Many of us will remember Jackson as Wacko Jacko, as the man who was accused of performing sexual misconducts on children, but in the end, most of us will remember him as Michael Jackson, Showman. A boy who was born in Gary, Indiana; who grew to fame with his brothers in the Jackson 5 and then pursued his own solo career in his late teens. Success however comes with a price.

Michael Jackson was not just a singer and dancer, he was truly an entertainer. Mastering the skills to be good at the fame game, he knew that any headline, whether it be good or bad, is better than no headline. The King of Pop, the American Icon, had his fair share of run-ins with success, wealth, and the tabloids. In the '90’s his bizarre acts began to surface and the rumors started to spread. Within 10 years' time, everything that he gained steadily and surely proceeded to perish. One accusation after another, one flop after another, the King couldn’t handle it anymore.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was always trying to top himself. Perhaps it was the fact that some people weren’t buying into his charade anymore. In the end, only one thing can be said about the man. He, like the rest of us, was only human. As I watched his cold body being place into the ambulance morgue, I was reminded of how simple we all truly are.

The man never knew the true definition of the word functional, what it meant to be normal, and finally just to be. People will criticize, people will talk, but people will always remember. And that my friends, is truly what really matters.

Well about 9 months ago someone walked out of my life. And then 4 months later she walked right back into it. We did the whole "living together" thing but it just, once again, wasn't meant to be. It's hard to let go of that first love, to forget, to move on. Now we weren't officially together because as always it was on again, off again, till its breaking point. Towards the end I found myself being more aggresive towards her, being just hateful. Hateful is a pretty strong word when you think about it. It is at this point that one realizes the relationship doesn't have a fighting chance.  

She's with someone else now. She just moved out too, this past weekend. I found some sort of comfort knowing that she found someone else but what bothered me was how quickly she bounce back. It's amazing how life puts us in these interesting situations. How quickly some people forget what was and restrain themselves from remembering what would have been. I'm sure her head has a whole new set of ideas and outlooks in life. At least I can say she's happy, she truly is. However one question remains; what happens now?

Joe Sanchez

What is LOVE is it something we feel, is it something we want to live for. I had my first taste of LOVE a while ago and it was strong. She came into my life when it was at a turning point and she helped me grow as an individual. What is it about that spell that we can't break away from. Life is funny but when you add LOVE to the equation, life is hysterical. How can you love someone one minute and then hate them the next. The one thing I've learned about love is that you have to be willing to comprise, it's all about finding a common ground. If you really truelly care about someone you would think that friendship would remain, but how can you stay friends with someone that always watching you, can't trust you, and feels insecure around you. It's funny how people come into our lives and touch us but its even funnier how they are willing to walk away and just simply forget the simple stuff. I can't blame myself for what happen between me and her. We had our ups and downs, we had our moments but in the end it just wasn't meant to be. The one thing i can say about LOVE is this it's just something....something else entirely.....

Posted on July 11, MMJoe

I find myself in a very complex state of mine. Does my opinion matter, who knows, fuck who cares? I made it this far but is anybody really following me? The question still remains am I a filmmaker, sure I've manage to produce a couple of shorts but they haven't been worthy of any noble recognitions. On top of that I'm not really part of any social groups. I got ideas, plenty of them but are they worth anything?

Maybe it's just me; maybe there's that part of me that wants to be part of the majority. Majority what? Audience. I suppose that's it. Then again why shouldn't it be? Isn't that why we get into this in the first place? Someone once said build an audience but what exactly are we trying to build here?

It's all about voicing ones opinion, fuck building an audience. Yes, I know, it's a little bit of both. Your ideas have to be interesting enough to hold an audience. Shit who wants to sit through something they find rather duh.

But what works and what doesn't, that's the real question here. Currently I entered this contest. It's divided into three sections, actors, actresses, and directors. The directors have to choose from three different scenes and must produce one. Well as it turns out most directors think alike because so far there have been six of us producing the same scene. Which you can check it out here; http://www.grouper.com/video/MediaDetails.aspx?id=1676699&ml=fi%3d%26fu%3d1714726& and the competition is going on here http://www.livemansion.com Hey I'm just trying to be fair. So far the most glamorous have ranked up the most points. I get it but is that really what my shorts are missing? I'm more of a story telling filmmaker, or maybe that's just it? The stories aren't good enough.

