Pi Ware

Click on the image above for a great set of interviews with...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:08:46 -0700

Click on the image above for a great set of interviews with expert editors about strategies and techniques in the narrative cutting room…. A quick read as well….

I am so proud of the team that created the magnificent doc, The...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 23:02:04 -0700

I am so proud of the team that created the magnificent doc, The Crash Reel. Pedro Kos, the brilliant and tireless editor; Lucy Walker, the inspired and inspiring filmmaker who turned out yet another stunningly emotional and exquisitely crafted film; and the subject of the film, Kevin Pearce, who together with his off-the-charts loving family, opened their home and intimate lives for us to experience, while Kevin struggled to survive the traumatic brain injury he sustained while training for Olympic snowboarding. My prediction: look for The Crash Reel at the Oscars 2014. (at Regal LA LIVE Stadium 14)

The Ware breakfast (at Cafe Stella)

Sat, 25 May 2013 10:39:00 -0700

The Ware breakfast (at Cafe Stella)

Amaro 101: An Introduction to Italian Amari | Inu a Kena

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:13:00 -0700

Amaro 101: An Introduction to Italian Amari | Inu a Kena

Did I just snap a selfie so I could include composer John...

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:31:23 -0700

Did I just snap a selfie so I could include composer John Williams in the background?!? You’re damn right I did. #bmiawards (at Beverly Wilshire Beverly Hills - A Four Seasons Hotel)

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the...

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:12:05 -0700

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the...

At HOB w Jayson Belt and The Red West (at House of Blues Sunset...

Fri, 10 May 2013 22:19:48 -0700

At HOB w Jayson Belt and The Red West (at House of Blues Sunset Strip)

Do you love screamcore-meets-rap-meets-pop? I knew you did....

Tue, 07 May 2013 16:40:08 -0700

Do you love screamcore-meets-rap-meets-pop? I knew you did. Check the video I cut for Falling In Reverse.

News piece on 4 pilots and biplanes that honored my...

Wed, 01 May 2013 17:07:05 -0700

News piece on 4 pilots and biplanes that honored my grandfather’s life yesterday… Check it. Cool footage and a photo of Poppa in his prime. In front of his plane. A plane called, well, called The Florida Cracker.

Just found him in the front yard. We brought him back to the...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:58:50 -0700

Just found him in the front yard. We brought him back to the lake. Looked like Lou Guinness jumping in there

He flew with Satan’s Angels in the 475th and now flies...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:10:57 -0700

He flew with Satan’s Angels in the 475th and now flies with the other angels. God rest your soul, Poppa. Your family and your country thank you.

Finally and amazingly. Nick is married. And to Stacey no...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:38:36 -0700

Finally and amazingly. Nick is married. And to Stacey no less!

Check this fashion video I cut. A remix of a Bruce Springsteen...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:43:27 -0700

Check this fashion video I cut. A remix of a Bruce Springsteen track drives the arty drug trips of 3 fashion models……..

Return of Tanqueray’s Malacca gin means return of the...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:08:29 -0700

Return of Tanqueray’s Malacca gin means return of the proper purple Aviation……

I’ve waited 10 years for this moment. Lake Hollywood. ...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:21:02 -0700

I’ve waited 10 years for this moment. Lake Hollywood. Full loop. Now. (at Lake Hollywood Reservoir)

"The reason why the government is behind nearly every conspiracy theory is simple… The..."

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:12:36 -0700

“The reason why the government is behind nearly every conspiracy theory is simple… The...

I was an 8 year old boy when I used my allowance (I actually...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:34:09 -0700

I was an 8 year old boy when I used my allowance (I actually remember getting a quarter as a weekly allowance. A quarter. A single coin. Don’t spend it all in once place, kid….) to buy this Mad Magazine. It contained one of the most fascinating pieces of culture and technology I have ever experienced—even to this day. It was a flexible record that you cut out of the magazine and played on a turntable. It contained one song on it. One song with 8 different endings. That played at random. The song itself was a hilarious dichotomy of optimism foiled by life’s bizarre tragedies and it was both funny and strange and magical…

Have a listen and transport yourself back to Dr. Demento-ized, OP-shorts-wearing days…

Then there was the back cover of the magazine, which wasn’t funny. It was a weird piece of satire that served as both an irreverent taunt to ad campaigns of the time and also a creepy-but-not-preachy warning to kids trying booze. It’s stuck with me all these years. (Also it looks like they named the booze Johnny Rotten instead of Johnny Walker, which brings one more cultural touchstone into play…)

Proud to have been a part of the Oscars!

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 20:29:52 -0800

Proud to have been a part of the Oscars!

Here’s the Spotify playlist of my top 10 albums for 2012. ...

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:54:06 -0800

Here’s the Spotify playlist of my top 10 albums for 2012. Thanks to Oren Castro and Todd Sills for bringing me up to date in the Spotify realm. Love this playlist sharing feature…. (Try listening to all these tracks on shuffle….)

Top 10 Albums of 2012 2012 was, no doubt, a great year for...

