Writer • Musician
Exercise 1 I've dedicated the past several days to Orson Welles, to that booming voice and that wonderful charisma. He was the virtuoso filmmaker and actor and magician, a student of Shakespeare, and the lifelong master of deception and trickery. -- Exercise 2 I've long been picturing a future for mankind, one that would set …
Continue reading "Orson Welles and the Michael Phoenix Rising"
When I saw the eyes of a faithful friend Welcoming over the fire, I saw the warmth of human heaven Arrive to me, long desired. And it was through treacherous rain and deep ravines that I clung true to the sight; When I slept amongst wolves and fiends, My lost friends, these children of the …
Jude Moonlight~ I got back into town around an hour ago and I saw that the place had been overrun with pigeons and gossip. So I kept moving and came upon a white moon glistening over the red sands. Summer falls behind arriving summer trains. And I fall in love with an amber rain and …
Jude Moonlight ~ The baker wore a mustache and he smiled to me and he said, "Where you been, dear boy? What you been up to?" I said, "I been here, dear man. I been here, I got stuck on a girl and I can't get her off of my mind." And he said that'll …
The afternoon counter he stands behind, The baker awaits the seven days' chimes. He's reminded of beauty, smiling through a long life. And to blue skies he stands to rise, With tears of joy, which stream from his eyes. He's an Englishman, born in the West End, he says. "Like to go back again, but …
Words and Music by Ren Michael As the trains they roll on by Ignorant of that gleam in you eye I thought I heard the whisper of the rain I turn around and the same passerby, gray concrete remains These tracks, these tunnels I might call home Though somewhere another light had once shone In …
Words and Music by Renny Michael Like finding a river after walking through hills of sand, I saw this girl, and reached out to grab her hand. When you stood surrounded by city shadow, how many knew your name? You dancing child, city ghost, staring through the dark like a sacred flame? I'm just …
it was late into the night so you know I thought I'd play on Bruce for a bit and get my punk rock on hahahoho
Words and Music by Ren Michael How do you sing when the rain falls down, And keep me warm when the streets grow cold? And how do you smile when looming thunder pounds, While you lie out your hand for me to hold? 'Neath the candlelight to some evening sky, You exhale your stares and …
A change in style ought to explain the hiatus. But it is New Years Eve. - It was some kind of Christmas. 2012 a hell of a year. I can see the beast majestic in the old desert storm and I look upon my own hands, remembering how I stood on the hilltop awaiting the …
I moved out to Los Angeles to be an actor, but I am quickly discovering that I'm a man of many passions. I'm in one of the greatest and most terrifying sorts of trouble in the world. Hollywood Received word that there is a gig for me up in Portland that has nothing at all to …
Continue reading "Portrait of an Artist with Too Many Gigs and No Clues"
March 10 Sitting in the LAX terminal on my way to Portland with a desire to record things down even though I wonder if now is the time, and then I say 'now is always the time'. Someone looks at me strangely, prolly wondering who this kid is, this kid talking to himself. 'Ya gotta …
On Pioneer Square in downtown Portland is where I met the pirate. He's a traveller of some kind with a long black beard and a rag on his head, a strong Moses-like cane that he doesn't appear to need for walking, a long sheet that he is wearing as a cap, old pinstripe pants …
From the airport I was driven into town on a shuttle service that prides itself on being eco-friendly whatever that means, and the driver's name was Khan, as in Kubla, and he was a Pakinstani man who smiled a lot, who was raised in Malaysia and so who identifies more with Malaysia, though he did …
Flying Elephant Free refills of coffee here, By George! It's great in this city! And how can I leave this comfortable nook when the coffee is bottomless and the afternoon is freezing and rain-soaked. But there is much to see and I've only got a day before work tonight, an operation with the Ford Motor …
All throughout my time in Portland I was trying to get working on 'Saints' but instead found myself drifting onto other matters, so I was only able to get a modest bulk of thoughts down late one night. A lot of it concerned Texas and the hero's view of it as the great canvas upon …
Northwest Tech At the convention hall last night it was nice being amongst journalists again, my ol' blood brethren. I studied journalism at the Unviersity of Florida and so it reminds me of those days, in which I chose a major for its own sake so I could hurry up and move to LA, and …
Morning Star Cafe. Thursday. Portland. Might it be time to leave the Morning Star? Might it be time to leave your sweet beauty? Outside this place, awaits the day; And the rolling thunder, the falling rain Lays grace upon thee, far and away But it is not for me. I have this morning but dawn …
And so the last night brings me back to Pioneer In the fiercest rain, amidst old friends And to the fine people of Portland, Goodnight. Oh, fair city. Not that you need it. ~Quinn Some final notes about Portland as I fly back now to Los Angeles. Last night, though I wasn't hungry and my …
Hope and fear have outlined the political discourse since the beginnings of modern democracy. The actors are compelled to either fight for something or to fight against something, and this leads to campaigns that are either optimistic for what we can obtain, or fearful of that which are trying to avoid. At no time has …
Continue reading "Drop Your Pitchforks and Raise Your Glass. Political Parties are No More."
Ren Michael 