JoNean Video in the Works

If you follow me on FaceBook, you've seen the Making of "Don't Cry," the music video that consumed most of my summer roadtrip back to Hooftytown and will challenge my post-production skills in the near future.

Looking forward to getting the studio tracks to finalize our original power ballad.

JoNean - Ball

Shot this video this summer in beautiful Hooftytown PA.  Jo and PsydFX did the music... the lyrics were mine... Jo gave me the hook "I'm a ball, I roll," and I ran with it from there.   Featured are my niece Erin (The Binker), nephew Caden (Baby Zeus), and Jo's nephew Kaden.  Shot on a Canon 7D and mixed by audio engineer Damian Walck (Jo's brother, Kaden's Daddy). 

JoNean - December Song

Extended roadtrip for the Winter holidays!  Added Lyricist to my never-to-be-read resume by producing two music videos featuring my own song writing.  The first was shot this winter, but was also recorded by me, so it beats this summer's video to publication.  

Spartacus Schmartacus

Another Fun Short

They're Here

Wha Snoo?!

For the first time in a while, I went to a 3-Gun match this weekend, at the Phoenix Rod & Gun Club this time. No video (forgot my phone/camera) and very little to report, no scores yet, Jon shot well... just about every rifle was an AR platform with optics. A SCAR is an AR, right? Oh, yeah, I didn't even shoot....

Whu-whu-whuuuuuuut?

Even in my worst shape, I've always been willing to brave the heat and shoot a match, but this time, my body got the best of me. During my summer vacation, I noticed a cloudiness in the vision in my right eye, and upon my return, the eye doc confirmed I have a cataract in there. I'm totally worthless with a long gun, because I'm NOT shooting from the left side just to play. If there was a pistol-only match, that would be a different story, but Jon needed this match for practice, so that decided it.

An interesting consequence of showing up was meeting Arturo, a shooting buddy of Jon's and our friend Keith. Turns out he's from Tucson too, and after introductions, he said he recognized me as Cowboy Blob and he lamented my lack of blog output of late. Guilty, as charged! I better get my butt in gear.

On the creative front, JoNean's music videos "Wind Sail" and "Blue" just hit 100 and 1,000 views, respectively, on YouTube this weekend. Jo is so stoked that she promised to needle her brother into the studio to final the audio for "Ball," a lively rock tune Jo (and the band Psyde-FX) crafted with the lyrics I provided. The "Ball" music video is mostly complete, but it's sync'ed to a sketchy camera audio track.

The sword-and-sandal epic shot in my back yard "Spartacus, Schmartacus" is halfway done and should be ready for premiere in November.

I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not the glare of the Sonoran Desert sun. I'm giving serious thought to moving back to PA, where I'll probably freeze my ass off.

Wind Sail

 Jo and Evalynn used to perform this back in high school, so while I was in town, I asked if they would like to make a music video of it.  Music videos are much quicker to produce than sword and sandal epics, so I wanted a couple under my belt before I wade into "Spartacus Schmartacus."

The ladies usually sound much better than this; I recorded the audio myself, since Jo's brother's home studio was already booked for her other song (my next video).  At least in a studio there's less of a chance of a bug flying into your mouth.

Happy New Year!

 Got warm enough for another range day, so I introduced Jo to some different guns, as well as invited her to try her own for the first time.  The FireStar in 9-mm is a fun little gun, but the recoil spring was to stiff for Jo to manage.

Jo liked the tameness of the .38 Special... especially in a handsome cowboy six-gun.

She brought her own S&W .40 automatic and fired it for the first time! Took a bit to fight the flinch, but eventually started hitting regularly. She fought the recoil spring more than she fought the recoil.

Good thing she brought lots of .40 because the only stuff I brought was premium defense ammo for my carry guns. She enjoyed the SiG P239 quite a bit... it was intrinsically the most accurate firestick she fired today.

Jo really liked the Ruger SP101 she tried this summer, so I sacrificed some carry ammo to warn her what even a light .357 Magnum feels like.

Holding Back on Me, Bob?

