I avoided jumping onto the list bandwagon thinking that it was too self-promotional and oozed with, as my wife put it, “Oh, look at me! I have such interesting and eclectic tastes!” Until a friend from my OCA days tagged me on her 15 Albums list and I found I agreed with an astonishing number of her choices. Despite my misgivings, I started to ruminate on albums that somehow made a difference in my life. As luck would have it, this blog has been sitting here begging me for content for some time now so I’ve decided to just start writing about music in my life and see where it goes. I should be able to avoid appearing “interesting and eclectic” as there are some records that had profound effects on me but which I would hardly classify as artistic masterpieces or even listen to today. Having said that, these albums were once important to me and shaped my growth as a wannabe rock star. Continue reading.

The final chapter of “Meher, me, two strippers and a bodyguard”.
Interlude: A tale of two cops:

Cop one:

The first night I arrive in Los Angeles Meher picks me up at the airport and we set out in search of our original accomodations, Deano’s Motel in Culver City. Just as we accidentally pass the motel a police cruiser pulls up behind us and hits our rearview with this tremendous spotlight, blinding Continue reading.

Part two of: What happened to Trevor and Meher while they were in L.A. together composing the score for Reasons To Live.

April 3, 1998.
Stopped working on the score at just after 4am last night. I tried to stay up with Meher but I sort of drifted off at about 3:30. At 12:38 today the phone rings and thus begins The Continuing Story of Tony and His Girls… Continue reading.

To continue the Reasons to Live retrospective, over the next few days I’ll be excerpting some journal entries that I wrote during the film’s creation.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, when it came time to write the score for Reasons To Live my composer, Meher Steinberg, was in Los Angeles seeking job opportunities. I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing the job and seeing as I was unhappily single and feeling somewhat Continue reading.

16mm Colour film, 23:03 min.
Synopsis: Colin Payne gets more then he bargained for when The Grim Reaper shows up at his door demanding to know why he won’t die. Continue reading.

Colour and B&W 16mm film, 8:33 min
Synopsis: A student film that deals with a young man’s struggle to understand the concept of God and religion.

The Cross was my third year film at OCAD. I think that of all my shorts from college this is the one that reeks the most of “student film”. Continue reading.

B&W 16mm film. 16:36min
Synopsis: A meek real estate agent thinks he’s found a machine that can solve all of life’s problems in this Twilight Zone-esque comedy.

Before I continue I should note that I’m not creating these posts in chronological order; there are quite a few shorts between The Ghost in the Machine and this one. I plan to give all of them their due on these pages before long Continue reading.

B&W 16mm film on video. 3:58min
Synopsis: A cyberneticist finds out what really happened to his grandfather when he takes over the old man’s work

The Ghost in the Machine was my first short film. I’d shot a couple of projects on video in high school, including Macdeath a parodic modernization of Shakespeare’s Macbeth that garnered us the amazing grade of 25/15. Continue reading.