Chicago Leap Day Party 2008

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I had the great good fortune of being in Chicago this Feb. 29. Our friends Byron and Karen threw a party. B & K's friends are great, and, as you will see, very patient with having a camera in their faces --- Damn photogenic and interesting too!!

Next To Heaven/all

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www.nexttoheaven.net/all

There you will find all 52 episodes of NTH season one; set up for easy one-page playback.

Meanwhile, I’ll be releasing NTH Season One on Youtube – so if you want to see NTH through the prism of a crappy flash codex go on over there. You’ll also be able to follow the action on revver, veoh, dailymotion, and metacafe.

And, NTH season two is in the works. I’ll be casting and shooting his spring! See you soon!

ROBOT

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Sometimes the robot is more human than the spokesmodel. Thanks to Honda, Asimo, and the latest red-headed android.

Your Metal Brain

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“Your Metal Brain” is a film I made for an event curated by uber-videoblogger, Mica Scalin, called FEAR REVERE.

Here is a description from the website –

“Fear Revere is a collection of 13 short films by an international group of artists and filmmakers. They were asked to reflect on the genre of horror and the general idea of making something for the purpose of frightening ones audience. Boo!

* * *

FEAR REVERE was originally presented on Tuesday October 30th, 2007 by Mica Scalin at the Pioneer theater for the Fourth Annual Month of Horror, Terror, and General Mayhem.”

You can see many of the other Fear Revere films here.

Your Metal Brain marries two of my favorite things -- weird Japanese things (in this case, Shinya Tsukamoto's "Tetsuo: The Iron Man") and the coming technology Singularity. You couldn't tell it from the film, but I'm looking forward to the Singularity. Nonetheless, I'm still a bit . . . fearful!

For Ray, with Love!

Killing Movie

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Shoot. Punch. Slice. Stab. Kill, kill, and kill some more . . . That's Entertainment!

Not Yet

Wet. Reproduction. Bursting. Verdant. Fragrant. Warm. Spawn. Love.

Black Stripes White Tummy

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Poor Black Stripes White Tummy! What will I do without it. A lost dog tale.

Parking Meter

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We had some nice weather so I walked about looking for a video. I found decay, death, and development. This is the first real "Hopper Video" I've posted in awhile. Feels good!

Secret Identities

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The second of three "48 Hour Films" I helped make. Superheroes, violence, and sex . . . what more could you want!!

Interest

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a nice mic, women, soft cotton . . . what more is there.

CRACK

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What do you like to play with best? Your controller? Controller? What's it controlling? Ever ask yourself that one? Oh, yeah, half nude women wrestling. Yep, sometimes you see stuff like that on the old Hopper Video. Just sometimes.

Nemesis & Tyche

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It's a bad day when your car goes up in flames . . . but it can be even worse.

The Mugger

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I was recently hired to direct several episodes of a new Fox action series. Here is a promotional video.

500 Year Itch

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The 500 Year Itch is the first 48 Hour Movie I was involved with back in 2001. The 48 Hour Movie Project challenges a group of filmmaking teams to write, shoot, and edit a short film in, you guessed it, 48 hours. To attempt to preempt pre-writing of the films, each team is given a genre at random, and each team must include the same specific prop, character, and line of dialogue. The 500 Year Itch’s genre was “Comedy” -- we had to use a colander, the character was Ignacio Del Fuego – cab driver, and the line was “Now we’re really cooking.”

And by the way, yes, that is really Penn Jillette. A guy on our crew knew him. While we were writing and shooting the move, our crew guy drove to Atlantic City and shot Mr. Gillette. I think we wrote Penn’s lines before we wrote the script, but we figured we’d work it in – and we did!

Also, check out the movie's star, Sandie Black, over on the youtube!

NTH - 52

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I posted the first Next To Heaven on September 19, 2006, and today I post the 52nd. A year’s-worth of weekly short movies made from archive.org’s public domain footage – pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. I had a great time making NTH, and I think I learned a thing or two as well.

Thanks to all the people who took the time to comment. One of the best rewards of doing a videoblog is the people you get to interact with online.

Also a big thanks is due to those who helped get the word out about NTH – Freevlog, Ryanne Hodson, Michael Verdi, Karina Longworth, NewTeeVee, Blip TV, Eric Mortensen, Jay Dedman, The Daily Reel, TV Tonic, Mefeedia, Moocat, Podcast Salad, Bill Streeter, Jennifer Proctor, Cheryl Colan, Pixelodeon, Maurice Martin, The Clip Show, Cinema Minima, Rosebud Film & Video Festival, DC Shorts Film Festival, United Vloggers, and Chris Griffin.

Of course, NTH would not have happened without the amazing film archive provided free to the whole world by archive.org and Rick Prelinger. All lovers and users of media are or will be in your debt!

This is not the end; I’m working on NTH Season Two. NTH’s second season will be in the spirit of the first, but will be something very different. Stay tuned for sneak peeks. I’m looking to roll out season two in the spring or summer of 2008.

In the meantime, a best of NTH collection will be selected and re-posted here and on all of the major video portals. I’m looking for a sponsor and perhaps a curator, anybody interested?

