Let the countdown begin...

My last post of the year.

I am going out New Year's Eve, and I was going to have to work Sunday (!) but I thankfully got out of that. But I do have to work Monday.

My mom and stepdad got back from England -- visiting my sister -- and I got some nice little Beatle -related items: a wallet, keychain, two shirts, decals. They took many pics in Liverpool and when I get some I will post them.

My final thoughts for this year: I love all of you. To my closest friends, be safe. Thanks for being so cool and we have had great times. To the friends I don't get to see due to work, or distance, or whatever -- a special shout out to you all.

To my new friends -- you know who you are -- thanks for making my life a little brighter.

Peace, Wil

Me and Liz

Coming Soon:2006

The new year is just around the corner. I don't usually make resolutions, but last year I made one to learn Italian -- I am learning, but haven't finished that yet. I don't think I will make any new ones this year, just to finish the one from last year!
Went out Saturday night -- had a good time, ate Thai, and got to know my new friend, Liz. We dropped by the Cheesecake Factory where my friend Josh works and surprised him because he didn't know who Liz was, he thought she was a co-worker.
Anyway, we had a great time, and we got together again last night at my place, ate Chinese and watched a movie and a Britcom called Little Britian, a crazy show sort of like Monty Python.
I should have a couple of pictures from Saturday night soon as well...

William

Okay, So...

I was in a mood, to say the least, when I made that last post. Ignore it! I am in a better mood today. I don't have to go back to work till Tuesday. My mother and stepdad went to England to visit my sister for the week, so I am going to my Dad's Sunday for Christmas.

Speaking of which, Merry CHRISTmas to everyone. I don't think I will be posting more till sometime next week. Be safe.

Wil

Tales From the Christmas Party

Why my friend Josh and his wife even bother inviting me to parties or gatherings with girls, I mean, good looking girls -- its beyond me.
After work I show up at Josh's apartment and there are all these really cute girls! I was like, okay, who is single who is not?? They all pretty much were. Which really only made it worse.

Needless to say, I was shy, they weren't. I tried to move in on one, but nothing came of it, she wasn't interested. I left at 2AM tired, and not a little ... not depressed. Disappointed??

I think I am ready to just give up on women. I've said that before, after my divorce. It has been five years. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Oh, and my Christmas eve date may be falling through as well...

That's my life fer ya.

Wil

Let's See...

Well, first let me say that the Tales From the Dryer is on Christmas Vacation for a few weeks.

Second, I didnt finish the third Chronicles Of Narnia book, The Horse and His Boy, because I have decided to start a new book, The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He is one of my favorite writers. I have read several of his books already. I got The Possessed, along with a book about Monty Python's Flying Circus, as Christmas presents from my friend Josh -- I got him a book about Sting (of the The Police).

Tonight he is having a Christmas party and I told him after work I would swing by.

What else? Oh, on myspace.com, where I have a little profile and some of the many odd pics you have all seen here, it seems I have grown a bit of a following -- I have had over 26, 000 people visit my profile over there in the past week. I cant even keep up with all the emails! It's crazy.

And one last note -- I might have a (gasp!) date on Saturday night... More on that later...

William

A Friday Night Message

Love and peace to you all,


William

What New?

Went to see a friend of mine last night after work, Jason Bradley. He did the narration in our film The Three R's. He's a nice guy, very talented. Does professional voice work too. Big King's X fan too. That alone makes him okay in my book.

What else? I tell ya, the weather lately SUCKS!

Anything else to complain about? Nah, I will give it a rest for now. A good note: got back in a very Beatle-esque mood yesterday thanks to a friend. I love The Beatles, but have been giving them a rest lately. Now I am back in full Beatlemania swing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, and here, for those who may care, is an ordinary, plain, uncropped, unedited, unmutated, straight-forward picture of me. You got the Vulcan pix from Josh yesterday and now these. Enjoy it, you probably won't see too many more of these!

More Pics -- Josh Took These

The symbol of a dying city.

This is what happens when traffic lights get in my way. I turned green a few moments later. You know, since the light wouldn't.

