The Dark Knight

I truthfully think that Batman is going to be shown up by the Joker in the next installment.



And if you haven't seen this, watch it now! Click HERE for high-quality version.

Now What?

Well, my film class is over, and it's a sad, sad day. I just hate that it lasted a single semester, but, man, did I learn a lot. You might not think so after you see the short film I made, but that could be evidence of the fact that I have certainly learned what NOT to do again.

However, even though the class is over, my filmmaking is not. I've got some things brewing here and there, and now I have a significant group of people I know who want to make films, too.

I hope to have a link to my short film online soon. Just have to figure out how to do it.

Stay tuned...

Memories

I heard this song the other night while I was at Suggins (my favorite restaurant in Lexington). It was loud in there and I was involved in a lot of conversation, but I heard enough to touch my heart. Luckily I didn't cry then like I am now...




here is another version that is very good, too. and it touches me just as much.

Thanksgiving

Hello all. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

I was originally planning to stay around Lexington and have my mom come down, but she wasn't feeling well, so I drove home to Henderson for the long weekend. And it turned out well.

Spent Thanksgiving day at my aunt's place, which is great because a lot of my family on my dad's side were there, people I don't get to see as often as I would definitely like to. Had some good food and a lot of laughs.

I had such a good time that afterward I was feeling a little guilty. That sounds insane I know. I felt guilty because I was enjoying myself despite my dad not being there. It was the second Thanksgiving since he died, and I hated that. And it hurt. But it was good, too, because everywhere I looked he was there. That may sound weird, too. But for me, that's just how it is.

Now I have to gear up and prepare for my second Christmas without him. How am I supposed to do that? I'm sure I'll figure out a way, and I think I'm going to get to see the family again. So, he'll be there.

I guess he always is...

33

Sometimes it's weird what makes me think of my dad.

I remember when I was a kid, my dad participated in the NFL pool-type thing at his work. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but somehow if the team you had scored 33 points, you won a portion or all of that week's pot. I hadn't thought of that in a long time.

Yesterday, I was watching the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins games.

The Eagles scored 33.

I thought of my dad.

The smallest things...

Big News (for me, at least)

First let me apologize AGAIN for not updating this blog more often. But I’ve finally found a few moments to take some time to give everyone a much-needed update, and actually very big news. For me, at least.

Most everyone who knows me knows that it was about a year ago that I left my position with Host Communications. I had been there a little over two years and it turned out to not be the job it was made out to be. Promises had been initially made but never fulfilled. Because of that and the often unacceptable working conditions, I felt it best to change my life so that it was no longer a part of it.

So, I left Host. The scary part of that was that I didn’t have another job at the time. In January, I took a couple of classes at Bluegrass Community and Technical College here in Lexington. I enrolled in Introduction to Film and Editing With Final Cut Pro. The intro to film class was good. I mean, we basically watched movies in class everyday, and our homework was watching films. In my other class I learned how to use Apple’s Final Cut Pro software to edit video. For my final project in that class I made a music video. You can see it here, if you haven’t already.

Once the semester was over, I took on two part-time jobs: one at the UK Basketball Museum and one at the Fayette Mall Cinemark movie theatre. I also was helping a friend prior to this with establishing a local trivia competition, but finances forced me to push most of my focus to the part-time jobs. Finally, I sucked up as much of my pride as I could and moved in with my sister’s family for awhile.

The plan was this: take the BCTC certificate program in filmmaking this fall, a few classes next spring and then attend a graduate program in film where I hoped to get a degree in screenwriting.

Just to back up a little for those who may not know. I wrote a screenplay. I don’t think it’s that good, but those I know who have read it tell me they disagree. Anyway, I had this script and didn’t know what to do with it. So, I thought, “If I can’t get anybody to make a film of this script why don’t I just do it.” The thing about technology today, it’s so inexpensive to own equipment now that anybody can be a filmmaker. You just need a camera and a story. If you don’t believe me, go to Youtube and you’ll see. Of course, having those two things doesn’t make everything good. Quite the opposite, actually. But you CAN make a film.

