Generic City

"Bring out your dead!"

2009-01-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

So, as I left my place today I was met with the sight of abandon Christmas trees strewn up and down my block as if there was some kind of official tree pick-up day, which by the end of the day it was confirmed that they're definitely is not. It was just such a sad visual, as if everyone was letting go of some happiness all at the same time. Obviously it was something that they all wanted to hold onto since they waited until January 15th to finally let go. I know it's not that big of a deal. People do it every year, but for some reason seeing it this morning really affected me. I don't know why exactly, but the 50+ dying trees decorating the curbs of my block made me feel like hundreds of people all just became a little less happy all at the same time. Is that stupid? I don't know.
I used to live with a couple of roommates in a house in Jackson, Michigan a while back and after Christmas we had left the tree up for so long (luckily, it was artificial) that we decided to keep it up all year round. We even considered redecorating it for different holidays, but that would have just gotten expensive. Eventually, we did end up taking the tree down around October, just in time to have to put it back up two months later, but that's OK, I had moved out by Christmas anyway. I've never thought about it before, but maybe it was because the tree came down. Hmmm...

Checking In...

2008-11-03T15:34:00.000-08:00

A friend recently commented on my lack of activity on this particular site, and I realized that I may be slacking quite a bit. My bad. I don't want people to think that I'm abandoning Generic City again. I've been working really hard on a few things. I was trying to finish up this little Halloween cartoon in time for October 31st (obviously), but I ran into a couple of snags during the designing and it set me back a bit. I'm still working on it, but it doesn't exactly seem like something to release for Christmas, so I may sit on it for a while. I've also been working on a second (or is it third?) website to move most of the posts that I end up writing here that have less to do with me and more to do with movies, clips, toons, news, whatever to another forum and make this back into more of a personal journal, if you will. Hopefully, within the next week or so I will be back in full stride and all will be right with the world again. For those of you who still visit Generic City to see if anything's changed, thank you and really appreciate your interest. Take care for now.

McCain pimps himself out

2008-11-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

John McCain makes a last minute effort to curry support for the upcoming election by poking fun at himself on SNL. Poke all the fun you want, that guy's still got something loose upstairs.

Ferrell and Palin rock SNL

2008-10-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

As if Tina Fey's Palin wasn't enough, Will Ferrell's Bush makes an appearance with her in this latest hilarious SNL opening. I going to go ahead and say that this clip will definitely be the jewel in this season's political crown for SNL. Enjoy.

Tina Does Palin

2008-10-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Tina Fey takes another crack at VP candidate, Sarah Palin. This time around, it's off to the Vice Presidential Debates -minus the talent portion.

Family Guy Does Office Space

2008-10-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

This Sunday's Family Guy borrows from the one the best scenes from the movie Office Space. From the first three seconds the music started playing I was already laughing as I made the connection. Classic.

Simon's Cat

2008-10-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

From the mind of Simon Tofield of Tandem Films comes the award-winning Simon's Cat. The U.K. director and animator has really found a way to capture just how annoying and overbearing a cat can be, like only a man living under cat oppression can.
[Here is my personal favorite entitled 'Let Me In.']

Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager

2008-10-08T06:08:00.001-07:00

For a while now Blame Society Films has been doing a very popular series of Chad Vader shorts about Darth Vader's less than successful brother. Since the initial series, they've released a number of follow-up videos starring poor ol' Chad, including grocery training videos and Vader's rendition of the cult internet hit, Chocolate Rain [Chad's version here]. Here is the first video from the original series: Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager.

Tina Palin: Round 2

2008-09-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

Tina Fey graced the SNL stage once again with buddy Amy Poehler (who is also leaving) to open the Saturday night sketch show with her rendition of VP candidate, Sarah Palin. This time as a rib on Palin's recent interview with CBS News' Katie Couric. After stuttering and stumbling through an interview where she just continued to reiterate points that were already discussed, Palin topped it all off with her response to Katie's question on examples of McCain's track record with, "I'll try to find ya' some and I'll bring 'em to ya'." The could-be leader of the free world, ladies and gentlemen -Let's give her hand...

Anyhoo, here is Palin's actual interview with Katie Couric

...and Tina Fey's version of the 'follow-up' interview

Money!? That's SO last year...

2008-09-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

So, apparently, Visa is offering a new service to businesses in search of alternative payroll methods -The Visa Payroll card. They say it will cut costs from paper usage and manpower and be more secure than paychecks. The way I see it, the more of my payroll that is held by computers through a credit, the more opportunities someone has to tap in to that money. If this catches on it's only a matter of time before I don't even SEE my money anymore. It will all be 'credits' just like in the movies.

According to Visa: "The Visa Payroll card is a reloadable prepaid card that provides employers and their employees with a convenient, low-cost alternative to payroll checks. It enables businesses to help reduce costs associated with paper-based payroll processes, including producing, handling, and processing paper checks. It also helps businesses avoid check-related fraud losses and theft. For employees without a bank account, the Visa Payroll card is a valuable employee benefit that helps avoid the high cost of check cashing, while providing convenience and safety.

The Visa Payroll card is welcome everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. So employees can use them at millions of locations worldwide, including Internet and mail order/telephone order (MOTO) merchants, Visa ATMs, and Visa member locations. Adding Interlink® and/or Plus® brand marks on the Visa Payroll card provides expanded acceptance for cardholders."

You can read more about the Visa Payroll card here.

Hole In The Wall

2008-09-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I came across a game show that's so incredibly bad that if they were trying to parody a game show they couldn't have done a better than this piece of work. Popular in Japan, Hole In The Wall has moved through Australia and the U.K., finally rearing it's ugly head in the U.S. I have to say that I honestly just feel bad for the contestants and to add to the train wreck that is this show, nobody even scored a single point until the last seconds of the 'competition'. Now that's exciting! And the poor woman at the end...you know what, just watch these short clips and see for yourself.

THE FIRST ROUND OF THE NIGHT

THE FINAL BONUS ROUND

***That poor woman's face! Man, that DOES look like fun...***

Tina come's home

2008-09-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

She was SNL's first female head writer and eventually assumed the mantle of co-anchor for the show's staple segment, Weekend Update (later also co-anchoring the first female team on Weekend Update with buddy Amy Poehler). Not resting on her laurels, she conquered the big screen by penning and starring in the hit movie Mean Girls. Making the transition in 2006 from sketch comedy to situation comedy she went on to create and star in NBC's hilarious 30 Rock. So, what has Tina Fey set her sights on now? How about the Vice-Presidency?

To open SNL's highest rated season premiere in years, Tina comes back to 8H for a role she was born to play portraying Republican VP candidate, Sarah Palin. The sketch has created quite a buzz for Fey's dead-on performance. The $60,000 question is now that her return performance has become such a hit, will she continue to carry the mantle of SNL's newest in a long line of political satires (starting all the way back with Danny Aykroyd's Richard Nixon in 1975) or pass it off to someone else. According to Lorne Michaels, he would prefer to have Tina keep the train rolling, but apparently already has a backup and a second backup in case that doesn't pan out. Hopefully, though, Mrs. Fey will be able to find time in her busy schedule to spend a few minutes with us every Saturday night.

The Story of Emmie-Rose

2008-09-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

While trying to track down a friend of mine from Michigan, I came across a blog that he and his wife, Stephanie had created for their daughter, Emmie-Rose. I decided to take a look and see what it was about. I was heart-broken to find that Emmie-Rose was born in July of 2006 seventeen weeks premature and quickly developed complications. It was a gut-wrenching battle for the two of them, but in the end their sweet little girl didn't make it past that September. What makes this horrible story even worse is that she had fought on long passed what the doctors had predicted, but in the last days the hospital refused to continue to feed her against the multiple requests from Chris and Stephanie, a decision supported by the ethics committee.

The ETHICS committee said stop feeding the little angel, she's fading anyway. What the hell?! I know it's been almost exactly two years to the date that all of this took place and I wish I could have known about what was going on to give them my support, but to this day they still continue to write little Emmie-Rose at 23weeks and never let her forget that she's in their hearts.

Virtual Arachnaphobia

2008-09-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

This has got to be one of the creepiest things I've ever seen using Flash animation. Tomas Eriksson of ONEMOTION.com, a Flash artist from the home of IKEA and porn, Sweden, has created an amazingly realistic interactive spider using the simple program that Flash is. When I say 'interactive' I mean IN-TER-AC-TIVE.

This thing is so well thought out. It reacts to everything you do with your mouse. It follows that cotton-pickin' thing everywhere. Try grabbing it by it's body, or just by one leg. You can even change the physical specifications on it to best suit your arachnaphilic tastes. The only way this baby even seems to give you a break is if you drop an insect on the page [spacebar]. Heck, you can even change the angle of the plane he crawls around on. It's just so cool, even for an arachnaphobe such as myself. I am both impressed and exceedingly creeped out at the same time, but I just had to share something this cool. You've got to see it and play around with it to believe it. Enjoy.

Sesame Street CENCORED

2008-08-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

Because sometimes it's not what you say, but what people want to hear.

Either way this is just funny.

WICKED

2008-08-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

After five years of waiting I finally went to see Wicked last night at the Pantages Theatre in downtown Hollywood and I must say that I was not disappointed. For the few of you who may not know the story of Wicked, it basically paints the relationship between Glinda -Good Witch of the North and Elphaba -Wicked Witch of the West before they became the characters that we all know from The Wizard of Oz; from their first encounter in school to Elphaba's watery end. The whole production was so enchanting that you just get lost in what's going on. The main character of Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) was played by the understudy, Marcie Dodd, instead of Teal Wicks who is the current name to that role and I don't know if that made a difference in the performance or not, but I wouldn't mind going back to see if Teal brings anything more substantial to the character. As much as I was enthralled in the story of Elphaba's transformation from young outcast to wicked witch, I have to say that Erin Mackey stole the show for me with a hilarious turn as Glinda (the youngest in the history of the show). Her physicality and the tone of her delivery was just so over the top that I got to the point where I would laugh just seeing her. The whole cast was fantastic and it was just such an amazing experience. I would definitely recommend going to see it if you get the chance. ---What are you waiting for? GO! NOW!

TROPIC THUNDER

2008-08-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

Well, Tropic Thunder finally opened last night and I couldn't wait to see it. After seeing it, though, I can honestly say it wasn't what I expected. Still a very funny movie, but it didn't develop the characters in the direction that I had anticipated. A little vague, huh? Well, I don't want to influence any expectations anyone else may have before they go see it, so I will just say that I'm glad I went to see it, but I doubt that I would buy it on DVD. Robert Downey, Jr. is as great as ever and Tom Cruise has an unexpectedly funny role that you just have to see to appreciate. I ran into Terry Crews at the theater as I was going in with my popcorn (free popcorn Wednesdays at the AMC). He ended up sitting right behind me and he DEFINITELY enjoyed the movie. Afterwards he hung out in the lobby and talked to approaching fans and posed for some pictures. He was really approachable and friendly and seemed to really enjoy interacting with everyone who came up to him. He may still be an 'Oh...that guy!' actor, but he's not afraid to play the fool and that just makes him a funny guy worthy of some props.

HELEN SLATER

2008-07-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I had a friend back East ask me if I had seen any celebrities lately. The truth is, I honestly can never remember who I've seen when somebody asks me anymore. So, for those of my friends who are always asking I'm going to just go ahead and post it whenever I do, just like I used to way back when. Nothing fancy, just a quick entry. So, anyway, today I saw Helen Slater (of Supergirl fame) at the market. That's all.

SIMON, JESSICA, EDGAR, AND KEVIN

2008-07-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

The Arclight in downtown Hollywood hosted a special screening of the BBC series SPACED to coincide with the long-overdue U.S. release of SPACED on DVD. As I mentioned previously I really wanted to go to this, but I wasn't sure if I would have a chance since I just found out the day before. I thought, "What the heck" though and took a chance. Originally Mike had shown some interest in wanting to go along, but decided after some debate that he needed to work on some Pedal stuff that he had put off. A couple of other friends mentioned wanting to go, but I never got a definite answer, so I decided to just go ahead and go by myself. It...was...AWESOME! Not only did I get there in time to beat some of the crowd, but I actually got to talk to Simon Pegg himself preceded by a high-five from both him and director Edgar Wright. I'll admit I got a little fan-boy giddy. To top it all off, after a series of odd events I actually ended up sitting in the freakin' front row with the panel seated in director's chairs a few feet out and let me tell you I was nowhere near one of the first ones to get in. How awesome is that?! Prior to the screening, Kevin Smith (who was moderating the panel) came out and introduced the co-creators and stars of the series Simon Pegg and Jessica (Stevenson) Hynes and director Edgar Wright. After a quick intro they screened a few episodes (with an amazing audience response, heck I've seen most of the episodes at least three or four times and I was still laughing out loud) and then the four came back up for a Q&A session. It was just a great 3 hours. Aside for my love of the series, my main reason for going down to the event was that unlike the celebrities I see all the time around here, Simon and Jessica reside in the U.K. and the odds of running into them again are not very good. I believe Edgar's actually staying with Quentin Tarantino right now, so that's always a possibility. My only other shot will probably be when Simon, Edgar, and Nick Frost (and possibly Jessica, you never know) do there U.S. tour to promote the third installment of their "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy", The World's End. I'm sure I'm just going to start to babble on now still riding on that wave of exhilaration from the evenings events, so I'm just going to end it here. My only regret is that because I was so sure that it was a long shot that I would even get to attend, I hadn't charged my camera battery up and it died prematurely -NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! [A quick side note -It was also Simon Pegg's anniversary tonight and his better half accompanied him to the event. Poor girl.]

'SPACED' ON DVD IN THE U.S. -FINALLY!

2008-07-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

I am very excited today because after waiting forever one of my favorite TV series, SPACED is finally being released to Region 1 DVD (At last, the circle is now complete). For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, SPACED is the creation Simon Pegg and Jessica (Stevenson) Hynes about two strangers pretending to be a couple to get a flat in North London. It originally aired on BBC Channel 4 sandwiched between Friends and Frasier (not a bad time slot).