And One More...

...Of my old buddy Josh. I took this. He added the effects.

More Pictures...Because I Have Nothing To Say

I look like I have the plague. The psychedelic plague.

I was having a religious experience.

Time Once Again For Another Installment Of...

TALES FROM THE DRYER

Episode V

It can be an amazing thing, friendship. It can be amazing when one finds another person that is so like oneself that it would almost frighten if it wasn't so natural, so comfortable. This connection can be powerful, almost as powerful as the connection between man and woman. The connection can create the most stringent, taut and unbreakable bond, and seemingly nothing can tear it asunder. This was the sort of bond that, as the months passed, formed between Seth and Steve, built upon layer and layer of many and various topics of conversation. They found they shared at the very least similar passing interests in many things.

There were two things, however, they found for which they both shared a particularly strong passion. One was music.The two loved music. If not for this one almost immediate connection, the two would never have become as close as they became. (And it is quite interesting to note Steven being one year older and therefore a grade higher than Seth, and that neither of them saw each other in class and only rarely outside of class when forced to attend a pep rally or some other school function that they were unable to skip.) They adored music, they practically worshipped music. So much so that they wanted to play it all the time. Even for the rest of their lives.

Seth, without realizing it (or maybe he did and just wouldn't admit it to himself) developed a great admiration for Steven, not only as the older of the two. Not even based solely on Steven's gregarious attitudes. No, Seth's admiration stemmed from the fact that Steven already owned a guitar when they met. He also knew how to play. Steven promised Seth that after he saved enough money to buy his own guitar and amplifier that he would sit down with him and help him learn to play too. And that is what he did, the two getting together in every spare moment they could, Steven walking him through basic chord structures and rudimentary scales. The first song Seth learned to play was "Sunshine Of Your Love" by Cream. "An oldie but a goodie for learning", Steven would say. Seth never felt more alive than when his first tender, later callous-tipped fingers pressed against those beatiful six wires, his hands grasping the neck, his other hand strumming along in rhythmic ecstasy with Steven. It was happening! His dream was beginning.

And it wasn't long after this that one of them, Seth, finally voiced what they both had been hoping, dreaming, but unwilling to speak aloud. That dream was the time-honored right of passage almost all teenage boys go through at some point -- "Let's start a band." That became their new goal.

As mentioned, there were two great passions in the lives of these two musical brethren. The second brought a little more complexity to their friendship. It remained buried and undiscovered for a couple of months, until one day, the topic was broached by Seth. They both shared a passion for Wendi.

A Little More History

When I started a new job in 1993, only two years out of high school, I met a guy named Shane. He played guitar, and I played a little drums, but I wanted to play guitar too. We decided we would put a band together and after about 2 years of knocking about and getting nowhere really, spending most of our time talking about music rather than playing it (or writing, though Shane did do some), a new guy at work named Jordan heard us talking about music and the desire to form a band. By this time, I had decided to revert to drums, and glad to do so. So what we really needed was a bass player. Jordan told us his brother could play bass, and we should talk to him. He said that he liked some of the same music we did as well.
So we met with his brother, whose name was Josh, at my house. I rememer being anxious and wondering if he would be cool. Or if he could play.
As it turned out, he was cool and he could play. Better than me or Shane, which really wasn't saying a lot. We were absolute beginners while Josh had been playing since childhood.
We put together a band, had a string of horrible band names, and played maybe two parties. We stayed together 3 years, until Shane got divorced and summarily fell off the face of the earth, leaving me and Josh holding the bag.
Josh and I went our seperate ways for awhile. He went on to join other bands. I came and supported them.
But now we are back together, as Suction Horse Productions, being creative, feeling blessed and glad that our friendship has lasted 10 years.
Here are some pictures from those days, taken about 1995. Enjoy.












L to R: Josh, Shane, and me

Monday, 12th of Dec

Another fairly nice day. As nice as it can be when it is cold that is.
Got a copy of the finished Heartbeat Nova short Josh and I did. Glad to see something I conceived come to fruition, even with the flaws. We have more ideas we are kicking around but nothing will be started until after the Christmas holidays.
Josh and I took some new pictures of the two of us for the Suction Horse website, as well as some to put here on this blog. So look for those soon, maybe even later today if he can get them to me before the night is over. I asked him to email me some so we will see.

