2. Norton Records – these folks release some amazing, rare rockabilly and garage records – so many odd little audio gems in there.  And it’s getting more and more difficult not to just order the entire catalog right from their website – with discs like these, a life of poverty might not be that bad.

3. Super 8 – best “summer” film I’ve seen in a long, long  time. Part E.T., part Close Encounters and part Goonies. If you grew up in the late 70′s/early80′s, you’ll definitely dig the look and vibe.  A solid watch and a lot of fun.  But, damn, I wish it was still that easy to get super 8 film developed.

4. Mike Anderson’s part in Not Another Transworld Video.  Loved his style – lots of weird little wallride tricks (that boneless out of the frontside wall ride was insane!).  Very original and super fun. Nestor’s part was sick too.  The whole video’s pretty insane.

5. Torey Pudwell – this guy’s been on a tear the last two years and his new Thrasher mag part, Big Bang, is no disappointment.  The fact that he filmed the whole thing in 6 months is just mind blowing.

6. Ed Templeton’s Teenage Kissers – got to meet and talk briefly with Ed at the opening of his excellent new photo show at the Half Gallery and he was super cool, a real gentleman.  Lots of heavies lurking about (Glenn E. Freidman, Craig Stecyk, Guy Picciotto). The show’s up until July 25 – check it out if you’re in the big apple this summer and pick up the book from the nice folks at Seems.

So I was intrigued when I came across a French film called La Jetée, which caught my interest mainly because the whole thing was shot with still photography.  I figured, “All right Castro, we all know our collective attention spans are running shorter and shorter by the second (hell, if you’ve even made it this far into reading this spillage then you’re probably doing better than the average bear) – do you really think you’re going to make it through a what’s basically a 28 minute slide show?”

But damn, I was blown away.  It’s an incredibly moving piece of work, the visuals are great, the narration is poetic  - truly inspiring and it opened my eyes into pushing the envelopes and thinking outside the box when it comes to making films. It’s definitely worth watching if you have the time and patience.  It’s slow at the beginning but, like a long road trip, once you get into the groove of it, it’s rewarding.

Apparently, they based the film 12 Monkeys on this.  I had no idea. Anyway – check it out below (although it looks much better in HD on a large screen).

I have two art pieces featured in the Fall 2010 issue of the Main Street Journal, so be sure to pick one up if you’re in Newark, Delaware anytime soon. It’s free.

And The Sky Drops just released their brand new single Explain It to Me, today via iTunes and  it’s really, really good.  A bit dirtier and covered in a blanket of warm fuzz, it’s got a great riff and a great sound - drop 99 cents and pick it up.  McD’s cant’ front on that value meal.

I watched this indie flick called Untitled recently, a nice little send-up of the modern art scene and the gallery world in general.  Pretty on point for the most part and, although not laugh out loud funny, it’s amusing. Not the greatest movie ever made, but decent if you’re into that kind of thing.

The Epicly Later’d series on pro-skater Dylan Rieder was excellent – that show just keeps getting better and better. And Dylan’s recently released Gravis part is easily the best thing he’s put out. Kid rips.

And speaking of pro-skating, the recently retired Heath Kirchart and photographer Jeff Vallee have taken off on an insane cross country bicycle ride – you can follow their exploits at werereallydoingit.com. Much respect to those dudes – that’s something I would love to do but have never gotten the guts, time or funds to make it happen.  Safe travels.

I did sneak out and catch My Morning Jacket’s set at Penn’s Landing last night. Sitting there, I realized the last time I caught the band was in ’04 so I figured I was overdue.  Totally different line-up this time, and I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure Jim James is the only original member left, which was a bummer simply because I liked how the whole band used to have super long hair, and rocked on stage like Slayer while sounding like Neil Young.  JJ’s voice is still the star of the show, and he did not disappoint.  It was a good two hour set, with tunes from all across the back catalog. The kids seemed to like it.

Scott from Dr. Dog opened up and played a few acoustic tunes, which were decent.  He didn’t play much Dr. Dog material, so I’m not sure if he’s doing a solo album or what but I guess time will tell.  I’ve met Scott a few times, back when his old band Raccoon used to play shows with The Situation, and he was always a nice guy, so it was good to see him out there doing his thing.

Also watched Hot Tub Time Machine which was slightly better than expected – kind of raw and a little low-brow but it had it’s moments. Not great but a decent laugh.  Proceed with caution on that one though.

Plus…..a new Podcast coming in hot this week.  Don’t change the channel!

Anyway, here’s a rare and rad interview with the legend himself. The guy’s a total inspiration and a comic genius.  Shame on the academy for never giving Bill Murray an Oscar.  And if you’ve never seen Quick Change, you’re totally blowing it.

The show, by the way, was great – She & Him threw down a solid set, playing most of the songs from their two albums, and closing with an amazing cover of Chuck Berry’s Roll Over Beethovan, with M. Ward taking the lead on vocals and the whole band just fully rocking out.  A nice surprise – not many bands can do old rock-n-roll tunes justice without just turning them into punk anthems.  And Zooey’s voice is just as strong live and it is on record, and the backing band and singers were all on point.  Definitely worth checking out live.  You can check out some photos from the show here.

Finally watched It Might Get Loud over the weekend, which, as a guitar player, was really, really  inspiring.  There’s nothing like watching Jimmy Page throw on a 45 of Link Ray’s Rumble and revert into a smiling, excited little boy right in front of the camera. I really enjoyed the Jack White segments – just his whole attitude and approach to the guitar is right in line with my way of thinking. It’s worth just watching the intro to see him build that homemade guitar. And the footage of the Edge is golden as always.  A great film.

Also saw Everybody’s Fine, with Robert DeNiro, which was also excellent.  Not sure how that got so over looked last year because it’s well written, the acting is strong and understated and it’s beautifully shot. And the trailer below doesn’t really do it justice – it’s not that light hearted, nor is it cheesy. Worth a rental.

I also watched The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was a good time.  Clooney is great as always, and Jeff Bridges does the whole “new age stoner dude” better than anyone.  The premise is great and the whole thing is borderline ridiculous without getting too silly or slapstick. Worth checking out, especially on a rainy east-coast day like toady.

And per Bullette’s suggestion, I watched The Damn United, which is about British football coach Brian Cloughand his rivalry with the coach of Leeds United. Done by the same team who did Frost Nixon.  Also well done.

And, finally, I rewatched The Shining the other night, which is still one of the scariest movies ever made, in my opinion.  And the cinematagrophy in that film is amazing. Kubrick nailed it.  A classic and personal favorite.

And now that Roku added this Drive-In Classics channel, filled with nothing but b-movies about zombies, vampires, giant slugs and teenage werewolves, expect productivity to down by at least 50% bro.