali S.P. - Visitor's Center
9. Candlestick Point - Roadhouse Coffee Company on 3rd at Taylor
10. Jenner - Coffee shop (still finding out which one!)
11. Grizzly Creek Redwoods
12. Sequoya Challenge - Nevada County
13. Austin Creek S.P.
14. Samuel P. Taylor - and West Marin mom's group
15. SYRCL offices

More coming soon - get out the word!

Save the parks - with $1!

2011-05-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Every county should be involved in their respective parks - but these are the counties with the most parks at immediate risk:

1. Colusa County
Colusa-Sacramento River SRA
2. Del Norte County
Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP
3. Humboldt County
Benbow Lake SRA
Fort Humboldt SHP
Grizzly Creek Redwoods SP
4. Kern County
Fort Tejon SHP
Tule Elk SNR
5. Los Angeles County
Antelope Valley Indian Museum
Los Encinos SHP
Pio Pico SHP
Saddleback Butte SP
Santa Susana Pass SHP
6. Marin County
China Camp SP
Olompali SHP
Samuel P. Taylor SP
Tomales Bay SP
7. Mariposa County
California Mining & Mineral Museum
8. Mendocino County
Greenwood SB
Hendy Woods SP
Jug Handle SNR
Manchester SP
Point Cabrillo Light Station
Russian Gulch SP
Standish-Hickey SRA
Westport-Union Landing SB
9. Merced County
George J. Hatfield SRA
McConnell SRA
10. Monterey County
Garrapata SP
Limekiln SP
Moss Landing SB
Westport-Union Landing SB
Zmudowski SB
11. Napa County
Bale Grist Mill SHP
Bothe-Napa Valley SP
12. Nevada County
Malakoff Diggins SHP
South Yuba River SP
13. Sacramento County
Brannan Island SRA
Governor's Mansion SHP
Leland Stanford Mansion SHP
14. San Diego County
Palomar Mountain SHP
San Pasqual Battlefield SHP
15. San Luis Obispo County
Morro Strand SB
16. San Mateo County
Gray Whale Cove SB
Portola Redwoods SP
17. Santa Clara County
Henry W. Coe SP
18. Santa Cruz County
Castle Rock SP
Santa Cruz Mission SHP
Twin Lakes SB
19. Shasta CountyCastle Crags SP
Shasta SHP
20. Solano County
Benicia Capitol SHP
Benicia SRA
21. Sonoma County
Annadel SP
Austin Creek SRA
Jack London SHP
Petaluma Adobe SHP
Sugarloaf Ridge SP
22. Tehama County
William B. Ide Adobe SHP
Woodson Bridge SRA
23. Trinity County
Weaverville Joss House SHP
24. Tuolumne County
Railtown 1897 SHP

Find out more at http://johnolmsted.net/!

Disenchanted Places - The Real Christopher Robin

2011-01-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

This week I tracked down and checked out an interesting book, The Enchanted Places, by Christopher Milne, son of A.A. - Alan Milne, author of one of the most beloved children's books of all time, Winnie The Pooh. If you've lived in a cave for eighty years and have never actually read the original Pooh books - I don't mean the more recent and very average Disney versions - I would highly encourage you to do so right now; your childhood might be still be close enough to let you back in. Oh - and there are only two of them, so don't make that face.

The stories told in Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner are some of the best I have ever read, regardless of their target audience. Being told with much more wit and sarcasm than is allowed in our current times, Christopher Robin and his assortment of toys-come-to-life, are allowed to exist in a perfectly enchanted place somewhere between imagination and actual childhood. The boy is the hero, he's who the animals go to when they have a problem. And the animals! The animals are fully real, with grown-up emotions and challenges, and are allowed to explore their faults. Pooh, being rather round around the mid-section, gets stuck in Rabbit's door, and has to fast for a week in order to get out. Piglet, ever-so-jittery, is so startled by a balloon popping, that he imagines he is dead, or in heaven, or maybe in the moon somewhere, and hopes that Pooh is there too. Then there's Eeyore, the lovable but terminally depressed donkey, stuck in his particular corner of the forest, "the damp, wet bit that nobody seems to want."

So it was a bit strange then, as I got an itch to investigate some stories about sons and fathers, that I stumbled upon the google search for "Christopher Milne," which goes something like this:
"Christopher Milne, detached son of A.A. Milne talks about his burdened upbringing."
Or "The 'real' Christopher Robin, reluctant possessor of a certain stuffed bear.." or finally "Christopher Milne, as an adult, would claim that his father had 'gotten to where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders!"

Ouch.
* * *
So? What's all the fuss? What's the brouhaha? Is it true? Did these beautiful and magical stories really come at the price of exploiting an only child's formative years in the countryside south of London? Could his father's wonderful stories have done all that damage, and more?

In my opinion?
No.

You may still like to read the book for yourself, and it is a very well - written book, and a must for any true Pooh fans, but not to put too fine a point on it, I just didn't see it.

Oh sure, I can well imagine the insanity and fame that was thrust upon a young boy, who was already a shy only child, dressed slightly like a girl by his mother (who had actually wanted a girl!), and who was essentially home-schooled until what would amount to his jr. high years here, but no.

Still, it is an interesting dilemma, so here then, your honor, is my case:

Firstly, Christopher completely admits to absolutely LOVING growing up at Cotchford farm near Ashdown forest, south of London England. Running down to the brook, climbing trees, spotting animals, Christopher describes in the early chapters an idyllic life that many who've grown up in the country can relate to, though not quite to the level that he was able to experience.

Secondy, he freely admits to loving the attention (at times) that the books and the events surrounding the stories (plays and pagaents sometimes) afforded him.

Thirdly, his father hardly "got to where he was" by anything less than actual work - The House at Pooh Corner wasn't even published until Alan was 47! A marriage, a child, a house, and all the related life challenges, had already happened. The struggles of choosing a career in one's twenties was a distant memory. At age 47 is in fact when one SHOULD begin to enjoy the fruits of one's labor.

Fourthly, it's pretty much all true. Even Christopher points it out. Oh sure, there are a couple of teeny - tiny exaggerations here and there, which Christopher takes to a sensitive extreme - such as being very upset that the poem included in one of the earlier books talked about him playing inside during the rain, and creating a brake for his trains that didn't work. Oh no, Christopher assures us, in capital letters "MY BRAKE WOULD HAVE WORKED!" Well.

Fifthly, the culture of the times is what kept Christopher from his parents more than anything else. He was basically raised by his nanny, whom he loved and doesn't seem to have any regrets about, and was "presented" to his parents a few times during the day. Even so, he writes extensively about walks with his mother, long lessons of Cricket with his father, and explorations with multiple friends who all lived nearby.

Amazingly, the biggest thorns relating to his father, and the creation of his childhood as a beloved book, are thus: Prayer, and Jealousy. Once Christopher got into school, and was around other boys, they did, as boys do, begin to tease him. Particularly (or at least, this is particularly what hurt) about a simple line in the poem "Vespers," from When We Were Very Young, in which Christopher is said to have been saying his prayers. Christopher would later become an atheist during the war, when his father had sent him a humanist book by Winwood Reade entitled The Martyrdom of Man, which he read while he was stationed in Italy.

Finally, while searching for a career in his twenties, he simply becomes jealous of his father, and his father's success, and utters the famous quote: "It seemed to me almost that my father had got where he was by climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and left me nothing but empty fame."

Wow.

He admits that a career search is difficult (join the club) and his father hadn't given him any footsteps to follow in. Well well, Christopher, I hate to break it to you, but those fathers who have left a business or a clear path which their children can follow them in, rarely hear the words "gee thanks dad." More often, a pre-determined path is met with disdain, and is promptly tossed aside for the challenge of carving out one's own path.

Christopher goes on to marry his cousin (which his parents, big surprise, are not thrilled about) and then - decides to open, of all things, a book store (!) where, surprise, surprise, he is flooded with requests to sign and talk about a certain children's book! Not to mention he has to see how well they sell, and be responsible for re-stocking them! Gracious!

All in all I am not unsympathetic to Mr. Milne, and I can very much appreciate the separation that he would need to maintain in order to lead a healthy and (relatively) happy life. I am more sad than anything, that the son who had the horrible reality of a father who took such an interest in his life that he told all the world about his magical adventures with a little bear and turned them into one of the most beloved stories of the 20th century, chose instead to be angry and bitter for a great deal of his life.

I hope that Christopher Milne was able, before he died, to be at peace with his past, and with his father. As I am learning now, anything less is simply pride, and not worth the trouble.

"So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing."

My Father, who art ... hopping on a train??

2011-01-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

My Father (who art in nature) is Amtrack - bound, or is, as of this posting. Scheduled to depart Friday, the weak one, John Olmsted, will attempt a three-day, cross-country train trip, complete with transfer in Chicago, to visit noted cancer specialist, Dr. Myers, of Charlottesville, VA. After much deliberation, Dad is doing what he normally does, go his own way. I hope that his accompanying friend is strong enough to take care of him, should anything happen, and I truly hope and pray that the trip proves to be worth it. If not, Dad won't exactly be around to hear the words "I told you so." Actually, even if he were, he probably wouldn't listen.

It's not all bad though, I'm sure he'll enjoy the ride, and be humming a favorite train song, by Arlo Guthrie:
"Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans, I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done...

.. and the graveyards of the rusted automobiles."

lyrics:
http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/new-orleans.shtml
song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfxoM6trtZE

When push came to shove

2010-06-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Ahhh summer, - the smell of BBQs, sunblock, and unemployment checks... My apologies for the blog-hiatus, I could have sworn it was just April, er, I mean, 2009...