For those who get a chance to see our short, I would be curious to know what was thought of it.

Went to see Chronicles of Narnia yesterday. Good movie. If you accept it for what it is, a children's film, based on a children's book, I don't see why no one would enjoy it. I was pleased to see how close it was to the book. Closer than I expected. I would give it an 8 out of 10.

Now I have to decide if I am going to sit through a three hour remake of King Kong. I want to see it, but 3 hours... Wow. I did it for the Lord Of the Rings movies (and this is the same director, Peter Jackson). I will decide later on that.

What else? Hm...

A Rare Sunday Message

Well, here I am at Josh's apartment. It's Sunday, and it is actually quite nice today -- the sun came out and it's warmer than yesterday. So I am in a good mood.
There is a guy that goes to church with Josh's family that said that he was interested in working with us on some film projects and we were supposed to get together today, but Josh hasn't heard from him yet so I dunno what is going to come of that situation. It would be nice working with people that seem cool, are local, and have nice equipement! Better than ours.
Josh finished editing our short comedy, which now has a title: Heartbeat Nova. As mentioned before, it has technical/continuity problems but if those things are ignored I think folks might find it pretty funny.
Soon I plan to post some pictures of me and Josh here on this blog, both recent and some dug up from the ancient past. That could be funny. I need to talk more about the history of our friendship because it all ties into the various artistic endeavors we have persued since we met, both together and apart. So be looking for that soon.
Another close friend, Dave Reese, called last night and told me that he got a job in DC working for the criminal justice dept. and is moving in August or September of '06. Yet more friends leaving me! What shall I do??
Atleast we have almost a whole year till then. Anyway. Hope the remainder of the weekend is nice and lovely and full of fun stuff and all that.
Thanks for reading too -- I think I have like, 5 people who read this blog on a regular basis and it is appreciated. Tell all your friends -- they may find it interesting. But then again, maybe not.

Personality ??

I took one of those online personality tests, just for fun. I am shocked by how closely this thing nailed me. The most accurate one I have ever seen.

Your Personality Profile

You are dreamy, peaceful, and young at heart. Optimistic and caring, you tend to see the best in people. You tend to be always smiling - and making others smile. You are shy and intelligent... and a very hard worker. You're also funny, but many people don't see your funny side. Your subtle dry humor leaves your close friends in stitches.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Amici Belli, Ciao!

This is a tribute to two friends that I feel I never got to know well enough -- Nathan and Daphane Voltz.

I met them via Josh. To be honest, when I meet people for the first time, I am guarded and I don't think I came across as friendly. And I didn't put forth much effort in getting to know them. But after some time passed, I realized that these were two great friends, funny and smart, talented and all around neat folks.

Now, they have moved back to Nathan's old stomping grounds in Pennsylvania to be with family and to study film. I know he will succeed because he was one of the masterminds behind our award winning film The Three R's. So the future is looking bright my friends -- you better wear shades! (I had to say that.)

I hope to see you both again one day. Please try and visit often! Thankfully we have things like the internet to communicate. And the Think Tank. You have only been gone for a day and I already miss you like you have been gone for... two days.

So to Nathan and Daphane I say, Ciao, with love and friendship and prayers for a safe and happy future in film and whatever else you decide to pursue.

William

It was 25 years ago today

Today is the anniversary of John Lennon's murder. Sad. His murder really led to the withdrawal of celebs from the spotlight in a way that they never had before. And that, in turn, forced the paparazzi to escalade their pursuit of them. I think that led to Princess Diana's death.
Well, I am not gonna debate the topic of celebs vs. the press, I could really care less -- they are a social food chain that feeds cyclically off of one another -- but it is sad that people have to be more guarded because of nutcases like the guy who shot John Lennon. Lennon used to walk openly around NYC and he just wanted to be an average guy, and most folks treated him that way. It may have been naive on his part to think that an ex-Beatle could ever be seen as average, and he was a little naive about a lot of things, but he did once say, "You can say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us -- and the world will live as one."

