A scene from "Room Tone," Pt. 3 of the Room Tone trilogy.

on life in general

These videos deal with diverse themes: art, boredom, comedy, delusions and dreams, religion and sex, youth and old age--life in general.

I don't use scripts. The "script" is usually some theme in my mind, e.g. in "Room Tone" the dominant theme is the relation of religion and sexuality. Since reality now is saturated with images and sounds from the mass media, I use a lot of that stuff in my videos. Hence the appearance of Bush in "Preliminary Report..."and Jan Crouch in "Room Tone." Really, my work with video is simply an extension of my scholarly work on narrative, and both are influenced by the other.


Room Tone Trilogy		 The "Room Tone" trilogy begins with "Like, So What?" which translates the Arabic phrase "wa ey, ya'ani?" In it a young lady demonstrates her bellydancing and discusses her life at fourteen. The second part is "Preliminary Report to the Dean On Undergraduate Advising and the Tantamount Issues" in which two college professors education, life and various other things. It marked Anne Merideth's debut, and it also features Cathleen Bryan and George W. Bush. The third part, "Room Tone," looks at religion and sexuality, television evangelism, bad music and many other issues, and concludes with the poignant epilogue "Pas de Chat." Set to debut in Spring '05. Clips from "Like, So What?" and "Preliminary Report" can be streamed on the Room Tone page.

Trailer Blues

 "Trailer Blues" documents the road trip of four life-long friends to Memphis and the Missisippi Delta to make a video trailer about the blues. Along the way they visit the noted blues author and researcher Gayle Dean Wardlow, visit the graves of such famous musicians as Charley Patton and Sonny Boy Williamson, and document the alarming spread of kudzu. The concept of "blues tourism" is questioned, and notables such as Bubba Sullivan express their opinion. it emerges that only one of the men leads anything like a normal life...Motel rooms, guitars and alcohol.

Mission:Mesopotamia

A brilliant short featuring Condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney,Paul Wolfowitz, Saddam Hussein, and, of course, George W. Bush. Their fearless mission to save Iraq from socialized medicine and gay marriage finally gets its due. The scenes of grateful bedouins have been called "moving" and "heart-warming." Scenes of happy Iraqis breaking ground for their first Walmart superstore should finally silence the carping critics. The song "Mesopotamia' by the B-52s provides the stirring musical background. Until now this short has only been seen by a select few. Now it can be seen by tout-le-monde!

Gallery of Images

The "Grotto-Cam"

Feeling stressed out? Frazzled? Just about multi-tasked to death? Experience the soothing sights and sounds of a grotto located near the renowned Finger Lakes region of western New York. The serenity and beauty of this charming spot are a balm to frayed nerves. "After I have a bad meeting," writes one frequent visitor, "I go to this site, and it's amazing! I chill out." "The tranquility is the real thing. It is literally tranquilizing," writes another enthusiastic visitor.