It All Began After We Got There

Yes, I knew it would happen though I really did.

We left town around 2p.m. for a OKC Hornets game. Well when we arrived in OKC my friend and co-worker wanted to stop by a Sam's Club to get a infared trash can, I kid you not.

No I'm not worried that he might read this. He doesn't own a home pc nor would he know what a blog was, even if he read it. I also don't believe that anyone I work with knows that I write this blog or that I even exist for that matter.....

Anyway after TWO Sam's Club visits failed to produce the desired and now elusive infared trash can/gonna be post Christmas present my friend Bub suggested that we get a drink now that we had three hours to kill before tip off.

Did I mention that we didn't have tickets yet?

Anyway we stop off at a place that he claims to frequent when he is in OKC, however he had never been there this early in the day. It was about 4 p.m. by this point.

We entered The Playhouse, yes it was a titty bar. Now I have nothing against a good titty bar however I know the game after having plenty of long conversations with former strippers and I know going in that they are working. I am nothing more than a mark to them to get them free drinks, food, drugs, or money. I have no illusions that they like me or their job for that matter which puts us with something in common ironically.

So we walk in and I have to use the restroom since I have had a full bottle of water on the trip down and couldn't find one in either of the two Sam's Clubs that we visited previously. So Bub pays my cover charge and I ask where the men's room is. The music is pretty loud and I see him saying something, possibly drink related, I hold up my finger in a "I'll be right back" fashion and by the time I'm finished he has purchased me a yellowish drink.

Now anyone who knows me knows what I drink when I drink is a Tequila Sunrise, unless it is a occasion that I drink wine with my photographer friend or it is unbearably cold out and I fix a hot chocolate with Irish Cream which I have found to be quite warming:) Anyway, we sit down and I notice that the DJ is dressed like Penn Jillette. So I pick up my drink and nearly spit it out, I am not sure what Bub ordered for me at this point but I am sure that it is very sour and has practically no alcohol in it.

I am starting to rethink my decision to use my "I'll be right back" finger.

So I content myself with watching the game on TV between Boise State and Boston College....much to my dismay a stripper comes and sits down at our table. She asks my friend's name, he replies "Bub" to which she replies "Bug"?

I again nearly spit out the mystery drink.

"Bub" he replies again closer to her head and much louder this time....he then tells her my name which reminds me to take a baseball bat to Bub's knees at sometime in the future. So she then looks at me and I turn on my "Don't even think about touching me" vibe and she latches onto Bub's arm and starts to stroke his thigh.

I hated to do that to him however better him than me in this case. She chats him up while I continue to watch the bowl game while another stripper on stage has climbed to the top of the stripper pole and is trying to get my attention. I glance in that direction just in time to see her slip and bang her head with a audible thunk on the stage.

I again nearly spit out the mystery drink.

I don't think that is exactly what she was going for but I was amused....probably not as amused as the other four or five patrons in the club but I smiled to myself anyway while the stripper at our table had now started to sing the lyrics to whatever song it was that was playing....and now was even more involved with Bub's lap. I decided that it was time to get myself and Bub another drink. A Bud Light for him and a Tequila Sunrise for me. So I get up and head over to the bar and order said drinks. He pops the cap off of the beer and gets a glass for my drink. He puts the ice in, the Tequila, and then the orange juice....and then some other kind of juice that might have been cranberry juice....which is wrong and not very tasty....and then the grenadine on top of that.
At this point I was sure of one other thing....these drinks were expensive.

Nine dollars later I return to the table to see that the stripper has conned Bub out of a shot. So I sit back down and try to enjoy my butchered drink when the crackhead stripper at our table starts to yell at a guy who is trying to tip a dancer....the poor guy looks around to see the crackhead at our table yelling that she is going to divorce him.....seven or eight times.

I don't think the stripper on stage was amused but it did look like she had recovered from the rough landing on the stage.

The crackhead finished her shot and said she was going to dance next and was probably going to have some heavy metal played by Penn Jillette because it was time to get this party started. She asked Bub several times if he was going to watch her dance next....did I mention several times she asked this? So she says she will be back in a minute and goes and talks to Penn.

She walks back by the table and again mentions that she is up next and if Bub is going to watch her dance....I kid you not.

Well she gets on stage to the tune of Journey......yeah, time to get this party started.

So I again go back to my second mystery drink while Bub watches his new crackhead stripper friend dance.....while I again try to watch the bowl game.

