Planes, Trains and Humidity -- Philly Part One and Updates

Warning: If you find yourself here via a Google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

Blog Blahs

I had been very excited to write this blog when we started for home early Tuesday morning. It was so early that the airport wasn't actually open, but more on that part of the trip later. By the time I got home, I wasn't able to write a word. In fact, even sending e-mails this week has been a chore. I was tired down to the core on Wednesday and still had three days of work. Yesterday, putting up less than ten photos on facebook was all I managed to finish. Fortunately, Gordon Ramsay (somehow, in addition to all the Food Network stuff I watch, Jon and I got hooked on BBC America's Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares) instilled a tremendous yen for succotash in me this week. And for some reason, I really wanted a stuffed bell pepper. The big Family Buffet also left me wanting to experiment with pole beans and a black eyed pea salad. Thus, I was cooking yesterday and that partially staved off the malaise threatening to completely engulf me. Going home is complicated in ways that I can't begin to talk about. What is really weird about how I'm feeling now is that we had a really, really good time. Ah well. I won't get anything else done until I start to get a handle on the trip.

Homeward Bound

The trip began at the Police Station. Not that we had done anything yet. There is an ATM in the lobby. The station is also right next to the bus stop.. All very convenient. The trip to LAX is almost as close as it was when we lived in Playa. And it's really easy getting to the airport by bus – easier than driving at that time of day because the shuttle bus has its own lane to the terminals while the car lanes are jammed. Our first destination of the day had been on the news as part of a crime report. Actually, it was Joxer's Daily Pub next door that was in the report. But when I looked up at the screen, all I noticed was the Bakery cafe we were bound for. It seems that a Culver City councilman was assaulted behind the building. See video HERE . That was weird, but we really needed to have the lovely (and cheap) breakfast the lovely family serves up. And it was lovely. We also ordered a pair of Jambon et Fromage sandwiches to take on the plane. The bus ride was long enough that I could finish the bottle of champagne I had transferred to water bottles. I believe I have mentioned that I fly with a strong buzz. Really strong buzz. This is particularly true when I haven't been on a plane in years.

The flight out was fine. Jon and I were booked separately, so we were didn't have seats together, but everyone at every leg was willing to switch. Everyone prefers an aisle seat to a middle seat. We were in Detroit refueling my buzz when we found out about the Eagles signing Michael Vick. I knew that would be on the top of the news the whole while we were in Philly, and it was. Personally, my views are mixed. What he did was heinous and disgusting, but he served his time. In this country, that means he gets another chance. And I know Eagles fans. If he helps the team start winning, they will wear fur hats and jerseys to cheese off PETA (if PETA is foolish enough to protest in Philly). All will be forgotten if they win the Super Bowl. It was just a weird thing to happen there. We found out when Dad hit the wall of traffic outside of south Philly that we'd arrived as the Eagles pre-season game ended. It was a long trip to his house. By the time we arrived, it was only 8pm our time, but we had had a really long day. Friday was jammed with stuff to do to prep for the Big Family Barbecue or BFB. And there were some people we really needed to see while we were in Center City. An early start was in order. So it was just as well that we were exhausted.

I must take a moment to say that our accommodations while back East were first rate. Dad had us in a very nice loft suite with cable TV and Philomena had us in a very comfy room in a mansion that I'll rave about later.

What the #$%@ is THAT???

Three years is not an eternity to be away from a City. And Philadelphia is not known for rapid change. I'm not sure how long that hole at 8th and Market existed before someone had it filled in a paved over for a parking lot. It was supposed the be several other things over who knows how long before someone finally noticed that a big hole in the middle of the downtown shopping district just looks bad (it was around long enough that there was a t-shirt and a name for it). Thus, I was expected to get some nostalgia pics and relive old times as I drag me nephew, Brian around, we found ourselves saying, what the hell is that? And When did that get there? Quite a lot. Brian took us on a tour of the most amazing new development, The Comcast Center. The building is stunning and enormous, but it's the lobby that takes the breath away. What looks like a wood paneled wall where the elevators are is the largest view screen I've ever seen. We were really lucky to get the transition as it happened. Brian watched the end of the World Series there. The rumor was that because the Comcast center put a 26 inch statue of William Penn on the roof, returning him to the highest point in the city, the curse against the Philly winning a championship was broken. Who knows? The building is great. I was pleasantly surprised at how Center City had changed overall. There were tons and tons of little restaurants and boutiques and coffee houses. Where once, everyone left the downtown shopping district when the offices closed, there were people strolling and shopping and eating like there was no hurry to ever leave. I was far less wary strolling about than I ever had been before. It was impressive though the humidity was still crushing and draining. And there was enough of all that I had loved still in place that we still recognized the place.

The Gid

We managed to hang out with Brian for lunch at Reading Terminal Market. Biran had Chinese food. Jon and I had the first of foods that we really missed: Amish Pretzels and fresh lemonade at Millers. I shopped for the pie and short rib ingredients and found most of them. We even did the tourist thing. That left finding Gideon Umile, a former co-worker and the man who introduced Jon to me. He is matched in zaniness and wit only by Craig. But he's tough to pin down. I had last heard from him during the raucous celebrations after the Phillies won the World Series. He had to go suddenly, then I couldn't find him. I only knew he was alive when a Google search revealed that he'd gotten married at the Mutter Museum. Getting married there and not letting us know he was getting married warranted investigation. And we missed him. No visit would be complete without a few of tales of Gideon's crazy life over a many drinks. We were lucky again. Hew was at work near where we were sightseeing and he was getting off early. He suggested a little joint he knew at a nearby hotel. It turned out to be the very swanky lobby bar in the Sofitel. Mind, Jon and I were dusty, sweaty and rumpled. I was pretty sure we were going to get thrown out as soon as we sat down. Luckily, Gid showed up and it turned out as the former head Concierge there, he had trained everyone we came across. The wine and stories flowed. Gid is now married and expecting a child (he keeps the ultrasound photo on his I-Phone). The wedding cost a fortune because it involved his flying in numerous in-laws from South Korea and flying back again for a ceremony there. None of that seemed to matter. He's slap happy and adorable in that joy. And he is as appallingly irreverent as always. He will make a very interesting father.

Our time was still pressed though. We couldn't follow Gid home and surprise his pregnant wife (that's not a bad thing, actually). We had to take the train out to my brother's place, so he could take us to Dad's. I still had pie dough to make. Gid did take me to get the final bits I needed for my dishes. There was a new gourmet market near where he lives that carried demi-glace – stacks of the stuff. DiBruno's Market is amazing. I could drop a fortune in there easily. I'm lucky that similar places in LA aren't easy for me to reach routinely. I'd never have any money. We said goodbye to Gid at the train station (very dramatic). We have each other's numbers and facebooks. There won't be any loosing touch. Still, my heart felt heavy. I felt that a lot last week. I feel it still.

I have to stop here. There is too much to cover with the BFB on Saturday , hanging out with our families and the big reunion of the Writing Group on Sunday. I don't think I should rush through all of that. It was a really wonderful trip and should be covered properly.

Updates

All the players involved in the films will be back from vacations and free of distractions by this time next week. We should be announcing a pre-production schedule shortly after that. Jon is ready to render the final backgrounds for Blood Oath's climactic fight scene. The Manga artist will get his list of panels to complete. I should be able to set a date for the screening next week or the week after.

Stay tuned!

Blog Delay Due to Traveling

Jon and I are in our ancestral in Philadelphia this weekend. Oh, the tales I have to tell but not until next week. We're racing around too much for me to gatehr my thoughts and put write them down. I amy poast during the weeking, so keep an eye out!

