2013 IS OFF TO THE RACES...IF THE RACES ARE IN MIAMI:

Happy New Year, or whatever.  2012 was pretty rad on the work front and I look forward to several months of vacation to recuperate and spend my hard (easy) earned cash.  Or, I could go in the opposite direction and book 40+ days of the next two months right out of the gate.  Yeah, that sounds better.

So, after a year of being practically enslaved to Viacom, hassling Clooney, spending a shockingly large amount of time in some state called "Oklahoma," and not getting to surf First Point Malibu nearly as much as I would have liked (whatever, it's all about Rincon in the winter months...) I will be pulling up anchor and shipping off to...Miami of all damn places.  For, like, a lot of time.  The great people at BOR are shooting a new show down there and have requested that my ears go along with them.  My ears and I are pretty much inseparable (long story), so I guess I'll be going there, too.  I know almost nothing about Miami, but I have heard that it is warmer than both LA and NYC this time of year, so werd.  I would love to say that I will totally catch up with the friends I have living down there, but this is production, son!  There is no free time.  However, before that happens, I have a few more BET shoots and some weird thing for the Broadway show Annie.  No complaints.

BTW, after futzing with it at both Coffey Sound in LA and Gotham Sound in NYC, I can officially say this: the Sound Devices 664 is seriously dope and I'm totally buying one.  Granted, there's no internal drive or option to record to an external drive, but for ENG, reality and documentary shoots it's totally going to destroy the 788T.  It's half the price, has more recordable tracks (with the CL-6 add-on), powers up much quicker (about 6 seconds vs the 788T's 40 seconds) and, in a pinch, can run off of AA batteries.  The idea is that no matter where in the world you are you can usually find AA batteries, a CF card or an SD card, which makes it a more practical field recorder than the 7 series.  The only drag is that there's a massive wait time on ordering one, but c'est la vie.  The 788T will always dominate narrative and commercial applications, but its days as the go-to field recorder are over.  Regardless, I still stand by my statement in earlier posts that it's quite possibly the greatest machine ever created.  It's just pricey, son!  Anyway, enough tech-nerd talk...

So, Clooney.  Come on, dude.  You totally let me down.  I never got my gift basket.  WTF?  I'm going to remember this, you prick.  On the other hand, you know who's really nice?  Lorenzo Lamas.  I like to refer to him as "Nice Clooney" these days.  Although, at this stage of his career, he should know that lapel mics and leather jackets don't jive with each other.  Anyway, he's on the new season of The Joe Schmo Show, which D-Ray and I did a bit of, so watch it.  Then email Spike TV and tell them, "Gee, that Kenneth Cook sure is a great sound guy.  You should always hire him.  And D-Ray, too, I guess."

Grumpy side-note:  While interviewing Christoph Waltz for the Django Unchained premier I had to chuckle due to how hilariously German he was being.  His whole thing was, "You know, you should not be asking me questions about my character.  It will ruin the narrative experience of the movie."  Pretty typical German answer to, "So, tell us about your character in the film."  However, after seeing it the other day (in a theater that had plush, reclinable seats with butt warmers...really), I totally agree with him.  Now, as many people will tell you, I have no great love for "The Chin" as a director, but he nailed it this time.  Don't read too much about the movie, just go see it.  See, I can be positive when I want to be.  Although, I still maintain that Inglorious Basterds was one of the worst films ever made.  Seriously.  How did you like that?  It played like it was written by a seven year old.

Anyway, time to go see what it is BET wants me for tomorrow.  Or to take a nap.  One or the other.

Enjoy your year.  Who knows when you'll get another one.