So, I thought I’d study filmmaking. This semester I have been doing just that. And I LOVE it! I really do. It seems like something I can continue to do. But a few weeks ago, I realized something. The chances of me truly making a nice living making films was not that great. Probably greater than a high school basketball player making the NBA, but I’m sure not much. Also, I decided that while I’d love to go to grad school and continue my film studies, it just didn’t seem that it would be worthwhile to go into so much debt on top of what I already have from previous education to study film. And someone who has become something of a mentor from my experiences in class told me that he truly felt film school was a waste of money. You can learn just as well through one simple thing: making movies. Just make movies. Whether they are bad or not, just make them. If they are bad, then you’ll know why and you can fix it later. And then they’ll get better.

Therefore, I decided I would forego film school.

Well, if I did that, what would I actually do?

The answer to that kind of fell in my lap. And here is how...

Back in early September I got a call from my friend Kelley. Kelley and I worked together at the University of Kentucky Public Relations Office for two years. That is where I was prior to moving to Host. Kelley called me because she had some information on a possible freelance writing job for me. She said I needed to call someone at the UK College of Education. Well, that brought back some interesting memories which almost caused me to not call them.

About a week or so after I left Host last year, I had an interview for a public relations position with the UK College of Education. One of the people I interviewed with was the person who had contacted Kelley about needing someone to do some writing for them. But for whatever reason, I didn’t get the job last year.

Well, I decided I needed the money, so I called. The reason they needed someone quickly for some freelance work was because the person they hired over me suddenly quit. I won’t go into it here, but click here to read for yourself.

So, I go in, meet with them and decide to take the work, during which I never really consider applying for the job opening. On a couple of occasions I was told by those I was working with that I should apply. But at the time, I was still considering film graduate school.

Then along the way, I decided to forego film school, and the answer to “What to do now?” was evident. I enjoy writing, I like public relations okay, and I enjoyed working with the folks at the College of Education. Therefore, I decided to apply for the open public relations job.

My thinking was that with that job, I could retrieve some financial security and by working at UK, I’d have great, GREAT benefits. And because I knew that I’d never probably be rich and famous and didn’t want to go into debt anymore, I would just make films in my spare time. This will allow me to get some of my own equipment, and taking this filmmaking class this semester has given me some wonderful contacts in the business, not to mention a number of other folks in the area who want to make films just like I do.

And there you have it. Oh, forgot to mention -- I was offered and I accepted the job at the College of Education. I should start one day this coming week.

I think it will be good for me. I’ll have a good job, and I should still be able to do some of the things I want to do -- write and make films. Most importantly, I can move back to Lexington, hopefully to the Chevy Chase area.

Actually, in my class I have been able to write and direct a short film and yesterday I finished a first rough cut of it. When it’s complete, I’ll be sure to put it online for you all to see.

I guess I’ve taken up enough of your time. But I wanted to share the news with all the people I care about.

Keep checking back here for more news, and just my thoughts from time to time.

I truly am going to try to write more often.

I’ll be sure to write about the process of directing my first film soon, as well.

Who would have thought?

Did you know that Volvo makes trucks? I don't mean just like pickup trucks. I mean big Semi trucks.

Yeah, me either.

And there are a lot of them.

Next time you are on an interstate, pay attention to the trucks. I think you'll be surprised at how well represented the Swedish auto manufacturer is on 18 wheels.

Colin at Work

Sorry I didn't post this before now, but I've been so busy...

So, I went to see Colin Hay in Louisville last Tuesday, and let me just say that it was a great show. He was funny, charismatic, and I can't forget that the music was great.

He came out alone and sang the wonderful song "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You." If you have seen the movie "Garden State" or have the movie soundtrack, then you've heard this song before.



He then sang one other song alone, "Maggie" from his album "Going Somewhere."



Then his band joined him and they played a 2-hour set of songs from his solo albums and songs from his days with Men At Work.

Including a great song called "Are You Lookin' at Me?" from his album of the same name.



Before the band got going, Colin said, "Back in the '80s I was part of a band, and we'll play some songs from then tonight. And after that band broke up, I have recorded a few solo albums, so we'll play some of those songs, too. So, that's just about it. No surprises. Nobody will be joining us on stage. That's it."

