Today is pretty much the laid-back affair I hoped it would be, with 2 very notable exceptions:
I woke up around 7:00 am to a phone call from my sweety!!! YAY!!!
She just asked if I was okay, then said she's headed into work. And I was so excited to hear her voice! It was SO WONDERFUL!!!
Until I realized WHY she had called... I had forgotten to log out of my IM when I went to bed, and she had left me a couple of messages! She must have been worried about me, poor thing!
This is the third time in the last 48 hours wherein we just barely missed each other!
Tuesday night, when I was in the living room playing Poker with Brian & drinking, I was logged into my IM in here and would check in every now and again to see if my baby had logged in. The later it got (and the closer to her usual bedtime) the less frequently I checked in. So around 12:30 am her time, I check in to discover that she had left a couple of messages around 11:30 pm her time!!! And I think the last time I checked in was just after 11:00 pm... so if I'd checked in just 25 or so minutes later I could have chatted with her before she went to sleep!
Like I said, I was drinking with my bro, so I hit the hay a bit earlier that normal, since my sweety hasn't been logging on before work in a long time.
Well... I wake up to her phone call, then discover that she had logged-in this morning before work, just a couple of hours after I went to sleep!
That sucked.
After waking up at 7:00 am(-ish) I disn't feel like going back to sleep, and I had a whole day to re-adjust my sleep schedule. So I watched the series finale of VERONICA MARS (and it SO SUCKS that that show isn't coming back!!!) and then watched a bunch of game-play "movies" on YouTube -- since I didn't really feel energetic enough to play the actual games themselves, lol -- for RESIDENT EVIL, RESIDENT EVIL CODE: VERONICA and the original SILENT HILL.
A pleasant distraction, heehee. :)
Then around 3:00 pm my time I switched computers (this one isn't the best for watching video on, particularly in Full Screen mode) and began sitting my vigil, waiting for my Gnomey Goddess to log on.
After about 30 minutes I dozed off in the chair, lol.
But when woke up, she still hadn't logged in or left me any messages, so I hadn't missed her. Besides, if she did log in and leave a message the beep probably would have awakened me, which was the whole point of staying in this room.
The nap was refreshing, so I checked my email, then watched a bunch of Johnny Depp and Kiera Knightley interviews on YouTube. (I'm still groovin' on PIRATES, hehe.)
OH WAIT! IT'S HER, HOLD ON!!!
*******
Hee-hee! :D
WOO-HOO!!!
I was just writing this entry detailing the specifics of how Gnomey and I kept missing each other, then she logs on to say "good morning" and tell me she loves me!!!
I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!
WENDY, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! x o x o x o
hee-hee
So okay... Where was I?
Right, I'm watching interviews on YouTube with some of the cast of the PIRATES movies, and 6:30 pm rolls around, so I figure my sweety is asleep and won't be logging on tonight.
So I take a REAL nap. I wake up around 11:30 pm, get up, log on...
AND SHE LEFT ME A MESSAGE ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER I WENT TO BED!!! :(
How painful is THAT?!!
She tells me her Net went out because of the weather, but that she stayed up late to talk to me. :(
At this point, I am convinced that Life is just fucking with us!
But then the story ends on a HAPPY note! I'm not even finished writing this entry when she logs on!!! She's up hours earlier than usual because a coworker called in sick, so she only has time to tell me she loves me and that she'll see me tonight!
How amazing!!!
That's really an AMAZING wrap-up for what has been a great, great vacation! (Could have been better, I could have spent it in Gnomey's arms, but I couldn't REALISTICALLY have hoped for more at this point! Turned out better than I had hoped for as it is!)
So yay!
And then the other thing in the title of this blog entry...
I get daily screenwriting tips -- just random articles about different aspects of screenwriting that show up in my Inbox -- and today I got something that said "Script Frenzy Starts June 1".
What could this be? I click on the site...
It's a screenplay competition... of sorts, hehe.
The goal is simply to write 20,000 words -- the approximate word-count for a feature-length screenplay -- in 1 month. No application fee, and no money awarded. But if you succeed, you get bragging rights and some sort of certificate or something stated that you participated and wrote a feature-length screenplay in a month!
But the REAL benefit is that you forced yourself to let go of whatever hangups you might have about writing (commercial restrictions, if you're a pro, writer's block if you're not yet pro) and you JUST WRITE! No one actually reads your script; bots count how many words you write.
That's it.
If you want to cheat, you can cheat, no problem.
But what would you get out of the experience?
For Brian and me, we get to collaborate on a project and see if we can't find our groove. And we don't have time to not succeed.
I'm thinking that Brian will learn what I've been learning, which is screenwriting is as hard as you make it. I think we can apply as much technique and ensure as high-quality a script as 1 month affords us without slowing down the momentum and catching ourselves up on uncertainties and such.
We'll see.
I told him about the idea before I had finished reading all the rules, and asked if he would be interested in giving it a shot, no pressure. I came back in here to finish reading the rules and stuff, and I don't think it was 15 minutes later that he came back with a concept that would be a lot of fun to write!
A little bit later, after we tossed around thematic and character and situational ideas we actually had some really powerful rocket sauce! It's not a movie yet. It's not even a story yet. But we've got enough ingredients to MAKE it a movie!
So again, YAY!!!
So I have accomplished just about everything I hoped to accomplish in this last 5 days, and so much MORE than I hoped!
But most importantly...
I GOT TO TALK TO MY BABY!!! hee-hee :D TWICE!!! Once on the phone and just now on the computer!
Life is good! :)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
"Sea Turtles..."
OMG!!! Am I having a FANTASTIC vacation!!!
As of today I'm no longer calling this a mini-vacation and referring to it as a full-on vacation because DAMN! :D
Okay, so when's the last time I checked in? Saturday?
Okay...
My baby hoped that she would get to play with me Sunday and Monday. It turns out that while we had Monday off for Memorial Day, she had Monday off for Spring Bank Holiday! How cool is THAT?!!
Unfortunately, though, she wasn't able to come online Sunday. :( But that's cool. Sort of... I mean that as far as I'm concerned, I get that family and friends need her, and they were there first, hehe. But what's a bummer about that is the fact that just when she thinks "Okay, back to normal now," something ELSE seems to pop up. :( I kind of just wish her life would settle down and behave itself! (Don't MAKE me pull this car over! lol)
But I got a Consolation Prize Sunday night -- after I was pretty certain that my baby was asleep and not likely to come online -- which was seeing PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END with Brian!!!
O... MG!!!
We had basically been waiting to see POTC:AWE since they announced a second and third movie, lol! (Like everyone ELSE in the world, apparently, lol!)
And it was WELL WORTH the wait!!!
Okay, here's my non-spoiler-y review:
I think THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL is one of the most perfect movies made! No exaggeration! There are a handful of movies that I can pop into the dvd player and watch over and over and over, and CURSE is one of those! (Some others include SERINITY, BATMAN BEGINS, THE IRON GIANT, CASINO ROYALE, THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER, either of the DAWN OF THE DEADs... just to name a few at random.)
But even from the first veiwing, I felt that DEAD MAN'S CHEST was... missing something. It was exciting and funny and even a bit scary! But it was just... missing something.
And (duh!) what DEAD MAN'S CHEST was missing (so OBVIOUS now that I've seen it, lol) was AT WORLD'S END!!! POTC:AWE is just as thrilling and scary and funny as the second movie, and just as emotionally rewarding as the first!!!
It is exactly what I hoped it would be!
But that's me. I'm not trying to predict how anyone else will respond to it, just sharing how I felt about it.
Before the credits had finished rolling (you know, it's a PIRATES movie, so you GOTTA stick around until after the credits, hehe!) I was certain that I needed to come back and see this again Monday night!
Brian agreed, hehe.
So Sunday night I played a level of the Ps2 PIRATES game, then Brian & I popped in the first movie and watched it. And then I HAD TO check iTunes to see how much the soundtrack cost.
$9.95!!!
So I bought it, hehe. And while Brian passed out watching CURSE, I burned a copy of the soundtrack for my car and loaded all three of the PIRATES soundtracks onto my iPod.
Brian has this habit of playing background music on a loop on the living room PC, and since he was asleep by the time I finished loading my iPod I went ahead and let the PIRATES 3 soundtrack start playing. (I wanted to surprise him by letting him to wake up to the music, hehe.)
The third soundtrack is arguably better than the first!!!
I should explain... There are some albums that I can listen to over and over again, hehe... Evanescense' FALLEN, 30SecondsToMars first album, and the soundtrack to THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL are a short list.
The soundtrack to AT WORLD'S END is now on that list, too!
It's weird, but just as perfect as movie as CURSE is, the soundtrack is as perfect an album to me!!! Likewise, just a perfect a movie as WORLD'S END is, so is the soundtrack! And interesting coincidence, I think.
Blah.
Anyway...
So Monday...
I did my laundry! YAY! (I hate doing my laundry, lol. I'll often put it off until I have nothing more to wear, rather than make those 3 trips down the stairs and to the laundry room and back. I SO can't wait to finally own my own house and be able to simply walk down the hall to do my laundry, lol!)
And just about the time I finished that, Brian was awake and we continued our analysis (from the night before) of the PIRATE movies and screenwriting in general.
He got the hankerin' for some barbeque... Did I say "hankerin'?" I meant "desperate, obsessive NEED," lol. So we stopped by Smokey Mo's and picked up a couple of pounds of hickory-roasted cow.
All the while I keep checking to see if my Gnomey Goddess is online, but she isn't. :(
Jumping ahead in time, for a second, I woke up to a SLEW of messages from my baby!!! :D Turns out she got called into work yesterday, even though she was scheduled to be off. Poor thing! x o x o x o
After stuffing ourselves full of tasty, TASTY beef, I re-listened to a podcast Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio did last year, talking about writing the first 2 PIRATES movies.
I was hoping to get a couple of clues about the third movie -- you know, something that I wouldn't have caught back then, but that made sense now, after having seen the third movie -- but they had PLENTY of interesting things to talk about just covering their career to date (they were the final writers for the first SHREK movie, btw, as well as Disney's ALADDIN and THE MASK OF ZORRO and many other good flicks) and the second movie in particular.
Btw, if you're interested in listening to this podcast, you can download it at here, or from the Creative Screenwriting Magazine blog -- just scroll down to the "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Q&A" section, or you can get it free from iTunes in the podcast section for Creative Screenwriting Magazine.
OH! I forgot to mention that while Brian and I were talking about writing, we made some significant progress on this one screenplay of his that we had shelved for a bit earlier this year!!! That was really COOL! We had gotten to a point where I really wasn't able to help him, so I broke off and wrote a bad horror script and waited until he was ready. Then yesterday I was talking about my most recent approach to development and just started throwing out ideas for his movie, and he liked them! So we kept going until the ideas petered out, but we were left with a new and fresh approach!!!
So YAY!
So after listening to Elliot & Rossio talk about DEAD MAN'S CHEST it turned midnight in the UK (meaning that my baby was well asleep... or so I thought) and Brian and I set off to see WORLD'S END again!!!
I say "or so I thought" because the time-stamp on one of the messages I got from my baby was after midnight, her time. :( So I had just missed her. SORRY, SWEETHEART!!! x o x o x o
However, unaware of this, Brian and I had a magnificent time watching the movie again!!! He enjoyed it even more the second time (a certain surprising event in the movie had sort of annoyed him immensely on the first viewing, but he was able to enjoy the movie as a whole this time) and we agreed that we were finally sated, lol. We both caught different things on this second viewing, as well as noticing things that the other had spotted an pointed out from the first viewing.
MOVIE-GEEK BLISS!!!
Back at home, we finally christened a deck of pirate cards I had bought back around the time of the first movie (2003) and drank and played Poker and chatted and just had A BLAST for hours!!!
I should explain: I'm a bit obsessed with playing cards. I have many, many decks with a variety of themes. I don't get to play cards much, except on the computer, but when I see a particularly cool deck and I have the money, I snatch them up. Where ever I go, I always have at least one deck of playing cards with me. (My battered-and well-worn decks travel with my in various satchels or backpacks. The prettier decks stay at home.)