It's a nice dream. I wish it could come true. Maybe I am cynical, but I don't see it happening. Too many people care about nothing but themselves. Anyway, when John died, a piece of every single person who loves music died. "The dream is over."

My car is a working magnet it seems

Now that I have a new car its like I am attracting bad drivers. I have almost had two wrecks this passed week, I mean, near misses. I don't get it. I know bad drivers exist everywhere but I think around these parts they are particularly bad. And that is one of my pet peeves. I am not a perfect driver, but c'mon, people! Look before you pull out onto the road. Somebody might actually be on it heading straight towards you. And don't be a moron and pass people when you know there is a possibility someone might come over a hill or around a corner and almost hit you.
But there are the little things that bug me too -- like using turn signals. I think it could be possible that the use of turn signals is against the religious beliefs of many people here in Birmingham, specifically out on the side of town I live on. And when they do use them, they only do so as they are making the turn. No, no, no! The point of a turn signal is to warn the driver behind you that you are turning ahead, not at that very second.
Anyway...

The Poem That Inspired A Blog

(Disclaimer: Don't even think about stealing any of the poetry you find on this site. For one, stealing is really rotten and you will go to hell; number two, I only post copyrighted material, so if you steal it I can sue yer butt!)


People often ask me, "Why Magnet Works?" Actually, very few people have ever asked me that. A small number. Almost one. Anyway...
About 10 years ago, when me and Josh had a little garage band and we were delusional enough to think we could write our own songs, I took it upon myself to concoct some lyrics. I had been writing poetry anyway. Really bad poetry. And I thought, "Well, most rock songs are nothing more than bad poetry anyway." So I submitted some stuff for their approval. Here is one that made the grade. It's called Magnet Works No. 1 (and there were never any Nos. 2 or 3...). Don't ask me why -- I have a hard time with titles and I needed something and this one just came to me out of the blue abyss. I like it...

MAGNET WORKS No. 1 (1996) copyrighted 2003 William F Brownell III

She lures the welcome mat like it

Was a lamp-post

I guess you could say the same thing

About her smiles

Multitudes drown most any others

But I say that she's

The sore thumb all the while

A flash polarizes her figure

Against the canvas

Of the crowd

Peripherially

I steal her without her

Even knowing that there's only us

There's just us now.

Rain Rain Go Away

I hate this weather. So dreary and cold and gray. Makes me sleepy.

Not much new to report. No new weird pictures. Not today at any rate. Well, I have one but I am posting it at myspace.com in my profile.

I started the next book in the Chronicles of Narnia, called The Horse and His Boy.

Update and More Weird Images

I finished The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Good book. Now I can go see the movie in peace. What else? Oh, got Season 5 of Everybody Loves Raymond.
What else? Oh, some more weird pictures...

Some New Pictures

Some new images of yours truly. Of course they are not your average ordinary photos -- what do you expect from me??

TALES FROM THE DRYER
Episode IV

Now, most people would be rather worked up and a little anxious starting a new job and all. But not Seth. He had a different attitude; he could care less. Sure, he wanted to do well enough to continue holding the job; he didn't want to get fired. But beyond this, Seth wanted nothing more than to maintain the status quo as it were. And he also saw little need in befriending any of his co-workers. Again, he was polite and was never hateful. Rather, he kept everyone at hand's length, which suited him just fine.

Over time, most of his co-workers gave up trying to be friends with him. And, in the end, this attitude provided both positives and negatives for Seth.I say "most of his co-workers" because one did see passed Seth's introversion. In fact, his withdrawing was intriguing. This co-worker happened to be one year older than Seth and had seen him around school, though he knew nothing at all about Seth other than he dressed like he was coming and going to funerals all day. Black was the theme of Seth's wardrobe. But this co-worker saw it all as more of a defense mechanism and decided that he would break through that wall that Seth had built between him and everyone else. This co-worker happened to be named Steve.

