Year's End Musings

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.


Steamy Goodness

It’s getting steamy here this New Year’s Eve. And it has nothing to do with champagne. I’m cooking up the traditional dishes of collard greens and black eyed peas. Serving these are for good luck and prosperity in the New Year. It’s both a Southern and an African American tradition. I’ve altered the family recipe over the years from flavorings based on pork and fat to smoked turkey, garlic and olive oil. Ours will be a more subdued celebration than our norm. We’re really tired. It’s been a grueling year.

Retrospective

It was a tough year for us. We moved from a place we liked and enjoyed for many years without knowing where we’d end up. Moving in stages is not the best way to go, but condo developers don’t really care. We were still juggling the production company and the press while in interim housing with an intermitted and fussy internet connection. Both business suffered while we hunted for an apartment. A friend accurately described apartment hunting in LA as a steel cage match with other applicants. It was two and a half months before we lucked into this place. That experience made even Jon give a nod to observing good luck rituals. During this ordeal, we made mistakes, ruffled a great many feathers and hurt some feelings. We also found out who our real friends are and what kind of baggage we were better off without. Ultimately, we are stronger for the experience.

Looking Ahead

We have been presented with some great opportunities in the last few weeks of the year. We start acting on them right after the holiday. In the past, we’ve learned that we gain more ground in the film arena when we are aggressive. This year, we plan to do more on our own to draw attention to our projects. We have some film shorts planned with great production values and even some special FX starring the actors who will be in the full features. And we are close to beginning our second full feature. Book wise, I will finally put out A Soldier’s Fate and there will be a third Surrender book. I will also finish my collection of short stories based on family memoirs. It’s called Adventures with Miss Patty. I hope to have the first short story published early next year. We have a lot on our plate, but we also have a lot of good plans and determination.

Many Thanks

There are a lot of you out there all over the place that visit the blog weekly. I am very pleased and flattered by this. I thank you all for your attention and your support.

May you and yours have a happy, healthy and safe 2008. Don’t forget to celebrate!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Cross Promotion: Musings on Barberella

Sypress' own Marie Lecrivain has some wonderfully witty musings on life and Barberella at Media Cake. Check it out at:http://www.mediacakemagazine.com/cake_spring_07_081.htm

Enjoy!

Football, Films Rip Offs, and Year End

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.



Fourth Quarter Blues

The season has ended for the Philadelphia Eagles at 8-8. Ah well. I have suffered through much worse. There was times in the 70s and 90s were we prayed to end at 500. I remain a staunch fan who will wear the jersey during the playoffs. I think team fans should remain supportive no matter what. I really admire Ron Moore this season for his continuing support of the Miami Dolphins. And there are up sides for me with the season being over. Truth be told, I enjoy the playoffs more when there is nothing at stake for me. I can now just enjoy the games and hope for a great Super Bowl that doesn’t involve the Cowboys and has some good movie trailers. My biggest regret at this time of year is that all too soon, there will be no football until the Fall

The Bad and the Ugly

I can’t say I received any seriously snarky notes after last weeks rant about snobs. I did, however, get some really pointed ones. Most wanted to know if there was anything in film that I would consider bad. In a word hell, yes. I just don’t think I’m superior for having a taste for certain kind of films. I don’t have the time to list all the films that I considered bad and why. Though I will mention the worst film I had to sit through (I was a film critic at the time) was The Villain with Kirk Douglas, Ann-Margaret and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Allegedly, it was a live-action version of The Roadrunner cartoons. I got that. Everyone meant well. They just couldn’t pull it off.

However, there are some films that seem to aim at being awful. There is a production company called The Asylum that seems to have such aims. Aside from their titles looking very familiar. My particular favorites wer Snakes on a Train and The Transmorphers. Rip off titles like that have no right to take themselves seriously, but they do. And that’s disappointing. A title like Snakes on a Train should be hilarious with tongue firmly planted in cheek. I lament the wasted opportunity.