I've got 2 BATMAN BEGINS decks, my pirate deck -- which has the Jack-Rackham style Jolley Rogers on the back -- this cool see-through deck I bought a couple of Christmases ago in Dallas, and when I bought CASINO ROYALE on dvd I got the limeted-edition set that includes Casino Royale playing cards (and a single Casino Royale Poker chip, hehe).
And, like I said, I almost never get to use them, lol.
But finally last night -- after some 4 years of unuse -- Brian and I broke out the pirate cards and played! (And drank. We finished off a bottle of "Captain Morgan's Private Stock" Spiced Rum we had been nursing for a couple of months, hehe.)
It was fun! :D
Then to top this whole adventure off, I got to wake up this morning (well... noon, hehe) after 10 hours of sleep, after my body had happily slept off any hangover I should have had, lol!
Have I mentioned that I love NOT waking up to an alarm? :D
AND TODAY HAS JUST BEGUN!!!
I still have today and tomorrow left of my vacation!
And Brian's off today, as well, and has said that if I wanted to break in my cool see-through deck he'll be interested in playing some more Poker tonight!
But right now, no more talky! Ray Jay must EAT!
As of today I'm no longer calling this a mini-vacation and referring to it as a full-on vacation because DAMN! :D
Okay, so when's the last time I checked in? Saturday?
Okay...
My baby hoped that she would get to play with me Sunday and Monday. It turns out that while we had Monday off for Memorial Day, she had Monday off for Spring Bank Holiday! How cool is THAT?!!
Unfortunately, though, she wasn't able to come online Sunday. :( But that's cool. Sort of... I mean that as far as I'm concerned, I get that family and friends need her, and they were there first, hehe. But what's a bummer about that is the fact that just when she thinks "Okay, back to normal now," something ELSE seems to pop up. :( I kind of just wish her life would settle down and behave itself! (Don't MAKE me pull this car over! lol)
But I got a Consolation Prize Sunday night -- after I was pretty certain that my baby was asleep and not likely to come online -- which was seeing PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END with Brian!!!
O... MG!!!
We had basically been waiting to see POTC:AWE since they announced a second and third movie, lol! (Like everyone ELSE in the world, apparently, lol!)
And it was WELL WORTH the wait!!!
Okay, here's my non-spoiler-y review:
I think THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL is one of the most perfect movies made! No exaggeration! There are a handful of movies that I can pop into the dvd player and watch over and over and over, and CURSE is one of those! (Some others include SERINITY, BATMAN BEGINS, THE IRON GIANT, CASINO ROYALE, THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER, either of the DAWN OF THE DEADs... just to name a few at random.)
But even from the first veiwing, I felt that DEAD MAN'S CHEST was... missing something. It was exciting and funny and even a bit scary! But it was just... missing something.
And (duh!) what DEAD MAN'S CHEST was missing (so OBVIOUS now that I've seen it, lol) was AT WORLD'S END!!! POTC:AWE is just as thrilling and scary and funny as the second movie, and just as emotionally rewarding as the first!!!
It is exactly what I hoped it would be!
But that's me. I'm not trying to predict how anyone else will respond to it, just sharing how I felt about it.
Before the credits had finished rolling (you know, it's a PIRATES movie, so you GOTTA stick around until after the credits, hehe!) I was certain that I needed to come back and see this again Monday night!
Brian agreed, hehe.
So Sunday night I played a level of the Ps2 PIRATES game, then Brian & I popped in the first movie and watched it. And then I HAD TO check iTunes to see how much the soundtrack cost.
$9.95!!!
So I bought it, hehe. And while Brian passed out watching CURSE, I burned a copy of the soundtrack for my car and loaded all three of the PIRATES soundtracks onto my iPod.
Brian has this habit of playing background music on a loop on the living room PC, and since he was asleep by the time I finished loading my iPod I went ahead and let the PIRATES 3 soundtrack start playing. (I wanted to surprise him by letting him to wake up to the music, hehe.)
The third soundtrack is arguably better than the first!!!
I should explain... There are some albums that I can listen to over and over again, hehe... Evanescense' FALLEN, 30SecondsToMars first album, and the soundtrack to THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL are a short list.
The soundtrack to AT WORLD'S END is now on that list, too!
It's weird, but just as perfect as movie as CURSE is, the soundtrack is as perfect an album to me!!! Likewise, just a perfect a movie as WORLD'S END is, so is the soundtrack! And interesting coincidence, I think.
Blah.
Anyway...
So Monday...
I did my laundry! YAY! (I hate doing my laundry, lol. I'll often put it off until I have nothing more to wear, rather than make those 3 trips down the stairs and to the laundry room and back. I SO can't wait to finally own my own house and be able to simply walk down the hall to do my laundry, lol!)
And just about the time I finished that, Brian was awake and we continued our analysis (from the night before) of the PIRATE movies and screenwriting in general.
He got the hankerin' for some barbeque... Did I say "hankerin'?" I meant "desperate, obsessive NEED," lol. So we stopped by Smokey Mo's and picked up a couple of pounds of hickory-roasted cow.
All the while I keep checking to see if my Gnomey Goddess is online, but she isn't. :(
Jumping ahead in time, for a second, I woke up to a SLEW of messages from my baby!!! :D Turns out she got called into work yesterday, even though she was scheduled to be off. Poor thing! x o x o x o
After stuffing ourselves full of tasty, TASTY beef, I re-listened to a podcast Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio did last year, talking about writing the first 2 PIRATES movies.
I was hoping to get a couple of clues about the third movie -- you know, something that I wouldn't have caught back then, but that made sense now, after having seen the third movie -- but they had PLENTY of interesting things to talk about just covering their career to date (they were the final writers for the first SHREK movie, btw, as well as Disney's ALADDIN and THE MASK OF ZORRO and many other good flicks) and the second movie in particular.
Btw, if you're interested in listening to this podcast, you can download it at here, or from the Creative Screenwriting Magazine blog -- just scroll down to the "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Q&A" section, or you can get it free from iTunes in the podcast section for Creative Screenwriting Magazine.
OH! I forgot to mention that while Brian and I were talking about writing, we made some significant progress on this one screenplay of his that we had shelved for a bit earlier this year!!! That was really COOL! We had gotten to a point where I really wasn't able to help him, so I broke off and wrote a bad horror script and waited until he was ready. Then yesterday I was talking about my most recent approach to development and just started throwing out ideas for his movie, and he liked them! So we kept going until the ideas petered out, but we were left with a new and fresh approach!!!
So YAY!
So after listening to Elliot & Rossio talk about DEAD MAN'S CHEST it turned midnight in the UK (meaning that my baby was well asleep... or so I thought) and Brian and I set off to see WORLD'S END again!!!
I say "or so I thought" because the time-stamp on one of the messages I got from my baby was after midnight, her time. :( So I had just missed her. SORRY, SWEETHEART!!! x o x o x o
However, unaware of this, Brian and I had a magnificent time watching the movie again!!! He enjoyed it even more the second time (a certain surprising event in the movie had sort of annoyed him immensely on the first viewing, but he was able to enjoy the movie as a whole this time) and we agreed that we were finally sated, lol. We both caught different things on this second viewing, as well as noticing things that the other had spotted an pointed out from the first viewing.
MOVIE-GEEK BLISS!!!
Back at home, we finally christened a deck of pirate cards I had bought back around the time of the first movie (2003) and drank and played Poker and chatted and just had A BLAST for hours!!!
I should explain: I'm a bit obsessed with playing cards. I have many, many decks with a variety of themes. I don't get to play cards much, except on the computer, but when I see a particularly cool deck and I have the money, I snatch them up. Where ever I go, I always have at least one deck of playing cards with me. (My battered-and well-worn decks travel with my in various satchels or backpacks. The prettier decks stay at home.)
I've got 2 BATMAN BEGINS decks, my pirate deck -- which has the Jack-Rackham style Jolley Rogers on the back -- this cool see-through deck I bought a couple of Christmases ago in Dallas, and when I bought CASINO ROYALE on dvd I got the limeted-edition set that includes Casino Royale playing cards (and a single Casino Royale Poker chip, hehe).
And, like I said, I almost never get to use them, lol.
But finally last night -- after some 4 years of unuse -- Brian and I broke out the pirate cards and played! (And drank. We finished off a bottle of "Captain Morgan's Private Stock" Spiced Rum we had been nursing for a couple of months, hehe.)
It was fun! :D
Then to top this whole adventure off, I got to wake up this morning (well... noon, hehe) after 10 hours of sleep, after my body had happily slept off any hangover I should have had, lol!
Have I mentioned that I love NOT waking up to an alarm? :D
AND TODAY HAS JUST BEGUN!!!
I still have today and tomorrow left of my vacation!
And Brian's off today, as well, and has said that if I wanted to break in my cool see-through deck he'll be interested in playing some more Poker tonight!
But right now, no more talky! Ray Jay must EAT!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL TOWEL DAY!!!
I just finished listening to the Tertiary Phase of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!!! (Again, hehe.)
I took my towel to work... but... that didn't raise any questions or eyebrows, lol. I had rather hoped that I could proudly explain to at least one querier that today was an international holiday celebrating the genius of one Mr. Douglas Adams, but apparently to people who know me I wear eccentricity the way everyone else wears jeans and tennis shoes. Sporting a huge, blue beach towel seems to be par for the course for me, lol.
Still...!
I had a good day!
Work provided a couple of minor dramas, but overall I was able to do my job at an embarrassingly lazy pace, and still have time to read half a BUFFY comic (Issue #3!!!) for the last half-hour of my shift.
So that's cool.
AND -- this is the big one for me -- I'M OFF UNTIL THURSDAY THE 31st!!!
I was able to finish listening to the last 2 hours of HHGG: Tertiary Phase while snatching up all the beer and pizza (and fries and onion rings and stuff) I'll need for the next 5 days! (If all goes to plan, I'll even be able to eat pizza TWICE one day of my mini-vacation!)
It's a bit odd, perhaps, me burning off a couple of random days (both days I do the least amount of work, no less) just to stay at home and write and play videogames -- and, with any luck, chat with my hot little Gnomey Goddess -- but I was starting to feel a bit burnt-out, so I figured I'd take a 5-day weekend. I needed to NOT wake up to an alarm a good 2 hours before my body was ready to become conscious.
And at the moment I have the last 2 episodes of Season 3 of VERONICA MARS to watch, the latest episode (frickin' FINALLY!) of STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP to watch, another half of Issue 3 of BUFFY to read, then 2 whole DRESDEN FILES novels to read if I still find myself looking for entertainment, as well as volumes 4 & 5 of THE WALKING DEAD ("The Heart's Desire" and "The Best Defense" reprinting issues 19-30) to catch up on.
So I won't be bored, lol.
But I'm also working on a novel, and have been making some surprisingly good progress on that! So I'm hoping to make even MORE progress on my mini-vacation. (Like, a day or two of rest, then a couple of days of actual work, then either a day off or another day cramming before I have to go back to the "day job".)
OOH! And Brian and I plan to see PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END this Sunday!!! I SO can't wait!!!
And then, naturally, I'm hoping to stuff as much Gnomey Time into this schedule as she can spare, hee-hee!!! (I am frankly surprised how much I've missed that amazing woman! She fills something in me that I didn't know was empty! The last couple of days I've felt like a car battery that's quickly losing it's charge. There's a "spark" about her that ignites me and sets me ablaze! But not in the painful "Oh My Skin Is Disintegrating" way, but more like GHOST RIDER! I'm a happy, happy man on my own -- not only blessed but also able to recognize and appreciate those blessings, and truly ENJOY them -- but in the 9 months Gnomey has been a part of my life she has made me feel... supernatural, almost, lol! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!)
So, fingers crossed that things in her life slow down enough for us to steal a couple of hours sometime this week. :D
Anyway...
Hey... Can I pester you about something?
There's this local commercial for a pest & lawn service that just bugs the shit out of me!
I don't want to mention their name because I would HATE to accidentally advertise them. (Often when I bitch about how ANNOYING a commercial is My Genius Friend Dave will point out (annoyingly, lol) "Well, they made you remember them.")