Devil Boxes, Set Secrets and Updates

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

The Devil is in the Desktop

My dear friend, Nicholas, calls PCs devil boxes. Yet he is one of the most prolific posters of ephemera that I know. He often complains about the devil box swallowing up his time. However, it's proven to be very useful to him in his numerous and nefarious pursuits. I admit to many frustrations with my computer and the interwebs. A couple of weeks ago, I was pulling my hair out trying to edit the pilot presentation for The Privateers into appropriately sized chunks for Youtube.com. Then I spent a long time posting the four parts on Youtube, Myspace and finally facebook. I lost a whole day in getting that done. Last week, I'm not sure how many hours flew by as I was putting together a voice over and animation video for Blood Oath. It was the first time in years that I've done anything that extensive with editing (images, voice audio and music). I even threw in some primitive visual FX. Yesterday, I had a few tasks to do on the PC related to the promotion of our various projects. Six hours later, I wondered where my time had gone and why I hadn't done any writing.

The thing is that these website are simple to use in theory but also very frustrating. I don't think any of the amazing minds that designed these social networking sites know how to write their FAQs or help sections in simple, plain English. When Nick first started using his devil box, he called tech support. And in that way only an articulate hoodlum Jersey boy can, told the tech that if he failed to simply define any of the technical terms he was about to use, Nick would find him at his place of employment and rip his spine out. The call went swimmingly from there, and Nick went on to become legendary in some circles for his posts. I'm trying to get him to blog. At any rate, I am certain that calls like Nick's have resulted in an inability to reach live tech support for these sites. I have never been satisfied with the results of submitting a trouble ticket. The answers generally involve repeating what was in their FAQ or unhelpful help centers. Thus, the simple tasks of creating a fan page for Blood Oath and uploading things onto it, then inter-connecting it with other pages took six hours (and included much in the way of cursing and wine consumption).

I know, I can hear the question swirling out there. Why bother? Networking is the long and short of it. Putting up videos like The Privateers and sites like the many Blood Oath pages allows Industry people to see that we are, indeed, active filmmakers. This past weekend, I've had some really cool Industry types friend my pages. These people can help us make better films or get our projects to people who could see them made or distributed or both. Connecting with potential fans is not a bad thing either. Currently, there is a month long discussion forum on a European discussion board about The Privateers. They found the videos on Youtube after becoming enamored with Karl Urban, Aran Dravyk in The Privateers among other things. As this project has yet to be produced, We have images and stories never seen or heard by most of his growing fan base. It is also heartening that those who've recently discovered The Privateers found that they liked the concept enough to want to see it made with or without the original cast. In the case of Blood Oath, there is a large audience for Yaoi and a larger one for Yaoi that we need to reach prior to pitching the pilot presentation to the Suits. These pages give them something to look at and even subscribe to. All these hits – especially repeat hits do a lot to help us sell the project. So these things are necessary until I get a brilliant assistant willing to do my cyber-bidding.

Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe

The kind fold running the month long forums have been quite inquisitive about the happenings on the Privateers shoot. And therein lies one of the biggest dilemmas of direct interaction with fans. Actors share a lot about what happens behind the scenes on any given shoot. This is particularly true of actors who do the convention circuit. However, they never share everything that happens on set.

I must pause here to point out something disturbing I
just saw on television. – tweens wearing pork pie hats.
I've long felt that there are many heads already out
there that are ill suited to wearing such hats. When
tweens start wearing them, it is time for everyone to
stop. I also reiterate my on-going objection to tops
or dresses with empire waists They only look good
on toddlers.

Where was I? Ah yes, Set secrets. The set is a close, often very personal environment where the cast has to feel comfortable letting their hair down between takes. Relaxation can take the form of all sorts of silliness and sometimes, sexiness. There is an understanding amongst cast and crew that most of what happens on the set stays on the set. Now, we all share things with colleagues – mostly the horror stories or how a horror was averted. That's shop talk. And there is sometimes gossip amidst colleagues about each others' sets. But there is an understanding amidst these colleagues that the gossip doesn't filter out to civilians or the press. And I'm not saying that there was anything worth press interest on any of our sets. But there are events and conversations that I have never talked about from all of my shoots. There are lots of things I've never talked about from my travels with actors to Cannes or to conventions. And heaven knows there are things I have never talked about involving the wrap parties. The wrap party in particular is sacrosanct. Everything that I and my production company have shared has had the permission of the actors or crew involved. And I tell my peeps that they are to take the lead of what they can say from the actors. Once they've blabbed it (and sometimes they blab an awful lot), we can share it.

Thus, even though I think these fans are the bees knees for being interested in and supporting all of our projects, I can't tell them why Craig had an issue with one of Karl's more private body parts or even how he came to know about such an attribute. I sure can't share the insane conversation that ensued or the extrapolations within that conversation. And while there is a perfectly innocent explanation as to how I ended up on Karl's bed in that Atlanta hotel, I just can't say what the explanation is. Nor can I explain why Randy is still waiting for Karl's promised serenade of him for his personal services (and that's really funny), I can't tell anyone outside of the business. Forgive me if I seem like I'm being a tease. I'm just making a point.. I'm even more protective of actors that I've maintained a close relationship with over the years. I seldom take photos of their visits anymore unless they are looking particularly yummy. And on the plus side, I no longer feel the need to be dressed up around them. Though that's true with most actor's I've worked with. No one is pretty at hour 14 of a shoot. And even if the actor is still gorgeous, at a certain point in the day, you are really sick of looking at his or her face until after I've had some sleep (though I still love all my actor boys and girls).

Updates and Countdown

We're all preoccupied with Central City Studio's first shoot at the end of this week. After it's up and running Ralph and I can turn our attention to where the pre-production plans are for Gunslinger and Luv U 4 Ever. I also expect to set a date for the screening of the Blood Oath Pilot Presentation. Gabriel Koerner very kindly help Jon with some compositing issues and even did an FX test of Rik using his energy channeling power. It looked really neat.

On the personal front, the countdown to the trip to Philly is only 4 days away. The suitcase is half packed. I have about five different lists to check off by Thursday morning. I tried the short rib recipe I plan to spring on the family last week. It was delicious. Even Jon liked it. That's a coup. I am taking the pie bird and my tart pan for the apple pie. I may get a set of regular sized aluminum pie pans. It seems that there are a lot of relatives coming to the family barbecue. I don't want to be short of pie, and I want to take one to the gathering of the grad school chums. I can't bring any of my demi-glace from home for the short ribs, but I think I can find it at the Reading Terminal Market. That place remains one of my favorite places anywhere to buy food. And I understand that there is a warehouse type market near Dad's place. It'll be fun. My next experiment that I plan to spring on the family is sweet corn bread. Jon loves the stuff, and it will go with Dad's supper spicy barbecue. In fact, I need to get on that right now.

Next week, I will try to blog from Philly. I may only be able to do some snippets to hold everyone over until we get back. I'm sure there will be photos and lots of stories.

Taking Stock, Literary Allusion and Big Brains

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

Before I dive in to things, I thought I should mention that my school chum, Sarah Freligh, is blogging about her writings at Sort of Gone. There are wonderful things about writing and reading and, lately, pies.

Summer Doldrums

This week was a little saner than the last two, but only by a fraction. And I believe that was because nothing was happening with regard to the great relocation of the Archive. And nothing will for a couple of weeks while all the arrangements are settled. That's good an bad. Until we're in the new spot the tension over something going awry is palatable. Meanwhile, I'm in the entertaining position of coordinating shoots planned for the space and figuring out how to work them around the day job. I just can't call in and then turn up down the hall being a producer (not that I've ever done anything like that). This means all those three day weekends will be taken up by production work. Blah. I'm also annoyed that I haven't had my quotient of awful pop culture this summer. We've been so busy or I've been too tired to see giant robots or boy wizards. Now the big, undoubtedly stupid fun of GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is upon us. We have to tour the new soundstage next weekend. The following week, we'll be in Philadelphia. I am quite vexed by missing the opportunity to rot my brain and eat popcorn. What can you do? We have a Pilot Presentation to finish and too many other things pulling our attention. Maybe we'll catch them all at the dollar theaters before they go to video.