[SPACED clip 1 (zombies)]

[SPACED clip 2 (Star Wars)]

[SPACED clip 3 (Gunfight)]

I became interested in the series following the release of Shaun of the Dead, which Simon also wrote and stars in (along with Hot Fuzz), and I just fell in love with it. I've probably seen the entire series at least four or five times, one time in one long block (in my defense, the show only ran 14 episodes split into two separate series). It also stars Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) as his gun-happy best mate, Mike. Rounding out the cast is Julia Deakin, Katy Carmichael, and Mark Heap (Simon's co-star on the sketch show Big Train, another very funny show that I can't get enough of).

[clips from Big Train]

All of the episodes of Spaced are directed by Egdar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz -starting to see a pattern here?). The show is just ripe with pop culture references and obscure jokes, ironically enough usually nodding to American films. Just as a fair warning, this is the kind of show where you're either the kind of person who gets or you're not. There's not really an in-between. Despite it's low episode count and unavailability in the U.S. market, SPACED has developed an amazingly large fan base including a modest celebrity following (long live the internet). Kevin Smith describes SPACED as, "...kinda like watching a Kevin Smith film if Kevin Smith had any real talent." I just found out, as a matter of fact, that Smith will be hosting a Q&A tomorrow night at the Arclight Cinema to compliment the U.S. release of the DVD. Simon, Jessica and Edgar will all be there. It should be pretty cool. I'm going to attempt to go, though it appears that people will be coming out in droves according to the message boards, but since I regrettably won't be attending the SDCC this year (where they will also appear) I'm hoping to make it to this, but I'm not holding my breath. For now, though, I have my Twiglets and some Jaffa cakes and I'm just going to kick back and enjoy a little SPACED.

DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG [PART 2]

2008-07-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

So, funny thing: I found (and by 'found', I mean Mike told me about it) this new video online on Saturday and thought it was really cool, so I wrote a post telling everyone about it so they could also enjoy it. You may have read it, it's the...one...before this...one. Well, come Sunday evening I happen to read that the video is only going to be available to watch until midnight Sunday night. That means unless you happened to read the post and watch it in that fairly small window of opportunity, you've probably missed it. Fret not, though (who SAYS that?!) creator Joss Whedon (that's right -Buffy and Firefly, Joss Whedon) assures us that it will be making it's way to an extras-packed DVD sometime in the near future.

In the meantime, iTunes has acquired exclusive rights to distribute the three acts through the iTunes store. If you haven't seen it yet, why not just check out the first act. I'm pretty sure you'll want to see the rest after that. I've never purchased ANYTHING from the iTunes store before, but you better believe that my iPod is sporting three new videos as we speak (yeah!). You can still go to DrHorrible.com and check out everything else, but the videos...not so much. That's my bad.

DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG

2008-07-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier today Mike asked me if I was familiar with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, to which I replied, "Umm...no..." He told me that an acquaintance of his, Felicia Day, was in it, which I thought was cool, but when he said that Neil Patrick Harris was also in it the deal was sealed. Since his breakout cameo in 2004's Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (or in my eyes his hilarious portrayal of Lance in 2002's Undercover Brother) NPH has shaken off the stigma of going through life forever being known as Doogie Howser, M.D. and he has come out the other side a tour de force in the realm of comedy. Just watch the pilot episode of How I Met Your Mother and tell me he wasn't stir-fried awesome. As much as I enjoy watching him steal a scene, it's nice to see him take the lead and just run with it as Dr. Horrible. Oh, and Nathan Fillion is in it as well, portraying the narcissistic hero, Captain Hammer (ironically enough, Nathan also happens to be a fan-favorite to play Captain America in the upcoming Marvel movie). So, where was I...Oh, yes, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 3-part tale of a diabolical genius who shares with the world (via his VLOG) his aspirations to gain membership in the Evil League of Evil and, to a lesser extent, total world domination. The monkey wrench in his plan is the fairly heroic Captain Hammer, who is not only his nemesis in the battle of good and evil, but also for the affections of his beautiful laundry buddy, who he painfully pines for with the shy awkwardness of a twelve year old boy. I've watched it twice today already and must say I'm hooked, but don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. And for those of you who are wondering from the title if this is a musical or not: Oh, yeah! Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog -it's gonna be lengen.........wait for it.........DARY! (That's right. I went there)

THE DARK KNIGHT

2008-07-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

"Wow!" is the first word that comes to mind when wanting to describe The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan has once again found a way to keep a sense of believability to this series while still being amazingly true to the fantastical characters of it's comic book counterpart. Half-way through I actually forgot that I was watching a comic book movie and felt like I was enthralled in a noir crime drama. I became less concerned with the characters and more concerned with the consequences. Plenty of action, of course, but the drama, the comedy, the pain, the suspense -it was all there. Just a good solid movie.
How can I say anything about The Dark Knight and not mention the late Heath Ledger. To go in with as much anticipation and expectations as I did and come out blown away is no easy task. More than likely you're setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Ladies and Gentleman -Mr. Ledger does not disappoint. When it was first announced that he would be playing the part of The Joker in the Batman sequel I was more than mildly skeptical. As images and clips began to emerge the feeling was slightly quelled -but, c'mon! He barely seems anything like The Joker that we all know and love. EXACTLY. For years creators have been focusing on the clown side of The Joker: the gadgets, the themes, his odd sense of style. Nolan's Joker has none of that. His only agenda? Chaos, pure and simple...and sharing it with as many people as he can. Once the actual trailers came out for the movie, you could see what they were going for. "This might be pretty good." Fast forward to this Thursday night watching the first scene of the movie and I thought, "Well this Joker's pretty cool", but after the 'Disappearing Pencil Trick' I was gone. This wasn't your father's Clowned Prince of Crime anymore. Oh, no. This guy was a lunatic in every sense of the word and, honestly, I spent the rest of the movie with tingling anticipation and uncertainty as to what he may do next. Bravo, Mr. Ledger, bravo. You've re-defined the archetype. My only disappointment now is that I want more and that just ain't gonna happen. But like another great Joker once said, "If you're gonna go...go with a smile!" All that's left to see now is if his performance was Oscar-worthy enough for that little gold statue that sects of the Hollywood community are pushing for his performance to get. Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see, unlike The Dark Knight, which you can go and see right now. Go! I'll wait...
***An interesting footnote: Though we'll all still be able to enjoy Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (the unfinished scenes for his character will be played by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farell -I am not making that up), his final completed performance will stand as his genius portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight. Ironically enough, the first role of his career was in Clowning Around, which is about -you guessed it...clowns.***

Bloody days and Dark Knights

2008-07-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe this post isn't as ominous as it might sound. Today I decided to go down to a blood drive I'd seen posted around town earlier in the week and spare a pint of O+ for some poor soul who may need a top off. I used to give blood on a regular basis whenever the Red Cross had a drive going on, but it's been a while. I hate being poked with that dang needle, but it's such a small effort for such a critical resource. As I left I remembered that I used to make the extra effort to do nice things for people all the time and it felt great, fund-raising events, volunteering for meals-on-wheels, walk-a-thons, so much stuff that I haven't even considered in years. I guess over time I've gotten jaded and self-involved. I kept turning more and more inward and all but shut myself out of the world around me, and to tell the truth, it's made me miserable. So, with that in mind I've decided to create a new community website (link), one than anyone can join in and post on. Everyday I am going to make a conscious effort to do a "good deed" outside of what I would have already done incidentally and post it daily. I'm hoping this will keep me on track and motivated (the world can be so distracting, you know?) as well as encourage others to jump on and do the same. Just like working out, it's much easier if you have a partner. It doesn't have to be big -maybe drop fifty cents in a donation jar or let somebody who has two items in front of your fifty item trasaction at the supermarket, but a little goes a long way.
Soon after I take this hot pink gauze off of my arm from the blood-letting, I will be off to the Arclight theater in Hollywood for a midnight screening of The Dark Knight (woo-hoo!). I bought my tickets a few weeks back when there were two midnight showings and that has now turned into THIRTEEN sold-out midnight showings at the Arclight...THIRTEEN! Which means that all but one screen in the building will be playing The Dark Knight. But it's not being left out of the midnight movie mayhem -oh, no. That particular screen has been set aside for a Hollywood thrill ride of epic proportions...Mama Mia. How will a Batman movie this anticipated be able to compete with a box office draw like that? Good luck, Mr. Wayne...good luck.

Well, isn't this a surprise...

2008-07-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

So, today I decided to check out my buddy Justin's site and see what kind of crazy things he's been up to lately. I watched whatever newer stuff I hadn't seen yet, and decided to delve into some of his other videos when I came across this (link). Now you'd think that someone in my social circle would have mentioned something to me about this in the couple of months, but somehow I have remained completely oblivious. The only question now is...how do I respond? Hmmmm.........

The New Iron Age

2008-05-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

So earlier today, which I guess by now would be yesterday, I was working on an animation project for a friend, when I received a phone call from Mike (you all know Mike, right?). He was all excited about something that he had just found out, which by now he should have already mentioned on 'Pedal'. Apparently Angela Kinsey from NBC's The Office had written a post and mentioned how much she just loves this thing called "project:pedal". Mike was ecstatic, and I must say I was pretty hyped up for him. That was awesome. That good feeling rode us out till the night when we had reserved tickets to see a Thursday night screening of Iron Man at the Arclight theater in downtown Hollywood.
I have to say, for as excited as we were to see it and the amount of anticipation that we had built up for us, it amazingly did not let us down. I going to go out on a limb and say best comic book adaptation, yet. Yeah, yeah, Batman Begins was a great, solid movie, but I think this was just a more enjoyable, adrenalyn-rushed movie. As a coupe de grace Jon Favreau and Robert Downey, Jr. came running into the theater as they were about to start the film to give a quick hello. That was CRAZY! Now, Mike has a bit of a 'man-crush' on Robert Downey, Jr. so he was both freaking out with excitement and exasperated that he forgot his camera. What were you thinking, Mike! It's the freakin' Arclight. Anything can happen! Heck, I met Will Ferrell there the first time I went and Leonardo DeCaprio and Tobey Macguire sat near us for Sin City. You just never know. They also had the actual suit RDJ wore in the movie, but again...no camera. I tried to take a few pictures with a phone. We'll have to see how the resolution turns out. But all in all a crazy-great night.
Plus, it was cool to just hang out with Mike again. I always have fun when we hang out together, but at some point it just stopped happening. Heck, we moved out here from Michigan together, have a lot of similar interests, and have shared a small apartment for over four years and we've become all but strangers. It's really kind of sad. I love Mike and we have fun hanging out, but it just doesn't really happen. I don't remember the last time we actually did anything together. Oh wait, now I do...it was also Iron Man related, but NOT in the way you think. That is NOT quite as awesome a story, so we'll just leave that be to laughed at on a later day. Wow...
One last little post-script, and this is mostly for the comic book fans out there -DO NOT get up until after the credits. Believe me, you will NOT be sorry. I told Mike that I thought the ending was perfect, they showed me it could be even...more perfecter. Mike's bladder, unfortunately, decided that he would not be sticking around for the credits and he missed it (stupid bladder!). People not in the know may think it's cool, but those who know will probably end up like myself: Screaming, "Whoa!" and just sitting there with my mouth dropped. Either way, you're going to love this movie.

GET SMART 2008

2008-01-29T23:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight we got a chance to catch a studio screening of the upcoming movie version of Get Smart on the Warner Bothers lot. I believe it comes out on June 20th of this year, so you still have a while to catch it. As with most pre-screenings, I'm not really allowed to divulged much about the movie, but I felt Steve Carrell did a fantastic job taking on the role of C.O.N.T.R.O.L. agent Maxwell Smart. Although reminiscent of the original series, this movie isn't so much a remake as a retooling of the original concept. There are the obligatory nods to the TV version, but this definitely isn't your daddy's Get Smart. It's kind of like comparing New Coke with Coke Classic -A lot of the basic elements are there, but it definitely has it's own flavor. Take that as you will, but me personally, I loved New Coke. Great, now this talk of New Coke -or "Coke 2" as it would later be called- has me feening for something that no longer exists. Don't you hate that?!

'Ring'...it's for me!

2007-10-21T20:33:00.002-07:00

So, I'm sitting at my desk at home today and I get a phone call from a number I don't recognize, but I answer it anyway, and the voice says"Billy? Hey, it's me Rob. How's it going, man?" It had been a few days, so I figured he'd forgotten about it, but sure enough Rob Schneider called and we talked for a bit. He wanted to know what I thought of the movie (Big Stan) and we talked about all his training and the breaks and bruises he suffered trying make the fights more authentic. The fights are great in the movie, by the way. He kicks some major butt. I was surprised. I don't know when the movie is actually going to hit the theaters, but go watch it. I'm living proof that he actually cares about what his fans think. We actually had a pretty cool talk. He's a real down to earth guy. I guess stuff like that is one of the few things that are a perk of being in Hollywood instead of back home. But I still miss home...

Hey! Guess who I met today?

2007-10-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

So, last night I saw a screening in Burbank for a new Rob Schneider movie called Big Stan (where he has to learn how to fight to keep from being violated in prison!) and I had a few questions about the movie when I left, so I said, "Well, next time I see him I'll have to ask him." Well, who should I talk to today but Mr. Schneider himself (what are the odds, huh?). He was pretty surprised that the movie was even screening, so he actually asked me a few questions himself. So we talked for a few minutes and then he asked if it would be cool if he got my number so he could give me a call later and talk some more. Obviously, I gave it to him, but how cool was that, you know?

Scud, Schrab, Silverman, and Posen

2007-07-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from San Diego Comicon 2007 and it was bittersweet. I had a great time. I got to see the unveiling of the new Iron Man armor for the upcoming movie. Stan Lee brushed by me. The Smallville panel was cool. The Animation Show was a blast. Best of all, though, was my last-minute decision to sit in on the Sarah Silverman panel. To give a little background I have picked up comics on and off for over twenty years now (wow!), but in all that time one comic has stood out above all the others and remains my favorite to this day, even though as it reached it's penultimate climax the series disappeared off the face of the Earth leaving me and everyone else hanging (bummer). Rob Schrab, the creator Scud the Disposable Assassin, left the midwest for Hollywood and is now directing of all things -the Sarah Silverman Show. If I could meet one person in comics this was him and I actually got to get up and ask him, "Hey, where's the rest of my story, pal?!" Okay, so it was a lot nicer than that and Sarah was actually pretty psyched that I asked about Scud, but he said that the rest of the issues are on their way out very soon and then he exclaimed, "...and nobody else knows what I'm talking about..." After the panel was done, I got to talk to Sarah's sister, Laura and Brian Posen. When I mentioned to Brian that my friend and I sat behind him and Patton Oswalt at Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and that it was obvious that they weren't enjoying it, he was like, "Cool...yeah, that movie sucked!" After I finished talking to Brian I caught up with Rob as he was taking off and I told him what a big fan I was and he asked me if I was coming back on Sunday. I said I wasn't sure, but he said if I do to come to the Image Comics booth. That he had some posters there and that he'd autograph some stuff for me. Unfortunately, by Sunday I was dead broke and as much as I was dying to catch up with Rob at the booth, there was just no way it was going to happen. It was heartbreaking.
Overall it was a cool experience, but that last little bit just ate away at me all the way home. Well, what can you do, right? Oh, and Sarah accidentally got punched in the face by a guy wearing a Hellboy fist and he got snatched up by security so hard that he was literally pulled out of his shoes and it broke up the party. Ass...

