OMG, you guys. This week is crazy and it's only Tuesday evening.
Last night:
Here's today's rundown:
Let's see if I can get this posted before midnight. I should be at a party right now, but I came down with a pretty bad cold, so I'm sitting in my mom's basement as she watches 42nd Street. So yeah, I brought my own party.
Although this isn't the ideal way of ending 2009, it is no way an indication of how 2009 panned out. I've been noticing that the general sentiment seems to be of the "Fuck 2009" persuasion but I just can't get on board with it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that nothing terrible really happened directly to me this year. Although I am no longer working, that is by choice and not because of the economic climate. Check back in June to see if I am eating those words. No major health problems or crises that I am aware of, though if I've been kept in the dark I think that would count as a win anyway.
Also, a number of pretty nifty things have happened this year. I got to write a guest article on the super fun blog The Critical Condition. As a result of my WTF, Little House on the Prairie? blog, I was interviewed for a book about Little House.
Then there's the whole grad school thing. That is going extremely well. I've met amazing people, I've been working on awesome projects, and I'm pretty optimistic about the whole finding a job thing. I'll be heading to NYC in a couple weeks for an industry seminar -- tourism with a purpose, as I like to call it. Then one more semester and I'll be done. Woo!
I'm going to call 2009 the year of street cred. And with street cred firmly established (work with me here, folks), I think I am going to try to make 2010 the year of Swagga.
Until then, here is one last awesome blast of 2009:
Happy New Year!
I realize I'm a little late with these, but social hygiene is always behind the times.
From this week's Bleier Screening:
A Day of Thanksgiving: Would you rather have no turkey or live in a Godless Communist Society?
Dining Together: Learn how to make your family glad this holiday season.
It's been a weird day. Some of the weirdness and randomness was just the universe trying to say howdy but a good chunk was self-induced, though I tried to avoid it as much as possible. Truth be told, I'm still debating whether or not to hit the "delete" button once I finish writing this, but I feel like I need to get over this obstacle.
You see, today would have been my one year anniversary with Brandon. For those who may be out of the loop or who have just noticed the past tense, it's been over for a while. Officially it happened back in September, but actually the end may have been much earlier. Sometimes the "Sell By" and Expiration Dates are a bit different, y'know? I won't go into the details, partly for discretion, partly because I still don't have a complete understanding as to what happened.
Anyway, the day started with me receiving a copy of The Origin of Species: The Kirk Cameron Approved edition. I get to add that to my collection of unsolicited free religious texts. I guess it's a hobby?
We shot most of the multicam episode today but a number of technical problems, including micromanagement (not by me, for once), is forcing us to film on Monday. It's an unfortunate snag that allowed me to start feeling bummed out -- a feeling I was trying to avoid if possible. A few of us went out for dinner and drinks after the shoot which was nice, just not enough to lift my spirits fully.
As I walked past the front of Newhouse on the way to the bus stop there was a commotion on the path between Newhouse and Schine. I thought it might have been a pep rally or something since it is basketball season, but the News10 van indicated that something else must be going on. As I reached the crosswalk I heard someone call out for me. I saw Cyp, Kelly and Tim in the crowd. A number of people were holding signs including Tim, whose sign read "BALLS". This caused the Obie in me to amble over and see what the happs were. A man with a banner advertising an Ex-Gay ministry was being interviewed by a reporter as the students cajoled drivers to honk in support of gays. Good times indeed.
So I don't know how I feel about today. It's been at least two months, but I'm still sad about the situation. However, the sadness doesn't find its source in regret. I know my coming to Syracuse was a contributing factor to the failure, but I think I would regret not having the experiences I've had here with the people I have met.
This whole grad school thing is a process in improving one's self. An evolution, if you will. I'm hoping that by writing this I can now get out of whatever has been bogging me down. Thanks.
We're filming project two for my multi-cam class on Wednesday. It is a pilot for a webseries about a sex addict who opens his own dating service in his sister's basement. I'm one of the writer/producers for the project and things are going pretty well. Our set looks awesome, particularly the basement that is filled with the most random crap from the prop closet.
The prof is a bit of a perfectionist, particularly when it comes to policies and legal issues, so we've had to tape over some logos and brand names (despite learning in law class that we don't have to do that, but whatever). Here are some of the renamed board games we have on the set:
PE Ratio:
You and your doctor friends invest your payments after elective surgeries. Bet on the wrong stock and your patients will be abuzz!
