The Messengers

What a horrible show.

Alright here is the concept: Ten people who want to be motivational speakers actually go out into the real world to experience the downtrodden, the blind, the paralyzed, the homeless, migrant workers....well you get the point.

And then they put together a two minute speech and try to be all positive and happy after experiencing the hardships of one day, yeah one day.

The rest is just basic reality TV stuff where the audience votes off the least motivational person.

Yeah horrible.

It reminds me of Take One that I wrote about in a earlier post. Where a couple of guys go out to do good deeds but the show focused more on the people following them in the RV who caused the drama and actually made the deeds happen.

A good idea with very poor execution, just like The Messengers.

Come on, motivational speakers? Who can experience being homeless for a day and then come up with a speech to motivate someone to what....not be homeless anymore?

They come across more as martyrs than people who have any experience at living.

"Look at the good I'm doing for you! Now listen to my speech!" is the feeling I get from it.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for bettering the human race and doing what you can when you can for someone less fortunate. This show just seems fake and plastic though and unwatchable.

The commercials don't tell you that it is really just a game show and that the contestants are just there for a book contract. They show you how these people are out in the streets or fields and have brief clips of the speeches at the end. Do they tell you that the speeches are actually a contest? Of course not, that would turn on that light in your head that says, "Stupid show, don't watch me!"

Hiding In The Mountains

I'm going to let you all in on a secret fantasy of mine.

There are two forms of media that have explained my fantasy and that I hold dear to my beating heart. One is a book and the second is a song.

First the song. David Allen Coe's Please Come To Boston( yeah I know Dave Loggins wrote it but Coe made it great). The verse where he asks his woman to please come to Denver for the Winter so they can move up into the mountains and get lost together. Coe's strained voice romanticizes the winter in a cabin and everything good about being with a loved one and being wrapped up in them.

The second is a book by Terry Goodkind called Faith Of The Fallen. In that book Richard Rahl moves him and his wife Kahlan Amnell (and bodyguard Cara) into a cabin he has constructed in some far off mountains so she can rest after being nearly killed after an attack that leaves her near death. What results is the happiest part of their lives together as she gains her strength back. He teaches Kahlan and Cara about how to survive and how beautiful the world is around them despite a massive invading army that is on the cusp of destroying his world.

I've always wanted to be able to be dependent upon myself, to have the skills to actually live in the wild, build a nice cabin, you know live off of the land. However I know that is a delusion. I need things like air conditioning, electricity, and indoor plumbing. That just leaves a nice furnished cabin and a mountain range to complete my fantasy.

Oh yeah I've frequently thought about what my cabin would look like and where it would be. Sorry, those are private:)

The idea has always appealed to me about isolation and hiding from the world with someone you loved. Like nothing can touch us. Nothing can effect that moment of happiness. Nothing can invade that moment of perfect happiness where all is right, the Sun comes up, the moon lights the night, and the air is crisp and clean.

It Is Almost Time!!!!

For a few things!!!!

First my project now has a starting date!
August 13th shall be the filming date!!!!
Everyone's schedules line up on that magic day so we will begin then!!!!

Yeah I'm excited!

Secondly it is getting to be that time of year when everyone is studying the NFL training camps and tyring to suck up all of the knowledge you can get your hands on to make a solid team!

Yes it is very exciting!!!!

The NFL channel on Sirius has been invaluable as they are in the process of going to every single camp and getting the inside scoop!!!!

I do believe I'll have that same edge I had last year on my league with one exception. One of my friends and the commissioner of the league has Sirius and I know he is doing the same thing so I anticipate him coming in second this year.

Reggie Bush ended his holdout yesterday and has gotten into camp. He should be a very effective player with all of the weapons that the Saints have. He will do what he is supposed to and create mismatches. He'll keep the D honest and force them to play him.

