I’ve been wanting to see this movie since last year when they originally announced it was coming out at Christmas.  “The Great Gatsby” is one of my favorite books, and with the cast that was in the film, I had to see the updated version of it.  Baz Lurhmann was directing.  I really liked “Romeo and Juliet” because the soundtrack was so bad ass.  I was hoping for the same thing with this film.  It is the single movie I’ve wanted to see more then any other in 2013.  I was seeing it early.  I was completely excited about it!

 
Shep magically gets tickets via the internet.  He gets them all the time.  I don’t know if he ever sees a movie after it’s release.  He sees them all beforehand.  They give out a certain number of tickets and you have to get to the theater early early so you get a good spot.

I worked all day then rushed out of the office at 4pm to get home, take a quick shower, put on some clothes, then hop in my car to get to the theater.  I have less then a quarter tank but I meticulously calculate that I can drive to the movies, back, then to work the next day and finally hit a gas station on the way home just as my low fuel light comes on.  I have a very fuel efficient car.

On the way I listen to “The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss audio book.  I started my free Audible trial last week and I chose “The Name of the Wind” because it is A) Awesome. and B) Very long, so I will get the maximum amount of entertainment for my free book credit from signing up.  The audio book clocks in at a lengthy 27 hours.  That is a lot of amusement.  I listen to it at work as well, which makes me feel as if I’m cheating the system somehow, though it doesn’t deter my productivity in the least.

When I arrive I foun a decent parking spot and proceed to put my Roger Federer tennis racket in the trunk with my amp and mic stand.  I’ve heard stories about Arundel Mills, and did not want to risk my precious Federer racket and guitar amp.  The outside of the theater is a gaudy yet impressive display of imitation Egyptian architecture.  There are massive sand colored columns and statues of jackals.  They look blankly at the modern crowd of people who enter the doors.

Inside I find Shep already there.  He has found an exquisite spot in line behind another statue.  He waves me over and I duck under the stanchion* and into the line.

Shep and I talk a while about our podcast and our future plans for it.  We come up with some very good ideas about getting it out there.  We talk about Audible and movies we just watched (“Top Gun” in case you are wondering).  Eventually we got the announcement that we were allowed inside.  We hand over our tickets on the way in.  They gave us 3D glasses then go over us with metal detectors.  I hadn’t realized the movie was going to be in 3D.  Since we had such a good spot in line, we pretty much had our pick of the seats.  We chose the ones midway up with plenty of leg room.  Shep saves a few spots for some people he knew from other pre-screenings.  Shep knows everyone.  We settle in and I get up first to grab the largest popcorn and soda I can purchase.  I was hungry and no meager amount of popcorn would appease me.  I needed the biggest bucket available.  I debated between regular Coke and Cherry, then went with Cherry.  Special occasion you see.

We chat for a bit more as the room fills up with other viewers.  We get the “No cellphones” warning and they also tell us not to smoke.  Apparently someone had one of those vaporizing cigarillos that seem to be the fashion these days.  I smelt no tobacco nor other burnt leafage.  The lights go down as I munch tirelessly on my popcorn.  We get two trailers then the movie starts.  The trailers were for “Superman” (I’ve seen this thing like 3 times already) and “Hangover 3″.  The screen then tells us to put on our 3D glasses.  “The Great Gatsby” begins.

That’s all for tonight; I will have my official review up tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

*A special thanks to “Joberwocky” O’Brien and “Shep” Shepherd for figuring out this word for me.

The post “The Great Gatsby” Movie Part One appeared first on Brad Cogar.

April Fools Day

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Note: Bartender doesn’t actually do this.

Man things have been busy.  I’ve got this new gig bartending at a restaurant in Crofton called “The Blue Dolphin.” Some of you guys may have heard about it, or maybe have even been there.

I stopped full time bartending over a year ago.  I made good money but I didn’t like where I was at.  I learned the restaurant business very well though, as it was a very successful place.  We would get slammed on weekends.  Occasionally you would get a monsterous day shift when you were behind the bar on your own.  The busiest day I ever worked was the 4th of July.  It was ridiculous.  I probably should have had someone else with me working.  I know what “being in the weeds” is, believe me.

I got out of it for a bit to pursue some other things.

I love the yacht company I work for.  I’ve been wanting to take on a bit more though to keep things interesting.  I didn’t like the restaurant industry as a full-time job — but a part-time job?  Let me give it a shot.  I started applying to places and got the job at Blue Dolphin.  I didn’t have to do any extensive training, they set me up behind the bar and I got down to it.  I was making drinks the first night I was there.  It was like stepping back into a movie I knew very well.