Shut up, baby. I know it!

2007-04-03T03:23:00.000-07:00

So, we went to downtown Hollywood to watch our friend Eric's band, A Faulty Chomosome, play at a little bar off the strip. We had a table, but I sat up at the bar to get a better view of the show. There was this guy sitting next to me most of the show who obviously knew Mike from the band. He got up and left before the show ended and I didn't think much of it. When I was helping Eric load some of the heavier stuff into their vehicle after the show he informed me that the guy sitting nexy to me was actually John DiMaggio, but he didn't want to say anything during the set, because apparently John doesn't like to be pointed out. I can respect that. He just wants to have a good time without being bothered. For those of you who don't know, John DiMaggio is the voice of good ol' Bender from Futurama among a plethora of others. Now, I happen to be a huge Futurama fan and I was floored that I had been hanging out with the voice of Bender and had no idea. You just never know around here.

Hey, Dude! James Bond is James Bond...

2007-03-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today I got to meet none other than Mr. James Bond himeself...Timothy Dalton. Okay, so maybe he's not Sean Connery or even Roger Moore, but he's still in a very exclusive club of gentleman to play Ian Fleming's world famous spy and that makes it cool as a penguin's right nipple. I wouldn't have thought a UK man such as himself would be interested in being stateside, but it may have a lot to do with Hot Fuzz making it's U.S. release a couple of weeks back. I will give Mr. Dalton this: funniest line of the whole dang film. Good show, sir. Good show.

SPOON!

2006-07-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to mention that I got to talk to Ben Edlund, creator of the Tick (comic and cartoon character and a favorite of mine). Oh, and I also auditioned for the voice of Prince Namor the Submariner for the upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video game. They made me wear the pointy ears to stay in character. That was a little weird. I just remembered that I left that stuff out of my last post, so I guess consider this a post-script to that.

East meets 'West'

2006-07-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

So, I just got back from the 2006 San Diego Comicon, the mack daddy of the convention circuit and it was overwhelming. So much I could babble on about for paragraph after paragraph, but I'll just stick to two major things. On the second day of our two day visit my camera strap somehow came undone and I lost my very nice digital camera and three memory cards worth of pictures. Hundreds of shots from the con, but also pictures of our first two trips to Big Bear, Disneyland, Las Vegas and so many other awesome memories gone in an instant. Needless to say I was devastated. We spent the last four hours of the convention going over every inch of floor multiple times and constantly checking in with lost and found, but apparently someone was happy with their find and wasn't giving it back. What a horrible day. The trip was ruined. I was emotionally drained and going home down and out. Lily convinced me that we should stretch the visit out through Sunday and try to salvage the trip and I reluctantly agreed. We were able to get fairly cheap tickets at the door for Sunday and after a quick, unfruitful visit to the lost and found made our way back to the convention area. I noticed there was a Cartoon Voice Panel going on in one of the rooms, so we attended that. The panel was made up of Bob Bergen, Billy West, Kimberly Brooks, April Stewart, and Wally Wingert. It was so much fun. All the guys were hilarious and they did a mock radio show that was an absolute blast. I was really just there to see Billy West, though. He is my idol in the voice-over industry and someone I never thought I would get to meet. To familiarize you with some of his work, you may have heard him as the voices of Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg and Zapp Branigan on the underrated Futurama, the Red M&M from the M&M commercials, the Honeynut Cheerios Bee, Invader Zim, NIckelodeon's Doug, and of course immortalized for the voice of Stimpson J. Cat and eventually Ren Hoek on the Ren and Stimpy show. If that wasn't enough reason for me to look up to him, which I have for years, he's also a brown-haired lefty from Michigan who just happens to be named Billy. Sounds like someone else I know... Sitting in the audience I noticed his name placard sitting there in front of him and I decided this is a once in a lifetime experience, I'm going to make the most of it. So, not a second after the panel was done I rushed to the stage and pushed my way through the rapidly forming autograph crowd and snagged me that name placard. Unfortunately, the panel didn't have time to meet with the rushing audience because the room was needed for the next panel so they made there way out the door fairly quickly. It turned out, as luck would have it, that Mr. West had decided to have a small booth opened on the floor to promote some upcoming projects. The moment I found that out I was there, baby. There was no crowd around, so I actually got to talk to him for a few minutes. He was really cool. Just a nice, funny, funny guy. I told him how much I looked up to him and how I dreamed of doing voices for cartoons myself and he gave me some suggestions. He did some impressions and commented about going back in the studio in Burbank next week to start recording tracks for the return of Futurama. And then I pulled out the placard and asked if he could sign it. He saw it and laughed and said, "That's great! I probably would have done the same thing if I'd have thought about it." Then he sign it, "To Billy! You're going places! -Billy West" How inspirational is that, man? Needless to say that whole experience made all the stress from the rest of weekend just melt away. Well worth sleeping in the car Saturday night. It's a little ironic, though. We're both born in Michigan and live in the same city in California now, but I had to drive hours away to San Diego before I happen to meet him. Life's crazy, huh?

Shawna Gillespie August 10, 2004

2006-04-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

So, I found out in the last couple of days that someone I used to be very close to passed away a couple of years ago and I was left oblivious to that fact until now. To make it worse, two of my cousins went to her memorial and never even bothered to mention it. I was out in California by the time it happened, but still. Shawna was a very sweet girl who had a habit of making very misguided decisions and I hadn't talked to her in years, but I always thought I would again. I guess tomorrow's never promised for anyone. I went online to find any information that I could about what happened. It was heartbreaking. What follows is everything that I found. I don't expect anyone to read it. It's just here for my own sake. I'm just sorry that I never got to say goodbye...

[Chelsea Standard 09/25/2003 Fight for life: Chelsea grad battling cancer By Rita Fischer, Special Writer]

Shawna Krakowiak has one big wish, and that’s to see her baby girl grow to womanhood.
The daughter of Cindy and Mike Gillespie of Chelsea, Krakowiak was hit with a one-two punch.
Stricken with multiple sclerosis before the birth of her first child, she then received a second blow — a diagnosis of aggressive ovarian cancer.
"If I had just one wish, it would be that I could see my daughter go off to kindergarten, or to see her go on her first date," Krakowiak says.
"I want to be able to go to class picnics, to be able to see her at sporting events, see her graduate from high school and be there when she breaks up with her first boyfriend."
But that wish is looking bleak for the Gregory resident.
Krakowiak and her husband, Matt, who married in 1997, are already more than $40,000 in debt from medical bills for treatment that has failed to stop the cancer in its tracks. They’re struggling to cope with her illness and medical bills while raising Samantha and Matt’s two children, 13-year-old Felicia and 12-year-old Matthew.
The 1993 Chelsea High School graduate has undergone nine chemotherapy treatments, but her body reacted so badly she had to quit.
In the first six months of chemotherapy, Krakowiak, who works for MCM in the Chelsea Clocktower complex, was so ill she couldn’t even get out of bed. Her hair fell out, she lost 20 pounds in one week and found herself hypersensitive to odors.
"I would look green I was so sick," she says. "I would stay in my room. I didn’t want to look sick in front of the children."
Krakowiak has also undergone stem cell transplants at the University of Michigan and at a hospital in Texas.
She probably would have thrown in the towel were it not for the support of her family, who sit with her through chemotherapy treatments and care for her 19-month-old baby, Samantha.
Krakowiak’s younger brother, Tim, who graduated from Chelsea High School last year, talked his sister into bearing another round of chemo, asking her to feel a little sicker for a little longer.
"I don’t want you to leave me," Tim told his sister.
"Do it for me and do it for Sammy."
Krakowiak says a trip to the Cancer Treatment Center of America is her last hope.
But hope comes with a huge price tag — $50,000.
Krakowiak’s mom, Cindy, put on a fund-raiser at Chelsea’s UAW Hall last November with food donated by the Wolverine restaurant. In July, family friend Vicki Cook organized a dance benefit in Brighton.
Krakowiak, who says baby Samantha keeps her going, says she won’t give up the fight for life until she has exhausted every option.
She hopes to not only see Samantha grow up, but to one day enjoy grandchildren.
"I don’t ever want my daughter to look back and ask why did I give up on her, or why did I not try hard enough to beat it," she says.
"If I don’t try to get rid of this cancer, I would feel guilty for not giving it all I could until the end."

[Chelsea Standard 10/09/2003 Letter to the editor: Help young mom to battle cancer]

Well, Shawna doesn’t know how much time she has. So please help alleviate some of the stress in this young mother’s life by mailing your donations to Shawna Krakowiak, 151 Orchard St., Chelsea, MI 48118.To make a donation, contact Cindy Gillespie at 475-1793
After reading your article (Sept. 25 edition) regarding Shawna (Gillespie) Krakowiak, the young Chelsea mother who is battling not only multiple sclerosis but also aggressive ovarian cancer, I called the number listed to make a donation.
When I asked how the response to the article had been, I was saddened to hear I was only the fourth person to call.
The family, on the other hand, was humble and grateful for what help they had received.
The more I thought about it and the more I got to know the family, the more I thought that Chelsea can do better than this.
After all, we give to community fairs, playgrounds, sports fields, historical preservation and to every child that comes to our doors, and that’s just one of the many wonderful things about Chelsea.
Through no fault of her own, this young mother has almost insurmountable prescription and medical bills that are continuing to spiral out of control.
Like most families, Shawna and her husband, Matt, both work and have medical insurance. Still, it’s not nearly enough.
When Shawna’s health allows, rather than spending what precious time she has with her baby, she must go to work or even work from home.
We all take time for granted because we have so much of it.

[Published in the Ann Arbor News on MLive.com on 8/11/2004.]
Krakowiak, Shawna Marie (Gillespie) - Krakowiak, Shawna Marie (Gillespie) Gregory, MI (Formerly of Chelsea) Age 29, passed away Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at the Chelsea Community Hospital.

[Family mourns loss of cancer victim]
(From the Chelsea Standard 08/26/2004)
Shawna Krakowiak wanted a party.
It was her last wish, a dying wish.
After years of battling a rare form of ovarian cancer, and after a long line of treatment denials, Krakowiak was worried about her family and how they would handle her death.
She must have known there would be tears and anger — both part of the grieving process — toward the medical establishments that could do nothing for her.
But she needed to know those who loved her would stop grieving.
After Krakowiak’s death earlier this month, her family and friends took that wish to heart.
After the funeral, 250 helium balloons were released in the sky, many carrying messages directed at Krakowiak from her friends and family.
"It was her way of giving people a way to let go," said Krakowiak’s twin sister, Christine Motsinger.
It didn’t work, not entirely.
Almost all the messages had to do with hanging on and reaching out. They read: "We will miss you." "We love you." "We’ll meet again."
Letting go is something that takes time and preparation.
"This is something that you can never be prepared for," her mother said.
Weeks after her sister’s death, Motsinger sat at the family’s dining room table in Chelsea, Kleenex in hand.
"We could have known eight years ago that she was going to die on Aug. 10, and we still would not have been prepared," she said.
In a video tape, Krakowiak said she refused to give up hope because of one other wish: She wanted to see her daughter grow up.
In her 29 years, she already had been blessed enough to fall in love, get married and have a good job.
Though she had her husband of seven years had known each other for years before they began dating, it took only seven weeks of dating for them to determine they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
"It was one of those things where they admitted to each other, ‘Oh, I’ve had a crush on you for so long,’" Motsinger said.
He got her parents’ blessing to marry. They exchanged vows May 31, 1997, after a three-month engagement.
For Krakowiak, every holiday, birthday and event counted. The family celebrated Easter with the white hospital walls.
But pictures from the holidays showing Krakowiak are rare, her family says. She didn’t want to look back at the days when she was sick.
She and her daughter were baptized together on May 22. It was Krakowiak’s second baptism, done to reaffirm her faith, her family said.
There were so many more moments to look forward to — milestones as simple as walking her daughter to school on her first day.
She wanted to see them all.
Instead, she wrote a journal to her daughter and made scrapbooks. She wrote almost every day, dating each entry at the top, her family said.
"None of us have been able to make it through more than one page at a time," Motsinger said. "But she always ended the pages, ‘Love, Your Mom.’"
Throughout her illness, the family held several fund-raisers to pay for medical treatments.
Even before a previous article on Krakowiak ran in The Chelsea Standard, community members and strangers were constantly asking how they could help.
Three women who did read the article came to the family and asked how donations were going. They sent more than 200 letters to businessmen and churches, the family says.
"They did not do it for self-gratification or a pat on the back. They did it because they cared," Gillespie said.
Krakowiak never appeared to be worried about herself. It was her family that concerned her.
"She always said it was easier for the person going on vacation than it was for the ones left behind," her mother said. "She was confident in where she was going to go. … She was more concerned with where other people’s faith was."
If death is hard on an adult, imagine having to explain it to a 2-year-old like Sami.
Sami doesn’t yet comprehend where her mother went, her family says. She just wants to know when she’ll be back.
"We went for a walk, and she goes, ‘We go walk to see Mommie now,’ and we go, ‘No, she’s with the angels now,’" Gillespie said.
"You tell a 2-year-old (her mom’s) with the angels, and she wants to know when she’s coming back,"

Preoccupied...

2006-04-15T02:59:00.000-07:00

I know people have been wondering what's up with this site. Where have I been? What happened to ALL the changes I said I was making. What could possibly be SO important that I haven't had any time to devote to my site? Well, I'll tell you. I met a really great girl. That should pretty much explain everything.