Mouse Rap:
Bust laps around the board, bust rhymes with your homies, collect cheddar as you go. I got first on Lil Squeekz.
I don't play golf, so this is what I do as producer since my main job is pretty much done.
You saw the movie Memento, right? Fantastic film: I highly recommend it. For those who haven't seen it, the premise is that the main character is trying to solve the mystery of his wife's murder but he suffers from short-term memory loss.
Now, did you see the new Kelsey Grammer sitcom Hank on Wednesday? It is horrible. How bad? This afternoon I watched the pilot before my screenwriting class. In class today we watched Deliverance. There were more genuine laughs during that movie than during the 23 minutes I suffered through Hank.
What does Memento have to do with this?
Well, from what I could gather from the bad acting and clunky story (it is a pilot episode after all), Kelsey Grammer's character is perpetually a fish out of water. But not in the sense that the Beverly Hillbillies were fish out water -- they eventually adapted to their environment in certain ways. I mean that each scene revolved around Hank being discombobulated by the conditions of the scene. I think that could be an interesting concept, but that is not the premise of the show.
The premise is that Hank was ousted from the board of directors of some downsized New York company. For whatever reason he did not get a golden parachute, did not liquidate any of his assets, and for some reason is not able to get another job in the city. As a result he has to move his family down to Virginia near his brother. Sure, why not?
The thing is, Hank is only able to function in a corporate board room setting. For example, he instructs his wife to keep minutes at a family meeting. You know, The Simpsons stopped doing family meetings because none of the writers' families ever did family meetings and it seemed contrived. The family on this show felt the meeting was contrived and the (insane) laugh track makes the entire scene feel contrived.
The problems don't stop there. Due to their king size bed not fitting in the stairwell, Hank and his wife are stuck in a fire engine bed for the time being (yeah, I know). There were so many things that were just unsettling in this scene. First, there is zero chemistry between Hank and his wife. His complaint in the close quarters: "You're breathing on me." Unless halitosis or fire is involved, I don't think that is generally considered a bad thing, particularly if it is your spouse. Hank's wife (sorry, I don't remember her name and I am not watching it again) is also wearing earrings and what looks like a day-to-evening ensemble from Project Runway. As I tried to puzzle my way through the weird wardrobe selection, the couple spontaneously engages in a fit of passion. No organic catalyst whatsoever.
One of my friends in my program is doing a TV research project related to laugh tracks. I mentioned this show and he asked me how many episodes I think it will last. My answer: already at least half an episode longer than it should have. If only this could be erased from my short term memory.
Here's a highlight reel of what was covered in class this week in TRF:
My law class:
More videos to follow...
My research class -- specifically my group's research topic:
http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?vid=162112
A preview of our next project in Multicam:
And what I get to watch in Dramatic Writing (sans Kids in the Hall):
I'm really enjoying my Tuesdays this semester. I have my law class at 11 am and then I'm done for the day. Except for the Tuesday screenings at Thompson's office. They have been a bit of a mixed bag, which is kind of the point. The first screening (which I wasn't able to stay for much of) featured Walter Cronkite and Don Hewitt. Last week we watched the first and only episode of the 1986 version of the Jay Leno Show. That was horrendous. As far as we know Thompson has the only surviving copy -- even IMDB disavows any knowledge that it exists. Really, it is that dreadful.
Today we continued with the dreadful theme with a screening of Yor: The Hunter from the Future...
This movie almost defies description. The good news is there is a fan riff track available. Here's a preview:
The guy above is pretty chatty, but we were making our own comments throughout as well. Such as when the blind leader of the resistance movement from the future is introduced and shots are filmed from that character's point of view. Let me repeat: They filmed shots from the BLIND person's POINT OF VIEW. Then they showed him groping for the buttons on a control console later. At least they maintained continuity?
The best part was the theme song, which can be heard here.
I don't think this movie is helping in the cinePHAIL project, but it is giving me confidence that whatever screenplay I write this semester will probably be better than this. And this script was produced!
The documentary is finished. Actually, it's been finished for a few days and we had our screening Monday morning. There are still a few glitches that I would love to take care of, but projects like this will never be 100% finished. I am at least 98% satisfied with this final product. I hope you are, too.
