yes, this blog is about weed.
i've been thinking about it a bit because this past week I got a phone call from a friend of mine who's on the road touring with his band. he was obviously high and the phone call itself was quite hillarious. but it got me thinking.
I don't really get weed and I hope I'm not alone. To be fair, I have never tried it, which is kind of interesting considering my history. Though I hit the cigarettes and alcohol pretty hard in high school, along with some painkillers and other things I won't get into (all without my parents' knowledge, so I hope they don't check my blog or facebook), for some reason, premarital sex and marijuana were two lines that I could never bring myself to cross. So, yes, I have no experience with MJ and how glorious the experience is of being under the influence of it. I could be completely off base with my thoughts and I know I'm leaving myself open to the argument of "you've never tried it, so you don't know how great it is." Well, I've never tried heroin either, so I guess I can't really form an opinion on that either.
Wow, that last comment sounded a little bitter, but the truth is that in the past month or so, my opinion on "recreational drug use" has changed from apathetic to downright against it. I find it extremely hard to justify the use of marijuana and it's been bothering me how casually my buddies from high school, band friends, and fellow filmmakers are with the subject.
The bottom line for me is that smoking the reefer is illegal, no matter how little you do it. You could probably argue that it shouldn't be illegal, that there should be an age limit on it similar to alcohol and tobacco, or any number of reasons that the "legalize it" crowd gives as justification for their drug use. I don't think any of those reasons matter as long as the laws of our country stand as they are. The fact is that currently, in 2008, the drug is illegal and until it's made legal, you shouldn't use it. Period. And if you don't choose to recognize the laws of our country, that's fine, but don't complain the next time someone steals your shit. Chances are that that person doesn't care about laws either.
The problem complicates itself for my friends who are Christians that use marijuana. Even if MJ was legal, there is another thing that bothers me about it. It's the fact that using weed puts you under the influence of a substance. Even if you argue, as most people do, that weed has no harmful side effects, you can't deny that it influences your behavior. I don't have to have tried the drug to know that. I've been drunk enough times to know the scariness of waking up and not remembering what you did. More than that, I prize my Christian witness very highly and I don't understand why I would not want to be thinking clearly at all times, with that goal in mind. This world is hard enough to navigate as it is.
As an example, I find myself swearing a lot more when I'm intoxicated. Normally, I try to watch my language. I don't have a problem inherently with swearing (I think I already swore in this post, in fact), but I do know that it causes a lot of people to stumble and that it could potentially at some point hurt my Christian witness. However, when I've been drinking, I find that my inhibitions slide away slowly and it becomes more difficult to check myself on what I'm saying. That's why I've cut down my drinking significantly lately, also. The negatives of being drunk far outweigh the positives for me. I would imagine it's the same way with weed and, like I said, I just don't get it.
I don't remember - are obeying laws and saying no to drugs still uncool? If so, I'm sorry for coming off as some sort of parental figure lecturing the world on its problems. Those of you who know me know that I'm not the judgmental type and that I don't pick the people I spend time with based on what they do or don't do. But, if you can't talk to your friends about this stuff, then who can you talk to?
So, if you're a "recreational drug user," I definitely still love you, but please explain to me the appeal, because I don't understand it...
25.8.08
16.8.08
Warped Tour 2008 Day 1 (part 1?)
ah, yes, a long gap in posting, but this blog hasn't died yet. i've just been really busy with Rock for Justice, getting ready for Warped Tour.
you're probably thinking - Warped Tour? Didn't that happen earlier this summer?
The tour actually ends this Sunday, but we recently found out that we could get a few spots on the latter half of the tour - basically as many stops as we wanted, as a non profit. Since the tour had already started up by the time I found this out, we weren't able to officially join up with the tour as a non profit and we definitely didn't have the capital to be able to afford the bus and funds necessary to get across the country, we decided to just do the local dates - San Diego and LA.
San Diego was yesterday and it went pretty well.