Someone in the crowd yelled, "What, no Wang Chung???" Colin laughed and said, "No. Now that'd be a big fucking surprise wouldn't it?"

In between songs he went on to tell a number of stories. He talked about how he'd like to do something with Bob Dylan sometime. He said he didn't mean record a song or anything. He thought it would be cool to got shopping at Costco with him, maybe buy some toilet paper. He talked about how a couple of his band members went to The Guitar Center in Alabama looking for kazoos, and the store employees thought they were mad despite the fact that is an instrument store and a kazoo is an instrument. He said he planned to open a store called The Kazoo Center and just below the word Kazoo he would have the word Guitar, which would be X'ed out. He talked about how he played in Ringo Starr's band once and wrote a song for Ringo. He said that Ringo never said anything about the song and he didn't feel it was his place to ask someone of the magnitude of Ringo Starr about it. So, he continued, when he left that band and was ready to record an album, he decided to just record it himself.

It was a great show. Like I said, they played for 2 straight hours, playing a lot of good stuff. Many of you might not know his solo stuff (other than the song listed above), but you might recognize the following three songs he played from his Men At Work days.








Colin is a great singer/songwriter, and there are so very few goods ones nowadays. If you ever get a chance, you should check out his work. I don't think those of you who appreciate quality songs over the Pop/Hip-Hop stuff out there now, you won't be disappointed.

Extras

If you like "The Office" and haven't seen the BBC version with Ricky Gervais you really should check it out. But more than that you should definitely watch "Extras", another show by Ricky Gervais. I think it's much funnier than "The Office." Here is the funniest part of Season 1 (in my humble opinion), with Kate Winslet (one of my favorite actresses).

My Two Cents #1

Movie Remakes

Hi folks. Sorry I have been absent so long. To briefly explain (although I’m not trying to come up with excuses), classes started two weeks ago, I’ve been working at the theatre and I’ve also gotten three freelance gigs in the last couple weeks that are due very soon (I promise to tell you about these in an upcoming blog). But I’ve been thinking that in addition to regaling about my boring daily life, I’d like to write a column each week or so (more often if the thoughts come to me) about things that I’m thinking.

Well, this first column comes as the result of something I heard a customer say at the theatre a week or so ago.

I was working at the podium one evening, tearing tickets and telling folks in which theatre their movies were playing. On the wall next to where we stand the podium, we keep posters of movies that are opening soon. About two weeks earlier, the poster for Rob Zombie’s version of the John Carpenter classic “Halloween” was hanging there. By the way, the poster is really cool.

As a few movie-goers walked by (probably in their early to mid-20s), one of them looked at the poster, said, “They’re remaking ‘Halloween?”, made a sound of disgust and said, “Oh my God. I can’t believe that. Rob Zombie is going to ruin that movie.”

Let me say that it bothers me when someone makes such a statement knowing nothing about what he/she is commenting on. This particular guy obviously didn’t know that Zombie was making this movie, so he has absolutely no knowledge of it at all. It’s possible that he has seen Zombie’s first two directorial efforts, “House of 1,000 Corpses” and “The Devil’s Rejects,” and then made an assumption based on those two movies. Now, I can’t say much about that because I haven’t seen those two films. However, despite some negative reviews I’ve heard and read about them, I am reserving judgment on this new film.

If this young man was making an assumption based on previous experience, then I have to take issue with that. If, however, he was making an assumption on the fact that he doesn’t like remakes of movies, then I might be willing to cut him some slack. But to say that someone is going to ruin a movie without knowing anything about it is absurd.

“Halloween” is my all-time favorite horror movie. For my money, nothing is scarier than Michael Myers. He’s real. He’s not some character who comes to kill you in your dreams , he’s not someone who returns from the dead to avenge his mother who died trying to avenge his death , he isn’t an alien, he isn’t the undead. He’s a real guy who, for some reason, cracked when he was a kid and killed his sister. He then learns he has another sister and decides he must kill her, too. He doesn’t have special powers, he isn’t a ghost, he doesn’t come back from the dead to keep killing.

