Douche Levels Rising

Somehow, I seem to be surrounded by douchebags a lot lately. Looking for some relief, or at least something to laugh at, I found myself at Urban Dictionary, where I found some fantastic definitions for douchebag. Here is a small sampling, but it is definitely worth going to the site and reading them all:
Douchebag - Someone who has surpassed the levels of jerk and asshole, however not yet reached fucker or motherfucker. Not to be confused with douche.
Rob:He kept hitting on my girlfriend at the party, he just wouldnt leave her alone!!
Sam: God, what a douchebag.
Douchebag - A person with a shitty personality that needs to "take themself the fuck down" or "go home and get their fucking shine box." A douchebag usually assumes the form of a hair-gelling pretty-boy but can also be described as an overzealous, pompous, or vexatious asshole that most people wish were killed with a Mortal Kombat fatality.
Damn, i thought "Beverly Hills 90210" won the permanent award for most douchebags casted in one weekly television show, but then someone had to go make that show, "Friends."

Feeling Jewey

In honor of the holiday (Yom Kippur), I ate all day long and felt miserable about all the crap that I have been through over the past year. So it only makes sense that I ended up at theOld Jews Telling Jokeswebsite.

fukuda factor

I met John Fukuda at the Asian American International Film Festival here in NYC a couple of years ago. He has worked with Dylan O'Neil on a couple of projects, including Otis N' Dwayne, and although we never crossed paths at the time, we both lived in the same D.U.M.B.O. loft building back in the day. I recently stumbled upon a short that he is in which is all about Hall & Oates. Now, Daryl Hall was my first super crush. I went to see them in concert when I was in fifth grade. When I moved to Berlin in 1993, I brought only one cassette tape with me: Hall and Oates - Rock 'N Soul Part 1. I wished my name was Sara.

showroom dummies

Otis N' Dwayne is a "typical mannequin love story." So I went searching for other mannequin stories on the interweb. Of course I came across the 1987 classic starring Andrew McCarthy (whom I had such a teen crush on) and a pre-Sex in the City Kim Cattrall. I was extra pleased to find a two-pack offer "one for him. one for her." pairing "Mannequin" with "Kansas" which also starred Mr. McCarthy alongside Matt Dillon. I don't know if I have ever seen Kansas, but I have a hard time imagining anything starring Andrew McCarthy really being "one for him."
But my favorite discovery by far was the song "Schaufensterpuppen" from Kraftwerk which was recorded in German, French and English. Schaufentsterpuppen literally means mannequins, but these silly Germans translated it to "Showroom Dummies" which just makes it that much more awesome. The Kraftwerk website is really wunderbar and worth checking out.

better than Schindler's List

We have done a few private screenings for a few lucky friends. The response has been really positive. We have these comment cards that we pass out after the screening for the viewers to fill out - a little market research goes a long way... When asked to describe the film in their own words, people gave us some great responses - I am going to share a few of them with you now.
"Crazy, funny, really good"
"Instant cult classic"
"Hilarious, arty, dense"
"John Waters - part exploitation film, part art film"
"ummmm.... nuts"
"... fun, dirty and subversive"

Seeking Inspiration

I recently closed my business which I have had for over six years. I am still as busy as ever. I mean, I have things to do (like, um, start a blog) but I find myself trying to fill every minute with a task or a mini-adventure so that I don't have any opportunity to sink into a pit of self pity. Really, if you give me just five minutes alone with myself, I start shredding myself to pieces. And really, I am a lucky person; things aren't that bad. Still, left with this identity crisis, I am in the process of trying to masterfully reinvent myself. I am searching everywhere for the answer to the question: what should I do next?
Now when I say I am searching everywhere, what I mean is anywhere where I can go for free. I have been taking long walks through Brooklyn. In the space of a few hours, I can visit China, Italy, Greece, Mexico, Puerto Rico... I am really into the Brooklyn China Town. It is not as crazy as downtown Manhattan, it smells a lot better (despite the huge selection of fresh seafood that is displayed in the open on ice) and it is huge. I have eaten some good, cheap meals there.
After these long walks - the last one culminated at Coney Island just as the sun was setting - my head is clear, but somehow also filled with ideas and inspiration as well.

b*tches and hohos, that's what's up

The soundtrack I created with Tosso and the help of a few friends, which I will hopefully be able to repay some day, is a mix of funk, salsa, pop, rock, jazz, house... and rap. The rap is hilarious and definitely worth checking out. Let's just say that yours truly didn't have faith in Tosso's rapping ability. Boy did he show me. And yes, that is me cooing in the background.

as one journey ends, another begins

For me, the journey began something like twelve years ago. My friend Curtis Brown was visiting me in Brooklyn and he brought along a copy this movie he was working on... This was back in the days of VHS. A group of about ten or so friends gathered at my D.U.M.B.O loft (my rent at the time was $325.00 a month) to watch Otis N' Dwayne. I, for one, was certainly not prepared for the hours that followed. The movie was mashed together with "scene missing" flashing on the screen every few minutes. I had never watched a film-work in progress before and thought that this was all part of the crazy style of the movie. Anyway, it was more like a collage - a series of images and ideas held together with crazy glue. I really did not understand anything as I watched it. But I didn't care. It was visually arresting and I knew that I wanted to know more and would watch it again some day hopefully.
Fast forward some eleven or so years... Otis N' Dwayne director/producer /co-screenwriter Dylan O'Neil is visiting NYC and drops by a BBQ I am hosting in my back yard with his childhood friend and my old friend Curtis. I start telling everyone about how the two of them made this amazing movie... Naturally, I asked when they planned on finishing the film - seeing as it had been in production for over a decade already. Dylan asked my musician husband Tosso if he wanted to do the soundtrack for the movie and the collaboration was born. Soon after, I started writing songs with Tosso, recording vocals and cheesy keyboards... Over the past year, we created an entire soundtrack of original songs (except for one cover) and scored the movie as well. I never expected to be doing any of this.
We are putting the finishing touches on our baby right now, cleaning up the sound, pumping steroids into it. Soon, we will begin applying to film festivals and raising the funds we need to help finish what Dylan and Curtis started so many years ago.
Welcome to the Otis N' Dwayne blog. We hope you enjoy the ride.