But these losers have ALWAYS been hacks at advertising. First of all, all their commercials look like they were shot with an old-school VHS Camcorder, and their graphics were obviously done on some computer that's still running Windows 95.
But that's not the most insulting part.
The most insulting part -- natch -- is THE WRITING!
These freakin' amateurs (who are getting PAID -- which annoys me MORE, of course) are so awful at what they do that you can actually see what they're TRYING to do, and DO IT BETTER in 15 seconds than they can spending however-much-money-and-time to accomplish! It's like they watch commercials, say to themselves "I see what they're doing; I can do that" AND THEN THEY CAN'T!!!
Here's the latest to piss me off. This guy (shot on VHS tape) smugly says to the camera, "They say there's two kinds of homes in Austin: Those that have termites, and those that will get them."
WTF KINDA SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?!!
We'll ignore the omniscient "They" who say a lot of stupid, unfounded and often nonsensical things that people quote when they don't have any solid facts to back their argument up with. We will, instead, jump ahead to the basic logic of the statement...
If it's taken as factual that there are, indeed, 2 kinds of homes in Austin: Those that have termites and those that will have them, then the following statements, logically, are also true:
1. There are 2 types of lottery players: Those that have won the lottery, and those that will win.
2. There are 2 types of drivers in the world: Those that have died in a fiery car crash, and those that will.
3. There are 2 types of blog writers on the Net: Those that have published their blogs for millions of dollars, and those that will.
4. There are 2 types of women in Texas: Those that have slept with me, and those that will.
5. There are 2 types of homes in Austin: Those that have never had termites and those that will never have them.
Because something has happened more than once DOES NOT logically imply that it will continue to!!!
Besides, what would be the purpose of the service these guys are trying to sell you? "They" don't mention a 3rd type of home in Austin. Are these guys merely saying that if your home hasn't had termites, it will have them... but you can pay anyway, them just for grins?
THESE IDIOTS ARE MAKING MONEY WRITING THIS GARBAGE!!!
(Btw, I SWEAR to you that the theme jingle for this company sounds exactly like it was written for BARNEY!!! You know... the big purple dinosaur from the mid-90s? Sold lots of videotapes, and retarded the intellectual development of hundreds of thousands of American toddlers? Surely you remember!)
But let us, for argument's sake, give these brainless fuckholes the benefit of the doubt: Let's assume that they're merely quoting a popular expression. (I've never heard it, but I'm a renter and have never had to worry about my lawn.) Why not follow this "they say" up with some facts? Some statistics that make their point?
Why?
BECAUSE THERE ARE NONE!!!
If, for instance, 20% of homes in Austin had termites (a small percentage, granted) you could easily open with "Twenty percent of Austin homes have termites. It's a small number with big consequences. If you don't want your home to be part of that statistic call..."
You get the point.
I thought of that in 5 seconds.
If I had REALLY been trying, and had bothered to do ANY research -- because, say, I'm GETTING A PAYCHECK out of it -- I'll bet I could have you dialing the number of these idiots' competitor (because I would NEVER work for these bozos) in less than the remaining 25 seconds!
"They say" is just LAZY fucking writing!
Humph.
So why am I not a millionaire yet?
Blah.
So anyway...
They say there are 2 types of blog entires: Those that make you giggle, and those that will.
Maybe this entry will fall into either of those catagories, lol.
PEACE!!!
:D
I took my towel to work... but... that didn't raise any questions or eyebrows, lol. I had rather hoped that I could proudly explain to at least one querier that today was an international holiday celebrating the genius of one Mr. Douglas Adams, but apparently to people who know me I wear eccentricity the way everyone else wears jeans and tennis shoes. Sporting a huge, blue beach towel seems to be par for the course for me, lol.
Still...!
I had a good day!
Work provided a couple of minor dramas, but overall I was able to do my job at an embarrassingly lazy pace, and still have time to read half a BUFFY comic (Issue #3!!!) for the last half-hour of my shift.
So that's cool.
AND -- this is the big one for me -- I'M OFF UNTIL THURSDAY THE 31st!!!
I was able to finish listening to the last 2 hours of HHGG: Tertiary Phase while snatching up all the beer and pizza (and fries and onion rings and stuff) I'll need for the next 5 days! (If all goes to plan, I'll even be able to eat pizza TWICE one day of my mini-vacation!)
It's a bit odd, perhaps, me burning off a couple of random days (both days I do the least amount of work, no less) just to stay at home and write and play videogames -- and, with any luck, chat with my hot little Gnomey Goddess -- but I was starting to feel a bit burnt-out, so I figured I'd take a 5-day weekend. I needed to NOT wake up to an alarm a good 2 hours before my body was ready to become conscious.
And at the moment I have the last 2 episodes of Season 3 of VERONICA MARS to watch, the latest episode (frickin' FINALLY!) of STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP to watch, another half of Issue 3 of BUFFY to read, then 2 whole DRESDEN FILES novels to read if I still find myself looking for entertainment, as well as volumes 4 & 5 of THE WALKING DEAD ("The Heart's Desire" and "The Best Defense" reprinting issues 19-30) to catch up on.
So I won't be bored, lol.
But I'm also working on a novel, and have been making some surprisingly good progress on that! So I'm hoping to make even MORE progress on my mini-vacation. (Like, a day or two of rest, then a couple of days of actual work, then either a day off or another day cramming before I have to go back to the "day job".)
OOH! And Brian and I plan to see PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END this Sunday!!! I SO can't wait!!!
And then, naturally, I'm hoping to stuff as much Gnomey Time into this schedule as she can spare, hee-hee!!! (I am frankly surprised how much I've missed that amazing woman! She fills something in me that I didn't know was empty! The last couple of days I've felt like a car battery that's quickly losing it's charge. There's a "spark" about her that ignites me and sets me ablaze! But not in the painful "Oh My Skin Is Disintegrating" way, but more like GHOST RIDER! I'm a happy, happy man on my own -- not only blessed but also able to recognize and appreciate those blessings, and truly ENJOY them -- but in the 9 months Gnomey has been a part of my life she has made me feel... supernatural, almost, lol! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!)
So, fingers crossed that things in her life slow down enough for us to steal a couple of hours sometime this week. :D
Anyway...
Hey... Can I pester you about something?
There's this local commercial for a pest & lawn service that just bugs the shit out of me!
I don't want to mention their name because I would HATE to accidentally advertise them. (Often when I bitch about how ANNOYING a commercial is My Genius Friend Dave will point out (annoyingly, lol) "Well, they made you remember them.")
But these losers have ALWAYS been hacks at advertising. First of all, all their commercials look like they were shot with an old-school VHS Camcorder, and their graphics were obviously done on some computer that's still running Windows 95.
But that's not the most insulting part.
The most insulting part -- natch -- is THE WRITING!
These freakin' amateurs (who are getting PAID -- which annoys me MORE, of course) are so awful at what they do that you can actually see what they're TRYING to do, and DO IT BETTER in 15 seconds than they can spending however-much-money-and-time to accomplish! It's like they watch commercials, say to themselves "I see what they're doing; I can do that" AND THEN THEY CAN'T!!!
Here's the latest to piss me off. This guy (shot on VHS tape) smugly says to the camera, "They say there's two kinds of homes in Austin: Those that have termites, and those that will get them."
WTF KINDA SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?!!
We'll ignore the omniscient "They" who say a lot of stupid, unfounded and often nonsensical things that people quote when they don't have any solid facts to back their argument up with. We will, instead, jump ahead to the basic logic of the statement...
If it's taken as factual that there are, indeed, 2 kinds of homes in Austin: Those that have termites and those that will have them, then the following statements, logically, are also true:
1. There are 2 types of lottery players: Those that have won the lottery, and those that will win.
2. There are 2 types of drivers in the world: Those that have died in a fiery car crash, and those that will.
3. There are 2 types of blog writers on the Net: Those that have published their blogs for millions of dollars, and those that will.
4. There are 2 types of women in Texas: Those that have slept with me, and those that will.
5. There are 2 types of homes in Austin: Those that have never had termites and those that will never have them.
Because something has happened more than once DOES NOT logically imply that it will continue to!!!
Besides, what would be the purpose of the service these guys are trying to sell you? "They" don't mention a 3rd type of home in Austin. Are these guys merely saying that if your home hasn't had termites, it will have them... but you can pay anyway, them just for grins?
THESE IDIOTS ARE MAKING MONEY WRITING THIS GARBAGE!!!
(Btw, I SWEAR to you that the theme jingle for this company sounds exactly like it was written for BARNEY!!! You know... the big purple dinosaur from the mid-90s? Sold lots of videotapes, and retarded the intellectual development of hundreds of thousands of American toddlers? Surely you remember!)
But let us, for argument's sake, give these brainless fuckholes the benefit of the doubt: Let's assume that they're merely quoting a popular expression. (I've never heard it, but I'm a renter and have never had to worry about my lawn.) Why not follow this "they say" up with some facts? Some statistics that make their point?
Why?
BECAUSE THERE ARE NONE!!!
If, for instance, 20% of homes in Austin had termites (a small percentage, granted) you could easily open with "Twenty percent of Austin homes have termites. It's a small number with big consequences. If you don't want your home to be part of that statistic call..."
You get the point.
I thought of that in 5 seconds.
If I had REALLY been trying, and had bothered to do ANY research -- because, say, I'm GETTING A PAYCHECK out of it -- I'll bet I could have you dialing the number of these idiots' competitor (because I would NEVER work for these bozos) in less than the remaining 25 seconds!
"They say" is just LAZY fucking writing!
Humph.
So why am I not a millionaire yet?
Blah.
So anyway...
They say there are 2 types of blog entires: Those that make you giggle, and those that will.
Maybe this entry will fall into either of those catagories, lol.
PEACE!!!
:D
Thursday, May 24, 2007
1 MORE DAY TILL TOWEL DAY!!!
No, this isn't another self-proclaimed holiday (in honor of the fact that I have my own blog and am the god of my own virtual universe... such as it is) but an INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY!!!
Don't believe me? Read about Towel Day on the Official Website!!!
You can also read about it on Wikipedia.org! (And you know me: If it's on Wikipedia.org, it's legit, lol!)
I've already emailed all my friends about it, but I wanted to give YOU fair warning, too! Friday, May 25th, I encourage you to carry your favorite, most froody towel with you all day long in celebration of the comedic -- and humanitarian -- genius that is Douglas Noel Adams!!!
If you're not familiar with Douglas Adams, here's what he means to me:
Around 11 years old I was making the transition from Thick-Headed "That's Not What My Dad Says" Twat to Enlightened & Individual Spirit. It was a rough road... I grew up in Odessa, Texas. (If you don't know Odessa, you know some place like it: Boneheads are rewarded with laughter and acceptance while the cleverer folk are rewarded with regular beatings with sticks and rocks and mud.) I wasn't quite able to grasp the utter surrealism of Monte Python yet -- Benny Hill was more my speed -- but The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy opened up new worlds to me!
Not "worlds" in the literal sense, as in Magrathea and Jaglan Beta and Santraginus V and the multitude of other worlds created by this amazing imagination, but possibilities and perceptions Adams' keen observational humor evoked!
Between 11 and 17 Adams would guide me through the entire Hitchhiker's series, and introduce me to Dirk Gently's universe, as well. And I must note that the Gently-verse open my imagination once again, in a way that it was not prepared to be opened otherwise.
In my early 20s, however, (1990, to be specific) I was unable to spend the several weeks it would take me (I'm a slooooow reader) to join Adams on a journey to see a bunch of species on the brink of extinction.
I mean, how much of a DOWNER would THAT be?!!
But then in my mid-20s it happened...
I had read the entire Hitchiker's Guide and Dirk Gently series more times than could be possibly useful, so I committed myself to Last Chance To See. And I discovered that a person (well... not just any person) could write about fairly bleak subject matter with the same wit and charm and playful humor that one writes complete fiction with!!!
Last Chance To See (his only non-fiction book) has subsequently become my favorite Douglas Adams book, and my view of everything Life (the Universe and Everything) has to offer has been permanently and dramatically and WONDERFULLY altered for the rest of my life!!!
