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Tuesday, February 26, 2008
We'll be streaming live on Thursday!
Mark your calendars and make sure your hi-speed's working!
I'll be joined by my good friend Jeff Caylor. I'll probably open up with some acoustic stuff, then Jeff will play some of his tunes, then I plan on playing some louder stuff (perhaps even revisit some old DB3 favorites) and wrap up the whole shebang with the Amplifier "hits."
Or maybe we'll get there and just play whatever feels right. Either way, tune in and see what happens.
You can find the direct linke here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dan-beahm-and-the-invisible-three
Or you can come back to this post and watch in this window.
Or you can head over to the good people at Ustream.tv and search for "Dan Beahm."
That's three ways to make sure you see the show, even if you're in Timbuktu! Rock.
For those of you who are actually coming to the show, we'll have the brand new copies of Amplifier available, fresh from the factory. You'll be the first to see them.
See you Thursday!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
BAM!! ...down for the count
Luckily Shive was kind enough to tag me out last night around 10pm, so I took his car back to the appartment for some sleep. I actually got some. The throat is scratchy and the head is groggy from the Nyquill, but hopefully I'm on my way to recovery. We'll see.
Tonight I'm off, as they're shooting the "intimate" scene. I think Mo will be the only crew member on set. He'll just use boom stands to set sound.
So who knows what I'll do today. It sucks to be a thousand miles from home and just lying in bed, but that's probably what I should do. I'd really like to see some people that I don't often get to see, but I don't know if that's the best idea right now. Argh.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Shake, rattle and roll... and wake up
Last night we shot the kitchen scene. It looks fantastic. Cranes and dollies make camera motion so cool. And the lighting was sublime. Getting the lights of the city through these giant loft window is such a score.
The energy was pretty dreary to begin the day. Every one was dead-tired (most of us didn't get more than 5 hours of sleep the night before). That mixed with the fact that Mo and I were the only members of the camera crew present made for low energy and slow going.
But once the dark rolled in, Shive and McClintock showed up, and made moving things around a much more manageable task. Jon (DP) was on a long overdue Valentine's date with his wife, so

Everything was looking stellar. I can't wait to see all this footage laid together.
The buses are still maddeningly loud. They only run on the hour starting at midnight. We gave thought to shooting from 1 am to 5am, but I think that would kill cast and crew, so we're just going to have to make due. The killer is that from around 5pm to midnight they seem to run by the building every ten or fifteen minutes. Not only that, but firetrucks (sirens and lights a blazin') visited the building across the street THREE TIMES yesterday. And they were at the building on the other side of us when we went out to our cars around 2am. Weird.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Grey day, but the light's still good.
But the footage is GORGEOUS. Last night was the first time we shot with the night city in the background. It's sooooo cool looking. The sunset stuff before that was really nice as well. The light in this loft is just fantastic.
I can't believe how loud these damn busses are. I realized that there's a stop right in front of our window. That makes for some fun sound situations. We'll see how that goes in post.
We're light on crew today, so I'm moving up from sound guy to camera man (ooooooh!).
Don't forget, you can check the picture updates as I post them over here.
In closing, I'll leave you with a picture of the shirt I wore yesterday. Mo and McClintock each stated: "That is the coolest shirt ever." So this one's for you, Dave (thanks for the shirt!).

Monday, February 18, 2008
Back to the land of the living
So. The building we are shooting in was built in 1908. The loft has been redone, and is really cool looking, but the place still has the original windows; this is great for the look, but awful for sound insulation. It's incredibly loud (street noise). Busses, people talking, carwash sprayers in the surrounding parking lots, a jack hammer (!!! --luckily it's down the street and not right in front of the building), people singing, people yelling, people honking, and on and on and on.
Some of the good things:
We're shooting on the seventh floor, and there are windows all around. The sunlight is incredible, and there's a great view of all the city buildings, down the streets, etc... Night time is super cool, and shootin on video allows for unbelievably low-light situations. So we can actually capture all the city lights in shots with the actors. It's really beautiful.