A wasted opportunity phrase is more accurate than whether I think something is bad. I usually can see where a film maker is going. It’s when the film doesn’t reach it’s goal that there is a problem. With Soul Plane, it was clear where they were going. They got there, and it had an anudience who enjoyed it. Whose Your Caddy had an aim that was a bit lower. It didn’t hit that and it didn’t get any kind of audience. Sometimes a film can reach it’s goal and still not have an audience. A prime example is Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. When Jon and I saw the first trailer we knew two things: we would be crazy about the film and it would have no real audience. The film was critcally acclaimed, had an astonishing look and was everything the film makers wanted. And it had Angelina Jolie! It just failed to connecy with a mainstream audience. Jon thinks it was too much like the film seriels of the 30s it was emulating, and thus, didn’t connect with an audience accustomed to a different pace and very different leading men and women. At any rate, yes there are films that I view as failures. I tend to be harder on films that are near misses like Resident Evil (yes, I know it made a pile of loot, but it just missed being a really great film) than ones that just are what they are (the Saw Franchise). I make no judgement on fans of films I view as failures. However, if anyone insists I go see one or insists on talking about them in hopes of changing my views, they they get an earful for a very long time.

The other question I got this past week was an example of advnaced film watching I’d recommend. Easily, that’s Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. It is brilliant, hilarious, profane and fearless. It’s one of those films that critics love to analyze, but anyone into action and comedy will adore. Run out and rent it, but make sure there are no tender, young ears about. There be a lot of cussing.

Year’s End

I’ll post the New Year Blog tomorrow night or on New Year’s Day. I’m still mulling over how I feel about the year that is about to end and what my hopes are for the one that is about to begin. That said, I hope all my readers ring in the New Year safely. But you should have some fun!

Merry Merry!

Have a happy and safe holiday. And if you want a differnt kind of Christmas Carol, click HERE!

Films, Snobs and Food

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.


As always, my issues are many and varied.

More Holiday Viewing

I forgot to mention some other films and TV shows that are fun for the holidays. Don’t worry, all of these are relatively safe. Shrek the Halls was good fun. It may repeat before the holidays are over. I also loved films like Pockerful of Miracles, a sweet, funny Cinderella tale with Bette Davis and a hilarious Peter Faulk reprising his role from Murder, Inc. for laughs. Then there is Bell, Book and Candle, a strange Christmas romance between a witch (Kim Novak) and a publisher (Jimmy Stewart). That film made me fall in love with backless dresses. To round out the list, there’s The Thin Man that was listed in the LA Times as a Christmas set film with more martinis than all of the James Bond Films combined. And Die Hard that also is set during Christmas.

Snobbery

I don’t like snobs of any kind. It’s silly to think one person’s interests or tastes are superior to someone else’s. I’m not saying that there aren’t good and bad ways of executing an art or a craft. There are badly executed films and books and music and whatever you can think of as an interest. However, I don’t think one person is superior because they prefer La bohème to Spamalot. Most of what is studied today as high art in literature began as pop culture. One of my favorite lit professors in grad school, a scholar in Victorian lit, said that the lions of fiction in that era were writing the equivalent of soap operas today. There are certainly different levels of sophistication to creative work, but that does not make them superior, merely better crafted. Jon and I really enjoyed Solaris. Jon calls it advanced film watching which means you really need some film or lit critical theory under your belt to know all of what’s going on. However, we also enjoyed The Day After Tomorrow, even with the ice chasing people down corridors and the attack of wolves in New York City. We adored Aquateen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters which Jon called remedial film watching. It may have damaged our brains. I think The Closer is one of the best police dramas I’ve ever scene in every way. Yet I watch CSI: Miami religiously, cursing all the way.

Why do I bring this up? A flame war over the quality of a diner started it. I was looking for an image of the 50s Café in Venice, CA for last week’s blog. I was going to mention that they had a sign in the entry proclaiming their support for the WGA strike. But the blog was unwieldy by then, and I decided to leave the reference out. In my search, I ran across a review site. One of the blogs totally dissed the Café. It’s a long time favorite for Jon and me. We’ve held production meetings there. It was where I first met Garett Maggart (who also loves the place). I have never had a bad meal there, nor have I ever had bad service. From what I gathered of the posts, it wasn’t fancy enough food for these diner connoisseurs (like those words go together). I find that silly. Diners are not for fancy food. If they can make a good burger and good breakfast, they have fulfilled their mission. I fired off a retort, but had to register for that privilege. Thus, I was exposed to more blogs. One of them was dissing The Food Network for their TV cooks‘with low cut blouses’ and quoting Mario Bitali’s lament that the network was going for the Walmart audience. Well, then it was on. I don’t fault Bitali for his crack, because he’s been having problems with the network. But these other foodies are really annoying to me by implying that food by non-chefs has no place on a 24/7 network. First off, it would be impossible to fill all that time with four star chefs. Second, the audience would be really small. Third, what the heck are they talking about? TV cooks like Rachael Ray and Paula Deen have inspired legions to pick up an apron. Ina Garten had no formal training, but God bless her for making me take on phyllo dough or Beef Bourguignon. In fact, much of what is considered French haute cuisine like coq au vin or Beef Bourguignon comes from cuisine À la Bonne Femme. That is a French term used to refer to a homey and simple but honest cooking style done by farm women. Enough of being on their high horses. They web site moderators will probably revoke my membership soon.