To date, I have read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, Long, Dark tea-Time of the Soul, Last Chance To See, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and Restaurant at the End of the Universe more times than I can possibly count (possibly more times than there are rocks in Wails) and I have listened to the Hitchhiker's radio series -- both the original Primary & Secondary Phases, followed by the Tertiary, Quandary & Quintessential Phases -- just about half as many times! I converted several books-on-audio cassette to mp3s just as the tapes they were on were about to give-out permanently just so I can continue listening to Douglas reading his amazing books to me! (This, I should note, is a process that takes as long as it takes to listen to the tapes themselves... longer, actually.) Not so I can sell them on eBay (which I have not done) but just so I can continue listening to Douglas reading Douglas's work.
When I see an interview with Chuck Jones or Steven Spielberg or Jim Henson or George Lucas I think "That man helped create my imagination!" But these cats -- masters, though they are -- can't hold a candle to the hemisphere of my gray matter that was unlocked and developed by Douglas Noel Adams.
So if you know his work, go treat yourself to one of your favorites, and try to remember what you felt and thought when you first read it. And if you're not familiar with his work, go to your nearest used book store and grab something -- anything -- and introduce yourself to a man who will make you laugh out loud!!! Or go to BBC Radio 4's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future site and allow Douglas, himself, to take you on a tour of the progression of technology -- some of which has already come to pass since the 4-part audio series was recorded in 2001!
But anyway you do it, get to know the man that has inspired so many people around the globe to take their towels with them everywhere they go for an entire day, in memory and celebration of who he was/is/will always be.
PEACE!!!
And... (yeah, you saw this coming...)
DON'T PANIC!
:D
Don't believe me? Read about Towel Day on the Official Website!!!
You can also read about it on Wikipedia.org! (And you know me: If it's on Wikipedia.org, it's legit, lol!)
I've already emailed all my friends about it, but I wanted to give YOU fair warning, too! Friday, May 25th, I encourage you to carry your favorite, most froody towel with you all day long in celebration of the comedic -- and humanitarian -- genius that is Douglas Noel Adams!!!
If you're not familiar with Douglas Adams, here's what he means to me:
Around 11 years old I was making the transition from Thick-Headed "That's Not What My Dad Says" Twat to Enlightened & Individual Spirit. It was a rough road... I grew up in Odessa, Texas. (If you don't know Odessa, you know some place like it: Boneheads are rewarded with laughter and acceptance while the cleverer folk are rewarded with regular beatings with sticks and rocks and mud.) I wasn't quite able to grasp the utter surrealism of Monte Python yet -- Benny Hill was more my speed -- but The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy opened up new worlds to me!
Not "worlds" in the literal sense, as in Magrathea and Jaglan Beta and Santraginus V and the multitude of other worlds created by this amazing imagination, but possibilities and perceptions Adams' keen observational humor evoked!
Between 11 and 17 Adams would guide me through the entire Hitchhiker's series, and introduce me to Dirk Gently's universe, as well. And I must note that the Gently-verse open my imagination once again, in a way that it was not prepared to be opened otherwise.
In my early 20s, however, (1990, to be specific) I was unable to spend the several weeks it would take me (I'm a slooooow reader) to join Adams on a journey to see a bunch of species on the brink of extinction.
I mean, how much of a DOWNER would THAT be?!!
But then in my mid-20s it happened...
I had read the entire Hitchiker's Guide and Dirk Gently series more times than could be possibly useful, so I committed myself to Last Chance To See. And I discovered that a person (well... not just any person) could write about fairly bleak subject matter with the same wit and charm and playful humor that one writes complete fiction with!!!
Last Chance To See (his only non-fiction book) has subsequently become my favorite Douglas Adams book, and my view of everything Life (the Universe and Everything) has to offer has been permanently and dramatically and WONDERFULLY altered for the rest of my life!!!
To date, I have read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, Long, Dark tea-Time of the Soul, Last Chance To See, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and Restaurant at the End of the Universe more times than I can possibly count (possibly more times than there are rocks in Wails) and I have listened to the Hitchhiker's radio series -- both the original Primary & Secondary Phases, followed by the Tertiary, Quandary & Quintessential Phases -- just about half as many times! I converted several books-on-audio cassette to mp3s just as the tapes they were on were about to give-out permanently just so I can continue listening to Douglas reading his amazing books to me! (This, I should note, is a process that takes as long as it takes to listen to the tapes themselves... longer, actually.) Not so I can sell them on eBay (which I have not done) but just so I can continue listening to Douglas reading Douglas's work.
When I see an interview with Chuck Jones or Steven Spielberg or Jim Henson or George Lucas I think "That man helped create my imagination!" But these cats -- masters, though they are -- can't hold a candle to the hemisphere of my gray matter that was unlocked and developed by Douglas Noel Adams.
So if you know his work, go treat yourself to one of your favorites, and try to remember what you felt and thought when you first read it. And if you're not familiar with his work, go to your nearest used book store and grab something -- anything -- and introduce yourself to a man who will make you laugh out loud!!! Or go to BBC Radio 4's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future site and allow Douglas, himself, to take you on a tour of the progression of technology -- some of which has already come to pass since the 4-part audio series was recorded in 2001!
But anyway you do it, get to know the man that has inspired so many people around the globe to take their towels with them everywhere they go for an entire day, in memory and celebration of who he was/is/will always be.
PEACE!!!
And... (yeah, you saw this coming...)
DON'T PANIC!
:D
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
My Baby's BACK!!!
Actually, I don't know that for a fact... I woke up just before 10:00 pm her time, and I haven't seen her online, so for all I know they stayed another day.
But the text I got from her at 4:54 am (my time) on Saturday said they'd be returning today.
So, theoretically, she's back, she's safe and she's had a lovely time with her family!!!
YAY!!!
In the meantime, I've spent my weekend accomplishing NOTHING, hehe.
I loaded up my iPod with THE DRESDEN FILES (the TV series) and I arranged them in the order they were meant to air in, then fell asleep with them going in the recharger (which had speakers) Tuesday morning and woke up to the last few episodes Tuesday night, hehe. It's kinda like falling asleep in front of the TV.
Nice way to wake up, too!
I played A LOT of STAR WARS JEDI KNIGHT: DARK FORCES II! I don't really play through the levels, like you're supposed to. I jump to a level I like -- or return to a level I've saved -- and just play through that. (I like shooting stormtroopers.)
Ooh! Last night I watched DEATH RACE 2000 on my iPod!!! VERY COOL! It's one of those bad movies that's fun to watch. It tried really hard with what the filmmakers had at their disposal. I get the impression that the main short-coming of the film was that once Roger Corman green-light-ed the project, everyone just MOVED as fast as they could. The script could have been rewritten a couple more times, and the actors SO could have used some rehearsal. But that's just the way movies -- particularly low-budget movies -- were made back in the early-'70s. (Nowadays you're more likely to find low-budget filmmakers concentrating more on the script and acting to make up for their short shooting schedule, but that's largely because we all grew up watching movies like DR2K, lol.)
My friend Kelly called Monday night and I talked to him until my phone ran out of juice, lol. That was fun.
Ooh! And Sunday night Brian & I watched OCEAN'S ELEVEN and OCEAN'S TWELVE, though Brian fell asleep about mid-way through OCEAN'S TWELVE. I'm gearing up for the release of OCEAN'S THIRTEEN, which looks like a lot of fun!
Oh and GUESS WHAT CAME IN THE MALE TODAY!!! Friday I ordered 2 of my Mangey Raider mugs and one of my black T-shirts, and when I woke up today I had a package from Cafe Press sitting in the living room!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO WEAR MY OWN T-SHIRT, lol!!!
Okay, I think I'm gonna go jump in the shower and debate whether I should wear my new T-shirt just-out-of-the-box or wait until I've laundered it, hehe. (I'm such a kid at heart.)
May you all have a WONDERFUL DAY!!! And go see PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END soon! It officially starts on the 25th, but the official Disney site advertises that it starts Thursday at 8:00 pm!!! (The site also recommends that we "get in before the secret gets out!" hehe.)
And to my Gnomey Goddess: I LOVE YOU AND MISSED YOU AND I HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL TRIP, BABY!!! x o x o x o :D
______________________________________________________________
UPDATE:
I decided to wear the shirt to work tonight, lol. Here are some pics:
I call this one "Mangey Ray Jay"
"Maddened Ray Jay"
And for my Gnomage, "Swash-buckling Ray Jay", hehe
That one was actually unintentional. Brian snapped it as I was getting into position and that's just the expression I happened to be sporting, lol. I guess my default expression is "I'll bet you'd be more comfortable without those panties, sexy." :P
But the text I got from her at 4:54 am (my time) on Saturday said they'd be returning today.
So, theoretically, she's back, she's safe and she's had a lovely time with her family!!!
YAY!!!
In the meantime, I've spent my weekend accomplishing NOTHING, hehe.
I loaded up my iPod with THE DRESDEN FILES (the TV series) and I arranged them in the order they were meant to air in, then fell asleep with them going in the recharger (which had speakers) Tuesday morning and woke up to the last few episodes Tuesday night, hehe. It's kinda like falling asleep in front of the TV.
Nice way to wake up, too!
I played A LOT of STAR WARS JEDI KNIGHT: DARK FORCES II! I don't really play through the levels, like you're supposed to. I jump to a level I like -- or return to a level I've saved -- and just play through that. (I like shooting stormtroopers.)
Ooh! Last night I watched DEATH RACE 2000 on my iPod!!! VERY COOL! It's one of those bad movies that's fun to watch. It tried really hard with what the filmmakers had at their disposal. I get the impression that the main short-coming of the film was that once Roger Corman green-light-ed the project, everyone just MOVED as fast as they could. The script could have been rewritten a couple more times, and the actors SO could have used some rehearsal. But that's just the way movies -- particularly low-budget movies -- were made back in the early-'70s. (Nowadays you're more likely to find low-budget filmmakers concentrating more on the script and acting to make up for their short shooting schedule, but that's largely because we all grew up watching movies like DR2K, lol.)
My friend Kelly called Monday night and I talked to him until my phone ran out of juice, lol. That was fun.
Ooh! And Sunday night Brian & I watched OCEAN'S ELEVEN and OCEAN'S TWELVE, though Brian fell asleep about mid-way through OCEAN'S TWELVE. I'm gearing up for the release of OCEAN'S THIRTEEN, which looks like a lot of fun!
Oh and GUESS WHAT CAME IN THE MALE TODAY!!! Friday I ordered 2 of my Mangey Raider mugs and one of my black T-shirts, and when I woke up today I had a package from Cafe Press sitting in the living room!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO WEAR MY OWN T-SHIRT, lol!!!
Okay, I think I'm gonna go jump in the shower and debate whether I should wear my new T-shirt just-out-of-the-box or wait until I've laundered it, hehe. (I'm such a kid at heart.)
May you all have a WONDERFUL DAY!!! And go see PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END soon! It officially starts on the 25th, but the official Disney site advertises that it starts Thursday at 8:00 pm!!! (The site also recommends that we "get in before the secret gets out!" hehe.)
And to my Gnomey Goddess: I LOVE YOU AND MISSED YOU AND I HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL TRIP, BABY!!! x o x o x o :D
______________________________________________________________
UPDATE:
I decided to wear the shirt to work tonight, lol. Here are some pics:
I call this one "Mangey Ray Jay"
"Maddened Ray Jay"
And for my Gnomage, "Swash-buckling Ray Jay", hehe
That one was actually unintentional. Brian snapped it as I was getting into position and that's just the expression I happened to be sporting, lol. I guess my default expression is "I'll bet you'd be more comfortable without those panties, sexy." :P
Friday, May 18, 2007
I Bought Season 1 of the DRESDEN FILES, lol
This paycheck was looking pretty grim, but then I caught a financial BREAK! (I'm kind of like Peter Parker where finances and lifestyle are concerned, lol.) And so the very FIRST thing I did was log on to iTunes and buy THE DRESDEN FILES, lol.
Actually, the FIRST thing I did was buy pizzas and beer for Brian & me for this weekend. THEN I bought the first season of THE DRESDEN FILES, heehee.