Okay, for those of you who haven’t seen the film this next bit of information will be a slight spoiler, so skip to the next paragraph if you like… If you have seen the film, you might be saying that he did come back from the dead because he was shot at the end, disappears and then returns later that night in “Halloween 2.” Well, I argue that he wasn’t fatally shot. I say that Dr. Loomis is just a bad shot. He’s a doctor for goodness sake, not a cop. And when Laurie stabbed him earlier in the evening in the neck with a big sewing needle, it, too, was not a fatal blow. He’s psycho, you see, and is on a mission to get rid of his sister. Nothing short of a deathblow would stop him.

So, my contention is that he is a wonderful horror movie villain, much like Batman is a great comic book hero. He, too, is real. No super powers. Just a man on a mission. By the way, my affection for Batman might be the subject of a future column.

Back to my point: “Halloween” is my all-time favorite horror film. I was fortunate enough to finally get to see it last Halloween on the big screen at Regal Cinemas. It was at that screening that I learned about the new Zombie version. From what they said during interviews with Zombie and others involved, it looked intriguing, and the premise very interesting. In John Carpenter’s version, we see Michael kill his sister when he was a child. There is a brief visit with him by Dr. Loomis, and then the film goes into “The Night He Came Home.”

The Zombie-ized version is supposed to take a closer look at Michael’s childhood, try to discern what made him the way he is, something Carpenter never really delved into. My hope is that Zombie will take us into the mind of the monster. I want to know what makes Michael tick. And from what has said, I can’t wait.

In the Summer 2007 issue of “MovieMaker” magazine Zombie said:

“A little over a year ago someone said, ‘Bob Weinstein would like to have a meeting with you about stuff.’ It was nothing specific, so I just went in and started talking to him. He kind of threw “Halloween” out there in a general sense to see if I was interested in any way. The Weinsteins wanted to do something but they didn’t know what-they didn’t know if they wanted to do another sequel or a prequel or God knows what.

“My initial thought was ‘No!’ I didn’t want to do it, so I just said, ‘Oh, well, I’ll think about it and get back to you guys.’ I went off and thought about it for a long time and as I thought about it more and more, I kind of came up with an angle that I thought would be fresh and worth doing.

“What was originally scary about Michael Myers seems like a cliché now, but at the time, the idea of a silent, unstoppable, faceless killer was terrifying. By now it’s beaten to death so much and copied and imitated and ripped off- even by itself. Seven sequels clearly diluted whatever power it had, so for me part of the challenge and fun was that Michael Myers as a character is one of the few really iconic horror characters that has come along in a long, long time. You can say ‘Frankenstein’ or ‘Michael Myers’ and people know then-they’re equally well-know—and that’s what was attractive to me. I could dust him off and find a new angle that would make him scary again.

“I think that [in the last ‘Halloween’ films] Michael Myers was just played by a stuntman who fit the suit. But I needed someone who could really act and bring something to it. I didn’t want to just do a bunch of gags with a guy in a suit falling off things, getting lit on fire and blowing up. This time, you really get inside the head of this guy. That’s what I find scary in real life and I tried to base my version on real-life scenarios. Picture anybody—picture Jeffrey Dahmer. If you just see a picture of the guy sitting there, you say, ‘Well, he’s not scary.’ Then you feed all the backstory into it and suddenly you see that kind of mild-mannered guy with glasses in a completely different light. Now he seems completely terrifying.

“In John’s movie, the origin of Michael Myers is very vague. They show him as a little kid for about five minutes and then you sort of hear a little bit of backstory that’s told to you by Dr. Loomis. But you don’t see any of it and you don’t experience any of it, so I started from the beginning. You can watch the first hour of my movie and if you didn’t know it was ‘Halloween,’ you wouldn’t know. It really delves deep into the whole creation of this monster before he becomes the icon everybody knows today.”

Now, I would not profess to be a fan of remakes. But then again, I can’t say that I would arbitrarily denounce them like the young man I mentioned earlier. Many, though, seem to feel very strongly when a film they love is being redone. I can say that I might be a little skeptical in those instances, as well. And was initially when I first heard about the “Halloween” revamp nearly a year ago. I love this film, and yes, a bad redo could lessen the luster of the film and the character, although the sequels have certainly messed with Michael’s luster more than I think this remake will. But I’m going to give it a chance. I like what I’ve read about it. I like what I’ve heard about it. I want to see it for myself. I think I will be pleasantly surprised.

