Saturday, August 20, 2011

You Are So Grand and Golden! America!


So yesterday we went to our nation's capital! No not to protest the incoherent babblings of a presidential hopeful but to visit with the man, the myth the legend Brendan Canty! And to take advantage of his stellar film/music studio space hidden in the depths of Silver Springs (outside of space pictured above)! Brendan's studio, Trixie, releases not only his Burn to Shine series but tons of other music docs and commercials, in addition to using the space for record productions (the last time we were around Benjy Ferree was there singing his large churchy pop as Brendan mixed, tinkered and even played some drum tracks!) making it a sort of secret haven for artists who are well aware of the artistic awesomeness that has happened in these former industrial walls!

Brent wanted to do a few Gravity sound tweaks for a few American screenings so while he and Brendan slaved away over mics and programs I went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum (possibly doing research for a short film I am working on? YES!) and walked past historical architecture, memorials and fate deciding institutions. Often I feel like the core of Gravity is a portrayal of our crumbling American dream, of the loss of freedom, wonder and thought that our nation was founded upon so walking around D.C. and feeling the palpable sense of pride and nationalism was kind of awkward... one can only hope that these patriotic pangs people feel can once again be justified through the eventual righting of this ship! On an amazing note though, I saw a really big diamond, some ground sloth skeletons and learned about how now we think living things developed in small carbon ponds as opposed to the huge oceans that I learned about in elementary school (with no mention of the co-existance of dinosaurs and humans!): America, slowly making progress...?! O, and America? Please don't let that lady become president...