Holiday Fun

The baking is finally done, done and done! We’ll be handing out the LA goodies over the next week. We’ll also be mailing out packages to folks we missed. I really need a new address book. Today, I start on the Christmas dinner prep. We’re going out to visit our Sybaritic Press buds on the big day itself, but I like to have food here as well. I enjoy visiting or being visited upon at this time. We don’t see much of our cronies from the 3rd Street Promenade or ‘Traumenade’ anymore. The holidays are about the only time we have to catch up. Jon and are are blessedly free from the day job until Jan. 2nd. It’s paid time off, to boot! There will be much in the way of writing happening over that time. I can also address my long neglected work on Sybaritic Press.

I don’t like to get on a soap box, but I would like to mention a couple of charities that could use some bucks this time of year. The USO provides care packages for the troops and their families who need support no matter how we got in that conflict. Information can be found here. Also Second Harvest is reporting that food bank donations are down while need has sharply risen.

Seasons Greetings

I’ll post my holiday greeting later tonight or tomorrow. For now, I have roast beast to attend to and many more calls to make.

Frenzies, Actors and Christmas Stories

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.

Wacky Week

Much wackiness is about to ensue, including at rant on two CSI shows. And there will be much wandering in the narrative. And I think there are more links in this blog than any I've written. Do visit them all.

It’s been a busy week. I apologize to everyone that may still be waiting to hear from me. It’s been hard keeping up with even routine e-mail. The cookie insanity has entered phase two – local deliveries. The first batches turned out well and had a lot of variety this year. The marshmallows stayed in the bowls and turned out light and fluffy. And the menorah didn't catch the apartment on fire. But the baking was the easy part. Over the past week, I’ve packaged and shipped 35 boxes with an average of three bags of cookies or cookies and hot cocoa mix. Thank goodness for flat rate boxes and labels with postage that can be printed at home. Everything was ready when we got to the Post Office. Today I will try my hand at making chocolate truffles and mini baklava. The ladies on The Food Network make it all look easy. We shall soon see.

Right now, I’m enjoying a surprisingly good glass of wine in preparation for the Eagles/Dallas game. It’s surprising because I bought it at the 99 Cents Only Store for only 99 cents. I’ve had really good wine in France for under $2.00. It was 1€ 20, I believe, for a lovely red wine. I always enjoy a glass of two buck Chuck but this is my first under a dollar vintage. I must say that Foggy Bay white Table Wine is quite nice. I don’t think it will help with this Eagles game, but maybe I won’t care by the time I finish drinking it.

Holiday Viewing

This year, I didn’t yield to the strange way networks scheduled their holiday programming. One should not be watching A Charlie Brown Christmas before it’s December. We recorded all of the usual suspects and watched a number of them last night while I was trying to cook. I almost never just sit and watch the shows. I’m usually baking or decorating or wrapping or something.

Our holiday viewing is a bit ecclectic. We watch the shows and films we grew up watching like How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Scrooge, the version of A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim. It is really the best one to me as it adhere’s so closely to Dickens’ text, and Sims is a hoot. It may be running on cable, but if not, buy it! Of course, I watch the endless Holdiay specials on The Food Network. They have a series of them under Season’s Eatings with programs for cooks of every skill level. I watch for new recipes like the truffles and baklava. I also watch for the warm, fuzzy feelings from my favorite chefs.