Vince Young however will likely be a bust of Leaf like proportions. Yeah he might be very athletic but in the NFL you have to have the total package and he is as dumb as a box of rocks but I bet that there will be some idiots out there who will draft him anyway. He isn't Culpepper folks and won't have monster numbers. In fact I would imagine he will become a defenseive squads favorite QB if he even gets to play at all.

Yes there are a lot of amazing things that are about ready to happen my friends and I'm happy they are!!!!

Happy Friday!!!!

This is the bright spot of my week!

The one day of the week where almost nothing bothers me at all!

Not only that but when I get off work I know that the plumber will be here so that I can have my sewer line snaked out and get the roots out of there. I am starting not to like it when the water pools up around my feet when I shower.

Anyway, there isn't a lot of cleverness rolling around in my head this morning so this probably won't be a long post but I have a long time friend coming over tomorrow to spend some time with. I haven't seen her in a long time and I'm looking forward to seeing a movie with her!

Yesterday at lunch I purchased the needed props for my upcoming project! Well they aren't so much props as they are essential to putting everything together!

I still want to tell you what it is SO BAD but I just can't at the moment! The musical is almost over with, I believe this is the last weekend for it and then I plan on meeting with everyone involved and puttting it in concrete!!!!

This is going to be such a fun project! I can't wait to get it going!!!!

Clerks 2

Clerks 2 was on the agenda last night. A friend and I went for some coffee and then hit the theater for this expedition into geek culture.

From the pop culture debates to the plethora sexual references Clerks 2 was what Clerks was and what you would expect in a sequel.

I could really relate to Dante and Randall's plight as for the most part their frustration mirrors my own. The ending monologue conversation was almost like my own internal dialogue that tries to add a rudder to my life.

If you aren't easily offended go see it, you will probably find something to laugh at.
If you are easily offended go see something else because you will likely be very offended.

How Do You Know If You Are Happy Or Not?

How exactly do you know if you are happy or not or meant to be happy and aren't or even just not cut out to be happy ever?

This was on my mind this morning as I clocked into my soulless job today.

I kept thinking, can I make it until retirement?
Is there more or am I meant to work paycheck to paycheck, day to day, week to week like I am now with the occasional vacation or three day weekend thrown in for good measure?

What would make me happy if I'm not or what would bring me down if I were?

I concluded that I am not happy with a couple of aspects of my life and my job is one of them. This is not news at all. In fact I don't know if I've been happy with my job. The only part of it I do enjoy is payday Fridays and those just don't happen enough.

Payday Fridays allow me to pursue my passion which is film. Again not news of any kind however when put into relative terms I'm better off than 95% of the entire world's population. So how could I be unhappy with ANY aspect of my life at all? Just doesn't add up does it?

My friends sometimes I lose site of that and as of this very moment that I'm typing it out I am seeing out of the corner of my eye images from Lebanon and Israel.

Families that have been torn apart and I wonder, were they happy before Hezbollah decided to attack Israel?

Were they unhappy with some aspects of their lives but happy with others?

Did they have jobs that earned them a living or were they frustrated that all they could earn was a living and little more? Did they have plenty to eat with family and friends to share it with or were they lonely and have few people to share anything with?

Did they have something to live for or were they just existing as I find myself doing from time to time instead of living?

I have been a fan of the theory that for the most part people are people where ever you go. They do the same things I do. I'm sure that they have the same dreams I have and hunger like I do.

Do they know if they are happy or not?

Crazy Lady On Cleveland

Anyone around this area has seen this lady.

Usually she rides a bike on two very busy two lane highways.

Not carefully either, very recklessly. She is insane....well that is what we think or at least she is trying to get hurt to have a lawsuit.

Here is some proof. There are at least two people who have told me identical stories about her.
There is a stop light where these two streets cross and she will sit at on her bike. With cars at the intersection she will sit there until the light turns green and then cut across the path of the nearest vehicle that starts to move!!!!

She is dangerous!!!!

She has recently started to drive a car and parks it at a nearby softball complex so she can watch the traffic go by. She backs in, gets out, and then gets into the passenger seat to sit for hours....