Everybody on set is great to work with, nice and willing to go above and beyond. No attitudes is so nice. You ask the male lead to to mark the shot with the slate, and he doesn't look at you with an "I'm an actor, not a grip" face. Instead, he's simply happy to do it.
more photos from the shoot can be seen here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/RenaissanceBoyRecordings/FebruaryEdenShoot02/
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Are you kidding me? This is actual work.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Moving along on the Eden shoot
Oh, yeah.
The director made a good decision and pushed this morning's 8am call time back to noon. Not only that, but the shoot changed to a rehearsal (and finishing setting lights, testing sound, prepping the set, etc...). By the end of the night we should have a hot set and be ready to roll tomorrow.
Things look great. We've converted a shi-shi loft into a believable bohemian crash pad.
The footage looks phenomenal. It's amazing how pretty things get when they pass through a RedRocks lens adapter and into the camera. When you look at the live scene, and then turn to the monitor, you can hardly believe it's the same thing. The footage is going to be soooo pretty.
Jeff's got a really good eye.
To keep up with our days, you can check photos here.
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February Eden Shoot |
Thursday, February 14, 2008
I'm always on my way to LA.
Hillary's new video (with lyrics)...
I don't think Hillary's had any material to compete... until now!

Anyway, here is the worst song you've ever heard, being sung and danced by the squarest group of dorks ever collected in one place (the flute player happens to be my personal favorite). The people in this video put Comicon to shame (those guys at least have flava --these people are the most melba toast humans I've ever seen!). It's kind of like a mix of Kenny G, Free to Be You and Me (not in a good way), and Vanilla Ice.
Hillaryous (woo-hoo, I joist coined a word that will now sweep the nation!!). Don't forget to pay attention to the words (I had a hard time hearing as I was laughing and crying way too hard --so I've spent the time to actually type them up for you).
I love that the credits at the end (who wrote it, where it was recorded, who mixed it, video, producer, etc...) ends with (all script caps): SHARE THIS WITH OTHERS! Yeah, I'm sure Hillary is gonna love that.
LYRICS (no kidding):
Hillary for you and me
Bring back our Democracy
Make this country proud and free
Let's stand up for Hillary
Hillary for you and me
Bring back our Democracy
Hope from sea to shining sea
Everyone for Hillary
Fighting in a war
But we don't know what we're fighting for
In school we're testing minds
But we're leaving our children all behind
The world is getting hot
But our global warming plan is not
Our goals are out of range
So we know it's time for a change
CHORUS
Now Hillary will fight
For what we all know is right
Her experience is great
Instead of war we can negotiate
Education health and world affairs
Hillary is the one who cares
This sleigh knows how to lead
In this President's race he will succeed
[[who in the hell came up with that last gem?]]
CHORUS
Thanks to Amy (phnx0221) from Digg for pointing out this post on the Viral Politics website.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Epic Beer Pong shots
My little brother is going to go apeshit over some of these...
Friday, February 8, 2008
Barely Breathing...
I used to think that giving your album to somebody who's found industry success meant that they would probably give it to someone who could make something happen, their producer, or A&R rep. or something. I remember how totally stoked DB3's drummer was to give the guitarist for Dashboard Confessional a copy of our album ...Straight On Till Morning. I think he really thought that was going to take us to the next level. [smile]
Those years of naivete have passed (actually, long ago) as a result of a mix of industry knowledge/jade and a strong dose of reality. I no longer think a famous artist is going to give the music to somebody who can "make it happen." I think that artist is the person who can "make it happen." I have come to realize that establishing relationships, however tiny or seemingly insignificant (to either party), is the seed for achieving success (defined here by notoriety) in music.
There is soooooo much to be said for "right place, right time." Why would you not get your album into the hands of everybody you can --especially if they're in the industry? These days (and even "those" days), it's almost always about that one person... that one person who listens and then has someone else listen or tells somebody about the music/artists; a relationship is established, something happens and then the spark ignites a fire. Expectations are of course to be kept in check, but why not get your music to anyone and everyone who will take a listen?