I’ve been doing that a few times a week.  I’ve worked like one double a week and between my two jobs I get one day off.  I’ve definitely hitting my financial goals and I’m staying busy.  One good thing about working so much is that you get quite a bit of appreciation for the time you have off.  It is rewarding in that way.

Getting used to the new schedule has kept me from my writing but as always, once things start to feel normal the words start calling me back (having a muse helps, as does my bro Kyle).  Then I just read Neil Gaiman’s latest journal and it triggered the desire immediately (Thanks Neil).  I plugged away a few pages last night before bed which was therapeutic.  I’m writing this sweet blog here.  I feel aligned.  I gotta do this more often.

On other notes, even if I’m not writing I am still being creative.  My podcast just recorded our 4th episode yesterday and it is downloadable on iTunes or you can stream it.  We talk about movies.  It is a lot of fun — yesterday’s episode was about “The Breakfast Club”.  You can stream it from here: The Awesome Movie Podcast.

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I was working a party last Thursday for the Blue Dolphin. It was a political fundraiser
for a future candidate for the Anne Arundel County Executive. It was a decent crowd;
generally the political types are polite and good tippers. While I was at the bar, I
overheard a guy talking to a woman about his 10 year plan.

I have heard of these things
before, I have pondered the concept before, but I’ve never actually done one. I
think a part of it is I am a little fearful planning out my life 10 years in advance.
It makes firmly aware of my time on earth and once it is planned, it is going to
happen. In a way, it is like watching 10 years of your life.

I’m all about living
in the moment; there is a very zen concept to it, and also a simplicity to it. Planning
ahead is actually necessary though so you don’t spend a lot of time in the
moment; and realize you haven’t done what you planning to do before you
started living in the moment. I’ve done this many times. As I’ve gotten
older and more mature (FYI I will be 30 in July 2013), I’ve learned to appreciate
having a plan.

I heard the guy talking about it and where as normally I would be like
“Eh, not for me. I’m a writer and that is that.” The thing is, even
with writing, I definitely need a plan. I’ve wanted to write some epic work for
years but haven’t really set the plan in motion. I’ve started many novels,
but never gotten to the thick of it. I am good at starting, and sub-par at finishing.
If it was the plan to finish, for better or worse, it would get done.

Now the question
is: how much can I get done in 10 years? What do I want to get done by the time I am
going to be 40? The idea is thrilling and a little scary. I can’t do everything I
dream about; I can pick a few things and make them happen though. What are my greatest
desires?

This ten year thing is no joke.

The post Ten Year Plan? appeared first on Brad Cogar.

We had a little jam session on Thursday night. I have talked about my weekly sessions but I figured I would grab a few photos so you all could see the Jam Room.

I headed over to Matt’s after a random post-work nap. I woke up thinking I had to get ready for work then I realized it was the evening and I was going to jam. It through me off a bit actually, I wasn’t expecting to sleep that long.

I packed up my notebooks, mic, mic cords, and labrador and I hopped into my car. I made a few calls on the way and was at Matt’s place in no time. We talked a bit then plugged in. I was playing the Parker on Matt’s Fender, using my acoustic amp for the our microphones.

Various amps and dog.

Note Finn’s demon eyes when he looks towards the camera.

We started out with “Someday” by the Strokes. We played a bunch of our songs, along with the Arctic Monkeys’ songs we always play and practice. I am trying to get some decent recordings so I can put it up on the blog and everyone can hear us.

The corner TV. Note fine looking murse next to amp.

After a while (and a beer or two) later I hopped on the drum set. Generally I don’t do this but I wanted to see if I could keep up. Matt has a killer drum set. I only use like three of the drums on it. I settled in a bit and we ended up writing a song with my playing the beat! I am jazzed to say the least.

Matt’s Set

Jamming is always a good time. There is seriously nothing like playing some loud rock & roll. I always feel like a million bucks the day after. It is like the world rewarding me for being creative. Yeah I stay up late, but it is for the greater good of mankind. The pic below may have been after a few more beers.

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I’ve been reading “No Excuses” and “Spiritual Partnerships” back and forth. They have both have made serious impact on my day to day operations already.

I didn’t realize how important it is to write down your goals. There was an exercise in “No Excuses” that recommended writing down at least ten goals you have for the next year. I ended up writing down fourteen. I printed them out and right next to where I am typing is the list. I taped it to the wall so I can be reminded of them.

Interestingly enough, since I wrote them down, they have already started coming into fruition! Whenever I am bored I bring up the list and read it. Reading it gives me an idea of something to work on and I get to it.