I'm guessing I might post more on the tour later, which is why this is only a tentative part 1, but I felt a little like sharing my thoughts on this year's tour, apart from the non profit. The official blogs on the RFJ page will hopefully show photos/interviews/video of our experience on the tour, but they're posted as a collective opinion :) so this is me talking now…
This year's lineup, from a musical standpoint, was a little disappointing. I've never really been a fan of Warped Tour, to be honest, mostly because of the rampant commercialism. Festivals, of course, are always freaking sweet because they showcase a ton of bands in one place, for one price, but Warped takes it a step too far, in my opinion. The fact that every stage is sponsored and that banners and ads are everywhere takes a slight edge away from the rebellious, anti-establishment punk rock dream that Warped is still trying to live. The lineup this year didn't do much to help that. Again, from strictly a musical standpoint, the acts lacked the diversity of previous tour lineups and when you have Katy Perry playing the tour, you know that Warped has pretty much become for tours what MTV now is to music television - a celebration of the current trend among 12 - 18 year-olds. (Nothing against Katy - she is a cool girl, but just saying…a far cry from Rancid and NOFX.) This year, they had an Old School stage, which featured older acts and there were more veteran acts, like the Vandals or Horrorpops, but those stages had far less attendance than, say, Cobra Starship or Forever the Sickest Kids.
But, yeah, that's just as a musical critic. I wasn't there as a musical critic, but as a non profit, and, in that aspect, the tour pretty much rocked my face off. I have always appreciated the fact that Warped, more than other tours, has allowed non profits the opportunity to speak out on the entire tour. Since the tour caters more specifically to the younger generation, I think it's key for any non profit really to try for a spot on Warped. You will get to talk to and reach out to so many kids who may end up being the next world changers. And, as a huge part of Rock for Justice's mission statement is to raise up the people who think they can't help, Warped was an absolute blessing. So many people bought into what we were doing and were incredibly encouraging. Our booth didn't have much of a Rock for Justice presence, as we're still working on getting shirts and more event plans out, but we have brought our friends, the Give a Damn? documentary, on board and they pretty much pimped out our booth…in all, great success.
To get to talk to so many bands and to hear how many bands actually desired to step outside their music and use their positions of influence for good rocked. I've heard some depressing stuff about a lot of the bands on the tour and, so it was good to hear a lot of them step away from their diva or rockstar images. They might have been putting on a front for us, but I don't think that was it. The backstage area was such a chill environment, and myself and a few others spent a majority of our time back there, that we were literally hanging out with the bands - not hanging out in the sense of meeting them once at a concert, but spending some concentrated conversation and down time with them. It's hard to be fake then, in my opinion, and so that was very encouraging.
It was kind of a bummer to be denied video access, but that's going to come when we're back on the tour Sunday in LA. The venue put up restrictions to video crews at the last minute and there wasn't much the press company could do, so they just denied video access to all crews, except for the really major ones. Not a big loss - but we'll have to pack some acoustic performances and video interviews into one day now. I think it's do-able. We were done with all our interviews by 6 and we talked to quite a few bands.
I did keep thinking, however, about how much I wanted Rock for Justice to complete its mission of standing apart as a non profit that puts the tools for action into the hands of people. There are certain non profits (not to name any specifically) that had trendy shirts, tour with bands, and bump elbows with artists, but the actual mission of the organization is a little difficult to define. In some respects, the non profit becomes just another band - they get the benefits of being paid to travel on tours and hang with famous groups. I almost think that groups like this become their own celebrities. When a non profit conducts almost as many interviews as the bands that support it and when it has its own tour bus and uses its name to get into concerts for free - I think there's a problem. I want nothing more than to see Rock for Justice live out in the lives and hands of people who see its mission and are inspired. More on that later probably, but my one fear as I look beyond Warped Tour to RFJ's future is that this is as far as RFJ will go - that we might become a name-dropping organization that schmoozes with celebs, but doesn't bother to do legwork to actually help the organizations it is supposed to be helping raise awareness.