Besides, John Carpenter himself has given his blessing to the film. According to an interview with Carpenter in the Summer 2007 issue of “MovieMaker” magazine, he was asked about giving his blessing.

“Sure, why not?” Carpenter said. “We talked about it. He told me what he had in mind, and I just said, ‘Make it your own film, man. Don’t worry about the original. Just do what you want to do.’ ” And that’s the thing, Zombie is making it his own. He isn’t making a 2007 version of a John Carpenter film.

Yet, rest assured, if I even felt remotely like that young man from earlier and I thought it would mess with the mystique of such a great, almost perfect film, I just wouldn’t watch it. I wouldn’t take the chance of it ruining things for me, I wouldn’t take the chance of thinking less of it. And I certainly wouldn’t arbitrarily claim in a movie theatre full of people without having any knowledge of what I was talking about that the movie would be bad.

Can you tell that bothers me???

Okay, that’s what I was thinking that night. And the more I thought about it, the more I was thinking about remakes in general. Are they good? Are they bad? What’s the point?

I think it’s apparent that I am open to the idea of a remake. However, I certainly don’t think they will always turn out well. Truth be told, I don’t know that I actually have seen a lot of remakes. But the following discussion will be based on ones that I have seen (for the most part anyway).

Let’s start with something not so good – “The Omen.” The 2006 version starred Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles. Now, that’s not why I didn’t like the film. Julia Stiles in one of my favorites. Her turn in “10 Things I Hate About You” is one of her better performances (please don’t hold that against me). (Insert image from that movie here). I also like Liev, who was pretty good in the “Scream” films, and I enjoyed his performance in “Kate and Leopold.” What bothered me about the film is that it seemed to me that the studio was looking for something to coincide with a particular date. See, this film was released on 6/6/06. Get it? 666? Which is the whole point of the film. A child is born with the mark of the Devil on his scalp. But beyond that, there was nothing new. It simply rehashed the original film. Watching it, it seemed like I had seen it before. Oh, wait! I had, back in the 70s when it first came out. It added nothing to the story and wasn’t even nearly as good. It simply had two current actors in present day trying to get the current generation to see it. Why not just re-release the original? It’s a better film.

What about “Psycho”? Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn? Are you kidding me? What the hell is the point of remaking a classic? No point whatsoever. Like I said, it’s a classic. Anthony Perkins is Norman Bates. That’s it. That’s where it should end. It’s Hitchcock for God’s sake. Of the Hitchcock films I have seen, I can’t imagine any of them needing remakes. People, just go out and rent his films. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed. What is interesting about Hitchcock is that he actually remade himself. He first made “The Man Who Knew Too Much” during his days in Great Britain, but then after coming to the States to make films, he eventually remade that film. I have not seen either version, so I can’t comment on them, but I’d have to guess that if someone remakes his own film it would be for the better.

Another Hitchcock film I haven’t seen the remake of is “Rear Window.” At some point, I’m guessing after his accident, Christopher Reeve starred in a remake. Honestly, I only discovered this film this year and didn’t know until after the fact that there actually was a remake. And after seeing the original with James Stewart and Grace Kelly (see previous post about the greatest movie entrance I’ve ever seen), I see no reason to see, much less film, a remake.

Now, I saw a take off of the “Rear Window” story earlier this year, and would recommend it to anyone. This film, “Disturbia,” starred Shia LeBeouf, who is definitely one of today’s more talented young actors. Actually, he is who I want to play the part of Dean in my movie, "To Dream of Life." If you haven’t seen Shia, go check him out. And I don’t mean go see “Transformers.” That movie was fun, but certainly didn’t highlight Shia’s skills. See “Disturbia,” “The Battle of Shaker Heights” and “A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints.” For that matter, check him out in "Bobby" as well.

Okay, I got off topic a little bit. Sorry.

Remakes, I think, can be enjoyable films. I enjoyed the Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch version of “The Italian Job” which was originally released in 1969, and I also liked “Ocean’s Eleven” which originally hit theatres in 1960. But I can’t make judgments there because I haven’t seen the originals. What I can say, is that the remakes were fun. Whether they were necessary, I don’t know. Had I known they were remakes I might have sought out the originals first. And still may. When I do, I might just change my mind as to how much I liked the new versions.

