April, 2013

TAEM News Update! Producer Jason Figgis!

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
COPYRIGHT: FARRIS GERARD.

COPYRIGHT: FARRIS GERARD.

The Arts and Entertainment Magazine is very pleased to learn the Producer Jason Figgis, whom we had interviewed in the November 2011 issue of our magazine is working on a new film.

The tile of his new production is called The Ecstasy of Isabel Mann  which tells the story of a young girl who is forced to become the mother image for her family after her own mother’s death. Raising her younger siblings as if they are her own children, and caring for her bereaving father, Isabel struggles in her new role in life. This is no ordinary tale of woe, however, as a new wrinkle takes hold of her future. Isabel becomes a victim of a vampire and slowly turns to the dark side.

Jason is presenting this story, and we have added a link to the campaign he is running to gain supporters. With our magazines many contacts in the world of cinema, and our many friends in Hollywood, this should become a winning film for the horror crowd. We look forward to seeing this film in movie houses across the United States, and hope that the movie moguls in Hollywood pay close attention to our News Flash about Jason’s production. (more…)

TAEM Salutes our Advertisers!!!

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

The Arts and Entertainment Magazine wants our readers to take notice of some of the great advertisers that grace our pages. With our magazine dedicated to the advancement of education, and our magazine now being read in colleges around the world, many advertisers are taking advantage of the exposure that we offer. Don’t forget too, that with our vast connections to cinema and the Hollywood crowd, we offer connections to many of outlets to assist filmmakers from around the world.

For those seeking employment click on Monster.com in the right hand column of our magazine as well as Industry Deal.com for special offers for the world of Cinema. Operation Smile at the top of our homepage lets you donate directly to a most worthy cause that helps impoverished children overcome their medical circumstances. (more…)

‘Trick or Treat’ by Guest Author David Rhodes

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
Guest Author David Rhodes

Guest Author David Rhodes

The trio ambled down the sidewalk, eyeing the other groups across the street carrying their flashlights to make sure no harm came to their little ones. These three were not little, but were dressed up for the occasion.  A witch, the Frankenstein monster, and the Mummy.

They came to a house void of any children, and the witch opened the gate. “Remember, it’s my turn this time,” she cackled.

“It’s always your turn,” the Frankenstein monster said.

The mummy only grunted, a plume of dust blowing from his mouth.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your turns, I promise. Now let’s go up and take care of this so we can be on our way. (more…)

TAEM interview with Director Travis Gordon

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

Travis-Gordon-on-Set-2TAEM- Filmmaking has taken a great leap in progress over the last twenty years and more young filmmakers have been realizing their dreams through the Web. One promising filmmaker from Canada who has pounced upon the idea of creating web series is Travis Gordon.

Travis, tell us what first interested you in filmmaking, and who was your greatest influence ?

TG- I was really inspired by George Lucas’s Star Wars and Richard Donner’s Superman when I was a child.  I’ve been making videos since I was around 13 starting with the family video camera.  My first short film was called “Attack of the Evil Eggs” and I used all my siblings as actors.

TAEM- What made you choose creating a web series as your medium of choice?

TG- Making videos online is a dream come true for filmmakers. You get to show your videos directly to an audience. There’s no middleman and if you do it right you can make money. (more…)

TAEM News Flash! Actor Les Brandt in the News!

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

Paragon-1 The Arts and Entertainment Magazine always keeps track of all those we have interviewed. One well known actor, Les Brandt who we interviewed in our May 1st, 2010 issue, is back in the news again with an exciting new project. His current film, John Bondage, is an action movie with plenty of fight scenes that keeps the movie rolling at a swift pace. Since December 2012 he has also been working on Days Of Our Lives since December 2012 as RICARDO with STEFANO DEMIRA played by Joseph Mascolo. My character RICARDO debuts on April 15, 2013 on NBC Monday 1pm Pacific . He is also in a new film directed by Llyod Barnett ( see links below).  The feature film directed by Lloyd Barnett, Produced by Shawn Austin and written by Ashley Scott Meyers Starring Les Brandt, Christian Oliver (Valkerie), Isaac Singelton Jr. (Pirates Of The Caribbean), Tara Macken, Kai Lyman, West Liang and Ernie Reyes, Jr. (Indiana Jones and The Run Down) is called….NINJA APOCALYPSE. (more…)

TAEM Interview with Writer Brandt Legg

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

image002TAEM- The Arts and Entertainment Magazine needs to look no further for new writers then our own back yard. In Northern Virginia we have discovered much talent in the literary field. One such talent is Brandt Legg who has just released his new book Outview.

