Light and blood

If you like horror and you never saw The Mist last year, I recommend you get your hands on the black and white version that was released with the special edition DVD. Fore go the color version. Oh, it's good. In fact, it is the same film. If you are into film, watch both. But watch the black ad white version first.

I don't pretend to be a film expert (actually I do all the time), but the way light plays in this version creates a whole new experience. The whole tone changes. It becomes quieter and scarier. By looking less real, it becomes more honest. (Yes, that sounds so pretentious.)

And watch the camera work. Heck, the extras on this DVD can teach a lot about film making on the cheap(ish).

I was just watching it while cleaning my room. I need to shower and get ready for an evening of blended fruit drinks and presidential debates... which will probably get me riled up and angry drunk. And aggressive. Presidential debates make me aggressive.

My Night

Thoughtful political discourse.

À quoi ça sert l'amour?

...which I believe roughly translates as "What is the use of love?"


(via HairballofDoom)

A crab riding a jellyfish

(via CNN via iReport via clodia83)

*sniffle*

I just watched Mrs Miniver. It made me cry.

NaNoWriMo '08

My straight up fiction writing has been lagging lately so I've decided to do NaNoWriMo again this year. I have no idea how considering how my schedule is a lot more packed than it was in '05 and '06 (I took last year off), but my brain needs a jump start.

This year I want to do something unrelated to my previous books which have all been New York male-chick lit/horror/Biblical revisionism (once described as "Nick Hornby meets Edgar Allan Poe"). But I'm having a hard time deciding what. So let's vote in the comments.

Here are some options. I am fully open to taking suggestions (since nothing has sparked any particular fire in me). I don't have to decide until Oct 31st. Sometime in late October I'll post my top few choices and let my readers (all five of you) pick.

• A 15 year old girl who's mom drags her to boy bands because mom wants to hook up with them. (This is just a fragment on an idea.)
• My take on a zombie apocalypse. (I have no idea what I'd do. I only have on scene in my head that is actually conceived for film.)
• Something sci-fi. (I have no idea what this would be but it would probably involve war.)
• A dark family comedy/drama (ala Geek Love or whatever).
• An Alice In Wonderland/Phantom Tollbooth child sucked into alternate world fantasy thing. (This would be easiest.
• A time travel story. (I'd love to do this but to do it well would probably take more careful plotting than writing 50,000 word in 30 days would allow.)
• Erotica. (Want to see me go crazy? Watch what happens when I try to write 1,700 some words of porn a day.)
• A romantic comedy. (I'll need more to go on than just that.)

Oh, and this is old but I finally looked at it.

To debate or not to debate, that is the question

Obama calls McCain and says, "Hey, let's put out a joint statement on the fact that the US finance system sucks ass." McCain says, "Yeah. Let's." Later he tells the press, "I don't think we should debate on Friday. I don't want to be distracted."

Obama held a press conference a few minutes ago. I adore Wonkette's live blogging version.

4:45 — First question: was John McCain try to fuck you in the ass with this thing?
4:45 — Answer: “Well let me explain the timeline,” meaning YES MOTHERFUCKER JOHN MCCAIN IS A POLITICAL SHITBIRD FROM PLUTO.
4:46 — “More important than ever” that we have the debate. Because of all the terrible problems today.
4:46 — President should know how to multi-task. Ooh doggy.
4:47 — Question: did John McCain tell you on the telephone that he wanted to cancel the debate, like a jackhole?
4:48 — Answer: He kind of mentioned that he might want to do that, but who knew he was SETTLED ON IT? Like what is that even.

(via Wonkette)

Likes/Dislikes that others Dislike/Like

I watched The Good Shepard the other night. My cup of tea. Yeah, it's slow and they don't really age Matt Damon through the 25 some years the movie takes place over. It's less of a spy thrilled than a story of how secrets destroy... especially the secrets we keep from ourselves.

I like Matt Damon. I also like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and George Clooney. And Nicole Kidman.

Jolly Ranchers, however, leave me cold.

I like the movie The Game. A lot. Huge plot holes/believability issues aside. I like most David Fincher's films. I will defend Aliens3, even though it suffers from having a director and lead actress trying to do something that fought against what the producers wanted.

Beyond The Stand, Stephen King leaves me cold. So do most Will Ferrell films.

I thought the opening of Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday was brilliant. I like a lot of horror films. I will actually go see any horror film if asked. Yes, ANY.