Out of the two books I’m working on, I’d be hard pressed to say that “Spiritual Partnerships” isn’t the most influential. The author Gary Zukav and I go way back – all the way to when I used to work at Barnes & Noble. When I was a lot younger, I was really interested in quantum physics. There was something sort of mystical about it, and though I am not a physicist by any means, I can appreciate theory. I found a book while I was stocking the Mathematics section called “The Dancing Wu-Li Masters”. It was a layman’s guide to understanding quantum mechanics and the implications of such. It was written by (you guessed it), Gary Zukav.

I bought the book and devoured it. It made a lot of sense to me, and I realized the greater significance of what quantum physics implies about being a human and life in general. It was sort of a spiritual look at what the equations meant.

When I saw “Spirtual Partnerships” in the $3.99 bin, I happenstance picked it up. I recognized the writer, though I had forgotten about “The Dancing Wu-Li Masters” I had read by him so long ago. I flipped open a few pages and when I discovered it was the same writer, I tucked it under my arm and went to the register with my other two books. It was the last one in the bin.

The book is about creating real, pure, spiritual relationships in order to create “authentic power” from within. By “authentic power” Zukav is talking about evolving from outward perception to inward projection. He’s talking about making earth a better place by living on a spiritual level, one which can actually cause great good to everyone in your life (and not in your life!).

The book totally struck a chord with me. I made a commitment to my spiritual growth, something I’ve always held in high regard but didn’t necessarily choose to work on a daily basis. You start observing your actions in order to see your true intentions. I became aware that a lot of my actions were a result of fear-based perceptions. What a waste of time that is! The concepts are totally right up my alley, as I’ve always had a significant appreciation of the spiritual nature of myself. Even better, I’m hitting a deeper level on every single interaction I have with people. Working on that intuitive side of myself has brought a ton of life to each moment I have. It is definitely worth checking out!

The post Books and Life appeared first on Brad Cogar.

Let me tell you something. I didn’t work on any sort of story what-so-ever while I was up north. I tried to write a blog – didn’t happen. I did do some journaling but it was along the lines of “Man I’m hung-over; I should really be working on a story right now.”
Yes, I failed miserably at sitting down for hours in quiet New York solitude, plugging away at my great American novel. My brilliant notion of being in a different world, a cozy room, creating something amazing didn’t even come close to happening. Believe me, I thought about writing a lot, I just didn’t do it. I’ll tell you what I did do though.

I got to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, I tried an uncountable number of natural springs that are prevalent in the Ballston Spa/Saratoga area, I sat in the hot tub while the snow came down late at night, drinking a homebrewed beer with my family. I went sledding with my nephews after the first 10 inches fell, got hit by snowballs, I dropped a snowball on my sister’s head (it was like being a kid again). I ate several different veggie burgers from various local restaurants, went to two different breweries, helped my mom train her new puppy, played Plants vs. Zombies with one of my nephews, sat by the fire, ate a ton of good food, went to Saratoga Springs’ First Night, saw an acappella group in a church and musicians in the streets playing in the ice cold evening. I went out with the boys, went to a hippie shop, went to a tea shop and got an exotic green tea called “Ancient Forest”, I did a wine tasting, saw “The Hobbit”, watched a “Doctor Who” marathon, learned about Skara Brae, spoke French with my sister and bro-in-law, watched “Poirot” and tried to copy his French, got hit by snowballs, wiped out numerous times trying to sled standing up, and attempted to sled down the steep driveway while my brother-in-law watched precariously from the bottom to make sure I didn’t fly out into traffic, went to a huge antique shop where I found a First Edition copy of “Five Patients” by my literary father figure Michael Crichton, tried Yukon Jack for the first time, started reading “Stranger in a Strange Land” again and drank fine champagne to bring in 2013.

Well, if I wasn’t writing my novel, at least I kept myself amused. Come to think of it though, I got a ton of stuff to write about. So what if it isn’t the novel that will let me sit in cafes all day (probably in Europe)? I still will have to go to work tomorrow. I’ve been away for a while so I will probably have to take out the trash and sweep up dust. No interviews for my latest work – creative glory eludes me still. Ah well, at least I had a good time. I got this blog out of it too.

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Being a writer is something I burn for. It is something I fight for. It is something that has kept me from settling down doing something else. Every relationship I’ve had is rooted for this one specific purpose. I do not see my life as anything but a means to write. I don’t really matter so much as the writing matters. It is the only thing I’ve ever truly loved. It hasn’t made my life any easier. It has made it quite difficult in a lot of aspects. It has caused me to go to the absolute depths of my soul, to where there is no one else around but myself. The greatest pain I know is to be separate from my craft. I think about it when I wake up in the morning and when I close my eyes at night.

