History, courtesy of Chicas

This is the program from the night that Lead Singer had its "premiere" at the Video Show at school. 

It was a magical one. Looking at the program again, the importance of the day comes out. I see everyone that was there. In this era of bills and loan payments, it'd be easy to regret the whole damn thing, but I don't.

I made connections, both professional and personal, ones that irrevocably changed me. It's weird to feel nostalgic for three years ago, two years ago, but I do...

Muppets + Beatles = Bliss

I am a huge fan of the Muppets, plain and simple. I also happen to be a pretty big Beatles fan. So...things like this make me happy.



this song is "act naturally," which actually wasn't written by the beatles, but was covered on one of their albums by Ringo. below is "with a little help from my friends." kermit's opening line is great.




I hope the new Muppet movie will be good. Jason Segal wrote the script and is starring in it, so that's a plus.

Origin Story

Warning: This blog is self important. If taking your own shit seriously or someone making something out of very little makes you uncomfortable, this ain't for you. "Birdcall" is a pseudonym, but also an entity larger than myself, something other people have had and have vital parts in. I speak of Birdcall like it's MGM, with a storied and vast history, when, well, there isn't one yet. This is a little weird, sure, and probably makes the ol' ego feel good, but that's just how it is. The dramatic tone of voice is one that i am probably too comfortable in. Get over it or move on.

So people often ask me where the name "Birdcall" comes from. Back in the day when it started, when I started making films and thinking that I might want to do this for a living (living? is that what this is called?), all of my filmmaker friends had "companies", or so it seemed to me. Quotations because I am not sure of their legal status, and really, that wasn't the point. The point is doing something bigger than yourself, something greater than masturbation. Maybe not that much greater, but you have to admit that there is a difference between the two. Now when I peruse Craigslist posts in my desperate hours, I see all kinds of assholes with companies and it makes me a little cynical. Especially because they have the nerve to ask for interns. Anyway... I decided, before the release of my first short (and first video work ever), "Just a Glimpse," I decided to make one of my own.



 Among the greatest inspirations for me are the films of Wes Anderson. Now, let's not get into the last few films or his representations of nonwhites or his signature style/cliches, okay? Whew...The first three of his films are huge for me and I can quote a lot of them till the cows come home. 



The first idea that I came up with was "Wildcat Films," a reference to Eli Cash's failed first novel and the above moment of absurd genius from The Royal Tenenbaums. A search revealed that a Wildcat Productions or some such existed in the UK. So, I moved on. I wanted something that was a little obscure, out there, but ultimately terribly amusing to me. So, I went with Birdcall. Birdcalls are actually in several of Wes Anderson's films, but I was actually more taking inspiration from the two moments in Bottle Rocket. I actually captured and uploaded these for this purpose.

The first video comes from the opening scene of the film. Technically, the bird call is the first line of the film, if you think about it. It is off screen, made by Dignan (Owen Wilson) to get Anthony's (brother Luke Wilson) attention. Great scene. I also captured all the way up to the 75 year plan bit, to better illuminate my previous post.

The second video is from a later scene. This comes right after Anthony has had sex with Inez for the first time and their love is in its first bloom. Dignan is being left out and not dealing with it terribly well. The bird call comes in the bar, when Dignan is being beat up and makes a bird call to Anthony (who doesn't hear it) for aid.

More (self-glorifying) history later.

My Amazing Adventures with Michael Chabon

I've been rereading all of my Michael Chabon books recently and am currently (breezily) making my way through "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay," his Pulitzer prize-winning masterpiece.

I am pretty crazy about everything that Chabon does and think that he's my favorite contemporary writer. Sorry Nick Hornby, your work is getting stale. Unlike Hornby, Chabon is only becoming more inventive as time goes by and is terribly prolific. I think his most recent work was "The Yiddish Policemen's Union," which takes place in an alternative history where Israel was quickly destroyed following its foundation and America granted Jews a tiny piece of Alaska. It's classic noir, following a detective solving a murder on the eve of reversion back to the US.

Chabon's books (I almost wrote films) have since 2000's Kavalier and Clay become great mixes of genre, blending noirs, history, fantasy, while staying rooted in characters. The internet tells me that his latest is actually "The Final Solution," with "Manhood for Amateurs," a collection of essays, the most recent overall. I can't wait for the latter to come out in paperback, as manhood is often central to his best fiction. His characters frequently are confronting, struggling against, their own sexuality and masculinity. (I believe that in cover of my version of "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," his debut novel and UC-Irvine masters thesis, it says something about Chabon being in a homosexual relationship for some period. He's now married with kids.) I tend to really identify with his characters in this, and perhaps as a result have a real soft spot for "Pittsburgh."

Technically, my first exposure to him was when I saw the film based on his second novel "Wonder Boys," in high school. He has flirted with Hollywood, doing scripts and rewrites but has never had a huge hit, critical or otherwise. Chabon actually wrote a script for Spiderman that never made was supposed to be sweet. "Pittsburgh" has been turned into a film, though based off of the trailer and my reading, it seems like a poor film translation of the work and as such I have yet avoided it. I will see it eventually. Producer Scott Rudin bought the rights for "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" and it is set to be the Coen Brothers' next film or the one after that, which gives me much more hope than "Pittsburgh" did at this stage. Its director previously did "Dodgeball."

Anyway, check him out. Birdcall vouches for him.

75-Year Plan

So I am holding true to my promise. I came back with better images. For those of you not familiar with these images, they are from Wes Anderson's first feature, Bottle Rocket. Dignan, a naive go-getter, creates them for Anthony (played by Owen and Luke Wilson, respectively). The information contained herein I think can be widely translated to plenty of lives, including my own, suggesting things like "develop outside interests," "wives and family- very crucial," and most relevant right now: "through a constant Regimen of Activities We begin to Learn a Craft." Amusing, but wise- a great combination. Click on them for larger versions.

(These are scanned from the Bottle Rocket Critereon Edition DVD, which is my way of jabbing at those that download/stream these things)

Maybe I should make one. If someone else does it, I will. Kevin...

The Start of Something Something

so i am making a blog. how original. i don't know what it will be exactly. mostly a place for me to post random shit and to talk about what i'm working on or grooving on. and to figure out, publicly, just what birdcall is.

i thought that this was an appropriate image to start things off, as it is the film to which birdcall owes its name and one which is an inspiration, both in its content as well as origin story. i will try to find a better image later.