Finally, with NTH on hiatus, I’ll have more time to make video for my first videoblog – Hopper Video. So, if you’re not already a Hopper Video viewer please check it out. I’ve got some weird and wonderful videos in the pipeline!

Thanks for watching.

Cheers
Rob

NTH - 49

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The good old days . . . old, not always good. Today in 720x480 "HD" vision.

Job - Color Field Painting #1

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My tribute to the Washington Color Field Painters. Stripes aren't easy, especially when you're working with 1960's porno!

Ass Children of God: A Night at FLUX Art Sensory Overload

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My longest title ever. This video started out as an assignment from my local public access station to shoot a local art event. It turned into an art-geek silly fest. Thanks to:

The good folks at Art Outlet for letting us use their art event as a sound stage;

All the artists whose work appears (especially the fabulous Rebecca C. Adams); and

The band the Parlor Scouts for providing music and appearing.

Promo for "E4: Station to Station"

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I am very happy to announce that I will be presenting a video installation as part of a group show at Transformer. Transformer is a very cool gallery space in Washington, D.C. that shows experimental and conceptual work.

Here is a description of the show from Transformer’s website –

“Transformer is very proud to present E4: Station to Station, an exhibition resulting from the fourth installment of our unique peer critique and mentorship program, The Exercises for Emerging Artists. Featuring four dynamic DC area based artists - Rebecca C. Adams, Carolina Mayorga, Rob Parrish, and Fereshteh Toosi - and guest curated by Niels Van Tomme, E4: Station to Station consists of four individual artist projects at Transformer incorporating video, sound, performance art, and conceptual mixed media installation.

Each of this year's Exercises artists will take over the Transformer project space for one-week, beginning July 11, 2007, to present new work resulting from their peer-critique and mentorship experience at Transformer. Opening events including performances and artist talks will take place each Thursday, July 11 - August 5, 2007 from 6:30 - 8pm.”

My piece is called “Jack”. It mixes elements from the television series "24", the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Advisory System, and archival footage. The installation explores the sensation of being an object of manipulation.

Please come out to each opening event if you are in the D.C. area. Here is the schedule – Carolina – 7/12; Rob – 7/19; Rebecca – 7/26; and Fereshteh 8/2.

Tags: rob_parrish, art, dc, transformer

NTH - 41

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Adicting App. and Paul Newman. Mainline!!!


Tags: rob_parrish, drugs, heaven, twitter

NTH - 40

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Sex, drugs, and nuclear wepons. What more could you want?

Tags: sex, drugs, rob_parrish, nuclear

NTH - 39

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As I said in Episode 6, sometimes it's the little things that matter.

NTH - 38

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The answer is right in front of you.

Tags: rob_parrish, heaven, janitor, video

Pixelodeon Promo

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This week-end Next To Heaven's "Tapes of My Father" will be screened at Pixelodeon in Los Angeles, CA at the American Film Institute. Come on by and say hi if you're in L.A.

Tags: pixelodeon, heaven, rob_parrish, video

NTH - 36

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Dummies!

NTH - 35

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It is all about winning! Bill Kristol is going to hell.

NTH - 24

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Hey Hopper people. On a whim, here's a NTH for you.

Here's how I introduced it on NTH --

Today, Writer Maurice Martin holds in his capable hands the helm of the pleasure ship Next To Heaven. Mo selected today's source film, wrote the narration, and performed the voice-over. The result is a post-apocalyptic tale as fresh as today’s headlines.

Maurice and I have been friends and collaborators for years. Back in the day, he was a featured actor in some of my early videos. Mo was the consummate non-paid-professional: tub dancing in a bubble bath, sitting in a tub covered in shaving cream, dancing in his underwear, sleeping on a fire hydrant, playing a dead body with a light so close it gave him a sunburn, and licking the tire of a truck parked on the street (his idea, not mine!) --- What pal!! So, working with Mo and not seeing any odd behavior was a different experience than usual. Although, perhaps writing a Next To Heaven is the oddest behavior of all.

Check out Mo’s website at www.mauricemartin.net. There you will find wit, intelligence, and lots of interesting info.

Next To Heaven - 33 ("The Tapes of My Father")

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I'm very happy to announce that I have received a Rosebud Award for my video "The Tapes of My Father" from the Rosebud Film & Video Festival. The Festival seeks out "innovative, experimental, and deeply personal" films from D.C., Virginia, and Maryland filmmakers. I think my movie fit well into Rosebud's "deeply personal" criterion. Check it out!

walking notes for a next to heaven that didn't get made

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Warning Adult Language.

I love to take walks and think about videos I’ve got in the works. Here I am dictating a dialogue for my web series Next To Heaven. This dialogue didn’t end up being made into a Next To Heaven Episode, but I still like it.

After The Kid Party

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I’ve been neglecting Hopper of late. Next To Heaven, work, and parenting have been filling up the waking hours of late.

This video is made of selected bites from a get together at my house. Everything is in order, but I’ve cut out lots of stuff. Here are the websites of some of the guests ---

papachangofilms
lindaheshdesigns
poppishop
surlyrobot