The Rue Snider Cliff Notes (link edition):
Bracken Records
un filme
Well the July 12th premiere fast approaches, perhaps faster than I'd like (does anyone have a working way-back machine I can borrow?), and the posters are starting to pop up all over Pittsburgh, thanks to our dedicated street team. Tell your friends. Hell, drag them there. The theatre seats 282 people. Let's see if we can't fill it up.
We've still got some posters if people want to put them up. Personally, I've been battling strep throat for the last couple of days, which has made it difficult for me to do much of anything that doesn't involve being in a chair, so we're not as spread out as I'd like, and I don't have my voice back yet, so it's been a major headache. We're thinking of referring to gravida as "the film that nearly killed me". All the more reason you should all come see it. And buy copies. Lots of copies.
Ok, real quick. Ilona V, who's awesome song "Good Morning" makes up the opening credits of gravida, has a new single out on vinyl, coincidentally enough it's "Good Morning". So, for a mere $7 (shipping included) you can get yourself a copy of this and spin it on ye olde turntable. And if you don't have a turntable? Well, get one, man. They're coming back. Haven't you heard? These iPods are a fad. Seriously, though, buy a copy. Support the arts.
Now, on to the important part of the email.
Remember when I wrote out the statement of purpose for merchandise? No? Well, it was because we were working on this very thing: t-shirts. And not just any old boring t-shirts, but L'Attente t-shirts. Or, as we like to call them, the "un filme" shirts.
Want to see a picture? Sure you do:
The back is the same font as the front and says, simply: www.dpressproductions.com
The design would not have been possible without the help of our good friend Ryan Estes, who helped me brainstorm the idea over photoshop and email, and Adam Woods at Dotted Line Shirt Company who must have run 20 tests on this and answered hundreds of stupid questions from yours truly.
A word on the shirts. They're made by American Apparel, a very cool clothing company that adheres to some of the same ethical standards we do, meaning they don't employ sweatshop labor. The shirts are all made in the U.S.A. (for those of you on a patriotic kick) and are 100% combed cotton. As someone who wears a t-shirt virtually every day, I can assure you the shirts are nice. Very nice. As in, nicer than any shirt I own. They're incredibly soft and comfortable. We made sure of this. Adam, as part of his tests, got a good screen print which should pretty much last forever. So, those of you who have been burned by blindly buying t-shirts in the past (and I know I have), rest assured. These are nice shirts. They aren't cheap things you'll never wear. Also, American Apparel shirts fit tighter than traditional t-shirts. There's a link to a sizing chart on the webpage.
Which brings us to the price tag. The shirts will cost $16, plus if we have to ship it to you, that will cost extra, of course. If it sounds a little high, believe me, we aren't making a killing on them. There's a reason cut-throat businessmen use sweatshop labor, you know.
You can purchase them either by going to the store and doing the PayPal thing (ideal if you live far away, but not if you live in the Pittsburgh area, especially since PayPal takes a cut), or you can get one at the premiere (assuming they're ready in time), or you can email me now and reserve one, on the chance that we sell out of your size, and get me the money later.
Obviously, if you have any problems whatsoever, let me know.
I should point out that these are NOT the fundraiser t-shirts. Those are still in the works and, well, completely different.
The shirts are being printed as we speak and hopefully (fingers crossed) will be ready in time for the premiere (but the strep may have thwarted that plan). We've done an initial limited run of 50, as a means of limiting our exposure and minimizing the scenario where my brother gets one for Christmas every year for the next decade. Hopefully the demand will exceed the supply and we'll gladly make more as needed.
Finally, in order to have a little fun with the t-shirt roll-out, we commissioned poems from some of the world's great unknown poets (also, I wrote one), taking care to assure them that the actual literary quality of the poems was not all that important. And, really, who else is going to try to sell you t-shirts with poetry? Only d press Productions, the film collective that doesn't shy away from being pretentious. We embrace it. Enjoy.
Rubaiyat
by Matt Reed
a bottle of wine, a book of verse,
wandering the south hills (and how!)
wearing a "un filme" t-shirt:
a t-shirt is happiness for now...
******************
a poem about a t-shirt about a film
by Ryan Estes
I've not been to Pittsburgh
in a very long time
(years, not months)
Yes, and my taste in cinema is on the decline
and even Battlestar Galactica (oh the horror)
suitably entertains
as do films with
car chases, shiny things
or stuff that blows up
and much as I like the starving artist ethos
I am not starving and am unsure
If ethos is even the right word
despite all this
I would still pay $16 for a t-shirt
Telling the world of
un filme de lucas mcnelly
******************
Le chemise a'la filme de lucas mcnelly
by Joshua Edenhofer
The shirts are black
like my soul
they feature Matt & Dan
Is he eating a roll?
"L'Attente" makes my heart throb with pleasure
the shirts cover my body with cotton
or is that a polyester blend?
I sure don't like sweatshop labor
these shirts are a godsend
these shirts won't keep you warm
on a blustery sub-zero degree day
but they will let you freeze to death
in style.
******************
Lucas vs. His Health
by Lucas McNelly
Last week I had strep throat
(believe me, it sucked)
I couldn't talk for three days
and some people seemed to prefer it
that way, I suppose
But worse than the strep throat
(well not really, but work with me)
was the caffeine withdrawal headache
from not drinking any coffee.
Seems I have an addiction.
I'm like that guy in "L'Attente"
(only, not bald)
who can't function without his coffee.
It defines who he is, how he functions
Addictions are like that.
Also, I can't speak French at all
(but I do know some Spanish)
Maybe just some ooh-la-la's and
other quasi-seductive guttural noises
but I don't think that counts
Still, I really wish I knew French
(and Italian)
But I'm lazy, so instead I wear my
"un filme de lucas mcnelly" shirt, hoping
people will think I do.
I don't think I've fooled anyone yet
(how could you tell?)
but that's ok because the shirt is wicked
cool and one of the nicest I own
and I'm not just saying that.
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