It's on!

I had my last voice lesson with Mr. Fox tonight. Bittersweet, to be sure. He's been an excellent teacher, and so inspirational and encouraging. He has pushed me hard for the last nine weeks, and never let me get away with being lazy. It's good to have a teacher that you're willing to work hard for. I've always looked forward to our lessons every week, and I'll miss his humor and warmth.

I'll be singing in Mr. Fox's recital on January 15th, and then I'll be moving forward with my new voice teacher, Ms. Winter.

The toughest part is that I won't get to rehearse this song again, and I won't get to even see the space we're all singing in until about half an hour before we go on. It's a little nerve wracking, but Mr. Fox doesn't seem to be worried about it, so I won't be either. However it goes, it will be the first time I've sung an entire song solo in public. Break a lung!

More than I can chew?

I became interested in making movies when I was seven. I actually made my first movie when I was ten. I think it had something to do with Star Wars action figures and an epic sci-fi battle. Well, as epic as a ten year old could make it.

But it wasn't until 1989 that I got really serious with my filmmaking and graduated to editing my masterpieces using two VCR's hooked together. This was high tech for 1989. I could even dub music and sound effects in on the left audio track.

I came up with the moniker "Delta Wing Pictures" after a long period of racking my brain for a good film studio name. Believe it or not, the name came to me while I was in the shower one afternoon staring at a "Delta" faucet head. How I got the "wing" part I have no idea. People now just assume that it's a military thing, referring to the delta wing configuration of some fighter jets. Not true.

But, I digress. 1989. That means that this coming year, 2009, marks twenty years since I began. Twenty years. Unbelievable.

This is the perfect opportunity to do something I've wanted to do for a while now. I'm going to go through the archives, pull out every single film Delta Wing Pictures made and make a highlight reel featuring all the best stuff. That's right, Frank W., you'll probably see some "Spirit of Adventure" in there; a classic with such dialogue as "They're probably already out looking for the treasure already." And John, you're sure to see that wonderful slow-motion ballet shot of me taking a hit to the nuts. It's going to be one hell of a reel.

I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to put it together yet. I'm thinking a music-video style montage no more than a few minutes long. I will very likely do a companion piece that has all the best bloopers through the years. Believe me, there've been some doozies.

I cannot overstate what a giant undertaking this will be. I have literally hundreds of VHS tapes to go through. There is a massive box of Digital 8 tapes and mini DV tapes. You see, as well as completed productions, I'm going to include stuff from projects that never got finished. There are a lot of them, and I'm the only one that's ever seen that stuff. You lucky devils.

As long as I can complete this task within 2009, I'll make the anniversary. As my Navy buddies like to quip when I enter the room, "Standby for greatness."

The Beginning

Why SWASHBUCKLE?

Because it's an awesome name, that's why. It invokes excitement and adventure. Do I consider myself a swashbuckler? A swaggering, sword wielding scoundrel of the high seas? No. But I do loves me some adventure and excitement. I thrill to new experiences, travel, and learning everything about everything. I plan to master it all. If that isn't exciting, then I don't know what is.
This blog will likely be a mix of a lot of different things. Travel journals. Photos. Rants and raves. Comedy bits. Updates on things going on in my life. It may take a while for it to find its voice and its look, but I hope to always make it entertaining.

Thanks for stopping by. This is gonna be fun.