So a few strippers later and the crackhead didn't show back up....which was nice. Bub tells me that after I finish my drink we'll leave and go find tickets to the game. Two big gulps and a very nasty drink disappeared.

So we head downtown and I get out in front of the Ford Center while Bub finds a parking place. I go in to the box office find out that they are sold out and catch up with Bub at the end of the block. I tell him the bad news and we decide to park and find something to eat and try to find a scalper before the game starts. So we head to Bricktown and eat while nothing very interesting happens. It was a good meal. We locate a scalper and purchase two tickets thirteen rows off of the floor for fifty dollars apiece. They were good seats behind the home goal. Which resulted in something cool!

We got to have the balloons that the fans wave while the opposing team is shooting free throws, which tonight was the Houston Rockets. We win with 1.9 seconds left on the clock 92-90.

All in all a very interesting and fun day even though the crackhead was the highlight of the day.

My Season Is Over

Yes my friends. It is true. The Predators scored a paltry 13 points this past weekend thus ending my run at the semi-final level.

There isn't much more to say about it really....it has been a season of good games and horrible games. I had a good winning streak for a while but had a dismal start.

Now my friends I hope that the Christmas Holidays have been very good for you. I hope you found that you enjoyed both giving and receiving gracefully. My days off have been fairly productive! I have given lots of thought to my friend's project. She has been working many hours over the past couple of weeks so there hasn't been much time devoted to collaborating as of yet. However she says that that will change within a couple of weeks.

I am excited about this development. As for Locker I plan on working with my producer friend to get the DVD problem worked out. I know he has been super busy with his business and has been working on the project on the side. I really can't ask for more as he has even spent an entire night and worked at his business the entire next day. How can you ask more from a person than that?

Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

My Fantasy Season Is Quickly Ending Today And Nothing

I'm getting beat 34-8 right now while most of the games are rolling around to the third quarter. Yes my friends it looks like my season is going to end in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

It isn't what I wanted to happen but it looks like no one is wanting to score today. I had to play Jerry Porter over Marvin Harrison since Harrison is being rested today and didn't make the trip to Seattle.

Yeah, it is over.

I did my Christmas shopping this morning. I'm working on one gift still and might be for another day or so.

There isn't much to report in filmmaking news. I am off next week as I have said earlier so I am hoping that I can get Locker on DVD finished and shipped out. That is my goal....well has been my goal but you all know the problems that have cropped up.

I have seen a very good or funny movie but you are probably familiar with how I write my reviews by now. I try to keep away from any plot points if at all possible and try not to discuss anything related to the movie except how I felt about it. I hate spoilers so that really makes for some strange reading sometimes.

Believe me it would be easier to write a regular review and go through the whole story other than the essentials that I try to post....and I really want to get into the plot and the meaning of this movie. This movie really made me want to discuss it after watching it.

Well the movie is called Nothing and essentially it is about a couple of life long friends who live with one another and when their world starts to encroach on their peaceful existence, people start to disappear. Not like that, in a more creative and hilarious way that had me laughing in its cleverness and wit. They discover that hate is a powerful emotion and it can lead to things that you may not anticipate.

Nothing is a brilliant indie feature from the director of Cube. Watch it, you won't be upset about it and you will probably hate things a little bit less.

Last Night's Christmas Party

Allow me to set the context for last night's party. This is a very slow time of year where I work and we are encouraged to take the week off between Christmas and New Year's Day.

There just isn't a lot happening and therefore no reason to be there. So this year we get a Friday and two consecutive Monday's off paid and then we take vacation the other four days which gives you a total of eleven days off for the cost of four days. Yeah, it is a bargain! Eleven days that I don't have to be at work, woohoooo!!!

Well today is the first day off so last night we got together at a local club to celebrate not having to go to work because of the holidays! I love this time of year!

So there I am last night surrounded by some very fine people I have known for quite a few years now. I confess that I did tip maybe a couple too many in my celebratory glee. However it was a blast and a fine way to start the vacation!

I did do a couple of drunk emails and a drunk call....so not too bad.

I have finished my Christmas shopping and I am ready for the holidays:)

The next couple of weeks with my friend's project should prove to be interesting as we have started the pre-production research stage to determine the symbolism of her subject. I'll post more once I have obtained her permission to write about it:)

.....Well Second Place

Which is worth 20 dollars.

The team that got first had 35 going into last night and had two players. His players did the job and captured first overall which is good. He is a friend of mine and his team hasn't had a good year.

