Chosen Leader In Reserve

Idiot-Proof Evidence Of Something-Or-Another
For those who might feel a vacuum from there not having been a Saturday Night Live last night, and/or if you're nostalgic for several SNL shows ago, or/and you're looking for proof of some kind of something or another relating to my blogs occasionally pointing at Stuart Cornfeld/Ben Stiller (who run Red Hour Films together, Stuart being someone I once sort of knew going back to 1975 and later and then back to 1975 then go to 1993), or whatever, then perhaps you will enjoy this little videoclip*:
*"The Chosen Leader of Florsheim Shoes" can be found at:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheChosenLeaderOfFlorsheimShoes




In Totally Minor, Unimportant News
That sketch they did on SNL (Oct. 1st I think it was), where they regard Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing as a food to be consumed obsessively rather than as a mere salad dressing: that must have resulted from my mentioning to someone at work that Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing is so great it should be treated like a main course in itself. How? In previous blogs I've touched on how my "secret" super-importance has led to my workplace environments invariably becoming infiltrated as if I was at the center of some kind of Hollywood (and more) chessboard (which I am). Obviously you weren't there, and so those who don't check out the evidence of my being truthful (e.g., the above videoclip) will not want to give me any credibility here.

I more recently have seen additional references to me/my material in a number of things: "Unstoppable"; "The Rite"; "The Green Hornet"; probably lots of other stuff, can't recall off-hand.

I surprisingly didn't notice anything in connection with me in the excellent new Cornfeld/Stiller/Black/ Martin/Wilson movie, "The Big Year" (please note- appreciating why the word "surprisingly" applies requires years of research).

It happens I once did a conceptual collage, "Finding Life" (below) that touches on the subject of "The Big Year", however, this would not "count", by my standards, as something to be regarded as a deliberate act on their part. They also had a character getting seasick and having to sit in the cabin of a fishing boat, as happened to me over 40 years ago when I was with the family of the then-future senior editor of "Money Magazine", Bob Klein (my family and the Kleins were old friends, and so went on a joint family vacation together in Cape Cod in the mid-60s). This also does not "count", as Cornfeld/Stiller provided no tie-in. Bob's daughter, Amy, did photograph me now and then during the '80s, but, nope, doesn't "count", as I was not a bird (and never will be). I nevertheless reserve the right to return to this as I may yet find something. Can't understand why they suddenly left me out, I don't get it....

Finding Life"

from "Go Eyes, Go!", copyright 1993, posted at Archive.Org June 2007

After They've Seen Paris

Some might expect that, with the enormous wealth of provable, significant show biz moments that "belong" to me, I would be more generous about sharing moments that are "less provable". In my March 13, 2010 blog, for example, I was able to clearly demonstrate that Ben Stiller's Oscar moment belonged to me. I could point to evidence that, previous to that moment, Stiller's producing partner, Stuart Cornfeld, who I once sort of half-knew (or perhaps knew even better than that, who is to say), was someone upon whom I have been an occasional influence. Therefore, correlating what Stiller did at the Oscars to something from my 1998 video, "Gosk 2" was not out of the blue, not a random similarity, but something consistent with what had previously been established.

So why don't I wish to detail how Stiller's recent movie, "Greenberg", which I just saw, contains a few things that cumulatively spell out the idea that they are there because of me/my material? I do not wish to go there. I do not wish to make it that easy for people who don't do the research, or appreciate the actual train of thought but think they do, or people who posture as skeptics for ulterior reasons (strange things happen in high stakes situations), to use my detailed acknowledgments of such moments to undermine me. My being taken seriously is important, and not just to me, and so I do not wish to go there. Maybe on rare occasions there will be a sufficient basis to go there, but in this case, I don't wish to go there. I don't wish to go there. Nevertheless, I am glad to be in people's thoughts, and will bring these things to the surface when they are easier to prove to people of reasonable intelligence.

For the same reason, I will pass on being specific about the things I found in "Taking Woodstock", except to say, they touched on my 1990, 1992 video, "Steinhoff's Dostoyevsky's 'Uncle's Dream'", in a manner that would have been too diluted a reference, if it were not immediately preceded by an inside-reference to my 1994 video, "Gosk 1". Incidentally, one of the stars of my 1998 video, "Gosk 2", was the art director for Joni Mitchell on a number of albums (Robbie Cavolina), and would talk with her on the phone every day. Joni Mitchell once did a song called "Altamont" I think.

Simmer, Cool, Simmer Again, Whatever

Julie, Julia, Clerp, Jerp, and Amy
The following videoclip, which includes our first introduction to Amy Adams' Julie character in the 2009 movie, "Julie and Julia" (now available on TV for the first time on "Starz On Demand-Early Premieres"), should be filed under my March 21st blog (two blogs ago), in the section, "Pavlov's Chef":




Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire
A person I've referred to here and there in previous blogs, Kiefer Sutherland, again drove past me. It was while I was on my way to work Friday, March 26th. I am nearly certain it was he, despite the sunglasses and semi-upbeat expression.