Finding Focus

The uproar over the day job caused a lot of general upheaval in our routines. I think it took Jon and I a solid week before we could really focus on our respective tasks for Blood Oath. For me, the distraction meant a complete shut down on everything I was writing or planning to write. Even cooking wasn't helping me settle down. I ruined more dishes that week than I have in years. This was particularly frustrating, because I now have places to show off my food. A lot of my favorite chefs have their own facebook pages or websites where they want fan contributions. I've already put up a half dozen photos. It's been fun getting feedback. I haven't been able to cook anything complex until yesterday. I made some stocks. Those are my zen exercise. It is a very simple substance but the making of it is an art of patience and precision. The better cookbooks harp on the importance of stocks to many things created in the kitchen. Anthony Bourdain's cookbook does a lot of yelling in instructing how to get them right. He is personally obsessed with good stock in his favorite soups. There is a tiny restaurant in Vietnam that holds the distinction of making his favorite thing to eat. It's a soup for which excellent stock is made daily. I really enjoy the process. The pot must be left to do its work, but it cannot be neglected. And the stock can be ruined in the beginning if the ingredients aren't what they should be and in the proper proportion. That can't be known until the weight of the bones is known. It took hours and hours, but I have enjoyed a lovely bowl of soup from the chicken stock. The house smells of thyme and garlic. I am a happy girl as I write this.

As for the writing, that got back on track as I got further into A Moveable Feast. That book is very much about writers writing. It makes a body feel guilty for not writing diligently every single day. However, I'm also feeling indignant about not having lovely lunches in cafes and terribly sharp but witty conversations with artists and writers over drinks not to mention delightful picnics in the Luxembourg Gardens. But that's another matter entirely. I'm usually resentful about not doing such things. Reading the book made me feel guilty and inspired enough to struggle through sentences last weekend. I'm now getting trough paragraphs fairly well this weekend. I feel better physically when I can write and when I can cook. Traveling won't slow any of that down. For some reason, I write a lot in my head while I travel. Almost the entire first draft of A Soldier's Choice was written in my head while we were in Atlanta attending Dragoncon. And I will be cooking as well. That's a little nerve wracking as it's been such a long time since I cooked for family. But it will give me something to focus on while I'm there. Of course there are family tensions and sensitive topics to tip toe around. Where there is family, there are tensions. No one knows about the memoir yet.

Literature and Pop Culture

As I bandy about tidbits from Hemingway, I wince a little. I don't want to sound like some sort of reading snob. It's funny that every time I read the book in public, someone assumes I'm a teacher. Alas, the graying hair no longer qualifies me to be a student. When I say no, I get a look like 'well, la di da reading Hemingway when you don't have to.' The thing is, I think that A Moevable Feast has pop culture appeal. There is a lot in the way of enjoying food and booze and sex. There is scandal. Hem is something of a wise ass. I think that mental barriers are erected every day in the minds of school children that classic literature is dry and boring and has nothing to do with current reality. And once that cap comes off at graduation, they are never thought of again. Unless a really hot movie version of one of the books comes out. And that's regrettable. Fortunately, there are solutions out there in pop culture. I often see wonderful references to literature in my favorite subversive programs. I think that teaches should consider including these sorts of things in the way they teach literature. The best reading of an Edgar Alan Poe poem I have ever heard is by Homer Simpson. Actually, aside from Garrison Keillor reading Sarah's poetry on NPR, Homer's version of The Raven is my favorite poetry recital ever. I would totally use that if I ever taught the poem. But it doesn't stop there. Futurama's episode, The Day the Earth Stood Stupid, as some wonderful commentary on Mark Twain, Herman Melville and Jane Austen (photo to the right). I also find that the entire episode was a thesis worthy exercise in metafiction. And it's not just the cartoons that have a keen sense for the literary. Stephen Colbert has often made highly amusing and involved literary references. Aside from coming up with two tiles by J.D. Salinger that I could actually read, he had a brilliant analogy between baseball and Jane Austen. Take a moment to look at the clip HERE. And please forgive the blasphemy at the beginning of the clip. Mr. Colbert is actually very Catholic, and thus blasphemes like only a Catholic can. There is a down side to this mixture of the literary with pop culture. I was processing an edition of A Tale of Two Cities and all I could think about was Montgomery Burns reading 'it was the best of times, it was the blurst of times? Stupid monkeys!'

Travel Bugginess

Those familiar with me have heard of my legendary prep for any type of journey. It is no exaggeration. As soon as there are plane tickets, I compose The List. On The List is everything item that I can think of that either of us may need during a trip. It is detailed down to safety pins and a cork screw. But, Deb, I am often told, there are all night supermarkets or drug stores in most cities now. You can get what you may forget. To that I counter that foreign travelers to the American Film Market have been so often dismayed by the lack of these facilities anywhere near the host hotels, that they have complained online often. There are drugstores and markets within a few miles of the hotels, but that doesn't help if you don't know what direction to find them. And the cabbies aren't much help. I've been in similar situations when I really needed some essential but forgotten toiletry. In some cases like my last stays in New York or when we last stayed at a Philly hotel. There were stores on the same block as the hotel. After a certain hour of the night, I'm not going out to shop. And it's always at that hour of the night when certain toiletries become essential. And I've never found a corkscrew when I don't have one. So I'm neurotic – really neurotic, but I am prepared. The big drag with this trip is that the apartment is too compact for me to leave a suitcase out and open in order to arrange and re-arrange our items for travel. That will call for a bit of creativity and some artful stacking along the back of the sofa. Hopefully, I won't drive poor Jon crazy.

Unscheduled Blog with Writer's Musings and a Blood Oath Preview

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

Blood Oath Update

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I fired myself as the artist for the Blood Oath Manga panels that will appear in the Pilot presentation. We found a wonderful replacement. His name is Dennis Lo, and he does Manga for a living. We'll have a bio on him up on or various pages shortly. For now, I'm giving a sneek peek of the panels he's finished for the web page. They'll be up full sized by tomorrow's regularly scheduled blog. Oh, the things that are going on. But that is for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I find that all of this interweb connectedness has an incredibly awkward side. Those who know the writer me know that I don't shy from talking about my passions. I like the notion of a romance between beautiful men. I like writing erotica with no profound message behind it. I take my mutant soldiers in love as seriously as the memoir about my mother I'm writing. And I find reading that sort of prose as valid and enlightening as reading any of the literary lions (if it's written well, of course). After all, Hemingway enjoyed D.H. Lawrence's The Prussian Officer , though that was far from a romance. It was a lurid, disturbing perversion of all the kinky things I like reading and writing. Actually, I feel that way about most of Lawrence's work. Where was I? Oh, yes, serious writing. I had a similar conversation about what is and isn't worthwhile in writing with William Goldman while I was in grad school. He was speaking at our Creative Writing School, then we took him out to a cheap dive for cheap beer as was the tradition of our class. He lamented the possibility of his work disappering with his passing because it wasn't literature. I told him that what is considered literature changes with each generation of critics and professors. A lot of what is deemed literature now once was pop culture. Since working at the archive, I've discovered lauded writers who had dozens of novels or poetry collections along with reams and reams written on their work that have disappeared completely from everyon'e canon of great works. There are quite a number of serious dissertations on Star Trek. The UN had a panel featuring Battlestar Galactica. I'm at peace with who I am and where my creative bent leads me.

And then I joined Facebook. And while a lot of people in the industry have found me and fans of my work have found me, people from my past have found me. I give fair warning on my profile page that my interests have mutated since Catholic High School. And I've found my voice after Grad School, and that voice isn't interested in being the next Toni Morrison (though I still enjoy reading her). And still, despite all my confidence, I found myself hesitating to post the Manga because it contained a kiss between men. Extraordinary. then, I mentally slapped myself, reminded myself that the page was for promoting the new works as much as it was for connecting with old friends and that my friends needed to know the real me, kinks and all.