But there is a darker side to my holiday viewing. Jon and I never fail to be twisted, even during the holidays. I even found a twisted Holiday cooking special. Anthony Bourdain’s Holiday Special was a nightmare version of anything The Food Network would show. His neice carries a switchblade and his young nephew curses like a long shoreman. The cooking instructions include terms like ‘a crap-load of butter’ and ‘enough sugar to make you smile.’ But my favorite line was ‘Uncle Tony is not huffing glue. I’m checking it for quality.’ It’s repeating at various times on The Travel Channel. Try not to miss it. I adore Anthony Bourdain. He is so funny and so crazy. His No Reservations is addictive. The episode on Beirut, filmed as bombs were falling on the city, was such riveting television that it was nominated for a news documentary emmy. Each show is a gem though, and Bourdain is always fascinating.

However, we found a wonderfully twisted yet touching anime Christmas film. Tokyo Godfather’s comes from the folks who made the amazing series, Paranoia Agent, which ran on Adult Swim. Here is the trailer Tokyo Godfathers is a re-make of Three Godfathers. In this case, the ‘Godfathers’ are a drunk, a drag queen and a runaway teen who are homeless. They find an infant on Christmas Eve and undertake a harrowing, funny and poignant adventure to reunite the child with her parents. In the process, they find their own way back from the streets. It’s available on Netflix and we highly recommend it. Here is the trailer.

Our favorite slightly irreverant Christmas shows are two Futurama episodes, Xmas Story and a Tale of Two Santas. In these, Santa Clause is a violent robot who tries to kill people instead of giving presents. The take on Christmas is really screwy, but it doesn’t leave other faiths unscathed. There is The Hanuka Zombie and the Kwanzaa bot is particularly funny. From there, the animation we like to watch becomes more and more profane and drifts into the blasphemous. Be warned (that means you, mother-in-law, dear) the language and action is graphic and really adult (thought not mature). There is the mobster spin on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Raging Rudolf and the Reinfather, and the original South Park Chritmas video that spawned the series. And then there is the brilliant depravity of Robot Chicken’s Holiday that manages to offend everyone.

So, the cleaning and baking and shopping frenzy will continue until next Saturday. I’m having major dental work then. Next week’s blog may prove quite interesting under the influence of painkillers (No, it isn’t always written under the influence. It just seems that way.)

Playing Santa

We do have fun during the various frenzies. I really enjoy meeting up with my actors and spreading some holiday cheer. We catch up with each other, and I update them on the status of projects. Mainly, we just enjoy their company. Yesterday, we met with David and Lisa Lee, my leads in The Gift of Surrender. I always enjoy spending time with them. They are so funny and talk about som many interesting things. And they are just gorgeous. Jon and I had so much to do in a compressed amount of time, but I am really pleased that we made the effort and slowed down to enjoy the moment. We get to do it again with our Gunslinger leads, Travis and Jennifer on Monday.

Writing

I actually got back to writing. It’s slow with all of the distractions, but I’m back to a few pages per day. That makes me feel a lot better. When I’m not writing something each day, other parts of my life suffer. Ireally need that creative outlet to be whole and relatively happy. I’ve been asked how I keep at my creative work when getting films made or promoting the books is so hard. I’d be writing even if none of my works went anywhere but my website. I have to keep writing.

Last year, I wrote a bonus chapter for those who purchased A Soldier’s Choice. I also complied a mini cookbook of all the recipes Vincent Greven made in the novel and in the bonus chapter. I’ve decided not to include them in the second edition of A Soldier’s Choice. Nor will they be in A Soldier’s Fate. They don’t fit in either book. Thus, I've uploaded them onto the website for A Soldier’s Choice. Go to Cookbook for the recipes and Bonus for the chapter.

The Rants

Okay, the vaporizing machine gun on CSI: Miami was ridiculous. I can’t remember the name of the darned thing, but it had an insane number of bullets over a barrel shapped like a wide cross and fired with an electronic trigger. The affect was a hail of bullets that ‘vaporized a target.’ It was gooey to watch. Jon and I decided it was less phaser and more disruptor. But Jon panned the gun as idiotic for any application because it would take forever to reload. Beyond the silliness of the gun, was some really violent action. Horatio Cain dispatched of three gun runners by himself with a shot to the head each. Even Steve McGarrett never did that. Though he did spray people with machinge gun fire from a helicopter once or twice.

