The Implacable Veneer of The Implacable Veneeroid Invader

Inspector Burgundy
I am pleased to announce the release of the 2012 Writer / Editor's video cut of "Inspector Burgundy". I wrote this in 1978 for a color studio class exercise while a student at the CalArts School of Film/Video; Mitch Eakin filmed it in 16mm shortly thereafter; I received the footage from Mitch several weeks ago; had it transferred; edited it (including a few video effects, a little reframing, plus music and this and that - I've always been Mr. Auteur, or an auteur type, or whatever exact status you feel I should be permitted to entitle myself when it comes to creating, bugger off, imaginary demon police of artistic license!).

So I'm pleased to announce the release of "Inspector Burgundy", at Archive.org:

http://archive.org/details/InspectorBurgundy

In a future blog I plan to go into several miscellaneous extemporaneous details that seem to possibly regard "Inspector Burgundy", though they sort of clutter up the landscape.

One important detail to be discussed: My well-supported but very complicated basis for concluding that Will Ferrell - whose work has frequently been influenced by my material, and in serious ways, which I have discussed in my blogs here or there - decided upon his character's name in "Anchorman," Ron Burgundy, in order to inside-reference / mimic my character's name, Inspector Burgundy. I have no problem with this, but will not make my discussion of this part of this announcement. I'm merely making a reference. Not a detailed explanation, because this is the announcement, okay, so I hope we all understand that.

It being that "Inspector Burgundy" has now been resurrected 34 years later, or has been born 34 years later, whatever, I am considering (though not seriously), as an alternate, more audience-grabbing video title, renaming it, "The Implacable Veneer of The Implacable Veneeroid Invader" (if this sounds familiar, re-read the title of this blog article!). A revision of this nature would be more likely to occur if I get trouble from the people who own the song I use in "Burgundy", Dan Hicks' and Tom Waits' "The Piano Has Been Drinking". Should that happen, the new title for the video would legitimize outerspace sounds / outerspace music to replace that song.... although, hmm.... such a substitution could very possibly undermine something at the video's very core. Should I be faced with this issue, I imagine I might need a year to weigh the factors, or two, definitely no more than 33 years....

Real Play Money Of The Future
I also am pleased to announce a new comedy sketch idea I've posted to Archive.org, "Real Play Money Of The Future":

http://archive.org/details/RealPlayMoneyOfTheFuture

SNL found no value in "Play Money" on the show of the week it was created, in terms of finding usable fragments from it, as they tend to do with my material. This time around Saturday Night Live appears to have instead picked up on something I posted to Facebook earlier that day (an alternate general tendency we also find occurring as an unconscious act in our patient, SNL). That day on FB I made a reference to a screenplay I wrote back in the '70s entitled, "Joel's Baby," which is primarily about a parent trying to track down his child put up for adoption at birth 15 years earlier. SNL did a sketch about someone once put up for adoption being reunited with their biological parent on a talk show. And so, again I find SNL doing something that in and of itself could never be construed as signifying anything beyond "it is what it is", unless its perfect fit quality in relation to a pre-identified (by me) context is known.

On their most recent show, it is possible (hard to say) that the piece they did with Steven Spielberg contained inside references. I did not "submit" anything for this show, but this doesn't always stop them.

The laser cat piece with Spielberg (as I have often discussed and demonstrated in my blogs, I am a very significant influence on Spieberg) made me think of the laser cat piece they once did with James Cameron. In my discussion in an earlier blog of the Cameron laser cat appearance on SNL, I correlated, to something I submitted for that show, the part where Lorne Michaels expresses that the only reason he is willing to go along with an idea he finds dubious is on the strength of Cameron's insistence. Then, in the Spielberg laser cat appearance, Lorne Michaels responds in the identical way - great reluctance, but at the insistence of.... Then, for the ending of the Spielberg laser cat piece, I observed something that occurs in my often-referenced "Gosk" video (inside-referenced and an influence upon innumerable major films, TV shows, etc.), a character looking up to an alien spacecraft and shouting at it. This identical bit from "Gosk" is something I have mentioned, in previous blogs, as part of Gosk's influence on Cameron's "Avatar". I would never say that, in and of itself, such an action must necessarily have originated in "Gosk". To learn the actual basis for my conclusions regarding Cameron, please see where I discuss this in previous blogs.