Why? What did Steve see in Seth? Maybe, without wanting to admit it, he saw a little bit of himself. And Steve had done a pretty good job of pushing people out of his own life as well. Steve would never just go up to someone and start a conversation and smile and be overly friendly. That was not in his personality. Besides, that would only have turned Seth's stomach and the two would never have become friends. No, Steve's approach was to throw in the occasional "hi" and "what's up?" from time to time, while continuing to ignore Seth if he saw him in the halls of their school. This allowed the two to feel each other out and within three months the two were actually having real conversations. It didn't take long for those conversations to turn to music. This, as it turned out, would be one of the positives mentioned beforehand.

And what exactly where the negatives? Well, beyond alienating many potential friends, it also lost Seth any hopes of dating a pretty little brunette at work that he immediately fell head over heels for on his first day. But his own pride wouldn't allow him to break character for her and while he and Steve grew closer, the little brunette (who happened to be named Wendi) grew more and more distant, which Seth would regret later. This regret came on many levels for Seth and will be revealed as more of this story unfolds.

But that is future-speak, and we are mainly concerned with the here and now. And here and now is where Seth and Steve found themselves talking music. And guitars. And an idea was born.

My Space

I have a myspace.com account now so you can all look for more wackiness from me over there if you should so desire to look me up. http://www.myspace.com
While I am thinking about it, I am almost finished with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Only 20 more pages to go. And the film opens next weekend. So I shouldn't have any problem finishing it either tonight or tomorrow.

12/05/05

Well, let's see... It is once again a cold dreary Monday. And it looks to be a cold week as well.
We finished our film Sunday evening, with the exception of editing. Josh is finishing that this week. We have some technical problems, specifically continiuty; we have some scenes that look like they are in the middle of the night, it is black out, and other scenes where it is just really gray and somewhat dark... That is just a problem we couldn't get around because of the serious rain we got last night -- we just had to film when we could. Hopefully people will enjoy it anyway and ignore those little snafus. It isn't like we were doing this for any reason other than to entertain ourselves. It was all for fun. So I am not too bothered by it... too bothered...
So I will hopefully be getting a copy of that next weekend. Despite those problems, it is still hilarious to watch. Atleast to me -- but then, I am easily entertained and I think Josh and I are quite funny. But maybe that is just me. Probably no one will get this thing anyway. It sorta pokes fun at a specific type of person and some will watch it and be like, I don't get it. Others will watch it and fall out lauging. But we tried to make it accessible to everyone without watering it down. We have very specific jokes in it that some folks will miss.
My mom bought me a shirt with Ralpie from the Christmas Story -- that is the only Christmas movie I like -- I watch it every year. And it has the scene when Ralph has the big bar of soap in his mouth after saying "Oh, F***" but on the shirt it says, Oh, FUDGE!"
Also have more film news, but I will wait and post more on that as it develops.
And Josh and I braved the rain after we finished filming and went to see the new Æon Flux film. It was pretty good. Kinda weird. But then, so was the animated series.

Wil

A Quick Note

I went today and bought a car. And I was worried that I would have nothing to do today. Actually, it was a long time coming. My mother finally prodded me, and it needed to be done -- my pick up was wearing on my nerves. I was ready to go back to a car. I did the truck thing and now I wanted a car again. I got a 2005 Dodge Neon. Silver. Really nice. Got a good deal and my step dad, who was driving a piece of junk, let me use his car as a trade cause he wanted to have my truck. He and my mom get more use out of the truck than I ever did. I really only got it because I let them talk me into it, but I knew they would use it as a "truck" more than I would -- they use it to haul things, buy hay for mom's horses. I just use it to drive. I can do that in a car.
Anyway, I got a good set up for payments. Kinda stretching my finances a tad but I can manage. Maybe I can get a raise at work?? Nah, that'll never happen!
Now I have to do something about my insurance because it jumped way too high. So I told my insurer that I was leaving. They didn't like hearing that so they want to contact me in the coming week and I am sure I can talk them down to a cheaper monthly rate.

