Brian's Journal

Time Flies just like Sally Field

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 03:18:25 GMT

Every couple years, I look through a bunch of stuff that I've written to see what I was feeling at the time. It's weird, I can write something simple like "haven't had anything crazy happen in a while. I'm bored. Hooray!" and can decipher that I was mildly depressed at the time and can remember other things that were going on then that I didn't write about. I'm glad that I have this deep understanding of myself. At least I have no delusions about my predicament.

Also, I almost feel like I'm spending so much time working, and that time is moving much faster than I like it to, that the timeframe between events is much larger than I remember it being. In my mind it's the end of June, not the end if July. What does this mean? Not sure, it doesn't feel like I'm overexerting myself, maybe just mismanaging my time.

Finally, I'm reworking my website (yes, again) and will probably merge this very livejournal into my new website. Nothing against livejournal, they've hosted my dismal rantings for over four years now, but it just feels like nobody reads this crap. Plus myspace is the new hotness. This way I'll be able to manage one blog with everything I want on my own server (brianbernas.com/blog). You'll still be able to go there and post comments if your little heart desires and I'll leave my livejournal active for as long as is humanly possible. This isn't the end, I'm just right around the corner.

Where was I?

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 23:33:56 GMT

Since I never really posted about the trip to Nashville since I've been back, and I can't remember too much about what happened when I was there, here is a quick rundown of the guitar players that I met while I was working on the documentary.

Stephen Housden: Host of the program. He's been playing guitar since he was 10 and has become a master of worldly styles. Most notoriously known as the guitar player for The Little River Band.

Muriel Anderson: Incredible classical guitarist with a very special whimsical style.

Bob Margolin: Blues guitar player who was a member of Muddy Waters' band from 1973 - 1980.

Brent Mason: Top session guitarist presently in Nashville, TN. Session guitarist are players who are paid to sit in on recording sessions with bands and help them out with songs that are being developed. These people write most of the music, while the band takes credit for it.

Tom Bresh: Son of Merle Travis.

Phil Keaggy: Leader of the band Glass Harp. Incredible loop performer.

Reggie Young: Session player who's famous for writing riffs for Elvis' "In the Ghetto", and "Suspicious Minds", along with "Son of a Preacher Man", and "Drift Away".

Scottie Moore: Played lead guitar with Elvis right from the beginning.

Duanne Eddy: Inventor of the "twang rock" sound. You've heard his stuff, look it up.

James Burton: Widely regarded as one of the most influential rock guitarists of all time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Jack Pearson: Guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band and Jimmy Buffett.

Fred Newell: I'm told he has played live on TV more than any guitarist living today.

P.F. Sloan: While sweeping floors at Capitol Records, he convinced the powers that be to bring The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to American audiences. Then he wrote "Eve of Destruction" and "Secret Agent Man."

Steve Cropper: Member of Booker T. and the M.G.'s and The Blues Brothers Band.

So what did I get out of it? Now when I listen to oldies or classic rock every ten songs I can say "Hey, I met the guy who plays guitar on this song!"

Travel - A howto guide

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 13:29:16 GMT

Tomorrow, Tuesday June 6th, 2006 I boldly go farther west than I have ever gone before. Nashville, TN. This excursion has a lot to do with a documentary that we are shooting on the guitar players who changed the face of rock n' roll. It should be a blast. Nashville to Memphis, then maybe to St. Louis, then Philadelphia. Take a few weeks off to do some actual work, then maybe off to LA, then New York, London and I think Pluto was on the list at one point, but has been scrapped due to the fact that Pluto is frickin' cold.

I should be back from the first leg of this adventure on June 17th. but we'll see how that goes.

My Awesome Movie

Sat, 20 May 2006 23:58:17 GMT

On November 3rd I had a dream. I was destined to write and direct my own short movie. I didn't have a script, I didn't have a cast, I didn't have a clue what the movie would be about, only that it would be awesome! I exploded every idea I had in my noggin to explore it's movie potential and when the brain matter settled and my sinuses had cleared I had the perfect plot. The quest to survive in a food crisis. I wrote the 9 page script in two days and gathered a group of people I knew who said they would be my actors for free. Could they act? I didn't care they were working for free.