Mr. Sheik was speaking to theater classes at CU Boulder. He played a show last night at The Fox Theater, and since he recently won a Tony for his work on the Broadway hit, Spring Awakening, I guess somebody put two and two together and suggested he speak to students at the school.
It was pretty cool. Very intimate. Only about 20 people in the room, so it was more like a conversation. He spoke for a bit, then we asked questions and he answered.
One of the subjects touched upon was his Top 40 hit "Barely Breathing." Did you know that in 1997 that thing was on Billboard's Hot 100 for 55 weeks?! That's crazy. Duncan was kind of nay-saying the song, as far as how it was created and then treated by the industry, what it was like in his overall music career. I pointed out that I've worn that album out twice (yes, often skipping over "Barely Breathing" because I had heard it so much on the radio), but I would likely have never even heard of Duncan Sheik had it not been for that song. And as much as the Grammy's are a joke, the song earned him a nomination, which is definitely another major attention getter. For better or worse, that song pretty much made Duncan Sheik's career and allowed him to get the rest of his music into the hands of people who now know and love the quote "real" music of Duncan Sheik.
And I will point out that that evening at the Fox Theater, in a room full of people who were obviously there for the work that Sheik has put out in the subsequent years (Humming, Phantom Moon, Daylight, and White Limousine), the years where, to my knowledge, no songs (and some great songs, by the by) have gotten anywhere near the Billboard charts... he still played "Barely Breathing."
That said, the evening was great.

Watching artists like David Poe perform is pretty depressing, not because they're not good, but because they're great. You realize that no matter how talented you are, timing and placement play such a painfully huge role.
Duncan and his keyboard player Holly Brook came out after David played, and performed a song before bringing out the drummer and string quartet. Good lord I love Duncan's strings (see Simon Hale). They played music from Duncan's debut album, Spring Awakenings, White Limousine, a musical about Emperor Nero that Duncan is working on, and then ended the evening with a great cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees." Very cool with the strings and all.
All this the result of hearing yesterday morning from Erika that Duncan was speaking in the dance/theater building.
Pretty cool day.
...
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Super Tuesday recap
Now people are getting involved and making a difference, taking ownership of the responsibilities that come with living in a democratic nation and being mindful of the voting process and the results that occur due to their actions (or lack thereof).
Last night at our caucus there were more than 283 people in attendance (283 voted, but there were more there). I was the Chair for Precinct 70. There were 35 votes cast. It was a knuckle biter, a 17/17 split with one undecided who changed her "U" to a "5" at literally the very last second (legend: u=undecided, 1=Clinton, 5=Obama).
We were told that in previous years, 10 (yes, ten) was a good turnout for the caucus. And I'm not just talking for the precinct, I'm talking the entirety of District 33.
Crazy.
The evening news showed caucus locations in Denver just packed, literally, with thousands of people. Caucuses that normally took place in a school room, overflowed and were moved into gymnasiums until gymnasiums reached capacity (1,500 people in some cases) and then overflowed out into the hallways. Yes, there were precincts voting in the hallways because they couldn't all fit in the gym.
Which brings me to this point: what the hell is going on?!
Last night, I was incredibly excited to see so many people involved in choosing a candidate, but I was appalled to see how the system works. We can put a pig heart in a human being, but we can't figure out a better system to elect our government officials? The chaos and inefficiency in the room was mind boggling.
I think it would have been fairly easy to move some numbers around, write what you wanted as a precinct Secretary or Chair, report what you wanted, and really sway a vote. Multiply that across a state and nation, and you've got some serious problems.
How is it that in this day and age we're still taking a verbal "straw vote" to decide who the eligible candidates for our precinct are? How is it that you show up and then have to learn how to fill out antiquated forms and documents to record the votes of the people in your precinct? I could think of at least 10 better ways to record people's votes (at least a better layout for the forms we used) while I was sitting there listening to people yell at me and each other about how to fill out the forms. It was actually pretty hilarious.