I live by the model "Do what you can, with what you got." And maybe that's it. This model can't be applied to my material, but it must. If I had the toys my material could be ten times better. Boy do the toys make a difference. Simplicity in its simplest form can't be as complex as I wished it be. The most simplistic thing I wish I could get rid of is the look. That image being captured with my mini dv camcorder. That look alone would make the feel of the film better, not so much better but more convincing perhaps or maybe I'm just being to hard on myself. Oh well. Whatever look, feel, it has it might just mean one thing. What I represent, what I am.

Which really means that I am, might just be, part of this Indie scene? Who knows and really who seems to care. See there I'm back where I started. Hey like I wrote at the beginning of this, sometimes you just have to question your own judgment. I don't know where I'm heading but this path I'm on keeps getting interesting by the minute. We all get to a point where we question ourselves and just want an immediate response but it doesn't work like that, not in this business, profession, artist expression. You gotta have two things, one, a shit load of patience and two, a stack of good ideas. I got ideas, plenty of them, but patience? I guess I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing till I get it right. Heck its' got me this far, whatever that means.

In 1994 a little movie that could came out and thus the viewaskew universe began. Back then making an indie film was the way to go. Quentin gave us "Reservoir Dogs," Rodriguez had us with "El Mariachi," and then there was Kevin Smith. All three of them worked for Miramax Pictures or what is now known as The Weinstein Company. With that being said, let me start from the beginning.

When Clerks came out it was shot in black and white and had something to say. It was part of the slacker revolution of indie films that represented the era. The story centered around two buddies, one that worked at a convenience store, Dante, and another that worked at a video store, Randal. The general notion was a day in a life of Dante and Randal and how they dealt with their meaningless everyday life. At the time Mr. Kevin Smith was a store clerk himself and could relate to the scenario but could he, twelve years later and now a successful filmmaker? Which brings me to part two?

Gone is the black and white, yes folks is in color, and gone is the convenience store. What we are left with is two characters, still searching for meaning but only this time they work at Mooby's, a fictitious fast food joint. The day in the life scenario is used again but only this time it focuses mostly on Dante and how he's found a way out of his meaningless everyday routine and how Randal has to deal with it.

The movie introduces us to three new characters; Elias, Becky, and Emma and welcomes back two old familiars, Jay and Silent Bob. The only two main reasons I enjoyed this film.

I had a hard time enjoying Clerks II. Maybe because I outgrew the original or kept expecting something, which I'm not sure what that was exactly. The raunchy jokes are still intact but somehow not all of them worked. Again it could have been because I outgrew the raunchy material.

Dante's new love interest, Emma,  is played by Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, credited only as Jennifer Schwalbach. That's Mrs. Kevin Smith for those of you who don't know. While I did enjoy her acting in "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back," here she seem, for the most part, like she was reaching. As for the other girl in Dante's life, Becky played by Rosario Dawson, she, well in an interview Mr. Smith stated that they gave him 5 million dollars and Dawson, meaning he had to do something with her and boy does he.

The movie even includes a musical number. Hmm, why didn't they make Rosario character sing, she was in Rent after all. A donkey, talk about a going away party, and some familiar walk on roles, both Ben Affleck and Jason Lee have cameos in the movie.

Overall Clerks II only works if you're not a struggling filmmaker, maybe that's it. Ironically I find myself in the position of Dante, where he was twelve years ago, that is. Right now I work a day job and do my "dream job" whenever all the elements come together. I sit and wonder what tomorrow will bring, each day being another one full of possibilities. The only thing I can hope for is that twelve years down the road I'm not stuck working behind the register reminiscing of what could have been. Then again I can always make "The Baby" Part 2, just kidding.

I decided to start my own myspace film site. I have a couple of shorts now and I figured why not. Now whoever reads this, don't forget about my actual website www.mmjstandasone.com Because that's basically where everything will be featured before its on here. Anyway, take care and I hope you enjoy. More is yet to come.

MMJoe