I'll have to call him today and tell him that he won some money this week! He'll be happy about that!

In the new project, I will be calling my friend today. She has been working many hours lately and apologized for not being in touch with me recently about her project.

A Win Plus First Place!

I won my heads up playoff match up this week 48-45 and captured first place this week which is worth 40 dollars!

Not bad for a team that started out being lucky to score in double digits!

Things seem to be rolling so far, next up is the division championship and then the Super Bowl!

Week 15

My fantasy team is now in second place in my division.
They have really picked it up lately and are riding a three game winning streak.

After yesterdays games I have zero points and five tie breaker points. No big deal, I didn't have anyone playing except for my tie breaker!

My opponent, the Eagles have zero points and also had a WR playing. So going into today he is a player down!

I have a good shot at advancing today!

King Kong

Yeah that's right. King Kong.

It was everything I thought it would be and just a bit more.

My friends you have probably noticed that when I write about something I've seen I try very hard not to mention a whole lot about the story itself and just mention the look or the feel of a movie rather than the actual contents if at all possible.

I try to mention what I get out of it without spoiling it for anyone else.

So now I have made a hot chocolate on this sub 30 degree evening and added a bit of Irish cream to add a bit of....flavor;) I've given some thought about what I experienced while watching King Kong and what I wanted to write about it.

So here it is. It is a good movie. Lots of cgi. Had some touching moments and some tedious scenes but overall I thought is was a love story.

There were some great fight scenes and Skull Island looked incredible and menacing. There was a very touching scene between Naomi Watts and Kong towards the end that to me really cemented the love story. The tragic part is of course seen from a mile away but since this is a remake it isn't a surprise to anyone.

I do believe that the holiday season was the wrong time of the year to release such a epic movie though....and make no mistake about it. Kong is a epic movie. This is truly Lord of the Rings/Gladiator modern epic caliber.

While I didn't experience the emotional pain that I did while watching the 1933 original climax, it was still moving and a emotional experience. What was odd though was that what was done in 1933 was a smallish stop motion model and the modern Kong was a CGI enhanced multi-million dollar creation and I still felt more for the original Kong when he fell than I did for the modern one despite the very touching and happy scene I mentioned above.

I enjoyed it.

I didn't enjoy the previews. Miami Vice and the Poseidon Adventure are going to be out next year in remake form. Now I can appreciate the irony of my comments since Kong has been remade twice however I covered that in a earlier post.

Miami Vice and The Poseidon Adventure are unforgivable.

Haunted With Color

Imagine for a minute a film that blurs the line between living and dying. Of color and grayscale. That takes the beauty of a immense, beautiful landscape and washes the color from it. That dances with ghosts and living beings of tragic circumstance.

This is the movie Northfork.

Taking place in 1955, it witnesses the death of the town of Northfork by the construction of a hydroelectric dam that will flood the area within days.

A child too sick to travel, a kindly priest, four imaginary friends, and six men in black populate the barren lands of Montana. The film reminded me of a dried rose. Color is still there however it is pale, seemingly fragile to the touch and would crumble into dust. No longer vibrant and supple.

The almost grayscale look brings you closer to the death of the town of Northfork in its last days. It is cold but not uninviting, in fact it is almost friendly, it is haunted. Every minute of this movie is a beautiful metaphor for life and death. The place in between where dreams and breath meet in swirl into the misty comfortable air around you.

It isn't for everyone and everyone who sees it will see something different, but I enjoyed it.

Capote And The Death Of PC On TV!

Monday a friend and I went to see Capote. It is a very powerful movie. Phillip Seymour Hoffman seemed to channel the late Capote for this role.

There is no justice at the Oscars if Hoffman doesn't get a nomination. It was a stirring and portrayal of the six years he spent writing In Cold Blood and his relationship with Perry Smith. Smith might have very well been Capote just in another body. They shared so much in common but from what I got they were extremely lonely people.

I'm not commenting on Smith as a innocent or person who invoked sympathy from me. He was a bad guy, a very bad guy. Capote could be a arrogant, condescending, and self centered pain but he wasn't a killer. He was a writer. He took his loneliness and channeled it into one of the most famous novels of its time.

He was stunned with what he found in the persona of Smith. He really did see himself and talked to him for days on end as if trying to get to the bottom of his own soul. He wanted to know what made Smith tick so maybe he could glean a clue as to what made himself tick.