I think the musical Spring Awakenings is the most overrated musical in recent memory.

I also think the the food at Tom's Restaurant in Brooklyn is over rated. I still go there often because they are fast and friendly. Most breakfast food in New York is only okay. It makes sense the Minnesota does breakfast better, but why does Los Angeles? That makes no sense at all.

I enjoy riding the subway but I also rarely do it during rush hour.

Pitch meetings I wish I was in

"Quick! What do people like!?"
"Um... Babies!"
"YES! What else!?"
"Oh... um...."
"NOW!"
"Parties!"
"Great! Make a came about babies that party. And throw a 'z' in there to be hip."

(Yes. This is a real game and not some random Photoshop contest.)

(via Kotaku)

The Debates

The first debate is Friday. If I watch it by myself, I am sure I'll just get angry and throw things. I want someone to throw a debate party. I'll bring a blender and make fancy blended fruit and rum drinks. I'll even get lil' paper umbrellas. Yes, I believe this election cycle is driving me to drink.

Mach Dice

One more reason I want an iPhone.

And I'm not even gaming right now. I wish I was. It's just so darn hard to keep a game going. I should do one offs or short games. But I like epics.

(via Eliza)

Slow

I haven't been blogging with my usual vigor. Part of that is due to the fact that I've been busy like a bee in a poppy field, but also because the internet has not been feeding me with wondrous things to re-blog. I think I need to expand the sites I go to.

I do enjoy playing with SpeechWars.

It might be that this country is in the midst of a hard election fight AND trying to recreate its entire banking system. It makes blogging about robots or giant tacos difficult. Every time I try to write something about the elections, I end up with a mindless rant about how deception is so easily believed and so hard to refute. Okay, it's easy to refute. It's just that people tend not to listen. On The Media had an interesting piece about just that this weekend. The fact is that often refuting a distortion or straight out lie makes people believe the distortion or lie even more.

It is making me very frustrated. I am such a believer in the role of the press. I have been heartened by the general feeling in the press that they straight up dropped the ball in the lead up to the war in Iraq and I feel like they are actually doing a really good job in this election... on both sides. But I fear that they are being lost in cries of "The press is evil!" Just yesterday (I believe) someone asked McCain at a town hall type thing, "Why does the press keep picking on Palin and bringing up Bristol." Really? I have not seen a single article about it since shortly after the convention. But if you keep saying that is what the press is doing then folks believe it.

I was going to write about how I don't like do meander and how I don't like talking on the phone. That was why I titled this "Slow." But I ended up ranting.

I'm going to look for something about robots.

Because all their friends are doing it!

From the ad copy:

Not soon enough. Laboratory tests over the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptance and "fitting in" during those awkward pre-teen and teen years. So, do yourself a favor. Do your child a favor. Start them on a strict regiment of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness.

1) "Laboratory tests..."? Did they hold babies in lab cages and feed them Coke? I hope so because it keeps babies off the streets.
2) "...over the last few years..."? How quick did these babies grow? In just a few years they went from babies to teenagers? No wonder they had a hard time fitting in. Oh, sorry. "Fitting in," in quotes.
3) "...a strict regiment..."? Yes! Force feed babies.
4) "...a lifetime of guaranteed happiness"? Because everyone is happy with diabetes!
I liked it better when ads were up front. And I like hyper fat babies.

UPDATE: The more I thought about it, the less I believed this ad was real (no matter how much I wish it was). I haven't been able to track downs its orgins and would be grateful to anyone who knows. Fake or not, still hilarious

(via John Robert Wilson)

Sunday morning

I haven't posted in a few days based purely on being busy. And not having much I felt like posting about. Neither is a real excuse, I know.

Our show on Friday went well. Small audience but Thank You, Robot did get closer to what we have been wanting to work on. I have a weird pride in my team, not based on how funny our shows are (which I am also proud of) but in our desire to get better.

Yesterday I saw a dress rehearsal at the Met. BIG OPERA! It was fun (except that I was so tired). I still do my "well, if I was directing that show..." thing which is a bit weird to do to a standard grand opera. It was long. Started around 11am. Ended shortly after 3pm. There were 3 half an hour intermissions. I should see if the Met wants to have improv sets at intermission. I am SURE those the opera audience would love it.

I start my 600 level improv class at UCB tonight. I am all atwitter.