The Friday afternoon wrap-up!

I've e-mailed the guy asking if we can play snippets of his work on our next episode, but I haven't received any response yet. Still, I just gotta talk about the awesome and hilarious work by Chris Harding. His latest short film, Learn Self Defense, is the only one that can't be viewed in full yet, but you can go ahead and see the first episode of Robot Family (pictured above), as well as the laugh-out-loud greeting card instructional video Make Mine Shoebox.

Also, just so everyone knows, there's a new Jump Cut episode online. Tune on in!

I'm off to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! I heard it got good reviews in the New York Times and Maxim Magazine (two very different publications, I know), so I've got high hopes. Hell, I've always had high hopes for this movie! Let's hope it doesn't disappoint!

Hey, it's Friday, so how about some free music?
"Wake Up" by Dr. Dog
(nice, druggy little rock song)

"Start Over" by MC Frontalot
(hilarious nerdcore rap version of the Little Red Riding Hood story)

Have a good weekend, everyone! See you later!

Nice, refreshing crack...

I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting a little hankerin' for some Crack Sandwich!

Photo courtesy of Engrish.com

For a look at the opposite end of the spectrum (i.e. Japanese words misused by Americans), check out Hanzi Smatter, my pick for one of the best (and funniest) blogs out there.

New Jump Cut tonight, plus podcasting on the radio...

Yep, you heard it here first, folks! Episode 7 will be uploaded and on our site, hopefully by 9 or 10 PM tonight! Our good friend Deniz Rudin, from The Tragically Nameless Podcast, will be stopping by to lend us his input on Sin City, and we'll finally announce our first contest, where you could score free stuff from our online store.

Also, check this new article on podcasting from Wired Magazine:

Podcasting Killed the Radio Star

I might have to submit our newest episode to that radio station. That'd be pretty sweet!

F**king Weird-As-Hell Story of the Week

Big props to Nathan over at WilmingSloan for finding this little tidbit of bizarre news!

BBC Reports on Exploding Toads

I agree with Nathan's delight and concern. We need to be getting these things exploding on tape, but at the same time, should we be concerned that this disease, if that's what it actually is, might spread to humans? Could we be sitting on the verge of an epidemic of (dare I say it) explosive proportions?

And as if that wasn't enough, it seems the evil tobacco companies have coerced another unsuspecting member of the animal kingdom into taking part in its despicable habits:

USA Today Reports on Smoking Chimp

Wow, finding weird animal stories at 12:30 AM, the day before my final exams. I really have hit a new low.

Some Choice Album Art

One of the major reasons I still buy most of my music is because I love album art. Whether it's cool photography or innovative artwork, if a cover is eye-catching, I just might be more inclined to go buy it. Here's some recent album artwork that has caught my eye (and my ear). Click on any for a larger view.


The Mars Volta, Frances the Mute
Cover by Storm Thorgerson, Peter Curzon and Dan Abbott, with Bill Thorgerson


Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs
Drawings and artwork by Jay Ryan
Layout by Jason Harvey


Various Artists, Verve Remixed 3
Art Direction: Hollis King
Original Design: Rehab
Design: Rika Ichiki
Audio Sculpture: David Ellis
Photography: Vincent Soyez

Also, check out the excellent poster art by Jason Munn at TheSmallStakes.com. He's done tour posters for Death Cab for Cutie, Iron & Wine, Pedro the Lion, and The Pixies!

New short film added!

It took me until one in the morning, but I've finally got it uploaded! Ladies and gentlemen, our entry for the Spring 2005 One Take Film Festival, "Unfortunate"! You can download the film here.

I'd love to talk more about it but I'm tired as hell, so I'll save it either for another blog entry or for our next episode of Jump Cut Radio. So, goodnight, everyone!

UPDATE: So, I got around to actually watching the downloadable version of our film and I realized that the sound is utterly God-awful! I'm keeping it up on the website, but I might beg Nathan to re-compress the file for me. Sorry for the shitty quality, folks.

Massive midnight update!

Hey, guys! Sorry I haven't posted any updates in a while, but I've just been overwhelmed with the stuff that's been happening recently. First off, the king of podcasting himself, Adam Curry, played our promo for Jump Cut Radio on a recent episode of his Daily Source Code. Since then, traffic has doubled on our site, we now have over eighty subscribers, and me and Nathan couldn't be happier! This is so freakin' awesome!