Avatar: Not In A World Of Its Own

Cameron Is Half-Gosk
I've finally gotten around to putting together my "Cameron Is Half-Gosk" videoclips video, which is an attempt to partially describe the basis for my outlandish assertion that I influenced "Avatar". To more fully appreciate the validity of this general contention of mine, you need to also see my Feb. 21, 2010 blog article.




Half A Mind Not To Take This Case
I recently completed a story idea outline (which I posted at Archive.Org) about a private eye on some planet or another, an alien Humphrey Bogart, being hired to figure out what or who it was that caused the Earth to come to an end. It's called, "The Gumshoe From Alpha40":
http://www.archive.org/details/TheGumshoeFromAlpha40

Partial Credit For Cameron
And finally, I was mistaken in my previous blog about there being a new James Cameron movie opening next week, he is only the Executive Producer. The TV commercial misled me, they said the movie was from James Cameron. Though I am to blame, this should teach us ALL a valuable lesson, that research is always a good thing (including not taking TV commercials literally, which I did, and I should have known better). I only hope no one goes to see that movie on the false belief that Cameron directed it. It would not be the end of the world if they did, however.

Never Shout Bangs In A Crowded Theatre

I have been a little quiet lately, blog-wise, so am here to yap for a bit so as to protect my reputation, in that you gotta watch them quiet ones - I'm still waiting to find out where George Harrison buried the bodies.

[Disclaimer: That part about George was intended as a joke, and though a potentially tasteless one as I am not feeling up to speed at the moment (and so I must ask that you please forgive me), as such I am not responsible should somebody respond by digging up that incredibly extensive lawn of Harrison's English estate, I love that lawn.]

Let's see, still need to yap some more....

A recent Comment of mine to an article at HuffPost may be worth something:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/JonathanDS2U/skepticgate-revealing-cli_b_814013_75275653.html

And a little more....

I'm thinking about making good on the promise I made in my February 21st, 2010 blog, wherein I state that it won't be until "Avatar" is accessible via TV that I can most correctly make clear the basis for seeing my influence on this movie. In order to see my point on this, it would help if you already appreciated my influence on Spielberg, Tony and Ridley Scott, etc., in terms of your having the ability to be receptive to this extraordinary assertion on my part. You might come around to what I'm saying, if you would only just spend a billion or so hours going through my blogs and finding where evidence is presented, however, I may force myself to work around your obstinate ignorance (please ignore if you have put in the billion or so hours, I'll get around to you diligent folks later, or some other time, or, who knows, not sure I can make any promises, what with having to focus on addressing those who don't bother and so haven't the slightest idea how I can justify such outlandish statements).

February 21st, 2010 blog on "Avatar":
http://jonathands2u.blogspot.com/2010/02/james-cameron-and-steinhoff-factor-non.html

And now let me tell you a thing or two.....

I've previously touched on how my "secret" super-importance in relation to certain individuals' creative work has resulted in every situation I'm in being "infiltrated". I will not go into a whole lot of detail at this moment about what that can mean (this is something I've gone into before). However, there is one particular thing about which I would want to take a moment. Not only has my work environment been "infiltrated", as I have mentioned before. Not only has my Facebook environment been "infiltrated", as I've also mentioned before. Now it has been made manifest to me that a specific Facebook friend has demonstrated a link-up with people wiretapping my apartment/hearing me when I'm "alone" in my apartment. This person had previously reflected in what he wrote on Facebook (according to what I was able to figure out through logical deduction combined with experience) some kind of link-up with some incident my next-door neighbors had with the police. He posted an identical occurrence where he lived, simultaneously. Then an extremely unusual event happened when I went to the same barber I've been going to for 15 years: I was given a TV remote and asked to switch channels while my hair was being cut. This same Facebook friend immediately posted about using a TV remote at a dentist appointment. This reconfirmed what my previous experiences of this type regarding this person had already indicated to me. And finally, something most unusual that I said in the privacy of my apartment, out loud to myself, very shortly thereafter appeared in another posting by this person. Had I not pre-anticipated from the first that something fishy was happening, because I have encountered this before, it would be one thing. But the pieces have unmistakably fallen into place. I will have to assume someone has a gun to this person's head, or someone gave this person a false pretext for making those postings (e.g., "Hey, you know what you should do? I'll give you.... a dollar if you say post on Facebook about a TV remote in a dentist's office!" "Why?" "I'm trying something, just do it!"), or blackmail, I don't know, I do not have to regard this as a bad person despite this clear link-up with people committing a serious invasion of my space. And I don't care if I'm "secretly" super-important in relation to super - billionaires, this is a serious crime against me. These people grab hold of a good number of those with whom I come in contact, they creep me out, it's been going on a very long time, and I know how to recognize more things of this nature than the inexperienced would.