Capote was all of this and more. If you aren't familiar with the crimes of November 1959, don't be too concerned about it. It isn't' necessary to understand what is going on and is covered in great detail. It covers from the morning of the discovery of the Clutter's bodies to the final snap of the rope as Smith is hanged.

That is the serious part of this post.....the other part is a show called The Boondocks. Based on the comic strip, this cartoon inhabits Adult Swim on Sunday evenings. It is the story of a Grandfather who moves his two urban Grandsons to the suburbs. This is a very racy and amazing show that has a lot of humor as it pokes fun at the urban culture. So far it has covered topics such as the R. Kelly trial to a straight laced prosecutor and his prison anal rape phobia.

I really hope this ushers in the death of all things PC on TV. I really do. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate the very idea of political correctness. It is something that could undermine the fabric of this country. It is destructive and corrosive. Shows like The Boondocks show the absurdity of the concept of PC and work diligently to destroy it. I for one am whole heartedly behind it.

I Think I Get To Eat Now!!!!

I have a friend I have talked about on here before. My photographer friend. She is insanely creative and has approaced me with a film idea.

A children's film. I have a few minor details so far but she is going to get me a outline tomorrow and let me work on it and start to flesh it out.

I think this is something I need right now, I know it is. I want to work on something that will come to fruitation and with her help I think that it will gel. She is more creative than I am, I am more practical.

I think more nuts and bolts on something, like how can this be filmed with what we have. She thinks more creatively and can put together situations and scenes in a way I can't.

I'm very excited about this!

I'm Hungry

Here I am....very very hungry.

I ate the last of my left overs yesterday, including some two day old pizza:) So now I've got to get out this morning, when it is all cold and get something to eat.

Now my friends the title is also a metaphor for me as well. I am starving! I'm creatively starving, I need a project that will come together. I need a project, I need a project.

I'm going to be out of town tomorrow so maybe a slight change of scenery will be instrumental to helping me during this time of drought.

No, its nothing like that. Its just hanging out with a friend.

I have a metaphorical morality tale in my mind right now that could evolve into something. I think I just put too many limitations on myself when writing.

I am writing to my budget. I'm writing down to things that I can film around.

Maybe I shouldn't care about that part. Maybe I should just write a 10 million dollar script that has a ton of extras and CGI. Maybe if I did that it might break loose some ideas and get things rolling in a smaller realm?

I'm thinking about a McGriddle this morning, maybe a Egg McMuffin? I always get my dog something like a regular sausage biscuit. He likes that. 6:30 this morning I hear one of my cats howling at my bedroom door. I see a little white paw slipping under the door as if that is going to get my attention and shake the sleepy slumber from my sleepy mind faster than her horrific meow that tells me she is hungry and wants fed NOW!

After my embarrassing early exit last night (honestly my earliest exit in a live tournament since I started playing) I feel I need to get to another tournament and get back into practice. Maybe put some money back into a online account and get back into the swing of things and shake the rust off.

Fantasy Football wise, my team is taking on a team that is about two games behind me. If I lose it will be devastating to my season. I believe the playoffs start next week. I'll have to talk to the Commish and see, the wild cards could possibly start today in fact....

I'll just have to check on that and update tonight or tomorrow.

Well since I am starving and my tummy is growling like my cat wanting fed, I'm heading out now into the cold to satisfy my hunger.....my physical hunger.

Bad Poker Evening

Well it wasn't that bad casue it was worth it to hang out and have a good time. However I was out fairly quickly.

Ten people showed up which is a good sized game for this area. A lot of loose players and a couple rarely folded but they did catch the cards. Meaning that you really couldn't push anyone out of a hand if they had a small piece of it and were drawing to a hand.

I got caught in a bad hand that I should have folded and my aces were cracked by two pair. I went all in and the calling station wouldn't fold his hand and beat me with two pair. It wasn't a bluff but it wasn't a great hand either.

So I came back home after a 30 minute drive....which was nice. I added the portable dock for my Sirius radio pod to my vehicle. So now I can take it from work where the boombox is to my vehicle!

Well today Richard Pryor died. Sirius had a tribute and played his best material so it was a good time out there and back!

He was a very funny and very troubled person. He seemed to have been suffering a lot in the past two decades. I hope he is in a better place.

Poker Night

Well tonight there is a poker tournament I have been invited to. I am familiar with a few of the people I will be playing with and if everyone shows up that is supposed to show up there should be a nice pot to play for.

I haven't played online poker in months now. I am not sure why other than I just felt burned out on online poker. I just took the cash in the accounts out and just never put any back in.