Also, my Photo of the Week comes from the Flickr account of Funtime Ben from UpTheTree.com. Unfortunately, the photo is copyrighted and I didn't get his permission, so hopefully, he won't get pissed off.

Earlier this evening (Thursday evening), I performed with four other crazy people in our UNCW Improv Club, basically doing a bunch of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" antics and skits. It was a lot of fun, but I was insanely nervous 'cause I've never done any improvisational comedy in front of an audience. I'll see if I can upload some pics for you guys.

Finally, I'm getting the team back together for the Spring 2005 One Take Festival! This year's production team is the same as last year's except Eric Martin had to drop out due to exams and scheduling conflicts and we've added the lovely Katy Archer, Kaylee's roommate. Once we finish shooting the film, me and Nathan will try and record a new episode of Jump Cut. We'll review "Sin City," talk about One Take, and hold our first contest where you could WIN a free item from the DiMattiaFilms Online Store.

If you're in the Wilmington, NC area, stop by Thalian Hall this Sunday at 7:30 PM, where they'll screen the top 10 One Take films. Hopefully, ours will be included. Tickets are $5 for guests.

Alright, enough of my yapping. Who wants some free music?
Braces Tower, "Eleven Twelve"
A fun little techno song which samples a Sesame Street clip.

Q*Bert = Art?

This art gallery in Los Angeles will be holding an exhibition of artwork based on famous vintage video game characters like Donkey Kong, Q*Bert, and Centipede. Here's some of the pieces I particularly liked from the Wired article:


Sean Clarity, "Excitebike"


Joe Ledbetter, "@!#?@!"


Tim Tomkinson, "Duck Hunter S. Thompson" (my favorite!)

Quote of the Day

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

--Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Read the New York Times article here.

Sweet...

Devin goes podcasting in South Park.

Flickr account set up!

Hopeful in November
Originally uploaded by devpd.

So, I finally got a Flickr account set up. Basically, Flickr is to photos what Blogger is to text. I don't have a digital camera of my own yet, but I decided to go ahead and set up a free account for when I do decide to go out and purchase one.

Anyway, I came across this photo a friend of mine took last semester. As you can see, my liberal views were not held among a lot of the other students here at UNC-Wilmington (note the Bush/Cheney stickers in the background).

Cold and wet outside, podcastic and blog-tastic on the inside!

So, while the weather forcast for Wilmington is "generally shitty with 70% chance of shitty later tonight," I've decided to review some of the wide variety of podcasts that I listen to. To tell you the truth, podcasting has really changed how I go about my daily business. I hardly ever use my bike anymore, because if I walk to class instead, it takes longer, giving me more time to listen to new episodes of my favorite shows. But, unlike Deniz Rudin who claims to be subscribed to over 70 shows, I simply don't have the free time to constantly stay up-to-date with any more than 20. Okay, on with the reviews!

Daily Source Code hosted by Adam Curry

The podcast everyone starts with. He's basically the Headline News of podcasting. In each new episode, he'll rundown the latest headlines in podcasting, play a couple mashups and podcast promos, and throw in some witty remarks about living in England, podcast setups, the Michael Jackson trial, whatever! While his show is entertaining, it doesn't have much replay value. I usually toss new episodes after I've listened to them.

Rating: 3 out of 4

Coverville hosted by Brian Ibbott

ASCAP-licensed "Coverville" is just that, a bunch of cover songs. The show is very entertaining, as well as the music he plays. And the fact that he does three episodes a week(!) is just icing on the cake. Also, Sunday is request day so send him some e-mails! I've already gotten two songs on the show (the March 27 episode).

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4

Catholic Insider hosted by Father Roderick Vonhogen

I got to admit, Father Roderick may be the hippest priest I've ever heard of! His show wouldn't be all that interesting if he didn't have such a high-quality setup. The best sound-seeing tours yet! On a previous episode, he takes us into his church and we can clearly hear choir music, bells, and various church sounds. Very, very impressive!

Rating: 3 out of 4

Chub Creek hosted by Dave and Gary

Two Canadian guys. Great songwriters. Funny sketch comics. Need I say more? Another cool thing about the show is they're on opposite sides of Canada so they trade sketches and songs back and forth. For proof of this show's genius, download episode 5 to listen to them reminisce about their old town carnival or episode 8 where they discuss sliding through cow patties when they were kids.