November 10th was the start of principle photography. In one week I had gone from a simple idea to actually shooting footage. Absolute proof of what a person can achieve when motivated. After several wild 5-hour weekend shoots. I had the bulk of the movie done. I spent up to 15 hours per day editing and adding sound effects.

Knowing nothing about music arrangement and composition, I knew that I was the right man to be put in charge of creating the original score for my movie. At least I knew that I would be cheap.

Last night I debuted my life's work to 3 out of the four actors in my movie and nobody complained.

So I present to you, the general public, my directorial debut:

Nothing Good

Here we are again

Fri, 12 May 2006 00:53:47 GMT

The hardest part about making a short film is composing the music. Especially when you know next to nothing about music composition. But someone has to do it.

Look what I can do!

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 04:04:04 GMT

Today the redesign for our company website went live. Check it out to see the work that I do: www.AVIOProductions.com. The content of the site is still under development. The services page is bound to change about 5 times over the next week, but things like that are to be expected.

Now I need to update my resume and my own website.

I Bwoke it

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 03:53:12 GMT

I broke the head off my tripod tonight. It was kinda fun. I haven't even been drinking. I noticed it was lose and tightened it up...too much...too much to the point that it became unattached. Not the first time it happened either, my brother did the same thing a couple years ago to another tripod. Neither of them were of excellent quality and now I have a reason to get a better tripod with a good fluid head. I'll probably get a Manfrotto 351MVB2K since I've read some great things about that setup. I love to waste money!

Some Famous Guitar Player Told Me To Do It

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 01:57:22 GMT

So now I've started using Skype. All of you fellow Skype users can contact me at my very clever username of brianbernas. My contact list is currently a lonely place.

Ewe Bunt Two

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 03:55:39 GMT

If you aren't a techie and don't know what Linux is stop reading.

For the rest of you here is what I'm doing tonight. My Debian machine's kernel has taken a huge dump and my root filesystem, which is xfs, somehow didn't survive whatever happened. I was trying to get Xorg to run better and stop giving me errors about font paths. A screen lock and no way to ssh into the system (I disabled that for some reason) forced me to do a hard reboot. Never came back to a login prompt, just a kernel panic. So I thought this would be a good time to try something different since being a Debian fanboy has worn out it's cool. Now I'm off to try out Ubuntu. How much damage can I do?

Update!

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 04:38:15 GMT

Principle photography is done.

Woohoo!

So we started on December 10th and Finished on February 25th. Not bad for a 12 minute short movie, huh?

Here We Go

Sat, 25 Feb 2006 14:15:51 GMT

I've scheduled today as the last day of shooting. I told everyone to be here at noon, but I have my doubts. I haven't heard back from one of the guys yet. My brother moved to West Chester two weeks ago, and has an hours drive back home. And character number 3 lives right next door, but rarely gets up this early. So it's time for me to start making some phone calls.

This should have been done a month ago.

Here's what I've been up to

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 04:36:51 GMT

Since I've disappeared from the interweb for over a month, here's a list of what I've been up to:

1. Nothing Good, my short film about the food thing. We still have one more day of pick-up shots and audio dubbing, then editing can be completed. The basic sound mix is almost completed, then it's onto the music, sound effects, and visual effects clean-up. So I have no idea when the finished film will be done, but it will be available sometime in 2006.

2. America's Hottest Bar is a project that I've been working on the development for and now that we have an open casting call and are taking entries for bars, I can finally talk about it. We don't have a network that has picked it up yet, but a couple major ones know about it. And if you know of a Latin bilingual girl that is destined for stardom, let me know, she could be the co-host. Or my next girlfriend. Either way she'll be in for a good time.