Without Further ado:

See the full sized pages at the Blood Oath Website and hear some voice clips sometime tonight or tomorrow. I'll make another announcement when it's up at http://bloodathseries.com.

Epic Collisions, True Sentences and Live Animals

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


For those coming in from the Amazon.com feed, I actually talk about my writing at some point. So, bear with me.

Disaster and Opportunity

Many thanks to those who sent notes in the wake of my cryptic non-blog post last week. It's nice to know there are so many who care. I know that for many bloggers, the venue is a place to vent at the universe. And I know that many find me funny when I'm on tear (I think that's a trait that I get from the southern relations). Goodness knows I don't mind fussing up a storm when the mood strikes. But I'm also somewhat superstitious. I find that when I put mostly positive energy out into the ether (the heavens, not the flammable liquid), I get mostly positive energy in return. The events of last week put us in such a state of extreme limbo, that I couldn't find anything really positive to say. I didn't want to frighten people with all of the negative outcomes I was seeing in my mind at the time, so I thought I should hold off on the blog until I had a better idea of what was happening and was less terrified.

On any given week, Jon and I have a tumultuous ride in our creative lives. It is often as soul crushing as it is exhilarating. That's why we really embrace the Chinese definition of chaos. We are always coping with impending disaster and opportunity. Most weeks, the positive outweighs the negative enough that we keep slugging along. The ideas keep coming, the writing keeps flowing, and there is enough entertaining strangeness to keep life interesting. A key part of balancing the chaos has been having the security that our basic financial needs are being met. Our day jobs keep body and soul together fairly well, and we have enough breathing room to enjoy some minor luxuries and indulgences. The day job, like any day job, is a grind that gets tiresome at times. For me, the physical drain has not helped my back or joints. But the security it provides is essential for us to be able to reach for the stars. Last Wednesday, we were surprised to learn that our day jobs were going away as of July 31st due to the budget crisis facing UCLA.

That's not a lot of notice. Despite the generous severance offer, the prospect of unemployment (the writing grant for many a writer like John Sayles), and the fact that Jon and I are in a count down to starting the film projects, I was terrified. In the best of circumstances, one likes to leave a day job on your own terms and fully secure in where that move will be and how much that move will pay. While the film countdown is on schedule (more on that later in the blog), we also know how easily everything can evaporate. Our current standard for when we're willing to give notice to a day job is beyond contracts being signed and beyond seeing a check. We want that check to have cleared in the bank and our pay deposited in our account before we quit a job. Why yes, we have quite jobs only to have a film disintegrate. That was a very hard learned lesson, and the big reason why I don't like to give up my basic security. Yes, I've already said that.

There was a long shot possibility of finding another space for the LA part of the Archive as they still had funding for the staff to continue and actually grow in size. We were all asked to pitch ideas no matter how remote. I contacted Ralph about a liaison from the Mayor's Office who could be helpful. That call prompted Ralph to suggest that our friend Lucy may have the space at her new sound stage warehouse. It's a cavernous building that will house several kinds of sets (hospital, labs, morgue, court room, jail, a mansion with a gourmet kitchen and working bathrooms among others). She has the space and it would benefit her as well to do something for a nonprofit organization. Thus, the day job will continue without interruption until the move. I'm pleased that my co-workers won't be losing their jobs, and that I can stop having night sweats and nausea, but this is a weird situation to be in. I try to keep my life in compartments. It's less messy that way. I've been working on Lucy's behalf first with researching funding then with sending contacts to her for bookings. Jon is working on the first version of the website and organizing her prop database. We plan to shoot at least one of the films there and using her facility has factored into the budget for the Blood Oath proposal. Our worlds are about smash together in strange and unpredictable ways. For instance, there is the live lion that will be on the premises for a music video shortly after the Archive is due to move there. On the other hand, I'll have access to a commercial kitchen with fridge and freezer to hone my skills. The trade offs will be interesting for the time I'll be straddling both worlds.

One True Sentence

One of the bright spots during this past week was the arrival of A Moveable Feast : The Restored Edition. I have loved the original book since my dear friend Kim gave it to me for Christmas several years ago. And this version purports to be the way the author intended it to be published along with material that was never included for publication in a separate section at the end. The book combines my love of writing and writers with my obsession with Paris. I can only read it a half chapter at a time. Every sentence is a bit of art, or what Hemingway a true sentence. I like to write sparse sentences in my fiction. But reading this book reminded me that there is still room in sparse text to take time to bring the reader into the feel and flavor of the place and time being detailed. In a scant 4 and a half page chapter, A Good Cafe on Place St.- Michel, it is easy to feel the damp cold wind ripping through the dark streets contrasted against the warm cheeriness of the cafe. And the reader is schooled on how this good cafe differs from one nearby that is filled with unwashed rummies in just a few vivid, visceral paragraphs. Any reader can appreciate this experience, but I confess to a better understanding to Hemingway's treat after finishing a story more than I could before. I have now had raw oysters with a crisp white wine. I find I agree that the taste is sharp and salty and clean, but I found that they tasted like a well made martini as much as they did the sea.

Reading that wonderful, well crafted prose made me realize that I needed to put on the breaks – maybe even go in reverse with some of my recent writings. I've been making a lot of progress, but I had notice a lack of satisfaction with the prose. Reading this book again made me realize why. I needed to get into the ambiance and enjoy the moment. In some cases, I realized that I had forgotten some nuances in my outlines as I rushed to finish pages. I'm now correcting that. Trying to do pages for the sake of filling pages or rising word counts is a danger in writing. That should never be a measure of progress, but it often is. In scripts it's how many scenes or minutes against the outline, but it's similar to prose. I've been going too fast. But going over my work has been satisfying. After all, part of why I write is to spend time enjoying the places and people in my prose. Though the past week was perilous, I have found some measure of peace and enjoyment in writing.

Updates, New Digs and Live Animal Acts

Strangely, the only constant in the last couple of weeks is that we are still moving toward pre-production. It still looks like the end of August will be the start. Aiding our cause with at least one of the films and with Blood Oath is our association with Lucy's business, Central City Studio. She has acquired some high quality sets and real equipment and furniture. The hospital sets from her last location, lucy's hospital set was used in the Jack In the Box superbowl ad. In addition to that she has access to a great deal of space to erect sets that she doesn't have already built. It's in a part of the county that's getting two kinds of tax breaks for filming in that location, making it competitive enough against other states offering incentives that makes traveling less attractive when we don't have to. Thus, our budgets have become more attractive to funding sources while raising our production values. Mind you, we can't shoot Luv U 4 Ever there. No place in the world looks like New Jersey. We also can't shoot The Gunslinger there. I don't think horses or cattle would like the confines of a warehouse, no matter how big. As it is, I'm not sure that lion is going to be happy during that music video. Fortunately, our offices are on another floor. Yes, Dragoncor - Earthdraggon Entertainment will have a real production office to call home complete with audition and rehearsal space. Thus, the film making side of our lives has been more predictable than the regular, reliable day job. Go figure.

The other big news is that, despite all the upheaval, Jon and I will be making a pilgrimage to the ancestral home of Philadelphia in about three weeks. I will actually cook for my family there for the first time in over 15 years. The next few blogs will likely include details about my obsessive compulsive preparations for travel. Hopefully, I won't sound too crazy.

Blog Called due to Chaos

I won't be doing a blog this week. Jon and I are embroiled in one of those situations where chaos and opportunity are colliding in an epic fashion. I can't really discuss any of what's going on. I certainly have no idea where any of it will lead. Thus, I'm at a loss as to what I could write about this week. So, I'm going to take a week off. I'll be cooking and working on some fiction while I await the outcome. Stay tuned. Next week should be really interesting.

Thwarted Plans and an Inspirational Film

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

Be patient, somewhere in here are actual musings on writing.