When the choices are painting one's kitchen or shooting some cool guns, what does Jo do when she found out I'd forgotten to bring some guns out the last time?

She really liked the 9-mm AR. 

Gunblogger Duty Done

Meet Jo. Some years ago, she sat on the other side of my high school Journalism class. Three years ago, she received a pistol as a gift, but no instruction or range time. This week I remedied that oversight with some familiarization shooting. Jo tackled everything from a little Bernadelli .22 to a Colt .45 ACP.








A brain fart left my Ruger SP-101 hiding in my lens bag, so Jo got a exclusive diet of automatics.  She did equally well with the GLOCK 19 and 23, but struggled with cocking the stiff recoil spring on the .45. She seemed to enjoy shooting everything I offered and got most hits on the paper plate about 15 feet down range.

Next outing will feature the revolver and a 9-mm carbine.

A Little Color

Lisa the Biker Chick, before she broke her arm and leg.  Now she's twice as Metal!

Candace, Lisa's Evil Minion.

Clothes Whores

"Clothes Whores" got an unofficial Honorable Mention at the Almost Famous Film Festival; Unofficial because they offered it to us -- another Tucson HM team bowed out of the showing because the Phoenix show time was 5pm. Well, DUH, we couldn't make that either on a Thursday night.

Instead, I premiered it at the local First Friday Shorts, where by applause ranking we came in Second behind a college homosex flick supported by the director's whole fraternity.  I didn't mind too much missing out on the Money prize... I enjoyed the audience's reaction and heard a good portion of the audience cheering for our film. 

The bedroom shown is actually my office/guest room (you can see my name on some of the plaques).  Rather than girlie it up or sanitize it, I thought it would be funnier if left as is, sword collection and all.

I was Bored Today

Technically, not a Red Shirt....

The McBride Shoot

 On my third movie shot at Gammons Gulch!  Garrett Moldrem (center) of Made of Love Films directed.  He also shot McBride's "sequel," the local-award-winning Blackwood.

As the Behind-the-Scenes videographer, I still stepped in and played boom operator, grip, and even acted in a scene.

Bill Couch is a local staple in the industry.  He plays the bartender in this prequel and a bar patron in Blackwood.  I told him he must have been fired for watering down the drinks.  "Hey, that's how the bar makes a profit...."

I'd been FaceBook friends with David Hight for a few years before I first met him at the McBride script reading.  He carries the exposition load in this movie as the town sheriff Rupert Jones.  

Nick Murray (center) is a Pima Film classmate of mine.  He was DP on the 2009 Pima films Arizona Chainsaw Massacre and Apprehension.  He was happy to be on the camera crew, but I railroaded him into the funeral scene, because I was too fat for the one spare pair of pants left in wardrobe and I knew his skinny butt could fit in them.  The director wanted me in the scene, but since it wasn't on the call sheet, I left my costume at home and dressed for comfort on the set.  My character would have been in the back row at the funeral anyways, thus first out of the church and not in the scene.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Dead Meat

After a four-day shoot spanning the Veterans' Day weekend, we wrapped the Pima Community Colllege Ad-Cin. production of the Western Horror short, "Dead Meat."  It's now up to the Spring semester Post-Production class to bring it to the premiere at the May Student Showcase.

Pictured are Taylor Plecity (bottom) and Robert Arizonn, part of a very talented cast of which I was the Weakest Link, being the only non-actor among them.  Fortunately, the role of Harper the Bartender was ideal for me -- no complicated dialogue and nothing to over-challenge my limited range of acting.

When not in front of the camera, I took advantage of the set lighting to shoot behind-the-scenes for my Digi-Photo Final portfolio.

Fun with Swords and Fur Bikinis

Because I can't post about guns ALL the time!

Click to enbiggen.

A Little Gunny Goodness

Katyusha MoonFox

Keeping Busy

Something's in the Air

Remember Virtual Date Ariane?

Ariane Barnes has released a romantic comedy "visual novel" with over 40 endings.  "Something's in the Air" features a new Ariane (left) and lots of other stuff looking for which I'll probably waste my entire weekend.