Brandt, we have learned that you were a child prodigy who became a well-known stamp collector as a youth. Please tell our readers about your early years.

BL- I grew up in Fairfax County, Virginia (just outside Washington, D.C.), the youngest of five boys. My father died suddenly when I was eight, gutting my family emotionally and financially. A couple of years later, I began collecting stamps (my dad had loved the hobby). At age ten I started helping a local dealer at stamp shows. I bought a cover (envelope with a stamp affixed) for twenty-five cents and minutes later another collector offered me $85 for it. Of course I sold and thought I was rich! Immediately, I decided to be a stamp dealer and gave up collecting. (more…)

‘The News’ by Guest Author Alex Knight

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
Guest Author Alex Knight

Guest Author Alex Knight

The News

by Alex Knight

I carried the plates to the dining room table. Normally on Wednesdays we would have meatloaf and mashed potatoes but there was something in the air and I had felt defiant all day. I wondered if there would be a ripple affect for changing the pattern of our existence and then decided it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t divorce me for serving meals out of order, would he?

Arthur eyed his dinner suspiciously although he had eaten my tuna casserole once a week for the last thirty-seven years. He had just never eaten it on a Wednesday.

“It isn’t Friday,” he accused.

“No, it’s Wednesday,” my sigh betrayed my impatience. (more…)

The Tweed Update by Roger Tweed

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

Roger TweedCan’t Get Out of Our Own Way While the S&P 500 managed to eke out a gain of 0.3% during the past six weeks despite just suffering its worst weekly loss since November, our portfolio in the same period slipped 1.2%.  An 11% loss in SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), combined with 8% losses in GE (GE) and Facebook (FB), could not be overcome by 8% gains in Boeing (BA) and Wisdom Tree Japan Hedged Equity (DXJ).  Since its January 10 inception our portfolio has gained 0.2% while the S&P 500 has gained 6.1%.

Gold’s collapse has driven our SPDR Gold Trust shares down 17.6% so far, making it our second worst performing position.  I feel that Gold is still a valid part of any portfolio as a hedge against currency swings and world turmoil, but its price can take nasty turns when traders with large margin positions are forced to liquidate, as must have happened when the price of gold continued its plunge on April 14 despite the bombings in Boston.  Facebook’s share price simply refuses to stabilize.  For most of the past six weeks the shares had benefited from favorable reviews of the new Facebook home page for Android devices.  But the shares plunged during the selling of the week of April 14.  To stabilize the share price, Facebook will likely need to deliver an impressive earnings report showing mobile revenue success.  (more…)

TAEM interview with author Patricia Chapman Meder

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

Pat1TAEM- The Arts and Entertainment Magazine did not have to look far to find another great author. By chance my photographer and I were visiting my favorite  Barnes & Nobles Bookstore when I chanced upon meeting a local author conducting a book signing for her latest work. It always pays for an author to show their work in this way, as they never know who fate throws at them.

Author Patricia Chapman Meder comes from a military family and has seen much of life at an early age. Patricia, please tell our readers about your childhood and the impact that it had on you.

PCM- When I came into this world there were 2 factors at play that determined the direction of my life. The first of these was the fact that I was born a Gemini, a creative sign, and the second was due to my father’s choice to attend West Point. Consequently my sister and I were born in to a highly mobile Air Force family.

This military lifestyle mandated that every 2-3 years, we would step away from the familiar and take on a new set of circumstances, location, schools, friends, etc.. This wasn’t always easy but it was expected. And it was what all of our acquaintances did as well. It was our norm. This lifestyle put me in every state in our Union and, eventually, 13 years in Europe. It is a type of background that tends to produce an individual comfortable with other cultures. (more…)

TAEM News Flash! Actress Natasha Blasick Visits Homeland!

Sunday, April 14th, 2013
Photo by Anthony

Photo by Anthony

The Arts and Entertainment Magazine has just received some news about Actress and Model Natasha Blasick who we interviewed in our August 1, 2010 issue of our publication.