His face divulged nothing about a bombshell that was about to be dropped on the world later that day, not that the explosion would have been preventable even if I had foreknowledge: "24" has been canceled. Jack Bauer will not live forever - at least in terms of new episodes of "24" (after this season). I also read that there may be a movie. I think back to the expression on his face for some indication of exactly how dead Bauer might be for Sutherland, but as I find myself unable to visualize ketchup splattered about, it is difficult for me to envision death and Jack Bauer next to each other to the extent that it is now so.

We have been left with a serious void on the landscape of our shared, common focus on matters related to terrorism against the U.S. Do not underestimate the value of a singularly iconic fictitious character of this variety at this point in the history of the world, particularly when one considers the degree to which we as a society have come to use the medium of theater to digest events that would otherwise be too difficult, perhaps even impossible to wrap our hearts and minds around.

We can come together over nobody in particular when we say here comes the sun, we may never need a sun king to say "here comes the" about, but we are not so good at not having a human to focus on when real events turn us towards this side of reality, and occurrences that could conceivably lead to the end of reality itself. I don't see anyone coming close to a Jack Bauer, just a whole lot of James Bonds, Sherlock Holmeses and what not.

On the bright side, Sutherland is now free to do a sequel to "Dark City" - though I have the feeling I'm alone in thinking along those lines.

It's Just Another Vote
Several days ago on my way home from work, at about 5:30pm, about 30 minutes before the final reconciliation vote on healthcare reform (after the House passed the healthcare legislation and after the Senate then passed the agreed-to reconciliation amendments and then the amendments went back to the House - I believe this was Thursday, March 25th), "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart may or may not have driven past me. The show has been on vacation this past week, so it was definitely possible for him to be in Southern California. Also, as occasionally referred to in previous blogs, over the years I have occasionally been an influence on his and Colbert's show, sometimes to no small degree. He appeared very serious. And his hair was not slicked down as one normally expects when looking at Jon Stewart. I don't think his was searching his mind for a punchline just then. Then again, it could have just been someone whose job it is to bring Jon Stewart to someone's mind at the precise right moment. I get a lot of that.

One On One
Ben Stiller, whose appearance at the recent Oscars was largely in relation to my "Gosk 2" video (see my March 13th blog), drove by me yesterday (March 27th), while his two recent late-night talk show appearances made no inside-references for my benefit (of which I am aware). I think that puts things where I'm supposed to.... no, can't say I know exactly.

The late-night talk show appearance in February by Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Burton's wife, on Craig Ferguson's show did make inside "Gosk" references for my benefit. These references to "Gosk" were not even close to being as clearly delineated as Burton's "Gosk" references in "Alice In Wonderland" (see my my March 16th and March 21st blogs). I do not feel that husbands and wives should be considered contractually obligated to be identical in the degree to which they make references to "Gosk", nevertheless, I will not permit Carter's references to dilute the intensity of Burton's references, and will therefore confine myself here to this general a description of her action.

Regis Philbin's recent late-night talk show appearance on Ferguson made absolutely no inside-reference for my benefit of the variety I have come to expect, though Ferguson isn't Letterman, which is where/who this normally can be relied upon. Is this non-relationship over? If so, I do not yet feel the void, and for now will make no assumptions.

Face To Face
Immediately after I emailed someone (a fellow CalArts alumni, aka a "CalArtian") asking what gives with Tim Burton and his Steinhoff references in "Alice In Wonderland", where's my $11.23 (I did the math and decided I was at least entitled to enough money to purchase 9.2 chocolate bars), I received an invitation to be the Facebook friend of someone else, someone I hadn't spoken with in about 30 or more years, and a non-CalArtian. Adding this person as a Facebook friend required that I logon to my Facebook page for the first time in about half-a-year. This caused me to see that another CalArtian I knew (different CalArtian) had visited my Facebook page, indicated to me by way of that privacy-violating way Facebook has of showing Facebook users this like it or not. This led me to feeling inclined to look up that particular CalArtian on Facebook and the listing of her Facebook friends - which included Tim Burton. I suppose it is a given that when Tim Burton uses your material in a big way in "Alice In Wonderland", trails of breadcrumbs are headed your way. Now send me a trail of breadcrumbs I would want to follow more directly, please.

Blue for Green

When last we left off in my previous Avatar-related blog (two blogs ago, dated Feb. 21st, "James Cameron and the Steinhoff Factor (non-3D version"), we were treated by me to (among other things) a clip from my 1998 video, "Gosk 2". I am referring to the "Gosk 2" clip included in that blog under a section entitled, "Something In The Air", it being that there were several "Gosk 2" clips in that blog. Now put on your special Tunnel Vision glasses (located in the section of your brain that can't bear to be pulled in more than one direction at once), because here comes another clip from "Gosk 2" (made newly relevant by the Oscars), continuing in that 1998 video of mine precisely from where the other clip left off (I've included three or so seconds of overlap with the previously-featured clip in order to help you see it in that context):

Excerpt from "Gosk 2" (1998)

And now I take you to the March 7, 2010 Academy Awards and Ben Stiller (someone I've occasionally referred to in my previous blogs, it being that he and Stuart Cornfeld,who I sort of knew in the '70s, together run "Red Hour Films" (Stuart being someone I refer to much more occasionally in previous blogs):