Yeah, the crazy lady on Cleveland.

Meeting With Chris

It went pretty well.

Then after the business meeting was over with he got a text from one of the people from the musical. Even though she was in Locker and I do like her a lot she has developed quite an ego lately.

Nearly every sentence begins with "I" or "Me" and she can talk about herself for a very long time without a pause.

I know that when I write this blog that a lot of my sentences begin with the same however anyone who knows me knows that I rarely talk about myself. This is about my only indulgence into the realm of self.

I do work on the problem though and if I feel that I am putting too many first person references into a paragraph I try to rewrite it so it sounds better.

My friend however, and yes she is my friend, has gotten to the point where everything is revolving around her. Her mom is one of the sweetest people in the world, Chris wishes he had parents like them, and yet my friend will go on about them.

No, I know she doesn't read my blog. If it isn't about her she honestly doesn't care which is sad. She has talent for this town but if she is going to make a step to LA, which she is planning on, she has a lot to learn.

She is someone who will benefit from being kicked around by life a little bit, it will make her a much better actor and person. I don't think it is a major problem, she is just a bit immature right now and is learning the ways of the world. I was that way as are most other people, well I don't think I was at the point where I talked about my hair like she does for entire conversations but yeah I ruled the universe at one point.

Back In The Barrel

Yep, Monday has come again.

Once again everyone heads back to work to climb that grueling mountain that is Monday thru Friday so that we can sit on the peak and enjoy the view that is the weekend.

I've got all my bills paid even have a nice bit of coin left over for the next two weeks. Life is pretty good with the projects that are going on and upcoming.

It is still hot but not as hot as it was last week. This week is supposed to be cooler, in the 90's.
Not cool but better than the triple digits of last week.

Everything is getting out of that holding pattern I felt like I was in for a while. Things are moving, maybe at a glacial pace but they are moving in a good way.

I've got a slow drain, not in the house, I'm sure that tree roots have gotten into the sewer pipe. It has happened before and that was about four years ago so I'm going to have to call a plumber to snake out the line and I'll be good for another four years. The problem is that I have a big tree that is within ten feet of my main so it happens.

No big deal. Just one more little jagged cliff to overcome on the way back up the mountain.

The Funyun: The Perfect Food????

Yes the Funyun, it sits there on the snack shelf and it just looks very anonymous. But inside that pale yellow bag lurks an ocean of delicious dried onion flavor!!!!

You can make a meal out of a bag of Funyuns, some beef jerky, and your favorite soft drink for a great steak and onions combo meal!!!!

You can make any grilled burger better with a couple of Funyuns on top instead of a boring old onion.

Outside of the fudgsicle it is a snack that you can have year round and is always tasty in its reliable brand of crunchy goodness. The Funyun could be natures perfect food, picked right from the Funyun plant at the early stages of ripeness and then rushed into air tight bags straight to you in quick shops everywhere!!!!

That process alone is a modern miracle of mass distribution that never lets you down! You can always find a bag of Funyuns near you! Yes you might think that the Funyun has some kind of drawback, clogs arteries, causes high blood pressure, blah blah blah. You soon forget about all of that after just one nibble of a perfectly shaped Funyun halo of flavor!!!!

Doritos? Pleeeze....
Cheetos? Eh, sometimes!
Guy's Snack Mix? YES, GIMMEE!!!!
Andy Capp's Hot Fries? OH BABY!!!!

So alright funyuns have some competition in my snacking diet but they are darn good!!!!
Can you make a whole meal out of Funyuns? I've done it!!!!
Can Funyuns sustain you on the deserted island? If you have plenty of water YES!!!!
Funyuns are good survival food and quite maybe good for you!!!!

The Cast Is Set

It was a pretty good day overall.

We had three people read who were being considered for some important parts and everything fell into place finally.

It was a good time and then we went out to lunch to discuss the final cast list.

