Holidays, Crazy Bears and Mutant Soldiers

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.

Holi-daze 09 – Spring Edition

The holidays have gone by in a blur so far this year. I think our 4:45 am wake up time is causing the days to feel shorter somehow. I did have a couple of Harp Lager on St. Patrick’s Day. And before you make with the gee you don’t look Irish, it’s my mother’s Feast Day, okay? However on that note, we do have a rather large block of family so fair of skin and freckled of face and even naturally red of hair that there’s some links in there somewhere. I lived in neighborhoods and went to schools in Philly where there were scads of Irish-Americans. That is why I know how to do an Irish jig. I learned it in High School gym class. I can also Polka and square dance. I’m not sure what the origin of teaching those were other than perhaps, The Lawrence Welk Show. I’m not kidding here. The school administration foisted a big band on us for our Prom. We had to fight for a DJ to be included. At any rate, I had some beer and corned beef and cabbage. Not all at once though. We didn’t do much for Mardi Gras. It’s hard to have a raucous street festival with two really tired people. We did have some lovely seafood though. President’s Day was a lovely day off for writing. And then, the last holiday before Memorial Day, Cesar Chavez Day. UCLA celebrates it. This year, the official holiday fell on a Friday, so we had a three-day weekend. Sweet! I remember helping with the grape boycott as a child, but I had no idea until we started working at UCLA that there was a holiday. Again, we used it to work on projects. I also rested my back as much as possible (when not writing or cooking). Alas, It’s back to a full week’s schedule starting tomorrow. Easter looms, but we have to jam all those festivities into a regular weekend. No fair.

Craig Update

I’m making progress in persuading Craig to write memoirs. He’s considering the title, I Craig. I pointed out that could also be a new and disturbing verb. He liked that thought as well. He’s come to peace with Juan Epstien being a neighbor. Craig even looked at his Web-based series, The Venice Walk. Craig and I agreed that some of the acting may be high on histrionics, but the basic premise is certainly worth of producing as a series. It has young, attractive people in a state of constant personal crisis and Juan Epstien as their unconventional – some say obsessed – parole officer. Sounds like the CW to me. Save for the cursing. That may make it more suitable for FX or Spike TV. With peace in the neighborhood, Craig has been left to obsess with Winnie the Pooh. That began when he found out that a business associate of one of his family had the nickname Vinnie the Pooh (I am not clever enough to make this up). Craig was so tickled by that that his girlfriend thought it would be fun to give him a book full of Winnie the Pooh and friends stickers. Everyone else who knows Craig knew that idea would lead to disaster and some sort of obscenity. And it has. My present was a very happy Winnie the Pooh sticker on a page filled with foul-mouthed rantings on disemboweling Christopher Robin. I had to crop the image. Craig doing readings of his memoir will have to be at bookstores with no children’s sections.

Blood Oath

I finally finished the draft two-part pilot. When I say finished, I mean it’s written in longhand on legal pads. That’s how I roll. Thus, when I input the script into Movie Magic, it’s really a draft and a half. I refine the longhand version as I input. I’ve been writing that way for a long time. I have a lot of trouble creating directly into a keyboard. I’m not sure why. I wasn’t even planning on writing full scripts (I’m up to episode three). I was only going to do treatments with enough detail that we could do character, location and set breakdowns. But once the guys started doing things, I couldn’t help but write the dialogue as well. My mutant soldier boys love attention. It also helps that the concept is as fully developed as possible so that the budget reflects the actual demands of each episode.

Again, I’m finding surprises as I write the scenes that weren’t in the first book. There was Jenn Saxl’s revelation to Vincent that she never thought he should have been Altered. Of course, Vincent is confused by this attitude. He didn’t have a real choice. The alternative would have been institutionalization. Vincent realizes that she never really saw him as he was even while they were children. This is important to show the audience why Vincent didn’t want lodgings with the Saxls upon his return from the portal despite Bobby being there. I’m getting much better at cinematic. I’m sure it’s 80 percent Jon and 20 percent Battlestar Galactica. I have to show things that I would handle as interior monologue in my fiction but not make it look like exposition. Vincent’s personality helps. He has such colorfully worded tirades. Getting out the information is fairly easy. All of this new material begs the question of writing a prequel. I’m not going to do that, because there isn’t enough material for a whole book. And I have clear plans for two more sequels (I told you, the boys really love attention). However, I’ll probably do some online short stories or novellas.

Post on the pilot presentation is slow going. We’ve got a handle on the art work, but we need to resolve some equipment issues before Jon can take on doing the composites to replace the green screen. We expect to resolve those issues this week. Meanwhile, the new version of the website is up at: http://bloodoathseries.com/. We’ll be adding to it as the art work is finalized.
Unfortunately, there are no updates on the other projects.

Carnies, More UST and a Cylon Smackdown!

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.

Warning 2: If you plan to see the BSG series finale, DO NOT READ THIS BLOG!! If you do not know what BSG is, you are reasonably safe.

Where are the Clowns?
My life has become a carnival. And no, that’s not a metaphor. Nor is it a Brazilian Carnival. That would be a lot of fun. No, it’s the kind of seedy around the edges carnival where carnies work. It cropped up at the end of our street between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. It was looming in the pre-dawn darkness when Jon and I were heading for work Thursday. It’s going full tilt right now until 11pm tonight. I assume it will be gone by pre-dawn tomorrow. The music is different from carnivals I remember growing up. It isn’t that kind of circus-y music, it was some hard core wrap. Given that the carnival was sponsored by the police station, Jon and I wondered if the carnies would be nervy enough to play Cop Killer. No one seemed to be paying attention to the lyrics of the song we heard as we passed by. Short segue. In looking up a link for the song, I found that Ice-T had performed it. No, I really never paid any attention to who was doing what in the world of Gansta Rap. Now, I get the irony of Ice-T playing a cop on Law and Order: SVU. Ironic, indeed. Where was I?

The carnival topped off a weird, sometimes painful week. The Friday before last, someone contacted Ralph that was interested in one of our films. It was one we had on a far back burner because of Luv U 4 Ever and The Gunslinger, but it is an attractive project because of its potential to be made on a very low budget. Since we weren’t focused on it, this film didn’t have a complete business plan. Thus, we spent last weekend frantically pulling together the reams of paperwork required for funding. That’s what I was doing last Sunday instead of blogging. We had to figure out if the schedule could be compressed and where. We had to figure out all sorts of minutia by Monday morning for a shoot that could be in Los Angeles or in Michigan. And we needed to do this by Monday. It was finished on time. And we’re waiting to see what happens next. As for Luv U 4 Ever and the Gunslinger, we may have some good news on the horizon. Film attendance in February (a traditionally slow month) was up nearly 20%. That has prompted interest from funding sources that film is still a good place to make money. We’ve been hearing from some that we hadn’t talked to in a while. I hope to have some announcements about those films soon.

For a person who likes to have control over my life and particularly where I may be traveling at any given moment, the past year has been a lesson in great patience. It seems to have served me well. I hardly blinked at the machinations that followed sending off the paperwork. I still had a pilot to finish (more on that below) and Jon had a presentation to edit. Why was the week painful? My back is once again in revolt against me. It didn’t help that the doctor shrugged at me then told me that surgery wouldn’t necessarily help. I plan to take yoga as soon as my schedule stabilizes. If it ever stabilizes.

Friday was particularly grueling. Constant pain puts a pall on everything. I was thinking about how little I really understood what my mother was going through even before she fell ill. Those thoughts were illuminating, but not very helpful. Every effort seems futile while viewed through that prism. As always, Bruce Springsteen provided clarity. Actually it was Bruce via Jon Stewart during his interview on March 19th. I loved that interview. It looked like a date between two people who were so into each other that they were nervous wrecks to be in the same room. Adorable! Anyway, Stewart had been inspired to do what he does by Springsteen’s philosophy that the ride is far more important than the destination. When pressed, I can’t think of anything I would have done differently or anywhere else I’d rather be. My back is still torturing me, but I’m in a far better mood than on Friday.

Blood Oath Revelations

It has never been clearer to me that I really hate putting my characters through pain. It’s quite amusing considering my hobby, but it’s true. My progress on Blink, the two part opener for Blood Oath, was ground to a halt because I hard to put Rik through a long period of deep and painful grief. I knew how it would turn out, and still, I found it tremendously difficult to actually put him through it. Jon thinks that this is a healthy attitude for me. He said he’d worry given how real my characters are in my head to enjoy torturing them. I got through it last night and finished writing the first draft. Mind, I still write drafts in longhand. The script has to be inputed into a scriptwriting program now. Wheee!