By now, I'm just aimlessly rambling, so time to cap off this post. I'll be back at Warped Tour on Sunday and I will definitely let more thoughts trickle out in the coming days. This is my personal blog, so while what I say may be a bit lengthy at times, I hope I can give a more intimate view on some of the behind the scenes work of what I'm doing.
until next times,
cheers,
-m
you're probably thinking - Warped Tour? Didn't that happen earlier this summer?
The tour actually ends this Sunday, but we recently found out that we could get a few spots on the latter half of the tour - basically as many stops as we wanted, as a non profit. Since the tour had already started up by the time I found this out, we weren't able to officially join up with the tour as a non profit and we definitely didn't have the capital to be able to afford the bus and funds necessary to get across the country, we decided to just do the local dates - San Diego and LA.
San Diego was yesterday and it went pretty well.
I'm guessing I might post more on the tour later, which is why this is only a tentative part 1, but I felt a little like sharing my thoughts on this year's tour, apart from the non profit. The official blogs on the RFJ page will hopefully show photos/interviews/video of our experience on the tour, but they're posted as a collective opinion :) so this is me talking now…
This year's lineup, from a musical standpoint, was a little disappointing. I've never really been a fan of Warped Tour, to be honest, mostly because of the rampant commercialism. Festivals, of course, are always freaking sweet because they showcase a ton of bands in one place, for one price, but Warped takes it a step too far, in my opinion. The fact that every stage is sponsored and that banners and ads are everywhere takes a slight edge away from the rebellious, anti-establishment punk rock dream that Warped is still trying to live. The lineup this year didn't do much to help that. Again, from strictly a musical standpoint, the acts lacked the diversity of previous tour lineups and when you have Katy Perry playing the tour, you know that Warped has pretty much become for tours what MTV now is to music television - a celebration of the current trend among 12 - 18 year-olds. (Nothing against Katy - she is a cool girl, but just saying…a far cry from Rancid and NOFX.) This year, they had an Old School stage, which featured older acts and there were more veteran acts, like the Vandals or Horrorpops, but those stages had far less attendance than, say, Cobra Starship or Forever the Sickest Kids.
But, yeah, that's just as a musical critic. I wasn't there as a musical critic, but as a non profit, and, in that aspect, the tour pretty much rocked my face off. I have always appreciated the fact that Warped, more than other tours, has allowed non profits the opportunity to speak out on the entire tour. Since the tour caters more specifically to the younger generation, I think it's key for any non profit really to try for a spot on Warped. You will get to talk to and reach out to so many kids who may end up being the next world changers. And, as a huge part of Rock for Justice's mission statement is to raise up the people who think they can't help, Warped was an absolute blessing. So many people bought into what we were doing and were incredibly encouraging. Our booth didn't have much of a Rock for Justice presence, as we're still working on getting shirts and more event plans out, but we have brought our friends, the Give a Damn? documentary, on board and they pretty much pimped out our booth…in all, great success.
To get to talk to so many bands and to hear how many bands actually desired to step outside their music and use their positions of influence for good rocked. I've heard some depressing stuff about a lot of the bands on the tour and, so it was good to hear a lot of them step away from their diva or rockstar images. They might have been putting on a front for us, but I don't think that was it. The backstage area was such a chill environment, and myself and a few others spent a majority of our time back there, that we were literally hanging out with the bands - not hanging out in the sense of meeting them once at a concert, but spending some concentrated conversation and down time with them. It's hard to be fake then, in my opinion, and so that was very encouraging.
It was kind of a bummer to be denied video access, but that's going to come when we're back on the tour Sunday in LA. The venue put up restrictions to video crews at the last minute and there wasn't much the press company could do, so they just denied video access to all crews, except for the really major ones. Not a big loss - but we'll have to pack some acoustic performances and video interviews into one day now. I think it's do-able. We were done with all our interviews by 6 and we talked to quite a few bands.