Truthfully, I have been productive, but I won't bore anyone with the details. Yes, I have finished screenplay #6 (I never thought I'd write one, let alone six!), have now sold my hand-drawn map-cards into 25+ locations around California, have designed and ordered new (long overdue) soul t-shirts, script-doctored a Vampire idea into some semblance of structure for a very talented storyboard artist, and finally found a part-time job, even though it's not much.

All that is a mere warm-up for what happened last week, - so if I were you, I'd refill my coffee, my tea, my cereal bowl, my hookah tin, etc. etc...
* * *
For those outside of Hollywood, the numbers are fairly simple: The majority of movies still get produced through the "studio" system, the six main players being Paramount, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony (Columbia), Fox, and Disney. These studios pick their "talent," ie, Directors, writers, actors, etc.. from a similarly small number of agencies including William Morris, ICM, UTA, Endeavor, and Creative Artists Agency. This is why, in a city so large, it can feel as though an astoundingly small number of companies and people control the select projects that actually squeeze through, and for the most part, it's true. In regards to the agencies, although there have been mergings and acquisitions over the past few years, few would argue that CAA is still considered to be the top agency in town.

Located on the Avenue of the Stars, in a beautiful glass and steel building in Century City, a more imposing site one would be hard pressed to find. Of all the agencies to just "walk up to," or "cold-call," this one, standing alone by itself, would definitely be considered one of the worst.
It was then, all the more appropriate, that on Tuesday of last week, June 15th to be exact, I found myself standing in front of said monster, at lunchtime, wielding a cardboard sign like the one pictured above, in a desperate attempt to meet an actual agent.

Yes I'm serious.

I put on my best suit (ok, I only have two), and after scoping the joint for a 1/2 an hour or so, I realized, to my dismay, that the only appropriate spot was right out front, on the curb, facing the agents and upper executives as they headed out to lunch in their Porsches, Aston Martins, and Ferraris. I stayed for three hours. My scalp got seriously sunburned. My feet were tired, and by three o'clock, I was pretty much done. Meg Whitman just happened to be campaigning loudly across the street, which only added to the fun.

The interesting part? It just might have worked. At about the 2 hour mark, and after mild glances (and some encouraging smiles), an unmarked, unassuming young agent made a beeline for me, barely slowing down as he passed to say "ok, five minutes, whaddya got?" After gathering myself, and realizing he was serious, I cleared up the fact that I was a writer, and politely asked, "drama, sci-fi, or comedy?" - He wanted the drama. After giving him an exuberant but still brief "elevator" pitch, I shut up. "That's a good pitch," He remarked. "Thanks," I said. "Got a card?" he asked. "Sure do." I said, "thanks." He continued to lunch.

That was it.

After two years of wondering when and if I would actually meet an agent, I finally did. Maybe it will lead to something, maybe not, but at least I gave it a shot. I did my homework. I wrote more than just a pitch, I wrote the script. Six of them.

And on June 15th, I swallowed whatever pride I had left, got out my sharpie, and held a cardboard sign at lunchtime outside of the most powerful talent agency in the world, and of all the people that passed by, nobody told me I was crazy. In fact, most smiled, a few gave the thumbs up, and three random citizens spoke quietly yet confidently as they passed, "you'll make it."

Why? Because no matter the emblem on the front of the car, no matter the brand of suit, these guys still need stories.

Bad.

Instead of depressing, June 15th was a great day.

I met an agent,

and he has my card.

The things I should have done... but didn't

2010-04-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

Not sure why.. but sometimes our assumptions and stereotyping mechanisms just don't seem to work the way we always think they will. Here then, are the top three things that, based on many different factors, I should have been waaaay into, but just wasn't - at least not right when I should have been.

1. The Volkswagon Beetle. Boy oh boy if this wasn't the missed marriage of the century! As a born-in-the-70's-free-spirited-non-conformist-son-of-a-naturalist-and-history-teacher-native-Californian, I should have been all over the marxist-public's version of Herbie, spotting bugs at five, doodling multi-colored bugs at nine, and dreaming of my first bug at 15.
Oh wait, I was.
Not sure then, why, when it came to actually purchase a car, I went the other way. Possibly because of the large number of VW's spewing all kinds of smoke, stuck on the side of the road, or in general, appearing to be in a constant state of being coaxed by their owners to just make it up a tiny curb? I guess I just didn't want to step into that kind of drama. Or, maybe I secretly knew that I was supposed to have one. Just slightly too strong-willed to be told what kind of car I should be driving, especially by hippies, my own kind.

2. U2. This one is really my bad. Maybe it was the 'mod' look, maybe the overly political early albums, or maybe just that all the kids at my school who liked U2 were also the Dungeons & Dragons crowd, which I wanted no part of. Whatever the reason, I was fairly determined to not get sucked in. Then, somewhere around Rattle and Hum, and having already admitted the fact that I loved every single song on The Joshua Tree, I think I finally gave in. A little late, but not too proud to admit when I was wrong. I should have seen them in SF though, my only regret.

3. This one is a reversal, something I maybe shouldn't be into, but was, or am. I was the first of my friends to get a car (understandable as I was a grade ahead), the first to get a CD player, and yes, the first to have the love it or hate it or have it and hate it uber-ubiquitious i-phone. I realize now that my friends' view of me is of some nose-in-the-air-ultra-fanatical-luddite of the vinyl and 501 variety, but could it possibly be that I can't be pigeon-holed quite that easily? Maybe none of us can...

What are yours?

Sonoma & San Francisco County Maps!

2010-03-16T00:19:00.001-07:00

My new side biz! Handmade maps of California Counties. Available (so far) at Copperfield's Books and Gifts in Sonoma County. Enjoy!

All images (c)2010 Alden Olmsted
realcaliforniapics@hotmail.com

Bank error in your favor? Yeah right!

2010-02-17T17:55:00.000-08:00

"Some days are diamonds, Some days are rocks..."
"If life gives you lemons, make lemonade"
"Same s*it, different day"

Some days life is a monopoly board, and I guess all we can do is keep playing. This past weekend, aside of a great time in Northern California with friends and relatives in Sonoma watching my mother (finally!) get remarried, I also was thrilled to stop by the little coffee shop in Cotati where my photography actually *gasp* sometimes sells (what a novel idea for an artist!), and pick up some extra cash from four pictures that had recently sold! How "even-steven" then, was I brought back to earth upon my return home, to find that my recent deposited check had not gone through, and therefore the bank had charged me (yup, you guessed it), the same amount I had just received in overdraft fees.

Can a brutha get ahead just once!?!? Just one measly buck! Man!

*apologies for my bitterness, but a little venting had to be done

I love a good dashboard!

2009-12-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

How amazingly revealing is a well-stocked dashboard? Yes, most regular folks' dashboards are, by and large, free of clutter and for the most part, clean. But for any kind of workers, outside sales people, production assistants, and general eccentrics, dashboards might tell more than a good garbage can could ever reveal. My father's dashboard, for example, of his 76' Dodge Aspen from my childhood, was a precursor to George Costanza's famous three-inch thick back-pain inducing wallet; ie.. way too much useless crap, and not in any remote semblance of order. If I was a private investigator I would specialize in dashboard diagnostics, and I would be tops in my field.

My favorite are in vans or trucks involved in a move, which I think this particular one on my street was in the middle of. Cell phone car charger: check. Roll of random tape: double check. Nutter Butter wrapper (purchased at a gas station's crappy mini-mart): triple check. Parliament Cigarette box: Need you even ask?

Looking back now I see that my father's famous dashboard (replicated in each subsequent vehicle following the Aspen) was a file cabinet, a map rolodex of California hikes, a tax return area, and address book all in one, all of which were compromised due to simple overcrowding.

Perhaps that's why my dashboards have all been empty and clean, with nary a speck of paper or even lint in sight.

How about yours?

Thanks for the encouragement Chase!

2009-10-12T10:08:00.001-07:00

"Almost as many ATMs as unsold screenplays" - Thanks Chase, as if we needed more reminders!

Tarantino says it so it must be _____ ?

2009-09-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

Whether or not you're a fan of his films (I am only so - so, which one can't be, either one must love him or hate him), watching a Quentin Tarantino film (especially his more recent ones) is like inhaling a cigar that's been passed down from each of the great directors of all time. Not much filter, a little dry, a little stinkier, and yet soggy and shredded at the end (ha!). His own Billy Idol-inspired sneering aside, he knows what he likes, he has an eye for the defining touches of many of the past centuries' cinematic rebels and trailblazers, and one must take notice. His latest film, Inglorious Basterds, an extremely well-made re-make (sort of) of an older idea and book and film, has inspired the obvious press tours and interviews, one of note recently published in the LA Weekly, where he is asked what his top 5 films of all time are. Somehow this is narrowed and widened out to include his top 20 films, of the last 17 years (random number, but he's way too cool to stick to norms, co'mon people). See if you agree (if you've seen half of these we're all impressed) and consider it your mission (if you choose to yada yada...) to redbox, netflix, etc... the following:

1. Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku) 2. Anything Else (Woody Allen)

3. Audition (Takashi Miike) 4. The Blade (Tsui Hark)

5. Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson) 6. Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater)

7. Dogville (Lars von Trier) 8. Fight Club (David Fincher)

9. Friday (F. Gary Gray) 10. The Host (Joon-ho Bong)

11. The Insider (Michael Mann) 12. Joint Security Area (Chan-wook Park)

13. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola) 14. The Matrix (Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski)

15. Memories of Murder (Joon-ho Bong) 16. Police Story III(Supercop) (Stanley Tong)

17. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright) 18. Speed (Jan de Bont)

19. Team America: World Police (Trey Parker) 20. Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan)

That's it. And yes, you read right, "Speed!" - Hey - i've always thought it was Keanu's best since B & Ted's!

Your thoughts?