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:07:00 -0800

Top 10 Albums of 2012

2012 was, no doubt, a great year for music, but picking my favorite album was more difficult than in the past, since nothing stood head and shoulders above the rest like Adele’s album did last year and Mumford & Sons did the year before. So here, in alphabetical order, are my top picks for 2012. If you haven’t heard them, get crackin’. They are all amazing…

Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
Gritty, delicious and filled with churning locomotive retro guitars, this album highlights the powerful voice and passion of singer Brittany Howard. Every song on the record is a keeper, but the showstopper is track 1, Hold On. They also contributed a great single (Always Alright) to the soundtrack of David O. Russell’s latest cinematic gem, The Silver Linings Playbook.
Amanda Palmer Featuring the Grand Theft Orchestra - Theater is Evil
I was surprised not to see this amazing record on many other top 10 lists. This is undeniable alt-rock goodness, both gloomy and uplifting at the same time. With some pre-war German burlesque theater vibe undulating underneath the power chords, Amanda Palmer has put together her best effort to date, even more resonant than what she achieved with the Dresden Dolls. My favorite song on the record also has the best title: “Do It with a Rockstar”.
Fun. - Some Nights
Sure, the tunes are overplayed on the radio, in movie trailers, on television (I myself used “We Are Young” on 3 separate shows last year). But that’s because this album is so fucking terrific. A crazy mix of indie rock, musical theater and auto-tuned pop, this record is wholly original and yet (as we witnessed again and again) it appeals to frickin’ everyone. There is no one who can spin a modern yarn quite like lead singer Nate Reuss. A couple of years ago a friend introduced me to Fun.’s first album Aim and Ignite, which has this amazing single you should hear right now… At Least I’m Not as Sad (As I Used to Be)
Jack White - Blunderbuss
Jack White is the man. Jack White is the man. Jack White…. is the man.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist
I’m not a huge fan of most hip hop, and less so of R&B (which, in its darker 2012 form presented by Frank Orange and The Weeknd excited so many music critics but which still left me flat and annoyed at the repetitive theme, “People are jealous of how great I am, and I would be amazing at having sex with you.”) But this record makes my top 10 list, even above Kendrick Lamar’s formidable album, because 1. it’s so much damn fun and 2. has substantive lyrics. The two shining stars are songs diametrically opposed in tone but equally as essential in listening. “Thrift Shop” and “Same Love”. Macklemore is from Seattle. And he’s great.
Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again
This record topped a lot of lists, and I’ve come to it relatively late in the year—I’m wondering if it won’t become my favorite by the end of January…. It’s an authentically retro album, a perfect fit in the both the past and the present in the same way Amy Winehouse’s record Back to Black fit. But this album isn’t a bold, long-burgandy-fingernail-slap-in-the-face; it’s a beautiful, delicate, delicious journey through analog orchestras and the smoothest, choicest voice of the year. Listening to the perfectly balanced collection of 10 songs, you don’t know if you’re living in the 50s or the 70s or 2012, but you do know you’re in the presence of a master.
Mumford & Sons - Babel
OK, it’s not as un-fucking-believably amazing as their first album. But it’s in the same canon, which means it’s terrific and “I Will Wait for You” is as powerful a tune as anything from Sigh No More. That first album by the way, went back into the iTunes top 5 records when their second record came out. That’s some serious staying power. Think of this album as an extension and not a reinvention of that first. And you’ll be loving it. Also, check out the fan-pleasing doc, Big Easy Express. It’s a well-shot journey of Mumford & Sons touring the southern U.S. on a train with 2 other acts: awesome folk-freaks Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and the genre-shattering, personality-rich Old Crow Medicine Show.
Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts
This is the best soundtrack to a non-existent David Lynch flm ever written. The production of this album is sensuous, dangerous, mysterious and frightening. Produced by Danger Mouse, who also co-wrote the songs with Norah Jones, this is a record with a dark magnetism that grows with every listen. Tone-wise, Little Broken Hearts is as consistent as they get. An incredible mood piece inspired by the movie poster for Russ Meyer’s film, Mudhoney, but feeling ageless and eternal. Toward the end of the dark, silky journey, there’s a great little pop track called “Happy Pills”, which cleanses the palate before we’re plunged back into a dark velvety ballad about murdering her man’s lover. Cinematic, dangerous and delicious. Nice work, Miss Jones.
Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
Catchy, passionate, earnest and Icelandic. I debated between this record and The Lumineers…. but ultimately went with this record for the power it achieves beyond its folksy yet Euro-navel-gazing origins. Reminds me a little of Fanfarlo’s Reservoir, and a little of Frightened Rabbit. Great record. Released in 2011 in Europe but hit the States in 2012. So glad it did.
Patrick Watson - Adventures in Your Own Backyard
This one’s a slow burn all the way through, mellow but intense. Sung in falsetto and scored with an ethereal sense of adventure, the album is laced with sadness and inspiration, and ultimately copious amounts of hope and desire. I played this record again and again throughout June 2012, leaving an indelible impression of my backyard in the notes of Watson’s backyard.

SPOTIFY LINK