In the following paragraphs, I'm going to try and recap some of the specific madness of the evening. I doubt most of you will get through the rest of this post, but bear in mind how painful living it must have been (as opposed to just reading about it on a blog).
We got to the school around 6:15pm and signed our names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses on a piece of paper. Each line had 6 columns: Hillary, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama, and Undecided (I guess there was another name, as there were five numbers, but I can't remember who the fifth was). Now right off the bat, I'm pretty sure only three of those columns were even to be considered. Kucinich and Edwards (and "the other guy") are no longer running. Period. Ineligible for votes.
These forms were just photo-copied pieces of paper. Somebody could have easily printed off some sheets without the Kucinich, Edwards and "other guy" columns. Somebody could have at least taken a black marker and run down the invalid columns. I know: one would think you could just rely upon the common sense of the people not to mark the invalid columns, but no, we had people checking Edwards and Kucinich all over the place.
Good god.
So after the "straw vote" (I'm pretty sure the only reason we wrote things down during this "verbal process" was so that the people "in charge" had our phone numbers and e-mails to harass us with "volunteer opportunities" later), we began the actual caucusing process. There were two forms, the Assembly Form, and the Convention Form. No one ever told us what they were for. I had to practically beat it out of someone after the process was over (and I was the Precinct Chair!!!!).
The one thing that did seem apparent was that it would be best if the names on the Assembly form matched the names on the Convention form line by line. However, no one really thought of this at the beginning, so we had to start over a couple times. Even then there were people writing their name in, say, "slot 7 " on one form and "slot 10" on another.
Are you serious, people?!
So during the process, I never did figure out why there were two forms. Even now, I think it would have been extremely easy to place all the information on one form, thus eliminating the whole "impossible task" of getting people to write their name on the same line on two forms.
When all was said and done, it turns out the two forms were for recording the delegates and alternates for our precinct to go to various County and State level Democratic conventions and assemblies (a-ha!). However, there was really no reason to have two separate pieces of paper for this.
After each person's name, address, and phone number, there were columns labeled DelStConv, AltStConv, DelCoConv, AltCoConv, etc... We were to put an "x" in the appropriate column for those persons we "chose" (not really) as delegates and alternates for each event. This didn't happen until most of the room had cleared out. Oh, and by the way, if you have no one to represent your precinct, then your precinct's votes are not carried to the various assemblies and conventions.
So... exciting to see so many people out. Disappointing to know how things function (or don't).
I always think of "The Government" as a collection of at least semi-intelligent people making things happen (I know: "Ha!"). I realize there's all kinds of inefficiency and over-spending, but you don't really realize how bad it is until you see it in action. I think people assuming things are "happening" in their government has led to some real problems. We assume things are getting done. We think: "I don't know the processes, so I rely upon others to make things happen." But it turns out a lot of the people involved in those processes don't know any more than we do. And on top of that, it's incredibly difficult to find people to fill those roles, so they end up being filled by people who maybe shouldn't be "in charge" of anything, let alone our government.
Not the best situation, America.
So all that is to say I guess I'm getting a little more involved in politics. Up close and personal. We'll see how it goes.
...
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Barack Obama T-shirts from Renaissance Boy Recordings
In good faith that Super Tuesday will turn out well, we put the Renaissance Boy Recordings design staff to work creating some political apparel. The two coolest Barack Obama t-shirts are now available from Renaissance Boy Recordings via their Cafe Press sites.
Have a look, purchase, and make your friends jealous (there are many different cuts and sizes to choose from).
Monday, February 4, 2008
YES we CAN... Super Tuesday here we come!
Here it comes, my friends.
Super-duper-calitastic-fragilistic-expeala-rootin'-tootin'-get-your-butt-out-and-VOTE Tuesday.
Some of you are looking at a caucus and some of you are looking at a primary. Make sure you know which one your state is holding, and figure out how it works!
