Introduce Yourself: Newcomers and Lurkers, We Mean You!

[alexarch]

I've noticed that this board tends to stay pretty impersonal.  There's some but not a whole lot of yakking back and forth between members.  So, let's try to get to know each other on these forums.  After all, we all already have one thing in common: We love the musings of Adam and Sam.

I would love to see these forums take off, so I'll start it off.

Nonsense and Personal Shtuff: I've been listening to the boys for about a year now.  I've been read by the boys about 4 times now, and in my own pathetic way, I feel like that makes me special.  I'm an architect.  I live in Dallas with my partner and two cats, and I'm 34.

Favorite Podcasts: Filmspotting, Coverville, Keith and the Girl, KCRW's The Business, Studio 360, The Night Nurse Show, and Gay Pimpin' with Jonny McGovern.

MySpace Page:  With Pics!!! For Extra-Super-Fangorious-Get-To-Know-Me-Action!!!! www.myspace.com/alexarchitect

Hope to see more of you guys and gals list some personal things: I'm peeking at you, winrit and Kilroy's Carnival.  You seem to post a lot.

[Wowser]

I'm quite shy, so I don't like these sort of things, but Alex pursuaded me, so I'll help him bring his nice idea to the forum. (And apologies to Alex for stealing his format, here):

I first head The 'Cast when iTunes picked it up, but since my musings on film rarely stretch beyond 'that film was awesome!' I don't really write in at all.

Like George Costanza, I like to pretend I'm an architect, but I'm actually still trying to find a nice fun job after college. Perhaps even academic /film-related, though I'm not sure how they view an art history degree.

I have a humble film blog which tries to deal with films that have been on UK TV that week (it's been a fallow period of late). It's at http://afilmaweek.blogspot.com if you enjoy badly written blogs.

Like Alex, I don't tend to post here so much because (he he eloquently puts it) there's 'not a whole lot of yakking back and forth between members'. That's quite true: it often just seems like a lot of people posting which films they like without the chitchat on the way.

[alexarch]

I have a humble film blog which tries to deal with films that have been on UK TV that week (it's been a fallow period of late). It's at http://afilmaweek.blogspot.com if you enjoy badly written blogs.

You're too humble.  I quickly read the "Wonder Boys" post and it was well written.  I think this podcast attracts people that like discussing movies intelligently.

I met someone somewhere recently with an architectural degree.  After getting the degree, she realized it wasn't for her and went back to school for an art history degree.  Now she works at the DMA (Dallas Museum of Art) doing archiving.  She said she thinks she got the gig because of her architectural knowledge.  I'm sure I'm leaving something out here, but the point is it's very cool to have an art history degree.  Very cool.

Thanks for sharing. Winrit?

[CSSCHNEIDER]

Alex, leave it to you to bring personality to the place!  

Christopher Schneider is me, rather I am  Christopher Schneider.

I currently live in Winston-Salem, North Carolina but will be moving to London next month.  (Any Brits please feel free to contact me.)

I've wanted to be a filmmaker since I was 7 and have completed a BFA in filmmaking with a concentration in Cinematography from the North Carolina School of the Arts.  I'm moving to London to get my MFA in filmmaking from the London Film School, and hopefully live out my dream as a "British" Filmmaker.

Obviously I like movies, but I also love literature, specifically the works of Jane Austen, Craig Thompson, Brian Micheal Bendis, and books like The Alchemist.

My heroes are Jim Henson, Adam Kimmel, and Troy Aikman to name a few.

Here is my myspace page for pics and other interests, http://www.myspace.com/csschneider , and I have a blog linked below.

[Wowser]

You'll be like Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick, or Ridley Scott on reverse, Chris!

Thanks for the kind words, Alex.

[alexarch]

You'll be like Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick, or Ridley Scott on reverse, Chris!

Thanks for the kind words, Alex.

Terry Gilliam on reverse?  I love a good mind-f, but I'm not sure how I feel about a reverse mind-f.

Thanks Schnitz.  I added you on MySpace, but MySpace is so busted right now, I don't know if it will work.  I've tried to add some other people, and it's not working.  I'm trying to figure out your "Leave it to Alex" comment.  I guess I'll just take it as a compliment.  :wink:

[crumpet]

I've been listening to the podcast for quite a while now -- I can't remember when I started -- but I should have been listening longer.  My partner listened way before me, and I used to just overhear his playing from the computer.  It took me a little while to get into the whole podcast thing, but now I love them.  I also listen to Sunday Night Safran, The Signal, The Week in Whedon, KnitWit - Rantings of a Rabid Knitter, Firefly Talk, Film Buff's Podcast, CraftyPod, Crafty Chica, Craft Borg, Cast-On and Craft Sanity.  My favourites by far are Filmspotting, Cast-On (a knitting podcast) and Sunday Night Safran (a podcast of an Australian radio show -- the tagline is "Religion, Politics and Hoochies", if that gives you any idea of what it's about...)