Searching For Steinbeck

2009-08-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well although I moved down here to LA with a script in hand, I met a producer who is interested in my "Searching For Steinbeck" idea for TV... so if something happens, this would be my transportation for two or three months, driving all around the country!! Put out the good vibes for me and I'll be comin' to your town!

Now John Hughes???

2009-08-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

very sad day indeed. my favorite screenwriting teacher yesterday, then one of my top directors today, very strange.

BlakeIsGone

2009-08-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

My first (and only) official screenwriting mentor, Blake Snyder, has died.

I'm still in a somewhat state of shock, as just hours before he passed, he was still doling out advice and actually helping me with my current logline. I have not been in Hollywood long, but I can say without a doubt, that Hollywood, and the world in general, needs more Blake Snyders. Instead of hording and hiding his wonderfully simple ideas about story structure, he shared them with anyone who needed to hear, all we had to do, was ask.

When reading his book Save The Cat!, most readers, I'm sure, thought, "well, if that's his real email that he's printed, he probably never writes back।" Wrong। Not only did he write back, he wrote back quickly! And with challenges, questions, and, most importantly, encouragement।

I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to meet him, at his favorite Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and share ideas, talk about the LA Save The Cat! Writer's group, and receive encouragement on my screenplay.

I sincerely hope that Blake is standing on streets paved with gold right now, sharing a coffee with and talking story with one who can repay his generosity in a greater amount.

You will be missed.

Print is dead - brought to you.. on paper

2009-07-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

As i've shared recently, most of my writing - or at least, my "public" writing, seems to happen on Saturday mornings at my local coffee shop, Sabor y Cultura. Sometimes I talk to people, sometimes I watch people. Sometimes I bring a script to review or read, sometimes I bring my own to review or work on. Most of the time though, I grab a free LA Weekly, and read. This might as well by Sacramento's Midtown Monthly, or Sonoma County's Bohemian... whatever the case, it's a free rag. It's nothing amazing, but it's enjoyable to read, completely non-committal to enjoy or not, and I can then leave it for someone else, or save it for later review.

I enjoy finding out things to do (tonight at an old circuit city parking lot is an outdoor showing of The Big Lebowski, for example), what's going on in the entertainment world (another rom-com failure (katherine heigl's the ugly truth) that was overly-hyped, surprise, surprise), and looking at modern furniture ads.

As I was reading this week, I thought about the amount of people i see now, especially when standing in a line of some kind, reading on their blackberries, cell phones, etc... and I wondered. I've heard that the heart actually slows down and the body tends to be at a more peaceful place as we're reading - a magazine or similar publication, and I wonder if that happens while we're "reading" and multi-tasking, on our pda devices. I also thought it funny how Bill Gates, in an oft-quoted speech from 2005, declared that print media, newspapers, yellow pages, etc.. would probably be dead in five years. How did he declare this doomsday statement? By writing and publishing a book, of course. He even abridged it a year or two later, adding another 200 pages! Ahh.. the irony and hypocrisy that is man...

Have a great saturday!

Keeping you regular

2009-07-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... Well I realize it's not anything earth-shattering, or even earth-rumbling, but I realized that if and when I do write, or think to write, or plan on maybe thinking about someday - writing, I do it, on Saturday mornings. It's usually after it has been a few weeks, or months, since the last post, and usually when my mind has been occupied by other matters, that seems to create a fertile time for reflection and thus, sharing. So read up, load up, drink up, and I will, for my part, attempt to keep you regularly informed of the ramblings, commentaries, and thoughts that pass through my mind and psyche like a flattened cigarette box on hollywood boulevard.

* * *

Year One

2009-07-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are; one year in Los Angeles and just what has happened?

After my first year in the Southland, my goal remains the same, which unfortunately is everyone else’s as well, to direct feature films. A friend and I were recently discussing how many thousands of poor, naive saps move into LA every year, even just in a given month, with one friend commenting that it was roughly 50,000 - in and out, each and every month. Whether that is true or not remains irrelevant to one’s own pursuits. It simply would be too overwhelming to dwell on too much. Having said that, I thought I’d track LA just by the numbers, for any who are keeping score.

Let’s begin:

365 - days since I left my friends in Sacramento and hit the road south.

125 - query letters sent to agents & managers.

50 - good friends I’ve met and or been fortunate enough to work with (at least).

35 - packets of Ramen noodles that have served as dinner during this time of economic uncertainty.

12 - television shows worked on.

10 - stars seen in every day life, including Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Love Hewitt, C. Thomas Howell, Dominic Monaghan, Vince Vaughn, and the Cobra Kai sen-say from Karate Kid, Martin Kove.

9 - Open calls.

8 - Parking tickets.

7 - New YouTube videos edited and/or posted.

6 - productions, paid or unpaid, that I’ve gotten to work on, including 168 project, Global Short Film Network, Bel Air Presbyterian Lent Film Series, etc.

5 - Trips home.

4 - semi possible mrs. olmsteds.

3 - producers and/or production companies that have requested the script.

2 - baseball games including the largest Dodger crowd in history.

1's - Long lost cousin, met for the first time.

- Writer's group, moderator of.

- Book Published (yeah!)

and the big one:

- Big-time agent who has requested the script.

...and a whole truckload of time spent thinking about the previous figures!

Here's hoping towards an even more productive year two!!

But it's just a movie... right??

2009-04-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

It’s just a movie. One hundred twenty minutes of 35mm film flickering past at 24 frames per second. It’s filled with flaws and agendas and mistakes and backbiting and people trying to get ahead and minor successes and major failures and audio flubs and interesting cuts and questionable choices and so much going on the left of the camera, to the right of the camera, above the camera, and yes, behind the camera, that it’s impossible to comprehend - and yet amidst the hiccups, the most major success is that it got made at all, and therefore, when it’s pretty darn good - after all that - well, that’s pretty great.
* * *
Tonight the movie was State Of Play, a very decent entry to the movies of this early 2009. Most likely not the best, but far from the worst, filled with old-fashioned who-dunit, why-dunit, and great shots. Make no mistake, going to the movies alone, which I don’t do much, possibly lends itself to more diary-entries, stream of consciousness thoughts that accompany my viewing experience, and plenty of reflection, even as the movie is going past. And let me say, before any hint of a pity-party starts, that of the last four or so movies I’ve watched, half of the time there has been a girl sitting next to me, so lamenting the absence of one tonight is not the purpose of these thoughts. Despite that fact though, it is amazing what one simple movie can make me think of and notice, so many things at once - and not as a writer, a *hopeful* director, an amateur actor, or as a semi-decent dp, no, I notice things just as an lover of stories, and as an enjoyer of watching different people tell them.
What do I notice? Shots. Man there are some good ones. Cuts. This film has some pretty sweet cuts - maybe not Ridley Scott cuts, but pretty good nonetheless. Music and background score. Very effective, building and building - in the right spots. Plot. Strong. Everyone’s involved, everyone is twisted up in some way. Shots. More good shots - not earth - shattering, but good shots. Jason Bateman. Slimy and pretty close to perfect, looked like he was too much himself for the first three or four lines, but then got into a good space. Rachel McAdams. Very good. Russell Crowe. Also very good. Ben Affleck. Not great, but didn’t distract and looked the part, in fact I almost felt a little sorry for him, that he hasn’t found out how to tap into that blend of smarmy and genuine that made folks take notice in Good Will Hunting. Love. Betrayal. Forgiveness. Want to be a writer? Raise those freaking stakes!!! Blood. Long hallways. Mysterious motives Rachel McAdams. Still looking cute. Great shots, tracking shots - could have been more of them. Russell Crowe’s voice. Great voice. I want to go home and just listen to the tones and inflections in Gladiator.
Walking out.
When I walk out of a good movie it’s very similar to the great line at the end of Stand By Me - “Though it had only been two days, somehow the town seemed different.. smaller.” A skateboarder zooms past with a strange tattoo on his neck. An older couple walks to dinner arm in arm. A young person almost walks into the street while staring at a cell phone or other device held tightly in their hands. The sun has just gone down.
Love.
For some reason, movies always make me want to be in love, even if it’s not a romantic movie. A suspense film, or thriller, or action, or silly comedy, I want to have someone to laugh with - and if I am in love at the time, I want to call her immediately, maybe to be sure that things are still ok, that even though the fictional world just fell apart, that the real one is still in place.

As I stood in front of the historic Culver Studios, where parts of King Kong and Gone With The Wind were filmed, and down the street from the long block that is Sony and Columbia entertainment, I am filled with a bittersweet truth. There are just so many trying to make it. So many swimming against the stream, and who am I? I take solace in the fact that I’ve been editing, filming and/or photographing some facets of my friends’ and my life for over 17 years, and have preserved some great memories. But with each passing day, month and year, the reality is still present, that of wanting so badly to put my stamp on a finished film, a film that makes people laugh, makes them feel like trying harder, feel like risking more, feel like falling in love, and I guess, feel like being...

...alive.

Therefore I still have hope.

You're your car - yes you are!!!!

2009-03-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

So what are you? Are you pushy? Ambitious? Reserved? Frugal? Type “A” Go-getter? Or just a good ol’ American son of a gun? Whether you know it or not, you are your car, and vice versa. Yes, it’s true - I’m a former car salesman. But I’m also a devoted people-watcher, stereotype-checker, a people-and-their-cars addict of the first degree. I’ve written a few shorts on the subject, and have even turned guessing stranger’s cars into a pyschic-type party game, with fairly decent results I must say.
All that to say, that this will just be a warm up, to get you into the vein a little. I assume, yes I fully expect, that there will be exceptions, and that I will no doubt hear about them - LOUDLY!!

Nonetheless, here we go.

ACURA (owners are typically): Well to-do, organized, and fairly concerned with appearance, their “portfolio” and having the “gadget to match the passion” ie, the perfect golf shoes, the specific water bottle and matching water bottle holder, etc..