Here in Colorado, we're having a caucus. The caucus takes place at 7pm, but it's suggested that you show up by 6pm. At 7pm a "straw poll" is taken to determine who we'll actually be voting for (kind of weird, huh?). Then we take the "official" vote and assign delegates!
If you're in Colorado, California or NY, it's especially important that you get out to your polling place and SUPPORT BARACK OBAMA. It's important everywhere, but those are some states that are going to be close!
Please take the time to find out ahead of time what you need to do to make your vote count. I've spent the morning doing some research and collecting information to hopefully make things easier for you to find out what you need to know to make your vote count (see links and charts below).
Please feel free to DIGG and pass this post along to friends and family so we can get as many people as possible out there to VOTE FOR OBAMA TOMORROW!!!
ps Don't forget to take a look at the stellar song and video created by Will.I.am of the Black Eyed Peas at the bottom of this post featuring Jesse Dylan, Common, Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Amber Valetta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger and Nick Cannon.
In Colorado (caucus):
http://www.sos.state.co.us/Voter/voterHome.doIn California (primary):
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_ppl.htmIn Illinois (primary):
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/ilpolling/In NYC (primary):
http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/pollingplaces.htmlIn the rest of New York (primary):
http://www.elections.state.ny.us/portal/page?_pageid=35,1,35_8677:35_8685&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTALIn Tennessee (primary):
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/tnpolling/
If I've not listed your state, you can find yours by going here and following the links!
What's Going On In My State?
state :: primary/caucus :: size
Alaska :: caucus :: 18
American :: Samoa primary :: 13
Arizona :: primary :: 67
Arkansas :: primary :: 47
California :: primary :: 441
Colorado :: caucus :: 71
Connecticut :: primary :: 61
Delaware :: primary :: 23
Democrats Abroad :: primary :: 11
Georgia :: primary :: 104
Idaho :: caucus :: 23
Illinois :: primary :: 185
Kansas :: caucus :: 40
Massachusetts :: primary :: 121
Minnesota :: caucus :: 88
Missouri :: primary :: 88
New Jersey :: primary :: 127
New Mexico :: caucus :: 38
New York :: primary :: 280
North Dakota :: caucus :: 21
Oklahoma :: primary :: 47
Tennessee :: primary :: 85
Utah :: primary :: 29
Chart information gleaned from Wikipedia
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Earwig: 21 and climbing
Every second of every day people keep thinking they are just going to explode onto the scene. I am baffled as to why this has not yet happened.
The latest episode in the saga involves a little website called The Daily Chorus. The site's creator, Tim Towner, had this to say (and then put Earwig at 21 on the site's list of best unsigned bands):
...Some of the TDC staff and I say that this band has a national hit, already written. Thats a big statement but I'm convinced. You tell us.If you don't know Earwig's music, you should. Center of the Earth is their latest release, with stellar songs like "Used Kids," "Outro," "She is a Witness," and "Japanese Girlfriend," among others.
I want everyone to listen to the song Used Kids. That song is a hit on radio, TV, movies or whatever else you want to put it in. The song has received over 400 spins at a FM station in Columbus [CD101]. The song has been played on Sirius Radio, as well.
Earwig sounds like a cross between Counting Crows, Sonic Youth and Matthew Sweet. This is your 90's alt-indie rock dream.
Oh yeah, this band's other songs are good, too. But "Used Kids" is a national hit. Let's see if TDC can push it. Please add it to your profile, if you like it.
Check out Earwig, and then check out The Daily Chorus website and drop your $.02 to help them out.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Amplifier: second pressing is a go!
This morning we sent the master and artwork off to the replicating plant. Woo-hoo!
So in a couple of weeks we should have the new run of Amplifier, by Dan Beahm and The Invisible Three. As mentioned in a previous post, this go includes a "semi-hidden" track at the end of the album. The pressing will also be done with a card-stock, recycled content, matte finish cover.
In addition to the new album pressing, we've got posters and t-shirts coming! Awww, yeah.
Here's a preview of the Charlie Harper (rest his soul) inspired poster; hope you dig:
