So, I’m in need of what is appearing to be a rather difficult item to find:

A Mitsubishi HS-U770 VHS VCR.

I’ve found a couple on eBay, but they all seem to be busted (exhibiting the exact same mechanical failure that my old U770 did, in fact).  If anybody out there on the Internets has one that is working that they don’t need, or can manage to track one down, it would be much appreciated.

Tracking this puppy down is one of the last steps before I can finalize the content for the “Student Films” section of Flicker Shows here at SkinMech, and if  you want to see some real-life working filmmakers (directors whose films you may know!  Excitement!) acting completely ridiculous in some short films made over 10 years ago, then the Student Films section will be for you.

A quick preview of the content to come?

“Breaking & Entering”

“No Content”

“Life Fast, Die Young: The Larry Burnstein Story”

“An Experiment in Sleep Deprivation”

“Lucky Pierre”

and a not-so-coincidentally entitled “Skin Mechanic”

Yes folks.  All of this exciting content will be yours.  All that’s standing between it and you is a VCR that first went into production sometime around 1995.

Thanks in advance for any help.

“Pushing Daisies” has been cancelled.

Meanwhile, “Life On Mars” gets more episodes ordered, and “Knight Rider” will return.

And the networks wonders why cable channels are getting all the love.

Sorry to have been so MIA since the election.  I’m sure my one reader has just been beside themself with feelings of desperate abandonment.

Suffice to say lots of things are changing in the life of yours truly — and not just political leadership.  The date is set of my girlfriend and I’s move — the festivities begin November 21st — and the powers that be at my job now know that the New Year will bring a new vacancy to the company call list when I leave to begin The Great Gamble.

Packing and year-end family planning are edging into overdrive, and hard decisions are already being made.  First one?  No trip to D.C. for President-elect Obama’s (wow, that does feel good to type, doesn’t it?) Inauguration.  Money is too tight, and I’ve got some promises to myself I need to make good on come January.

But I’ll be back up shortly here with some postage — thanks for checking back. Next year should be a good one for the site, incidentally. More is coming from Uneasy Lies The Head, and a new short film is in the offing.

Thanks for hanging out.

-bcb

p.s. Nothing provides a more sobering view of one’s accomplishments then filling out a job application for an upcoming Presidential administration. I mean, seriously.

it’s four days until we pick the next President of the United States.  I’m giving notice to my landlord without my girlfriend and I having located a new place yet, I’m about to leave my current job and embark on the biggest gamble of my 33 years, and I’m quitting smoking.  There’s a lot going on.

But today is Halloween. And so for today… we shall rock.

Okay, I’m not going to lie here; I don’t believe in God. That’s my personal choice, and I respect each and every person to make their own personal choice. The one thing we can all agree upon is that we live in a universe of wonder and constant amazement.

I grew up in a vaguely religious family, however — Dad was more on the scientific tip, but my mother was strong in her beliefs, and my Grandmother and Aunt on my Dad’s side were hardcore Catholics. And one thing I remember pretty strongly, from those various times at church, or at funerals, was the idea that “God helps those that help themselves.”

I always loved that. The simple logic and truthfulness of it. And it’s wonderful to me even now, because I don’t need to believe in God to get the point.

Self-actualization works. Fighting hard works. Waiting for somebody else to solve your problems doesn’t; even in a world with God, we have free will, and are able to control our own fate and shape our own destiny. It’s a beautiful sentiment.

And that’s why this YouTube taken from PBS wants me to MOTHERFUCKING SCREAM.

“The Lord will provide.” Really, Tracy?

Has the Lord provided us a way out of Iraq?

Has the Lord provided us with a sound economy?

Has the Lord provided us with bounty and goodwill towards our fellow man?

No, Tracy. The Lord has not Provided us out of any of these scenarios. He has given us exactly what we’ve earned over the past 8 years. We’ve reaped what we’ve sewn.

Or as one Christian once said, “the chickens have come home to roost.”

What truly baffles me is how Tracy’s God seems to actually be a motherfucking Socialist (oooh, 21st Century taboo!). God takes care of you if you’re poor, feeds you if you’re hungry, and lifts your spirits when you’re sad. You lose your job? Bummer! But don’t worry! Karl Marx-n-Christ is there to provide for you!

Taking this notion of Christianity-as-criteria to the extreme only leads to madness:

Would you only work at a business that was run by a Christian, Tracy?

Would you only buy a car made by a Christian, Tracy?

Would you only eat food grown and sold by a Christian, Tracy?

To all the Tracy’s of the world: your faith is a beautiful thing; but God is not a Get Out Of Life’s Responsibilities Free Card.

To paraphrase Jerry Maguire, Help God Help You. Think. Do what is in your — and the country’s — best interests.

Of course, I could be wrong. It is looking like this year, the Tracy’s of the world won’t have a loud enough voice to stop progress, and Barack Obama will win the White House despite the far-right Fundamentalists. Perhaps with the aid of some new leadership, we can work ourselves out of the messes we’ve created.

Maybe the Lord is providing after all.