Expanding the point of view in the script has been a fun. I’ve spent a lot of time with Vincent, and that’s been interesting. He has quite a mouth on him, dear Vincent, but he is also endearing. I’ve really enjoyed writing the scenes that I didn’t think fit in the first book. All of the peripheral characters from the novels have a lot more to do in this script, especial the women in Rik and Vincent’s lives. I had to make them viable candidates for the guys’ affections to the viewers. That way, they will be seen as a source of tension and possible betrayal later. This is particularly true of Lt. Remak. She is genuinely fond of Vincent and really distraught over his disappearance. Her feelings for Rik are very deep, and she seems to have a reasonable chance of winning his. The relationship between Rik and Vincent comes as a complete and unpleasant shock for her. Spending time with her before the relationship makes her motivation a lot easier to understand later. Vincent’s would-be girl-friend, Jenn, is different. It is clear that Vincent is fond of her as a friend though she exasperates him. She never had a chance with him romantically, thus she comes off as unreasonable from the start. My hope is that at the end of Blink, the audience is happy that the men have finally figured out what is between them even while dreading what the response will be.

Cylon on Cylon Smackdown!
The series finale for Battlestar Galactica was this past week. As with most of season 4, I went into it with grave trepidation and deep misgivings. I’d been hearing from Richard Hatch that the entire season would be more brutal than the other three. Given the early groundwork in BSG that anyone is expendable, I was really worried about having my heart ripped out at any moment during the entire season. Above all else, I abhor unfair ends to characters. Though the series was set in a constant state of war and eminent destruction, I also felt that many of the characters had earned the right to survive the finale. Thus, I went into the two-parter with a different set of expectations than Jon’s. I wasn’t looking for the answers to the Opera House or who the virtual characters were. Or even what Starbuck was. I was reasonably confident that those issues would be worked out in a way consistent with the rest of the series and in keeping with elements of the original. They were. I won’t go into this here save to say that Ron Moore followed the original series fairly closely through to the end (including an Earth that was not Earth and divine intervention). Nothing about the resolution of the plot threads surprised me nor did I find them problematic. What I was worried about whether the endings for the characters would be fair. In my opinion, they were. Do I wish that some of the romances had happier endings? Sure. Would I liked to have seen Brother Cavil torn limb from limb and have his entrails eaten before his eyes? Certainly. But I thought all of the character arcs ended fairly. And it had an old Centurion Cylon vs new Cylon smackdown http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Centurions! You gotta love that! I think that BSG has raised the bar for what television drama can be. It particularly raised the level of the quality of dialogue. I will be forever grateful for having seen it, because it will surely influence my work. However, unlike many others, I am glad the ride is over. It was a brutal trip for me, especially the last half of the 4th season. I can’t go through that again. Of course, I’ll probably watch Caprica.

Next week – More on Craig and Winnie the Pooh, Juan Epstien and hammers.

Blog Delayed

We have some breaking film developments that have us tied up this weekend. I hope to be able to report on the goings on soon. It's all very exciting and a bit scary around the edges!

Red Carpets, Cloned Organs and POV

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’m not sure how long this blog will be. I’m under the weather from some bug and my back is in revolt yet again.

About Red Carpets
Jon and I were invited to a film premier last week. It’s the first in a long while for us. It’s hard for us to attend these events. Aside from our work schedules, we feel like any time we don’t spent working on the projects is time wasted. But this premier was being held by a network with whom we’ve had a lot of contact and it wasn’t their first invitation. We felt it would be rude not to go. Of course, my worry at any of these functions is what Jon’s reaction to the film will be and how he might express that reaction. Jon has no guile, as I’ve said before. He calls ‘em like he sees ‘em – sometimes in great detail. Thus, I had to make note of how close the exit was to the doors to the theater itself. We were pretty good there. It was just a few yards from the theater doors to the exit of the building. The screening was crowded, so we could slip out easily before the principles knew we’d left. Yes, I have to calculate these things. In was more complicated in Cannes, because someone connected to the film could be walking behind you on the sidewalk far from the screening room. We had to be very watchful there. This theater reminded me of the local theaters in Cannes where the Film Market had it’s screenings – small and quaint with some Art Deco touches. The film, Something Evil Comes didn’t make me rush Jon headlong from the theater. There were a lot of positive things to say about it.

The fascinating thing about film premiers is they all have the same kind of hierarchy, no matter how modest they may be. Typically, non-actors don’t walk the red carpet unless they are the producer or director of the film. This premier had a modest red carpet, but the same rules applied. Aside from some of the stars of the film (alas, Cigarette Smoking Man was not among them), there were aspiring stars and starlets seeking publicity from the small cadre of paparazzi, and characters from the Gay community (the theater and the Network are important to the Gay community). Thus we had the blonde number in a little black cocktail dress typical of a red carpet, but this number had 18-inch biceps and linebacker shoulders. Somehow, the dress worked. There was also Black and not female Marilyn Monroe in the Seven Year Itch outfit. That ensemble was less successful, but it was fascinating. It wasn’t the worst premier experience we’ve had. I won’t say what that was other than it was over ten years ago and involved an art film. It wasn’t the strangest either. That title remains with Turbo! A Power Ranger’s Movie. Mainly because I also did the interview for Trekkies that day dressed in full dominatrix wear. It was quite a strange day (it remains one of my strangest in Los Angeles). But however much we enjoy premiers in Los Angeles, they have almost insurmountable competition in our minds. We’ve been to four premiers at the Cannes Film Festival, including two in competition and the world premier of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Once you’ve been down a red carpet past bleachers full of paparazzi with a Storm Trooper escort while a full orchestra is playing, you get blasé about almost everything else. I’m not being smug. I think we’ve suffered because of that experience. I know I do each and every May that I’m not in France. Jon’s beginning to worry about that. I’ve been yelling at the TV during any food or travel show where the host is in France. Things like ‘she has a baguette, the bitch!' He’s probably right to be worries. I am getting obsessive about going back.

Note to the Studios: STOP Making This Film!

A few years back, Jon and I were in a movie theater. One of the trailers shown was for The Island. As we watched as the gorgeous and compelling Ewan MacGregor and Scarlett Johansson flee from perils like the hot and yummy Sean Bean, we realized that we’d seen this film before. ‘It's Parts: the Clonus Horror,’ Jon exclaimed. ‘Why are they remaking a Mystery Science Theater movie?’ Of course, the 1979 film wasn’t made for MST3K. It just fit there extremely well. I preferred that version to the regular version which I also had the misfortune of seeing while in college. As it turns out, not even the director of Parts knew that they were re-making his film. When he finally noticed, he sued. As noted in the Wikipedia article about the lawsuit (which was settled), there were a number of similarities between The Island and Parts: The Clonus Horror. The one that wasn’t mentioned in a bullet point was that they both sucked. Even Michael Bay’s usual slick and fast paced presentation could not keep the film from tanking. Such spectacular failures bring me to the conclusion that, perhaps, films about clones being raised for their body parts may not be a good subject for a film. Imagine my surprise to find that there is another film in the works involving clones being raised to donate their organs. This time, as before, it is a dystopian society (British in this case) where this process has somehow become a good idea. But in Never Let Me Go, there aren’t great escapes, harrowing pursuits and exposure to a shocked world of a heinous practice. This is about how one clone (purportedly to be played by Keira Knightley) learns to accept her role in the food chain and eventually succumb to death. Okay, now I get to see characters go through this reprehensible process with no hope of them ever finding an escape. The author is a fine writer and this book has been lauded all over the place. His works have made some fine films, but this still sounds like a bad trip. Please, put the clones for body parts plots in the circular file. Better yet, shred and burn them and bury the ashes.