3. ePNetwork: This is basically a new start-up that we're gearing to be an independent online distribution company. The site just really launched this week and a stupid little TV show pilot that never made it is on there now. It's a simple start and since I'm hosting the site I might as well advertise it. It's also in the iTunes Podcast directory!

I'm also getting ready for a shoot for The Comcast Network and a few small projects here and there plus a really crazy April. So if I don't write about anything for a while just assume I'm in New York or Los Angeles.

...

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 02:39:13 GMT

So since I haven't finished shooting yet, Dec. 25th has become an unrealistic release date. Right now I'm saying early February. This will give me more time to finesse the project. I can't let my fans down.

Here we go again

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 04:10:08 GMT

Wow, I've been busy.

So here's an update of a upcoming project with a quick turnaround. I'm starting work on a short "film" that will be shot on Dec. 10-11. If you will be in my area on one of those days let me know, I'm looking for actors and crew. I'll be working like crazy to get this thing together, but I hope to have the finished product done before Dec. 25. Wish me luck.

Correction

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 20:18:07 GMT

I just read over my entry from yesterday.

"reposiblity" should be responsibility.

I'm not going to change it because I like the way that word sounds. Reposiblity: The uncertain assumption that something must be attempted.

It should be in the dictionary. Are you reading this Webster's?

Put me back in the tumor

Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:14:49 GMT

Since all I've done for the past two weeks is work, I'll write about what I've been working on and so I don't leak any info about clients and ideas, I'll keep it ever so vague.

Due to developing projects and things moving forward that were stagnent for oh so long, I've become the web developer for 3 websites. That's what I've been doing for the better part of this weekend. I've also done some camera work on a couple of the recent shoots that I've been on. So with the reposiblity list reaching 4: Video Editor, Graphic Designer/Editor, Web Developer/Designer, and Camera Man; I'm now refering to myself as a Visual Artist. Keep in mind that I'm using "Artist" in the losest sense of the word.

All you dreamers keep dreaming, and everyone else who is just sleeping get out of bed and make me some french toast.

Oct means 8 so why is October the tenth month?

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 20:38:48 GMT

I haven't posted anything in a couple weeks so here you go.

That was fun.

Ask me about free parking.

Burn in hell!

Wed, 21 Sep 2005 01:58:34 GMT

Well, I've been working like crazy. It's really only an internship and I put in close to 60 hours last week, I even worked on Saturday.

In other unrelated news, we have a new puppy running around the house. Yeah, that's my Mom's fault.

Today I found out that the DVD drive in my iMac died. I spent half an hour talking to two guys from where ever over Apple's online tech support chat, and I didn't get any good troubleshooting tips that I hadn't already tried. I ended up being transfered to the regional iMac specialist and it seemed like they gave up after about 10 minutes. I just sat there for 15 minutes without getting a response. So I guess I'll be placing a call to tech support to get them to send me a replacement drive.

I really need to get to sleep for my big day tomorrow.

Just a little note from me to you...

Thu, 08 Sep 2005 22:13:36 GMT

Right now I'm recovering from a really bad cold that hit me hard Yesterday morning, but anyway, here's an update on what I'm up to:

I'm not working at Herr's anymore again, they let me go for a second time. I'm expecting a call back around the second week of October. But do not fear that I have fallen into the clutches of unemployment, for I have not my fellow employed brethren and sisteren. I am working for a media production company called Avio Productions as a video and sound editor. So, for those of you who know me, Yes this means that I'm finally on the path for a career in the entertainment biz, hooray!

I have a webpage going again and can you guess the address...ok, for those of you who care my other blog and artwork and whatever else I feel like putting out for pubic consumption can from now on be found at BrianBernas.com. There isn't much up there right now, I hope to have all of my existing crap on there by October 1st.

Everything is a work in progress. - You can quote me on that.

Ho hum...

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 01:44:29 GMT

I just got back from New Jersey where Hash, T-Roy, Andy and Myself were hanging out with Bill. We didn't do much except eat and drink. On Saturday we all awoke around 1:00 PM and the drinking had begun by 3:00PM. There is very little to do in Flanders, NJ. If you can just skip over the town, you won't even know it's there.