However live poker is something different. I would play this every week if there were a good game around. Now if you are a regular reader of my blog then you know that I have more of a tournament style and don't really enjoy the ring games as much.

I fold 99% of my hands. I win usually 1-3 pots per hour and play maybe 4-6, I'm rarely a chip leader until towards the end. I'm just a tournament style of player.

Anyway there are supposed to be about twenty people attending at $20 bucks per.

Its worth that just for the evening's entertainment....winning will be frosting:)

My Remake Quandry

My friends, anyone who knows me knows that I hate the trend of TV shows being turned into movies. It is a horrible idea and a horrible trend.

The movies are usually done in a way that doesn't respect the original source material. The originals are usually classics that have a large fan following and therefore a large base that theoritically should attract a large box office.

The results are usually mediocre at best.

I refuse to even see any movie based on a TV show. I know that my action won't detract from Hollywood making more of them, it is more principle for me than anything else.

The other nasty trend is the remake fever that seems to be going on as well.

I was deeply saddened today when I saw the amount of planned movies that are going to be remade. I'm not going to list them, the list is huge and with a little searching you can find them too. They make me weep when they try to take some amazing movies on their own right and add a ton of CGI effects and updated dialogue.

They are then under the delusion that it is better. Maybe sometimes it is better, I wouldn't know. I don't see them either if it is at all possible. Usually the movie is worse than the original and ruins it like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Remakes aren't anything new. Frankenstein has been remade more than a few times over. The Hammer version is on the same level as the classic Universal version, I can say that with no problems what so ever. Dracula is the same way. There are countless other remakes that are also too numerous to mention but you understand where I'm coming from.

My quandry is this.

King Kong.

How do you see a movie remake when you are usually opposed to remakes?

You trust such a classic to Peter Jackson who is probably one of the hardest working filmmakers in the world today. He is a obsessive fan of the movie and takes the handling of the film in the most serious of ways.

I have seen and read nearly everything I can find on King Kong and I'm so excited to see this movie I can't describe it! So there you go. I'm such a fanboy of coming movie that I can't help but show it.

It looks like one of the greatest spectacles of all time! I mean this looks like it can be as big as Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, or as epic as Lord of the Rings. Well as epic as a single movie can be as opposed to the grand Holy Grail of epic movies. Which used to belong to Star Wars in my book.

Watch out Titanic.....here comes Kong.

Another Victory!

I am now tied for second place in my division. After a 39-25 victory the Predators crawled into this tie and now are poised for the playoffs within the coming weeks.

It is freezing cold out, going to be about 3 tonight. I decided it was a good evening for hot chocolate and Bailey's Irish Cream.

I also picked up the fouth season of 24 this afternoon so my evening is set!

Locker is nearly ready for DVD now, finally! I'm so excited about that and all of the people I've promised copies to should also be happy about it!

I can't be more thankful for their patience.

So now I am going to indulge myself in Jack Bauer's life while sipping some piping hot chocolate with Irish cream in it!

Life is good!

Week 13

If things go well today there will be a three way tie at first in my division. The Predators need to win, beating the second place team and one of my best friends who owns the Mandingos. The River Rats need to lose to fourth place team the Eagles who I beat last week.

That would create the tie. A few weeks ago and after some lackluster performances by my "ace" players I never thought I would be in this position.

Palmer is still my home run hitter and is putting up points every week for the Predators.

We'll see what happens but I feel good about it!

Sundance Rejection

RE: 9637-Locker

Dear XXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for submitting your film to the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Regretfully, I must inform you that it was not selected by our committee. We appreciate having had the opportunity to view your work, and want you to know the decision was a difficult one, as we saw many more worthy films than we had space for.

I would like to wish you the best of luck with this project and your forthcoming work. I hope you will give the festival the same consideration in the future.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey Gilmore
Director, Sundance Film Festival


Yes my friends this was the biggie.

Let me tell you that it isn't everyone who gets a rejection email from Sundance.

It means something to me.

It means that I have completed a film and sent it to Sundance! It means that I completed something (and paid someone to watch Locker) in the biggest film festival in the US.

So what if it was rejected. Better films than Locker will also be rejected. I'm not upset. I knew this was the likely outcome. What it means is something more than all of that.

It means I had a movie that I made. With my two hands and my fine actors and friends, we put together something that was seen by the people who put together Sundance.

We took a shot my friends. How many people go through life and then say I wish I had....

I've done this before.

Deja vu.