Changing Points of View

No, not me. Some maintain that I never change my point of view (I’d argue about that.) It’s a problem in the pilot for Blood Oath. The books are exclusively from Rik’s point of view, but for the pilot, I had to have scenes with Vincent and others where Rik isn’t present. I had to re-start the pilot when I realized that I was still following the book’s POV. It’s been an interesting change. I know Vincent very well, but I’ve never expressed written dialogue that wasn’t through Rik’s filter. It’s been interesting. I’m wondering if it will change how I write the next book. Somehow, I don’t think so. But who knows? We came up with a fun way of showing the past fights between Rik and Vincent when they were a part of the Squad. Each incident is relayed by someone who was there. Each story is off from the actual events. None of them accurately captures the way Vincent really speaks. The variations run from Ned Flanders squeaky clean to Sam Spade’s euphemisms to swearing like a drill sergeant. Writing those have been a hoot. I think the actors will enjoy doing the scenes as well. I’m more than half way through. I hope to finish the pilot this week.

We have had some progress on the film funding front, but it’s nothing I can write about in a public forum. Hopefully, by next week, I’ll have news that I can report.

Jug Bands, Killer Puppets, and Aural Pleasures

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.

Kudos
I must give a congratulatory shout out to good buddy, Tracey Wilson for her new play, The Good Negro and for the wonderful write-up in the New York Times. Well done!

Surprise in a jug

I was surprised last week at the archive. That’s an extremely hard thing to do these days, especially while I’m in Los Angeles. I mean, the day we moved into our first place in Venice, a guy on a unicycle wearing a pink Spandex unitard and a little cape rode by yelling ‘I’m Pink Man.’ Turns out he wasn’t the actual Pink Man who operates out of San Francisco. This specimen was a local Venice denizen trying to horn in on the franchise. But you get the point. It’s not that I thought that the librarians where I work wouldn’t or couldn’t sing. They struck me as either the Peter, Paul and Mary type singers or closeted Headbangers. I really wasn’t expecting a jug band. They didn’t have washboards, but they did have mandolins and a slide whistle. There was much in the way of knee slapping. I was very surprised as the Librarian at the center of it all (he’s a cross between Grizzly Adams and Santa Claus) hardly every speaks. See him belting out a jaunty tune was quite a surprise. As were the jugs.

There isn’t much noise at work. Loud conversations are rare. But work at the Archive has been, for the most part, very interesting and satisfying. Right now, I’m digitzing a special collection of very old (we’re talking pre-Mayflower voyage old) books on trade from the big players of those days (England, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands). I believe I can read the term Table of Contents in 8 languages. What good is that? Who knows? The fate of the world may turn on my finding a table of contents in Sanskrit. I haven’t scanned the oldest documents at the Archive. We have a center working on the Dead Sea Scrolls. I know the London Center scanned the Book of the Dead. I don’t think anything other-worldly happened to them afterward. During last week’s conference call, no one from that center was chanting about Imhotep. Jon thinks it’s because no one READ the Book of the Dead when it was scanned. That must be it. Horror movies are never wrong about these things. Where was I? Oh yes, old tomes. I think the funniest thing I discovered were civil codes from the 1600s carefully laying out when it was permissible for passengers on a ship to sue the shipping line if they fall victim to pirates. Since I have found evidence that these laws were still in international law books as late as the 1920s, I doubt they were ever repealed. Thus, survivors of the Somali pirate attacks could hire one of attorneys who appear on daytime TV ads, to go after the careless ship owners who were in dangerous waters and not in a convoy. This is the stuff that goes through my head while at work.

Boys Day Out
Jon, my DP and my lead from Blood Oath were out making another short without me. I was flat on my back for the weekend with my uncooperative back. This was the first project Jon has worked without me, but they did well. They were working on an episode for a Webisode called 15%. The series is a twisted comedy about the strange life of a talent manager. This episode, Betty, features a diva puppet from a hit TV show and the drama she drags the manager and his wife through when her operator decides to quit. Yep, Betty, the puppet is wielding a knife. When we were asked to work on the script, Ralph told us he wanted Adult Swim kind of humor. Mission accomplished. The series should start running on Myspace and other venues in a few weeks.

Aural Pleasures

We picked up the sound mix for Blood Oath. It’s just the dialogue tracks, no music added yet. I listened to them to make sure that they were clean. Our shoot location was basically a cavernous corrugated metal box. We had howling winds, rattling the walls, huge trucks thundering past at any given moment and the occasional train roaring across the back of the building. We were assured that current software could isolate the soft voices of my leading men, but I had to be sure. I was very happy to find that not only were the voices clear, but the performances were everything I was hoping for. Rik’s voice was always soft and sexy, but the emotional range ran from authoritative to uncertain to playful. I could tell when he was in physical pain as easily as I could hear him teasing. Just lovely. Vincent’s voice was a different kind of soft, but with a great deal of emotional range as well. His was concerned, uncertain, angry, relieved and playful in turns. I like to listen to an actor’s performance even during auditions. I’ll close my eyes or look at my notes so that their facial expressions aren’t distracting me. I’ll do the same thing during rehearsals. If I can hear the character in the voices without looking at them, I know they have them completely. I really could hear their personalities in those tracks. It was very exciting.

Post continues on Blood Oath. Meanwhile, we have a major meeting on a studio lot, no less, about a number of our projects (we have a whole lot of irons in that fire). I love going to that lot. It means I have to bake some cookies. I have an old friend toiling there on a new series. I would be remiss if I didn’t stop by with a bag of treats. Stay tuned.

The Sublime and the Ridiculous
Warnings: Spoiler’s from CSI: Miami

This season of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations has been an interesting mixed bag of journeys and one scandalous clip show. The title of the clip show was Food P-rn (the word rhymes with corn) and it featured snippets that they didn’t have room for or were truncated in the original episodes. The framing sequence is Bourdain in a dimly lit theater saying the naughtiest things about his favorite foods. I really enjoyed this twisted episode not because of how appropriate Bourdain looked in such a place or how funny he was in the linking sequences. I have long associated sensuality with an appreciation for food. Some of the sexiest people I know are a pleasure watching when they enjoy a meal. I’m not talking about my actor buds. They are very sexy to be sure, but most of them eat like Hoover vacuums. I think because they’re always hungry. The most surprising thing about the episode was that the foods he found most sensual and appealing were very simple meals with the most basic of ingredients. Of course, there was a lot of time devoted to all manner of pork products. But Bourdain was orgasmic over a bowl of noodles made with home made stock and vegetables fresh from the farmer’s market. Even the most extravagant dish was basically a poached egg in a fondue-like sauce of French cheese. It was the black truffles that made it extravagant. My favorite line from the show involved cheese: Soft, runny, punget. May lead to groin throbbing, heaving décolletage. Lipitor. This season, Bourdain has revealed an obsession for meats in tubes (hot dogs, sausages and other things I’ve never heard of) and admitted to liking KFC mac n’ cheese. Jon won’t even eat that, and he loves all things mac n’ cheese. The most interesting restaurant he’s visited this year was Le Veau D’Or in New York City. It is a French restaurant frozen in time at 1937. They still give table side carving service and the menu was sold when Bourdain first went there over 20 years ago, yet he adore everything. I, who have been trying to master the basic roast chicken in his cookbook, would like to go there to sample one he considered perfection. His show is still the best travel show (and food show) on TV. Catch it!

I have surprised many by my lack of ranting at the antics on CSI: Miami. It’s not they’ve improved in any way whatsoever. It’s just that there has been so many other things to blog about. And maybe I was tired of yelling. This season, the skewering of the laws of the land continues. For some reason Eric Delko is in danger of being deported. His birth certificated was forged. Thus, he wasn’t born here. However, he is still Cuban. There have been three episodes about how Cubans that make it to land without being caught are allowed to stay in the country. Even if the law is wrong, I would think they’d follow their own continuity. The Russian mobsters are back, and, of course, they’ve got the lab team in their sights. Whey should they be concerned with the FBI, or ICE or the DEA? There is a crime lab lead by a Lieutenant on a municipal police force after them. They have to retaliate. And then there is Puff Daddy, the lawyer. He’s doing a two episode guest stint as a defense attorney. The team doesn’t know whether or not he’s crooked or an aggressive advocate for his clients. I don’t know why he’s there. I think we’re on a road with that show that can only end in spandex and capes. If the show picks up more irony about its own silliness, I’m willing to go there with them.

Craig, UST and Galactic Drama

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.