But I must commend the show for not being as stupid as the previews indicated. From the clips, it looked like Delko was about to be shot – again. Now, even in the 60s, everyone realized that Mannix could only get hit in the head so many times before he’d have some real brain damage. I was cringing at the thought of a guy having two bullets in the brain in one year. Fortunately, it was a falshback. But shame on them for such a misleading promo!

And CSI needs to abandon this conspriacy thingy with the mob and their department. It had become a slick, fun show without the incredible goofiness of it’s successor. Last season had some brillaint episodes (though I still wish Sarah Sidle had been the minature killer). One epsode, Ending Happy, had a tribute to Tor Johnson. Brilliant. This year, goofiness is gripping them though the Lab Rats Game episode was wuite good). Knock it off!

I'm off to continue the baking marathon. See you next week.

Cookies, Content, Consent and Towelboy!

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.

Dough is Me

Yes, I plan to talk about writing this week, and that subject will have some racey material. But there are other things on my mind and all over our apartment. It’s the cookies. They’re everywhere. I chortle at my favorite Food Network chefs baking two dozen cookies and acting like they’ve done a lot for gifts. Somehow, my little college aged efforts have exploded into a two week production involving nine pounds of butter, so far, four five pound bags of flour and sugar, and a lot of other stuff. And we aren’t done yet. We have to ship to six cities in the US and two in Canada. The LA deliveries are mostly in person. It’s a lot of work, but we enjoy the process for the most part. It’s just a trifle cluttered in here at the moment. I’m making the marshmallows and hot cocoa mix this year, but I’m hoping to avoid the attack of the hot stickiness by using the wonderfully stable Kitchenmaid mixer that the lovely Marie kindly loaned us. We need to get all this stuff out of here, or the tree won’t fit.


Adult, as in Grown-Up

I write admittedly adult content in that it is sexually oriented and sometimes graphic. However, I also write content that is adult in that it is responsible and rash actions or inappropriate behavior has unpleasant consequences. This has been the case in my erotica even in my slash fiction. Because of my bdsm themes, I make sure that it is crystal clear that my characters are consenting adults who have entered into the relationship willingly. There is no drugging or coercion.

A Soldier’s Choice presented a sticky situation because Vincent had been under aged when he came under Rik’s command. There is the double taboo of crossing the age line and taking advantage of a subordinate. However, I make it clear that Rik was not aware of an attraction to Vincent until they re-united during the first battle in the book. By then, Vincent is 21. When they begin the affair, they are not on active duty. Then, they resign their commissions at the first opportunity. In A Soldier’s Fate, Vincent reveals a lot about the strong feelings he had had for Rik from the first time they met and how he suffered in silence because of those feelings. Meanwhile, Rik reveals just how many inappropriate advances he had deflected from Vincent over their years in the squad. Rik didn’t allow his own feelings for Vincent to surface until it was more appropriate to act on them.

It could be argued that my Demon Under Glass story, Identities has Joe McKay in a forced marriage to his Vampire companion, but that’s not the case. While it’s clear that Joe is entering into the marriage to have access to Simon’s considerable assets in order to protect himself from their pursuers, it is clear that there is an attraction. Joe also understands that the marriage makes it unlikely that Simon will ever let him go, but he willingly accepts that. I must note here that the story is a speculation of what would actually cause Joe to marry Simon. We don't consider it canon.

My characters also court in full view of their families and friends. They don’t engage in the more kinky aspects of the relationship in full view of them, but the relationship does not grow in a vacuum. These relationships do push boundaries, but the characters feel no shame in them. They seek and receive support for their union from their loved ones. Thus, when I say I write adult content, I mean I write erotica that is gown up.


Fun Stuff

Not that I have any time for shenanigans, but these sites are really fun. You can view some really crazy old movie trailers here. And if you have a hankering for old newsreels check out this link. The whole website is filled with amazing books, films and audio collections. There are whole feature films available for download. If you’ve never seen Frank Sinatra play a treasonous killer, you should see Suddenly. And if you want to see the first film about Nazi hunters, you must see Orson Wells amazing performance in The Stranger. Both are free here.