And the thing is, if the DF comes out on dvd at the end of the summer I'll want to buy that, too. But this way, I'll be able to wait until I have the money, as I can watch ANY episode WHENEVER I WANT!
Plus, it's a bit of a consolation prize... All my inside information points to STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP and, quite possibly, VERONICA MARS going away after this season finishes up. And I was wondering what I was going to devote myself to next season.
I know, know, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is da bomb and I should be all up in that, but I couldn't finish the first season because it was so bleak, so it's going to take A LOT for me to even find the will to finish the last disc of the first season, much less catch up on 2 full seasons. That just seems like quite a bit of masicism to me at this point.
So next season I'll be buying a Season Pass for DRESDEN FILES... And I don't know what else.
HEROES has proven to be intriguing and all... But honestly, the writers seem a bit sadistic. It will all depend on how they wrap up this season, for me. If they manage to turn all this bleak, dismal need into beautiful fulfillment, then I'm on board for next season.
But IF they just leave me with a OH MY GOD HOW WILL THEY EVER SURVIVE THIS UNSTOPPABLE THREAT cliff-hanger, I'm outta there!!!
I HATE cliff-hangers. HATE, HATE, HATE!!! At least when we're talking about Season Finales. That is THE WEAKEST writing gimmick EVER. I almost ("almost", mind you) curse STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION for popularizing them. (Yeah, DALLAS did it first, but EVERY SHOW ON TV didn't follow suit until TNG did it.) One of the things I ADORE about THE DRESDEN FILES is that they DID NOT resort to the tear-your-heart-out-and-make-you-squeal-like-a-splattered-bunny Season Finale!!! DF ended their first season with "You like that? You wanna see more of that? Tune in next season!"
THAT is the way to do it!
So blah.
So I'll be buying a Season Pass for DF next season, and I don't know what else. I doubt I'll catch up on LOST before Season 4 starts up. I don't know if MEDIUM will be available. (Even though they resort to the cliff-hanger Season Finale, that's still some of THE BEST writing on television!!!)
But ya know, you really do need those weekly emails that tell you "The latest episode of ____ is available for download on iTunes" to make your work week go buy just that much faster. So I hope to find somethign between now and next September.
At any rate, in a matter of minutes I will be able to rewatch DRESDEN over and over this summer, no matter where I go or what I do, and that's something to look forward to!
:D
Actually, the FIRST thing I did was buy pizzas and beer for Brian & me for this weekend. THEN I bought the first season of THE DRESDEN FILES, heehee.
And the thing is, if the DF comes out on dvd at the end of the summer I'll want to buy that, too. But this way, I'll be able to wait until I have the money, as I can watch ANY episode WHENEVER I WANT!
Plus, it's a bit of a consolation prize... All my inside information points to STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP and, quite possibly, VERONICA MARS going away after this season finishes up. And I was wondering what I was going to devote myself to next season.
I know, know, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is da bomb and I should be all up in that, but I couldn't finish the first season because it was so bleak, so it's going to take A LOT for me to even find the will to finish the last disc of the first season, much less catch up on 2 full seasons. That just seems like quite a bit of masicism to me at this point.
So next season I'll be buying a Season Pass for DRESDEN FILES... And I don't know what else.
HEROES has proven to be intriguing and all... But honestly, the writers seem a bit sadistic. It will all depend on how they wrap up this season, for me. If they manage to turn all this bleak, dismal need into beautiful fulfillment, then I'm on board for next season.
But IF they just leave me with a OH MY GOD HOW WILL THEY EVER SURVIVE THIS UNSTOPPABLE THREAT cliff-hanger, I'm outta there!!!
I HATE cliff-hangers. HATE, HATE, HATE!!! At least when we're talking about Season Finales. That is THE WEAKEST writing gimmick EVER. I almost ("almost", mind you) curse STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION for popularizing them. (Yeah, DALLAS did it first, but EVERY SHOW ON TV didn't follow suit until TNG did it.) One of the things I ADORE about THE DRESDEN FILES is that they DID NOT resort to the tear-your-heart-out-and-make-you-squeal-like-a-splattered-bunny Season Finale!!! DF ended their first season with "You like that? You wanna see more of that? Tune in next season!"
THAT is the way to do it!
So blah.
So I'll be buying a Season Pass for DF next season, and I don't know what else. I doubt I'll catch up on LOST before Season 4 starts up. I don't know if MEDIUM will be available. (Even though they resort to the cliff-hanger Season Finale, that's still some of THE BEST writing on television!!!)
But ya know, you really do need those weekly emails that tell you "The latest episode of ____ is available for download on iTunes" to make your work week go buy just that much faster. So I hope to find somethign between now and next September.
At any rate, in a matter of minutes I will be able to rewatch DRESDEN over and over this summer, no matter where I go or what I do, and that's something to look forward to!
:D
Thursday, May 17, 2007
SO Diggin' On Dresden!!!
I finished listening to SUMMER NIGHT by Jim Butcher, the 4th of his The Dresden File series.
The cool thing about The Dresden Files is that the TV series is one thing and the novels are this other thing. If you like you some fantasy/mystery you can bask in the novels, but if you're not as fond of the concept of magical things you can enjoy the TV series.
I like both approaches, so I am glutted, hee-hee!
I'm getting DEEP in it, too. I've started listening to The Butcher Block, catching up on what Dresden fans were saying about the show before it aired, and how they responded as the episodes hit the screens.
Very cool.
OOH, HEY!
I haven't blogged since our last production meeting, have I?
Okay, so Tommy's wife is doing a theatre thang this week and he needed to be home with the Li'l One, so Brian and I went there.
Tommy always -- ALWAYS -- lives an ungodly distance away from us (as though he & the Missus are look at a map of where Brian & I live, then plot the FARTHEST course when buying a new home) so I am usually too lazy to go visit. If I can find a halfway-decent excuse, I stay home.
This is not, I should clarify, because I don't love seeing one of my longest-standing bestest friends! It's because I am, essentially, a hermit and I SO hate having to leave the comfort of home on a day off. Brian and I have been talking about how cool it would be to own a warehouse that we could live in, so we could, effectively, just step "outside" and construct anything our hearts desire. So, like, we could have a film set just feet away from the bedroom, essentially, lol.
That being said, Tommy always has THE BEST home!!! The cat's got taste. And their current , indefinite home is ASTOUNDING! I really haven't explored more than half of it to date.
Good digs!
And I love and adore Tommy's family! So once I get past the 45-minute drive, I ALWAYS enjoy a visit to the White House! No qualifications. Once I'm there, it doesn't matter how long the drive was, or how long the drive back will be, I'm home and happy and having fun.
So the meeting was great.
Brian & I played with the Princess White (I just came up with that, I don't actually call her that in person, lol) and then when she went to bed the film flunkies adjourned to the patio and talked shop for several hours. And then we drank and laughed for several more hours, hee-hee. It was nice.
And on the way home...!!!
I was quite buzzed so Brian drove, and not long after we hit the road the sky burst into this GORGEOUS RAIN STORM!!!
Now, I love storms when I'm all snug at home, but there is nothing like being in the middle of a good storm! (I am SO NOT being sarcastic here; I'm being 100% earnest.) Particularly a night storm! To bu surrounded on all sides by water pelting from the sky and broiling black clouds and shocks of blue lightening is just plain PURDY!!! It's exciting and humbling, and empowering and calming, all at once!!!
I dig me some water!
And flashy lights!
And, thankfully, Brian is the same way. We were both able to just enjoy this beautiful show that entertained us all the way home, riding the wave of the sense of family and ideas and fellowship we were had just experienced.
Truly spiritual, my friend! Very nice!
And on the way home, Brian was nice enough to stop off at Walmart so I could buy a bag of Funions, cause I was munchy.
I ate the whole bag, too.
Then I crashed early and slept WONDERFULLY, waking up yesterday nicely rested and ready for my work-week.
Also, before the meeting Tuesday I received a particularly generous email from my baby, so that started my day off great!!!
And I just finished chatting with her a few minutes ago, so I'm bouncing on Cloud 9 at the moment, heehee. :D
She's wonderful!!!
One the one hand, she makes me feel so loved that she barely need to say or do anything to just reignite that blazing pyre of passion for her! And on the other, because she stirs such feelings of love and joy, I SO want to be with her every second of every day!!! She makes me desperately NEED HER and need to be near her, but she also makes me feel perfectly content all by myself.
How weird is that?!
And HOW WONDERFUL?!!
Okay, I think I need to grab a bite to eat, then shoot some stormtroopers before I go to work.
PEACE!!! :D
The cool thing about The Dresden Files is that the TV series is one thing and the novels are this other thing. If you like you some fantasy/mystery you can bask in the novels, but if you're not as fond of the concept of magical things you can enjoy the TV series.
I like both approaches, so I am glutted, hee-hee!
I'm getting DEEP in it, too. I've started listening to The Butcher Block, catching up on what Dresden fans were saying about the show before it aired, and how they responded as the episodes hit the screens.
Very cool.
OOH, HEY!
I haven't blogged since our last production meeting, have I?
Okay, so Tommy's wife is doing a theatre thang this week and he needed to be home with the Li'l One, so Brian and I went there.
Tommy always -- ALWAYS -- lives an ungodly distance away from us (as though he & the Missus are look at a map of where Brian & I live, then plot the FARTHEST course when buying a new home) so I am usually too lazy to go visit. If I can find a halfway-decent excuse, I stay home.
This is not, I should clarify, because I don't love seeing one of my longest-standing bestest friends! It's because I am, essentially, a hermit and I SO hate having to leave the comfort of home on a day off. Brian and I have been talking about how cool it would be to own a warehouse that we could live in, so we could, effectively, just step "outside" and construct anything our hearts desire. So, like, we could have a film set just feet away from the bedroom, essentially, lol.
That being said, Tommy always has THE BEST home!!! The cat's got taste. And their current , indefinite home is ASTOUNDING! I really haven't explored more than half of it to date.
Good digs!
And I love and adore Tommy's family! So once I get past the 45-minute drive, I ALWAYS enjoy a visit to the White House! No qualifications. Once I'm there, it doesn't matter how long the drive was, or how long the drive back will be, I'm home and happy and having fun.
So the meeting was great.
Brian & I played with the Princess White (I just came up with that, I don't actually call her that in person, lol) and then when she went to bed the film flunkies adjourned to the patio and talked shop for several hours. And then we drank and laughed for several more hours, hee-hee. It was nice.
And on the way home...!!!
I was quite buzzed so Brian drove, and not long after we hit the road the sky burst into this GORGEOUS RAIN STORM!!!
Now, I love storms when I'm all snug at home, but there is nothing like being in the middle of a good storm! (I am SO NOT being sarcastic here; I'm being 100% earnest.) Particularly a night storm! To bu surrounded on all sides by water pelting from the sky and broiling black clouds and shocks of blue lightening is just plain PURDY!!! It's exciting and humbling, and empowering and calming, all at once!!!
I dig me some water!
And flashy lights!
And, thankfully, Brian is the same way. We were both able to just enjoy this beautiful show that entertained us all the way home, riding the wave of the sense of family and ideas and fellowship we were had just experienced.
Truly spiritual, my friend! Very nice!
And on the way home, Brian was nice enough to stop off at Walmart so I could buy a bag of Funions, cause I was munchy.
I ate the whole bag, too.
Then I crashed early and slept WONDERFULLY, waking up yesterday nicely rested and ready for my work-week.
Also, before the meeting Tuesday I received a particularly generous email from my baby, so that started my day off great!!!
And I just finished chatting with her a few minutes ago, so I'm bouncing on Cloud 9 at the moment, heehee. :D
She's wonderful!!!
One the one hand, she makes me feel so loved that she barely need to say or do anything to just reignite that blazing pyre of passion for her! And on the other, because she stirs such feelings of love and joy, I SO want to be with her every second of every day!!! She makes me desperately NEED HER and need to be near her, but she also makes me feel perfectly content all by myself.
How weird is that?!
And HOW WONDERFUL?!!
Okay, I think I need to grab a bite to eat, then shoot some stormtroopers before I go to work.
