So a while back I noticed that an official Hellboy 2 web site had opened up and on that site, there were some forums where people could ask director Guillermo Del Toro questions. I asked, he answered. Check out the thread right here. Pretty cool, huh? I've met Del Toro when he was doing the press for the first Hellboy movie and he was a great guy and he even threw down a sketch of himself in my sketchbook. It's awesome that a director of his caliber is always cool with mingling with the fanboys like myself. And for those of you who don't know what the RED camera is, check it out here. Basically, it's a digital camera that shoots very close to film quality. How close? Nearly indistinguishable. The first feature that will be shot entirely using this camera is a little movie named "Wanted" based on the mind blowing graphic novel by Mark Millar. Check out the trailer or the samples you can find on the RED site (along with a short that Peter Jackson shot as a test for the camera). Very good stuff. And all for the low, low price of around $20,000. Truly a baragin, no joke. Soon enough, all video quality will be looking like Hollywood and not like someone ran it through a meat waffler. The future is here and with classy directors like Del Toro always willing to do fan service, cinema, as a whole, has a bright future ahead! VIVA MEXICO, CABRONES!

A long time ago, a couple of friends and I decided to make stencils to paster our images around town, a sort of competition to see who could get there art around the city without getting caught (I guess that's every graf artists M.O. but I'm far from one). Well, at that time, I was very much enamored of a certain Michelle Rodriguez (laugh all you want but back then, she was an up and comer with potential and I was rooting for her). Hence, the stencil I created as you can see above. Well, as far as our friendly competition, it never happened. The only thing I ever used the stencil was on a white box I bought at the Uhaul store when I moved from my old apartment and that box has been chilling next to my desk at home. Recently, I've been wanting to get into my roots but I wasn't very sure about how. Should I bone up my drawing skills? Naw, I suck. How about painting? I mean, Bob Ross could do it, why not me? And then one night I was looking for something around my pile of shit and there was Michelle staring right back at me. She's fallen off my radar these days but I remember making that stencil and the fun I had doing it. And so that image up there was born: a 14x18 canvas board with a little accent added, just to test. Easy and fun! Here are some sites if your interested and this art form and be scared to try it yourself....just remember that tagging stuff that isn't yours is illegal and shouldn't be done....EVER! Now that that's out of the way....anyone up for a friendly competition?

Street Art - What Wikipedia has to say about the art form.

Banksy - Further proof that if we were to get the worlds graphic artists into a battle royale, the UK would undoubtedly defeat everyone else.

Stencil Revolution - A good source for ideas and examples of existing stencils and awesome tutorials.

Stencil Tutorial - Pretty much says it all. A beginners guide to create your own stencils in Photoshop

Stencil Street Art - Another good gallery

Stencil Archive - Yet another archive

Stencil Nation's Fickr Account - Swear this is the last one! Check it out!

Wow, that's kinda cool to see "Director" follow my name. Anyway, here is my interview that I did for the friendly folks over at Zona Azteca, a local show that airs every Friday at 6pm on TV Azteca Ch 39 here in Fresno. Visit their web site here for up to date info. I tried to wear a solid green shirt as to have just my massive head floating in front of the green screen and have some cool graphics behind me but I couldn't find anything in my size in time (wow, the camera really does add 125 lbs.) and I wasn't about to go all Charlie's Green Man for this. Anyways, check it out, enjoy my pillaging of the spanish language and my 2 Best Buy name drops....I should really stop promoting those devil bastards. Also, watch out for my stupid little laugh at the end. Reminds me of this guy's laugh at the end.......damn, is my head really that big? Cast your vote in the "Head" poll over to the right! NYUP!

So I was interviewed for the show "Zona Azteca" for local station TV Azteca. The thing is, it was all in spanish. Now, my spanish is normally pretty good (just don't tell Diana that) but being that this was my first TV interview (the Laidlaw bus crash doesn't count) AND my first interview in spanish, well, that didn't help much. Wanna see the train wreck? Tune in to channel 77 tonight at 6pm to find out. Oh, and that's channel 77 if you have comcast cable. The regular, over the air channel is 39. I'll be talking about the film, the film community here in Fresno and you can see some clips from our short "An Inch Or A Mile." What a way to start off your weekend, right?

While I'm here, I'm also going to reward you for making it all the way to the end of this post. Go to BFAds.net to get a jump start on how your going to empty your bank account the day after Thanksgiving (commonly known as "Black Friday" in the industry) by checking out the ads for some major retailers. Have fun in the mosh pit of people but try not to lose your wig!

Dear Roque,

Thank you for contacting our office regarding drag street racing. Our office is un aware of any proposition in Fresno. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact our office.

Sincerely,

District 7

That is the email I got back when I decided to contact District 7 Councilman Henry T. Perea (he was supposedly seen at the Film Festival last weekend where my street racing inspired short played and a fellow SJMer, and might I add) about the city council possibly supporting the opening of a local drag strip here in Fresno. I guess the district he represents has become self aware and is now doing it's own PR by fielding questions (hey, at least it spelled my name right). Well, at least I got a response (that's more than I got from Autry's camp), but not exactly the one I was hoping for. And the entropy continues....

Well, the short film competition at the 1st Annual Latino Film Festival ended with a winner: A full length documentary film. "WTF?!" you might say (I said worse), after all, the film entry requirements for the competition called for films under 30 minutes (the winner was 50 mins. in length). Fair or unfair, I guess but we have to start somewhere, right? I feel sorry for 15-year old Antonio Garcia, whose film "You Owe Me One" also played there (and both met the requirements AND was extremely entertaining). How would you feel if you showed up to your first pick-up basketball game thinking your facing off against a peer only to find out that you'll be facing a player from the NBA. Not cool, especially when your that age and your craft is still developing. Hopefully, next year, the festival will make sure that these kind of mismatches don't happen again and it'll make the competition fair for all that enter. But most launches are a little rocky so we'll chalk it up to the shiny, brand-newness of it all. Hopefully, next year will bring in more entries, more attendees & a better over all experience for all who enter and attend. Thanks to the Fresno Art Museum for putting on the show!

It's finally here and I'm actually pretty excited. I mean, even if nobody shows up, just being able to see our film projected....that should be cool. And seeing your name in print is always cool, right? Check out this article from the today's Fresno Bee for more specific info on the festival as far as times and dates are concerned. We'll be playing Sunday at noon so if you can make, come on out! Spread the word, post it on a bulliten over on Myspace, tell a cousin, a friend, a co-worker, WHATEVER! Lets just try to get some people to realize that there's a lot going down right here in our very own backyard. Enough yammering from me, now you can enjoy the trailer for "Matando Cabos" the opening film playing tonight. It's highly recommended!

Matando Cabos - Theatrical Trailer (Spanish)

Mexican teens are just as quirky as Americans ... as demonstrated in this dark comedy about teens who kidnap a retired wrestling legend and a parrot.