It has been kind of quiet here at ReelFriction. I find that my life has been turning towards other areas besides film. I love movies and could watch them all day, but there are also other things I love. I have found it hard to motivate myself to write a film review every week. That being said, this entry is to announce that I will be changing the format of my side of Reelfriction.

There will still be plenty of film reviews, (There must be with a pretentious moniker such as The Cinesthete) but there will also be entries on some of the other things that I find interesting. Now, I don’t want this website to become your standard LiveJournal, where I go over what went on in my day. I will distance myself as far a possible from inane inanities. Some things I will discuss:

Films: Of course, the original topic. I love everything about movies, from watching them to reading about them to making them.

Books: Again, this has been hinted at in the blog before. I read a lot and write almost as much. Novels rule. They are one of the purist art forms. It also helps that my day job is working for a major book retailer. I play with books constantly.

Art: Whatever doesn’t fall into the above two categories that I find relevant.

Veganism: You can hear LCD curse my name anytime the V-word comes up. The complete opposite of him, I am a fully functioning Vegan and I might post my reasons why on here some day. I also have a large interest in nutrition and health, and plan on living far longer than LCD.

Running: I love athletics and sports. My choice of one to pursue seriously has been running. I enjoy it because it is easy to do by yourself and its a good activity to see how far your can push your body. I might talk about training, nutrition, or some cool ultra-marathon races I plan on running.

Vernacular Photography: I’ll post pics of interesting found photos from around the internet. They can be so fascinating.

Geek Culture: This includes D&D, Star Trek, Ninja Warrior, Viral Marketing, Mario Kart, Computers, Zombies and other such things.

My Collections: I have been known to collect good old fashioned vinyl records, old video game systems and old video games, cool pulp paperbacks, and other interesting pop-culture type items. I might post some interesting finds or reviews of those here.

LCD: He is a peculiar fellow, and an in-depth anthropological study of his habits would fill several volumes.

I’m sure other things will come up, but that is the gist of what I like. Again, I’ll try to keep this from turning into a myspace crap fest. I am just hoping that widening the scope of this site will help me to be a more consistent poster for my dedicated fan. And don’t worry, there will still be some heated Head2Heads!

Please enjoy responsibly.

I know that I haven’t been the best at sticking to my promise of updated Reelfriction once a week. I have, however, been making some great progress in my other writing.

I have published another short story in a a fine publication called The Swallow’s Tail. The story is called “Fun With Robotics”. Its a bit adult, but I think it is one of my best stories. You can actually read it for free online at the magazines website, or purchase it at Lulu.com. It’s issue #4.

I have decided that if (when) I hit five published stories, there will be a link on the sidebar for “My Fiction” or something similar. It will be a way for my “friends” to check out some of my art, just like I have done with the “My Films” link.

Other than that, I have nothing new to report. Please stand by for some actual movie reviews. I’m going to go see Killer of Sheep tomorrow night, so hopefully that will merit a review. I have been waiting to see it for years, and I’m quite excited. Either way, I have some ideas about some other interesting films to review. Also, hopefully LCD and I can do another Head2head. Those are always fun.

So in case you cared and were wondering where all the updates were, feel confident that I haven’t given up on this site. It may grow slowly, but ReelFriction will one day stand tall!

I’ll keep this short and sweet. Here is some shameless self-promotion. Feel free to email me for more details or to join our caravan! To learn about the film, check out this blog entry. To learn more about the screening, click the image below.

I have not been updating Reelfriction that much. It’s a shame, really. Not because I’m under the impression that I am making a difference out there, but because formulating film reviews helps me with two major parts of my life. First, it gives me a chance to really evaluate what makes a film work and what doesn’t. I shouldn’t be content with just thinking a film is worthwhile without knowing how I am coming up with that conclusion. Writing a review forces me to come to terms with those reasons, and that will hopefully educate me and help me with my own film-making.

The second reason to keep up the reviews if my other main passion: Writing. I have been writing fiction for years, but have only recently started taking it seriously. My first short story was just published in the wonderful magazine Trail of Indiscretion. Its called “The Shirkberry Tree”. Its a dark/fantasy horror story that hopefully contains more layers than the genre demands. It does for me at least.

I intend to continue to take my fiction writing seriously, and writing these reviews on ReelFriction is a great way for me to hone my skills. I don’t want my writing muscles to atrophy. When I have amassed enough publications, I will create a separete section for my fiction writing, as I have already done for My Films.

Speaking of my films, the DVD for Father and Son is now available. Feel free to contact me for a copy.

My solemn vow is to update ReelFriction on a weekly basis. I think that getting this decision out to the “public” will help my continued effort to slowly contribute to the art community and any way I can.

In order to help facilitate this, LCD and I have spent the last week putting together this new look and feel for ReelFriction. I hope you enjoy the way it looks. It is now much more functional and this will allow us to easily post new entries.

This is the beginning of a new era! Aren’t you excited? I know I am.