Rating: 4 out of 4

GoRadio hosted by Jeri and Nicole

A personal favorite because Jeri and Nicole spend their time talking about happenings in my hometown of Greensboro, NC. They have pretty fun banter going on between them and, since the show is funded by GoTriad Magazine, they usually sound very professional, featuring interviews with local Triad residents and playing some awesome local bands and stuff. If you're in the North Carolina area, give 'em a listen!

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4

Insomnia Radio hosted by Jason Evangelho

Probably the most professional indie podcast you're gonna hear. If your local Top 40 radio station suddenly went indie, it'd sound a lot like Insomnia Radio. Usually an hour-long block of kickass music, with "Double Shot" episodes in-between where host Jason Evangelho will play two songs by two up-and-coming musicians. Definitely worth checking out!

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4

It Stinks! The Movie Review Podcast hosted by Jason Tibor

Kinda like the "Reel Reviews," except host Jason Tibor reviews new movies, usually bad ones. Always nice to hear someone bashing the new slasher flick or shitty romantic comedy! (He hasn't updated the show since mid-March, so I'm not really sure if he's still working on the show.)

Rating: 3 out of 4

Marvin Suicide

Hosted by the deranged sister of the HAL 9000 (I guess), Marvin Suicide is a half-hour block of avant-garde and otherworldly electronica, but not always. It's really a music free-for-all. It's my "college radio" podcast and I love it!

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4

My Silver Mount Zion hosted by Rob and Steve

God, these guys are hilarious! Only six episodes in and already, My Silver Mount Zion's getting some big buzz. In an older episode, Rob and Steve, a pair of British dudes (definitely scores some bonus points in being from bloody England), discuss the deep meanings behind "Friday Night Lights" and profess their love for Kiefer Sutherland on "24". Tune in and get your Brit on!

Rating: 4 out of 4

Reel Reviews hosted by Michael Geoghegan

Reel Reviews is the grab-bag of movie reviews. His last three episodes were for "Sideways," the John Carpenter version of "Assault on Precinct 13," and "Contempt." See what I mean? Worth subscribing to if you want to get some pointers as to what to rent from Blockbuster this week.

Rating: 3 out of 4

The Bitterest Pill hosted by Dan Klass

The funniest dad you'll ever meet. Dan Klass is like the Garrison Keillor of podcasting, giving us humorous rants, while at the same time, weaving stories of such clarity and hilarity that you have to subscribe to his show. He also has a bunch of theme songs for his show that people have sent it (including the dude from Illinoise! and the guys from Chub Creek).

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4

The Rock and Roll Geek Show hosted by Michael Butler

Michael Butler, proclaimed a great bassist by the lead singer of the Wildhearts, is also a great podcaster, and one of the first at that. Kickass rock music, fun and funny rock news and banter, interviews with rock celebs, and more! On his last episode, he took us on a soundseeing tour of a strip club, so you know it's quality!

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4

The Tragically Nameless Podcast hosted by Deniz Rudin

Loud? Definitely. Vulgar? Certainly. Boring? Quite the opposite, my friend. Every time Deniz Rudin lets out another "Holy f***, awesome!" I'm happy to have subscribed to his show. Very funny, very irreverent, and sometimes he'll actually play music I like! :-) You might wanna watch out for the thirty-minute marathons of ear-piercing music, but that's just my opinion.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4

Tracks Up the Tree hosted by Funtime Ben and Josiah

What can I say about this show that has not already been said? The best indie music, the best slacker banter, the best time you'll have on your iPod. I promise. I've gotten into so many different bands thanks to these guys. Click on down to their awesome blog, too, and continue the exploits of Funtime Ben and Jobless Josiah!

Rating: 4 out of 4

Alright, there's my podcast reviews! Now for some awesome blogs I've come across:

The Catbirdseat
A most-excellent MP3 blog where music rocks! The best part of their blog is the monthly mix of free indie music. Highly recommended.

Stereogum
Another great music blog, though this one spends a little too much time making fun of Britney Spears. Whatever. At least the music's cool.

Infrangible
An awesome photoblog where every new photo is accompanied by really good music! Something cool for the eyes and ears...

Keanerdotnet
This one's for my dad 'cause I know he'd like this. Keanerdotnet is the main page of comic artist Kean Soo and on it, he showcases a lot of his work. Like Infrangible, a lot of his comics are accompanied with music. Check out the Secret Friend Society to view his online comic "Jellaby," updated every Tuesday and Thursday.

