Unleash Your Creativity with 440 CIE
Find inspiration in the diverse world of arts and entertainment
Unleash Your Creativity with 440 CIE
Find inspiration in the diverse world of arts and entertainment
440 CIE
Discover the Artistry of 440 CIE
440 CIE is a hub for music and art enthusiasts, showcasing original compositions and celebrating the creations we adore. Immerse yourself in a world of auditory and visual delights.
Becoming
In 2006, a group of students at Xavier High School were given an assignment from their English teacher. They were asked to write to their favorite authors and ask him or her to visit the school. Kurt Vonnegut wrote back and here is what he said:
“Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow…Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives.”
Then he suggested an assignment for the class.
“Write a six line poem about anything, but rhymed…Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody.”
“Then tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals [sic]. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.”
Original Music Videos
You are My One and Only
Version 2
Frank Trento is Dead/Ballad of Frank Trento
First cut.
Gas Masks
Pre-production, uncut live music version. Training wheels!
Mike Tyson
Coming Soon
Beyond the Seam - From the Musical "Fly"
Coming Soon
Giants Stalk the Earth
Coming Soon
Original Words
Table is Set in Innisfree
Excerpt from the Book "Spider on the Flag"
You came to me in a dream the other night /
We were standing in the old kitchen at home/
Your face thin and beautiful, sharp blue eyes under shimmering grey hair/
A rainbow pin I seemed to know but cannot recognize on the lapel of your blue seer sucker jacket/
Behind you the bright sun is shining in an open field/
A table is set with a white linen table cloth fluttering in the breeze;
Summer green grass on the ground catches the green from the marshmallow jello mold Aunt Ann is passing to Aunt Jane Big laughs upon their faces as they lean toward each other.
You looked at me with the stern serious look you use sometime asking me if I understand/
You looked over my shoulder toward the old kitchen cupboard by the door/
I can see the door marks where Captain chewed and clawed the door frame missing his family/ Then in an instance you were gone again
Excerpt from the Book "Spider on the Flag"
Excerpt from the Book "Spider on the Flag"
Before arriving in Iraq, I had never been in a sandstorm. I had always thought sandstorms came upon you quickly, blasting and obliterating everything in sight.
So, when I first saw a wall of sand approaching on the horizon from the Al Faw palace in Baghdad, I prepared myself for a scouring. But it wasn’t like that at all. The wall of sand moved across the ground like a slow-moving fog. Large groups of soldiers gathered at the open windows to watch the sand cloud make its way toward us. When it finally arrives, the sand seeps into every crevice, covers everything in dust, and hangs in the air for days. It is better described as a dust cloud.
Life travels like a slow cloud of sand that overtakes you. It does not arrive with loud whipping warnings. It seeps into your pores until you suddenly realize you are surrounded by sand and cannot see. In a sandstorm, if you find yourself in a place without markings, it is difficult to find your way back to where you came from. A life without markings can lead to the same difficulty finding your way back from where you came from.
Excerpt from the Musical "Fly"
Scene 1:
Old Claire sitting in an easy chart situated to watch out the window at a blossoming cherry tree. There is a Robin making a nest in the tree just outside the window. Claire stares and watches the bird build a nest for some time before the scene fades out.
Claire leans forward with interest to what the bird is doing.
Song Sung By Grace to the Bird at the Window
Nature Speaks
Can you speak the words of sunshine/
Can you speak the words of rain/
Avoid the many words of nothing/
Mouths banging causing pain/
Can you speak to me/
Do you know the words I am missing/
Can you speak to me/
No more talking without speaking/
The morning dove is calling/
The trees are whispering too/
The leaves are playing music/
Through the bass treble of the loon/
The ocean waves are crashing/
The wind is whistling tunes/
The nighttime sky is laughing/
From the beauty of the moon/
Can you speak to me/
From the voice that's deep inside/
Can you speak to me/
Like you have nothing else to hide/
No dialog in this scene.
