Dig It

Today I was out walking the dog and decided to go a different route. The wind was out of control, and I half-expected my dog to be blown away. As we turned the corner, near a cemtery, I notice a worker pushing a wheelbarrow and a shovel. No mystery as to what he might be up to but then it hits me, I don't ever think I've seen someone dig a grave except in the movies. Good Fellows. Kill Bill. Young Frankenstein.

This guy didn't even use a back hoe. Just a shovel and a wheelbarrow. He walked up to the plot, which was marked of with stakes and a rope, and casually started digging the shovel into the ground along the edge; not much, just the tip, to outline. Watched for a while.

Got a rejection letter in the mail, regarding one of my scripts... and life goes on, graves are dug, and flowers are delivered.

The Glitz & Glamour.

Well, I can't really feel too bad about this Monday hangover. I earned it.

Last night I attended the Opening Night Performance of Urinetown:The Musical. My girlfriend is in the cast and the show, which we love, was hysterical! The audience seemed to really enjoy the show, and the cast worked it's collective butt off. I think this show will be a real success, again.

After the show I attended a opening night party with the cast and crew, members of the press, and producers, etc. It was all very different then the storefront theatre, cast party keggers I'm used to. My girl was in her element, chatting with friends, receiving compliments from patrons, and snapping pictures like mad woman. I was her arm candy, that's right. Having nothing whatsoever to do with this production my only purpose was to smile, be supportive, and when people would tell me how talented my girlfriend was I would just grin and reply, "I'm her biggest fan," then chuckle. Oh, the life -

Hail Malthus!

News

Read this...

KabulCrap!

A man converts to a different religion and is facing the death penalty... for changing his religion? What, are we living in the middle ages? What's next? Are we going to do next, burn witches at the stake?

It's amazing to think that stuff like this still goes on in the world. We all sit in our own little corner of the world and think that we have things figured out. Then I read an article that completely knocks me on my butt.

Um... Excuse Me...

... I don't want you to think I'm insensitve. Well, not to your plight, I mean. I understand times are tough. We all have to do what we have to do to survive and all of that jazz. I just wonder if you could move your shopping cart? Please. I'd like to go inside now. Look, I don't want to be a jerk but if I came over to your place and was digging through your trash I wouldn't block your door with my cart. Now, get out of my dumpster and move your crap so I can get into my apartment building... please. Have yourself a pleasant day.

WTF?

"I'll have a Miller Lite... Bottle," announced the unattractive, trashy blonde who probably was once kinda attractive and less trashy.

The bartender looked up from his cocktail-mixing and gave the women a curious glance. "You mean in addition to the wine you're already drinking??

"And give me a glass," added the thirsty, unattractive, trashy blonde .

The bartender obliged the request then went back to his other duties. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the unattractive, trashy blonde pour the majority of the beer into the glass then push the glass away; forgotten. Then he notices the slight bulge underneath the woman's bottom lip.

Tobacco!

The beer was ordered not for the great taste/ less filling refreshment that it offered. No. The bottle was the prize. The unattractive, trashy blonde needed somewhere to spit her Skoal-laced saliva, as if she wasn't unattractive and trashy enough before the dipping!

* Any Tobacco-Dipping Honeys out there who have a problem with this post, and don't feel that this disgusting habit makes them unattractive or trashy should stop... count to 20... okay, um, count to 10... can you count to 3? You know what? Just forget the counting. It'll distract you from the Monster Truck Pull you were watching on Spike TV anyway.

Hello Again

Sometimes I get to the point on a script where I feel the need to step away. I'll just leave it alone - for a few days, a few weeks, a couple months. Get some distance.

Then there are those scripts that I've been 'writing' for years. I'll misplace the script, realize that additional research is needed before I try to complete the piece, get frustrated and shelf the work, or even just get so distracted on other projects that I'll completely forget about the other scripts.

Recently I found a script that I started working on when I first moved to Chicago in 98. I revised it a few years later, and then again a year or so ago. I remember what it was supposed to be about when I originally conceived the idea. Not surprising is the fact that over the years my perception of the central conflict has changed.

The protagonist was given a raw deal. Ambition and promise were not allowed to blossom into reality. The unfairness of it all was tragic. Somehow the hero would find his way. Somehow the Prince would come into his own and save the day. Now, the wizened sage I have become, sees it a little differently. The tragedy is still there but now the truth of the matter is that the protagonist exacerbated matters. He let himself to be victimized. He took the raw deal and allowed it to run his life. He was probably even grateful to have the control taken away from himself. It's so much easier to accept mediocrity when it is someoneelse's fault.

Now You Tell Me...

"The law isn't justice. It's a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be."
-Raymond Chandler