Anyway, I live in Melbourne, Australia, with my partner and two dogs.  I'm 27.  I studied advertising at uni straight out of high school, instead of doing a fine art degree (thought I should probably do something that would make me money).  I studied art direction and copywriting all through the course, and worked for three years as a copywriter when I finished uni.  It turns out I hate ads, so one retrenchment package and three or so years later, I'm back at uni studying what I really wanted to in the first place -- fine arts with a major in printmaking.  I also study a media arts subject called Hybrid Media, where we get to make fun little animations.  I'm currently working on my major project for the semester, which will be origami stop-motion.  Projects from my first semester can be seen here, here, here and here.  I also have a lot of other work on my website, my blog (this is where all the artwork has been shown recently -- it hasn't made it to the other part of the website yet), and my Flickr page.  Oh, and I have a thoroughly neglected podcast about art called FreakPods -- I'm hoping to get another podcast up within the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, as you can probably tell from the podcast list up there, I love making stuff.  I'm a printmaker, but I also do lots of fibre arts (knitting, sewing, embroidery, spinning yarn), jewellery making, book making, and sculpture-esque, drawing and painting things.  I have a relatively mindless casual retail job to pay the rent and keep me sane (lesson one learned from my advertising career -- avoid "creative" jobs like the plague if you have any interest in doing anything creative on your own time).

[alexarch]

Hey crumpet,

Very cute nephew, or is it your nephew's child?  I just took a moment to look at your blog and saw the cute little baby.

So, it's shaping up that there's a lot of creative types on these boards.  That's very cool.  I admire that in you guys.  I sometimes wish I had followed a creative career.

Crumpet, what's your retail job?  I worked at a clothing store as a second job about 8 years ago or so--J.Crew.  I loved it.  I sold dressy mens wear with a kind of youthful/casual slant to people.  At that tiem J.Crew had a healthy dressy selection and I was in that area of the store.  I loved every minute of it.  Now I'm addicted to Project Runway.

[crumpet]

Very cute nephew, or is it your nephew's child?  I just took a moment to look at your blog and saw the cute little baby.

It our friend's baby -- he was born a couple of weeks ago, and is adorable.

Crumpet, what's your retail job?

I work in a big Australian department store, in the homewares area.

[alexarch]

Crumpet,

I know this is total shite, but I'm not going to let that get in the way of spreading ridiculous rumor.

I heard from totally unreliable sources that there are so many gay men in the metropolitan parts of Australia, that the straight guys can be jerks to the women because there are so few to choose from.

How's that for a wild, completely unfounded, and ultimately inflammatory observation?

[Kilroy'sCarnival]

I have to say I've thought about this thread a bit this weekend.  My first reaction was, I'm afraid, "Oh, let's not spoil this perfectly wonderful relationship by actually meeting." It's not that I'm a recluse or something, but I kind of *like* connecting with other people purely through what they've written about their relationship to film.  

I'm not even sure exactly why I feel that way, whether it's a natural reticence in me or the fact that the more intellectual connection around common interests is actually what I am missing more in my everyday life. Or the fact that I'm a bit older ("and I have more insurance").  The whole idea of a personal and intimate blog is foreign to me.

So, you kids enjoy -- but since I was 'called out' to participate here, just the plain facts: I'm 43, I live in Jacksonville, Florida at present, and I've been listening to Cinecast/Filmspotting for over a year. I think the first one I heard was for "Batman Begins" but I'm not sure. My favorite directors, ones for whom I'll go out of my way to see their latest, are folks like John Sayles, Mike Leigh, Hal Hartley, Noah Baumbach, Bill Forsyth, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Stephen Frears. Which in my sphere means I've seen most of their works on DVD or VHS.

Movies I've lent or shown other people which seem to "test" their tastes compared to mine include: Beautiful People, Sherman's March, The Unbelievable Truth, Jesus of Montreal, Lone Star, Comfort and Joy, Metropolitan, the Fortunes of War miniseries, Solomon and Gaenor, and After Hours.  The verdict: there's probably a reason I'm something of a loner. : )

The most recent actor I've 'latched onto' is Richard E. Grant (after seeing Withnail & I) and over the past year I've formed a new and profound admiration for the Powell and Pressburger films, at least those I've seen thus far.  I hope not to overstate this, but I feel Netflix has changed my life -- before I joined I would often have to scope around for documentaries and indies that the local stores wouldn't always have.  From Grey Gardens to The Tales of Hoffman to a selection to Iranian films and the WORST Shakespeare film I've ever seen, at least it's available.