Scene 2:
Location small theater in New York City playing an early version of Peter Pan set in December 1903.
Scene within a scene is Peter Pan flying scene with hook chasing from the ground and dialog before the song:
Excerpt from Screenplay "Nothing Tiny"
Excerpt from The Return of Bronco Billy
Scene 2:
Inside a convenience store run by an older gentleman wearing a “USS Oriskany” hat. A old, rather homely fellow. Thomas, Kate, and Marie enter the store. Marie skipping in and Kate and Thomas following.
THOMAS
“Afternoon Hank, how have you been.”
HANK
“Doing fine. You might like this I just got back from my appointment at the VA and it only took me the whole day to get through it.
THOMAS
“You must have a connection or something to get done that quickly.”
HANK
“Really nice people that saw me. They are just too overworked. They do a good job for me once I get to see them. The woman saw the scar on my forehead, and she said if that happened on military duty I could get disability compensation for that. I told her it happened in a jeep accident during training, and it did end my dreams of making it as a leading man in Hollywood.”
(All laugh)
HANK
“I don’t know how long I can keep this store going though. People don’t come in as much as they used to. They go to chain stores like 7-11. I can’t compete with all they have. It might be time at 85 to find another line of work. People say to me why don’t you just retire? I tell them if you knew my wife you’d keep working too!”
(All laugh. Marie and Kate over in front of the drink refrigerators. Thomas walks over to them to see what they are looking at.)
MARIE
“Can we get these drinks Daddy? They aren’t soda.”
(Maire pointing to drinks inside the cooler called “Bug Juice” with bug like character caps on the container)
THOMAS
“I’m not sure about those drinks. They don’t seem too healthy. Let me look at the label. It does say made with all natural ingredients. That sounds good. Ok, let’s get those.
(girls both giggly grab bug juices from the cooler and run to the counter. Thomas grabs one of his own and walks back to the counter and Hank starts to ring them up on an old cash register)
HANK
“How have you been feeling Tom? Have you been sleeping any better?
THOMAS
“Off and on. The nightmares seem to come with stress. A friend that served in Vietnam said I need something to distract me. He told me he would spend hours in his basement making terrariums to soothe himself. But that doesn’t sound soothing to me. I think I would go mad sitting there doing that. I just need to find my way to relieve stress.”
HANK
“I read that transcendental meditation helps with PTSD.”
MARIE
“Daddy what’s PTSD? Will I get PTSD and nightmares?”
THOMAS
(speaking to Marie)
“We can talk about it later honey. No you won’t get nightmares.
(speaking to Hank)
I heard about transcendental meditation, and I went to one training session for free. I just can’t get myself to sit down for more than a couple minutes. I’ll keep trying though. My mind and body just keep jumping around.”
HANK
“That’s all we can do, take it day by day. Clearing up the drinking for me was a game changer.
All this is a result.”
(Hank looks around him and spreads his arms wide and laughs)
Seriously though I have lived a great life and I’m just getting started. How are your business and inventions going?
THOMAS
I’ve got a really good idea I am working on now. I’ll bring it by when I am done. I’m really excited about it. I just need to find the time to work on it. It’s just hard with the girls and the other jobs I have.
HANK
I look forward to seeing it.
THOMAS
Good talking with you Hank. See you again soon.
HANK
Good talking with you. You take care of those beautiful girls.
(Thomas, Kate, and Marie head to Thomas’ car, a jalopy minivan. Before they get in the van, they stand by the van open their drinks touch glasses and say “Cheers.”)
Excerpt from The Return of Bronco Billy
Excerpt from The Return of Bronco Billy
Excerpt from The Return of Bronco Billy
Scene 10
Billy and Fred get near the Hudson River near Albany and an African American male friend of Billy’s named Jim Bowman parks a car near where they are. Jim’s face is partially disfigured due to being blown off on the side during a training accident at Fort Bragg.
BRONCO BILLY
Walking to Jim with his hand outstretched. “Good to see you again Jim. How have you been?”