With this deep seeded, possibly neurotic mindset, I’ve studied writing like a bacteriologist studies bacteria. I have sought out the greatest writers to learn. I have applied it to the spiritual side of my life, writing is my religion. It is a pain and joy, it is facing the worst part of yourself and accepting it, it is walking away from people and things you love to pursue this expression, and it is coming to terms with yourself and everything you are.

This blog is about writing. It is about becoming a writer with every single atom of your body. It is how to deal with the rejection, triumph, misunderstanding, and ultimately, the balance of mind through words.

The post The Point of This Thing appeared first on Brad Cogar.

Hurricane Sandy has hit, and it has been steady raining all day. You can tell there is a massive storm off the coast. Most of the shop packed up early and here I am, back at home. I’m hanging out with Finn and listening to the rain outside. There is some Wilco playing in the background. I feel like I’m cheating a bit, not working on a Monday after the weekend, but Mother Nature is saying take a break.  I’m just going to have to enjoy this tumbler of cognac and accept my fate.

Finn can tell something is going on. This morning when I let him out he was like “Screw this buddy,” and went straight back inside. I got him to go out when I got home from work and the rain had let up a bit. He is now lying in his crate, lazily sleeping the day away.  Last night he howled in his sleep. It woke me up and I looked off my bed and he was out cold. I kind of laughed to myself. I had never heard him howl before. I bet he was howling at the storm.

If you are a Maryland local you should check out those pics of Ocean City boardwalk. The water is all the way up to the stores, you can’t even see the boardwalk (if you haven’t seen them just look through Facebook. A lot of people have posted pictures of it). The waves were over 10 foot tall last time I checked. I wish I could go see them.  I love big waves and to have them so close is crazy! We’ve all seen the normal waves in OC. Not impressive.

If there is one thing I’d love to be if I wasn’t a writer would be a big wave surfer. Those guys are nuts and I can only imagine what it is like to be riding some monster face of a freakishly huge wave of water. Man that would be sweet!

Alright, I’m going to get back to enjoying my day. I want to go watch some surfing videos now and this glass isn’t going to fill itself. I hope everyone has a good day despite the storm. Stay home and dry.

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This is a great song. I’ve been listening to it quite a bit recently after reading “The Man Who Sold the World” by Peter Doggett.  “Heroes” is on the “Heroes” album, the second of the Berlin Trilogy. They are named “Berlin Trilogy” because they were all heavily influenced by his time spend in Berlin in the late 70’s hanging out with Brian Eno and kicking his cocaine habit.

The chords are pretty simple, but what goes on behind it all is what really makes it an amazing song. I love the screaming guitar that follows the verse, and the whole thing moves like a symphony. The lyrics are great too. The story behind the song is that Bowie saw some lovers hanging out by a wall (maybe the wall) from the studio window.

The lyrics are dark though, and that is what gets me. The whole thing is very narcissistic which kind of mocks the whole visual of the lovers in the song. By the last verse, Bowie is almost screaming the lyrics, there is torrents of angst in his voice. It is not a happy song at all. You realize that the “Heroes” aren’t really heroes at all.

Now the first time I heard this song I was much younger, and it wasn’t the original. It was the cover that Jakob Dylan did with the Wallflowers for the “Godzilla” movie soundtrack. I remember seeing the video on MTV where he is singing off the side of a building as ‘Zilla walks around the city. It indicates that the heroes are going to save the city.

Here is the catch though; the Wallflowers version is absolutely horrible once you have heard the original. Dylan doesn’t seem to understand the song, and takes out several verses that create the nihilistic undertones that make the song as great as it is. There isn’t any of the Eno greatness or purpose of the 6 minute album version. He makes it into some terrible pop song about people saving a city from a giant lizard. I wonder if he did this on purpose to make a quick buck – but my greater fear is Jakob Dylan is that much of a wanker.

Interestingly enough, the main reason why I wanted to write about this song is that Jakob Dylan has covered several David Bowie songs. If you have ever heard “Hunky Dory” (Bowie’s 1971 album that came out mere months before he took the Ziggy Stardust persona and got huge), you’d know that there is a track “Song for Bob Dylan” on it that blatantly makes fun of Jakob’s dad.

My question is, would you cover a song by an artist who wrote a song making fun of your father?  What does that say about Jakob Dylan? Is he really that lame? We can only assume at this point, but opinions are welcome.

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