I've already talked about PostSecret and Lightningfield.com so I won't bring those up, but those are also very awesome.

Okay, that about ends my insanely long review list, but before I go, I'd like to reward all those that have come this far with some free music!

"Deserted Eyeland" by Devin Davis
(featured on Episode 6 of Jump Cut Radio)

"Concerning Lessons Learned from the Aliens"
by The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers
(I know it's a long-winded band name and song title, but trust me, it's an awesome song!)

"Go Ahead" by Bellglide
(a truly anthemic song, get it now!)

Ton-O-New Stuff

Alright, just added the new episode of Jump Cut and, I gotta say, it's very excellent. I hope you like it.

I also changed the header and added a new photo. I think that instead of showcasing a different postcard from PostSecret, I'll just show a different Photo of the Week that I find on various weblogs and photo sites. This week's photo comes courtesy of Lightningfield.com, a photoblog by New York Times writer David F. Gallagher. It was taken in Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Here's where you can see the photo in its original context.

"Torn" in Mime

Alright, one more thing before I hit the sack. This was sent to me by my good friend Susan over at the campus library. She's so awesome! Anyway, click on the link below to download this hilarious video file. Don't worry, it's not gross or vulgar (well, maybe a little vulgar).

Hollow Men perform "Torn"

I won't go into too much detail about what this is. I'll let it be a surprise! Good night, everybody!

The Cost of Podcasting

As I've been spending my free time catching up on my large list of old podcasts, I came across this old episode of Adam Curry's Daily Source Code where he and Ron Bloom discuss the future of podcasting. One of the questions that is brought up is will podcasting become a commercial or corporate-run operation simply because they have more money than the rest of us? Well, I know our show doesn't have a huge fanbase (yet), but here's how much we've spent on the show so far:

Website and file storage hosting by Liberated Syndication: $5 a month

...and that's it. Five bucks. Every month. We only use one microphone and it's the internal mic that came with my iBook G3. All the software we use is either freeware or shareware (we've been using Sound Studio for episodes 1-3, but had to stop 'cause our free trial ran out). I had to pay a bit for the Jump Cut coffee mug off my online store but that doesn't really go into show expenses. It did give Nathan just about the funniest photo in his entire Flickr album.

So, anyway, this post kinda went nowhere, but I don't care 'cause it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to! On the next episode of Jump Cut Radio, we'll talk about Tarnation and Hotel Rwanda, hopefully. You know the drill, we never end up talking about the stuff I want to talk about! :-)

Old Header, Begone!

So, as you can probably tell, I got rid of the boring, Blogger template header and created my own. I basically took a crash-course in HTML, deleting strings of code in the template and then hitting "Preview Blog" to see what would happen. So, I found, courtesy of Up the Tree, this website called PostSecret where people send in their anonymous postcards with secrets written on them, usually written in an artistic fashion. So, I decided to showcase some of my favorite postcards in the header, along with the DiMattiaFilms logo.

What do you think? Should I keep this new, kick-ass logo or should I revert back to the old one? Please send me your comments at devin@dimattiafilms.com.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Ciao!

The First Kids Network...Way Back When

Found this really interesting book, Nickelodeon Nation and I started skimming through it. I found a table showing Nickelodeon's programming schedule from October 1985. Take a look; remember these shows?

Saturday:
8:00 AM - Pinwheel
9:00 AM - Out of Control
9:30 AM - Mr. Wizard's World
10:00AM - Lassie
10:30AM - Little Prince
11:00AM - Nick Rocks
12:00PM - You Can't Do That on Television
12:30PM - Dangermouse
1:00 PM - Belle and Sebastian
1:30 PM - Lassie
2:00 PM - Witch's Sister (drama)
3:30 PM - Who Spooked Rodney
4:00 PM - Lights, Camera, Action
5:00 PM - Livewire
6:00 PM - Out of Control
6:30 PM - Nick Rocks
7:00 PM - You Can't Do That on Television
7:30 PM - Dangermouse
8:00 PM - National Geographic

The only one on the list I've ever actually seen is "You Can't Do That..." I actually remember watching "Nick Jr." in preschool, back when they had shows like "Eureeka's Castle" (did you know the head writer of that show was Mr. Goosebumps himself, R.L. Stine?). I find it funny that two of the titles on this list are now band names (Belle and Sebastian, Dangermouse).