AUDI (owners are typically): Style over substance - sure this doesn’t mean that they don’t know their cars, but it’s how it looks, that’s what counts. They’ll choose Bauhaus over Dali, Elvis Costello over Dylan.

BMW: This one I don’t even have to explain, it’s an entire subculture summed up in one word: sunglasses. The BMW owner ALWAYS has them.

BUICK: Old. - sorry mom! - If they’re not old, I guarantee they act like older people in some way, shape or form. Trust me - they know where the buffet is, and they hit it early.

CADILLAC: one word: money. oh- and gold. oh, and shiny objects and glitz. oh, and comfortable seats. heated. sorry.

CHEVROLET: no nonsense. nothing to hide. say what they mean, and are pretty wary of folks that don’t. especially drivers of fast and/or foreign cars.

CHRYSLER: These drivers want to feel like they’re driving a nicer car than it would seem. But most of the time, they’re not.

DODGE: All American, the “Dodge Boys” theme still holds true, these are usually wanna-be gear heads who actually don’t do much of the work themselves, but oh how they know their horsepower figures!

FORD: Ford men are usually arrogant, maybe that's just the truck guys. The Ford women are usually more manly. Don’t get me wrong - not physically, just more take charge, more sweatshirt, ponytail and baseball game types than handbags and hair salons. But they may have a small dog.

GMC: Men are usually not quite as easy to stereotype as chevy owners, for example, they drive american but they might vote liberal. Women? The GMC woman is basically a Ford woman- who doesn't smoke. (HAHAHAAHA)!!!

HONDA: people are usually more touchy-feely, more in tune with their emotions, and they let everybody know it.

HYUNDAI: Budget minded, and beware the trade -in!

JAGUAR: Country club. Guaranteed they belong to one. What would be the fun of driving a Jag if you couldn’t pull into “the club.”

JEEP: Like Chevy owners, but more self-aware.

LEXUS: Owners usually have money. Or they’re real estate agents who consider themselves “not your normal agent.” Yeah, right.

LINCOLN: Old, but with money. Almost always a former Ford owner - lots of engineers, real Ralph Lauren types sometimes - or they drive a Land Cruiser.

MAZDA: Budget horsepower. Always. Unless it’s an older 323, these are usually driven by just out of college software engineers. With manual transmissions, and loads of spare computer parts in the trunks. Yes, I’m completely serious. These are also sci-fi fans usually, Firefly, Battlestar Gallactica, or House. Trust me.

MERCEDES-BENZ: Status. It’s always worth paying for.

MINI: This is still a tough one - but it's usually single or married people with no kids, but with passionate hobbies. Am I wrong?

MITSUBISHI: If it's an SUV, they're rarely caucasion, and probably female. Also only females drive Diamantes, and Galants are driven by women, or men that have been emasculated. EVO's and Lancers are for the white folks...

NISSAN: Somewhere between a Honda owner and a Toyota owner is a Nissan owner. They shop at the outlets.

PONTIAC: Gear heads. Easy. Spare tire around the midsection usually, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

PORSCHE: Rich, but know their cars.

SAAB: cold weather, cold heart. Sorry, I just call ‘em!

SATURN: Extreme frugality. Who else would put up with these cars!?!?

SUBARU: Gender-challenged. Ok - not everyone... maybe gender-neutral is a better way to say it...

TOYOTA: More analytical (usually) than Honda owners, fairly driven, the Toyota owner is many times a complete manager of time, resources, and how to stretch them both very far.

VOLKSWAGEN: Music. If there’s a VW owner out there who’s not defined by music or some form of pop culture, I haven’t met them.

VOLVO: Safety? Please. These cars used safety for years as an excuse not to hire any design people. Volvo owners are nice, but not overly generous, fairly protective and knowledgeable about their “stuff.”

That’s it!

What about me? Well, my old Chrysler is definitely a nicer car than people would think a Newport could be, and the MINI, well, while I don’t fit the stereotype of the make - as a go-anywhere-as-fast-as-possible-and-having-a-blast-on-the-way car - that’s me to a T !!

Well boys and girls - that's your lesson for today... "put the pedal to medal good buddy, I'm 10-10 on the side!"

The Best Videos of the 80's

2009-01-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

I am freely admitting it, laying it out there for all to know... While most people waste time on TV, watching recorded versions of Grey's Anatomy, sprawled out on the couch with Simpsons episodes playing endlessly, I watch videos. Ok, maybe not that often, but every now and then, when I want to see something comforting, something refreshing and nostalgic and yet vibrant and strangely relevant all at once, I watch videos. Old videos, from as far back as 1980 - I know, the dinosaurs were around, but somehow we managed... Here then, for late night coffee shop discussions everywhere, are what I consider to be the best videos of the 1980's. Videos in the 80's were different from anything before or since. Though at first many musicians were fearful that the video image would be so strong that the listener would forever think of those images whenever they heard the song, and fail to have a choice in the matter, it actually turned out to, sometimes, be a good thing.

So here we go, and before you get ready to disagree, keep in mind I'm not alleging that these are the most requested videos, or the best videos of all time, or even the top rated videos. My list here represents, given the context of the time they were released in, the best "80's" videos of the 1980's. Some I've picked because of the song, some because of the video, and some because the song and video will forever be associated together, and the stir that was created, many times was responsible for a band's entire career - however brief.

First and foremost, we must make mention of the first video ever, by a strange band called the Buggles. When MTV first came on the air, August 1st, 1981, and played an aptly-titled song called "Video Killed The Radio Star," people became afraid, very afraid, yet every kid, all across the country, wanted in.

First Video:
Video Killed The Radio Star, The Buggles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtHEmVjVw8

Number 10:
Safety Dance, Men Without Hats:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg
The kookiest one on the list, when this song and video came out the Dungeon's and Dragons crowd was born, and Renaissance Faires would never be the same.

Number 9, Hungry Like The Wolf, Duran Duran:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv6Cr5LZStE
One of the first story videos, this one, together with Rio and The Reflex, made huge stars of this Australian pretty-boy band. At the time though, it was exciting, an adventure, with more than it's share of similarities to Indiana Jones, which lands it's roots that much firmer in the glorious 80's.

Number 8, Take On Me, Aha:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AXNBR2smPY
So completely new and fresh, some may even remember where they were when they first saw it, this video had some sort of addictive quality making one want to watch it again and again.

Number 7 Money For Nothing, Dire Straits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehl_VQuKRTc
Forever copied, this first, and at the time, so "amazing" computer-animated video made us all think this is what computer graphics were always going to look like. And for awhile, I guess they did.

Number 6, You Can Call Me Al, Paul Simon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDcjgEa5KiM&feature=related
With Graceland being a major comeback, and legitimizing an "older" Paul Simon, it was this goofy, Chevy Chase-starred video that perfectly showed the sense of humour, and efforts to be hip, of the times. So silly and simple, that's what makes it so great. That and Chase's coat.

Number 5, Hot For Teacher, Van Halen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_lio51Z1qc
Sure this band had many great videos, but the Waldo character, the "mini van halen" kids, the wide angles, Eddie shredding in the library, and the teacher being hotter than a poster of Heather Thomas made this one of the all-time perfect matches of song, video, and the rebelliousness of rock 'n' roll.

Number 4, Don’t Come Around Here No More, Tom Petty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHRGQB8eQI
This one is great on so many levels, most of all it's a perfect showcase for an offbeat cat like Tom Petty to go a little crazy, bringing in his buds for the ride. The casting of The Eurythmics' Dave Stewart as the Caterpillar from Alice In Wonderland, with Sitar in hand, and Tom as the Mad Hatter, was complete and utter genius.

Number 3, Where The Streets Have No Name, U2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVbLm4TN3g
I know this one may push a few others out of the running, but for many who had only vaguely heard of U2, or were just starting to catch on, this was an arrival of sorts. It was the song, the black and white, the video on the roof, that captured the time so well, this band was going to stake a claim in America, even if they had to rock out on a roof in the ghetto of Los Angeles to do it.

Number 2, Paradise City, Guns n’ Roses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsrDv3K7RNI
Whitesnake's Here I Go Again may be a slightly better take on the excess and attitude prevalent in the late 80's, but this is the street version. The raw, country intro to this song, plucking away as grainy, black and white images of a huge arena concert being set up, made anyone who saw it want to be a rock star. Axl's white leather, Slash's stance and uninterested cool-ness, and the staggering amount of rabid fans once again was a declaration to everyone that this band could deliver, on many levels. Sweet Child O' Mine was groundbreaking, make no mistake, but Paradise City represented arrival, of possibly the best 'rock' band of the 80's.

Number 1, Billie Jean, Michael Jackson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-cHBv7UpA
Not sure if I'll get major disagreements for this one, but the anticipation for Thriller is hard to describe if you weren't there. Sure Thriller was a spectacle, and Beat It was a great song and decent video, but Billie Jean raised the bar and had everyone everywhere wanting to dance like Michael. Too bad it couldn't last, but then, that's the 80's to a T.

Appendix:
The most glaring video missing?
Livin' On A Prayer, Bon Jovi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE11Zrrp24I&NR=1
This one probably belongs somewhere in there, but watching it now it just doesn't seem to stand up as well, even though no one could forget it at the time.

Honorable Mentions (and ones I know someone is screaming about right now):

Need You Tonight, INXS
Time After Time, Cyndi Lauper
Broken Wings, Mister Mister
Land Down Under, Men At Work
White Wedding, Billy Idol
Sweet Child O’ Mine, Guns n’ Roses
Home Sweet Home, Motley Crue
Here I Go Again, Whitesnake
Fallen Angel, Poison
You Might Think, The Cars
Faith, George Michael
Material Girl, Madonna
Shout, Tears For Fears
West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys
Party All The Time, Eddie Murphy
Love Is A Battlefield, Pat Benatar
Whip It!, Devo

That's it - "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars!"