I have spent the last 8 months happier than I thought I could ever feel. She's one of those people that you meet in your life and know that you've found something that was missing before. Everyday that I've spent with her has made me want to be with her more. I know I've been sidetracked, but I haven't forgotten about Generic City. I promise.

There and Back Again...An Idiot's Tale

2006-02-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

I died today...............but I got better. True story.

You know how construction goes: delays, delays, delays...

2006-01-03T03:40:00.000-08:00

Ah, Generic City is on it's way back. I know I've been a little preoccupied lately, but I really do have some changes ready for the site. I'm just a couple of things short. I went through a few months where I decided it wasn't something that I wanted to do anymore, but I've had a change of heart and everything will be up and running again by the end of the month...tops. For those of you who have been waiting, thanks for the support and I apologize. I'll make it up to you. For those who left, I hope that you'll come back someday, it was nice having you around. I have a few post here and there that I've never published waiting for the new site to be up, so if you see some pop up out of nowhere don't be surprised. Everything should be back on track in a few weeks. Give my love to the family and I'll talk to you soon...

COMMENTS:

Welcome back Billy. Nice to see that you are posting again. Happy New Year!

Hugs and Kisses,

Marianne
Marianne 01.08.06 - 6:33 pm #

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It's good to see that you're up and about again. I miss you posts...

Always,
Sam
Samantha Homepage 01.12.06 - 6:42 pm #

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Happy New Year...I was getting a little worried. Good to hear from you.
Tamara 01.15.06 - 12:16 am #

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What up HH? Nice to see you up and running again.
Ghost Rider 02.05.06 - 9:50 pm #

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I don't check your site very often mainly because you are a sporadic blogger but when I do...I get a tingle on my skin like this is a big secret only I can't tell who knows.

Crazy...of course.
Yaritza Homepage 02.18.06 - 2:41 am #

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Billy,
Do you even read these comments anymore? Just curious.
Tina 02.22.06 - 1:10 pm #

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Get to posting already!!!
Samantha Homepage 02.27.06 - 6:22 pm #

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Construction delay???

Is the union on strike? Are you holding in what you used to make this blog talk? Is your six string in hock?
Anonymous 03.24.06 - 8:04 pm #

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Hey there Billy!
hope all is well over there in Construction land... hope your not drowning too much in the wallow if it all...

Just thought i would put a nice comment on here to let you know that i cant wait for an update to arrive!

All the best...
Rav
Ravvy Homepage 04.07.06 - 11:47 pm #

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Billy,

Are you still alive? What or who in the world are you devoting all your time to? Hope all is well and let your friends know that you are indeed breathing.
Marianne 04.12.06 - 10:23 pm #

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2006-01-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

I can't believe another year has gone by. It's so crazy. So much has happened in the last year that I'm not sure if it was a good year or a bad year. Last night was nice. We went to a small get together. Not too loud or hectic, but not a snooze-fest either. After that, the night just seemed to continue to pick up. It was quite the night. Quite the night, indeed... As you can tell the key to telling any good story is details. Haven't I convey that SO well this time around?

Now that the new year is here, we all know what it's time for: It's time to come up with ways to lie and break promises to yourself. Of course I'm talking about the inevitable RESOLUTIONS! While I ponder what I plan to resolve for the new year I'm just kind of curious...what do you think the top 5 resolutions are every year (in order of most popular to least) and what one resolution do you just KNOW that you're going to keep this year (yeah, right). I'm not sure if anybody knows I'm posting currently, as I've just slipped a few in here and there, but anytime you come across this feel free to add your two-cents worth in.

COMMENTS:

My guess on the top five would be:Lose weightSpend less money/save moneySpend time reading less watching TVTime with familyBetter jobThose are just my guess. I rarely make one but I do plan for a better year. This year, if I made one, it would be to save more money. The kids are almost ready for college and I hope to make them comfortable while they are there.Glad you are back Billy!!!Darla 01.08.06 - 7:59 am #

My resolution was to never make another resolution.Also glad to see that you are posting again. It has been a long while. I have missed your stories dearly.Tina 01.17.06 - 2:28 pm #

Haven't checked this site in a while... well, since September I guess. Glad to see things are going well with you.It's cold in Boston. I can't wait to be back in sunny So. Cal. in June.Take care!Jessica 02.24.06 - 10:09 pm #

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2005-12-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

Ah, it's Christmas time again. A time that I rarely feel like celebrating, but this year I decided to go all out. A decorated tree, a large dinner, beautifully wrapped presents under the tree. The whole ball of wax. Mike and Amanda are in Michigan for the holidays, but I'll be picking them up at LAX later on tonight. In the meanwhile, Lily and I are just going to enjoy a few last hours of peaceful tranquility and have a nice dinner. Merry Christmas and happy every other holiday for this time of year, too. I hope everyone gets at least ONE thing that they wanted this year, even if it was something they weren't expecting to get. Now, if you'll excuse me, I smell a ham with my name on it...

Man. That was a close one!

2005-09-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I wasn't sure if Ol' Billy was gonna be around much longer, but luckily I think the worst of it is over. For the last two weeks (starting on the 9th) I have been incredibly sick. The doctors weren't even 100% on what I had, all they knew is that I had some kind of virus. At first they thought I may have had menangitis, but the tests came back negative. They were pretty blunt in telling me that they were afraid for my life, which of course helped me rest easy. They wanted to keep me in the hospital for observation, because I had a 106 degree temperature and I was not doing very well, but anyone who knows me would know that I wasn't having any of that. I said if I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go...whatever. The only reason I was there at all was because it was require by work after 3 days. It was probably for the best, though. I was hallucinating and I was constantly freezing, even wrapped up in a very hot room. It was not looking good and man was it lonely. The doctors gave me some kind of anti-viral that eventually did the trick. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll be back to the same lovable me that everyone knows and has attempted to kill at least once or twice in their life. I guess that means that you're stuck with me at least a little bit longer. You'll just have to find some way to deal with it.

2005-08-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I'm sorry about the delay in posts, but I'm currently in the middle of trying to make this site more of what I wanted it to be in the first place. Hopefully, when I'm finished it will be a place worth visiting a lot more. Please be patient. I'll try to throw in a post now and then until I'm finished. Until then, everyone be good...

COMMENTS:

>Hi Billy,I wanted to tell you Happy Birthday!! Have a Great Day!!XOXO,MarianneMarianne 10.16.05 - 4:26 pm #

>What on Earth is taking so long??Tina 11.03.05 - 2:15 pm #

>Hey billy! I just wanted to make sure you are ok. Ive emailed a couple times with no response. Just checking on you! let me know you're alive, I miss ya!!!Stacey Szostek 11.03.05 - 11:03 pm #

>Hmm, now I don't feel so bad.Tina 11.04.05 - 2:36 pm #

>What happened to the part, "I'll try to throw in a post now and then until I'm finished?"Tina 11.10.05 - 10:28 am #

>well i guess he's been busy... right?he'll be back dont worryRavvy Homepage 11.17.05 - 4:26 am #

...and that, my friend, is what you call 'closure'.

2005-08-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, Warner Bros. Home Video has finally announced that Friends: Season 10 will be released on November 15th of this year, which ends a very long waiting game for Friends fans, myself included. Also released that day will be a ten season boxed set featuring all nine previously released seasons, plus the new one. Rumor has it that Warner Bros. is trying to make the collector's case available for all the faithful fans who've already purchased the rest of the seasons on DVD prior to it's release.

The U.K. has had there's out for sometime, though their DVDs come in slim cases and the packaging to their boxed set is so classic.

The 10th season set will have a cast interview from the last days of the show and catch up with the seasons that missed out by having a 42 minute gag reel covering seasons 1-5 and 10. They're never quite long enough are they? Anyway, I was pretty happy to hear that and I just thought I would share. Now go away!

In case you didn't know, I'm back.

2005-08-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted since I got back from Michigan a week ago, but I came home extremely sick and having to be at work in 6 hours. I could barely hear from the sinus pressure being aggravated by the plane landing, which was nice. I felt pretty bad for days, but it's almost cleared up. The first three days home were all about work and sleep. I hadn't even called anyone to tell them I've made it home (sorry about that). I'm just now getting my laundry done from the trip and things are starting to fall back to normal, such as it is.

The trip itself was great. I think I was up until 5 or 6 o'clock almost every night. I'd like to say that I have some interesting anecdotes to bring back, but not really. I mostly just relaxed with friends. I didnt really feel like I got to do everything I planned on doing. I ran out of time before I got to see everyone that I wanted to and some that I wanted to see again. I'm glad I went, though. It was just what I needed. The only real low-point to the trip was the wedding, which was excrutiating, followed by a little insulting. Always a good chaser. We won't get into that right now, though. I still would have went regardless, but it was...not...fun.

I know it's not a great post, but whatever...I'm back.

...and I made it!

2005-07-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

So, apparently the plane was able to stay in the air long enough to get me here, so that's good. I actually had three separate flights, including one with a four hour layover in Las Vegas. I'm still poor, though, so Vegas was a bust. The longest leg of my flight was from Vegas to Chicago and I was seated with two VERY energetic teenage girls. The flight was overnight and I was seated at the wing of the plane on the right side window seat facing the front, so the first thing I thought was "Terror At 20,000 Ft". For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, that is the title of a Twilight Zone episode starring William Shatner about a very large 'gremlin' tearing off the wing of the plane. Sometimes I still can't look out windows because of that damned episode, for fear of seeing that face pressed up against the window! It was remade in the movie version with John Lithgow, but it's a little lacking. To add to it, Ms. Congeniality 2 was the in-flight movie, which the girls were fairly excited about, and it co-stars a certain Mr. William Shatner [(gasp!) BUM...DUM...DUM!]. Luckily, it didn't turn out the same way. The only terrifying thing left to do is go to my ex-girlfriend's wedding. Hopefully, I'll be sitting next to some girls there, too.

Well, I'm off

2005-07-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight I head to Michigan for a well-deserved little hiatus from life. I won't make it there until the morning, though. I have a 3 1/2 hour layover in Las Vegas, which means that I will have finally been to Vegas (technically). I'll be home for just about three weeks, so that should be...interesting. For those of you back home who will no doubt lose my number, I will be at (734) 624-9427. I will probably post from Michigan, but just in case -I'll talk to you all in a few weeks! Don't anybody get pregnant while I'm gone!

Okay...false alarm (whew!)

2005-07-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

So, the Christmas set-up up at the mall in Burbank turned out not be an early push for the holiday, but instead an on-location shoot for a movie. Nobody would say exactly WHAT movie, but there you go. Holiday shopping is untainted for another year.

KING KONG film isn't monkeying around...

2005-06-30T03:14:00.000-07:00

Well, after months and months of hype about Peter Jackson's first post-LOTR movie have been buzzing around, we finally get a peek at what he's planning on serving up. Being heralded as better than the entire LOTR trilogy from many of the film's sources, this updated version of a movie monster classic definitely offers up plenty of new additions to the old tale. Whether it can live up to the claims or not only time will tell, but for now...take a look for yourselves. Click Here to watch the newly released trailer for the upcoming King Kong movie (and keep in mind that there are still additional layers to be added to the CGI effects, so don't fault the movie for that, yet).

Ho...Ho...Whoa!!!

2005-06-30T02:25:00.000-07:00

So, I went up to the Burbank mall (whatever it's called) today to watch Bewitched at the theater they have and I saw somebody I never expected to see...SANTA CLAUSE!!! The freakin' mall has Santa's Village and a huge train with giant-sized Christmas lights and all the trimmings right smack dab in the middle. Children were lined up to get their pictures taken with Saint Nick. How confusing must that be for a little kid? It's late June and they're decorated for Christmas! It gets earlier every year. Maybe it would be easier if they just made 'Christmas In July' a real holiday. We could have 'Winter Christmas' and 'Summer Christmas'. That way we wouldn't even have to bother taking anything down. We could have a slimmer, younger Santa in flowered shorts with Christmas dolphins carrying him on his way. Santa in June...What the franks and beans is going on here?!

C'mon, Pistons!

2005-06-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

Well, the Pistons play their final game today against the San Antonio Spurs. It's do or die for both teams. I just hope they can pull it out, so I can fly home and pick up some World Champion 2005 gear. Winning two years in a row solidifies their title as champs (just like in '89-'91), that way people know it wasn't a fluke (Laker's fans!). If they don't win tonight, as least they took as far as it could go. If they do win...YEAH, BABY!!!

...speaking of '89-'91, does anybody out there have any of those old games? I would love to see some of the Bad Boys in action again.

Well, I'm leaving...on a jet plane

2005-06-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

Since people have been asking me back home: Yes, I have gotten my ticket to fly home in July...relax. For the rest of you: Oh, I'm going to be flying back home to Michigan in July for a friend's wedding. My friend, Tina, who comments on this site from time to time is getting married on the 16th of July. I wasn't sure at first whether I would be all that comfortable going or not. Tina and I have a history together and it just seems like it would be a little awkward is all. Don't get me wrong, Tina and I are very close still. She is one of my dearest friends. It's just that there was a point in my life when I thought that Tina and I would end up getting married and it just didn't turn out that way. I just figured watching it happen with somebody else will be a little...I don't know, but I'm happy for her and I WILL be there for her on her special day. What fun!

I can't wait to get back home and see some of my friends. I haven't been home since I left a year ago in March. It's going to be strange seeing everybody again, but I have three weeks to soak it up. The only thing that I'm worried about is that horrible feeling I'm going to have when I leave again. It was so hard the first time around and it took me so long to be okay with it that I feel like it would be better if I just didn't invite that feeling back in. Whatever, I'll burn that bridge when I get there. For now, I'm coming home and having some fun.

So, yeah. I saw Batman Begins tonight.