Los Angeles based actress/model Natasha Blasick will visit her homeland of Ukraine having been confirmed as a special guest at the 16th annual Berdyansk International Film Festival on June 2 – June 9 in Berdyansk, Ukraine. Her film, Notes From The New World, will screen at the fest. Based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes From The Underground and on Crime and Punishment the re-envisioned tale’s disparate elements are woven into a new form of cinematic tapestry by director Vitaly Sumin. (more…)

‘The Lost Book’ by guest author Michael Shorde

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

240px-Oscar_Wilde_portraitI found the book in an old store on the south side of town. It was a book no one would even consider looking at, for it had no interest for most; but that did not include me. I immediately picked it up and brushed the dust from it.

David Rhodes. The Creatures Unseen.

My old friend, David, who had disappeared long ago after writing several books, the last being this one. I often wondered what had happened to my best friend – we spent many nights together in front of the fire talking over all things imaginable and unimaginable. He had a way with words that could oftentimes frighten even me.

I took the book to my flat and gently laid it on the mantle. (more…)

TAEM News Update!!!!

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

The Arts and Entertainment Magazine recently listed two News Flashes to alert Student Filmmakers and actors about some important events coming up on the calendar.

wmiff_200small  For August, The World Music and Independent Film Festival will be taking place in Washington, DC, and we will be sending our news team there to cover it. You can find more information about it by referring to our March 14th, 2013 addition to our publication. Additional time has been given by the festival for students to enter their work in it, but time is running out. You can find out how to enter your films by referring to that particular information in our March issue. (more…)

‘The Courage to Face the Sea’ by guest author T.L. Messegge

Sunday, April 14th, 2013
Todd Messegee

Todd Messegee

They should have been her last pictures. The weather was perfect. The light was perfect. Everything seemed right. She was standing among the gigantic, smooth rocks just above the shoreline, looking like a mermaid that had sprouted legs. I hadn’t asked her to take off her clothes. That was her idea. With the springtime sun shining on her pale winter-whitened skin, I would have been a fool to stop clicking the shutter. So I kept at it like a greedy voyeur.

We had just met a few days before. She had been standing next to me in my drawing class crafting renderings of the model that made my sketchy efforts look like stick figures. She had turned to me and asked to borrow my pencil sharpener. When she handed it back, she extended her hand and said, “Arianna.”

It was that very weekend when we had our one and only date. I took her to lunch, to a place that didn’t look like much, but made great tacos. While sitting there near the shore we talked about the old 35mm camera that I had recently acquired at a yard sale. I had worn it around my neck like a medal won in a war. (more…)

Joseph J. O’Donnell’s My Virginia – Ticonderoga Farms

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

TiconderogaFarmsI recently accompanied my daughter and granddaughter to an Easter egg hunt at Ticonderoga Farms, in Chantilly, Virginia. I was truly amazed with this locally popular location and what it offers for kids and families.

Ticonderoga Farms  has about one-thousand acres of rolling fields and forest. The farm sells organic, antibiotic-free eggs from free range hens; jams, jellies, and honey; pick-your-own daffodils; bamboo (live and cut); pine cones; straw bales; fresh picked fruit (in season); firewood; and more. Kids will also enjoy hayrides, hillside slides, the panda puzzle live bamboo maze, tetherball and tire play areas, log cabins and hay forts, a tee pee village, Noah’s ark and swings, a wishing well with a real hand pump, petting animals, antique tractors and machinery on display, and a swinging bridge. (more…)

‘A Dish Best Served Cold’ by guest author David Rhodes

Sunday, April 14th, 2013
Guest Author David Rhodes

Guest Author David Rhodes

Dusk had fallen in the city, but that did not damper the nightlife; it if fact encouraged it, bringing it to life. Traffic retained its rhythm, and those on the street changed from the hurried business men and women to dealers and hookers. It was prime time for business.

A very handsome man, he was, as he strolled along the avenue in his overcoat, catching the attention of more than a few of the whores standing on the curb and leaning against buildings.

Fucking sluts, he thought.

He strolled along the sidewalk in the cool night air, and as he passed several women standing in a group, one of them called out to him.

“Hey, good lookin’. Lookin’ for a good time? I got what you need, baby.” (more…)