Fundraiser for WGA Strike

There is a great fundraiser in the works for those effected by the strike. It inexpensive and easy to do by Paypal. You can even win prizes in some cases. The info is available here for the fundraiser in general, but the best prize involves Battlestar Galactica and a towel. Go Here!



Guerillas in the Mist

That’s the title of this week’s CSI: Miami. It involves a machine gun that can vaporize a person. Yikes! Their titles are getting to be quite amusing. Last week’s was CSI: My Nanny. Funny title though the episode was not so much. I have a feeling I’ll be ranting next week.

No caption contest this week. I really need to finish baking.

LA Style, Mr. Whipple and Caption Contest

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.


‘Tis the Season, LA Style

Happy Hanukah, y’all! The festival begins before my next blog. The weather is feeling more like the holiday season. My favorite weather quote this week was from the Malibu Fire Battalion Chief. ‘we’ve moved out the fire brigades and moved in the swift water rescue teams.’ It’s December in LA once more. For Jon and I, it’s been nice to have gray skies and even pouring rain. I’ve been wearing my winter coat more than since I received it last Christmas. It’s a great change of pace, and I hope it holds up. There is nothing stranger than shopping for a Christmas tree in 80 degree weather.

Procurement – LA Style

I got a call this week from our friend and medical consultant Lucy Doty. She need a connection for hospital bassinets in Vancouver, BC for a commercial shoot occurring on Wednesday. I gave her a number to a set dresser up there whom, I was sure, knew where to get one or knew someone else who knew. I didn’t think much of it until a co-worker heard me talking about it later that day. “You KNEW someone who had that?” I guess I take it for granted. That kind of call happens a lot. And in the time we’ve been making films or trying to make films, we’ve searched for a coffin, a free-standing elevator and a automotronic cow, and we found them all. They were all too expensive for the film, but you keep the contacts. And those contacts always have contacts. Right now, I am having trouble finding an old-fashioned wooden rain barrel without renting a whole western set. It’s been a bigger problem than I thought, but I’ve got people working on it. However, I'm always open for suggestions. I've also been trying to find a laundramat for a location in LA that will be free or close to free, if anyone has ideas.

Ode to Mr. Whipple

Veteran character actor, Dick Wilson, died recently. He is best known as Mr. Whipple , spokes-character for Charmin bathroom tissue. In tribute to the actor and the man, my friend Craig told a little known story of heroism from this TV icon. Sometime in the mid '90s, Craig was walking along the beach in Pacific Palisades when he heard a woman screaming that she was being stabbed. Craig ran up a flight of steps to a house that didn’t have security gates for help. He knew he had to act fast, but froze in his tracks. ‘There was a woman screaming, and I’m staring at Mr. Whipple with my mouth hanging open. I mean, it was Mr. Whipple. I tell hip to call 911 and to give me a flashlight and a bat. He said, ‘I’ll give you the flashlight, but I can’t give you a bat. Meanwhile, a surfer- kid is behind him, I assume it was a grandson, mouthing that he’ll get me a bat. When Whipple went for the flashlight, the kid ran to a beat up van and pulled out the bat. I hid that from Whipple when he gave me the flashlight.’ Craig then rushed down the steps to a guy out of the bushes by putting the light on him and the woman and pretending to be a cop. The woman was bleeding and naked and wanted to hug Craig, but he made her stay in the bushes. During that encounter, the man made a move at Craig, making use of the bat necessary. The cops were coming by then, so Craig marched the guy up the steps where they were both taken into custody. Craig was released when Mr. Whipple and the woman verified his story. The last thing Whipple said was ‘Where did you get that bat?’ The surfer kid was behind him giving Craig the thumbs up. Though a nice tribute to Mr. Whipple, it is not the strangest thing Craig has found on the beach. In fact, we chose him as the hiker who finds a body in Demon Under Glass because he’s found bodies or pieces of a body in one instance while hiking before.

Writing Updates

My various writings are moving along. It seems we have to do some development on both film and some TV stuff. Its re-writing existing material for new representation. That’s going to be time consuming, but we will have time off toward the end of the month. I plan to clear out a lot of old business then. And I plan some surprise postings for my long time fans. After that, I will – hopefully – have more time for my fiction.

Caption Contest

The best response this week was: "I saw this same act last year. Funny thing is, he had a female assistant then. I wonder what happened to her?"

New contest next week.