So there -- more than I intended to post, and less well-written than I would have hoped.  Take that, Alex!  

Best regards,

Ann Carrigan

[alexarch]

Taken.  Thanks.

Damn, girl.  You're wordy.  :wink: That's good.  The more the better...and you probably already know that, and I suspect that you're also proud of it.

Keep on posting.  Now that I know you a little bit better, I can use your personal information against you when I disagree with you.  That's just how I roll.   :wink:

My cat just farted, and it's smelling up the whole office.

Now if winrit would climb out of his/her little hole...

[Kilroy'sCarnival]

Damn, girl.  You're wordy.  :wink: That's good.  The more the better...and you probably already know that, and I suspect that you're also proud of it.

Not really proud of it, no. You can imagine how hard it was to get my sound bite down to under 30 seconds to submit to Cinecast. It makes one really focus though. Had a flashback to my days in college radio.

Again, maybe it's an age thing. I still feel like, if I'm going to write, I might as well fill the "page."

[alexarch]

Not really proud of it, no. You can imagine how hard it was to get my sound bite down to under 30 seconds to submit to Cinecast. It makes one really focus though. Had a flashback to my days in college radio.

Which show is your soundbite on?

[winrit]

Great idea Alex!

I've listened to the boys since itunes. I've been read three times on-air and was once referred to as a man, which I am not. I like to think I was read because of my fabulous wit rather than any particular film knowledge I possess.  

I live in Chicago, but I have never ran into Adam, Sam, or Joan Cusack. Most my friends were film majors in college so I guess that's how I got interested in it.  Those friends now work for studios in Chicago and I have the inside track on movies like Amityville Horror III and Raisin Bran commercials (P.A. to Cinematographer is tough road.)  

In my spare time, I compete in amateur ballroom dancing competitions and perform in showcases.  It's just a hobby though, so if your picturing me with abs of steel, don't. I'm also a big sports fan. Chicago has two baseball teams and soccer, hockey, etc., so I try to get to matches as often as I can. My life isn't quite "Fever Pitch" (the British version), but it's close. I have three cats: Claire, Rueben, and Joey (named after the late Joey Ramone.)

It is really interesting to see all the great things people are doing.

[winrit]

I have a humble film blog which tries to deal with films that have been on UK TV that week (it's been a fallow period of late). It's at http://afilmaweek.blogspot.com if you enjoy badly written blogs.

I think your blog is great.  The last movie I watched on TV was Alfred Hitchcock's the The Paradine Case with Gregory Peck. After so many screwball comedies, it was nice to see a black-and-white film with a little seediness, people kissing on screen.

[Wowser]

Thanks, Winrit. I'm not sure what purpose it serves, but I enjoy doing it

I was a bit shocked to see Gregory Peck as a Nazi in The Boys From Brazil the other day. Bit jarring.

[alexarch]

I've listened to the boys since itunes. I've been read three times on-air and was once referred to as a man, which I am not. I like to think I was read because of my fabulous wit rather than any particular film knowledge I possess.

I'm not going to say I'm better than you, having been read on the air 4 times because that would be childish...but I am...better than you...and I've had a quote in the dope sheet...Hey, but who's counting?

Those friends now work for studios in Chicago and I have the inside track on movies like Amityville Horror III

What-what-WHAT?!  Are you serious?  Because if you are, I'm buying my advance tickets right now.  Are they making an Amityville II with Ryan Reynolds?

About Ryan Reynolds, why must he take off his shirt in every single movie he's in?  Does he have his agent put that in his contracts?  And if so, why aren't there more beautiful vain men like him?

In my spare time, I compete in amateur ballroom dancing competitions and perform in showcases.

More artsy types.  These forums are full of talent.  Or as Bugs Bunny would say, "Monsters are such IN-teresting people."

[alexarch]

To winrit and anyone else:

I hope that no one EVER takes what I say on these forums seriously.  It's very hard for me to be serious, and sometimes it comes out as a "Boo-yah!" or a slam.  My intention is to always add personality to any intellectual discussion; well really to bring down the tone of the discussion to its basist level.

That said, I still maintain that I'm better than Winrit.

BOO-YAH!

[Kilroy'sCarnival]

That said, I still maintain that I'm better than Winrit.
BOO-YAH!

Must be a Texan thing.