PEACE!!! :D
Monday, May 14, 2007
Raid In Style!
Know what I've been doing for approximately the last 9 hours?
I've been starting a store!!! I call it Mangey RaidWear!
It started back when I began designing and selling shirts in SecondLife. I was making a little money off a few of the things I had made and put up for sale in Brian's shops, and I figured if I made more things I might make a little more money.
I focused on clothes, because people buy A LOT of clothes in SL. Plus, there weren't enough clothes that I wanted to wear. So I made stuff (shirts, so far) that I wanted to wear.
And I liked a few of the designs enough that I thought maybe, possibly, they might sell in Real Life.
At the very least, I'LL enjoy wearing them, lol!
I've noticed that I pretty much only wear T-shirts lately. And like everyone else in the world, my T-shirts are always promoting something someone else created. So it'll be cool to wear a few shirts that I designed MYSELF, hee-hee!!!
Right now I've only got 3 basic designs. The basic account at Cafe Press only allows you to sell one of each item, and even though they've got a surprising variety I'll need to get a premium account (or whatever) to add more stuff.
But that's cool.
If these shirts sell okay it'll be worth the money. I don't know how much a premium account costs, though, I haven't even looked into it. Like I said, I spent the last 9 hours just setting up this one.
Okay, this isn't a sales pitch, right? But I just wanna show you what I've been up to:
This is the first design...
Just your basic silly take on the Jolly Rogers. I put that on all the darker shirts they offer.
Then there's this variation on it...
That's the design I put on the light-colored stuff that doesn't have anything on the back.
Then for the shirts that DO have graphics on the back, I did THIS...
That's Cap'n Mbango, the Mangey Monkey. He's tellin' ya to "git yer mangey on", hehe. He's a party monkey. AND a pirate monkey. He's a party pirate monkey.
And I created him in Flash, so if I ever get the animation bug again I can animate him!
I can't tell you HOW COOL it is to come up with an idea, work on it until it's just right, and then see it on a T-shirt that's for sale!!! You SO have to try this!!! CREATION RULEZ!!!
So when we finally get a movie up on the Big Screen and you see folks wearing T-shirts with logos you don't recognize... They'll be ours, hehe! You'll probably be able to find them on Cafe Press.
OOH! AND...
For much of the time I was working on the store, I was listening to the first 11 chapters of Jim Butcher's SUMMER KNIGHT, the forth book in his THE DRESDEN FILES series. IT'S GOOD!!! I thought Harry Dresden's life was tough in the TV show, but DAMN! He simply can't catch a break in the novels, lol!
And yet, you find yourself laughing out loud surprisingly a lot!
Ooh! And if you listen to the first 4 books on mp3, you get to hear James Marsters (Spike from BUFFY and ANGEL) reading them!!! He's GREAT!!!
And it's an ironic experience, because you're listening to Marsters read with his American accent, even though you're used to hearing him as Spike, who's a limey. But Paul Blackthorne, who plays Dresden on the show, is Brit doing an American accent!
I'm just being a Fan-Boy now, aren't I?
So my day started off with a Mothers' Day dinner, which Gan-Gan attended as well(!!!) at Catfish Parlor, then when I got home I hopped on the computer and started trying to figure out exactly what size my T-shirt designs are supposed to be and how to get them that way, then I spent A LOOOOOOT of time setting up the store, all the while listening to SUMMER KNIGHT...
Btw, Gnomey Goddess, you will well love the DRESDEN FILES books!!! Lots of cool Fantasy stuff in there! :D
...and then I checked my email and got my blog on.
And now I'm going to bed.
PEACE, LOVE & SNUGGLES TO ALL!!! (As well as Inappropriate Touching to my Gnomage!!!)
I've been starting a store!!! I call it Mangey RaidWear!
It started back when I began designing and selling shirts in SecondLife. I was making a little money off a few of the things I had made and put up for sale in Brian's shops, and I figured if I made more things I might make a little more money.
I focused on clothes, because people buy A LOT of clothes in SL. Plus, there weren't enough clothes that I wanted to wear. So I made stuff (shirts, so far) that I wanted to wear.
And I liked a few of the designs enough that I thought maybe, possibly, they might sell in Real Life.
At the very least, I'LL enjoy wearing them, lol!
I've noticed that I pretty much only wear T-shirts lately. And like everyone else in the world, my T-shirts are always promoting something someone else created. So it'll be cool to wear a few shirts that I designed MYSELF, hee-hee!!!
Right now I've only got 3 basic designs. The basic account at Cafe Press only allows you to sell one of each item, and even though they've got a surprising variety I'll need to get a premium account (or whatever) to add more stuff.
But that's cool.
If these shirts sell okay it'll be worth the money. I don't know how much a premium account costs, though, I haven't even looked into it. Like I said, I spent the last 9 hours just setting up this one.
Okay, this isn't a sales pitch, right? But I just wanna show you what I've been up to:
This is the first design...
Just your basic silly take on the Jolly Rogers. I put that on all the darker shirts they offer.
Then there's this variation on it...
That's the design I put on the light-colored stuff that doesn't have anything on the back.
Then for the shirts that DO have graphics on the back, I did THIS...
That's Cap'n Mbango, the Mangey Monkey. He's tellin' ya to "git yer mangey on", hehe. He's a party monkey. AND a pirate monkey. He's a party pirate monkey.
And I created him in Flash, so if I ever get the animation bug again I can animate him!
I can't tell you HOW COOL it is to come up with an idea, work on it until it's just right, and then see it on a T-shirt that's for sale!!! You SO have to try this!!! CREATION RULEZ!!!
So when we finally get a movie up on the Big Screen and you see folks wearing T-shirts with logos you don't recognize... They'll be ours, hehe! You'll probably be able to find them on Cafe Press.
OOH! AND...
For much of the time I was working on the store, I was listening to the first 11 chapters of Jim Butcher's SUMMER KNIGHT, the forth book in his THE DRESDEN FILES series. IT'S GOOD!!! I thought Harry Dresden's life was tough in the TV show, but DAMN! He simply can't catch a break in the novels, lol!
And yet, you find yourself laughing out loud surprisingly a lot!
Ooh! And if you listen to the first 4 books on mp3, you get to hear James Marsters (Spike from BUFFY and ANGEL) reading them!!! He's GREAT!!!
And it's an ironic experience, because you're listening to Marsters read with his American accent, even though you're used to hearing him as Spike, who's a limey. But Paul Blackthorne, who plays Dresden on the show, is Brit doing an American accent!
I'm just being a Fan-Boy now, aren't I?
So my day started off with a Mothers' Day dinner, which Gan-Gan attended as well(!!!) at Catfish Parlor, then when I got home I hopped on the computer and started trying to figure out exactly what size my T-shirt designs are supposed to be and how to get them that way, then I spent A LOOOOOOT of time setting up the store, all the while listening to SUMMER KNIGHT...
Btw, Gnomey Goddess, you will well love the DRESDEN FILES books!!! Lots of cool Fantasy stuff in there! :D
...and then I checked my email and got my blog on.
And now I'm going to bed.
PEACE, LOVE & SNUGGLES TO ALL!!! (As well as Inappropriate Touching to my Gnomage!!!)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Hell Day... Not So Hell-ish
(knock on wood)
It actually started last night...
I spent most of last night killing time at work, feeling like I should be working on the rewrite of the short. The hours ticked away (blissfully uneventfully) and I had less than an hour left in my shift and hadn't even opened up my jump drive.
Then, without warning, I found myself making a list of... well, pertinent topics of conversation for the characters in the script, and I wrapped up the rewrite just in time to go home!
At home I wrapped up some loose ends -- using the astounding Celtx to prep some pre-production changes that arrose from the rewrite -- and then I'm cracking open a beer and trying to figure out what movie I want to fall asleep to.
(In case you're curious, I started with about 15 minutes of V FOR VENDETTA and finally crashed 5 minutes into CARS.) ;P
I wake up with a BURNING NEED to play STAR WARS JEDI KNIGHT: DARK FORCES II, so I eased into consciousness blasting Grans and the occassional Rodian. At one point I even found myself being pummeled by Gamorrean guards!!!
It was NICE! I haven't played that game in MONTHS! Maybe even a year or more!
Then on my way to work I listened to this week's SModcast, which was fun. Turns out Kevin Smith and I have yet ANOTHER thing in common: A background in the theatre! Turns out Smith was a "theatre-queer", too, lol!
It's lame, but it's just kind of cool to me. It was the stuff Smith and I have in common and the accomplishments he has achieved that I am still aspiring to that got me obsessed with him to begin with. And a fan-boy with a background in theatre is kind of a unique, specific thing. I suspect there aren't many of us.
Blah.
So anyway, I lucked out and was able to get my first wave of work done in time to watch CRIMSON TIDE, which I aired tonight, and THAT MOIVE IS GOOD! I mean, I enjoyed it the first couple of times, but it holds up with repeated viewings! Really great flick!
Now I'm about to move into the second wave of my shift, all rested and feeling groovy, and I think this day may just turn out pretty cool.
We'll see. I don't feel pessimistic, but I don't want to jinx myself, either.
Like last month when I was so certain I was gonna win the lottery that I applied for and received 5 credit cards and maxed them all out! Man, was THAT a mistake.
Although... I guess $5,000 for a grey-market Capuchin was a bit impulsive...
I'm just kidding, of course.
I only paid $4,999.95 for the simian.
It actually started last night...
I spent most of last night killing time at work, feeling like I should be working on the rewrite of the short. The hours ticked away (blissfully uneventfully) and I had less than an hour left in my shift and hadn't even opened up my jump drive.
Then, without warning, I found myself making a list of... well, pertinent topics of conversation for the characters in the script, and I wrapped up the rewrite just in time to go home!
At home I wrapped up some loose ends -- using the astounding Celtx to prep some pre-production changes that arrose from the rewrite -- and then I'm cracking open a beer and trying to figure out what movie I want to fall asleep to.
(In case you're curious, I started with about 15 minutes of V FOR VENDETTA and finally crashed 5 minutes into CARS.) ;P
I wake up with a BURNING NEED to play STAR WARS JEDI KNIGHT: DARK FORCES II, so I eased into consciousness blasting Grans and the occassional Rodian. At one point I even found myself being pummeled by Gamorrean guards!!!
It was NICE! I haven't played that game in MONTHS! Maybe even a year or more!
Then on my way to work I listened to this week's SModcast, which was fun. Turns out Kevin Smith and I have yet ANOTHER thing in common: A background in the theatre! Turns out Smith was a "theatre-queer", too, lol!
It's lame, but it's just kind of cool to me. It was the stuff Smith and I have in common and the accomplishments he has achieved that I am still aspiring to that got me obsessed with him to begin with. And a fan-boy with a background in theatre is kind of a unique, specific thing. I suspect there aren't many of us.
Blah.
So anyway, I lucked out and was able to get my first wave of work done in time to watch CRIMSON TIDE, which I aired tonight, and THAT MOIVE IS GOOD! I mean, I enjoyed it the first couple of times, but it holds up with repeated viewings! Really great flick!
Now I'm about to move into the second wave of my shift, all rested and feeling groovy, and I think this day may just turn out pretty cool.
We'll see. I don't feel pessimistic, but I don't want to jinx myself, either.
Like last month when I was so certain I was gonna win the lottery that I applied for and received 5 credit cards and maxed them all out! Man, was THAT a mistake.
Although... I guess $5,000 for a grey-market Capuchin was a bit impulsive...
I'm just kidding, of course.
I only paid $4,999.95 for the simian.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
SPIDER-MAN 3 & 24: DAY 4!!!
I got to talk to Gnomey today!!! It was only for a second because stuff is still hectic for her, but she took time to fill me in and gimme some luvin', the sweety!!!
And last night Brian & I saw SPIDER-MAN 3.
I'm not gonna spoiler anything or even write any sort of review here, but it was an interesting movie. It didn't have NEAR the emotional power that the first or second film had, but it definitely had it's redeeming qualities. There was only one thing I wanted to happen in this movie, and it didn't, but I was warned before hand, so I was prepared, lol.