I did keep thinking, however, about how much I wanted Rock for Justice to complete its mission of standing apart as a non profit that puts the tools for action into the hands of people. There are certain non profits (not to name any specifically) that had trendy shirts, tour with bands, and bump elbows with artists, but the actual mission of the organization is a little difficult to define. In some respects, the non profit becomes just another band - they get the benefits of being paid to travel on tours and hang with famous groups. I almost think that groups like this become their own celebrities. When a non profit conducts almost as many interviews as the bands that support it and when it has its own tour bus and uses its name to get into concerts for free - I think there's a problem. I want nothing more than to see Rock for Justice live out in the lives and hands of people who see its mission and are inspired. More on that later probably, but my one fear as I look beyond Warped Tour to RFJ's future is that this is as far as RFJ will go - that we might become a name-dropping organization that schmoozes with celebs, but doesn't bother to do legwork to actually help the organizations it is supposed to be helping raise awareness.
By now, I'm just aimlessly rambling, so time to cap off this post. I'll be back at Warped Tour on Sunday and I will definitely let more thoughts trickle out in the coming days. This is my personal blog, so while what I say may be a bit lengthy at times, I hope I can give a more intimate view on some of the behind the scenes work of what I'm doing.
until next times,
cheers,
-m
4.8.08
Third
This is my third post.
I am posting just to stay in the routine. My birthday's on wednesday, so maybe I'll have some sort of tale involving a clown, balloons, or a petting zoo.
I hope so.
I am posting just to stay in the routine. My birthday's on wednesday, so maybe I'll have some sort of tale involving a clown, balloons, or a petting zoo.
I hope so.
1.8.08
i don't love money
i hate hollywood
by now, i've all but decided to go into business for myself and stop chasing the dream of working at a production company or studio.
i always thought that i would cut my teeth working as a production assistant on some sweet television show and work my way up the lines to director, more famous director, and eventually a towering movie mogul.
i don't any more and two things have changed my perspective.
first of all, i realized that hollywood is full of more red tape, backstabbing, drama, and hurt feelings than i ever thought. actually, scratch that. the ENTIRE entertainment industry is that way - after interning at two record labels, a production company, and on the set of several productions, my eyes have been opened to how senseless and petty the industry can be. I just now realized that I don't want to work for people like that. I actually see working my way up through the industry the traditional way as more of an inefficient way of doing things. Not to say that it can't be done. I have several film major friends who are meeting with great success in the "real world." I personally, however, have not had many doors opened through the internships and jobs I have held professionally thus far. Maybe i'm just not meeting the right people. The people i have met tend to love themselves a little too much.
that sort of brings me to my second reason for taking this slightly more independent path.
i realized that i can't go through life living the traditional "american" dream of getting a good job, getting a better job, buying a house, buying an apartment, buying a boat, etc. i have felt a burden on myself to use my talent for more than just making money and making a name for myself - i really would like to be able to create change in the world - especially change surrounding the terrible instances of injustice and hurt that are obvious in both america and the rest of the world. traditional hollywood lifestyle disgusts me right now. maybe i have been watching a little too much vh1 and the countless shows chronicling the extravagant lifestyle of hollywood celebrities. who spends $35 million for a house that you won't even live in half the time? people in africa are getting by on barely a dollar a day. i just can't live with it. i can't.
so, i've found that the only way to live the only way i can see myself living right now is to go it on my own. grow my non profit, rock for justice. grow my own production company in hopes of one day being able to have the entire say in what i release. i don't think i need to go the traditional hollywood route to do these things - my film education may not have afforded me many professional connections, but it has given me the knowledge and skill to make good decisions within the entertainment industry.
i'm convinced it will work out, some day. right now, i'm content to freelance some graphic design and work part time shifts at urban outfitters. the stuff i do that doesn't pay me right now (rock for justice, music videos, production company) will pay off down the line.
whatever, hollywood.
keep your money.
by now, i've all but decided to go into business for myself and stop chasing the dream of working at a production company or studio.
i always thought that i would cut my teeth working as a production assistant on some sweet television show and work my way up the lines to director, more famous director, and eventually a towering movie mogul.
i don't any more and two things have changed my perspective.