yet more....

Having in previous blogs put forth evidence that the TV shows "Medium" and "Smallville" were acting in conjunction with one another in relation to my material, it is interesting to observe that one of the main stars of "Smallville" over the years, the actor who played Lionel Luther (I'll remember his name in a minute, I promise, oh right, John Glover, that's it, that's him!), had a guest spot on the third to last "Medium" (as the series has now concluded). That Glover episode did refer to my material, but only if one contextualizes cumulatively with other usages on those shows - in this instance, Glover speaks of knowing all that is going on, as in my "Mall Man" video; Glover also speaks of no longer being who he was, as in my "Mall Man" video. Again, by themselves I wouldn't draw a connection between these "Medium" moments and my work (one might even find these two statements coupled together in various people's works simply because they are thoughts consistent with the same kind of persona, just as many different stories about the persona of an overly-muscular man might each have such a character say at some point, "I don't have to answer to anyone, because no one is more powerful than me!"). The principle of logic I am using here in deducing "Mall Man" references requires weighing a larger body of evidence than I'm describing here, but I believe the evidence is all there in previous blogs, for anyone who bothers to check it.

more.....

I once blogged that I saw Jennifer Aniston with bangs (I was mentioning her in relation to something, and was not there to make reference to a celebrity citing - despite how easy it may sometimes be to confuse me with those who are about celebrity citings). I then wrote a retraction, apologizing to whoever might care (I noticed somebody's blog had picked it up as a possible clue to the new Jen) that I thought bangs was where the hair comes to a point at both cheeks (I described this better in my retraction). Now that Aniston currently has bangs on a new magazine cover, no doubt an inevitable hair style sooner or later for society's fashion plate women (which she is, part-time anyway), I immediately see someone who looks like Ariana Huffington with bangs (I've previously referred to funny business between me and HuffPost). Then Rachel Maddow with bangs (I've previously referred to funny business between me and Maddow). I also believe I saw David Arquette and Patricia Arquette, but separately, and without bangs. So the look-alike industry and the bangs industry are my stock picks of the month (except the David Arquette look-alike, because that really was David Arquette I saw; don't know about the others).

and lastly.....

My old friend from when I was a teenager in Princeton, and now Southern Cal neighbor and Facebook friend, who shall remain nameless (for a second or two), directed/edited/etc. an unbelievable independent feature, "The Watermelon," which I was fortunate enough to see as he gave me a copy. It is already on Turner Classic Movies, despite being only a couple of years old. So as not to go on forever heaping the same old praise upon it, I will limit myself to applauding / heaping praise on this filmmaker's having managed to establish the Watermelon trailer as a perfect archetype, without compromising the tremendous heart that is the core of this movie. I am a huge believer in providing our culture with solid, new archetypes, Jung and I can tell you, we need these to develop together.

I should also make mention of the fact that Brad has suggested to me that we both might want to collaborate on a fun, not-to-be-taken-seriously, little video project. I'm hoping to convince him to do a story idea I posted on Archive.Org a few months ago, about a dead, time-traveling derelict, which I think is called, "The Dead, Time-Traveling Derelict," or something like that. But whatever happens, happens. One film I can guarantee exists, or will exist, is the new James Cameron one opening a week from Friday. Yet another work upon which I may find myself to be an influence.