A good remake? “Stephen King’s The Shining.” I know, I know. You probably disagree. Jack Nicholson was so, SO amazing in the Stanley Kubrick classic. I can’t argue with that. But they changed the story too much. See, here’s where fanboys and fangirls get upset when a book they loved is adapted for the big screen and doesn’t follow the same story. The big difference with the Kubrick version and the book was the ending. That was upsetting. The hedge maze was scary, and Nicholson succumbing to the cold seems a great way for him to meet his end. However, the book’s topiary garden coming to life and the actually ending was, to me, much better. Therefore, I enjoyed the TV miniseries better than the Kubrick version. However, I think they miscast with the kid in the TV version. He wasn’t very good. But at least they stuck to the story. Oh, and the original version, I once read that Stephen King didn't care for it because watching Nicholson made you think the main character was crazy even before he got to the hotel.

They also remade “Salem’s Lot.” It was originally a TV miniseries with David Soul, which was very good. I really dug it because I loved that the main vampire resembled the Dracula-like being in “Nosferatu.” Very scary. But I wasn’t a Stephen King reader when I saw the original, which appeared in 1979. It was then remade in 2004 with Rob Lowe. I haven’t seen it, but want to very much.

See, I open to remakes.

I would even like to see some movies remade. I would like to see a remake of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I can hear you all screaming right now. Okay, okay. Are you done cursing me yet? Please let me explain.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is another movie that I just discovered this year. I know, I know. I’m 36. I love movies. I should have seen it already. It’s been on TV every year since creation it seems. But yes, I just watched it for the first time this year. And I liked it. I thought it was a good movie, shot very well. It definitely looked good. I especially liked the part where camera views the starry sky and as the angels are talking, different stars are lighting up. Very nice touch. But I didn’t fully like the story. I thought it focused too much on George’s life and the impact he had, and then in 15 minutes we see how the town and world was different without him there. That little bit of time just wasn’t enough for me to see the negative impact of George not being alive. I’d like to see a remake that focused more on that part of the story. I think this could make a great two-night, four-hour mini-series that airs on Christmas Eve. Holy crap!!! Maybe I should write that. Hmmmmmm…

But do you see what I’m getting at? If there is a reason for a remake, then it can be worthwhile.

What have you seen remade that you have or haven’t liked?

My Future????????

Forward to the end of this clip to where the Theatre Manager walks by sweeping the floor... Is this my future???????????

Got Fluid?

Fear This!

One thing you guys who have decided to join me on the tour de force of what are the inane, trivial, professional and sometimes personal moments of my life should be aware of is that there will be times when I digress into a nostalgic state of remembrance in regards to my dad. Most of you know he died back in Feb. '06. And what happens is that on any given day anything, and I mean anything, can trigger a memory about him. When that happens, if it has a nice story to go along with it or a humorous anecdote, I'll share that with you. You will also notice, that while I will be telling you stories about my dad, you will realize that I am also telling you stories about my best friend, because in the last five or so years of his life, that's what he became.

Well, today I have story #1. I was in Lexington to take a test so that I could get my Food Handlers Permit. Yes, I am now certified by the Lexington Board of Health to handle food that will be consumed by perfect strangers (a wonderful story on this will be forthcoming in the next day or so). Anyway, I decided to stop by the Joe Craft Center at the University of Kentucky to visit my bestest buddy Donna. Donna and I go way back to 1992 when I was a student worker at the UK payroll department. Anyway, I hadn't seen Donna in a while, so I decided to go by there and see how see was doing.

This was the first time I had ever been in the Joe Craft Center, and let me say I was enpressed. At least with the lobby and such. I didn't get a tour of the practice areas or the like (Donna, you need to give me that tour soon!), but it reminded of a time when my dad, a number of years ago, probably around '97 or '98 my dad came to Lexington to visit me.