2005-06-16T00:07:00.000-07:00

I just got back from watching a private screening of Batman Begins down in Burbank and it was terrific. There were about ten people in the theater, so it wasn't very hard to find a seat. The movie itself was less of an 'action-packed superhero' movie and more of a 'building a hyper-realistic character into a very realistic foundation' type of movie. Of course there was action, but we don't even see him as Batman until a little over half-way through the film. One aspect they changed from the former franchise that I really liked is that they didn't spend half the movie building up the villian's origin and motivation. The less you know about a bad guy, the stronger their character is. People came to see the main man and that's what they got. Anyway, I really enjoyed it; especially the ending. At least it was better than that crap they're trying to pass off as Superman coming up. Comparing the two, I started thinking: Superman is an alien disguised as Clark Kent and Batman is Bruce Wayne dressed as a vigilante, but truthfully farmboy Clark Kent is who he truly is and he dresses as Superman to help the world -and- inversely Batman is really Batman now, who charades as Bruce Wayne to keep his wealth and his family name flourishing. So, who's really wearing the mask?
Earlier I caught Mr. and Mrs. Smith, also. What a great, funny movie. I actually wanted to go see it last Friday, but I had such bad blisters from a sunburn that I got having to drive up the coast to pick up a friend and it hurt to do just about anything. The ride itself was pleasant enough. I drove right up the coast with the ocean to my left almost consistantly. There was a nice cool breeze blowing. It was an aspect of California I haven't really taken the time to appreciate before now. I can see why people would like it here when you get away from the city and enjoy a nice country road up the coast. Of course, I don't live anywhere NEAR those country roads. I live in between NoHo and Burbank, not exactly the hub of peace and tranquility. Whatever, at least it's close to work.

Back to the Futur...ama

2005-06-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

If you're a Futurama fan (and who isn't?) then you'll be very interested to hear that FOX has loosened it's grip on it's inexplicable boycott of this groundbreaking and Emmy award-winning show. The top guys at FOX were extremely impressed with the sales of the Futurama DVDs and so the idea being discussed right now is to make a Futurama movie direct to DVD with the distinct possibility of a 2nd and a 3rd. Fox and producer David X. Cohen are trying to figure out a budget for the whole project, but ultimately I think the final decision is going to rest on how well the upcoming collection, Futurama: Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection coming out on August 23, does. So, everyone go buy it. It's only going to be four episodes I believe (Hell Is For Other Robots, Anthology Of Interest 1 [hilarious], Roswell Than Ends Well [Emmy award], The Sting [very touching]), so it should be fairly cheap. Well, anyway, here's to hoping that it's the first step to bigger and better things (Hey, it happened for Family Guy). Until next time, 01100101 01101110 01101010 01101111 01111001 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01000110 01110101 01110100 01110101 01110010 01100001 01101101 01100001 !

He who is without Sin...Gets two more chances!

2005-06-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. Robert Rodriguez has announced that he and Frank Miller are going ahead with the already highly anticipated Sin City 2. At this point it will feature the Dwight story that takes place just before his appearance in the first movie. Outside Shellie's window she mentions Dwight having a new face. In this awesome "A Dame To Kill For" storyline (my personal favorite) you'll find out what she meant by that and how Dwight became so close with the girls of Old Town. Best of all, in this chapter Dwight gets a helping hand from his friend and everyone's favorite Basin City resident, Marv. You can never get enough of Marv. They haven't mentioned what else is planned for the almost inevitable vignette, but if I had to guess I would think that the only stories minus "Family Values" that are strong enough to hold their own would be Deliah-driven ones (A female assassin in training). Originally, they had mentioned putting the last published story, "From Hell and Back" in the second film, but at this point I think they're keeping it as the main course for what looks to be a third (that's right) Sin City movie in the works. It is marginally larger than most of the other stories, so I could see that being the case. There's even talk of Johnny Depp playing the lead to that story, Wallace. However they tie each film together, I'm sure they each will offer up as much entertainment as the first movie did. Sin City 2 is slated for a 2007 release, followed by Sin City 3 in 2008. That seems like quite a waiting period for a film like this shot mainly with green screens, but there's talk of filming the two back-to-back a la Superman 1&2 and Back To the Future 2&3, but the details are all very tentative at this point. Who cares?...I'm just glad they're coming.

I need to sleep! (or) New Bunnies!

2005-06-03T03:16:00.000-07:00

It's almost 3:30 in the morning. I closed last night and I have to be at work at 9 a.m. and I can't sleep. I'm supposed to be at the gym in 2 1/2 hours and I haven't slept a second. Being so bored I decided to surf the web. One cool thing to come out of my insomnia (well, two if you count talking to my friend, Darla) is that it looks like there's a new 30-second bunny movie: Pulp Fiction. Finally! I have been waiting for what seems like forever for a new bunny movie. For those of you who don't know what the fiddler's frog I'm talking about, go to my "Bunny Theater" link in my Cool Toons section over there --->. I love me some 30-Second Bunny Theater!

Living it up!

2005-06-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was my first full day alone in the apartment and I have the day off. So, how did I enjoy it? I woke up at 8 a.m. I went to buy Moonlighting on DVD and grab some Panda Express. I watched a couple of episodes just to pass the time until the Piston's game (They won, baby! It's tied 2-2). After that, I went out for a few hours and about 1 a.m. decided to pop in the original Star Wars and see how it played out after seeing Episode III. I couldn't finish it, though, so I went to bed. It had been a long day. Okay, so maybe that wasn't the most exciting day, but whatever... I can't believe it's June, already!

Alone, again...naturally

2005-05-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I woke up early this morning (a few minutes earlier than I needed to, but whatever) to take Mike, Amanda, and Nick to the pier in Santa Monica to start their bike trip up the coast. With them gone I'm going to have the place to myself for a few weeks. I won't know what to do with myself, but I'm sure that I'll manage somehow. Right after I dropped them off I had to hurry home because I had to get to work and it was SO busy for memorial day. Doesn't anybody have a grill they should be firing up? Anyway, the day's over; the apartments empty; I'm kind of bored...

Giovanni Ribisi

2005-05-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

I got to meet Giovanni Ribisi this morning. He was much more normal than I expected him to be. Amanda was SO jealous that she missed him. She has a major ticklish spot for him.

Nicole, again...

2005-05-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

I must have done something right last week, because I got to see Nicole Eggert again today. She even recognized me and said hi and we got to talk for a minute, but not for too long because the system had went down at work and people were not happy, so I had to try to get things moving. People can be such babies.

Episode III is even better the second time

2005-05-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

Well, tonight I had two choices: Go see Monster-In-Law or go see Star Wars again. The choice seemed pretty clear and Hector was ALL for it. He couldn't wait to see it again. I actually enjoyed it much more the second time around and I think it was due to the fact that I wasn't playing the waiting game this time. I could just sit back and enjoy the movie for what it was. Though the second look helped me pick out a few more things I would change, it was cool to catch the Millennium Falcon and a few other things this time around. The best part of the evening, though, was the steak I got at the Cheesecake Factory. That thing melted in my mouth like butter. My mouth's starting to water just thinking about it. I don't know when I've ever had a steak that good, or maybe it was just the fact that I haven't really had much of any steak since I've been in California. Whatever, that was good...

Nicole Eggert

2005-05-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

Not a lot happened today, but I DID get to meet Nicole Eggert and that's more than enough to make it a great day.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of the Sith

2005-05-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

My friend, Hector, and I were lucky enough to get tickets for opening night in the dome at the Arclight theater in downtown Hollywood. What a circus! The Arclight stole the thunder from the amazingly dense fans who stood outside of Mann's Chinese Theatre for weeks AFTER being told it wouldn't premiere there this time, but instead at the Arclight. Apparently, Mann's used that line as a ruse the last time around to disperse the crowd that had built up around the world-famous theater. It's actually kind of funny...

So, we got to the theater a little early, but it didn't matter because seats at the Arclight are pre-determined and printed on your ticket. We just didn't want to get stuck in a long line. We actually ended up avoiding the already way too long of a line by jumping in with some friends who flagged us down as we passed, much to the chagrin of the people behind. (Whatever, go ahead and use your plastic lightsabers on us. I think I'll survive.) We made it in and ended up having fantastic seats right in the middle (SCORE!).

Was the movie all that I hoped it would be? Well, if all I needed was for it to far surpass the first two prequels, then sure. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it. There were just some small things that I would have changed or omitted for the sake of the next three films. Leave a little something to question for crying out loud, otherwise you've taken away a lot of the power in the original trilogy. I won't get specific. Overall, it was a great movie, but it was more of a waiting game than anything, because you already know what's going to inevitably happen. Not bad, Lucas. Way to not completely mutilate the mythology.

I Had A Dream (but not that one...)

2005-05-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a strangely disarming dream and I'm really not sure what I should think about it (I'm sure I could figure it out, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not going to want to know). Apparently (in the dream), I spoke to a friend on the phone and, for some reason, headed for their house. I don't remember getting into my car, but I DO know that it was driving down the street...with me lying in the back seat (which seemed perfectly normal). I panicked when I realized that I was going down the road with no lights on. Immediately, I reached for the lights just in time to see that I was headed off the road. Luckily, now that the lights were on I could see with just enough time for the car to right itself (as I remained in the back seat) and I laid back down. I decided to look up once more and to my alarm the road was interrupted by a fairly large ravine and a small wooden pier that didn't even come CLOSE to covering it. Accepting my fate I braced myself for the fall and down I went. When I landed, the first thing that I realized was that I could pretty much write this car off as done with as it began to fill with water and I lay in the backseat. It was time to make a decision: Do I get out and save myself or just let myself go down with the car and call it quits? I very lucidly and with a great feeling of relief opted to let the water overtake me. It was then that the friend that I was going to visit got out of the passenger's side of the front seat and my only thought was, "Okay, that should help the car fill up." and I lounged back in the seat and awaited my fate. Suddenly, somebody opened the opposite door and tried to yank me out by my feet with great urgency (It was three guys who work under me, one I barely know). I kept trying to kick them away from me, but they just would NOT let up and let me be. Before any resolution came about one way or the other, I was awakened by my alarm for work. Needless to say, the first half of my morning was clouded by a terrible case of lack of closure. Just thought I'd share that with you.

P.S.
Happy Birthday, Sam.
Hope you're having fun.

Friday night at the movies

2005-05-14T01:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went and saw Mindhunters. I was originally supposed to go see Monster-In-Law, but by the grace of God it was sold out. Thanks to the apparently immense draw of Jennifer Lopez movies, we were able to get pretty good seats for a Friday night in Burbank. Just before the previews came on, in walked Patton Oswald with a lady friend. Didn't I JUST see him? Again, he was pretty much sitting right in front of me. Weird. Anyway, Mindhunters seemed to be getting a lot of flak from critics, but I thought it was great. I would definitely recommend it. It's a little gory at times, but not too bad. ...that's all.

HItchhiker's Guide To the Sahara

2005-05-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

So, I had the day off today, but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do for my Wednesday (which is my self-indulgent day each week). I decided that I would run to the bookstore and then catch a movie. While I was at the bookstore that I regularly frequent I recognized that Phil Lamarr, a very cool guy in my book (no pun intended), was not only there, but apparently a regular. We frequent the same bookstore. How cool is that? Cutting it close, I headed for the theater to see The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy, which I really enjoyed. Sitting right in front of me were Patton Oswald and Brian Posehn, both of whom didn't seem to appreciate the movie very much. I didn't see either of them smile once through the movie or the previews. When the film was through, they complained that it was too comedic a take on the original story. Ah, the joys of hardcore fandom. I decided since I had nothing else planned for my day that I would ummm...go see another movie. I was interested in seeing Sahara, so I caught that. It was your basic action/adventure movie, but it was fun. I liked it. I probably won't buy it on DVD, but I liked it. That was basically my day: Two movies and something to read. It just doesn't get any better on a Wednesday in May in California in 2005.

What the...?! (Part II)

2005-04-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

So, today was my day off, but I had to go into work twice. Once for an inventory class and later tonight for the actual inventory (Yeah!). When I got into my car this afternoon to head to work there was an open parking space in front of me. I put my car into gear and started to pull out, but paused to let a car get by. Instead of going by, she instead stopped just in front of me on the street and preceded to parallel park in the space in front of me (which, by the way, was almost too small for her car). Now, keep in mind that I had already started to leave the space as she approached. For close to two minutes I waited for this girl to wiggle her car into the spot, while I kept my car in gear and even moved a bit to let her know I was trying to leave, all to no avail. When she finished, I then had to wiggle MY car out because she had moved into the space so tight to my front bumper I was virtually lodged in and she just sat in her car until I finally pulled off. I spent the entire drive to work stunned by what had just transpired.

On a totally unrelated subject, I have a question. I have been reading the Sin City graphic novels as of late, which I've previously mentioned . I'm getting to some of the books that have not been touched on in the film and with talk of a sequel based out of the remaining material, I'm a little hesitant about reading them right now. I know a lot of people prefer to read the books before seeing the movie. Some people insist on it. I personally prefer to NOT read the book until I've seen the film because I don't want to ruin anything. I know some people thinks that just crazy thinkin'. More times than not, people who are proficient in a particular body of literature are, in one way or another, left wanting at the end of a movie based on that same work. In the pro-'book before film' defense many people attest that the book is "so much better than the film" and therefore should be enjoyed without the taintings of another mediums interpretations. I understand where they're coming from, I guess I just don't see it that way. Maybe it's because I love movies so much (though I do love literature quite a bit). I look at the book as my own "Special Edition", if you will. You take from the book so much more than a movie could possibly give you: Internal monologues, deeper character development, stories that are more flushed out, cause-and-effects that may better explain certain plot developments, omitted characters. The list goes on. I want to react to a movie as if it were happening to me and if I know what's going to happen (if someone's going to die, if a character is secretly evil) it takes away from what the movie is trying to build up to and the events leading up to it seem unnecessary and overplayed. Even if you see a movie beforehand, you can't take away from what the book has to offer. Always save the best for last. I suppose that's the best way to explain it. I just want to know how other people feel on the subject out of curiosity. Which do you prefer and why? Get back to me on that...

2005-04-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

KUNG FU HUSTLE

(View trailer for Kung Fu Hustle)

So, I went to the Arclight Theater tonight to catch a limited run of Kung Fu Hustle. It gets released everywhere at the end of the month. It's a little hard to describe to the point where I don't even know how to rate it. It's a little bit of everything and nothing in particular at the same time. It's really funny, but has some pretty over-the-top cool fight scenes woven through it. I liked it, but I could see a few faces in the seats that had the occassional "What the hell?!" look to them. I would probably only recommend this movie to people who don't mind not taking a movie too seriously or those who spent a couple of hours every weekend when they were a kid watching 'Kung Fu Theater'. You know what? Screw it! Go see it. What else do you have to do?!