My Favorite Beats - no, not THOSE beats!

2009-01-11T01:10:00.000-08:00

* * * * *
Well, first of all my apologies go out to any and all kind and charitable folks who might possibly await my ramblings with some sort of genuine anticipation. Moving into a new town is one thing, moving two cars and a lifetime of memories and items associated with those memories is quite another. Add in finding a job and saving up for a place of one’s own while maintaining the usual financial deductions and, well, here we are. Happy and warm and fed; and in the exact place I wanted to be, albeit a couple of years later, but here all the same.
I have started on a new screenplay, and good things are happening with getting “Confessions of a Salesman” to the big screen. If you are not familiar with “Confessions,” there is a visual and a short synopsis at www.aldenolmsted.com/screenplay/confessions.php, but suffice it to say that it is a “12-step program” for salesmen, and, obviously then, a comedy. After reading a bit of Story by McKee, and being antsy to begin a new screenplay using the tools I now know from Save the Cat, I thought I’d share a short retrospective of some of my personal favorite “beats.” If you’re not familiar with Save the Cat, nor the 15 “Beats” of Blake Snyder, you can go to http://www.blakesnyder.com/tools/ and get a quick lesson. The beats are very similar to the same structure made famous by Syd Field and many others in the history of Hollywood, and are simple guidelines for a solid story in the space of 90-120 minutes. Having a solid structure is not, as many might assume, constrictive, nor does it mean that the story or film is not creative or artistic. Instead, it gives a creative story the most bang for the buck and the most power for the punch, and if done right, provides layer upon layer for the mind to enjoy and discover many days past the day of the original viewing. It is also, whether you like it or not, already in 99% of the movies you have ever seen.
There have been many, many great stories over the years and within those stories great plot points and brilliant beats, and these are just a few of them.

Here we go:

1. Opening Image:
Stand By Me(1986). I love the shot of the dry hills and the lonely writer (Richard Dreyfus) reflecting on his friendships. The narration from the writer about the friends he grew up with is symbolized perfectly by the two boys who pass by on bicycles, which leads to a newspaper article about the recent death of a childhood friend, and the story begins.
The Fellowship of the Ring(2001) In the theatrical version, after we learn about the ring and the dark lord Sauron, which is really backstory, we see a beautiful, green forest and a young Hobbit Frodo Baggins, carefree, reading with his back against a tree, completely oblivious to the outside world, much like the Shire itself. As Gandalf the wizard rolls in, we already get the feeling that this peace will not last.
Big Wednesday(1978) After the colorful shots of surfboards being picked up, the tousled hair of kids camping out in their cars, the three friends, Matt, Jack, and Leroy walk through pillars of a broken down stairway, and down to the beach as though they’re entering some ancient land of rituals and challenges, and, I suppose, they are. The sun on the Pacific Ocean, the hungover and stumbling Jan Michael Vincent, and the beautiful score by Basil Poledouris and you can almost feel the chilly water and the rush of being pushed along on a lazy wave with friends - which leads right to the theme - darn it all Blake!!
2. Theme Stated:
In Almost Famous(2000), Cameron Crowe’s masterpiece about his own young experiences as a fish-out-of water 15 year-old rock journalist, a rebellious teenager (Zooey Deschanel) tells her younger brother William before she leaves home, “one day.. you’ll be cool.” Talk about a great theme! Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) will later tell him, “you’re not cool,” and he’ll spend the movie figuring out if they’re right.
In National Lampoon’s Vacation(1983), as the Griswold family is getting ready for their big family trip, father Clark (Chevy Chase) is showing the kids the itinerary on a very dated early 80’s computer console when the kids ask the obvious question, “dad why aren’t we flying?” Clark repeats to them what he just implied to his wife in the previous scene, “because kids, getting there is half the fun!” We’ve all heard this many times, and can relate, and in this case, getting there will be ALL the fun, and thus, just like clockwork, there’s the theme, in all it’s glory. It’s A Wonderful Life(1946). In this all - American film, the scene in the bar, although it is well past it’s alotted page count, is beautiful, and tragic as can be as Jimmy Stewart utters that most human of phrases, “I wish I’d never been born.” As the movie shows, he’ll get his wish.
3. Set-Up:
The Karate Kid(1983) Daniel Larusso couldn’t possibly have moved to a more distant and unwelcome location from his home of New Jersey when he arrives in the “Valley” of Southern California. The set-up of a single mom and her son coming into a new town where everything is a fight - literally, is perfect for a rites-of-passage story, and ripe for the payoff at the end. Right at page 10, during Johnny and Daniel’s first fight on the beach, Johnny even asks Daniel, “what about you, hero, you had enough?” Whether or not Daniel has “had enough” and how far he’s willing to go to defeat these obstacles, is the story.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1981). When E.T. lands on earth and finds his way into Eliott’s backyard, we see Eliott’s own struggles to be part of his brothers’ group of friends, and therefore, he’s his own sort of “alien” in his world, and that’s why the two are perfect for each other.
4. Catalyst:
While it would be interesting to find obscure movies to point out, when it comes to a catalyst, it’s hard to top Star Wars (1977). As Luke chases after a disobeying robot named R2-D2, he is already going further than he has gone, and would ever have gone on his own. The desire to go with Obi Wan is so strong that Luke is barely able to say no, but his obedience to his uncle is stronger, and a primal catalyst occurs when Luke finds the seriousness of the rebellion as his own aunt and uncle are killed. He’ll never look back again.
5. Debate:
Die Hard(1989). After the setup of terrorists taking an office building hostage, and the killing of one of their own, which “raises the stakes,” and lets the terrorists (and the audience!) know that this is getting serious, this is a classic underdog debate of who will win, the good guy, or the bad guys. In the words of frightened - cop Al, after being told he could leave at any time, he responds the same way we all did, as viewers; “no sir - you couldn’t drag me away.”
6. Break Into Two: Die Hard. When troubled cop John McLane kills Klaus, one of the terrorists, the debate is turning in favor of McLane, and we enter Act Two, the “upside-down” world, with the battle lines drawn.
7. B Story: Still considering.
8. Fun and Games:
Stand By Me. As Blake says, the fun and games section is where much of the trailer moments are found, and Stand By Me proves it perfectly. The boys are on the train tracks, going to see a dead body, but we’ve got to have some fun, and watching them sing oldies together like “lollipop, lollipop,” running from a train on a huge and scary bridge, and telling stories around the campfire are the types of moments that, despite the hardships, make us wish we were there too. It also leads us right to a great midpoint of splitting the film into opposite halves. At the end of the campfire scene, notice River Pheonix’s character opens up, and it’s Wil Wheaton’s character that comforts him, therefore turning the tables for half number two where Wil’s character gains the confidence he needs.

9. Midpoint: Almost Famous. In one of the great trailer moments in recent memory, the fun and games end with Billy Crudup’s character declaring “I am a golden god!” and leaping off the roof of a house into a pool. When the band comes to get him, there’s clearly tension between everyone, wondering what will happen (and so are we). It’s music that brings them all together, and the two halves of the film are set as young William tells Penny Lane “I have to go home,” and he’ll spend the second half of the movie trying to do just that. Penny tells him, in a voice that I know I would have listened to, “you are home,” which is another theme as well.
10. Bad Guys Close In: Braveheart (1995) . The story of betrayal is very painful, and as Blake says, ‘primal’ as one by one, William Wallace’s allies all turn on him. Mornay and Lachlan, and even Robert the Bruce, betray him, right at the time when we thought things were getting better. We thought that his battlefield tactics were getting more effective,we thought he found a new love, we hoped that the King was finally wearing down, but to make the ending worth it, things needed to get much, much worse.
11. All Is Lost: This one’s easier to notice, but I’m going with Wayne’s World(1991) for being so obvious, yet still fun to watch and experience. After Wayne takes his best friend Garth for granted and pushes him away, loses the show he created, and offends his dreamgirl, he walks out of her apartment worse off than when the story started. And referencing a classic SnL segment with Christopher Walken called “The Continental,” he complains to the camera to the point of even us walking out on him - to which he responds, “Where you going? Ok, ok, it’s not that bad, i’ll figure it out,” and he does, which is exactly what Act III is for.
12. Dark Night Of The Soul: About A Boy (2002). This one is obvious as well, and more importantly, effective. Hugh Grant’s character is the modern, self-absorbed man who believes,contrary to popular opinion, that some men are, in fact, islands, and “this is an island age.” After making some strides away from this philosophy, Will retreats back into his own world when Marcus, whom he had been a sort of hero to, abandons him to his own devices declaring that “you can’t help me, you can’t even help yourself.” It hurts, because it’s true.
13. Break Into Three: Swingers(1996). This movie actually has all the beats nailed very clearly, but I love when Mikey (Jon Favreau), after going through a literal dark night, and a few days, of the soul, comes back to life and heads out on the town with his buddies. At Sue’s house (Patrick Van Horn), he shows up, makes up with Sue for some heated words, and is told to call “that Nikki girl” whom he totally blew it with just a few moments before by leaving seven awkward messages on her machine. Right after the sound of his zipper goes up, in a nice comedy-timing moment, we break into Act III, the Act of synthesis.
14. Finale: Good Will Hunting(1997). After learning of his best friends’ (Ben Affleck) threats to make sure he makes something of himself, Matt Damon’s character finally breaks free, not just externally, but now internally. His supposed confidence and bravado were easy in the neighborhoods that he knew and felt comfortable with, but what would he do when faced with talents that placed the world at his doorstep? Well, after being told some hard truths by Affleck’s character as well as Robin Williams and Minnie Driver’s, he conquers his final challenge, the unknown outside world, away from the safety of his beloved books.
15. Final Image:

I have to mention three films, and they all share great examples of the opening image mirroring the final image. Shawshank Redemption (1993). Opening scene: On a rainy night in Maine,Tim Robbins, fearful and trapped, considers murdering his wife who is having an affair. In a complete mirror image, the ending finds him at the other end of the continent, in the Mexican sunshine, completely free, and hopeful that his friend will join him. Bottle Rocket(1994). In the opening scene, Dignan (Owen Wilson) is helping Anthony (Luke Wilson) escape from a sanitorium, but at the ending, it’s Anthony who is visiting Dignan, who is now in jail for a botched crime. Finally, in Swingers, which opened with a grieving Jon Favreau sharing his broken heart with Ron Livingston in a coffee shop, it’s now the cool Trent (Vince Vaughn) who is getting advice from Mikey, who tells him “i’ve got it under control.”