Craig Returns

He returns to this blog, that is. Craig hasn’t gone anywhere. In fact, we see more of him since the Archive went to a single shift. Craig enjoys putting Post-it notes on my monitor that say things like ‘work faster’ or serial notes on his great displeasure over being forced to see Hotel for Dogs. He can but a lot on a Post-it. When not decorating my monitor, he’s trying to plan annoying songs in my brain. Last week’s was Der Kommisar, an 80s one hit wonder by After the Fire. This doesn’t really work with me as my mind wanders to weirder things while working. And my revenge can be terrifying. Craig and I have Moms that like old Hollywood musicals. Those songs can be really hard to get out of one’s brain once triggered. I countered Der Kommisar with Too Darned Hot from Kiss Me Kate. I was left alone the rest of that shift. Incidentally, I found it frightening that that song was on Youtube.

Craig is still plagued by all sorts of bizarre problems. Lately, he’s become convinced that Juan Epstein (from Welcome Back, Kotter) is stalking him. I’m not sure, but I believe that he and his girlfriend thought the man was lurking on top of a nearby palm tree. At any rate, I’ve given up on trying to get him to install a webcam in his yard. Ultimately, I had to agree with Craig that if he didn’t witness or have a record of the goings on there, he’d never have to testify about them. My latest campaign with Craig has been to get him to write memoirs, not fiction. Craig is a gifted storyteller. That is why he’s had people interested in hearing about his weekends at every job he’s worked. At our dearly departed Borders, most of the staff would be excited when he showed up for his shift. We knew we’d hear some tale of weird adventures. I was prompted to launch this campaign after Craig complained of several bouts of writers’ block. I have enjoyed his fiction. He wrote the most twisted Christmas story I have ever heard. I’m disturbed and tickled every time I think about it. However, I can’t believe that there are any characters or situations that he could create that are as interesting and compelling as the ones he’s experienced. Craig balked at the suggestion. “There would be guys with Jersey accents coming after me with bats or crow bars saying ‘you said we’d never speak of that again.’ And little Phil would definitely sue me.” I can’t speak about the Jersey guys, but I know that Phil is in an entirely different place now than he was when we worked at Borders. I’m sure he’d find most of those stories funny. I think.

I have not been deterred in my campaign, however. There are plenty of stories that he could tell that wouldn’t result in homicides or legal proceedings. And for those situations that are on the borderline, like the incident with the dye pack a friend was carrying exploding in his car, I’m certain that the statue of limitations has expired. Craig has at least two books in him on idiot hikers he’s met on various trails and on top of mountains. Such titles as “Don’t go to Rattlesnake Canyon wearing shorts. Or Yes, bears really do like avocados. And Sometimes cougars don’t want their picture taken.” come to mind. In the case of Rattlesnake Canyon, it seems that many hikers thought the name was a metaphor, not a literal statement of fact. Oh, the hiking stories Craig has told. He got into a lot of mis-adventures on his own. That’s why his father got him a GPS locator a few Christmases ago. But he’s rescued enough silly people to become a Park Ranger himself. And then there are his animal adventures. There could be titles like ‘How did the sheep get into my dorm hallway? Why was the calf riding in the back of a Cadillac convertible? And Cow bites really bleed a lot.’ In the matter of the cow, that would be friends who failed to tip the cow and were soundly bitten for their antics. In the sheep adventure, Craig learned that his dorm-mates were drunken idiots and that sheep do not like going down stairs. And there are miscellaneous adventures like being kidnapped by MPs in San Diego who mistook him for an AWOL Marine. And the time he thwarted an assault on a woman on the beach in Pacific Palisades with the help of Mr. Whipple. He is a David Sedaris waiting to happen. My campaign continues.


Blood Oath - Baby’s got Backstory

It started as jotting down random notes on essential elements for the budget of the pilot for Blood Oath. Then, it was detailed notes for a treatment. Somehow, that evolved into writing the actual pilot script. It’s best that I do, because the script determines the schedule which impacts the budget. But I wasn’t planning on it right now. I have a lot of sketches to finish for post on the short film. [I will share the sketches soon. They’re almost website ready]. I still have to do the treatment and the list of elements, but this sort of took over all of my focus. What’s most intriguing, is that the pilot for Blood Oath will have no sex between Rik and Vincent. There will be a lot of Unresolved Sexual Tension or, in the vernacular of fanfiction, UST. In most UST situations, neither of the party realizes the nature of the problem. In this case, Vincent knows what his problem is. He just can’t do anything about it. Imagine how upset the young man (only 19, at this point) is a being thrown into a situation where he is in pain, confined to Rik’s office where the object of his UST is in various states of undress or asleep nearby. Vincent’s hormones are firing at their hardest, leaving him in a constant state of...consternation. Some yelling occurs. Rik is confused, because he can’t figure out why they’re fighting. Fortunately, for their sanity, there is a big and scary conspiracy involving missing nuclear components to distract them.

I know when I’m onto something with my writing when I resent stopping for anything like eating or sleeping or – especially – working. I spend the day writing in my head. Then, I try very hard to put all of it on paper before I fall over for the night. I really enjoy hanging out with Rik and Vincent, but I’m surprised at how quickly the supporting characters became real in the script. The expanded format allows for a lot more time with each of them. And they have to be defined only by what they say as the audience doesn’t have paragraphs of description for them. Writing them cinematically hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would. I supposed it’s because I’ve been living with them all for years. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll put up frames from the film as Jon replaces the green screen and applies the backgrounds. There are some frames I want because we weren’t able to get the photos we wanted without being in the way of the cameraman. There were some amazing action shots of Rik tossing Vincent or of the two fights that I’d like to share. I won’t give it all away. For the full impact, it’s best to see the finished trailer. But a little teaser never hurts.

Brilliant Writing and Galactic Drama
Warning! Spoilers for Battlestar Galactica. Also, Geekiness and writing talk follows

Before the series ends, I must take a moment to praise the amazing writing on Battlestar Galactica each and every week. I think it’s important to look past the cool ships and big guns and struggles between humans and Cylons and really listen to the incredibly well written dialogue. It is as stripped down and spare as the best in fiction or poetry. Each line means a great deal and has been crafted to provide the biggest impact. There was a four to six sentence exchange between Lee Adama and Saul Tigh during a vicious firefight in The Oath that summed up the entire war and all of the atrocities suffered in the four seasons. It was astonishing in its brevity and clarity. In the following episode, Blood on the Scales the struggle between idealism and pragmatism and the dichotomy between truth and justice is pushed to the breaking point. In a testament to the level of writing, I found myself empathizing with everyone on all sides. I understood their actions and recognized why each felt their decisions were proper. Even Tom Zarek (in a tour de force performance by Richard Hatch) was far more complex than the usual moustache twirling villain. This episode, I felt, was an anti-Trek episode. It even had, what I thought, was a tribute to the Jeffreys tube. But in this case, the tube made sense. The solution to the problem didn’t involve technobabble, anomalies or omniscient beings. It came down to sheer force of will of a few key people. This was drama that transcends genre. The latest episode, Deadlock, reminded me a great deal of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. At the heart of it all, was a toxic marriage that had lasted for millennia. The dialogue was brutal and the couple seemed to not take any heed of the collateral damage until it was too late. I was so relieved that Ellen Tigh, the Cylon, was still a train wreck of a personality. It makes both sides equally imperfect and thus, endlessly fascinating to watch.

I wanted to follow with my rant on CSI: Miami, but I just can’t after thinking about such fine writing. It will have to wait for next week.

Disco Memorials, Unexpected Dilemmas, and Dancing Mutants

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.

Additonal warning: Old fogey talking about modern music and copious amounts od Disco.

Accidental Memorial

The friends of Harry Kenney who live out here have been trying to coordinate a memorial gathering in the weeks since his death. It hasn’t been easy. I thought we should have dancing as Harry liked to cut a rug. Mind, he wasn’t exactly good at most forms of dancing, but he had great enthusiasm. A high school chum and I taught him the basics of the Hustle, the bump, the Freak, and that line dance (for the clip, you have to watch past john Travolta in his underwear) from Saturday Night Fever. You know, the basics of Disco. Incidentally, I was given my only conduct dermit in High School for reviewing Satruday Night Fever. It was an immorality demerit. Ah, if they only knew. Where was I? Dancing, right. There used to be several ‘Disco Nights’ in this part of LA. I discovered that those nights – and in some cases – those places are no more. It was disconcerting. The big new dance club in West Hollywood touts every kind of dance music except that which you can dance to. Sorry, young-uns. The stuff playing today is good for bouncing up and down which is about all you can handle. I know very few under 30 that can actually dance. I’ll talk about one of them later.

