Ben profile picture

Ben

Headline?

About Me

I have rotating arms.

"The director must be an organizer, a teacher, a politician, a psychic detective, a lay analyst, a technician, a creative being. Ideally, he should know literature, acting, the psychology of the actor, the visual arts, music, history, and above all, he must understand people. He must inspire confidence. All of which means he must be a 'great lover.'"- from "On Directing" by Harold Clurman

I'm a married man now. Everything has to be totally serious. No more jokes for me. You will find no tongues in any cheeks on this page.

Enough of that silly test. It's time to bring it the only way i know how. This way: Thanks to Finch for taking this picture of me.

Cups: http://boss.streamos.com/real/federal/aspen/cup.smi

My Interests

Blaming narcolepsy for falling asleep at work.

I'd like to meet:

Bill Calahan, and Ken Marino, at the same time.

Music:

Tom Waits, Smog, Mirah, Andrew Bird, The Coup, Man Man, Gogol Bordello, Red Man, Method Man, Blackalicious, Latyrix, Menomena, Beck, Morphine, Microphones, Will Oldham, Fiery Furnaces, Liars, Modest Mouse, Flaming Lips, White Stripes, Aesop Rock, "The Chronic," Bob Dylan, Earl Scruggs, John Hartford, John Wesley Harding, Beatles, Stones, Woody Guthrie, the Weavers, Pete Seeger, Decemberists, Pavement, Pixies, the Books, GZA, RZA, Paul Barman, Beasty Boys, Stag Party, Radiohead, Beta Band, Spiritualized, Neil Young, Talking Heads, Johny Cash, The Eels, Gnarls Barkley, and just about anything else, i'll listen to whatever comes my way.Sufjan Stevens can kiss my ass.

Movies:

The American Astronaut is the best movie ever made. Anything from Monty Python. Anything directed by Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, Charlie Chaplin, Akira Kurosawa, Jim Jarmusch, or Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Anything written by Charlie Kaufman. Toys, Batman 1, 2, and 5, Johnny Got His Gun, Finding Neverland, Labrynth, Super Troopers, Wayne's World, Animal House, Willy Wonka (v1.0), Big Fish, Team America, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Passion of Joan of Arc, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Cry Baby, The Pink Panther movies, The Spanish Prisoner, a whole lot more i'm sure. And then John Wayne's cowboy and war movies.

Television:

The Office, most of Adult Swim, The Chapelle show, Da Ali G show, Ghost in the Shell, Samurai 7, Carnivale, Deadwood, Battlestar Gallactica, Heroes, Friday Night Lights.

Books:

100 Years of Solitude, Malina, The Tin Drum, Omon Ra, Villa Incognito, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, anything by Don Delillo, Love in the Time of Cholera, Jesus' Son, Stranger in a Strange Land, the Tao te Ching, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Waiting for the Barbarians, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, Ficciones, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, stuff by Antonin Artaud and many more I'm sure I can't think of. I also love short stories. And I love reading plays and theater theory books.

Heroes:

Rambo, Barbarella, God, The Rock, Gary Busey, Batman. (in that order)

My Blog

Who do they think they're fooling?

You know all those ads for Tru that are all over the place on myspace?  The ones where they've got a girl lying down on the couch, sipping her water bottle?  Or the one that takes her shirt ...
Posted by Ben on Fri, 27 Apr 2007 01:07:00 PST

who the fuck do they think they are?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/16/kurt-vonneguts-life fox-news-style/ Fox news can lick my grundle.  If I were a balsier man I'd find this shit head reporter and do unspeakable things to h...
Posted by Ben on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:10:00 PST

HONEYMOON!

I'm off to Thailand for my honeymoon today. So be jealous of me. I'll bring back pictures. And i might share them.
Posted by Ben on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 06:32:00 PST

Bumpin' Umbrellas

My most recent directing extravaganza opens tomorrow at Gorilla Tango theater at 1919 N. Milwaukee. It's $10.  And it's @ 7:30 Come on out, it's runnin' for 6 weeks, every thursday....
Posted by Ben on Wed, 03 Jan 2007 06:37:00 PST

propa syntax

Check us out.  There's a profile in my top 8.  Or go to youtube and search "Propa Syntax." Do it!
Posted by Ben on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:42:00 PST

Halloween Mayhem

I am so damn classy: Ric came to visit Chicago! Chucky tries to kill Becca Dawn Marie/Kareoke Ninja/Laundry throws the horns.  I think i was singing.  I rock that hard: Rainbow B...
Posted by Ben on Fri, 03 Nov 2006 01:06:00 PST

Just Say No to Cupcakes

http://boss.streamos.com/real/federal/aspen/cupcake.smi Listen.  Learn.  Love. p.s. why can't i choose music i'm listening to?  Is myspace broken?
Posted by Ben on Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:29:00 PST

Best Week Ever

So, as many of you know, I got married on Sunday.  Which was certainly my appetizer, main course, and dessert all rolled into one.  But as a little after dinner mint I just got asked to di...
Posted by Ben on Thu, 07 Sep 2006 11:29:00 PST

Hero Worship

I saw Tom Waits last night at the Auditorium theater.  He's still the coolest man in the world.
Posted by Ben on Thu, 10 Aug 2006 06:08:00 PST

Gnome for the notlidays

I would first like to point out that this blog has the category of "blogging."  How post modernly self referential.So, i'm in Connecticut, which is oh so exciting.  Truth be told i could hav...
Posted by Ben on Sun, 16 Jul 2006 09:10:00 PST