James Cameron And The Steinhoff Factor (non-3D version)

Preface
I promised in my February 15th blog that, upcoming in the near future, there would be a blog wherein I would take on the subject of the influence I have had on filmmaker James Cameron. Today's blog will not be the place where I cover this in what I regard as a thorough manner, it being that clips from Cameron's movie, "Avatar", are among the tools I would need to do justice to this subject. I trust I will be able to access and thereby include such clips in the future (when "Avatar" comes to TV). However, I can at least provide enough here for you to see the basic substance of my February 15th assertion that Cameron has been significantly influenced by me. And by you, I mean those reading this who have the inclination to put a few facts together, and the intelligence to appreciate what those facts say.

You may be skeptical of certain things I will be including here that, in order to be appreciated, require a degree of background knowledge of myself and my other influences on various rather substantial works by certain very important people, as documented in previous blogs through references to facts. And by you, I mean those reading this who are not inclined to put a larger number of facts together, yet would put the onus on me for failing to have facts that condense into a mere paragraph to complete their context.

And I will not even begin to address you who have ulterior motives for indicating skepticism. Who, as one might guess, tend to "visit" (and more) themselves upon situations that involve very, very powerful people and companies. I wish I had people at my disposal to address them for me.


If A Tree Falls In The Woods And Nobody Films The Person Who Heard It
In 1998, when James Cameron was the guest star on the season finale of the sixth season of the NBC sitcom, "Mad About You," I recognized that episode's use of the main idea of my 1978 16mm film (now a video posted at Archive.Org), "Log of a Log Log" (in which the Paul Reiser character is doing a documentary about a documentary about "Titanic"). In addition to the obvious fact that the idea in both "Log" and "Mad" are the same, a documentary about a documentary (admittedly, one appreciates that there could be occasions when someone else might also come up with this same idea without my help), I was already aware that "Mad About You" was aware of me, as they had in previous episodes made inside-references to me/my material.

Without going into detail, a certain number of those inside-references related to a girl I was friends with when I attended CalArts during the '70s (and with whom I haven't spoken since the '70s). This same girl worked for James Cameron on "True Lies" and "Titanic". Additionally, an important part of "Titanic" also included such inside-references. It seems that my secret importance is of such a degree and nature that, almost invariably, when this girl works on a movie, that same movie includes inside-references to myself that bring this girl to mind. [I have to look forward to the release of "Alice In Wonderland" in several weeks.]

Still from "Mad About You"
(6th Season Finale, 1998)







Excerpt from "Log of a Log Log" (1978)


If you have seen both "Avatar" and "Log of a Log Log", the connection between myself and Cameron is considerably more intense than the afore-described. The subject of the documentary that "Log" is a documentary about (again, "Log" is a documentary of a documentary) regards giant tree roots made into furniture by a company called Cricket Roots. Tom Garber, who was making that documentary, informed me that Cricket Roots got into trouble because of the fact that their destruction of the giant tree roots was being seen as some sort of violation. This clearly has "Avatar" written all over it.

Excerpt from "Log of a Log Log" (1978)


Although "Log of a Log Log" was posted on the Internet in 2006 (prior to which people generally had no opportunity to post videos for free on the Internet), this video/16mm film was made by me in 1978. In "Log" one sees documentary filmmaker Tom Garber, who one can also see on his website - he appears approximately 30 years younger in "Log" than he does on his website. If you wish to do further fact-checking, it is a matter of record that both Tom and I graduated from the CalArts School of Film/Video in 1978. One might also wish to look up on the Internet recent photographs of filmmaker Terry Sanders, also seen in my 1978 work as approximately 30 years younger.


Something In The Air
People with blue skin are not entirely unknown, in movies. This is something my videos, "Gosk 1" and "Gosk 2" (1994 and 1998, respectively, though posted on the Internet in 2005) have in common with "Avatar" - in and of itself, not enough to connect the two. Alright, but how about special significance given to white, non-snowflakes floating around? How many movies do you find this in, combined with there being blue-skinned characters? The "Woodsprite" in "Avatar" (described in this link as "like dandelion seeds") are key to the story, in that they are singularly responsible for the perception that Jake Sully (protagonist) should be considered for initiation as a Navi, a key storyline in "Avatar. In my video, "Gosk 2", the little white non-snowflakes are, as seen in the following excerpt, also given significance. They are not presented as merely being a benign part of the landscape, but as a special aspect of a foreign world.