Now get with the beat! I’m tired!!

Cameron Crowe Classic moments - There's one in every film

2008-11-13T20:12:00.000-08:00

People don't seem to really "get" Cameron Crowe. At least not his films. The general public hasn't heard of him at all. Folks under 30 maybe saw Elizabethtown because of Orlando Bloom or Kirsten Dunst. Only approximately one out of a hundred people seems to have liked Vanilla Sky, or even seen it. Folks under 35 might have appreciated Almost Famous or Jerry Maguire (usually one or another - but rarely both). Folks over 35 "sort of" remember Singles because of Pearl Jam's cameo, and only afficionados of eighties high school movies know Say Anything, and they love it. Of course film students know Cameron Crowes films, and have serious opinions about each one, and they should. Not only has Cameron Crowe been able to somehow make hard-to-categorize films in the "studio system," but he's created extremely realistic takes on life and growing up, and seems to always get the most out of his actors.
But one thing I especially appreciate, and noticed in the past year, is that every Cameron Crowe film, good or bad, seems to have at least one completely classic film moment, that transcends the genre and stands on it's own, outside the context of the film it appears in. So here are my opinions of the most classic Cameron Crowe moments in some of the most classic films of the past 20 years:

6. Elizabethtown 2005
After Susan Sarandon's speech at her husband's memorial service, the band Ruckus begins to play. As they reach the crescendo of "Free Bird," a model of a bird swings down above the crowd and catches on fire from the candles. The sprinkler system goes off, but the band keeps playing - louder and louder and louder. It turns into different things for each character, but is a cleansing of sorts and no doubt cathartic for Drew's sister, who's just bathing in the chaos. Random but classic. Honorable mention - the drive cross-country at the end, specifically when U2's Pride is playing as Drew Baylor visits the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr lost his life.

5. Vanilla Sky 2001
Obviously closing off Times Square and having Tom Cruise run through an early New York morning is a coup of epic proportions, but I feel the moment comes a little later. As David Aames is slipping in between reality and a dream world, his own memories become interspersed with scenes from popular culture; images and visuals from the past 30 years. As he and Penelope Cruz walk down the same street wearing the same clothes that Bob Dylan did for his Freewheelin' album cover, those with a heart for nostalgia feel a chill as art and life collide in a classic movie moment.

4. Almost Famous 2000
This one's a no-brainer. When larger-than-life lead singer Randall gets back on the bus, nobody speaks. The malaise of a long journey and band disagreements threaten to derail the entire tour (and film) so naturally what else but music brings them all together. As Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" begins, the members and crew and friends slowly join in, creating an impromptu real-life music video that MTV execs could only dream of. The impressionable William tells Penny Lane "I have to go home," and Penny assures him, in a voice that I know I would listen to; "you are home."

3. Jerry Maguire 1996
This movie really does have too many to count. However, I'll go with the Oscar-winner on this one. Cuba Gooding Jr.'s "Show me the money" rant, has become part of our cultural dialog, and getting Tom Cruise to yell "I love black people" was just icing on the cake. I know, I know, Jerry's "You complete me" and Renee's "you had me at hello" are noteworthy, but I had to pick one, so there you go.

2. Singles 1992
This one is a little tougher, ok a lot tougher, but I'm gonna say it's the soundtrack. The music actually is a part of the movie in such a way that it substitutes where dialogue or vast montages could have been. The handwritten segues into each section are very simple, but elegantly done, and in a way that works on the subconscious while the mind is watching the movie. Sure that sounds a little pretentious, but the fact is - he made Seattle look cool. And a lot of people went up there and wasted ten years of their lives finding out whether or not it was true.

1. Say Anything 1989
When John Cusack is blasting Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," holding his boom box over his head in an attempt to woo Diane Court, anyone who was paying attention realized that this director was doing something right. Not just "choosing" the right music, but making the music a part of the story has been a CC staple and an oft-envied trademark for aspiring directors to strive for the world over. The "Guys at the Gas-and-sip" scene is also completely classic and, could be argued, trumps the previous, but since it is such a solitary stand, and a great moment for John Cusack, I'm sticking with Lloyd Dobler.

Six movies. Twenty years. When do I start?

It all starts with the picture

2008-11-05T23:08:00.000-08:00

It just does. I don't write on a schedule. I don't plan on "x" number of posts per week, or keeping anyone informed of the regular gathering of the book club, edgy independent film openings, or even the local SPAT meetings.* No, it usually just starts with the picture. Some random shot taken on a random day, lately when nothing else seems to be going in the right direction, and I scrape together enough money to buy some film, and actually be excited about finding something out there, in the wide world. The picture doesn't cause me to want to share, or even "journal" or whatever it's commonly called. The picture causes me to stop. Maybe in the same way moving pictures result in anticipation of the next moment, still pictures have the opposite effect. Of course if any out there are wondering- I make these theories up as I go along. This process of seeking, documenting, recording, reporting, logging, and reflecting, is called art. I think. I guess it might be called creativity, determination, foolishness. wasting time, etc...
* * *
That was a little long of an intro, I know. For fans of Raising Arizona you didn't even notice. But I've been thinking lately about Hope. Hope, it seems, is similar to a football coach faced with a fourth down and goal to go with the game resting on one play. His choice can't really be gauged, until the outcome has been decided. Is that how hope works in real life? It was worth it if it turned out well? Or was there a positive emotional impact that somehow carries the hopeful soldier either way.
* * *
Senator Barack Obama has been riding on a theme of hope for quite some time, and I hope, as he does, that the results back up the promise, and intentions. In Stephen King's epic "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," Andy Dufresne gives his friend Red the ultimate gift of hope, with the added bonus of being able to alter fate. When he asks of Red a task to search for and find a certain treasure at a certain place, the gift he's giving is not for himself, but the gift of hope for Red, to give him a dream and a desire outside of those grey prison walls. Sure the box may have been there before, underneath that rock, but the money for Red's bus ride, and the letter written by Dufresne encouraging him to go on, certainly were not. Red tells his friend, "hope is a dangerous thing," and he's probably right. Hope can be very dangerous. Is it the expectations maybe - that make it dangerous? Hope with specific expectations hanging on it is like cans from the back of a just married car, they're going to fall off sooner or later, right? And when they do, what then? In Return of The Jedi, does Luke give up, even when all he has is hope that his friends are still alive, though the emperor assures him they're not? When the two parties are separated in Tolkien's The Lord of The Rings, it is hope that Aragorn and Gandalf are resting on as they continue to fight and press on, not really knowing whether or not Sam and Frodo are ok. The world hopes, in Superman II, that somehow these villains will be defeated, even though Superman has given up his powers. Then again, what about in Cast Away where Tom Hanks' hope was dashed upon returning to the real world - as Helen Hunt's character had moved on with her life. He admits that it was the hope of seeing her again that helped carry him during his stay. Did hindsight make that hope a bad thing? Would we call it 'disappointment?' Did the purpose it serve make up for the emptiness instead of fulfillment as he finds out that she has a new husband, kids and house? In Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Jack London's stories of the Yukon, Hemingways' travels, Twain's river expeditions, and even real life expeditions, it is hope for something beyond the horizon, that drives hordes of people out of their comfortable surroundings, and off into the unknown. Hope is many times not the impetus, but the fuel, that keeps the promise of something, anything better than what we got now, alive.
* * *
But what then, is that promise? And why does it seem to accompany going, or leaving, one's home or safe place? We somehow assume that somewhere else, where the beer flows like wine, where the grass is even the slightest bit greener, will also lead to success, or an intangible, like happiness. Is this shared the world over, as explorers we all have been? Or is it primarily American given our pioneering past?
* * *
When I was six I wanted, I mean I really wanted, to dig to China. And when I started, I really did hope that I'd make it. And I tried. I got out my shovel, and I started digging. My hole got about three feet deep, in the front yard of an apartment complex of course, but I tried. And in my head, I was going to make it, in fact, I already had. I had somehow made it down deep, through the crust and heat and liquid and whatever other guts were in the middle of the Earth, and I had come out (upside down of course), in a strange land, and all the country was astounded, that this little boy from America, had come so far, had made it through so much thickness, and was some kind of adventurer slash hero slash world - renowned model citizen.

I don't remember what happened then - of course I didn't make it, I filled up the hole with water instead, and played in the mud for the rest of that day and beyond.

China was cool, though.

*SPAT is Single Parents Alone Together -check your local Craigslist for meeting times

"Of all the gin joints...

2008-10-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

...in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."

What a great Humphrey Bogart line from Casablanca, in talking about fate and chance.

Sometimes I feel the same; Of all the lives, handed out to all the humans, in all the world, God gave this one to me.