Best Way-Laid Plans

Many of my plans were thwarted this weekend. We were going to see giant robots smash things at the movies, but never got there. We were really swamped with production related work, and I'm a bit behind in everything I'm writing. We just couldn't justify being gone for half an afternoon. There is also a small pile of films at home that we haven't watched. So, we stayed home. It was just as well, because the weather is finally hot as blazes. Thus, we are in our air conditioned cave hunkering over monitors and keyboards. It's a lot like being at work but without a sofa to lounge upon. Or the wine.

At any rate, my time is still pressed as I write this, so I can't do as much ambling around as my norm. I had a whole report on Craig's dealings with the shamwow guy when he was a scheduler at a local cable TV station. He's claiming that there are no tapes of the man's 'comedy' routines. Not that I care. What interested me more were some skits Craig did with a co-worker called Children of Our Doctor's Hospital, a mock soap opera. We think there may be clips that survive. I really want to see them. But these ramblings are quite involved and often disturbing, so they must wait for a day when I'm not so pressed.

Sublime Viewing

Last week, I was tooling around the movie channels on my cable guide to see if there as any film noir to be had that week. There was not; however, two films caught my eye. The first was one I had not seen before though it had come with many recommendations from friends. My friends know me well for it was a film aimed straight at my heart and soul as a writer and as someone madly in love with a city. Paris Je T'aime is a collection of 18 short films set in Paris. Each short is by a famous director and each captures an aspect one of the neighborhoods or arrondissements. [See the Trialer here]. There are wealthy and poor characters. There are many ethnic groups represented. And all strata of the society are given voice, even the magical or fantastic. It is mostly in subtitles, but there is English spoken as well. A whole lot of American talent appears on screen. Since my writing focuses a lot of eclectic people thrown together in the same orbit, this film appeal ed to me as a writer as well. Though each segment was only six minutes long, I was told about an entire lifetime of each character. The segments were funny or sweet or sad or all of those at once. I was surprised by a number of things that Paris Je T'aime revealed. Wes Craven apparently really gets Oscar Wilde and his wasn't the horror segment. The Coen Brothers were odd, of course, but the segment was an extremely witty observation about the mind of an American tourist (Steve Buscemi) . Naturally, there was a segment with beautiful young men in love. That was a very funny and sexy segment called Le Marais after the neighborhood that is home to both Jews and the gay community. There was what Jon called a big slab of boy named Gaspard in the lead role whom I'm thoroughly in love with – as an actor, of course. And being a French film, there is a hilarious and surreal segment in Chinatown and there are mimes. This was different though. It seems that Parisians seem to find mimes and disconcerting and annoying as the rest of the world. That was gratifying to learn. Paris Je T'aime is a great introduction to a glorious city, warts and all. I was crying while laughing. It made me a bit melancholy, of course, to see streets we'd walked down. We have a photo of Jon standing on the beautiful little street where the Mime lived. Please take a look at the trailer, then rent it and enjoy.

Seeing that film inspired my writing for the entire week. I tend to write characters in shorthand in the hopes that their dialogue and actions will tell the reader who they are. Paris Je T'aime was deft at rendering three dimensional characters with the sparest information. Seeing such beautiful work lit a fire under me with regard to my own stuff. Thus, I must be off to do some honing and refining along with my chores and production duties. I should have more updates next week.

Oh, the other film I recorded but have not yet watched (I've seen it before) was Mr. Hulot's Holiday by renown French director Jacques Tati (he is also Mr. Hulot). It's a charming film that I'd describe as a more sophisticated Mr. Bean. I'm saving that film for a break in my day later on. For now, I'm back to work.

Multiple Voices, Grillin' and Tough Calls

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

Shades of Sybil

I'm always happy when the characters I'm writing find their voices and start living in my mind. Don't worry, it isn't time for a straight jacket (not for that, anyway). I'm not splitting into these characters and their voices have yet to tell me to set anything on fire. They just hang out in their disparate groups with remnants of songs (lately, they've largely been Michael Jackson or the Jackson 5 and songs from Funny Girl ) and snippets of books that I'm processing for the Archive. Okay, that still sounds crazy. Don't worry about it. I'm currently writing a few things simultaneously. All of those characters are now running around in my head doing their individual things. I'm having the most fun with dear Vincent Greven and the cookbook. Jon's been helping me with the guy's view of cooking. The result is some very funny narrative between the recipes about such important things like having to clean the fridge every now and then or how to handle cutting boards so that no is killed by the food. Vincent's voice is often playful and sardonic making him a lot of fun to write. I'm also thinking about him and Rik Heron for the next Soldier's book. Simon Molinar, from Demon Under Glass is back for that one as well. That book is in there percolating phase. The characters from the Surrender books are back in my mind, because I'm contemplating a third book with them.

And then there is my Mother with the memoir. She's not out of place with my more lurid characters. Mom was very open minded (she came of age in the 60s, after all). I inherited my penchant for attracting very strange people as friends from her. There are a number of very naughty characters that Mom would have liked to hang out with very much. I'm still sweating the plot threads (memory threads, really) and the language in the first story from the memoir. The exposition in this story is really important to the rest of the collection, but it can't seem like exposition. It must feel more like rumination (as in pondering, not chewing cud ). The story was spun really quickly, but the honing is at a glacier's pace. Most days, one of the characters is speaking to me more loudly than the others and I make progress on something. Last week, I was so tired for some reason that none of them were speaking. I suppose characters can nap as well. They're all talking now, especially Vincent. I expect to finish the cookbook, writing wise, soon. We've never laid out a book like this, so the production may take some time after that.

July 4th 2009 Edition

The following is a bit more cooking detail than my norm, but I'm cross posting this section on Paula Deen's social network. This crazy blog is now appearing on all sorts of sites without my intervention and at least six where it was directly requested. Go figure!

I had hoped for a relaxing 3 day weekend. That would mean that all three days are spent relatively close to my sofa working on the pile of stuff in my inbox. Alas, that was not to be. We had to go to Costco on Friday. Perhaps because the banks were open, I thought that most people weren't off on Friday like Jon and I. Silly, silly me. The crowds in the parking lot and the store were unlike anything we'd ever seen there. The parking lot was full to the point of complete gridlock. Every square foot of that cavernous stores was jammed with adults and children who were all but immobilized by the volume. Jon and I have a method for such crowds. We park the cart then zip around and get what we need. That helped some. I still had to shove some carts and the person pushing them out of my way. For some reason, the Pharmacy window is next to one of the registers. The people in line seemed to think that leaving a foot of space clear would negate their spot in line. Naturally, they were either on the phone or texting. So, I shoved – hard. A little later I passed by the same area to find that an elderly woman had been injured trying to get through the register line to the pharmacy window. That was the kind of day it was there.

Though the errand was inconvenient and I was homicidal by the time we worked our way out of the parking lot, it was worth the effort. I wanted to try grilling some new things for this 4th of July like lamb chops. We didn't have lamb growing up, because Dad didn't like it (but they kept foisting okra on us). We've made leg of lamb for Easter when we had a room mate. His family was from Eastern Europe, so we had a blend of foods at holidays. That was okay. I liked ground lamb in a ragout . Jon even liked it though I suspect he didn't know what the meat actually was. I first had lamb chops at the premier party for Battlestar Galactica. The buffet was just killer (better than the one we had for the premier of Leap Years, and that one was awesome) with a huge bowl of grilled lamb chops at the center. Gabriel Koerner and I had a pile a piece. It was disgraceful, but so delicious. I've seen many recipes for grilled lamb chops on the Food Network, and finally decided to try one when next we pulled out the grill. Costco has an amazing price on a rack of lamb that cuts into 8 chops. Mine didn't look as pretty as the ones on TV (you may notice that some of the little chops have fallen off their bones), but they were really delicious. A simple marinate of garlic, rosemary, thyme and olive oil for an hour along with the tobasco barrel woodchips in the charcoal fire made for incredible flavor. The wood chips were a gift from Ohio DJ friend Bruce Kline. I plan to do a lot more grilling this summer. Lamb chops will be on the top of the list. I also lucked out in finding a huge pork shoulder on sale. It had the bone and the fat layer on top. That's becoming increasingly rare at my markets for some reason. I bought one of those and slow, slow roasted it overnight with a new kind of rub. Instead of the pulled pork rub (onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar, chili powder and pepper), I did a rub with herb de Provence, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. I found I like pulled pork with other than just barbecue flavor, and this rub gives me more options. And don't worry, Jon and I weren't in a meat coma by the time of the fireworks. I have my handy vacuum sealer to properly freeze the vast leftovers for meals over the next couple of weeks.