We decided to have a dinner in Harry’s honor. He loved food as much as he loved music and had become quite the foodie over the years. He and I used to follow the PBS chefs in the days before The Food Network (and after). We got to meet Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet, before the scandal. And when we were at loose ends, dating wise, we ate at a lot of restaurants in Philly, New Jersey and New York City. Food is a good choice for the memorial which is still in the planning stages, but I must admit to being disappointed about the lack of dancing. Then, a week after the Blood Oath shoot, we met with Matty Ferraro and a friend of his to have a beer or two at a small tavern near us. It’s a tiny place that only serves a fine selection of beers and wines. It’s really tiny, but has a full sized pool table and about 8 large screen TVs. You really can watch some sports in that bar from any angle of the room. That night, the booths had been moved out to make room for a DJ. Have I said this place was small? So we find ourselves crammed around a small, tall table next to the DJ. I wasn’t exactly happy about that as we were having a conversation in shouts, but then he started playing music I recognized. Matty and I were dancing on our bar stools. I requested Staying Alive. I knew that it probably was a re-mix with who knew what, but I had to try. Turns out it was a re-mix from Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion and one that I liked. We had a lovely chair dance and a toast to Harry. Dancing in that small space could have caused bodily harm. And seeing how I have been injured dancing with Harry (note, hold onto your partner when trying a dip.), he would have understood. I think he would have appreciated the thought.

There is a very nice video tribute to him on Youtube here.


Unexpected Dilemmas

Having been in LA for more than 15 years and having been involved in the film biz for about that long, there shouldn’t be any problems that come as an absolute surprise. Yet, there I was, minding my own business on my sofa last week, when a most unexpected problem arose. It is in conjunction with the tributes to Harry. You see, in the late 80s, John Stein and I were in an Irish pub. I believe it was Moriarity’s on Walnut Street. We were doing what geeks do in an Irish Pubs, drinking beer and talking about Star Trek. Particularly, we were talking about the Mirror, Mirror episode and how there was no lawlessness in Star Trek: The Next Generation. That discussion and my ongoing obsession with pirates lead to noodling out the concept for The Privateers on the back of a placemat. In the development of the series, Harry got involved and contributed a great deal. However, the idea for the name of the lead pirate, Captain Aran Dravyk, was John Stein’s. It was a tribute to Sir Francis Drake, also known as the Dragon. That was where the word Dravyk came from. Well, when the idea fell to the wayside after initial interest (first as an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and later as potential first series on the Sci-Fi Channel), Harry used the name for his e-mail address. And that was the name he used in his career in adult website content. Now, there is a proposal for an award in that industry called The Dravyk. Well, The Privateers is no longer dormant. We’re shopping it about to make a very expensive feature film. While Hollywood is hardly innocent of Adult entertainment (it’s largely here), this sort of association could be problematic. Harry really wanted to see the project made, so this was quite a dilemma. Fortunately, it became clear that Harry was known by his own name as much as his handle in recent years. I think that an award with his name would be a far better tribute, and that solution would calm Ralph’s agita.

Blood Oath Developments

Post has been slow going. We have some equipment to acquire and some software to upgrade. Additionally, Jon has to figure out where all the Manga comic panels will be scattered through the live action. Meanwhile, I’ve been working on the character drawings and developing the pilot script and series bible. This is where the readers of the Soldier’s books get to have their way, so to speak. For cinematic reasons and to fill up a lot of air-time, I have to show Rik and Vincent prior to Vincent’s disappearance. The entire conspiracy will be covered in the front half of the pilot. Thus, the audience will get Rik and Vincent as they were before becoming a couple (Rik’s arrogance and Vincent’s temper). The audience will also experience Rik’s downward spiral after Vincent disappears. The audience will also meet Falcon Squad in full measure during the pilot. That sounds like a lot to cover, but a script that long is the equivalent of half of one of the novels. It’s a lot of time to fill. We have some idea of who some of the characters will be, but nothing is definite until I do a full breakdown of regular and recurring characters. We figure that the majority of the cast will be relative unknowns with a few TV star names (preferably from Science Fiction) in the mix. I have no one in mind for these parts (Dr. Auerbach, Gen Braun, Colonel Heisler, Percival Owens), but I’m open to suggestions. Meanwhile, I’m further defining my lead characters to fit the strengths of the leading men. Lance has a playfulness that I really hadn’t written into Rik but I must use with this actor. He can go from aloof and distant (while getting into his part) to suddenly warm and disarming. Matty is quite playful as well. There were serious moments during different scenes where he teased Rik or touched him playfully in a way he hadn’t blocked in rehearsal, but it looked good on screen. Aside from that, I discovered that Matty can dance. That young, lean body looks very good moving to a beat. I figure that Vincent will be dancing while cooking. The music can be real or in his head. And I figure that Rik would really enjoy just watching him move. I’m certain that the leads will bring more of themselves to their characters after the first draft of the script is written. I can’t wait to see what that will be.

Next Time: Craig returns. Find out why Phil may end up suing him, Anthony Bourdain and a word that rhymes with corn, and why the hell was Puff Daddy on CSI: Miami playing a defense attorney??!! I would have written more, but I really got distracted by the disco videos.

Musings, Oxen and a Long, Red Scarf

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.


Musings on Wings and Things

I’ve learned two things this week. First, it’s really had for me to write a blog during the week. Aside from a surprisingly rigid schedule (It’s a surprise that I actually have a rigid schedule. I always like to think of myself as free-wheeling and spontaneous), I am a lot more morose during the week. I am really tense and bleak. That may be because of the schedule or the crazy stuff going on with the films that only happens during the week. On any given weekday, I’m very annoyed or frustrated about something out of my control. It comes out in the drafts of blogs I’ve tried to write mid-week. Even I wouldn’t want to read those. The dust has usually settled for the time being by Friday night, and I’ve had a day of cooking therapy before attempting to write. Thus, I saved my stories from the shoot and other adventures for today. The second thing I learned as that I’ve developed a capacity for eating huge amounts of Buffalo wings . I don’t really have them when I go out. They’re always too spicy or not tender. I didn’t typically make them for the Super Bowl. My friends preferred a Betty Crocker creation called Mahogany Wings (wings baked with a molasses, soy, ginger sauce). I supposed that I was feeling more traditional that night, so I made a pile of Buffalo wings thinking I’d snack on them all week. Maybe it was the thrilling game or something. All I know is that I had about seven wings left from a three pound bag. Just disgraceful. I’m making more today.

Holi-daze part one 2009

The blog is three years old. That’s really hard to believe. It became more than a promo tool for the books a long while ago. I’m really pleased to have so many readers from all over everywhere. And I’m still tickled at how many stay after wandering onto the page from a Google search. And yep, I still get yelled at by people looking for topic on a search that I happen to be ranting about. I’m waiting for irate Amish folks affronted by my derision of those heaters. I don’t think they’d send an e-mail though. It’s not boring.

A belated Gung hay fat choy for the Year of the Ox. Since I am a Taurus and that’s sort of an Ox, I’m claiming this as my year as well. I think we’ve had a good start. It’s always fun to shoot something. Doing something proactive is far more satisfying than waiting for phone calls. The shoot and pot stickers from my favorite Chinese restaurant made for a nice start to the lunar New Year.

Film Updates

Having Blood Oath was fortunate these past few weeks. Since the New Year, we’ve had little movement on any of our projects with funding pending. Finally, Ralph let loose with a flurry of irate phone calls demanding a status report. Basically, few funding sources want to proceed with films while the SAG situation remains unsettled. While we understand this hesitation, it was a bit vexing to not be told what the issue was until we were yelling at them. While this isn’t a no, it’s clear it’s not a green light. They didn’t want to tell us this out of fear of us moving on. No one involved in film knows how to say no, or more to the point, they don’t want to say no absolutely for fear that the project will gain success elsewhere. Our favorite casting director said that the reluctance to pass on a project goes back to Star Wars. A lot of people who turned that film down before Fox accepted it were fired. From then on, it is really hard to get someone to officially pass on a film. That’s how a producer ends up in a situation like Watchmen. In short, Fox was pitched the concept about 15 years ago. They did nothing to develop it. In fact, some execs were derisive about the script. When it finally gets made by Warner Bros., Fox sues saying that they never released the film for development elsewhere. And they win. That is really galling, and I don’t give a hang about Watchmen. The trailer is gorgeous, but I have no clue what it’s about. Jon who is a huge fan of the comic can’t really explain it to be in five minutes or less. I believe all this fighting is for a film that will be a flop, because a general audience will be fixated on why one of the characters looks so much like Batman. The principal of the thing is, if you don’t want a film, let it go. We have a script that’s been in the possession major actor’s film company for over 10 years. We’ve thought of sending it birthday cards. Ralph recently had an opportunity to ask about it at said company. It’s still ‘under consideration.’ Bullocks!