For better, for worse, in richer, in poorer, etc.. like it or not, this is it. That tends to imply some regret, but I don't mean it to, it's just strange to think about. What tune would Lennon and McCartney have chosen for Mrs. Robinson if they had written it instead? Why was Clapton the white guy who just nailed the blues? How has Tom Petty written hundreds of four-minute songs about losers struggling through life and they're all unique? What if Bruce Springsteen had grown up in Arizona? What if Paul Simon had never met Garfunkel? Well that doesn't really count... If I'm supposed to be the perfect person to handle my life, it was meant for me to do it, and you for you to do yours, how do I know if I am? How do any of us know? Sure you try your best, you love others as yourself, you work hard and are responsible for your actions, but what about the intangibles. What about all the times I chose to stop by someone's house right when they needed to talk, or when someone called me up just to say hi, not knowing how I just needed to hear a friendly voice. I may have chosen my friends, my college, and my current profession, but I didn't choose my family, my state, my country, and I certainly didn't choose being the type of person that doesn't seem to fit into the categories that others have created. That's it though, it is what it is, and it's what you do with what you've got, not what you wish you had. - wait, is that a Sheryl Crow line?!? Damn!

So... where would YOU go??

2008-09-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

Unless you live in a cave, or claim to not read, see, hear or overhear any type of general news (like one mr. Aaseth who spends his days tunneling through the earth), you are aware of the extreme divide which our country has been in for some time, and which now is reaching a sort of peak, or boiling point. Where this comes from exactly is up to debate, though I make no secret of my own opinions, which would be that half of the country believes in the standards and values which came ultimately from God, (and that our success as a country is a result of following those values), while the other half feels (equally as strong) that no such values are from God, nor are they relevant to our current, or future, society as a whole. The fact that many on one side hypocritically do not practice that which they claim to support, and the fact that the other side basically follows the beliefs and values that come from God anyway (whether they want to admit it or not), is beside the point, and not the subject of this piece today.

The Point?

Alec Baldwin (among others) says he'll leave the country if the election doesn't go his way. Well, gol-darnit I hope he does! I'm sick of people not backing up their tough-talk. If someone doesn't agree with something, great! Mr. Baldwin I will always love your work, and you are more than free to do, say, or go, wherever you like, for whatever reasons you choose, and I think it's high time that you do! Whether the election causes you to retreat, or our current financial crisis leads to implosion (as many prophesy that it will), where would you go?

Myself?

I would fulfill my lifetime goal of becoming an Italian citizen and live in or near the Cinque Terre region of Italy's coast. For a job? I would buy a Vespa and deliver fresh bread in the morning to the local businesses and workers. Ah la buona vita!
How 'bout you?

*photography from the extremely talented Tony Helsloot - http://www.samsays.com/Tony%20Helsloot.htm

Well I Never!

2008-09-22T20:37:00.001-07:00

It dawned on me one day that I always hear about people making lists of ambitious things to do in their lifetime - like climbing Mt. Everest, going in a barrel over Niagara Falls, smoking a cigar with Fidel Castro, running naked through Graceland, whatever. But I never seem to hear about the lists of things people HAVEN'T done, that they either are proud of, or are otherwise fine without having done up to this point in their lives. I, therefore, have made such a list. Feel free to add your own.

10 Things I have never done (and am basically ok with - ok, aside of Hawaii, I actually would like to go someday)
by Alden Olmsted:

1. Seen the movie "Titanic"
2. Been to Hawaii
3. Hunted an animal (with anything other than a rock)
4. Scuba dived (doved?)
5. Had a moustache
6. Gotten a tattoo
7. Been to a Hockey game
8. Owned (or balanced) a checkbook
9. Been on a sports team of any kind
10.Seen a movie or show in 3-D

Anyone else care to share?

More LA - too bad Steve...

2008-08-09T10:31:00.001-07:00

In response to a friend of mine's bizarre (!) comments about the absurdity of finding anything remotely uplifting and/or redeeming about Los Angeles I have continued to disprove his criticism and as I found myself on top of Griffith Parks' hiking trails, at the original M*A*S*H* site or at beautiful Century Lake (and taking a needed dip at the dam) I have to even now more vehemently not agree with his rants and objections and wish to say to him the same thing I said before: Go ride a cable car you SF resident you, and then we'll talk. Oh and also I like making past and present English teachers nervous with extremely long sentances. Enjoy~

"I LOVE (HATE) LA !!!!" ~ The Residents

2008-07-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Well I think I finally figured it out - and it only took 20 or so years. Ok, maybe it's not some huge epiphany or anything (that's a revelation, not a type of electric guitar), but I've come to grips with what Los Angeles basically means to the 12 million +/- that call it home.
Simply put: They love it, and they hate it. Sort of like the favorite jumping spot you found on your bmx bike as a kid (ok, or swimming hole, video game, random meadow, etc..). You loved it, but hated it when everyone else showed up. I feel like everyone loves and hates the same things about Los Angeles: they love the weather, the location, the opportunities, the beaches, the nightlife, the shopping, the sporting events, and basically the availability of literally anything you could ever need or want, but they hate the fact that so many other people feel the same way. Which is why, as I've started to settle in here, feel at home, find the best fish tacos, the secret backroads that bypass the high-traffic spots, places to enjoy a little nature, etc.. I've begun to notice the extremes, which is why I included some pictures.
The typical "Los Angeles" graffitti tag is completely at odds with the views and the feel of Griffith Observatory, a mere 10 minutes away. Similarly the windy road and canyons of Mulholland Drive and the Santa Monica Mountain Park system seem worlds away from the Hollywood and Highland tourist crowd. Many Northern California residents, myself included have (for YEARS) bemoaned Los Angeles as a hot, dry, crime-ridden sprawl of disjointed communities and families, with a positively lack of "culture." But now I know why. As passers by, travellers, tourists, we always came during peak times (summer) went to the most crowded places (Disneyland, Universal City, Santa Monica) and engaged in the amazing ritual of "walking around." No wonder we were disgusted!! The average LA resident only does those activities when, guess what? when they're showing around of bunch of friends or family from out of town! (Ok, except the Santa Monica thing). If all we did in San Francisco was pay $6 to drive across a bridge, froze to death as we walked on an overpriced tourist-hell of a Pier, and stood in line for an hour to ride an antiquated cable car system (that unfortunately for this argument, is admittedly still charming) and got stuck in a Bay Bridge commute, we'd probably make some inaccurate blanket statements about NorCal too!
* * *
LA is what it is, the same thing that Steve Martin so correctly pointed out in the seminal film "LA Story," Los Angeles is a place where people follow their dreams, and live out their fantasies, without any regard to what the outside world thinks. But it's also a place where almost everyone seems to have a "story." Whether they're a screenwriter or not - they have a story. A story of how they got here, why they came, or what odds they've fought as they've remained and survived. Many people also feel genuinely alone, and long for that common desire of knowing and loving people and having them know and love you right back. This is not an "LA" longing, though, this is universal. I meet so many people that are just glad to meet someone who also feels _________, or thinks also that _________. The blank obviously represents whatevers "it" is, those qualities they have, and search for in others.

So the next time you come to LA, don't make the assumption that the people are cold, beautiful or too busy to get to know a stranger. Instead, remember how you felt at a new school on the first day, and know that the residents of "this Los Angeles, demi-paradise, this Eden," have felt it too.

Life is what happens when...

2008-07-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

John Lennon said it, and I am starting to at least partially believe it; life is what happens while you're making other plans. As I drove down Interstate 5 for my 3rd major stint in the Garden of Allah, Paradise City, the City of Angels, etc.. my mind was strangely blank. Not devoid of content (!), but there's not really much to wonder about at this stage, one sort of just presses forward knowing that this is not really an option at this point, it just IS. Reality. Fact. What one MUST do.
So after a few days in LA, when I wake up on a floor in Glendale and sit out on the porch with my coffee, I am reminded of a few basic things. Number 1. I like living in a house. Period. I'd rather be on the floor in a house than have my own apartment, which is probably one of the things that was hard about the Sacramento experiment. I lived in an apartment for most of my growing up, from age 6 to age 17, then off and on after that, and I think it was harder to go back to than I anticipated. Number 2. Notice the light on the street. This is why this is the town of movies, everyday looks like a movie set! No artificial lights necessary, the sun filtering through the haze is like a giant softbox. The light is always perfect, nothing is distinguishable - everything is just sort of white and vague, like a C.S. Lewis essay on the afterlife.
So now what? Day one I was signing back up with some background agencies, day two I was trying out for some TLC show (that I didn't get), and by the second week I was working on The Culver Studios Lot painting sets and shuttling actors around. Tomorrow I get some professional headshots done, and I was fortunate to meet a producer last night who offered to look at the latest script, so I guess "Life" is going forward. And maybe right there is what I needed, not necessarily a magic wand, a bolt of lightning, or my big "break" to happen right away, but rather, progress, in any and all forms. It really is all how one looks at it, because I know my situation to some would seem like chaos, randomness, or even desperation, but after all the experiences I've had to get to this point, it's about time that I put them all to good use. Though my God-given talents have felt sometimes like more curses than blessings, at least I'm finally at the point of no looking back, and that feels pretty good.

Catch Me If You Can - Six Years already!?!?

2008-05-23T14:20:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe it was six years ago February- April of 2002 that I got my first taste of the film industry. Being an extra on a big-budget Spielberg production was definitely a fun intro to the field. Little did I know that watching how things got done and taking many mental notes would lead to my first film, Dill, California getting done in 2006-07. The guys in the cars - we all had a great time hanging out on the set, making fun of people, "crossing" certain people with celebrities ie.. "that guy looks like Bea Arthur and the Swedish chef from the Muppet show!! 14 hour days, lots of old wardrobes, but great food and being treated a little more 'special' than the average extra (we all got SAG for being drivers!!) was a great time. Thank you to Sande Alessi casting, Steven Spielberg, and Paul, Tom and all the car guys - good luck and keep your pedal to the metal good buddies!!