One generic joker said that X-MEN: LAST STAND was better, lol. I'm happy to report that is NOT the case. I will not watch X3 again, but I'll buy SPIDER-MAN 3 when it comes out on dvd. It wasn't horrible... It just wasn't as good as the first 2 movies lead us to expect from the franchise.
Can someone tell me what the hell was with all the singing and dancing?!! When did singing and dancing become a staple of the Spider-Man universe, lol?!! If you haven't seen the movie yet you'll know what I'm talking about when you do. If you have seen the movie, I'm sure you asked yourself that same question.
I also finished 24: SEASON 4!!!
Holy schnikies that was a good season!!!
But TOUGH!!! I can barely keep my eyes open to type this and I have to go to work tomorrow, but I already want to tear into Season 5 just to find out WTF!!!
CRAZINESS!!!
They're just really messing with Jack Bauer's world! It's insane!!! Those are some SADISTIC writers on that show, lol! And this is coming from a horror writer!!!
As I wait to see if maybe my baby comes online before she has to be at work, I'm torn between watching the dvd extras while I wait and just jumping to the next season.
If only ALL my problems were so intense, lol!
The production meeting with Tommy was REALLY constructive today! We found a new approach to some bothersome dialog! And he's recruited some eager crew members!!! We may be shooting sooner than we originally imagined, which is miraculous!
So that's cool!
Also, I got the go-ahead to adapt my favorite short scripts into prose short stories to post on my MySpace, so look for an announcement when the first one goes up. I'm particularly excited for people to be able to read the short-story version of the script we wrote last year, in particular. I think it's kind of charming, in an odd way, lol.
Okay, I think that covers my last 2 days off: SPIDER-MAN 3 w/Brian, love from Gnomey, half a season of 24 and short stories on the way.
Yup. That's it.
Hope your week is ASTOUNDINGLY GREAT!!! And I'll check in again soon... -ish, hehe.
;)
And last night Brian & I saw SPIDER-MAN 3.
I'm not gonna spoiler anything or even write any sort of review here, but it was an interesting movie. It didn't have NEAR the emotional power that the first or second film had, but it definitely had it's redeeming qualities. There was only one thing I wanted to happen in this movie, and it didn't, but I was warned before hand, so I was prepared, lol.
One generic joker said that X-MEN: LAST STAND was better, lol. I'm happy to report that is NOT the case. I will not watch X3 again, but I'll buy SPIDER-MAN 3 when it comes out on dvd. It wasn't horrible... It just wasn't as good as the first 2 movies lead us to expect from the franchise.
Can someone tell me what the hell was with all the singing and dancing?!! When did singing and dancing become a staple of the Spider-Man universe, lol?!! If you haven't seen the movie yet you'll know what I'm talking about when you do. If you have seen the movie, I'm sure you asked yourself that same question.
I also finished 24: SEASON 4!!!
Holy schnikies that was a good season!!!
But TOUGH!!! I can barely keep my eyes open to type this and I have to go to work tomorrow, but I already want to tear into Season 5 just to find out WTF!!!
CRAZINESS!!!
They're just really messing with Jack Bauer's world! It's insane!!! Those are some SADISTIC writers on that show, lol! And this is coming from a horror writer!!!
As I wait to see if maybe my baby comes online before she has to be at work, I'm torn between watching the dvd extras while I wait and just jumping to the next season.
If only ALL my problems were so intense, lol!
The production meeting with Tommy was REALLY constructive today! We found a new approach to some bothersome dialog! And he's recruited some eager crew members!!! We may be shooting sooner than we originally imagined, which is miraculous!
So that's cool!
Also, I got the go-ahead to adapt my favorite short scripts into prose short stories to post on my MySpace, so look for an announcement when the first one goes up. I'm particularly excited for people to be able to read the short-story version of the script we wrote last year, in particular. I think it's kind of charming, in an odd way, lol.
Okay, I think that covers my last 2 days off: SPIDER-MAN 3 w/Brian, love from Gnomey, half a season of 24 and short stories on the way.
Yup. That's it.
Hope your week is ASTOUNDINGLY GREAT!!! And I'll check in again soon... -ish, hehe.
;)
Sunday, May 06, 2007
GRINDHOUSE Rewlz!!!
My weekend has already been bad-ass and it's JUST STARTED, lol!!!
It actually started yesterday when I woke up to find Tommy hanging out with Brian. His missus & young'un were out of town for the night, so he came over to play. Just before I left for work Brian said he & Tommy were gonna see SPIDER-MAN 3.
The fact that Tommy had come over just for fun (as opposed to coming over for work, which is a regular occurrence) made my day feel very groovy!
Driving to work I listened to a bunch of podcast clips from Night With Alice Cooper, his radio show. That continued the general feeling of almost having a day off, even though I'm going in to work. And at work I got to watch last week's episode of HEROES -- which was fun -- my friend Kal came into town and visited with me and My Genius Friend Dave, and the I got to just kind of be a bum for most of my shift!
So then I get off work and come home to a few beers and fall asleep watching the audio commentary for ROCKY BALBOA -- which is REALLY INSIGHTFUL; if you're into making movies this should be a must-experience! Since Stallone wrote, directed and starred in this he's got an AMAZING perspective on how all the main aspects of filmmaking meld together to create a good flick! Plus, he's made enough flops that he really has unique insight into what works and what doesn't!
Then I wake up, log-on to see if my baby is online (she's not, sadly, but that's cool 'cause of everything she's got going on at the moment (poor sweety)) and Brian and Mom and I got eat us some Red Lobster!!! The drive to and from the restaurant is cool because the clouds are all broody and dark and squirrelly... REALLY COOL atmosphere today!
Then after Family Dinner I meet Mom back at her apartment to take her through interfacing her camera with her computer. While I'm there Tisha calls me and we chat for a while.
THEN I'M OFF TO -- fuckin' FINALLY -- SEE GRINDHOUSE!!!
I go to the Alamo Drafthouse just down the street from the apartment.
I don't know if I've explained the Alamo Drafthouse before.
It's a uniquely Austin movie theater for people who love movies!!! Not "Cinema" per se; that is to say, not the artsy-fartsy, frou-frou, "I don't know what's going on so this must be art" kind of movie. (Although the Alamo also celebrates Art Flicks, as well.) The Alamo is about really getting the MOST out of a film-going experience!
The pre-movie show is a collection of some of the most obscure trailers you can imagine -- trailers for movies you never ever heard of -- and scenes from such movies. Before the feature they show regular trailers, like any other theater. But while you're walking in, getting seated, chatting with your friend, finishing up phone calls, whatever, you're treated to sounds and images that you would never imagine, and would probably never enjoy outside the environment created by the Drafthouse! Before THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY I saw some footage from a version of STAR WARS (A NEW HOPE) as released in one of those contries where they sound like they're barking at you when they speak... It was the footage of the space dogfights between the Falcon and Tie-fighters and X-Wings, rear-projected behind some jamoke in a cheesy costume who was speaking some gutteral language and "acting" like he was flying the ship. Only, the space footage kept switching angles, and switching from close-up to far away and so on, while the angle on the jamoke in the Halloween costume remeaiend the same. (You probably ahve to see it to believe how badly it's done.)
The Alamo serves a wide selection of beers. Often when Brian & I go we'll order a Bucket of Beer: 5 bottles of the beer of your choice served in a metal bucket packed with ice.
The Drafthouse serves restaurant-quality food for -- I must grudgingly admit -- reasonable prices! I admit this gradgingly because I can never afford to eat there. But this is because I'm poor, poor man, not because they're prices are expensive. But instead of getting stale popcorn and an over-priced box of candy and maybe a card-board hot dog, you can get a REAL, GOURMET hamburger and fried mozzarella sticks and a basket of chili-cheese potato wedges, if you wanted. My Genius Friend Dave does dinner-and-a-movie AT the movie with his wife! (I'd like to try this sometime, maybe after I sell my first screenplay or something.)
When Brian and I went to see the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD at the Drafthouse, we got a Bucket of Beer, a basket of Jalapeno Poppers and a basket of Cheese Sticks. THAT was a nice film-going experience!!!
And IN ADDITION to this, they often have these events that are just Movie-Geek HEAVEN!
Let me give you an example:
Back in 1998 my friend Kal (the one who visited work last night) took me to a special double-feature at the original Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Austin. (Back when there was only one in all the world.) The double-feature was hosted by Robert Rodriguez. He would be signing autographs before the feature, then introducing each film and talking after each film, then answering questions. The first feature was his break-through indy opus EL MARIACHI. The second feature was a Chinese (I believe) film whose title translates into RUN... and was a blatant, unapologetic and unauthorized rip-off of EL MARIACHI!!!
Rodriguez was so flattered that someone in another country liked his movie so much that they ripped it off, that he hosted a double-feature screening of both his original movie and the rip-off!
But HERE'S what make this screening a uniquely ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE screening: The price of admission bought you a 2-course meal. The first course -- served during EL MARIACHI -- was authentic Mexican tacos. Not the hard-shell, semi-wrapped things that we call tacos here in the States but flat, open-faced soft corn tortillas pilled high with meat and beans and cheese and fresh veggies, etc.
And they were tasty!
The second course -- served while you watch RUN -- were authentic Chinese steamed dumplings!!! (In fact, I've been addicted to Chinese dumplings ever since that screening! Pan-fried is good, but steamed is divine! This screening was a culinary revelation for me, lol!)
So you get to watch a flick with the filmmaker -- who has tons of fascinating insight about how he made the movie with $7,000 -- and then you get to watch a really well-made rip-off version of his film with him! And eat food authentic to the location of each film while you're watching them, lol!
THAT is the Alamo Drafthouse!!!
Okay, so now that you have a better idea of just what the Alamo Drafthouse is, you are better equipped to understand what it means to me to say that I WATCHED GRINDHOUSE AT THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE!!! A movie that recreates the fun of growing up as a movie geek, in a theater that caters to your inner movie geek!
And the experience was perfection!
I got there half an hour early, and the pre-show was fantastic! It was all these trailers for all these really bad movies ("grindhouse" type movies, natch), some of which were REALLY (unintentionally) funny!
I didn't order any food, as I was still stuffed with tasy, tasty shrimp. But that's cool because I couldn't have afforded it, anyway. (Note to Self: Eat really well at home before seeing a flick at the Drafthouse; that way you don't feel bad about not being able to afford to eat there.)
And the movie was FUN! I mean, it doesn't advertise itself as being some deeply stirring film... It's supposed to be 2 really fun bad movies! And that's EXACTLY was it is!!!
It was so fun, too, seeing the old "Welcome to the Theater" and the "Enjoy Our Snack Bar" snipes (I just learned that term tonight, hee-hee) and the fake trailers before each movie! I didn't get to see a lot of double-features when I was growing up, so it was cool. (I was a mallrat, so a double-feature for me was buying 2 tickets, going into one theater, watching the movie, then going into the next theater and watching the second movie. No "No Talking Please" theater snipes for me.)
But since PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF aren't actual grindhouse movies -- rather, skilled replications of such flicks -- you get all the fun of watching a couple of bad movies without the annoyance that usually comes along with it!!!
Brian didn't go because he has ZERO interest in seeing it. I don't think he really enjoys bad movies very much. When I put one on and we watch it together, we have a blast because his comments are always INSPIRED, but I think he'd rather watch a great film for the 507th time than watch a bad one... even if it's intentionally bad.
But I could be wrong.
At any rate, Tommy has been talking about wanting to see it, so I'm hoping I can see it again with him! That will be a blast!!! When we were kids -- maybe 15 years old -- he spent the night and we watched RHINESTONE and SIXTEEN CANDLES over and over again! We could quote both movies! "I'm lying in the mud... lookin'... at a duck," and "No more yanky my wanky. The Donger need FOOD." So if/when we see GRINDHOUSE together I predict much laughing and merry-making!
God LORD I've been writing this entry for a while, lol!!! I have literally spent HOURS writing this. I guess you've spent the better part of an hour reading it.
Let's call it a night, shall we? I'll report back if anything cool happens.