Where was I? Oh, yeah. The upshot is that the Gunslinger and Luv U 4 Ever won’t have start dates until some time after SAG has settled with the studios. Meanwhile, post has begun on Blood Oath.

Anime vs Yaoi: Blood Oath Shoot Part Two

I never interfere with Jon directing. That surprised a number of people who know how much I like to be involved in productions. There can only be one person in charge on set. What we do while in script page is work out a common view on what we want to happen on screen. This is usually pretty easy. Jon and I have been doing this for a long time, after all. In this case, we made assumptions about each other that proved to be problematic during the shoot. We are both anime heads, that’s for sure. Thus 80% of what Jon wanted to see on screen for this pilot presentation was the same. That 20% caused some moments of tension. In a shoot that short with a very long shot list, sudden changes and additions have a big ripple effect. Jon was focused on the emblematic anime moves. I needed to see some more of the tender moments between Rik and Vincent. Don’t get me wrong. There were a number of very pretty kisses, but I wanted more of something Jon calls the ‘wa’ moments (Basically, he’s using the term from Japanese baseball as the moment before a ball is pitched. It’s a being completely in the moment while anticipating the next). Those were difficult to fit in during such a jam-packed shoot. However, there was one bit I insisted upon. It was a playful spar between Rik and Vincent that was a corollary for the beach meditation scene. I emend to have those scenes inter-cut during the opening credits. It got shot and it was really cute, too. Our Rik and Vincent can do both playful and dangerous very convincingly. The scene was worth pushing for. The other very Vincent thing that Jon set up blocking for was Vincent fiddling with the food (tasting and seasoning) the guys were eating in the abandoned warehouse. He wanted to establish the character as a talented cook. By the way, the meal they are was my Boeuf bourguignon. They guys had to really eat the food, and I wanted them to have something nice.

The biggest problem we had during the shoot was with Goggles’ red scarf. It wouldn’t stay up on his face even with double stick tape for more than one take. The constant fussing with that danged scarf was quite reminiscent of Dr. Bassett’s ever changing neck ties in Demon Under Glass. In that case, Jon was shooting scenes from several different days. The lab coat and pants and shirt were always the same, but the necktie was supposed to be different every day. Keeping up with the continuity almost from take to take nearly put a strain on our marriage. The scarf wasn’t as bad, especially after I told them they could pin it. Jon had been reluctant as it was one of my scarves from our last trip to Paris. It cost 3 Euros. I could cope with the holes to speed things along.

Thanks for all those who wrote notes congratulating us on overcoming the specters of Demon Under Glass. I appreciated the thoughts, but we had some mishaps in this project that are an ongoing concern. They will be resolved this week, however, leaving us free to deal with the biggest challenge of the whole presentation – post production. Oh, the whining there will be during that. And for those writing for a more in—depth explanation of the trauma during the Demon shoot. I may indulge (the stories are usually very funny to everyone but the survivors), but not this week.

The most exciting part of completing the Blood Oath shoot is I’ve got stories in my head again that are eager to be written. Jon and I worked out what needed to be in the full pilot and what could be in episodes. As soon as we had a working frame, whole scenes began popping into my head. I haven’t had that strong an urge to write since well before Christmas. As always, that kind of creating makes my general outlook a lot brighter.

There’s much more to tell and more photos (go the weblink for more photos) to share, but I have to get on with the rest of my day. Stay tuned.

Ghosts, Snacks and Super Stuff

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.


Super Distraction

It was a very fine Super Bowl 43 despite the lack of Philadelphia Eagles. Bruce started his set with 10th Avenue Freeze Out and the audience knew the words. Cardinal Offensive person number 11 had the nicest tush I’ve ever seen in football. And the score was so close that it didn’t beat the spread. I had lovely wings to eat and a lot of ads to laugh at. I’m looking forward to GI Joe and Transformers 2 which both look stupid but kick ass. I’m surprised to want to see Land of the Lost considering that I really hated the TV show, but Will Farrell won me over. And Star Trek still hasn’t told me what the actual film is about nor did it make me laugh or think it was bad assed. In my opinion, it remains doomed to failure. Now, that I’ve gotten past that, on to last week. This will not be as long a blog as I’d intended. I’m still recovering from two days of madness. I’ll post supplements during the week.

Ghosts of Film Shoots Past

I knew it was going to be an odd week early on when I had what was one of the strangest thoughts to date during a production related meeting. I think ‘Is that grenade real?’ narrowly beats ‘How did I miss the 3 foot pentagram?’ for oddness. This was not, however, the oddest sentence to be uttered by me this week. It was definitely not the oddest thing I said during those two days in Santa Clarita. I think that would be ‘I am not asking Aaron if he has on underwear.’

Despite the new odd things that happened, I was struck by how many of our little company were bringing the baggage from previous shoots to this one. Marguerite and I were nearly paralyzed with dread figuring out what to have on the craft services table. Many of our most difficult moments during all of our shoots save for The Gunslinger trailer centered around food. These awkward moments have nearly shut down our shoots. Thus, I was as nervous as Marguerite over this matter. As it turned out, we did fine. There was much happy snacking and no complaints. A big thanks to Matty for providing the excellent coffee.

We had other anxieties going into that shoot. Our previous location in that area was one very low on amenities. There was a barely working toilet that I plunged repeatedly during two different shoots and nowhere to sit and eat. I made sure that we had our own toilet paper, paper towels and hand soap. I even put in reservations for a table and chair rental. These worries were for naught. One of the people involved with this location had been through the difficulties of the Demon Under Glass shoot. Thus, we needn’t have been concerned. There were very nice amenities even in the storage warehouse for the soundstage. There was more than one bathroom with all the proper paper products and hand soap. And there was a full sized, working fridge. That part of the shoot was nicely covered. However, this location was as soundproofed as the other one (though a quarter of the price to rent). The immense building was made of corrugated sheet metal, and the Santa Ana winds were blowing ferociously from the desert. The whole building shook from time to time, creating an amazing din. This didn’t matter the first day as we weren’t recording dialogue. On day tow, the winds weren’t quite as bad and the sound man had an idea on how to minimize noise. I haven’t heard the final tracks yet, so I don’t know if he was successful. If not, there is always ADR. Jon had his own deep misgivings born of ghosts of film shoots past. He was so accustomed of making locations from nothing that he wasn’t convinced that the empty warehouse we’d rented could pass as an abandoned warehouse even after seeing the photos. It caused me no end of consternation until we reached the site. Despite how well our previous efforts had gone, I had no idea until then how many of us had been traumatized by them. Mind you, none of us had the common sense to opt out of these high risk, high effort endeavors. Oh no... though, in our defense, we had heard that doing ‘no budget’ proofs of concept were now all the rage even with big studios. The nifty company that rented all of our bad-assed military gear was doing much the same thing at the behest of Sony and with some very big names. So, we’re not entirely nuts. I must admit, however, that I found that information more than a little depressing.

All of the elements were in place. The question that remained was could these flesh and blood characters match those that had lived in my prose and in my head for more than two years?

Next time: Anime vs Yaoi.

Blog Delay and Photos

I'm working on the blog, but there is a lot to cover and a Super bowl to watch. It should be up later today. Meanwhile, there are photos and the script from the shoot to entertain you all.

http://bloodoathseries.com/short.htm

Enjoy and check baack later!

Mourning, Shooting and New Rants

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.