Right now I'm working feverishly on my new website and I'm waiting for my webhost's DNS servers to propagate so I can access the MySQL server I just setup. (If you don't understand my tech-speak just nod your head and pretend you sort-of understand what I'm talking about.)

I hope to have it up and running by Sept. 1st

Just a little side note: Over the past couple years, doesn't it seem like I spend an awful lot of time redesigning websites and then never updating them? I thought so.

Back from vacation

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:38:45 GMT

Yesterday I came back from a four-day vacation in Annapolis, MD. I was camping in 95 degree weather completely cut off from the web. It sucked.

Actually, it wasn't that bad. I got to see a couple people I haven't seen for a while and I saw a couple sites I've never seen before...and I sweated a lot.

...

Sat, 06 Aug 2005 20:34:40 GMT

Last night I had to drive a purse to the emergency room at 1:30 am.

Crazy.

A computer rant from the computer guy

Fri, 29 Jul 2005 00:42:11 GMT

I've become the "goto" guy for computer related questions in my local area. When my friends, people I work with, and people I don't even know have computer questions I'm the guy they call. I have listed the three most common questions I get, and my sly, somewhat witty response.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Somethings wrong with my computer, will you fix it?

2. So, do I need an antivirus program?

3. I want a new computer what should I buy? What kind of computer do you use?

WILL YOU FIX MY COMPUTER?
Yes, I will fix your computer, but even better yet. I can tell you how to fix your own computer. There are eight tools that I use any time I fix a computer running Windows. Can you believe they are all free. One of them is already on your computer right now. (Unless you're running Windows NT or 2000, in which case you shouldn't need my help.)

Google: People treat their computers like they treat their personal lives. A lot of people have the same problems, but everyone thinks their situation is unique. If you get an error message or find a program that you think might be a virus, research it. Some people are shocked when they ask me what something is and I say "I don't know, let's find out" and type in into Google right infront of them. They of course say, "Why didn't I think of that".

Ad Aware: Simple, easy spyware removal. Basic click and go interface that will scan your computer for software that collects information for marketing purposes. Most of it really slows down system performance.

Zone Alarm: Free firewall. Prevent incoming attacks and your corrupted computer from attacking your neighbors computer.

MSConfig: Easily configure your system's runtime and startup options. I didn't provide a link for this because it's already on your computer! Just click on "Start" then "Run" and type in "msconfig" and press enter. The last tab at the top lists everything that starts up with your computer. Uncheck everything that you don't think you need. I don't think you can do any serious damage to your system with this tool, and if you uncheck anything that you do need, you and always go back and re-check it.

Trend Micro Housecall: Online virus scan. Free, but very slow on dialup. Simple step by step system that will scan for viruses, trojan horses (really sneaky viruses) and Spyware. (This will only run in Internet Explorer)

Firefox: Free web browser. Don't use Internet Explorer, it's bad for your health. Firefox is much more secure than Internet Explorer and you are about 500 times less likey to get a computer virus or spyware automatically installed on your system if you use something other than internet explorer.

Windows Update: security is good. Download all of the critical updates, I don't care how long it takes. This will prevent your system from being suceptable to most hacker attacks and it may even fix some problems for you.

Brain: (No, I didn't mispell my own name) Not any special software, just general logic. Don't download or run any programs unless you know what they do. Be extremely skeptical. If someone emails or IM's you with a link, and you aren't sure why they sent it to you, then send a message back to them asking about it. It's OK to download all of the above programs because I just told you what they do.

If you still need help or are just afraid you will break something, then give me a call and we'll set up a date.