Chris will take on one of the main roles himself. He was concerned about adding himself to the cast as he thought it might take more of his time up and he didn't know if he could handle being an actor and director at the same time.

The whole thing is coming together and today was a major step in that direction.

Now for some bad news. I have a dual monitor set up for editing purposes and one of my monitors quit this morning. It refuses to power up. It just sits there looking all blank and dead. Yeah I changed outlets, unplugged it for a while, did all that basic troubleshooting to no avail.

So I have sent in an email to the company I bought it from to see what they can do about it.
I love these monitors! Twin 19'' LCDs make for an imposing desktop!!!! I miss it already!!!!

Yawn.....

So after getting home I chat a bit online and head off to bed around 10ish, still pretty buzzed and tired.

5:30 my cats decide they are hungry so I am up since they won't give up.

I don't feel bad though, not at all. A little tired but overall I am ready for the final readings for Chris's auditions which are today at 10 a.m.

They are mostly rereads, people who he wanted to hear more from.

I broke my caffeine free streak yesterday at lunch when I had ice tea with my burger and fries, then a Red Bull a few hours later when I was sobering up before coming home.

Well onward and upward!!!!

Alright For The Second Time

I got mad at work today, well specifically Picky Eater got me mad at work today since I was super busy and he didn't want to do anything so I took off at 11:30 and decided to have one of my co-workers meet me for lunch and a drink.

Well that has turned into more than just a drink and I'm about ready to embark to a local pub for more drinks and more complaining about work!!!!

Muhahahaha!!!!

It rocks when you can have vacation leave at a whim!!!!

Casting Nearly Complete!!!!

Last night Iwwas at Chris's house and by Saturday afternoon I am positive that the remaining couple of roles will be filled!!!!

These are exciting times for a small town filmmaker my friends!!!!

I am not sure how to express it in any other way but by being excited with the potential of what we are about to accomplish. Everyone who was at the auditions were very good, some more than others and I am fortunate enough to have two of them also in my small fun project!

I'm very excited about that one as well since the fanfilm will be done in the Fall as well as Chris's project so my project will fill up the gap for me and allow me to have a real life project to work my video editing mojo on.

There is also the very good possibility that there will be a steady stream of these projects in the form of episodes to build a fan base.

Alright I have to back up, I hope they are good enough to build a fan base with. I can tell you right now that if they don't it won't be because of the talent in front of the camera because that part is loaded!!!!

It'll be the concept which is mine, for better or worse, hopefully better.

Yeah I want to tell you all about it right now but I have to keep it under wraps for just a couple more weeks until I get the first episode committed to film and edited.

Then I hope you find it funny enough to laugh at it....well in a good way.

World Series Of Pop Culture

Amazingly I saw this show and did very well....sheesh.

What does that tell me?

I've probably spent too many hours around a tv. So yeah I've wasted a lot of my life.....

I don't feel good about it.

I mean exactly what is that kind of knowledge going to do for you? Nothing? Probably correct!

I almost feel ashamed I knew that much about pop culture.

I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody....instead of a nobody....which is what I am, to paraphrase one of my favorite movies.

See what I mean?!?!?!
So what if I know the names of the ghosts in Pac-Man.
So what if I know nearly every 80's metal video.
So what if I know every episode of every incarnation of Star Trek.
So what....I'm actually fine with who I am and what I know, that can't be that wasted can it?

I Am Starting My Fourth Day Without Caffeine

I know I'm a caffeine fiend. I need it and as far as mood altering drugs go it is probably the most widely available.

I've got a twelve pack of Coke in the fridge that hasn't been touched. I bought a Orange Vanilla Sprite at Sonic for lunch yesterday but mostly I've been on water.

I just wanted to know if I could actually kick caffeine if I wanted to and despite the three day headache I think I can.

Tomorrow night Chris wants some more casting help so we are going to a local coffee shop in which case my self imposed caffeine drought will end and some serious work will begin.