We went down, as I did today, to visit Donna and chat a little bit. This was back in the days when most of the offices for Athletics were in the dreary subterranean hallways of Memorial Coliseum. My dad loved Kentucky. He would buy just about any type of anything that said Kentucky on it. When I worked in UK Athletics, I often gave T-shirts I was given to him. He loved it, and he often told me to tell Donna to get him something, anything. So, that day, he was wearing a UK sweatshirt and cap and ready to go.

Since it was my dad's first time in Memorial Coliseum, he was eager to take a look around, so Donna gave him the tour. As we rounded the corner beside Bill Keightley's former office/equipment room, we spotted Jamaal Magloire. I happened to have a camera with me and Jamaal was nice enough to let us snap a shot of him. Then as we made our way down the hall and glanced in the training room, we saw Scott Padget, Nazr Mohammad, and Cameron Mills. Well, dad wanted his photo taken with them, and they, too, were more than happy to oblige. When it comes down to it, those guys simply made my dad's day. And if I could, I'd love to personally thank them for that.

Dad and Mills




Dad and Padgett




Dad and Nazr




You might notice that there is something on my dad's forehead. He had purchased some UK temporary tattoos that day. He also got one, which he jokingly put on his forehead. It said, "Fear This".

Please don't ask me to explain it. Just know my dad was fun that way.

Dammit, I miss him...

Pure Grace

Okay, so Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" was on TV today, and it reminded me of something I'd like to share.

This movie co-starred Grace Kelly. Of course, before seeing this movie I had heard of her, she was a princess for goodness' sake. But I had never seen her in a movie. Then I saw "Rear Window" back in February or so. Many critics have claimed that her entrance in this movie, the moment when the audience first sees her, is one of the best character entrances in movie history. From all the movies I've seen in my life, I have to agree.

Grace Kelly was so beautiful and a wonderful actress. It's a shame she had to give up acting when she married the Prince of Monaco.

Anyway, here is the entrance she makes in "Rear Window."

What do you think?

At the Movies

In all the years I've been working, I had always vowed that I would never work in food service. It wasn't so much that I thought I was above that type of job, I mean I cleaned out the below-groundlevel trenches at a faucet chroming plant for a couple weeks one summer, but I think it was always that I didn't want to deal with food or the customers.

Well, at the ripe old age of 36, I have found my way into a job that is now allowing me this pleasure. Granted, I don't have to fry burgers or anything like that, but working at a movie theatre has afforded me the opportunity to serve up food to hungry patrons on their way into the hottest new movies. It's rather easy actually. Scoop up some popcorn here, fill a cup with Coca Cola there, maybe even sell a big pickle (yes, people actually do buy and eat the pickles).

But the thing I am hating about this new adventure is the customers. It's like what Randal said in "Clerks," the job would be a lot better if it weren't for the customers.

I can count on at least once during every shift behind the concession counter a customer making some kind of rude or hateful comment about the prices of the concessions. Yes, they are over-priced, but that is how the theatre makes its money. But what these customers don't understand is that I am not coming in and setting the prices myself. I don't get a cut of it, and frankly, they don't have to buy any of the items we offer. One night, very seriously, a man told me after buying sodas and candy for about 5 kids, that we were robbing him. I just smiled and told him to enjoy his movie. It's what you have to do to get by -- smile and let it roll off your back.

That, plus the fact that we are supposed to try to upsell (convince the customer to buy a bigger size if available), reminded me of a scene from the movie "Ghost World." In the following clip, go to the point with 6:44 left and watch as Enid goes through what I go through.



The movie theatre concession business is very much like that.

Welcome

I would like to welcome everyone to my new weblog. This is a place for friends and family to keep up with what I am doing, how things are going and also get my latest thoughts on anything and maybe everything.

I am sure that not everyone cares about those things, but I hope that some of you do. My problem often is not e-mailing everyone I should as often as I should. I really do love to keep in touch with my friends and family, but just can't always find the time. I have a few friends on Myspace and Facebook, but not everyone I want to communicate with have profiles on those sites. So, I thought it would be beneficial to set up this site as a catch all for everyone.

I am going to try to post here every couple days or so as my schedule permits. If you read something that you would like to comment about, please do. If you want to respond in private, please by all means shoot me an e-mail (if you learned of this weblog, then you know my e-mail address).

For now, I am doing well, and I hope everyone else is, too.