DO I NEED AN ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM?
If you are running any version of Windows, yes you need antivirus software. I recommend Trend Micro's PC-Cillin antivirus software. If you want to install antivirus software to remove an existing virus on your system, I have bad news: it doesn't always work. Doing it that way is like having unprotected sex, contracting HIV, and then deciding you're going to use a condom from now on to prevent it from happening again. The best thing to do is backup all your files somewhere and do a clean install of Windows, this will completely erase your hard drive. After the system is back up and running, then install the antivirus protection. Several recent tests have shown that it only takes 15 minutes for a brand new computer running Windows XP without any antivirus or firewall protection to be infected by at least one computer virus when connected to the internet. So if you can, install your security software before connecting to the internet.

I WANT A NEW COMPUTER WHAT SHOULD I BUY?
This is the question I hate. Buy a computer with an Operating system you are comfortable with and that will run every peice of software that you will need. Go to a computer store and play around with a couple different systems. Find one that feels like it doesn't have any problems running the operating system or opening programs. If you click a button and the harddrive grinds for 5 seconds before something happens, that's bad, move on to another system. Ask someone at the store if you can restart it. This will give you a good idea of how long it takes to start up, and also gauge the difference between operating speeds after startup, and after running for a day with people using it on a regular basis. Get one with plenty of ram 512MB at least. 1GB if you still want it run reasonably fast 3 years down the road with the latest greatest software. Today's operating systems and software are graphically intense (Not in the same way that the movie Caligula is graphically intense), meaning they require decent graphics hardware just to operate at usable speeds. So get a system with an ATI or NVidia graphics chipset and at least 64MB of video memory. 128MB if you play a lot of games or want to do video editing. I recommend getting a hard drive that is double what you think you need. 100GB is a good starting point, but you can never really have enough disk space.

As for the kind of computer I use, I have officially switched to Apple Macintosh computers. I haven't had a computer on my desk that ran Microsoft Windows in three years.

You have to love software that does stuff for you

Sat, 09 Jul 2005 06:43:13 GMT

I've spent a couple hours today playing with the .Mac Homepage feature. Some pretty spiffy stuff that makes creating photo and movie albums pretty easy. My big complaint is the lack of a built in News / Blogging page so you can't really post announcements on the main page. I threw a site together pretty quickly, check it out of you have time. I'll probably keep it going and use it for posting most of my goofy pictures that I don't really think are of "professional" quality. Also, I'm hard at work on redesigning my other site. Don't go there though, it isn't there anymore.

Hey Q-Tip, what's your mom's name?

Fri, 01 Jul 2005 02:14:38 GMT

Since I haven't posted anything here in a while I thought I would write about something.

I went to Ocean City Maryland three weekends ago. Everyone at the hotel was drunk and there was a burnout contest in the hotel parking lot. The cops got called six times in one night. But that's not interesting.

Two weekends ago, Hash, Bill, Troy and myself took Josh out to a strip club for his bachelor party. We saw some tities, Troy got drunk and fell in love with a stripper. But who wants to hear about that?

Now last weekend however, was our chill weekend. Cruz and I wanted some time to relax. Brad, Hollie, Bryce and Brady all decided to go to Ocean City. So everyone else: Hash, Dan, Cruz and Becky came over on Friday night. By 9:00 PM all that relaxation talk had gone out the window and the party was turned on. Two bottles of liquor and 3 bottles of wine later and everyone was just about diggity done for the night.

Then Saturday came. Originally it was going to be usual thing at my house. Then Dan invited everyone over to his house at the last minute. The Bahama Mamas were already flowing by the time I got there. Basically it was like hanging out at my house except with beer on tap, an in-ground swimming pool, and a hot tub. Somehow, I managed to sober up and drive home around 4:30 AM.

This week my good friend Bill has been selling fireworks from a tent in Oxford. I've been going there to hang out with him for a little bit every day after I'm done with work. Now, he's not only responsible for selling sparkles and snakes to delinquents, he's also responsible for watching this tent during the night, he even sleeps there. Apparently last night he had a couple kids come by and try to steel stuff, but they had trouble getting past the outside plastic skirting around the tent and took off. Bill didn't think they got away with anything, so that's good. It definitely takes the right kind of crazy / lazy person who likes sleep depravation to do that job.