first of all, i realized that hollywood is full of more red tape, backstabbing, drama, and hurt feelings than i ever thought. actually, scratch that. the ENTIRE entertainment industry is that way - after interning at two record labels, a production company, and on the set of several productions, my eyes have been opened to how senseless and petty the industry can be. I just now realized that I don't want to work for people like that. I actually see working my way up through the industry the traditional way as more of an inefficient way of doing things. Not to say that it can't be done. I have several film major friends who are meeting with great success in the "real world." I personally, however, have not had many doors opened through the internships and jobs I have held professionally thus far. Maybe i'm just not meeting the right people. The people i have met tend to love themselves a little too much.
that sort of brings me to my second reason for taking this slightly more independent path.
i realized that i can't go through life living the traditional "american" dream of getting a good job, getting a better job, buying a house, buying an apartment, buying a boat, etc. i have felt a burden on myself to use my talent for more than just making money and making a name for myself - i really would like to be able to create change in the world - especially change surrounding the terrible instances of injustice and hurt that are obvious in both america and the rest of the world. traditional hollywood lifestyle disgusts me right now. maybe i have been watching a little too much vh1 and the countless shows chronicling the extravagant lifestyle of hollywood celebrities. who spends $35 million for a house that you won't even live in half the time? people in africa are getting by on barely a dollar a day. i just can't live with it. i can't.
so, i've found that the only way to live the only way i can see myself living right now is to go it on my own. grow my non profit, rock for justice. grow my own production company in hopes of one day being able to have the entire say in what i release. i don't think i need to go the traditional hollywood route to do these things - my film education may not have afforded me many professional connections, but it has given me the knowledge and skill to make good decisions within the entertainment industry.
i'm convinced it will work out, some day. right now, i'm content to freelance some graphic design and work part time shifts at urban outfitters. the stuff i do that doesn't pay me right now (rock for justice, music videos, production company) will pay off down the line.
whatever, hollywood.
keep your money.
my last blog ever…
welcome to my blog.
every once in a while, i start a new blog with some clever witty name and then i grow tired of it after about 5 posts.
well, i'm over that. this is the last personal blog i will ever create. if this blog dies, then i'm shutting the book on my life until it
a.) becomes a new E! True Hollywood Story episode
b.) is made into a rock opera or Disney Channel musical
c.) is forced out of me in some sort of indictment or hearing. God forbid.
Until then, you can find an update on my world here. To clarify - if you're reading this, you're probably a friend who wants to update themselves on my near misses and adventures. I appreciate that, so I'll try to keep what I write on here interesting. That means no metaphorical poetry, no minute-by-minute update on my daily schedule, and I won't copy and paste portions of Perez Hilton's blog and pass it off as my own.
If you want to comment, please do - then I will be able to find your blog and spend even more time on the Internet. But, for real, keep in touch, if you're a friend. You might even subscribe, if you're feeling extra stalker-ish.
Thanks for reading. This is neat-o.
-mitchell, bringing back 50's lingo since 1986.
every once in a while, i start a new blog with some clever witty name and then i grow tired of it after about 5 posts.
well, i'm over that. this is the last personal blog i will ever create. if this blog dies, then i'm shutting the book on my life until it
a.) becomes a new E! True Hollywood Story episode
b.) is made into a rock opera or Disney Channel musical
c.) is forced out of me in some sort of indictment or hearing. God forbid.
Until then, you can find an update on my world here. To clarify - if you're reading this, you're probably a friend who wants to update themselves on my near misses and adventures. I appreciate that, so I'll try to keep what I write on here interesting. That means no metaphorical poetry, no minute-by-minute update on my daily schedule, and I won't copy and paste portions of Perez Hilton's blog and pass it off as my own.
If you want to comment, please do - then I will be able to find your blog and spend even more time on the Internet. But, for real, keep in touch, if you're a friend. You might even subscribe, if you're feeling extra stalker-ish.
Thanks for reading. This is neat-o.
-mitchell, bringing back 50's lingo since 1986.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)