New York City, Baby. The energy here is so what I need right now. I can just do my thing here and not get stopped all the time by people asking about Mike. Everywhere I look I see something new and fresh — or just plain real, man — that completely blows my mind, cracks me up, or makes me smile. There is no better setting for a film festival than TriBeCa. Sorry Sundance! Sure, I’ll take a week of snowboarding but seriously, you’re Wonder Bread compared to TriBeCa. It’s like a pop-up Halloween store — trying for 2 weeks out of the year to be super cool then disappearing. My favorite film was “Eddie - The Sleepwalking Cannibal”. It’s about a painter who hits an artistic rut and has to figure out how to get his mojo back. (Um, ring a bell, Mike?!?!?!) So he moves to a small town and ends up with this crazy roommate…anyway, trust me - it’s pretty funny in a twisted way but so graphic that I had to put down my MIKE AND IKE® candies…which is a big deal for me, especially in a movie theater. I stayed away from “Russian Winter” about John Forte from The Fugees and “Searching for Sugar Man” about a rock prodigy who disappeared without a trace because I was afraid to run into Mike. I’m just not ready for that. Enough said. But heard both of those documentaries were off the hook. After a few intense short films about Somali pirates, bullying, and corporate corruption, I needed something on the lighter side. So I caught an outdoor, drive-in type screening of “Goonies”. Man that took me back! “Chunk, I hope that was your stomach!” Mike and I used to say that to each other all the time. There were actually a couple of lectures that were not full of pretentious wannabes trying to overthink what makes a good movie. There was one about “Cloud Film-Making” which is what I’ve been playing with lately - basically taking existing footage from YouTube or wherever and re-editing, re-blending, and re-soundtracking to create something totally new. I think it’s finally time for me to upgrade my editing software to PowerDirector 10 - everyone here says it’s way faster. I guess it’s cool that “The Avengers” was only open to veterans, firefighters, members of the military…you know, “real life” heroes. They deserve it. But since I collect vintage comic books I am fired up to see. “The Avengers” (the comic at least) was always such a great mash-up. Luckily I scored a press pass to a screening before the public opening. Cha-ching. Met some great people here in The Big Apple…you know who you are. Thanks for all the career advice! Peace out. ~Ike WARNING: Although not yet rated, according to Ike, “Eddie - The Sleepwalking Cannibal” will most likely be rated “R”.