Updates

We've heard from our funding connection this week before the holiday bug-out. Our current count down to a mid to late August green light is holding steady. Toward the end of this month, we'll start contacting our locations for The Gunslinger and find out their availability. We'll also look at the availability of lodgings and such. For the horror film, the debate over where we're filming is over. Our company is now involved with a local soundstage that can provide everything we need, set wise, at a price that no one else is going to beat – no matter how many rebates on the budget are offered. Additionally, California and the city of Los Angeles are offering rebates that make travel for a shoot completely unnecessary unless it is for a unique locale. So, for one of them, we're staying home. For Blood Oath, we're taking on some new personnel for post. The reasons are detailed below. The rough cut is being refined. And we're looking seriously at having a screening for the network suits and yaoi fans in August. That should be some kind of interesting party. Stay tuned for more details.

Tough Call

I had to fire someone very close to me last week. It was a difficult decision, but I had to think of the good of the project. Yep, I had to fire myself from one of the tasks on Blood Oath. My work was fine, but my production was too slow. It was too long since I had used that skill set. I was happy with the sketches as was Jon, surprisingly enough, but the output couldn't match what we needed to finish the pilot presentation in any kind of timely manner. So I fired myself and put ads out for a replacement. Randy was very surprised at the speed of the decision. He worried about his own position. I made him feel better by saying that he'd better get his tush out here as quickly as possible with a big spring in his step. I've learned that I have to put the film before everything else, including my ego and others. It was a tough lesson to learn, but I think it makes me happier in my role as a producer. Things run more smoothly and I'm less aggravated. That was another thing I had to learn. Every set has a personality. Sometimes, it reflects that of the director. Sometimes, it reflects that of the lead. Our mentor in film making, Jonathan Zimmerman, told us that sets can have a frenetic energy where everyone is highly strung and prone to explosions or it can be really laid back and mellow even under extreme pressure. Problems only arose when these temperaments were mixed on the same set.

He was of the opinion, and we agreed with him, that since making films was one of the coolest jobs on the planet, there was no reason to be screaming and tense all the time. Jon and I are laid back and mellow. I seldom raise my voice and Jon hates that kind of tension. It was great on Blood Oath to have crew that gave great creative input and helped us problem solve without drama. It was the most fun I've had on a shoot (though Gunslinger was a hoot, it was more of a grind). Thus far, we've gathered some very talented people for the upcoming shoots. They also seem to be as mellow and twisted as we are. Still, it was hard firing me. I had to make it up to myself with a special desert. I'm sure I'll get over it in time.

Memoirs, Memories and Passings

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


Memoirs and Memories

Finishing the first story in my Mother's memoir has been a fascinating experience as a person and a writer. It's not the tear jerker stuff that got to me. It was all the details that I didn't remember until I really started going back over all the circumstances of one particular vacation my Mother and I took to New Orleans. For instance, when I travel to far away places, I'm not one to have a hotel room for showering and sleeping. I like to have a room that I can enjoy while watching local television. The news in every city is delivered differently – even the packaged styles like Action News or Eyewitness News. New York has the biggest percentage of traffic reports of any city's news I've seen. But the area and traffic density they cover is, frankly, insane. Philadelphia has the longest sports sections where Los Angeles has the shortest (even when they had an NFL team, which they didn't and still don't deserve). Canadian news broadcasts have anchors that reflect the make up of its population. I have seen East Indian reporters and anchors for decades. I'm just beginning to see reporters in the US. I've seen no anchors yet.

In France, the news was really fascinating (and I'm not just talking about the weatherman who was once a general). Just looking at the weather map gave me a whole new perspective on European politics. The map was the same size in area as the ones in the US, but it covers the UK, continental Europe to Russia and the Middle East and North Africa. They are all neighbors like our states are. I can see why troubles in one section of that map would be of concern to the others. We're an ocean away from those conflicts. We also saw things while in France that I'm not so sure were a good plan like The TV version of Der Clown. How the authorities could never find the guy in the rubber clown mask with the tiny clown hat at a rakish angle is beyond me. That show was many times sillier than any given CSI: Miami. The film was being hawked that year at the Cannes Film Market. And then there was the Eurovision Song Contest (the one that brought ABBA to the world). It was often painful, but we found we could not turn away.

These travel habits stem from that trip to New Orleans. We went in July not realizing that the city had deadly mid-day heat and humidity. Philadelphia has very sultry summers, after all. I don't think Jon and I were dry for the whole time we were last there (and that was May). Mom and I figured, how bad could it be. It was Mad Dogs and Englishmen bad. Thus, we took to going out in the early morning, then retiring to our lovely room for TV, reading or naps until the daily thunderstorm ended at somewhere after 2pm. Then we'd venture out into the 'cooler' weather for the rest of our sightseeing. We rationalized at the time that part of a vacation should be resting from everyday work, not running around like crazy people to tick items off a list. When we weren't in our room, we stayed on the hotel's property enjoying the atrium and people watching. To this day, I like to really take my time and enjoy the ambiance of a city I'm visiting. If I'm not in the room soaking up local pop culture, I'm at the local cafe or tavern soaking up local beverages and people watching. The sightseeing list is not etched in stone for me. I had never thought about when or where the habit came from until this past week. I can't wait to find out what other revelations this writing will bring.


Dad vs the Oysters

My adventure with the oysters amused my father to no end. That's a wonderful thing to do on Father's Day. I haven't heard him that tickled in quite some time. For the record, he still is not willing to let me come at him with hot food. He also would prefer that I buy shucked oysters in the future. He got a chill thinking about me jabbing at the shellfish with a sharp knife while holding it in my hand. I was surprised to find out that he is quite the oyster fan and makes soups or stews with them fairly often. That makes sense. He's the parent that is really into anything from the sea. I learned to broil fish and cook live crab from Dad. I knew he loved clams on the half shell. The oyster thing is in the blood. We also seem to have the same view of cheese in cooked food. I really prefer a balance of cheese in a dish. With pizza or with lasagna, I don't like to have so much cheese that it will congeal into a solid mass if not eaten quickly. Six or 58 cheese pizzas are of no interest to me. When it reaches that level, I'd just prefer to eat the cheese on its own with some crusty bread. I get that from my father, I believe. He's currently on a tour of famous southern barbecue joints. That should be fun for him. I think if he'd retired earlier in life, he may have opened one of his own. The need to feed multitudes comes from both sides of my family. I hope he doesn't give the Neelys a hard time. I'm not the only one who watches the Food Network. Dad will no doubt be checking to see if their sauce and fixings are up to snuff. Oh geez.


On Michael Jackson
Again, these are musings on a very personal level. If you think you'll be offended, skip it. But no flames. I flame back.

Let me begin by saying that I was profoundly disturbed at the course of Michael Jackson's life in the last decade or so. I think that only the sleaziness of the parents involved in the incidents that caused him to be under the scrutiny of law enforcement kept him from jail. I was profoundly saddened by the erosion of his talent to his demons. Nor was I happy about the coverage his passing has received. Only complete peace on Earth and the answers to world hunger and the curing of all disease would excuse the extent of coverage on one entertainer's life and death. On a personal note, between his home in Bel Air and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is the bus route Jon and I take home every day (it's the LA Metro route that takes all the help to where the rich folk live). As we listened to the coverage and the helicopters overhead while still at work, I was convinced we'd never get home. That was not the case, but only a level one homeland security emergency or the Big One amongst earthquakes should cause such commotion at a major hospital.


That said, my feelings about the passing of Michael Jackson are complicated. He had been a child my age finding fame amongst the grown-ups. The Jackson 5 inspired my cousin and two of our best friends to form a band and send a tape to Motown. We were invited to come to Detroit for an audition. That notion was vetoed by all of our parents. He comprised a significant part of the soundtrack of my youth and young adulthood. I had my only AP wire service story during the Jacksons Destiny tour. I broke the news that Jermaine had performed with the group for the first time since leaving them. As a young adult, I can remember all the night clubs and dance parties where we danced the nights away to either the Jacksons or Michael's music. Hearing those songs during the endless coverage brought me back to very specific and significant experiences in my life. That's Tracey as Michael and me as LaToya. I think we won a prize at that Haloween party. It's still hazy. The significance of the momories triggered by songs was much the same with sister, Janet Jackson. It was a random Youtube search that had me listening to Nasty. That song prompted the memory that resulted in the first story in my mother's memoir. For me, it was hard to ignore the huge presence this man had in my early life. I had long since drifted from Michael Jackson's music as it became more self absorbed, but I was saddened by his passing. There would be no rehabilitation nor comeback. He joins the going list of passings that put a fine point on my mortality. It was hard enough to hear that Prince needed double hip replacement. I'm waiting for the day he turns up singing Let's Go Crazy while using a walker. Needless to say, I don't consider anyone in their 50s as anywhere near old. That's a new realization for me. Before the conflicted feelings and annoyance set it, all I could say was, Damn. Followed by 'shut UP Craig.' My dear friend remains firmly footed in the more negative view of Mr. Jackson's recent life. I suppose, in the end, I'm not merely sad about Michael Jackson's passing. I'm mourning the passing of my youth.

And no, I'm not wallowing in grief. Nor do I want to be 20 something again unless it was with that body and my current mind. That could be a rip snorting good time.

Amore, Oysters and Updates

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

This will be shorter than the norm. I have a lot on my plate this week and many chores and deadlines for today.

Magic Moments

I wait all week for that one moment of weirdness that makes the beginning of the blog something fun and reflects the strangeness that informs my life. Sitting in a restaurant full of people singing That's Amore while toasting the wait staff certainly qualifies. There were even laminated lyric sheets to encourage singing along. Tracey genuinely looked horrified. Jon never broke stride making some point about money laundering (that really had something to do with the writing we were discussing) and I sang along without needing the lyric sheet. What can I say? I've seen Moonstruck about a billion times and the film opens with that song in its entirety. I was having dinner with Temple Alum and playwrite extraordinaire, Tracey Wilson, in one of my favorite Italian Restaurants in the neighborhood. It's also quite the spot for tourists visiting Venice and Marina del Rey. We hadn't been to the C&O Trattoria in quite a while. We tend to avoid the touristy areas nearby especially on a Friday night. But the restaurant was really good and fairly cheap with these incredible garlic knots steeped in olive oil and dusted with salt and herbs. And of course, Tracey was in town. We hadn't seen her since our last trip to Philadelphia three years ago. She was having all sorts of exciting meetings that we wanted to hear about. And she's always writing something very interesting. I really miss conversations about writing that doesn't involve budgets and funding and packaging. It was just about themes and characters. We were having a deep, esoteric discussion while the restaurant and the servers were singing That's Amore. It was a blast. More on writing later.

Deb vs The Oysters

We were off on Friday, so I finally had made the purchases for the seafood extravaganza. Fortunately, Alton Brown had an episode of Good Eats on oysters the night before. I figured out that I needed to buy small oysters that were sweeter and easier to handle. That was good to know, because I knew nothing. I found myself really nervous about this whole situation. I am a hedonist, and my creds were on the line here. But as I looked at these things that seem to be exotic rocks, I couldn't help but wonder why anyone would ever get the idea of cracking that open and having a swallow. Primitive man probably saw primitive birds smashing these things on rocks and feasting on the innards. But what else did primitive man have to eat? I was dubious. With that in mind, I also bought some lovely lump crab meat along with the oysters at the fabulous Santa Monica Seafood and some shrimp and crab legs (they were on sale at my regular market). Since the oyster prep was very simple, I decided to finally tackle the elusive shrimp bisque recipe and make some crab cakes. If I hated the oysters, I could still enjoy some seafood. Next, came trying to opening the tightly closed rock. I am not the most graceful person I know. As far as I know, my father is still leery of me coming at him with hot food. You trip once going across a diningroom and no one forgets. Shucking these things involves holding the oyster in the palm of the hand while leveraging a sharp implement pointed toward my hand and shoving it into this rock. As I was doing that for the first time, I realized that we could be mere centimeters from a visit to the ER. However, that didn't happen. I opened them. It was inelegant, but I shucked a half dozen without losing any of the liquor. I had three on the half shell with a squirt of lemon and three with a Mignonette sauce. They are delicious. It was clean and sweet and a little salty. I got the attraction. I will definitely have them again. My hedonist creds remain in tact. The bisque and crab cakes were great as well. My Month of Fun is complete!

Writing and Other Updates

I'm making slow progress on all fronts in my writings. This week really wiped me out physically. The slight shift in schedule made for commuting anomalies that were frustrating and draining more often than not. I just had nothing left by the end of the day. Thus, all of my work saw only incremental progress. I'm hoping for more today, but I also have a lot of getting ready for the week chores to get through. Mind you, I'm juggling three major pieces from the same number of genres and a cookbook. They are all making progress. It's just slow going. Talking with Tracey and then then with one of my other favorite writer chicks, Sarah always lights a fire under me. I'll likely get many more pages done this week than last. That's a good thing.

On the film front, the count down to pre-production is winding down toward the mid-August. We've been doing a little prep in advance of that but not very much. We've contacted most of the actors we've talked to and making sure they still want to work the shows. We've touched base with the location mangers to make sure rates hadn't changed. Everyone is eager for work, so that's good news. The pre-production mayhem should be limited to the normal disasters.

Hooky, the Hays Code and Naughty Noir

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

Heatwave

This was a really weird week in the day job part of my life. There were some air conditioning problems at the Archive. Since the building is hermetically sealed, that became a problem for the equipment and the personnel. On Monday, we were given the option of leaving early. And we were offered the option of skipping Tuesday entirely while the problem was being fixed. Strangely, this has become a tradition at this job. Every spring, there seems to be an equipment problem that ends the shift. When this happened in past years, Jon and I would go to the movies. The first year, we went to see Ratatouille. The second year, we went to see Speed Racer. This year, we went to see UP. And for those writing me about seeing the new Star Trek film, you haven't been reading my blog, you naughty people. My position on all things Trek has not changed. I'll see it when it's on Netflix. Maybe.

Back to UP. Young or old, this story is an amazing experience. It is hysterically funny, especially whenever the dogs are on screen. It is incredibly touching without being treacly and the characters all ring true. UP is an incredible achievement in American animation. I'm used to Japanese anime being brutally unflinching and honest and wildly funny in turns, but only recently have I seen that same complexity in American animated films. UP is in the same realm as Miyazaki's Spirited Away for its stunning storytelling. Run out the door now and see that film in 3-D. The blog will be here when you get back. The free day off was made complete by a lovely breakfast at our favorite French bakery cafe. That was a good day.

The rest of the week was odd because of a shift in the schedule at the Archive I mentioned last week. Our days are a little longer to give us every other Friday off. In July, we have all the weekends off because of a fluke with where the 4th of July falls. The days off are great for us, because of the work we're doing for our friend as she gets ready to launch her new business and the work we still have on Blood Oath. We aren't under any pressure yet in the countdown to pre-production on the films. We've done all we possibly can on those short of having the funding. Thus, we have about a month and a half before the really running around being crazy starts (and the whining and some times, crying).