Well, if you have a chance, pick up a copy of "Nickelodeon Nation." Also, I would like to give a shout-out to all of my fellow podcasters who've mentioned me or Jump Cut Radio on their shows:

Chub Creek
GoTriad Radio
The Tragically Nameless Podcast

Also, thanks to Brian over at Coverville for playing not one, but TWO of my requests on his show! If you ever have a minute, download episode 66 of Coverville and listen to my Aimee Mann and Everclear cover song requests!

Get a slice of my vast music library on this week's Jump Cut!

So...Nathan told me he had too much homework and would be unable to do this week's episode of Jump Cut Radio. So he set me loose upon the unsuspecting masses to come up with a show of my own. And what a show it is! I basically spend a whopping 57 minutes playing some of my favorite music from movie soundtracks. The soundtracks range from R-rated gangster flicks like "Snatch" and "Pulp Fiction," to children's fare like "Shrek 2" and "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie"!

Click here to go to the Jump Cut website and download the newest episode! Also, if you'd like to send us your comments about the show, use our gmail account specifically set up for Jump Cut Radio. Thanks, guys, and keep tuning in!

New Jump Cut tomorrow, plus funny news articles...

Okay, I spoke with Nathan and he wants to record this week's episode tomorrow night. That's probably a good idea because I have a lot planned for the new episode and I want to get all the prep work out of the way. I'm currently surfing the web in search of promos and audio clips of old drive-in theater "Intermission" ads. If anyone has any clips (or knows where I may obtain some), please drop me an e-mail. I'd greatly appreciate it!

Also, take a look at some of these great news articles!

Hunter S. Thompson's Ashes to Be Shot Out of Cannon

GoreTV...all Gore, all the time! (Not really.)

Too busy to shoot that thar deer? Shoot 'er online!

Take care, everyone, and please, if you haven't voted for Jump Cut Radio over at Podcast Alley, please do so! If you leave a comment about the show, I'll read it aloud on the next episode!

The Art of the Strokes

Hey, I was skimming through a really cool book on graphic design entitled Genius Moves and noticed a certain German magazine cover, titled "Offset Buch und Werbekunst, no. 7" that looked a lot like the last single release by the New York rock band The Strokes.




Even if you don't like The Strokes, you got to admit they have a real cool art sense. They were, of course, art students before they formed the band! Here's some more of their album and single artwork:


Reptilia (uses the logo from the arcade game "Centipede")


Hard to Explain (piece is Shiro Kuramata's "Glass Chair")


Room on Fire ("War/Game," painting by Peter Phillips)

Hopefully, I'll be able to convince Nathan to record our next episode of Jump Cut tonight. We'll be reviewing Jonathan Caouette's iMovie opus Tarnation, I'll say a few words about Sin City and we'll put on our first comedy sketch! Well, maybe. We'll see...

"Sideways" man visits the 'Dub

Well, there's no way around it. This website is slowly turning into one of those "This is how my day was..." personal blogs. I didn't want this to happen! The good news is that today, I did something cool...AND film-related! Jim Taylor, a screenwriter who had won an Academy Award for co-writing the movie "Sideways" with Alexander Payne, visited UNC-Wilmington to entertain our questions and give us some pointers.

I got to ask him if he thought that "Sideways," out of the four films he's written with Payne ("Citizen Ruth," "Election," and "About Schmidt" were the others), was the one screenplay he thought deserved an Oscar. He gave me some insight into how the Oscars work. Basically, he believes that it's good enough to be one of the five nominees honored by the Academy. The fact that they actually have to decide a winner who is better than the other four is just to get people interested in the ceremony and to watch it on television. Well, I will have to say that I was extremely interested at this year's ceremony, not only when "Sideways" took home Best Adapted Screenplay, but when "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" won for Best Original Screenplay!

The lecture ended with Taylor showing his new short film, which he wrote and directed, entitled "The Lost Cause," about a Civil War buff trying to regain custody of his only son. Taylor has made a deal with Paramount to make the story into a feature-length that, like the short film, will be shot primarily in Wilmington, North Carolina! After the film ended, Lou Buttino, one of the Film Studies professors here, presented Taylor with a gift from the UNCW Film Department: a cheap merlot! (If anyone's seen "Sideways," you get the joke.)

Well, I'm off to see "Sin City." I'll tell you how it was on the next episode of Jump Cut. Have a great weekend!

"You always go in with a plan.
Then, you change your plan."
--Jim Taylor, on making movies