It is too hot for coffee but an ice coffee would be incredible since the temperatures have been North of 100 every day.

I visited a good friend at work yesterday and he wanted me to try a kahlua vanilla mix I believe and I have to admit it smelled like the best coffee ever while it was setting there brewing!

That was about the hardest thing to turn down since that caffeine creature inside was starving but I did. After last night I think that I could actually go a very long time without caffeine cravings now so YES I can kick it.

I'm pretty happy about that!

Praise For The Longest Running Scifi TV Show!!!!

Star Trek?
Buffy?
Charmed?
X-Files?

No,No, No, No.

Stargate: SG1 has reached its 10th season making it the longest running domestic scifi franchise.
All of the Treks except TOS and TAS made it to seven, The X-Files to nine.

What makes SG1 capable of making a run this long?

Good storytelling for one thing. The idea that you can drive to work go through the stargate to another world altogether, look around a while and come back in the same day is a very cool premise.

Not to mention that Amanda Tapping is cute hot.

SG1 blends serious scifi with humor, adventure, and at time self parody. There are some serious story arcs and some funny ones.

As the series has grown older and matured the arcs have become more epic. There were a couple of the latter seasons where the budget was cut and it showed on screen. The team didn't go offworld as much.

What has made this franchise especially unique is that its spinoff, Stargate: Atlantis is as nearly as popular if not more so than its originator.

SGA might have better legs than SG1.

Richard Dean Anderson is no longer on the show as a regular but he does pop in from time to time to great fan appreciation for his beloved character.

If you have never seen SG1 or SGA the Scifi Channel owns the franchise now and you can find an episode or two nearly every weekday.

It doesn't take much to get into the series at all.

It is a ride you won't regret.

It's Hot!!!!

Very hot outside and it is supposed to be like this for the near future.

It is 105 now.

My friends that is HOT!

I am about to head to Chis's house to finish up casting after the outstanding auditions on Saturday.
Some key roles still need to be filled but there are people who can fill them.

Plenty of people showed up. That is always a better problem to have then having to cast everyone who shows up as this has been done in the past!!!!

I've got to find something to eat before I go but I don't feel like eating. I didn't have much of a lunch and honestly with the heat like it is, eating just isn't on my mind.

I think I'm going to take a cold shower, that'll probably help to cool down some.

Successful Auditions!!!!

The auditions were very successful yesterday!!!!

There was actually an abundance of actors who showed up to try out. Many of the parts were cast with a couple of key roles up in the air for the moment but I'm sure that today they will be filled.

There was a pretty good get together for the actor who is going away to LA this week. The host family was out of their way gracious and as it so happens a part of my project that will start production after the local musical is over with. Hopefully it will be as funny as I believe it will be.

One of the guests didn't really like my anti-Che shirt but that is alright:) I joyfully accept differences of opinion and debate. I mean that is what makes this such a great country since you can actually express such an opinion without fear of being into a Cuban gulag.

My Powerball group had a ticket that hit four out of six numbers but without the Powerball, just two more and we would have been splitting a hundred million dollars.

The production values would have dramatically increased on my project.

Auditions!!!!

Yep!
Today is a huge day!!!!

First up at noon are auditions for Chris's project "The Passing Drummers", then a going away party for a local actor. Most if not all of my cast will be there so I'll be able to run some ideas by them and see how it goes.

I am positive I want to shoot it against a green screen like I mentioned before. My photograher friend was animate about that and thought it would add a ton of production value. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea.

It'll provide some much needed real life experience for future projects.

Now after the first five episodes of Deadwood all I can say is WOW! What an incredible show!!!!

So far it is everything I wanted it to be but there is a small drawback and that is that Bullock is becoming a background character instead of the main character. That is just my opinion because he has a lot of lines but they seem to be less important.

There was an incredible and brutal fight in the fifth episode and that is all the spoiler you are going to get from me. If you see it you will see a fight you have never seen before, raw, mean, viscious.

Deadwood continues to be the best show on TV.