Dance Yellow

In sunshine

outside, the Carnival

Belly dancing women

and bare-chested men

wearing feathers

spin drunken happiness

at Mariposa and 18th

We hide in our studio

making movies

with yellow umbrellas.

It's fun.

We ignore

the reality outside

make non-reality inside

and it pleases the cameras

Two worlds like

magnets repel

and the yellow umbrellas

spin

turn

dance

yellow

The camera is so happy.

Full Moon

Today was a day I learned more how to sing. I'm working on a Duke Ellington early jazz piece called "In a Sentimental Mood." Later, I went to San Francisco Symphony. I invited my friend, Hayley, who is home from college. There were three pieces: Mozart, a piece about Persephone; a piece by an English composer named Robin Holloway. He came out for the lecture about his piece. He was expressing how he wanted the music to sound...that he wanted the instruments to be talking, to be saying words. The last piece was by Schumann, his 3rd Symphony, a gorgeous piece. I learned that he became very depressed at the end of his life and died of a broken heart. Even though he was depressed, he made music that was really happy. Now, I'm home and my dad is playing Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's "Pizza Tapes." All of the above is great FULL MOON music.

Still Working on the Film

Today I got to do the voice over with the actors in my film--Sebastian Kleppe and Margaret Weir. Also, we had to drive around to find a place where we could shoot an image of Sebastian walking on railroad tracks.

When we were on the train tracks, I was afraid the train was going to come. We finished the shot and got off the track and, all of a sudden, the train gate came down and the warning bell came on and we turned to see a train coming pretty fast. I still had my camera on, so I was able to get some footage of it passing by from the safe side of the gate. That was cool.

That's show biz!

Rocketfilmmaker-xd...signing off!

The Way We Get By

Life can only be understood living it backwards, that's why you have to study History. But we have to LIVE life forwards.

Today, to prepare for my World History final paper, I watched "The Way We Get By." It is a documentary about three old people who decide that their mission is to greet Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans as they leave for the war(s) and as they return home to the U.S.A. The troops come back at all hours of the day or night. They old people in the film call themselves "Troop Greeters" and they get other older people to join them, too. The leader of them said, "We support their dedication to the country, not the reason they were sent there. When Mr. Bush said, 'Mission Accomplished!' he didn't know what he was talkin' about."

The Bangor, Maine International Airport is a main exit and entry point for troops going to and from Iraq and Afghanistan. I didn't know that. Did you?

The film is also about old age. It has excepts of these people's lives. One guy said, "When I'm waiting for the planes, I sit and think about my time on this little green planet and the opportunities I've had. Some of 'em, I blew. Some of 'em, I didn't."

The Good Guys TV Pilot

Tonight I watched the pilot of The Good Guys. My friend is on it. He's one of the cops. I liked it a lot. It was a really funny show. You could watch it, too, when it comes back on in June. June 6 or 7 on Fox Channel, same Channel as The Simpsons.

Today, I edited my film for Film Workshop. I'm beat. I'll write more tomorrow.

Your friend, Rocket

PS: Invite your friends to my blog. Then they can know about all this cool stuff.

Happy Birthday!

It's my birthday! And also my neighbor Sam's birthday, too. We had chocolate ice cream with one candle each while everyone sang Happy Birthday to us. Then, we watched Dr. Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick. Also, my mom and dad gave me Citizen Kane by Orson Welles and we watched it until we had to go to Sam's house for the birthday celebration.

A lot of my friends wished me Happy Birthday on Facebook. It was cool to get messages from all over the place.

A Beautiful Train Day...More Filmmaking

I'm still working on my film. Saturday, I went up to the foothills and shot footage of the actor who is the protagonist in it. We rode an old train and everyone was so nice to us.

One thing about me. My ears are sensitive. I had to hold my ears when the train was coming because the sound of the whistle hurts my ears.

But, all in all, it was a great day. Also, when we were done shooting, one of the docents gave us a tour of the Round House. There are only two working train round houses in the US and this is one of them. The train from "Back to the Future" was there and I got to stand where Doctor Emmett Brown stood. That was cool.

The trains blew my mind. I learned about the ring of fire which heats up the rim that goes around the train wheel. It's called a "tire." It's about as thick as a dime. The fire heats it up so that it can be slipped onto the train wheel and have a snug fit. Also, there was something called the sand dispenser. That is a contraption that drops sand onto the track to create traction so that the train can brake.

Rocket's Recipe #1

Mexican Spice with Noodles

Hi there! I thought I'd share my favorite snack recipe.

First add water to a pot. Then, when it boils, you put in noodles. Then, you pour Mexican Spice into it. A lot of spice. It's called "Mexican Blend" -- (cumin, garlic, paprika, white pepper, and onion). Let it all cook together until the noodles are soft and ready to eat. Then, when you put it in the bowl, you add Hummus. And Voila! You have a Paul Newman way of cooking.

By the way, last night I was at fundraiser for my film workshop at the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco. http://www.fraenkelgallery.com/ My mom brought her camera, but forgot to take pictures. Michael Tilson Thomas, the conductor of the SF Symphony was there. I got to meet him. He was a very quiet person. It's amazing how such a quiet person can make all those instruments sound so big and beautiful together.

Making a Film

There are many artists out there that have different interpretations of filmmaking. They all have their own ways of how a scene should work in a film. Today, I filmed with Film Workshop and my film teacher. I knew what I wanted, but everyone expressed their opinions. I was the director and I listened to their input. Some ideas were good and some didn't help, but mostly their input was helpful to bring out my ideas.

Here are some pictures of me with my film teacher, Ronald Chase, with Max Sokoloff, and with me working with the actors, showing them what I wanted.

This is a picture of Director Clay David and me. I went to his production at Contra Costa College tonight. They have a terrific Drama Department. The show was a tribute to Michael Jackson. It was really beautiful and it would have made Michael so proud. I wish I'd been in it, but it's been a crazy busy Spring and school year...all those stupid standardized tests.

I went into San Francisco by myself on the BART today. It's the first time I ever did the whole round trip on my own. I felt terrific. And, by the way, I got carded yesterday on the Muni! That was another first. They Muni driver thought I was lying about being under 18. She thought I was older.

San Francisco Bay Day

Yesterday, I was coming down with a cold. I had to stop the cold because I have too much going on. So, I took like 6 hot baths and tried to sleep all afternoon in between. And I got up at 3:30 a.m. and took another bath which woke Mom and Dad up.

I didn't want to miss the field trip with my school today. We were going on a catamaran on the San Francisco Bay. My dad went with me and mom stayed home to write. She told us when she picked us up at the BART that she wrote a treatment for Oprah's new network. I'd really like to meet Oprah because she does a lot of good things for people. Maybe if Oprah knew about me, she could get more people to sign up for my blog. I want to do good things for people, too.

Temporary Fix

I had so much going on this week, didn't make it to Capoeira.

But, I did get to the gym. I like all the machines the best.

This morning, I woke up wondering if I was in the moment. So, I asked my mom, "Am I in the moment?" And she said that she thought I am in the moment. But, she also said, "Just to be sure, you could pick up your clothes. That would help you get into the moment."Now, I am getting ready for making a film. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon writing my shots down on index cards to organize them. Organizing is not my strongest ability. After a while, I felt shakey and needed to hang out with some friends. I went over the Nick's. Moses was there. We watched "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson. Watching Stanley Kubrick films calms me down because he was a master filmmaker. I've only seen it about 15 times. I like that it is a story that builds up to madness.