A Big Thanks

I really appreciate the kind notes that were sent about the death of my friend, Harry Kenney. It’s been a difficult week facing things like mortality and choices and accomplishments. Looking over a life-time can lead to some very bleak places. I had been deeply saddened by the inability to find anything about him on the internet. I had worried that all that he had achieve would passed unrecognized and remembered. I was never happier to be so wrong. There are now more than a dozen heartfelt obituaries and comments in all manner of Adult forums over his passing. The most well known was in the website for Adult Video News. It made me very happy to see that he left behind a great deal of people whose work and friendship meant a great deal. I think Harry would have been very pleased to see all of the lovely comments. He would have been really jazzed that my most infamous ex, Nick Nicastro, the salacious dark lord that lead me astray and still resides in the bowels of Atlantic City. He has inspired one novel and is the leading man in most of my erotica. He is still the naughtiest man I know – even in his 60s. Harry admired him greatly for his prowess with women. And Nick ended up admiring him as well. He was quite shaken at Harry’s passing. And that is quite a tribute. It’s been a hard week coming to terms with his death, but there has been a benefit. I re-connected with a number of friends I’d lost touch with after moving to LA. It was marvelous to catch up with them. Like all good friendships, the calls were as warm and wonderful as if we’d been talking every day. Those long chats have helped a little with the grief.

Blood Oath and Film Update
Last week was the final rehearsal before the shoot. We’d made some dialogue changes to the script, and Jon fully blocked out the fight scenes. So, we had Matty and Lance over again to do some read through and work through any questions or concerns. As always, I was fascinated watching the actors work. Matty Ferraro had read A Solder’s Choice before accepting the role. Lance only had the script and a character description. The reasons for the difference is kind of involved, so I’ll skip it. Each man managed to figure out who the characters were and how to convey their personalities on camera. It’s difficult to describe how I know when the actor understands the character. My method is different from Jon’s. For me, it boils down to one line in pages of dialogue that is quintessentially Vincent or Rik. There is a certain way that the character would say that line. Most times, I can’t describe what I should be hearing. I just know it when I hear it. I was elated when Matty and Lance both said the words in those lines exactly how I expected to hear them. Moreover, when they deviated from expected, they were in ways that were still valid for their characters. In some cases, they were a better read than we’d each had in mind. That’s when a shoot is really fun. Along with their choices for portraying the characters, I was struck at the ease of their intimacy. They did some physically things during the dialogue scenes that I hadn’t expected. There were some touches and glances that just make the slash girls swoon. Jon was pleased that his focus can be on their movements rather than on the performances. We are set to shoot this Thursday and Friday only a mile or two from the first part of the shoot on Demon Under Glass. I recognized the street as soon as we turned onto it. Our first hotel was there (the one that had towels and heat). Ah memories. I still don’t know how we keep ending up shooting in that part of town. We’re all excited to be making a film again. But we’re also nervous as always. It’s a responsibility to book up these professionals’ time. We want it to be a productive and fun experience. Jon is working hard to make sure the shots run smoothly. Margeurite and I are working on keeping everyone well fed and comfy in our temporary home. I am making the field rations for the dialogue scenes. The only worrisome thing is the erecting of the green screen. We’ve never done it before. I’m certain a comedic adventure awaits. There are always so many on our shoots. I still cringe at that message that our motel mattress for Demon Under Glass was laying across a lane and a half of the 405 freeway. Fortunately, we don’t have nearly as much stuff going into the valley this time. We shouldn’t have as many adventures. Notice, I don’t make guarantees.

There are no updates on the Gunslinger and Luv U 4 Ever that I can talk about. It’s frustrating, I know (believe me, everyone involved knows how frustrating this is). The fortunate thing is that the Gunslinger is so ready for production that it will only take a few days to set a schedule and get rolling. Stay tuned.

Pop Culture Rants

These have been long overdue. I’ve had notes on some things since mid-December. And it’s fitting as a continuing tribute to Harry. We talked pop culture since high school and were film and TV critics on The Temple News. We saw some fun stuff over the holiday break. One of them, Wanted was a film that I really wasn’t sure I’d enjoy. It looked too shooty-bang bang for me. But there was Angelina splayed across the hood of a car with a big gun. I couldn’t resist. The film was a fabulous fun ride. It was far funnier than I ever expected (and intentionally so), and the amount of character development was surprising. I wished that one pivotal scene was longer because of the heavy emotional impact. But other than that, Wanted was a great popcorn romp. The other film we saw at that time was Get Smart. The TV series was a huge favorite of mine and my mother’s. This did not disappoint though they characters were not the same as the series. They were completely valid, but not mimics of the TV characters. It was a clap your hands in delight experience.

Meanwhile, my trailer troubles continue. I typically wouldn’t be interested in something like My Bloody Valentine in 3-D. However, I was so annoyed by the trailer that I couldn’t resist finding out what the film was about. SPOLIER ALERT. So you are warned after a bloody rampage at a Valentines Dance that cost the lives of many miners 20 years before not have another Valentines Dance. When a dance is scheduled, deadly mayhem ensues, so you sanely cancel the plans. But the teenagers who should know of this prohibition throw said dance AT THE MINE. Everyone deserves to die. I hope the deaths are gruesome. I’ll never see it.

I have many thoughts on Gil Grissom’s departure from CSI and on this season of CSI: Miami as well as the return of Anthony Bourdain, and, of course, Battlestar Galactica. But that is for another day. I have food to cook and a shoot to plan.

Painful Passages and First Day of the Shoot

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 has been a bizarre week even for me. It began with blatantly thwarting LA film codes and ended with a sudden and tragic passing of one of my oldest friendships. Our day jobs have had a big change, and the battle for funding took an interesting turn. The Eagles are playing right now, but I’m ignoring the game for now. By the time this is finished, there may be a final score. I don’t even know if the game’s outcome will matter to me. I have a lot of distractions right now.

Permettez Moi

The film community complains a lot about Runaway Productions. They don’t just complain about the work going to other countries. They complain bitterly about the work that has left Los Angeles. I understand their complaints, but I also understand why they lost and continue to lose work here. We wanted to do the short for The Gunslinger locally. I mean, who really wants to drive five hours when they could travel a fraction of that time. But the film ranches in this area are used to projects like Deadwood and the budgets that go with it. The day rate these places wanted caused hysterical laughter. Then, we took a five hour drive. It’s almost the same situation with Blood Oath. We wanted to shoot for a few hours on the state-owned Dockweiler Beach. At first, I was up for doing it legally. I inquired after a permit. To my complete surprise, it was more than twice as expensive as a permit to shoot on Malibu Beach. On top of the pricey permit, they wanted a million dollar insurance rider. Did I mention that all the guys are doing on the beach are some Tai Chi Katas? Jon, our DP, Erick and Ralph were undeterred. We did it guerilla style – no permits and very efficiently.

We started just before 9 am when the beach is fairly deserted. It’s not a touristy beach because of its location at the end of the runways at LAX (which is why we didn’t have any dialogue happening). It was a picture perfect, sunny day. The water was an emerald green and the waves broke very prettily. We couldn’t have designed a better backdrop. The guys looked very yummy together, especially in the training phase (the black tank tops). We did a set of katas where Rik is teaching Vincent (training phase) and ones where they are just meditating together. I love the hands especially (Forgive my fuzzy photography. It’s an older digital camera). There are more pics on the myspace page. Most are the very nice, clear pics that Ralph took. Matty and Lance definitely have chemistry together. The footage is compelling. And that’s good, because we won’t have to shoot it again. Being an outlaw film maker is far more stressful on me than I thought it would be. There were at least three beach patrol vehicles who past by and gave us the once over, and there was an LAPD motorcycle cop who buzzed our base camp in the parking lot. It was all very unnerving for me, anyway. I was really relieved when we wrapped for the morning.

Tomorrow, I’m having Matty over to practice playing with his ponytail and to do some cooking together. We may try to grab some scenes of Vincent in the kitchen at some point as part of the opening credits. Lance will be there to practice playing with Vincent’s ponytail and to go over the new dialogue. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

No new updates on The Gunslinger and Luv U 4 Ever. A lot has been happening that I can’t talk about. It’s fascinating and frustrating how much of what’s going on has nothing to do with the films themselves but are pivotal to the film’s funding. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to talk about what all of the machinations were. I don’t know if anyone would believe me if I did. We’re still awaiting word of a start date.