Four Directions and A Chain

I'm in a weird mood tonight. Somewhat restless. Maybe because it's Friday and the weekend is just around the corner. I am ready to finish up our short film. We made so much progress last Sunday, I don't want to put off getting it all together.
I am also going over to see Nathan and Daphane this evening. That should be nice, as usual. I am sure some sort of madness will ensue. Who knows?
Also, I am just kinda ready to do something -- go out and do. Busy week at work. Christmas is fast approaching. I have to figure out what I am gonna do tomorrow cause the weather is supposed to be mild and pleasant, with intermittent showers, and I don't want to just sit around the house. Hrm.
Maybe it's the creative juices starting to wind up and flow (sounds gross doesn't it?). Maybe some great weekend is ahead and Monday I will have a whole new set of cool adventures to write about. Maybe it's just gas.

Wil

GARMARNA -- A Brief Overview

Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to give a brief review of three of Garmarna's albums. The band debuted in 1992 with a self-titled EP (which was later expanded to a full-length disc). In 1994, Vittrad (or Crumbling Away)was released. It features a balance of short traditional pieces and rock infused medieval songs. Vocalist Emma Härdelin sings with prestine passion, and the other four members are well-equipped to handle every musical curveball that comes their way, be it guitars and drums or fiddles and hurdy-gurdys. Standout tracks from this album include Den Bortsålda (only the second song I ever heard by them and the song that hooked me), Klevabergselden and the title track.
In 1996, Guds Spelemän (God's Musicians) was released. The album is more structured and tune oriented, and really works best as a whole rather than a backdrop for one or two "hits". Speaking of which, the highlights here are Vänner och Fränder (the song I first heard by them), Herr Holgir, the title track and the instrumental ditty Halling From Macedonia. It retains the rootsy feel of the first album with a light contemporary underpinning that takes nothing away from the ancient feel of these tracks. This is probably my favorite of their albums (so far!).
The third album in a trio of great discs is Vedergällningen (Vengeance). This album takes the basic roots sound of their earlier work and progresses it into a more contemporary palette of sound, with modern beats and rhythms swirling around the speakers, evoking shades of EuroPop stylings and Björk-like arrangements. Cool moments include the title track, Gamen, Euchari, and Sorgsen Ton.
They have released another album since, called Hildegard Von Bingen (with songs based on the hymns of the medieval abbess). It takes their sound even farther away from the folky basics and into new territory with house party beats and edgy arrangements with a cool heavenly soundscape underneath.
A new album is forthcoming next year. Should be interesting to see where the band takes their sound on the next one. I await it's release in anticipation...

Technical Notation

I have finally figured out how to add links! *YEAH* And if you look to the right hand column you will see a link to Google News (which was already there) plus links to two other sites. One is Suction Horse Productions. The other is Think Tank -- enter at your own risk... Eet Ees veddy skeddy! Veddy skeddy!...

Nothing (Much) New To Report

Finished the Magician's Nephew and well into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe... Still planning to finish up our film Sunday... It's cold, cold, cold... And of course, I hate it.
What else? Eh... Well, got an email from a guy in the Swedish group Garmarna, Stefan Brisland-Ferner. He released a solo album with another Swedish musician named Tötte Mattsson (from Hedningarna). I once sent him a fan email and since then we have been communicating via email from time to time. He was curious to know what I thought of his solo album and I gave him my thoughts on it. He told me he is going on vacation to Equador! Wow, wish I could afford to go. I can barely afford to go to Wal-Mart!
Anyway, the album is an experimental hurdy gurdy album. Don't ask me the in's and out's of the instrument -- I have seen one, I know what it sounds like, but I really am clueless on how to play it. Maybe one day he will explain it to me. They are neat instruments. Anyway, the album is very "out there", interesting atleast. But I like the stuff he does with Garmarna better. By the way, this is not an official review but I would also like to plug Garmarna's albums Vittrad and Guds Spelemän -- great discs. I will have to give a more in-depth review some other time. (And that is Stefan on the far right in the picture.)

And I guess that is all...

Wil