Excerpt from "Gosk 2" (1998)



Some Things In The Air
Up next, something that may seem comparatively less pronounced, in that the similarity cited becomes more significant when seen in the cumulative sense, i.e., when seen alongside other Steinhoff/Cameron connections.

In movies it is rarely seen, when we find "visitors" with the special advantage of flying around in spacecrafts, for those with nothing even remotely approaching like-technology to endeavor to engage them in like-manner. Again, you are asked to call upon your memory of "Avatar":

Excerpt from "Gosk 2" (1998)



Something On Your Nose
Again, we've seen close to this sort of thing in movies before, however, the cumulative significance causes me to consider this worth citing: a blue-skinned face with a tan (Caucasian-looking) spot on the nose. I believe this hits it on the nose, even though a different part of the nose.

Excerpt from "Gosk 2" (1998)



Still of Jake Sully
"Avatar" (2009)

















Plain As The Moon On Your Face
Those who remember back to my blog regarding "The Wolfman" (February 12th), and then edit that memory together with numerous other references in my blogs to Sean Daniel, producer of "The Wolfman", may appreciate this.

It is my assessment that there exists a "shorthand" (for lack of a better, less-syllabic word), whereby certain inside-references can be clearly determined in spite of the absence of their being clearly delineated/self-apparent. In my February 12th blog, which was created prior to my seeing "Avatar", I suggested the possibility of a future Spielberg film that might bridge things in "The Wolfman" to me/my material, as occurred with the 2008 "Indiana Jones" sequel (Spielberg) with relation to the 2008 "Mummy" sequel (Daniel) with relation to myself.

When I saw "The Wolfman", I noticed that a flashback scene showing Benicio Del Toro's character as a boy contained imagery that brought to mind the above clip from my "Gosk 2" video regarding white flakes. At the time I saw it, having not yet seen "Avatar", there was not enough for me to feel there was a basis for me to cite it as an inside-reference regarding me/my material. Now that I see that same exact moment brought to mind in the movie "Avatar", in theatrical release at the same time as "The Wolfman", I have to feel that there now is enough for me to cite it as an inside-reference.

Additionally, the flying bird POV shots in "Avatar" also relate to what I previously assessed (Feb. 12th blog) as inside-references in "The Wolfman" to me/my material. I recognize that flying bird POV shots are not unique to the three of us (Cameron, Daniel, Steinhoff), however, in conjunction with other factors, the significance changes.

Still Time To Buy Popcorn

Yours Truly Firmly Planted In Someone's Fantasy
Knowing how secretly super-important I am (yes, I'm in on that secret), and knowing how James Cameron has made inside-references to me/my material in the past in a big way, I figured that, when I did get around to seeing the biggest movie in the history of cinema, "Avatar", I would very likely see something myself-related. So on Sunday I broke the suspense and went to see "Avatar".

I was not prepared.

Word on the street was that the manufacturers of Coca-Cola would love for me to make some kind of mention of their product during the course of the blog I write on how "Avatar" relates to "me" (me/my material). Which this blog isn't - that will be another blog. I am not yet ready for that moment in the history of mankind, which is to say, I appreciate the significance my reaction might ultimately have attached to it, and I am only too aware of my obligattion to try to do justice to that kind of attention. So stay tuned, between my day job as a secretary and the countless, unending assaults on my attention that descend upon me when I'm not at work, I should nevertheless be able to summon the strength and inspiration needed to be equal to this task.

Where was I? Oh yes, and then word on the street was that the manufacturers of Pepsi would really love for that blog to include some mention of their product. Or short of that, if I at least could refrain from mentioning Coca-Cola. Or communism, right, I think it was the Pepsi people who wanted communism kept out of it, for some reason. No communism and no Coca-Cola, that was the word on the street. And then all of these other soft drink manufacturers starting putting word out on the street about what they wanted to see in this upcoming blog of mine. Dr. Pepper apparently hates existential tangents. And if I told you which soft drink manufacturer is campaigning against nihilism you wouldn't believe me - that was something I didn't expect this experience to teach me! Well, forget it, boys. Tapwater, your day is at hand, you have a very powerful ally in me (okay, tapwater only after its passed through a Brita filter, but if you say I said that I'll deny it).