Alden

Alden Olmsted History Channel Crucifixion

2008-03-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well it wasn't with palm branches or after riding a Donkey, and I certainly cannot be responsible for anyone's sins but my own, but I did get some nice face shots out of my History Channel Debut Easter night. 8pm March 23rd on The History Channel was the official time of the Easter special "Crucifixion." I was fortunate to get some good screen time, partly due to being the thief on the cross at the right hand (and uphill!) from Jesus. Also the close ups on the ankles being broken, and slipping on bodily fluids, etc.. were all mine.. very nice! No credits at the end, but not bad for my 1st TV exposure!

Alden

Christmas Eve and Capital thoughts

2007-12-24T10:15:00.001-08:00

Hmm... Random thoughts on this Christmas Eve 2007.. Being in a real "city" that is walk-able is a little bit of a new experience, although I probably have tried to force other locations to be walkable too. Walking down Washington Blvd in Culver City for example definitely was not the experience I was hoping for...! Sacramento (at least "midtown") is a pretty cool place to explore, people watch, and just to get out. Location scouting and dreaming for the next film is a daily exercise, and the amount of interesting buildings and storefronts are too numerous to count. Peet's or Starbucks, unfortunately those are still the closest options for me. Too many old cars to count, old bikes, old buildings, but young people - that's a good thing. Leaves are changing, though they don't seem to be quite as bright as in Davis, just down the causeway from here. The Capital Christmas tree actually is very pretty, thus the picture that I was forced to snap the other day. As I find more I will write and share more, like the strange koi pond right on the corner of a house down the street, very out of place but cool nonetheless. Interesting people, like the 70 yr old man that rides around on a vintage BMX bike - definitely has the making of a super 8 short right there.

more to come..

Merry Christmas!!

Alden

Generations

2007-09-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Sept. 1st, 2007
Forget Generation X, Gen Y, Gen - whatever. Those are all pretty bogus and generic descriptions, so I’m going to put up and share my long-held theory on generations. When I was growing up, somewhere along the line, someone came up with “Generation X,” or “Slackers.” The latter was partly due to the Richard Linklater movie of the same name (he also did “Dazed and Confused” and “Suburbia” both movies about... you guessed it: Slackers; branch out - dude). Anyway I rejected this title, and maybe I should thank whoever gave it to my generation because it made me want to be anything but (even though, yes, I’m still a driven, passionate, ‘type-whatever’ personality so, whatever *hey that could be a generation too! The whatever generation!) which I feel I have tried to be.
Ok, ok, enough blabbering... without further ado:

Alden’s theory of generations:

-b1961-1969
The Feather Generation
You missed Vietnam: Congratulations! Though some of you seem bitter even at having been so close to it - or maybe, you’re bitter that you’ve got no one to blame for the things in your life that haven’t gone right. Either way, you didn’t go to San Francisco with flowers in your hair, instead you ‘feathered’ your hair as soon as you were old enough to disco. Guys, girls, doesn’t matter, I’ve seen the yearbook pictures. You parted it in the middle, feathered it on the sides, and to this day you’ve got an argumentative streak for those that didn’t understand. But mainly, this generation usually liked Styx. I didn’t miss anything.
-b1970-1977
The Star Wars Generation
If you were old enough to remember seeing ANY of the original three Star Wars movies in a theatre, this is you. You grew up on School House Rock, (and actually you learned more from that than you ever did in school), Pop Rocks, and Michael Jackson. Actually this could also be the Pepsi Generation, but I’d rather name it after a movie than a soft drink. You might remember Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, or Primus, and you definitely knew about the Red Hot Chili Peppers before anyone else did. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Sixteen Candles, Caddy Shack, The Breakfast Club, Say Anything - man we had it good! Billy Idol, Billy Joel, Billy Ocean and Billy Dee Williams. You may have played Dungeons and Dragons (although I didn’t), bought 501 Jeans, tried to shrink them-to-fit, and/ or remember when U2 were NOT a household name and when Oakley made bike parts but not sunglasses. You played on your Commodore 64 or Atari, or even the original Nintendo. You possibly read The Lord of the Rings way before the movies, and read Catcher in the Rye but didn’t kill anyone over it. While maybe not full-on Slackers, some of you did take a little longer figuring this life thing out, either that, or it’s just that being a teenager was that much more fun. Rock on.
-b1978-1984
The MTV Generation
Ok, surely these years overlap quite a bit, so don’t get in a big tizzy. But if you were born in the late seventies and early eighties, the significance is, that you don’t EVER remember when MTV WASN’T around. Thus we begin the ‘have-it-whenever-I-want-it’ mentality which, with the iphone just released, is reaching it’s zenith. The funny thing about ‘some’ members of this generation, is that, much like the earlier generation that had bitter feelings about Vietnam, even though they should have been thankful they didn’t go through it, this generation doesn’t really understand the eighties. Oh, sure, some still appreciate a good Bon Jovi Arena-Rock anthem, and you might have played Pitfall on your older brothers’ Atari, but most don’t really get the fake-ness of it all, the hair bands, the over-the-top fashions, the Cyndi Lauper, Boy George, even Steven Tyler rags and trashy look thing, just doesn’t make sense. Wall Street? Gordon Gecko? They seem to ask “why,” when they should be asking “who cares, just go for it.” In reality they could also be called the Nirvana Generation for the significance of the musical change that took place in the early 90’s. Now I don’t want to neglect the other parts of culture completely, and this generation came of age with the Berlin wall coming down, grunge music taking over, and Republicans running the White House for a long -long time. Saturday Night Live had a second wind with the emergence of Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, and others, though some of this generation still didn’t seem to appreciate ‘Wayne’s World.’ Basically this generation is caught a little in the middle, not really eighties, not really nineties, maybe that’s why Weezer’s Buddy Holly song was so popular, looking back was just starting to take off. Wee-Ooo
-b1985-1992
The Britney Spears Generation
I know, I know, she fell so fast, but such is the mark of the future, ridin’ high on Monday, shot down in May - oh wait that’s the past - shoot! This generations’ significance is that without knowing it they were re-living the early eighties all over again. Sure they don’t want to admit that Britney Spears was just a hotter version of Cyndi Lauper or Tiffany, but the musical simplicity that took place in the late 90’s, ie Hanson, Britney, Blink 182, Sugar Ray, etc.. was a response to Pearl Jam and Nirvana’s taking life, (oops), and making life seem SO dark and depressing and serious and mournful and oh-my-gosh-my-parents-never-did-whatever-with-me-and-what-did-Jeremy-spoke-anyway and etc... This possibly could also be called the
Sept. 11 Gen. but - well I’d rather not. This generation actually appreciates the eighties, the guys love Metallica, maybe Def Leppard, DEFINITELY Guns ‘n’ Roses, and the girls LOVE Bon Jovi - that’s why they had a little resurgence there with “It’s My Life.” You remember Leonardo and Johnny D before they were big, and maybe even Jennifer Lopez and Jim Carrey. You barely remember that Arsenio Hall had a talk show, and even if you do, you should really try to forget it. This generation also grew up looking back, when VH1’s “Remember the...” Series became big and game shows became popular again, ie... Who wants to be a Millionaire. Could this also be called the ‘Real World’ generation? Maybe but I don’t think MTV deserves two. The Real World broke the reality TV thing, or at least started it off, maybe even a few years before its’ time. You remember that blonde cowboy from the San Diego house, and Puck from San Francisco. You grew up when things were still a little innocent, bicycle helmets weren’t quite required, you could still walk the streets at night, smoking was allowed in some restaurants, steroids were being done in sports but no one would find out for quite a while. In fact, now that I think of it, that’s a pretty apt description of the nineties and early 00’s - the wool over the eyes. Think about it - Everybody have fun tonight - everybody Wang Chung tonight.
-b1993- Present
The Reality Generation
This one is easy, everything has gone “reality” crazy. You grew up on Jackass and on any and every realty show format imaginable. You probably could also be the Harry Potter generation - if for nothing else than for the fact that reading is semi-popular again. Could you also be the igeneration? Maybe, but that’s part of the point, is that as soon as you are labeled, you’ll have already changed. You grew up with 9/11 being similar to JFK as in “do you remember where you were when....?” American Idol was a family affair for you, and the Mission Impossible series was your “Die Hard.” Jim Carrey is for you, unfortunately not as funny anymore - sorry you missed it, and Freddie Prinze, I mean Zack Braff, I mean Shia LeBouf , oh it’s changing so fast - will be your movie heroes for the next few years. To you Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, and Chevy Chase are just ‘some old dudes’ and you definitely don’t remember where THAT quote came from (although to your credit some of you are re-discovering it). You’ve pretty much written off the past, written off remembering it, and seem to be tired of hearing how your generation is so such-and-such, or changing, or has everything available to it, etc... Your motto seems to be, ‘look, this is the way it is, so deal with it.’ Don’t waste my precious time trying to convince me how cool things were when you were growing up, because now is the time, and Right Here and Right Now is all that matters.

the end (for now)

Keturah aren’t you proud! I’m writing! Wow, I wonder if this writing thing is becoming a Saturday morning routine - not sure but it is a fun way to clear the mind a bit - otherwise this stuff just rattles around for years and years, and only empties out at a random party or wedding reception when I can say anything to these people cause i’ll never see them again...

Happy Labor Day. Stay away from the Bay Bridge!

Alden

Alden Olmsted Photography

2007-08-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

Alden Olmsted is a native California Photographer. Pictures of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, Bodega Bay, California Redwoods, Mt. Tamalpais, & pictures of creeks, paths, trees, hills, sunsets, ocean scenes, etc... Alden takes pictures of black widow spiders, or anything that catches his eye. The Real California Picture Co. was started in 2002 to showcase Alden's work and the lesser known sections of California 'between' the tourist spots. Pictures of Sonoma County, Oak trees, fields and meadows are usually found on Alden's site. Pictures can be purchased at www.aldenolmsted.com. Thank You