JIM
“I’ve been good Billy. It’s been a long time.”
BRONCO BILLY
“Yes, it has. Have you been working on your act?”
JIM
“Sure have Billy. I’ve got all the designs tested and equipment being delivered. My human cannonball rescue machine should work exactly like those sketches I showed you in the dirt of Afghanistan.”
FRED
“Human Cannon ball machine? That sounds dangerous. Do you mind if I ask you how you injured your face.”
JIM
“You mean how did I blow half my fucking face off? It was a training accident at Fort Bragg. We were training on forced entry. I was the explosives expert and placed an explosive on a door to gain entry to the training building.” Jim moves his face really close to Fred. “But the fuse I created was a little too short and BOOM.” Jim says BOOM right in Fred’s face and his raised hand opens up to show the boom also.
FRED
“Oh.” Fred says uneasily. “So now you are the human cannonball?”
JIM
“Jim Bowman’s the name. Glad to meet you.”
FRED
“Glad to meet you too, I think. I’m Fred Davis.”
BRONCO BILLY
“Jim you can ride old friend Elijah there. He is a good one.” Billy pointing to one of the mules.
JIM
“Thank you Billy. I’m ready to go.”
BRONCO BILLY
“We have to stop off at Biggie Mart to get some supplies before we hit the trail again.
Camera shows the group walking up to the Biggie Mart. Outside is a young African American boy and his baby brother. Billy walks up to the boy named Sam.
BRONCO BILLY
“Howdy Pard. What’s your name.”
SAM
“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”
BRONCO BILLY
“I’m not a stranger I’m Bronco Billy.”
SAM
“Just the same I shouldn’t talk to you.”
BRONCO BILLY
“Ok, that’s a good boy. See you around Pard.”
SAM
“Are you a cowboy?”
BRONCO BILLY
“I sure am. But more of a Mountain Man from the Adirondacks.”
SAM
“There aren’t any cowboys anymore.”
BRONCO BILLY
“Cowboys will always be around when you need them.”
SAM
“Like a superhero?”
BRONCO BILLY
“No not like that, Cowboys are everywhere. Superheroes can’t be everywhere. Maybe you can be a cowboy someday?”
SAM
“I don’t know. Cowboys aren’t everywhere. You are the first one I’ve seen.”
BRONCO BILLY
“You’ll know someday, I think. Cowboys will find you if you are in need just like this.” Billy reaches behind the Boys ear and pulls out a dollar and gives it to Sam.
SAM
“Oh boy thank you Bronco Billy.”
BRONCO BILLY
“You are welcome. Remember to obey your Mom and Dad and to say your prayers at night.”
SAM
“I will Bronco Billy. How do I learn to do tricks like that?”
BRONCO BILLY
“Learn to follow your dreams little pard, learn to follow your dreams. See you on the morrow.”
Lieutenant
Excerpt from The Return of Bronco Billy
Excerpt from The Return of Bronco Billy
Lieutenant
Dramatic Streaming Series in Development.
AI
AI
AI
AI
Science Fiction Thriller - In development.
Original Cover Songs
"How Great Though Art"
A young minister's two-mile walk in the rain provided the inspiration for How Great Thou Art. The Reverend Carl Boberg of Monsteras, on the southeast coast of Sweden, was 25 years old when he wrote the lyrics of this song after trekking through a thunderstorm from a church meeting two miles away
This great hymn has a history that stretches back over a hundred years. The original song was written by a young Swedish preacher, Carl Boberg, and first published in 1886, under the title O Store Gud. Boberg wrote a poem, not meaning to write a hymn, but later heard it being sung to an old Swedish tune.
More than forty years later, an English missionary, Stuart Hine, first heard the song in Russia. He and his young wife were missionaries to the Carpathian area of Russia, then a part of Czechoslovakia. There, they heard a very meaningful hymn that was a Russian translation of Carl Boberg's O Store Gud (O Great God).