PEACE!!! :D
To my Gnomey Goddess: LOVE YOU!!! Hope all is well Baby!!! x o x o x o
It actually started yesterday when I woke up to find Tommy hanging out with Brian. His missus & young'un were out of town for the night, so he came over to play. Just before I left for work Brian said he & Tommy were gonna see SPIDER-MAN 3.
The fact that Tommy had come over just for fun (as opposed to coming over for work, which is a regular occurrence) made my day feel very groovy!
Driving to work I listened to a bunch of podcast clips from Night With Alice Cooper, his radio show. That continued the general feeling of almost having a day off, even though I'm going in to work. And at work I got to watch last week's episode of HEROES -- which was fun -- my friend Kal came into town and visited with me and My Genius Friend Dave, and the I got to just kind of be a bum for most of my shift!
So then I get off work and come home to a few beers and fall asleep watching the audio commentary for ROCKY BALBOA -- which is REALLY INSIGHTFUL; if you're into making movies this should be a must-experience! Since Stallone wrote, directed and starred in this he's got an AMAZING perspective on how all the main aspects of filmmaking meld together to create a good flick! Plus, he's made enough flops that he really has unique insight into what works and what doesn't!
Then I wake up, log-on to see if my baby is online (she's not, sadly, but that's cool 'cause of everything she's got going on at the moment (poor sweety)) and Brian and Mom and I got eat us some Red Lobster!!! The drive to and from the restaurant is cool because the clouds are all broody and dark and squirrelly... REALLY COOL atmosphere today!
Then after Family Dinner I meet Mom back at her apartment to take her through interfacing her camera with her computer. While I'm there Tisha calls me and we chat for a while.
THEN I'M OFF TO -- fuckin' FINALLY -- SEE GRINDHOUSE!!!
I go to the Alamo Drafthouse just down the street from the apartment.
I don't know if I've explained the Alamo Drafthouse before.
It's a uniquely Austin movie theater for people who love movies!!! Not "Cinema" per se; that is to say, not the artsy-fartsy, frou-frou, "I don't know what's going on so this must be art" kind of movie. (Although the Alamo also celebrates Art Flicks, as well.) The Alamo is about really getting the MOST out of a film-going experience!
The pre-movie show is a collection of some of the most obscure trailers you can imagine -- trailers for movies you never ever heard of -- and scenes from such movies. Before the feature they show regular trailers, like any other theater. But while you're walking in, getting seated, chatting with your friend, finishing up phone calls, whatever, you're treated to sounds and images that you would never imagine, and would probably never enjoy outside the environment created by the Drafthouse! Before THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY I saw some footage from a version of STAR WARS (A NEW HOPE) as released in one of those contries where they sound like they're barking at you when they speak... It was the footage of the space dogfights between the Falcon and Tie-fighters and X-Wings, rear-projected behind some jamoke in a cheesy costume who was speaking some gutteral language and "acting" like he was flying the ship. Only, the space footage kept switching angles, and switching from close-up to far away and so on, while the angle on the jamoke in the Halloween costume remeaiend the same. (You probably ahve to see it to believe how badly it's done.)
The Alamo serves a wide selection of beers. Often when Brian & I go we'll order a Bucket of Beer: 5 bottles of the beer of your choice served in a metal bucket packed with ice.
The Drafthouse serves restaurant-quality food for -- I must grudgingly admit -- reasonable prices! I admit this gradgingly because I can never afford to eat there. But this is because I'm poor, poor man, not because they're prices are expensive. But instead of getting stale popcorn and an over-priced box of candy and maybe a card-board hot dog, you can get a REAL, GOURMET hamburger and fried mozzarella sticks and a basket of chili-cheese potato wedges, if you wanted. My Genius Friend Dave does dinner-and-a-movie AT the movie with his wife! (I'd like to try this sometime, maybe after I sell my first screenplay or something.)
When Brian and I went to see the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD at the Drafthouse, we got a Bucket of Beer, a basket of Jalapeno Poppers and a basket of Cheese Sticks. THAT was a nice film-going experience!!!
And IN ADDITION to this, they often have these events that are just Movie-Geek HEAVEN!
Let me give you an example:
Back in 1998 my friend Kal (the one who visited work last night) took me to a special double-feature at the original Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Austin. (Back when there was only one in all the world.) The double-feature was hosted by Robert Rodriguez. He would be signing autographs before the feature, then introducing each film and talking after each film, then answering questions. The first feature was his break-through indy opus EL MARIACHI. The second feature was a Chinese (I believe) film whose title translates into RUN... and was a blatant, unapologetic and unauthorized rip-off of EL MARIACHI!!!
Rodriguez was so flattered that someone in another country liked his movie so much that they ripped it off, that he hosted a double-feature screening of both his original movie and the rip-off!
But HERE'S what make this screening a uniquely ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE screening: The price of admission bought you a 2-course meal. The first course -- served during EL MARIACHI -- was authentic Mexican tacos. Not the hard-shell, semi-wrapped things that we call tacos here in the States but flat, open-faced soft corn tortillas pilled high with meat and beans and cheese and fresh veggies, etc.
And they were tasty!
The second course -- served while you watch RUN -- were authentic Chinese steamed dumplings!!! (In fact, I've been addicted to Chinese dumplings ever since that screening! Pan-fried is good, but steamed is divine! This screening was a culinary revelation for me, lol!)
So you get to watch a flick with the filmmaker -- who has tons of fascinating insight about how he made the movie with $7,000 -- and then you get to watch a really well-made rip-off version of his film with him! And eat food authentic to the location of each film while you're watching them, lol!
THAT is the Alamo Drafthouse!!!
Okay, so now that you have a better idea of just what the Alamo Drafthouse is, you are better equipped to understand what it means to me to say that I WATCHED GRINDHOUSE AT THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE!!! A movie that recreates the fun of growing up as a movie geek, in a theater that caters to your inner movie geek!
And the experience was perfection!
I got there half an hour early, and the pre-show was fantastic! It was all these trailers for all these really bad movies ("grindhouse" type movies, natch), some of which were REALLY (unintentionally) funny!
I didn't order any food, as I was still stuffed with tasy, tasty shrimp. But that's cool because I couldn't have afforded it, anyway. (Note to Self: Eat really well at home before seeing a flick at the Drafthouse; that way you don't feel bad about not being able to afford to eat there.)
And the movie was FUN! I mean, it doesn't advertise itself as being some deeply stirring film... It's supposed to be 2 really fun bad movies! And that's EXACTLY was it is!!!
It was so fun, too, seeing the old "Welcome to the Theater" and the "Enjoy Our Snack Bar" snipes (I just learned that term tonight, hee-hee) and the fake trailers before each movie! I didn't get to see a lot of double-features when I was growing up, so it was cool. (I was a mallrat, so a double-feature for me was buying 2 tickets, going into one theater, watching the movie, then going into the next theater and watching the second movie. No "No Talking Please" theater snipes for me.)
But since PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF aren't actual grindhouse movies -- rather, skilled replications of such flicks -- you get all the fun of watching a couple of bad movies without the annoyance that usually comes along with it!!!
Brian didn't go because he has ZERO interest in seeing it. I don't think he really enjoys bad movies very much. When I put one on and we watch it together, we have a blast because his comments are always INSPIRED, but I think he'd rather watch a great film for the 507th time than watch a bad one... even if it's intentionally bad.
But I could be wrong.
At any rate, Tommy has been talking about wanting to see it, so I'm hoping I can see it again with him! That will be a blast!!! When we were kids -- maybe 15 years old -- he spent the night and we watched RHINESTONE and SIXTEEN CANDLES over and over again! We could quote both movies! "I'm lying in the mud... lookin'... at a duck," and "No more yanky my wanky. The Donger need FOOD." So if/when we see GRINDHOUSE together I predict much laughing and merry-making!
God LORD I've been writing this entry for a while, lol!!! I have literally spent HOURS writing this. I guess you've spent the better part of an hour reading it.
Let's call it a night, shall we? I'll report back if anything cool happens.
PEACE!!! :D
To my Gnomey Goddess: LOVE YOU!!! Hope all is well Baby!!! x o x o x o
Friday, May 04, 2007
BRING It! Bring On The WEEKEND!!!
Yesterday was YUCK! hehehe
It started off cool enough... Brian and I watched ROCKY BALBOA. I had already seen it & loved it, but last night was Brian's first time, and it was really cool that he enjoyed it as much as I did.
But then I got to work and everything was just FUBAR, lol. (Wel,, not "ALL recognition", but, you know... It was pretty bad.) One of the networked computers at the TV station got A VIRUS!
A VIRUS! At a TV station!
We lost a server and had to replace it with another server that we actually use quite a lot... Just severely annoying.
I think I got through it all right, though... Didn't exacerbate the problem or anything, so that's good.
And My Baby says she either has or will soon have some Net issues worked out, so hopefully I'll get some more Gnomey Time soon, hee-hee. :D
AND...
SPIDER-MAN 3!!! Ladies and Gentlemen, SPIDER-MAN 3 IS IN THEATERS NOW!!!
WOO-HOO!!!
I got paid this morning, so I set aside some cash just for getting into SPIDER-MAN 3 and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN AT WORLD'S END for Brian and me ('cause, you know, I have no idea if I'll have the POTC money by the end of the month if I don't set it aside now) so sometimes before my weekend is iover Brian and I will, hopefuly, see S-M3!!!
(Wish I could see it with my Gnomage :( But I'm sure that will happen soon enough. <3 )
Plus, I'm having some luck with a creative endeavor, but I'm not going to discuss it as I have noticed that talking about projects seems almost to curse them to failure -- or, at least, incompletion. But the short seems to be building up a nice head of steam also, so that's cool!
Blah.
I should get ready for work.
I don't wanna, tho', lol.
But I should.
In fact, I will.
OOH! VERONICA MARS came back!!! I've got this week's HEROES and VERONICA MARS on my iPod! I doubt I'll be able to watch them tonight because FriSat is one of my busier work days, but I'll very liekly get to watch them tomorrow! So YAY, hee-hee!
Okay, I'm gonna eat and get ready for work, you go see SPIDER-MAN 3.
And Gnomey Goddess, you take care of yourself and I LOVE YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH!!! :D x o x o x o
It started off cool enough... Brian and I watched ROCKY BALBOA. I had already seen it & loved it, but last night was Brian's first time, and it was really cool that he enjoyed it as much as I did.
But then I got to work and everything was just FUBAR, lol. (Wel,, not "ALL recognition", but, you know... It was pretty bad.) One of the networked computers at the TV station got A VIRUS!
A VIRUS! At a TV station!
We lost a server and had to replace it with another server that we actually use quite a lot... Just severely annoying.
I think I got through it all right, though... Didn't exacerbate the problem or anything, so that's good.
And My Baby says she either has or will soon have some Net issues worked out, so hopefully I'll get some more Gnomey Time soon, hee-hee. :D
AND...
SPIDER-MAN 3!!! Ladies and Gentlemen, SPIDER-MAN 3 IS IN THEATERS NOW!!!
WOO-HOO!!!
I got paid this morning, so I set aside some cash just for getting into SPIDER-MAN 3 and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN AT WORLD'S END for Brian and me ('cause, you know, I have no idea if I'll have the POTC money by the end of the month if I don't set it aside now) so sometimes before my weekend is iover Brian and I will, hopefuly, see S-M3!!!
(Wish I could see it with my Gnomage :( But I'm sure that will happen soon enough. <3 )
Plus, I'm having some luck with a creative endeavor, but I'm not going to discuss it as I have noticed that talking about projects seems almost to curse them to failure -- or, at least, incompletion. But the short seems to be building up a nice head of steam also, so that's cool!
Blah.
I should get ready for work.
I don't wanna, tho', lol.
But I should.
In fact, I will.
OOH! VERONICA MARS came back!!! I've got this week's HEROES and VERONICA MARS on my iPod! I doubt I'll be able to watch them tonight because FriSat is one of my busier work days, but I'll very liekly get to watch them tomorrow! So YAY, hee-hee!
Okay, I'm gonna eat and get ready for work, you go see SPIDER-MAN 3.
And Gnomey Goddess, you take care of yourself and I LOVE YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH!!! :D x o x o x o
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