"Another day, another..." -ahh, whatever...

2005-04-10T01:55:00.000-07:00

Work today seemed so freakin' long. I'm getting so tired...and I'm not just talking about work. I'm really starting to wonder why I'm out here anymore. Lately I've just lost my drive to do anything. I've got some really cool friends out here that are trying to help me work through it, but I just feel like I've hit a brick wall and everything's gone black (or at least a really dark grey). I'm going to give it some time to work itself out, but who knows...

We had a (I 'heart' Huckabees) party last night at the apartment, for some reason. It was actually started by two girls from work and our place just ended up being the forum where the magic would unfold. The party was cool, but why somebody would have a party based on a movie like that seemed a bit odd. I could see if it was 'Breakin' 2: Electic Boogaloo' or something like that. It was actually pretty fun, though. We didn't start the movie until around midnight, so that gave us a few hours to just hang out. We still have quite a bit of alcohol and food left over, so I guess we should have had another one tonight. Oh well.

It was actually a pretty laid back night. I got home around 10:30p.m. from work and just relaxed. After Mike and Amanda got home I decided to do a little reading. I pulled out Frank Miller's "The Hard Goodbye", the first chapter in the Sin City series. I believe it's one of the longer of the graphics novels from the series, hitting at 200 pages on the nose. If I'm not mistaken, I believe The Hard Goodbye is actually a compilation of 13 short serialized chapters that appeared in another book (Dark Horse Presents) instead of as a stand alone piece. That would have driven me crazy to have to wait for the rest of the story the way it's paced. This is basically Marv's story that appears in the movie, just in more detail. If you haven't seen the movie, Marv is one kiss-ass character. If you have seen the movie, then you know what I'm talking about. I had only planned on reading a short bit, to get a taste of how the graphic novel played out, but a couple of hours later and 200 pages behind me, I had read the whole darned thing! It just got away from me. Which is funny because that's what Frank Miller said about his originally 48 page planned story, it just kind of "ran away with itself." It's amazing how true to the book the movie was, and yet the book still had so much of a life of it's own. I can't wait to start on the next book...but I will. When something good has an eventual end you have to pace yourself, because once it's done and there's nothing left, it's s-s-so c-cold, so v-v-ery c-c-cold-d...(single tear drop)

***It's weird, but my heart symbol wouldn't show up in the movie title on the site page, just a "♥", but it shows up on my actual composition and it's still on my review for the Huckabees movie from November. (Huh...strange...)***

What a "Sin"-full day!

2005-04-02T03:33:00.000-08:00

So, last night (Thursday night) I opted to work overnight to take care of some storage issues we were having at work and I came home nice and tired, but I slept on the couch because Mike was going to wake me in an hour and a half so that we could catch an early showing of Sin City. Well, he woke me up, but decided not to go. I wasn't going to let that stop me. Their car was in the shop, though, so I had to wait until they had to go to work @ 2:00, so they could drop me off at the theater and I could pick up my car at work afterwards. I went and saw the movie, which was excellent, and then walked to work. As I was crossing the street from the theater I ran into a few friends from work as they were dispersing from a small get together. I cut through the mall and ran into another co-worker who'd been on vacation all week and I talked to her for a bit. Eventually, I made it to the store and got my keys from Mike. I stopped by my side of the building because it was a friend of mine's last day and I wanted to catch her before she left. She asked if I wanted to go see a movie (guess which one...) and I told her that I had just seen it, but I'd love to see it again. While she finished her out-processing paperwork I grabbed some Panda Express at the mall, met up with her and then we caught the movie. Before the movie started a pretty big guy was trying to get some last minutes seats for himself and two friends a few seats down from us. It was Isaac Singleton Jr. from Pirates of the Caribbean. When it got out, it was too close to the time for Mike to get out of work, so I headed right back to the store. Mike decided to stay later, so I just waited around for an hour until they were both done. We got home and they started packing for a short bike trip they were making the next day. After a LOT of back-and-forth, we all decided to go down the Arclight to catch a late showing of (what else?) Sin City. Movies are always better at the Arclight. Well by this time I was just plum tuckered-out, but I had no problem watching the movie. It wasn't until after the movie got out that we realized that Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire were sitting there with us. As we walked out, Mike exclaimed, "Spider-Man is right behind us!" I turned around and sure enough, there was Tobey Maguire in a red cap and completely unshaven leaving behind us with some friends. He spent, like, two minutes burrowing though his duffel bag to try to find his parking stub for parking validation (The guy made 26 million on the Spider-Man movies alone and he's struggling to save $3.00?). Actually, I thought that was kind of cool. Once we were outside, Mike spotted Leo standing in the same small group. Apparently, they've been buds since they were young. It's funny - You see a person sitting next to you in a dark theater wearing a cap over his eyes and you never think, "I wonder if that's...", you just pay attention to the people your with and you watch the movie. As an added bonus, Patrick Renna (The Sandlot, Son in Law) was also there puffing on a cigarette with some friends out front. I found it kind of ironic that he was there, since Carla Gugino, who played his sister in Son in Law, was in the movie and spent most of her time pretty naked. It seems almost incestuous. He's actually the first "celebrity" that Mike and Amanda saw when they got to California and he went to high school with the girl that I had talked to earlier in the mall. Coincidence? Well, yeah probably, but whatever. And to top of the day, on the way out of downtown Hollywood we got to enjoy the spectacle of a poor, young blonde throwing her guts up out the passenger window of a white sports car all the way up until we hit the highway. What fun! From there, we went home and now I will basically be passed out for the night, but I did get a chance to catch Sin City.

2005-04-02T03:30:00.000-08:00

SIN CITY

(View trailer for Frank Miller's Sin City)

...I'll get to it...

M&M's Dark Side

2005-03-31T03:52:00.000-08:00

Most of you may not know it, but I'm a huge M&M's fan. I love their commercials (and their candy's not bad either). I've been getting the collectible dispensers for about the last seven Christmas holidays or so and other little things here and there (including a DVD of all of their commercials). Tonight (well this morning), I decided to browse by the M&M's web site and I found out that today, coincidently enough, M&M/Mars is releasing a new "Dark Chocolate" M&M and promoting it to tie into the release of the new Star Wars sequel using the whole 'Dark side/dark chocolate' correlations. I'm sure that nobody really cares about that, but I thought that the 'trailer commercial' that they made to promote it was kind of cute. I thought that you want to take a look. (View M&M Star Wars parody).

Speaking of things that I'm a big fan of, I just found out last night that the characters from the General Mills monster cereal line (Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Boo-Berry, and the cream of the crop -Fruit Brute) are getting a face-lift by way of Steve Niles (writer of 30 Days Of Night, which you may not of heard of yet, but you will very soon thanks to Sam Raimi) and fledgling publisher AFD Press. The popular horror writer is putting a whole new spin on the gruesome foursome in a four-issue comic run titled The General Mills Massacre tentatively scheduled for an October release. Though Fruit Brute is featured, he's not a main character, but I guess I can live with that. At least he had the good sense to leave that Yummy Mummy character out completely. I'm not sure if it will be any good or not, but I think it's still a cool idea. I've been trying to think of ways to use Fruit Brute in my own work for the last few years(or even buying the rights to him since he's now defunct and forgotten), but if this story takes off I may not get that chance. Oh well, you snooze -you lose.

An ineffective...ummm...'poll'

2005-03-31T02:53:00.000-08:00

I just heard an interesting fact: In 24 of the 50 states, impotency is legal grounds for divorce. If I was one of those men, I wouldn't stand for that.

HAPPY EASTER!

2005-03-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter. I actually volunteered to work, which in retrospect, was quite a mistake on my part. It was a horrible, HORRIBLE day at the O.K. Corral. Luckily, Mike and I came home to a delicious meal prepared by our own Amanda, so that wasn't bad. Other than that, it was just a matter of passing out from a WAY too long day.

What a day!

2005-03-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

After running myself ragged from morning until late into the evening yesterday, I woke up early today and headed off to work in a semi-comatosed state. What followed was 8 1/2 hours of excrutiating pain. From amazingly irrational people to uncooperative management, the fact that it was too busy for words just added to my fruit-filled salad that seemed to be getting invariably tossed throughout the day. I even missed an important appointment that was set for 45 minutes after I got out of work, which turned into 12 minutes after I got out of work. Luckily, I was able to reschedule. The only saving grace to the day was getting to meet Michael Rapaport. He was much taller than I expected him to be, but he seemed like a cool guy. Amanda was pretty jealous. She has a thing for him in a BIG way. Well, I guess I didn't really have as much to say as I thought I did or I've just lost interest in reliving my day. Then again, maybe I'm just really tired. Perhaps I will just bid you adieu until next we meet. So until then, Ta Ta!

2005-03-23T23:58:00.000-08:00

RING 2

(View trailer for Ring 2)

Well, I would like to say that I saw this movie on a dare, but I went of my own free will (I'm SO ashamed). Being a big fan of the first one, as soon as I heard that they were making a sequel to The Ring I was worried that Hollywood would prove, once again, that they have no idea how to make a sequel, let alone choose which ones need one.

The Ring 2 was a lot like a bad marriage:
1) Too much melodrama and not enough action
2) You don't realize what you've gotten yourself into until you've already commited to it.
3) The child is unnecessarily tormented through the whole darned thing.
4) It goes on WAY longer than it ever should.
5) After it's over you feel like you've just wasted a part of your life that you'll never get back.

Aside from the sub-par acting and the mediocre special effects, the movie had no real story development except for scenes that were just basically rehashed plot devices from the first movie with a new paint job. The scariest part about the first film is that in the end you still had questions and no real closure. The worst part about the second film is that they insult the audience's intelligence by trying to overexplain things and repeat plot effects over and again to make sure that you don't miss something instead of giving you an unexepected thrill now and then. In total, I would say that there is only about 3 minutes of screentime that would make even the most squimish person cover their eyes. The only thing truly scary about this movie is that it is a perfect example of how Hollywood is more concerned about cashing in on a hot name than making a good movie out of something bursting with so much potential.

One down...

2005-03-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

Well, as of today I have officially been in California for one year. When the hell did THAT happen?! It seems like maybe three or four months, but not a whole danged year! I can't imagine how people back home are making it without me, poor things. I guess for all technical purposes that means my initiation time is over. I haven't even been back home for a visit, but that's coming up in July. In celebration of such a 'momentous' occasion, I treated myself to a day at the WizardWorld convention in Long Beach. That was just fantastic. I met some pretty cool people and had a blast, but best of all I got my (WizardWorld exclusive) Super Grover figure at the Palisades booth. I'm a big fan of the Grover and they did a great job on him. He was kind of like the kick-off to a new Sesame Street line they're producing and one of my main reasons for wanting to go (sometimes it doesn't take a lot to make me happy). Mike went with me and we took a few pictures while we were there. I'll get them up on here in the next day or two. Anyway, I just figured that since this was my one year milestone I should probably write a little something. I feel like I've accomplished that, so until next time...keep on truckin'.

I can wait a few years

2005-03-16T03:39:00.000-08:00

-Oscar winning director Peter Jackson says it will be at least three years before he shoots The Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. Jackson is currently filming King Kong in Auckland, Australia. While stopping by Sydney's Powerhouse Museum to check out the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) exhibition the director was asked how long it would be before he started production on The Hobbit. "Three or four years would be accurate, I would say," Jackson replied.-
I think that's so awesome. I know so many fans of the movies who didn't even realize that it was ever even a book that would love to see this movie, not to mention all of the life-long admirers of the original works. I can still remember catching the old Rankin-Bass animated version on television every once in a while. Considering what he accomplished with the main trilogy, I can't wait to see how Jackson handles the prologue. Sure, he wasn't completely faithful to the books, but he still told one heck of a story. Maybe if that works out all right he can do a movie version of the prequel, The Silmarillian. That would be a first for that story and would excite my friend Keith to no end. I'll have to stop thinking about it now or it'll seem like forever until it gets here.

It's a bit unsettling...

2005-03-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

I found this story a rather interesting example of the kind of monopoly one company can have over our media and news sources:

Monday, October 4th 2004 ended a six-year dispute involving Sophia Stewart, the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers. Stewart's allegations, involving copyright infringement and racketeering, were received and acknowledged by the Central District of California, Judge Margaret Morrow residing.Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood, as the gross receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion dollars.Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript, "The Third Eye," copyrighted in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works.According to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film, in attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The investigation also stated that "credible witnesses employed at Warner Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the Wachowski Brothers." These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart's original work and that it had been "often used during preparation of the motion pictures."The defendants tried, on several occasions, to have Stewart's case dismissed, without success.Stewart has confronted skepticism on all sides, much of which comes from Matrix fans, who are strangely loyal to the Wachowski Brothers. One on-line forum, entitled Matrix Explained has an entire section devoted to Stewart. Some who have researched her history and writings are open to her story. Others are suspicious and mocking. "It doesn't bother me," said Stewart in a phone interview last week, "I always knew what was true."Some fans, are unaware of the case or they question its legitimacy, due to the fact that it has received little to no media coverage. Though the case was not made public until October of 2003, Stewart has her own explanation, as quoted at daghettotymz.com:"The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because Warner Brothers parent company is AOL-Time Warner... this GIANT owns 95 percent of the media... let me give you a clue as to what they own in the media business... New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times papers/magazines, People Magazine, CNN news, Extra, Celebrity Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, Dreamworks, Newsweek, Village Roadshow... many, many more!... They are not going to report on themselves. They have been surpressing my case for years..."Fans who have taken Stewart's allegations seriously, have found eerie mythological parallels, which seem significant in a case that revolves around the highly metaphorical and symbolic Matrix series. Sophia, the greek goddess of wisdom has been referenced many times in speculation about Stewart. In one book about the Goddess Sophia, it reads, "The black goddess is the mistress of web creation spun in her divine matrix."Although there have been outside implications as to racial injustice (Stewart is African American), she does not feel that this is the case. "This is all about the Benjamins," said Stewart. "It's not about money with me. It's about justice."Stewart's future plans involve a record label, entitled Popsilk Records, and a motion picture production company, All Eyez On Me, in reference to God. "I wrote The Third Eye to wake people up, to remind them why God put them here. There's more to life than money," said Stewart. "My whole message to the world is about God and good and about choice, about spirituality prevailing over 'technocracy'."If Stewart represents spirituality, then she truly has prevailed over the "technocracy" represented in both the Terminator and the Matrix, and now, ironically, by their supposed creators.Stewart is currently having discussions with CBS about a possible exclusive story and has several media engagements in the near future to nationally publicize her victory.
(Story from Boycott-RIAA.com)

*******************************************

In an addendum:
Ms. Sophia Stewart has not yet won her case against Joel Silver, Time Warner and the Wachowski Bros. The decision on October 4th enabled Ms. Stewart to proceed with her case, as all attempts to have it dismissed were unsuccessful. Ms. Stewart's case will proceed through the Central District Court of California.

