Wonderful World

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." Jawaharal Nehru

Two Other Functions I Want to Attend

TIMES TALKS


Saturday January 6, 2007
6:00 PM - 7:15 PM
Rufus Wainwright
Multi Musical: The singer-songwriter-musician known for his pure voice, rich orchestrations and introspective lyrics.Interviewed by Horacio Silva

Sunday January 7, 2007
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Augusten Burroughs
Inside Out: Memoirist whose own personal stories have given him a home on the bestseller list. Interviewed by John Darnton

The Graduate Center - The City University of New York - 365 Fifth Avenue - New York City

Filmmakers Talk

I don’t know what to expect or what I’ll get out of this, but I'm going to check it out. I've seen most of these film, my favorite by far is "Y tu mamá también".

Collectively, Alfonso Cuarón (top left), Guillermo del Toro (top right) and Alejandro González Iñárritu (bottom left) are at the vanguard of today's world cinema. Individually each has contributed significantly in transforming their native cinema of Mexico; collectively these filmmakers travel fluently and regularly between cultures, genres and languages - studio and independent. As peers and colleagues they represent the best of international filmmaking. Cuarón's films include: "Sólo con tu pareja", "A Little Princess", "Great Expectations", "Y tu mamá también", "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and the forthcoming release, "Children of Men". Del Toro's films include "Cronos", "Blade II", "Mimic", "The Devil's Backbone", "Hellboy" and soon to be released "Pan's Labyrinth" (Mexico's entry for an Academy Award). Iñárritu's films include "Amores Perros", "21 Grams" and the current release, "Babel".

The forum will be moderated by David Carr, New York Times culture and business writer, this special Times Talks presentation is in honor of their Filmmakers Tribute as part of the 16th Annual Gotham Awards

Gotham Awards Filmmakers Tribute 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM - Tuesday November 28, 2006

"Marketing Your Screenplay"

Since returning from cycling and Poland, I've mostly been procrastinating, but when I'm not I've been developing/writing a few screenplays. I've decided it's time to get some feedback on them, so I signed up for another course at NYU - "Marketing Your Screenplay". Hopefully, it will led me to the next step. It's only a short course, two Saturdays afternoons in early Dec, not a huge time commitment.

Course Description: You've completed a script and are ready to show it. What is the most effective way to get it into the hands of producers and agents? How do you write an effective query letter? How do you construct a treatment? How do you make sure you're submitting your most polished product? How do you best assess your own material with an eye to marketing it? A professional story analyst who works for major agents and studios addresses these questions and offers practical guidelines and suggestions using sample materials, reference sources, and insider recommendations.

Oh Shit!!!

If this film thing doesn’t work out

While I’m currently not doing anything related to my graduate degree, I have those letters on my resume in which postmodern academies like Cornell hand out in addition to (and sometimes in lieu of) substantive knowledge, as a back-up. So whenever the thought “what happens if this film thing doesn’t work out” enters my mind, I click on the Analytic Recruiting’s website to make sure there are viable alternatives.

The Analytic Recruiting is a search firm that places people with statistical, research and analytical skills. My dissertation research was centered around data mining, analyzing data and building prediction and explanatory models. And lucky for me more and more jobs appear to be created in this area as more and more industries (grocery, media, credit cards, pharmaceutical, web tracking, etc.) are warehousing data in which they want analyzed. It's the exploratory aspect of data mining that I enjoy. Slicing and dicing, trying to make scene of data and building models used to make “educated” guesses. Yes, very geeky, I know, but I must say it was this aspect of my dissertation that I enjoyed the most.

Weekend in Ithaca, NY

Having lived in Ithaca for six years while in grad school, I had mixed feelings about the little city. And I have to admit towards the end of my degree, I couldn’t wait to get out of the town fast enough. But in retrospect it’s hard to differentiate the feels about the town and those associated with grad school. Most of my time, while living in Ithaca was spent at Cornell - attending classes, studying for exams and conducting research. The Cornell community is a lot different than the Ithaca community.

But now when I return, ten years later, nostalgia seems to prevail regardless, manifesting only good memories of living there. I guess this is just human nature. Besides I have little to do with Cornell during my return visits. My return visits are mostly centered on visiting friends. They remain in Ithaca, because of the life style. It's is definitely unique. There’s a large, semi-rural, crunchy, leftist, socially conscience and environmentally aware community that exists. I do miss it at times. Life seems a lot more laid back there.

Were I've Been

create your own visited country map

Travel

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness...and many of our people need it solely on these accounts. Mark Twain

9:30 Club

I was musing about DC today. I'm planning a trip over the holidays. I must say, while there isn't much, one thing that I really do miss about DC is the 9:30 Club. Not only is it a relatively small, intimate venue, but it was also in walking distance, seven blocks, from where I lived. The short walk made work night concerts practical. Amongst my most memorable were: Massive Attack, Busta Rhyme, Pretenders, James, N.E.R.D., Black Eyed Peas, David Byrne, Rufus Wainwright, Sean Paul, Cowboy Junkies, and Ziggy Marley.

Other memorable concerts but at different venues in DC were: Mary J Bilge, Outkast, Lauren Hill, Tribe Called Quest, Morrissey, and Prince. The live music scene in the NYC/NJ area seems so disjointed. Or maybe its not. It might be that I haven’t gotten a handle on it, yet.