Painful Passage

Most of what I wanted to talk about this week was eclipsed by an e-mail from a very kind stranger telling me that Harry W. Kenney, a friend for over 30 years, had died of a heart attack. He was 48. The day before, his 100 year old mother died. Harry was a fixture in my homes in Philly. We went through high school and college together. He was at many holiday gatherings and we heralded in many a New Year together along with a group of nerdy misfits I’ve known forever. He helped me write the first version of The Privateers, and we worked on a couple of other scripts while I was still in Philly. Harry’s claim to fame was not in writing. He was a pioneer in adult internet content under the name Dravyk. Little wonder that he was the first host for NovaD.com (now NovaD.org). It was an interesting career turn for a Catholic boy (though, maybe not that surprising), and it took him all over the world. His last days were spent caring for his mother, something he had done for most of his life. Though he may not have pursued the writing career he’d wanted, his work influenced a lot of folks in the webhosting world, and he left a lot of friends who will remember him fondly. It’s fortunate that a few of us ended up in LA. We’ll go have a beverage and a dance or two in his honor (he was an enthusiastic, if not a very good dancer). It’ll be tough returning to Philly and not meeting up for a drink with him. As you can see from the photos, there was a lot of drinking and apparently costumes in our friendship. He’ll always be around when any of us get together.

I’m off to do some stuff for the memorial and for the read through tomorrow.

Extra Gravy, Passings 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 week has been too interesting. Any number of things work for a lengthy blog, including happening on an hour long crime documentary featuring the real Miami-dade Crime lab. But there was something happening almost every day. But let’s begin with the obvious this fine Sunday afternoon late in the football season.

It’s All Gravy

How I love gravy. After the Eagles tied with the Cincinnati Bengals (the Bengals, for goodness sake – sorry, Randy), I was done, done, done. I would still follow the team. I can’t help but do that, but I had become resigned. And then, there was this transformation. I was happy they would finish the season with a decent record. Then, I was thrilled that we were in the position to spoil Dallas’ chances. There is nothing Philly fans like more than spoiling Dallas’ chances. That the game was at home made it all the more likely that there would be much spoiling going on. Former Dallas QB and current Fox Sports anchor, Troy Aikman observed that the stands were particularly ugly even before the game. Yep, that’s Philly. But then it all turned to glee. It was a delightfully humiliating route. I was a happy woman with just that. The next Sunday, Jon and I went to look at the soundstages for Blood Oath (more on that below). We happened past the door to a local cop bar on the way home and spied that the Eagles were winning against Minnesota. Very nice, indeed. That meant we were in a position to spoil things for the New York Giants. We like spoiling things for them almost as much as we love spoiling things for Dallas. The glee continues though the game was kind of silly in spots. It’s all gravy from here. I have no particular grudge against Arizona, but now they are a team in the way. In the way of what, I dare not think about. I’m just going to enjoy this surprisingly long ride.

Passages

Borders Book Store #93, 3rd Street Promenade closed its doors for good yesterday. Those of us who worked there have decidedly mixed feelings. There was a lot of evil cackling, to be sure. Some bitterness remains at the customers, the management, the corporate structure and the fixtures. But, there is some sadness at the loss of yet another brick and mortar bookstore. Jon argues that it wasn’t really a bookstore at this point. It was more like a gift shop that sold some books. The depth of the inventory had changed considerably. The last time I was there, I couldn’t find a copy of The Great Gatsby. ‘Nuff said. I mourned the store’s demise back then. The company should have never abandoned its original mandate – a community bookstore with the prices of a chain. Borders expanded way too quickly (during my time there, a new store was opening every month). The Amazon.com completely panicked Borders. After they came along, it was one hair-brained scheme after another to try to keep its market share. They diminished the number and types of books they carried and abandoned the idea of full-time, knowledgeable staffers there for the long term. I’m saddened because it was a really great bookseller at one time. I have some wonderful memories of that store. I met some of the best people I know there (like Marie and Craig and Phil). Marie and I learned about independent publishing working for Borders. My fondest memory of book signing was at a Borders. This one was in Philly while I worked for the Center City District. Peter O’Toole was signing a memoir at the Rittenhouse Square Borders. I just had to see him in person. He did not disappoint. Mr. O’Toole was there with a fine glass of booze and a cigarette awaiting the throngs when I arrived. The timid staff was trying to gently get him to not smoke and drink. He dismissed them with a very cultured ‘Oh, do go away.’ Then, he winked at me. It was fabulous. We would have never tried to take his stash at store #93 -- as long as he shared with us.

Our memories at store 93 are mostly ghastly. There were the various naked homeless people washing up in the bathrooms. They were never the OZ kind of naked or even the nudist camp kind of naked. It was gruesome kind of naked. Sometimes, they’d use the bathroom by going outside of the bathroom door next to the back office doors. My favorite of the homeless was not bathroom related. Mine was the one covered in gasoline and carrying an open cup of gas right in front of a group of VIPs from corporate headquarters. They no longer questioned our contention about having the weirdest clientele in the chain. We beat out the Manhattan stores for bizarre by a mile. We also cornered the market on privileged and often abusive customers who felt very entitled to everything. I won’t miss them at all. I met Patrick Stewart there (a co-worker nearly got injured over my wanting to wait on Captain Picard). Barbara Streisand thought I had the right idea about men (I was wearing a button that said ‘strip him, bath him and bring him to my tent). And Ted Danson looked for me long after I quit as he believed I was his personal shopper. Ah, memories. We tried to get a reunion group to go for one last visit, but I worried that Craig’s idea for a proper farewell would end in arrests. Thus, I say adieu from home.

Boo-yeah!

Among the meetings we had this week, was a fascinating encounter with a retired Marine Master Sergeant who runs a company that provides specialized military and police extras and equipment. He had the precision buzz cut and a fabulous face full of a lot of world experience. He was the technical advisor through the length of the series JAG. Though an older gentleman, he had a very powerful build and a compelling bearing. We were certain that he could waste all three of us without much effort. The young man with the Sergeant is one of Ralph’s clients. He was very helpful by changing into a uniform in front of me. Have I said that I really like how not shy actors are? That actor, it turned out had killed Garett Maggart’s character in CSI: Miami. I mentioned that at the meeting. His reply was that he seldom remembers who he’s killed. I was really glad we hadn’t met at a restaurant. One, I wouldn’t have seen his lovely torso, and two, the police may have been called. Or maybe not. During the shoot for Demon Under Glass, at least three of us were seen in public washing bloody clothing, and no one was ever called. That always bothered me. Where was I? Oh, yes, so we have some very fine military consultants and their equipment at our disposal for Blood Oath. I’m also hoping to persuade the Sergeant to take on the role of General Braun. I had been concerned about securing their services. These guys were serious military. And though Rik and Vincent are decidedly pro-military in the Soldiers books and in Blood Oath, their situation often casts the military in a less than positive light. And then there is the yaoi content. I was biting my nails after sending them the script for the pilot presentation (and this script is tame compared to the novels). It was a relief that it all worked out. The prospect of working with this group is exciting as it will add authenticity to a key component of Blood Oath.

A note to some followers of the blogs here. Dragoncor Productions has many kinds of irons in the fire. Some are more mainstream than others. Some are decidedly not for mainstream viewers. I am very clear in my descriptions of the various projects especially the yaoi. If you have a problem with a particular production because of content, feel free to discuss it with like- minded people in another forum. Do not bother the actors or crew listed here with your opinions on content in films they are not attached to. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Blood Oath Shoot

Our first day will be Monday at the beach here. We had rehearsal on Friday. How I love to have attractive men sprawled on my sofa. I also had them try on their lounge and meditative wear. It seems to me that for a woman with a well deserved reputation for lurid thoughts, I spend a lot of time clothing attractive men. Dang this film business and the need for costumes. They looked yummy, at any rate.

For those who have followed the writing of the Soldiers books, my attachment to Rik and Vincent is very clear. I adore those characters and they live in my mind quite vividly. It was difficult during the casting process to get the voices I’ve had for the characters out of my head. That’s where compelling actors come in. They are good looking men, and they have a lot of personality. I saw glimpses of Rik and Vincent in the casting sessions, but I actually heard them during rehearsal. Matty Ferraro and Lance Wesley have a lot of chemistry together. They laugh easily and are easily physical with each other. They even surprised me with that occasional magic actors do during rehearsals or shoots when they read a line in an unexpected and delightful way. Matty has the evil, smart alec and the kind and caring sides of Vincent down very nicely. Lance has a combination of strength and vulnerability that I can’t wait to see in action. I was delighted at how well they knew my guys. Friday was a very long day as Jon and I still had a long shift at the archive after the rehearsal. It didn’t seem long at all. We were so stoked after the rehearsal that adrenaline took over. Monday should be the same way. I can’t wait to see them move like my altered soldiers in the morning sunshine.

As for The Gunslinger and Luv U 4 Ever, we’re still waiting for the word.

I’m off to prep for an early call time.