2005-03-11T02:25:00.000-08:00

ROBOTS

(View trailer for Robots)

Tonight (Thursday night) Mike, Lorrie, and I caught a midnight screening of the new CGI movie, Robots, at the Arclight Theater. I thought it was really good. In fact, I can't wait to see it again. They had a whole exhibit of the original pencils, paintings, and character art mounted on the walls. There was even a glass case featuring some metal sculptures of the main characters in the lobby. The Arclight always goes all out for new movies. Even cooler though, was the new Star Wars Episode III trailer before the movie. I'll tell you, if you liked the first one that was released you will LOVE this new one. Wow! Mike has quite a dislike for the Star Wars series and even he was pretty impressed, so that has to say something. It was one of those last second decisions to go see the movie, but it was a lot of fun. I'm glad we went. Now you go...

March 8th, 1994

2005-03-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Right after I finished writing my last post I started thinking about what the date was today and I realized that today is not only the day that I found out the horrible news about Helena, but it's also the anniversary of my father's death. He died 11 years ago today from throat cancer (cigarettes are a terrible thing), but it only seems like 2 or 3. It's amazing that it's been that long. I know I already posted about him on his birthday, so I'm not going to go on about it. They say that time heals all wounds, but I'm not really sure that's the case...

Ignorance is SO bliss...

2005-03-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, it's been eating me up inside to know what happened to my friend, Helena. I was alright today, but a friend called to make sure that I was okay and it made my mind start racing again. I just had to find out, so I started digging online. I finally came across one article (with the help of a friend), but I wish SO much that I would have just left it alone now. What I read ripped my heart right out of my body and my head won't stop buzzing. Actually, I guess you can all read it for yourselves:

Woman found dead in Milan; boyfriend arrested

Helena Mata was found dead Monday morning.
By Evening News staff

MILAN - A Milan woman was found dead in her apartment Monday morning and

her boyfriend was arrested hours later.

The victim has been identified as Helena Mata, 37, who lived in the

first block of W. Main St. Family members became worried when they

hadn't heard from Ms. Mata and notified police. The victim reportedly

had been stabbed, but police would not confirm that.

Milan police reported the suspect, believed to be 31, was arrested about

3 a.m. today after officers spotted his vehicle in the city. He was

being held in the city jail.

Ms. Mata's body was discovered about 11:15 a.m. Monday.

It was the second murder in Milan this year. In May, a woman was killed

and her 13-year-old daughter discovered her body.

The victim's boyfriend faces murder charges.

I just don't know what to do now. I keep picturing it happening over and over again in my head. I know I shouldn't, but I keep blaming myself. I feel like I should have been there to protect her. When I heard that she passed away I kept thinking cancer or some other physiological problem took her, but I never would have imagined anything like this. I have no words for how I feel. I just...I don't know. I'm sorry, Helena...

Helena Mata

2005-03-05T22:50:00.000-08:00

When I first moved to Ann Arbor 5 or 6 years ago I moved in with a friend that I had met earlier that year who was in immediate need of a roommate. I was looking to get out of my place and she was a really great girl, so it worked out pretty good for both of us. Her name was Helena and she was one of those girls who was obsessed with things being amazingly clean, but on her it was kind of a charming trait. We lived together for about a year and after a few months we became really close. We had an odd relationship where we didn't really get involved in each others lives, but we trusted each other completely to talk about problems we were having or just to blow off some steam now and then. She was by far the best roommate I've ever had. Unfortunately, when it came time for our lease to be up, some things had happened in both our lives that led us to decide we weren't going to renew the lease. We would just make other arrangements for our living situations, though I think we would have been happier staying where we were. The last month was really uneasy and uncomfortable between us, but for no apparent reason. When I had moved my things out I didn't even wait around to tell her goodbye; of course, she was pretty busy herself getting moved into her new place, so she wasn't really around either. I didn't talk to her again after that.

I never felt good about how things were left between us and I constantly told myself I was going to go see her at her work sometime and make it up to her, but I always felt strange about it. I just kept putting it off. I knew I would do it one day and then everything would be fine (or at least better). Well, a couple of months before I left for California I saw her walking with a friend in the Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor. I was really happy to see her and I wanted to go talk to her, but she seemed like she wasn't in the best of moods so I opted to wait until next time. I tortured myself for the rest of that week about being so afraid to just go talk to a friend that I hadn't seen in a few years. Next time I would do it for sure.

Last week I was speaking to my friend, Chuck (not that one), who had had a huge crush on her way back when and we started talking about Helena and how long it's been. It got me thinking and I decided I was going to give her a call and see how she was doing. Earlier today I recieved a phone call from Chuck. I didn't answer the call, but he left a message for me to call him back. When I called him back he told me that he had decided to stop by Helena's work and just say, "Hi", for old time's sake. When asked to speak to her, they told him that Helena had passed away about a year ago. They didn't say how and he didn't bother asking. When I heard the news I was devastated. I had seen her just over a year ago and passed up my last chance to share a warm hello with an old friend. Who knows? It could have been weeks, days, or even minutes from the time that she died and I'll never forgive myself for that. I don't know why I'm sharing this, but it's really weighing hard on me right now.

Just remember, nobody is promising you tomorrow so don't miss out on the things that you could do today.

'...Walt': Part II

2005-03-02T12:43:00.000-08:00

**This actually started out as a comment, but it just kept growing**

The problem isn't that Disney is putting out no effort movies to turn a quick profit. The problem is that Disney owns control of the original stories from their films, so if they put something like that out (whether you see it or not) it still becomes a tainted fact in that continuity. The story will NEVER be what is was before. Plus, most parents could care less about preserving any kind of "magic" that these movies had. All they care about is that they've purchased another hour and twenty minute babysitter for their kids. And, yes, when it comes to a business like Disney I CAN blame them for wanting to make money, if that's the way that they're going to do it. I suppose it would be fine if they took one their iconic characters, like maybe Goofy, and killed him off in a horribly bloody death scene or, better yet, started an entire line of rated 'NC-17' movies starring everyone favorite childhood pals in ways that you've never seen them before. After all, it's just business, and you can't blame them for putting it out there if there's a chance it could sell when none of their other ideas are working. Like it or not, Walt Disney left a legacy which came with a certain amount of responsibility to the people. The characters may be copyrighted to Disney, but those movies belong to us. They are a part of who we were growing up as much as anything else was. For all technical purposes, they're defacing national landmarks. It's not impossible for a powerhouse like Disney to come up with an original idea (Companies do it all the time.), but they would rather rape the dreams and visions of a man whose no longer around to defend his name that's slapped right on the banner of the company doing all of this. Worst yet, as a result of what they're doing there actually NOT making the money that they should in their animated movies (and they can't figure out why...seriously) and have considered all but doing away with the majority of their animation departments. Disney without animated movies? Well, I guess as long as they're making money, right? On second thought, maybe that would be a GOOD thing...

Part of me died with Walt...

2005-03-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

Is DVD/home video the worst thing to ever happen to Disney? Remember when the name 'Disney' represented something pure, something that brought an undeniable joy to the world? No matter how jaded a person you were, there was at least one thing that Walt Disney had contributed to the world at one time or another that would bring a smile to your face. Sure, there were always other cartoons out there that you may have loved just as much, but there was something magical about seeing a Disney film. When the lights went down and the screen lit up and you could hear the symphony start to play as the words "Walt Disney presents" appeared on the screen, you could feel the exhilaration race through your body. I remember seeing Bambi at the drive-in as child. While the movie played I was in utter awe at every single frame. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't blink once. That's just how it was. When you heard a Disney movie was coming to the theater it was a special event. We didn't ever have a lot of money when I was a kid, so I didn't always get the chance to see them, but when I did they just became a part of me, a special place in my childhood. The memories of that were so pure and had such an impact that I can still remember the rush from myself as a child lost in the story on the screen.

Fast forward a few years. Disney is no longer one man's vision of bringing joy to people's lives. It's a corporation who's sole purpose is to whore out the Disney name and use it's power to bleed every last cent that they can get out of every property they can wrap their hands around. With the exception of Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney hasn't made a worthy film in years. The only saving grace for the company has been the contributions that were made by Pixar. With only one film left to come out of the coupling, Cars, Disney is once again left to it's own devices. So what does the house of imagination choose to offer? There own devices, that's what. Instead of creating new worlds and wondrous stories to touch children's minds and hearts, they've opted to squeeze the last bit of juices out of the used, once-delicious oranges in the bottom of the trash can. In comes direct to video movies. This was Disney's only true contribution for the last decade while they allowed Pixar to do amazing, revolutionary things in the animation world (as long as Disney received top credit for it). The animation king had become the contamination king with forgettable insults like Lady and the Tramp II, 101 Dalmations II AND 102 Dalmations, Pocahontas II, Cinderella II, The Lion King 1 1/2???, basically using people's sentimental connection to these characters to cash in just a little bit more. All the while stealing from you everything that you may have held special about these movies, demystifying powerful characters, and creating incontinuities to otherwise solid stories. As long as they follow a formula (throw in some unnecessarily weak songs and at least one comic relief and that'll be good enough) parents will buy it because kids will see that the characters that they loved are in it, so it should be just as great an experience, right? What a great plan! What was the last movie they released with the big three (Mickey, Donald, and Goofy)? The Three Musketeers!!! That story's never been told before! Wait a tick...as a matter of fact it's been told by DISNEY before! Now that's REALLY reaching (Treasure Planet, anyone?).

What am I getting so worked up about, though? This is Disney, right? I'm sure they have big things planned for this year. Let's see...The Incredibles comes out next week on DVD. That's a fantastic (Pixar) movie. In October, (a beautifully Walt-inspired) Cinderella finally comes to a special edition DVD for all of you aspiring princesses out there, apparently as a follow-up to the forgettable sequel that came out to DVD...What?...two years ago! (That can't be right...) What else does Disney have to offer? How about Lilo and Stitch 2 (not to be confused with Stitch: The Movie, which was made to sell kids on the TV series), Tarzan 2 (obviously, Tarzan and Jane must not have been a sequel either), we've just had Mulan 2 (because apparently Mulan didn't prove as much as we thought she did in the first one), both Toy Story 3 AND 4 are in the works (sans the series' biological father and life's-blood, Pixar), Dumbo 2 was being developed (maybe they've decided to have the respect to leave at least one classic alone), in the theaters we have Pooh's Heffalump Movie starring a baby heffalump (child-speak for elephant) trying to fit in and be friends with the gang (making all 'heffalumps and woozles' stories from before meaningless), and saddest of all -a Bambi sequel, about the young fawn with his father and what happened before he returned as a fresh buck, taking away all the strength and mystery that made his father such a powerful character in the original movie. I can only imagine what Disney has on the horizon.

I'm not saying that all of Walt's movies were oh-so-original. Almost everything that he brought to the screen had already existed by the time he put his own special twist on it (Snow White, Bambi, The Jungle Book, Winnie-The-Pooh, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, Robin Hood, Pinocchio -all other people's works). The difference is that he didn't recycle, he re-envisioned. He wanted to present something that he thought the people would enjoy, not something that he thought the people would buy. His versions of these stories were so amazing that when someone mentions their names, Disney's name is thought of before the original works themselves. Or course, nowadays even these movies aren't that special to kids. They've been seen time and time again and sit on the shelf in-between Pokemon and South Park. As long as they're making their money, they'll continue to vault the classics and sell them back to the public in another ten years, all the while finding ways to milk another story out of each and every one of them while we're waiting. How long before they add Rose Red into the scenes of the original Snow White movie so that they can re-release an EXTRA-special version of it or better yet, a sequel where Dopey finally speaks. That ought to dash a childhood memory or two. Maybe Geppetto decides to make a second wooden boy and Pinocchio feels unloved and leaves. He takes to a life on the streets (perfect place to add a little edgy rap song) and in a fit of rage accidentally kills Jiminy Cricket, pulling on all our heart strings for the loss of a childhood icon. That's powerful stuff! I guess from now on it's "And they all lived happily ever...until".

...All that being said: Go out and buy Bambi on DVD. It's a beautiful, time-honored classic that you just can't go wrong with. In fact, I think I'm going to go watch it right now...

Okay, everyone can relax now.

2005-02-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

Best Buy finally got some copies of Bye Bye Love in stock and it was only $9.99. I got to watch it on Sunday. Amanda said she thought it was a little cheesy, but that's okay. We'll call it a guilty pleasure.

Along with the things I was working on before, I've come up with a new idea for a cartoon that I'm trying to develope with a friend of mine. It's about a special ed. class in a superhero high school. I have four main characters at this point, but I'm planning on six plus the staff. I'm not going to say much about until we get further along, but I think it's going to be really funny. Aside from that, I am still trying to animate my own cartoon in Flash. I have an adventure cartoon for children that I'm trying to storyboard for an animator friend who's going to work on that for me. The final thing I'm working on in the animated milieu is writing some absurd storylines for a cartoon another group of guys is working on. A producer friend of mine (he was an associate producer on Wayne's World) said to make him a DVD sample of some of what I'm working on and he'll see if he can't get me some actual work. So, I really need to start pushing myself a lot harder than I have been for the next few months. Don't worry. I'll keep you updated. Maybe...

A Virgin has been defiled!

2005-02-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

It has been raining so hard out here. Yesterday the news was saying we are 6" away from having the most rainfall in the history of California (the record was back in the early 1800's), and we still have till June to break that, so I have a feeling we're going to see it. Friday, the Virgin Megastore in Burbank caved in from all the rain coming down on it. Landslides are taking down houses left and right. They're actually demolishing houses that could pose a threat to other houses in the same vacinity. Highways are being closed. Homeless people are gathering under overpasses. I thought I saw the guy down the street building a very large boat. I don't know what that's all about, but all the animals he's been keeping are really starting to turn ripe. That proves it. The world DOES revolve around me. My moving here has caused a major temporal and atmospheric change -probably across the entire country. So, for all of you out there suffering for it: I'm really sorry.

