Per on Fallon!

This is just too surreal - a guy impersonating my supervisor, Per Hallberg, on Jimmy Fallon!

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2013/02/the-sound-editing-guys-who-tied-at-the-oscars/

This takes the Oscar to a whole new level of awesome.

SKYFALL Wins Best Sound Effects Editing Oscar!

Well, THAT was fun!

SKYFALL and ZERO DARK THIRTY tied for a Sound Effects Oscar, and Per and Karen pulled off a classy and inclusive acceptance speech, in which I was (I think) the second crew member to get a call-out!

This is a sweet moment for me since they'd intended to do the same thing after winning for THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, but totally blanked out after thinking of just two names (neither of them ME!)

I honestly never thought there'd be a do-over, but color me Amazed. (and Happy!)

Love this pic - sort of like Abbey Road, indoors!

New ELMWOOD Cover!

My pal Greg Gierowski outdid himself with this new, rockin' cover for my kindle novel ELMWOOD!

I love how he made the guitar red, like the guitar Elmwood plays in the book.  The guitar pictured was actually more of tan & dark brown combination, and it was totally frustrating to play.  Within a couple years I threw it off my grade school balcony and filmed the point of impact in slow motion.

http://www.amazon.com/Elmwood-A-Story-Friendship-ebook/dp/B00B106F98

Brother Donald

With the news today that the Los Angeles Archdiocese has released MORE names of molesting priests, I decided to check around and soon discovered that TWO of my high school teachers were reported by multiple witnesses. One of them was a really arrogant dick who tried to keep me off the school paper; the other was just mildly arrogant, and difficult to picture as a molester.

If you include the fact that Father Falvey at Blessed Sacrament, once having been called "the most evil priest who ever lived" (are they counting the Inquisition?) was still at school when John and I attended, that's quite a few molesting priests to have been surrounded by.

However - and of course - there were good, kind, and supportive priests and brothers.  I was emailing with my sister Louisa and I told her about Brother Donald, who came into Daniel Murphy High School in my sophomore year.  He was outspoken, flamboyant, and a very free thinker and speaker.  He caused a minor scandal when he started teaching us about philosophers like Hegel and Nietzsche and Existentialism in Religion class.  He was short, with red hair that he grew into a frizzy red-fro, and came off like a toned-down Elton John in robes.

I formed a connection with Brother Don (maybe because I actually read books?), and he once took me on a "field trip" to see his old seminary (St. John's in Camarillo, where I'd been before) and to have dinner with his family. More importantly, when I got caught up in my first girlfriend's horrible druggy lifestyle, Donald immediately noticed the change and hauled me into his office for a much-needed wake-up call.

Louisa suggested I look him up online, and I found him very quickly.  He'd long since become Father Donald: he's 65, and still attending to priestly duties. However, he's beginning to suffer from Parkinson's, a challenge he's facing with the same good cheer I remember from almost 40 years ago.

When I sent him a link to my ELMWOOD page with the picture of myself at 14, he wrote back and said: "That's how I remember you - a little shit!"

Dichotomy

It's my perennial dichotomy: in order to write or make music, I need a little time off; but when I'm laid off, I'm so freaked out that I can't think about music or writing!

Work seems steady for now, and after I see my tax guy, there's nothing urgent on my plate for a while... so I've really got to make an effort to use at least one weekend day to work on my stuff.

Knock wood, it seems like I have a good long run of work ahead, even if there was a week off here and there.  Hopefully I can stay grounded and do something besides run around with my head cut off!

Nick in an ad for his upcoming stage show!

Elmwood Update

So, about 17 people have purchased ELMWOOD for Kindle.

That doesn't sound like much (and it isn't) but I figure that's 17 more people reading it than when it was sitting on my shelf for over 30 years!

Work has stopped on the SECRET Kindle book.  I'll just have to make money the old fashioned way for a while!

My Supervisor Per Hallberg with Ben Affleck

...at the Oscar Lunch on Monday.

Mine were a little better

In Dreams...

Which Dreams Are we talking about?

I decided to think about as many of my dreams as possible, and whether I achieved them.

Rich  NO

Rich Cartoonist NO

Famous Writer  NO

Writer  YES

Movie Reviewer SORT OF

Music Reviewer YES

Backyard Swimming Pool where everyone must be naked NO
Work at a Radio Station YES

Get any job at all in the movies YES

Famous Director   NO

Famous Screenwriter  NO

Screenwriter with script actually shot  YES (Adults Only)

Award-winning Indie filmmaker NO

Indie Filmmaker  YES

Teach Filmmaking YES

TV appearances YES

Screen Credits  YES

Movie Sound Editor YES

Movie Picture Editor SORT OF

Golden Reel YES

Emmy  YES

Oscar NO (but on Oscar-winning crews)

Famous Guitarist NO

Famous Songwriter NO

Guitarist YES

Songwriter YES

Rock Group YES

Play Live Gigs YES
Music on the radio YES

Tour behind a record NO

Make a Solo Vinyl Record NOT YET

Make mass-produced Cassette YES

Make mass-produced CD YES

Go to Ireland  YES

Go to England for Beatles birthplace tour NO

Go anywhere else outside the US & Canada NO

Cruse Ship NO

Meet Frank Zappa NO (but met many band members, plus saw him 5 times)

Meet Captain Beefheart NO (but met many band members, plus saw him one time)

Meet Cameron Crowe YES

Meet Ridley Scott YES

Meet Linda Blair YES

Meet Coppolla and Speilberg NO (saw them both, but no meet)

Meet George Lucas YES
Meet pretty much anyone whose work I admire CAN'T COMPLAIN

Have sex, Get Married and have kids YES

Have my son become an awesome artist-musician NO

Sell thousands of Kindle Novels NOT YET

Lose Weight and remain healthy SORT OF

Retire to a life of travel with my wife, music, writing, vinyl collecting, ganja, and model trains NOT YET

Busy Working!

For the first time in a long, long while, Soundelux is actually HOPPIN'.  Seems like everybody is here; everybody has a job; there are more jobs than people; and nobody is trying to steal anybody else's gig.

Knock wood, it appears that I may not be laid off until after April, and then only for a short time!  This is such a relief since I basically ran through every extra cent we owned just getting through last year.

BOURNE and SKYFALL were great jobs, but for me they were relatively short; and when my pals flew off to London for a month of double-secret overtime, I had to scramble for table scraps (and there were NOT many!) I really thought that DJANGO UNCHAINED was going to use me for a couple weeks, but Quentin cut the film way down and there were plenty of editors to finish without me.

Anyway, it feels good not to be so damned worried every minute of the day!

Work on the Secret Book has stopped for now, because my friend Phil Morrill has unloaded most of his CD and DVD collection into my greedy arms.  Phil is getting ready to move again and he's tired of lugging that stuff around, especially when it's all digitized or can be streamed.

For me, it has provided a nice jolt of Amazon income - he'd already given me one huge box of stuff, and yesterday he delivered 5 additional grocery bags-full. Barely an hour after I started listing, I'd already sold a Simpsons box set, and by this morning I'd sold 4 titles out of this new shipment. And no, he didn't want anything in return.  But when I can, I'll be doing something nice for Phil.

Anyway, I'll probably spend most of Saturday listing CDs.