Thus far, the longer days haven't been a problem. Surprisingly, the commute home is shorter in time. We seem to have missed the worst of the street traffic be departing an hour later in the afternoon. That's kind of strange as rush hour itself lasts until after 7pm on the freeways. I'm not arguing with it. Long, slow commutes make for one cranky Deb.

Busting Writer's Block

Longtime readers of the blog know that the way I get past writers block is to write something wholly unrelated to whatever is being blocked. It was a tip offered by one of our landlords, the late Stanley Ralph Ross. This advice has proven quite useful to me over the years. It has also produced some very strange fiction. This includes most of the fanfiction I've written as NovaD. Fanfiction is a good diversion from writer's block. I'll never have it published save for maybe on NovaD.org, so there is less pressure about polish. The writing is an exercise to help me work out problems with another piece of prose.

It's Jon's fault that I chose this subject for a writing exercise. He's been watching everything available (three series and four movies) on Space Battleship Yamato. In the US, the first series ran under the name Star Blazers. I watched Star Blazers (see Youtube intro) when I was an undergrad in college. It was the first cartoon series I'd ever seen that was a serial and it ended each episode with a countdown to when the Earth would be destroyed. Of course, my Hubs, anime boy, has seen everything Yamato and owns quite a bit of stuff on it as well. Anyway, he's watching all of this with new English translations to answer some questions he'd long had about some of the fan translated scripts he'd read over the years. The revelations he made have caused a week long e-mail argument between him and one of his anime friends. I have mentioned in the past that this is a house of uber-geeks, right?

Anyway, Jon's watching a little bit each night after he done with editing. I wasn't really paying attention until the films and series I hadn't were running. Then, I noticed something curious and intriguing. The villain and the young hero from the first series had become allies. In fact, there seemed to be something intense between them. Even Jon was startled by what the new translations revealed. This development was particularly obvious in the last film It is thought that the former arch villain has finally met his end in a surprise attack on his home world. The young hero is devastated. He leaves a bouquet of bouquet of white roses and vows never to forget the man. At the end of the movie, our young hero is about to be destroyed by the enemy. There is no escape until the former villain appears to save him. He is all put purring the young man's name while sniffing one of those roses. Jon knew where I was running with that. Of course, I have to layer in layers including survivor guilt and a flirtation with Stockholm Syndrome in conjuring a situation that is realistic to the series in which the young hero could be seduced by his former enemy. It's been fascinating if strange. The story will only see the light of day on NovaD.org.

The exercise became quite involved. It is now a four part arc. Well, somewhere in the middle of the first part, I figured out why I hadn't gotten very far writing the first story in the memoir about my mother, Adventures with Miss Patty. Dancing with the German at Happy Hour in New Orleans was two paragraphs long until this morning. Now, it's six pages with the end clearly in sight. I had been having trouble with the frame for the story. I suddenly realized that it should be very much like the blog – conversational with all the segues that I use every week in giving all the details of a particular incident. The pages began to flow. It was very satisfying, especially after the story had stagnated for so long. For some reason that I can't really explain, the conversational style also keeps me from crying over the details. Weird, huh?

Noir and Naughty

The other indulgence that has preoccupied me in the cause of my writing is film noir. I'm writing a most naughty romance (and I mean really, really naughty), and I need to remind myself of how to write naughty and snappy dialogue without being the least bit explicit. I just watched the initial scene between Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity that was amazingly sexy and naughty but classy and snappy. I watched Mildred Pierce on Tuesday. It's one of my very favorite films. The plot was tight. The dialogue was razor sharp, and the acting was impeccable. The Hays Code certainly kept writers, directors and actors on their toes. I plan to avail myself of the liberalities of these modern times and have my characters do the most unseemly things that I can imagine. But their dialogue will always be clean and classy.

Yes, I'm still working on the comic art work for Blood Oath. And the cookbook. I'm really good at multi-tasking, and I don't sleep much. Fortunately, I have a shorter work week for a while.

Good Vibrations, Cake and Updates

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

I feel much better this weekend (thank you for all who asked), I'm behind schedule today. Friday and Saturday involved some necessary meetings that pushed us way out of our routine. Thus, I'm just starting this blog at a point in the day when I should be posting it. I have a lot of news though, so I must press forward though this one will be a short one.

Power of the Positive

We've teamed up with our partner to help a friend of Dragoncor Productions strike out in her own entertainment related business. She's been a staunch friend of the company , and she's just gosh darned nice. So it was worth giving up most of my Saturday to attend a Small Business Expo to help her canvass for financing and other resources. Unlike the many meetings we've had for financing over the years, this was very straight forward. The business is a vendor to film makers and thus it was easier for the money sources to understand what she does and how the money is made. Meanwhile, the City of Los Angeles had pulled out all the stops to make sure business owners knew the vast range of assistance available to them from the city. They want small businesses to open in LA. It was amazing to be in a room that was vying for attention to help out. Beyond that, there was such a positive vibe from the business owners. Despite these precarious financial times, they were hopeful and optimistic about seizing an opportunity and succeeding. And there was a lovely slice of fudgey chocolate cake at the end of a nice ravioli lunch. We left the building feeling we could take on the world.

Finally, Updates

Perhaps it was the positive vibes and chocolate cake fueled euphoria permeating the ether. Perhaps, all sorts of money has decided it's time to stop hesitating. I don't know. All I know is that during the commute to the meeting, we got a call from a long silent investor. It was happy news. It looks like we will be in pre-production in mid- to late August for 'The Gunslinger' with the other two films lining up after that. It would mean shooting the Western in late September. So we're keeping our thoughts upbeat, our fingers crossed and making plans for swamp coolers and mosquito nets and vats of sunscreen.

On the Blood Oath front (again, thanks to those who've asked), Jon is almost at a picture lock. That means, that the editing sequence and timing is largely finished. He'll send it back to the composer to make sure the music cues are long or short enough. We'll soon know how many manga panels will be needed and what will be on them. I'm hoping to put up some of the final character drawings up this week. We'll preview a few of the manga panels as the short nears its release date. I'm refining the pilot script and first episode and writing treatments for five other episodes. And I'm working on the cookbook with more diligence. We're a little busy.

Summer Fun

We had a fortunate turn of events that helps us with the pressed schedule. The Archive is going to a four day schedule through the summer. We'll be working slightly longer shifts for a three day weekend. Sweet! This will help with our projects and with the severe sleep debt we've amassed. Maybe we'll even get to see a movie! So exciting.

Needless to say, the meetings this weekend kept me from the Seafood Feast yet again. It was not meant to be this weekend. However, I discovered the seafood market that I like to use for special feasts moved to a much more convenient location that we pass fairly frequently. Thus at some point this week or maybe next week on our first free Friday (that's hard to say), I'll finally get those danged oysters and the other seafood treats I've been craving. The Fridays off may mean more grilling in my future. We'd have the courtyard to ourselves during the day on Fridays. Even when school is out, the kids here are in activities that keep them from home until late afternoon. I want to try grilling vegetables and summer fruits.

Conversations with Craig
Warning! Spoilers and extreme derision for Terminator: Salvation

The following is from a Post-it note Craig left on my workstation and a lengthy conversation that followed:

A Stone-aged tribe, unfamiliar with modern ways and technology of any kind, could have a camcorder dropped in their midst and come up with a more satisfying and comprehensible 'Terminator' movie.Not since the heyday of Tijuana donkey shows have audiences witnessed such acting prowess. Many scenes appear to have been filmed in christian Bale's backyard shed. Bale seems to be drunk and unaware that he's being filmed.'Terminator: Salvation raises so many howling questions in my mind that weren't closed to being answered by the end of the film. Questions like, 'How can a human man get hit in the chest with a steel girder and continue spewing dialogue?' Or 'How does the rag tag band of rebels know how to put a robot heart into a human?' But the most vexing question left unanswered was 'why do the robots in the robot factory need workstations with chairs???'