And then, suddenly, from amidst all of the unceasing, constant chatter from the beverage world, a rumble from the good people who make a very popular snack food began to emerge. Followed by anxious whispers from their competitors. This snack food talk, it was like some new, non-soft drink-esque mood had descended upon word on the street. It reminded me of the effort to raise money for Haiti, if that doesn't sound too cynical.

Don't they all want a piece of that upcoming blog of mine. Ah yes, to control the mind of the secretly super-important Jonathan David Steinhoff. Yet it should all be something I'm used to. You know, "Jurassic Park" was once the most successful movie in the history of cinema, and I was secretly responsible for Spielberg making that one. And then there was "Titanic", another James Cameron movie that also was once the most successful in the history of cinema - I was a big influence on an important part of that one as well. Would it be tangental at this point to bring up my influence on The Beatles, The Stones, Saturday Night Live, Madonna, Sting, etc., etc. (my deepest apologies to the multitude of greats omitted here).

Hopefully this will someday be regarded as my strange way of trying to touch on the idea that there really is reason to consider that there really has been a real degree of real effort to influence my real brainwaves. And yes, I mean by subterfuge - oops, I just lost half the people who want to take me seriously, they see I'm off the deep end. Besides, who ever used sophisticated means to control a powerful person? Only in dimestore novels! Ignore those sub-rhythms you hear coming through the sounds in my car and air-conditioning and computer and so on and so forth, no amount of money could make that happen! But please, may I at least turn up the TV to better ignore them, or the radio, something I strangely imagine I even need to do in the "dead of night"?


Something To Do With 24
I think I may have seen Kiefer Sutherland again, this time within fifteen minutes of my leaving the "Avatar" movie theater. If so, it could relate to what I wrote about him two blogs ago (February 4th). If not, it could have been.... someone who resembles Kiefer Sutherland? Paid by someone to drive by me? Or.... it might not have been him at all in any way, shape or form, pure and simple? Yes, of course. In any event, I must believe that it could never serve the "common good" for me to attempt any serious effort to find out one way or the other who it was. What kind of person would that make me?


At The End Of The Day
Strangely, this seems to lead my thoughts to the fact that Doug Fieger of The Knack/"My Sharona" fame just died the other day. Is there any point in my mentioning that I once had a half-hour conversation with Doug Fieger? It happens that he was once a bandmate of someone who worked where I worked (I was living in Denver at the time), someone who started working at the company after I had been there half-a-year or so. Someone who also lived in the same apartment building as me, with the help of a recommendation from me. This was around the time when "Double Fantasy" was relatively soon to be released, down the road a little ways. That individual, who Fieger acknowledged as once having been his bandmate, had once been on an album produced by Jack Douglas, a producer on the verge of producing Lennon and Ono's "Double Fantasy", another work I was an influence on. At the same time there was a girl at our company whose fiance was good friends with the saxophonist on Ono's "Season of Glass", though a few things happened before that album came into being. When I changed jobs to another part of town she wound up in that building as well. I have serious reason to believe that this individual, the Fieger bandmate that is, was an intermediary between Lennon and myself, though there appear to have been a few others as well between Lennon and myself at that time (and other times as well, since I was nine or ten). Fieger and this co-worker of mine had once been in a group called "Rats" (not "Boomtown Rats"), and it was this co-worker who told me how I could get the new "Double Fantasy" at a Denver mall called Cinderella City several days after they failed to release it on its announced release date. Did I mention "Double Fantasy" includes a song containing the line, "No rats aboard the magic ship" and "we believe in pumpkins that turn into princess"?


Pick 24 Random Hours
However, I seem to be rambling, especially if you fail to see any thread between the things I describe (always a reason for seeing someone as rambling!). I must make more of an effort to confine myself to that which even the lowest common denominator amongst us would perceive as relevant, so as to ensure against the possible appearance of rambling.

Especially when I get around to addressing the fact that the most successful movie in the history of cinema inside-references me most very significantly. I do not want to lose not one person when that time comes (perhaps my next blog). Or instead I should just count numbers sequentially, no one would be able to accuse me of a non sequitur at such a moment as that. Unless it should be that particular kind of thinking that we will all need me to distance myself from when I do write that blog....

By the way, "The Wolfman" will once again (see my previous blog of February 12th) come into the picture on that occasion as well.