While ministering in the Carpathian Mountains, Hine found himself in the midst of a threatening storm. The thunder, as it rolled through the mountain range, was so awesome that it reminded Hine of the beautiful Russian hymn that had already become so dear to him. English verses began to form in his mind, verses that were suggested by portions of the Russian translation.
Words We Love
Phases Of Farm Life By John Burroughs
The Lake Isle of Innisfree By William Butler Yeats
From "In The Catskills" (1910)
The Lake Isle of Innisfree By William Butler Yeats
The Lake Isle of Innisfree By William Butler Yeats
Yeats: "I am going to begin with a poem of mine called 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' because if you know anything about me you will expect me to begin with it. It is the only poem of mine which is very widely known. When I was a young lad in the town of Sligo I read Thoreau's essays and wanted to live in a hut on an island in Lough Gill called Innisfree which means 'Heather Island'. I wrote the poem in London when I was about twenty three" Lake Isle of Innisfree is an uninhabited island within Lough Gill, in Ireland, near which Yeats spent his summers as a child." "For anyone wondering why Yeats is reading so strangely, here is a quote from him to explain: "I am going to read my poems with great emphasis upon their rhythm, and that may seem strange if you are not used to it. I remember the great English poet, William Morris, coming in a rage out of some lecture hall where somebody had recited a passage out of his Sigurd the Volsung, ‘It gave me a devil of a lot of trouble’, said Morris, ‘to get that thing into verse’. It gave me a devil of a lot of trouble to get into verse the poems that I am going to read, and that is why I will not read them as if they were prose."
If by Rudyard Kipling - Read by Sir Michael Caine
Solitude and Leadership - If you want others to follow, learn to be alone with your thoughts, By Wi
Solitude and Leadership - If you want others to follow, learn to be alone with your thoughts, By Wi
Solitude and Leadership - If you want others to follow, learn to be alone with your thoughts, By Wi
The essay was delivered as a lecture to the plebe class at the United States Military Academy at West Point in October 2009.
LTGen Charles Krulak: "The Importance of Integrity, Loyalty, and Loyal Dissent" part 1
LTGen Charles Krulak: "The Importance of Integrity, Loyalty, and Loyal Dissent" part 1
1993: From the video archives of the Naval Academy. This talk discusses the value of loyalty and the role of dissent in military service. It argues that in some cases dissent is not only an obligation, but an expression of loyalty.
LTGen Charles Krulak: "The Importance of Integrity, Loyalty, and Loyal Dissent" part 2
LTGen Charles Krulak: "The Importance of Integrity, Loyalty, and Loyal Dissent" part 1
1993: From the video archives of the Naval Academy. This talk discusses the value of loyalty and the role of dissent in military service. It argues that in some cases dissent is not only an obligation, but an expression of loyalty.
Art We Love
Claude Monet, Spring (Fruit Trees in Bloom) 1873
NY Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Angelus (French: L'Angélus) is an oil painting by French painter Jean-François Millet
Completed between 1857 and 1859.
The painting depicts two peasants bowing in a field over a basket of potatoes to say a prayer, the Angelus, that together with the ringing of the bell from the church on the horizon marks the end of a day or noon prayer.
Uncle Frank's Slide Show
San Diego, September 11, 2021
Rainy Day Wisconsin Ave, May 6, 2025
Helen - Key West Around 1984
Homemade Apple Pie and Milk, May 26, 2025
Homemade Apple Pie and Milk, May 26, 2025
Homemade Apple Pie and Milk, May 26, 2025
Justin Fishing
San Diego, September 13, 2021
Across from the Naval Academy, October 19, 2024
Sunrise, Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC January 8, 2025
Sunrise, Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC January 8, 2025
Sunrise, Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC January 8, 2025
Taxi In Kabul, Afghanistan
Taxi In Kabul, Afghanistan
Crows
Taxi In Kabul, Afghanistan
Grey Loon Fountainhead Regional Park - June 5, 2025
Grey Loon Fountainhead Regional Park - June 5, 2025
TBD