3.7.10 - Oscars Watercooler Conversation for Billions #1

Okay, now please remove your Tunnel Vision glasses - because instead of there being just one instance during the March 7th Oscars ceremony wherein I was being provided with something to fit in with my above "Gosk 2" clip, there was also this unforgettable George Clooney moment as well, which picks up from (fits in with) the very moment the above "Gosk 2" clip ends (you might need to imagine seeing Clooney in this clip as wearing blue skin and women's clothing in order to better appreciate the connection -unfortunately I have no special glasses to assist you in envisioning this, which I expect many will see as being for the best):

3.7.10 - Oscars Watercooler Conversation for Billions #2

I'm Dreaming of A White Dandelion Particle

I would close this blog with an observation about the images of little white flakes used as part of the recurring Oscars background graphics, however, I have neither the strength nor the patience to argue with everyone who would presume I must thereby be laying claim to every image of snowflakes ever created. My counter-argument to that would have been that, if that were the reason for their use of this graphic, why did they choose this year's "Avatar Oscars" (aka "Oscars") to use it? Hasn't it been snowing since even before the first Oscars ceremony in the '30s (not continuously)? Kinda funny they chose this year for it, ain't it? Oh yes, and were I to have closed this blog with mention of those little white flakes and their Avatar/Gosk tie-in, I would also have had to steer your special attention to the special significance the white flakes in “Avatar” have in connection with"Gosk 2", by steering you to my coverage of this subject in that above-referenced Feb. 21st blog. I would also add that many, many, many major awards shows seem to find a way to include as part of their recurring graphic backdrop images with clear similarities to ones I had recently generated (in this case, one of mine given recent significance). However, as I've already stated, I shall not be closing with this observation about the ceremony's use of the white flakes, you will instead have to imagine I did on your own, and imagine all that would have followed. Again, unfortunately I can offer no special glasses to help you imagine this.

I will instead close this edition of my blog with a slightly less controversial special thank you to Ben Stiller and George Clooney, not only for secretly pointing towards me, but also for their singular significance as being non-secret pointer-outers of the cause of the Haitian people as well.

["Alice" will have to wait for a future blog; as will mention of the special Steinhoff connection to the very final moment of Barbara Walters' Oscar Night interview, her final installment of this Oscar Night tradition.]

An Open Letter To Stuart Cornfeld

As we near the collective celebrity effort taking place on television this Friday night to raise money to help Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake (a cause with which Ben Stiller, your Red Hour partner, has a very special association), there is no confusing compassion for Haiti with concerns of a partisan nature. And it is good to see people coming together this way for so worthy and so nonpartisan a reason. (By the way, is insisting upon universal healthcare in the U.S. a partisan cause? I guess so, if people calling themselves a political party attack it as such. Let’s just be seen as nonpartisan and stick with the Haiti matter. It could even provide the pass that excuses us from being asked to weigh in on that partisan issue.)

When disasters like the earthquake in Haiti occur, we often hear what now borders on cliché: that so many other endeavors pale in comparison with the seriousness of addressing such a cause.

It would be impossible to deny the seriousness of this matter, or that reacting to it correctly requires a sense of its urgency. However, it is precisely at such times as this that I find myself acutely aware of an important principle that one continually sees being immediately and publicly discarded, as though in doing so one shows oneself to possess a highly profound sense of humanity and compassion. I refer to the implication that causes of this plain and material a nature must necessarily diminish, by comparison, the realness of purpose and meaning behind what entertainment/art/culture should be about in general (aside from soliciting help for Haiti from the public), and the potential power of creative inspiration itself to comparably act upon matters of consequence in a significantly material way.

A simple-minded person, not unlike a non-thinking animal, may not be aware of the value/impact, in terms of there being consequences of a genuine, actual, material nature, connected with the human facility for digesting/internalizing/spiritualizing/crystallizing, a facility towards which entertainment/art/culture is designed to contribute. In fact, it may even be said that the world has reached a place where the potential contribution towards this human facility that comes from entertainment/art/culture could easily be without parallel. Furthermore, increasingly, the role of entertainment/art/culture has become that of being an important part of the foundation of the larger societal community to which we all belong. To put it in a blunt nutshell, that which human beings frame/filter through their artistic sensibility can move, build or destroy mountains. I do not mean this in the purely poetic sense, but somewhat literally.

I feel there is a certain need for some kind of reaction against this false assumption that there is a comparative lack of realness involved with the consequences of creative inspiration.

Unfortunately, I believe I may be speaking more on behalf of the potential of creative inspiration, as opposed to that which has actually succeeded in overcoming the barricades of shortsighted, commercially-minded concerns. As a case in point, I cannot believe that the majority of the voters in Massachusetts on Tuesday would have acted as they did, in destroying the chances of universal healthcare in the U.S., if true creative inspiration had reached its target in their souls. I understand how support of universal healthcare has come to appear partisan, and am beginning to feel myself out on a limb for not confining my remarks to support for the Haitian relief effort. I hope they raise all of the money needed.