What the...?!

2005-02-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

So, Wednesday I was thinking, "Shouldn't my movie Bye Bye Love be coming out around now?" I knew it was out in the first half of February, but I wasn't sure exactly when. I checked online and it had come out on Tuesday, which was great. I got dressed and ran to Best Buy -they didn't have it, so I went to Fry's and sure enough there it was. One copy. So, I slipped in front of a gentleman and grabbed it. I was pretty hyped about it finally being on DVD (even though I have two VHS copies, but whatever). I thought, "Not-so-well-known movie, nothing special about the DVD, should be about $9.99 or $14.00, right?" WRONG! Thirty FREAKIN" dollars! Thirty dollars!!! Well, I ended up NOT getting this movie I've been waiting for years to come out on DVD. I love the movie, but I'm not stupid. I geuss I'll just have to wait...

Howdy!

2005-02-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

Man, it seems like forever since I've actually posted (minus that last quick one). Sorry, I've been a little withdrawn since my dad's birthday.

So, what's been going on? I'll give you the abridged version. Well, the third week in January I fasted for a week (Monday to Monday) just to clear my head. It never fails, except that I get real serious and who wants someone around who's too serious. Around that same time I decided that I was going to start going to the YMCA at 6:00 every morning and start my days right. That's not exactly going as smoothly as I'd hoped, but it'll get there.

One downfall to my progressive plan was the fact that I bought Resident Evil 4 for the Gamecube. I don't play a lot of video games, but when Resident Evil (or Zelda) comes out I just have to get it. The problem with those type of games is that they're a progressive storyline, so can't just shut it off without making it to a certain part of the game (and then when you get there you're always curious about what's next, so you decide to venture a little bit further and then shut it off, but that's when something cool happens and you forget that you were wrapping things up). Luckily, though, Mike and I were tag-teaming the game and we were able to finish rather quickly (yeah, quickly as in over 30 hours of game play-not in a row), but when you get to the end of the game...they offer you more! As far as games go it was awesome, but as far as wasting time...well, it was actually pretty good at that, too.

For the Super Bowl, I attended a party at my friend Jed's place. I had to work that day, but I was able to make it there by half-time, but I'll be honest, the party was so much fun that I think I watched about 12 minutes of the game (at least that I remember). He had a television and a sofa outside and in the house showing the game. There were wings and bratwurst and BBQ...and a keg. I think I only sampled that last thing, though. It was a really great time.

Ray finally came out on DVD. I couldn't wait to get to the store and buy that. I was there first thing in the morning. For some reason I also picked up the BeeGees #1's CD. I don't know, I saw it and then I just had to have it. I could go BeeGee-less no longer.

I do have one work-related story to tell. In late January this couple came into the store with some items that they wanted to return. As they emptied their bag a pair of white fuzzy handcuffs came out inside a large bowl and they quickly snatched them away and shoved them in the lady's back pocket. I quipped, "So, I take it you've decided not to return those today?". I snickered a little and then went back to what I was doing. The gentleman looked at me and said to his wife, "Look he's turning red. I think we've embarrassed him." I told him, "I wasn't embarrassed. I was just trying not to laugh. I was just wondering exactly which department I would returns those to." Without missing a beat he said with a smile, "Home Improvement!" And then we all had a good laugh. The end...

This year is flying by!

2005-02-14T02:02:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone out there is having a fantastic St. Valentine's Day. I know I haven't been around for a while, but Howdy, y'all! Umm...You know what? I'll try to catch you up tomorrow. Same bat time, same bat channel.

If you get bored while you're waiting for me, check out this site from animator Chris Romano . There are some amusing CGI robots in a movie entitled "Hide and Seek", with a screen test that I just can't get enough of for some reason. The coupe de grace, though, is that he took the audio from the original monster cereal commercial starring Frankenberry and Count Chocula and created a CGI version of it. Being a HUGE fan of the whole monster cereal gang since I was a sprout, I thought it was better than a Butter Pecan and Root Beer float (Mmmmmmm-mmmmmm). Anyhoo, I'll be back by Wednesday morning at the latest. Keep smiling...

See, it's not just me...

2005-01-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

So, I was watching Saturday Night Live last night and at least 2 or 3 times during the show someone said about Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt: "If they can't make it..." Can you believe they stole that from me!
I went to the bar this weekend and that was a lot of fun. Some guys wanted to get in a fight with me because they thought that I stole their beer for some reason. The highlight of the night's festivities, though, was this 7' tall transvestite with a tight white skirt on and a big blonde wig going up to sing some James Brown. What a sight! I had fun, though.
Some other things happened, but I have to run...I'll fill you in later, I just wanted to post something. Until then...

Happy January 10th

2005-01-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

Well, today is my dad's birthday. I can't believe he's been gone 10 years as of this year. It seems like it was only two years ago, tops. I don't really miss him any less as time passes, but I guess you can't change the past, so it's pointless to dwell on it. I have the day off, so I might just spend some time to myself. Being out here in California actually makes me miss him even more this time around, since he's the main reason I made the leap to Cali in the first place. Well, if your out there anywhere, Dad, I love you and I miss you SO much. Happy Birthday...

Hail To The King, Baby!

2005-01-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

Well, today's Elvis Presley's birthday. My cousin Danny always says, "I never work on January 8th...cause that's Elvis' birthday..." I don't know who really cares, but it's a big deal to him, so I felt it was worth mentioning.

In other news...

I couldn't believe the news last night on my way home from work: After 5 years of marital bliss, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston call it quits! Who would have thought? They always seemed like the perfect Hollywood couple. I guess you never know. I'm pretty bummed out about it, myself, but I think Amanda took the news a bit harder than I did. I think she'll pull through, eventually. Rumor has it that it was due to some infidelity on the set with a co-star, but that they wanted to keep it a private matter between the two (technically three) of them. Well, if they can't make it, what chance do the rest of us have?

It's a little nippy out

2005-01-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

We just got back inside a few minutes ago from the set of Fun With Dick and Jane. We've been out there for a few hours watching the set from the balcony of someone else's apartment building (shhhh! Don't tell). We actually were able to sneak into the gated complex of the corner building. They're shooting some scenes with Jim Carrey a half a block down the road...again, but at a different store. I think Tea Leoni drove off after about a half-hour of us being there. Someone from the crew yelled out to a departing car, "Goodnight Tea!", and they drove off. It was pretty cool with the rain machine out there and seeing Jim Carrey waiting to shoot and doing some scenes. Mike tried to get a shot from an alley, but left just before Jim came out. When I sent him back he got caught. After that, he wanted to shoot from where we were, but security would have busted us in a second. Instead, Mike thought it would be a good idea to climb on the roof, which I thought was ballsy and showed his determination to get a good shot. So, after waiting to set up an external shot with the rain machine, they finally get ready to shoot and what happens? Here comes Mike off the roof mad that nothing's happening as they yell action and start the scene. I could have thrown him off the balcony! Three times he left his shot as it was about to happen! THREE TIMES!!! ...and how many did he get after three hours? Zero! It was still pretty cool out there, but after three hours of freezing my nips off, I was hoping we would have a little something to bring back with us.

To add insult to injury: When I got home, just before I wrote this, I checked my e-mail and saw that I had gotten an invite to catch a special screening of Ray at the Egyptian Theater with director Taylor Hackford doing a Q&A with us afterwards. Unfortunately, it was for Tuesday night and all three of us had to work (well, that and I didn't check it until today). I think that sucks more than the other thing. Anyhoo, that's all. Just thought I'd share.

Bye Bye Love

2005-01-04T23:44:00.000-08:00

I just found out that one of my favorite movies of all time, Bye Bye Love, is FINALLY coming out on DVD on February 8th. I have been waiting forever it seems like. I keep seeing all of these crappy movies making it to DVD form years past and I just get so ticked off that I can't get one of the ones I really want. I have two copies of it on VHS (just in case), but DVDs are where it's at now. I needed satisfaction! Well, now I'm getting it and not a moment too soon. If you've never seen it, it's pretty good. It has Randy Quaid, Paul Rieser, Mathew Bodine, Janeane Garofalo, a young Eliza Dushku and a few more people you would probably recognize. OK, maybe you won't like it, but I love it. And then a month later a new season of Friends (Season 9) comes out on March 8th. That will only leave one more and then that's it. Nothing left to expect from Friends. Man, that sucks!
On a quick side note: Michael Ealy (from Barbershop) was in the store earlier tonight and a few of the girls were going all ga-ga for him. Keep it in your pants, girls!

I need a break

2005-01-03T23:37:00.000-08:00

I have not had a day off since Christmas weekend and I'm starting to feel the burn. I just want to tell everyone to get out of my face and get out of the store. We've been having a big winter sale and people are just being completely unreasonable and it's starting to take it's toll. I don't get a day off until Wednesday. I can hardly wait.
The only saving grace of the night was that Shawnee Smith was in the store again. For those of you who didn't read one of the post from before, I've had a big crush on her since way back. I helped her load some things into her car and got the chance to talk to her again for a few minutes. Well, actually, I think I talked to her daughter more than her. She was a happy little thing. Very friendly. It made my night a little better.
Well, I think the three of us are going to watch Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle right now, so until next time...
*****************
Oh, and what do you do with an elephant with three balls?
***You walk him and pitch to the rhino***

HAPPY 2005!!!

2005-01-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

First off, I would like to wish everyone a great new year ahead. Hopefully, this year will be even better than last year for everyone.
I didn't really do much for New Year's. I stayed at the apartment with Mike and Amanda and ushered in midnight with a few beers, but I had to work early the next day so I went to bed at 3:30. About 12:01 a.m. Mike mentioned the idea of going to Universal City Walk for the midnight celebration, but that was a day late and a dollar short. Good job, Mike! We watched "A Tale of Two Sisters", which is I believe, a Korean horror movie. It was a little twisted near the end. I'm sure everyone will see it as an American movie in the next few years just like Ringu (The Ring) and Ju On (The Grudge).
New Year's day was actually a very easy day work-wise. Andy Dick was in the store with a friend buying a few things. He was a little snotty, but funny. I also met Julia Sweeney from SNL. I helped her with some of her stuff when she wanted to grab something to eat. She has just the best smile. What a sweet person. I wish I could have talked to her more, but by the time she came back from getting a bite, I was on lunch. When I got home a just crashed. I was tired.
Oh, I don't know if anybody remembers the 80's movie Just One of the Guys, about the girl who goes to high school dressed as a guy to write a story. Billy Jacoby (or Jayne, depending) who played the younger brother and probably the funniest part of the movie was in Friday night. I talked to him and helped him out, but I couldn't remember for sure if his name was Billy or not. I was almost positive. I was going to ask him if it was, but it was busy and I just wanted to help him get done and out of the crowded store. Anyway, I just thought it was worth mentioning.
Enjoy the year. You've got plenty of it left...
*****I just realized Tuesday night that I never published this post. It was just sitting minimized on my desktop. Real smart.*****

Parallel Parking Signal

2004-12-28T01:48:00.000-08:00

I think that auto manufacturers should equip cars with a parallel parking signal (thus the title). Something to say, "Hey, person behind me. I'm going to be stopping and then backing into that space." If you use your turn signal, it just means your going to be turning. In that case, people will get right up on your tailpipe and not give you the room to back in, especially in bumper to bumper traffic. I don't know how many times I've tried to park on the street and had somebody get right up behind me, making it impossible for me to do anything but keep going forward. Man, I hate that! Anyway, I don't think it's such a bad idea...

Christmas is over

2004-12-26T23:33:00.000-08:00

Greetings and salutations! I hope everyone had a great Christmas. With Mike and Amanda back home in Michigan, I had the place to myself. A lot of people from work invited me over for Christmas dinner, but I would just feel weird spending the day with someone else's family. I DID, however, breakdown and decide to fix myself a nice ham dinner. It...was...good. It was a nice addition to the Piston's game against those Indiana jackholes. I talked to my mother for a bit for the first time in quite a while. A friend from work (a fellow Michigander) gave me the new DVD Shaun of the Dead as a token of the holidays, a movie I'd already seen a few times, but could not WAIT to see again. I was supposed to pick up the kids from the airport Christmas night, but their plane was post-poned until Monday afternoon. Instead, a friend came over and we watched the DVD. The bonus features were pretty good too. That was pretty much my Christmas.

Today was pretty uneventful. I picked up some DVDs first thing, which was a crazy idea because the crowds were more than ridiculous in Burbank. Somehow I lucked out and got everything I went out to get, topped my trip off with some Panda and headed home to enjoy my movies. I spent a little time working on some character sketches for my cartoon, talked to a couple of friends, and went out for a long drive. Like I said, pretty uneventful. Well, it's the last night before Mike and Amanda come home, so I'm going to kickback for a little bit and then hit the sack. I hope everyone's having fun this holiday season. Take care.

P.S.
---What do you do with an elephant with three balls?

Finally, A Little Rest...

2004-12-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

Man, since Wednesday I had slept about 6 hours and been running like crazy. I...was...tired. I finally got a little sleep last night (though, I still hadn't gone to bed until 3:30 am). At least I got some.

As I'm sure you've all figured out, that little problem we were having with the sites has now been rectified. It took a bit of drama and a lot of work, but things are back on track and working fine.

Mike and Amanda left this morning for Michigan for a couple of weeks. They come back late Christmas night, so the I'll pretty much be doing the solo thing for a bit. I hope everyone is doing fine, and I'll be around...

EVIL IS AFOOT!

2004-12-10T05:45:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are having a problem getting onto Caliblog or have noticed that some of the graphics have disappeared on this site, you can all thank our "buddy", Mr. Chuck. Apparently, Chuck has taken it upon himself to sabotage anything he can get little grubs on, including giving the name Caliblog a new destination to friend's site, so at this point he has stolen an account that WE pay for (what a guy!). What does he care? He's not here anymore, so why should the rest of you be allowed to enjoy Caliblog? I guess if he can't play, nobody can. Hopefully, the rest of us can put our heads together here and work this all out. Until then, stick around.