The video is behind the jump...
It wasn't my intention to ignore this blog, I've just been busy. Oh my GOD how I've been busy. Today marks the end of Week 4 of the six week Boot Camp process here in TRF land. Luckily, what I've been up to since my last post can be presented in visual form.
For starters, here is my first film project for my production class:
It won't be screening at Cannes next year but I've learned quite a bit within the process of producing the movie.
Here are some more items that have kept me busy...
Plus Andy Griffith, The Beverly Hillbillies and Gomer Pyle USMC.
I've also been working endlessly on a documentary about the producer of The Smashing Machine. He's a student in the program and we're going bowling in a few minutes. Oh yeah, I was also the subject of a documentary for another group about my 299 game.
For the rest of the semester (as in the next two weeks) I'll be studying TV history from 1959-1990 and will be part of the production of a movie written by someone in class. I was hoping my script would get picked up but so far no one has expressed interest, but who knows. There are a number of really good projects to choose from so I won't be too disappointed if mine is passed over.
This weekend: Finish editing the documentary and, if I can accomplish that tomorrow, I get to relax for two whole days.
One of the great things about my program (and there are many) is that there is a lot of visual stuff going on both in and out of class. We've already been given our first assignment where we have to make a 60 second film on the theme of "Life Imitates Art" or vice versa. The video has already been shot and tomorrow I learn how to edit and such. If all goes well I should be able to at least post a silent cut by the end of the week.
But there are plenty of videos already on YouTube that we've been watching in class. Such as this gem:
And here are some more......
On this next one, listen to the lyrics. Even Lil Kim would blush.
The next ad is for a fridge that can open by tapping it with your elbow. Supposedly.
Finally, the reason why live advertisements weren't used much after the early 50's.
Today was orientation day at Newhouse. I'm so glad the day finally arrived, but from about 6:30 this morning until about 3:45 this afternoon I was nothing but nervous energy. First I had to take the bus to campus, which is fine and super convenient, but since I was only operating at 75% confidence I was rather self conscious through the ride. I ended up getting off the bus earlier than I had planned because I followed some people, but it turned out to be a more convenient stop.
Then I arrived at Newhouse...
I showed up about 8:45 and expected to be one of the early arrivals (thanks ObieTime). I was actually one of the last to arrive. This only meant that I had to wait for my nametag and welcome folder and added to the randomization of who would be in my tour group after we took class photos. I ended up in a group with a couple other TRFers, a guy in Media Management, and a broadcast journalist (with the unfortunate BJ acronym). We spent the morning waiting to get our welcome gift, getting turned away when they ran out of the first supply, going to the convocation, then waiting in line again for our gift. This time we weren't turned away and soon all five of us became new owners of iPod Touches.
I actually did not know much about the Touch since I was not in the market. I am still happy with my 1st gen Shuffle. But this thing is amazing. It is pretty much the iPhone without being a phone. I can check my email, surf the web, and laboriously type out blog entries (probably not a regular thing).
As we set up the wifi aspects of the pod, I ran into a few of the cohorts I friended through facebook. We scrambled for a quick lunch before the somewhat tedious policy trivia session. After that we had our first TRF session. The nervousness was palpable in the room, but no one had an anxiety attack as near as I could tell.
Since then I have been home playing with my new toy. There is the faintest wireless connection nearby and I have been using it to my heart's content. I swear this thing is more powerful than my computer. It's so nice to feel connected again.
This post is coming to you live from Funk & Waffles in Syracuse. There's no internet in my house at the moment which won't be resolved until next week (LAME). Anyway, the move seems to have gone smoothly. Most of my stuff survived and now it is a matter of unpacking and finding my way around campus. This would be easier if:
1. My iPod didn't need a power boost and I had some sort of soundtrack
2. I didn't have to make the surprisingly long walk to campus with the brick that is my laptop
3. I knew where I was going
People have been surprisingly helpful. If you don't know where you are going in Oberlin, it is your job to ask for directions. On my way from getting my ID (a bad photo, but it actually disguised the sweaty mess that was being photographed) I was trying to get oriented with my map when this one guy just called over asked where I was heading. Once I got to the building he directed me to, I was barely in the door before this lady walked by and asked which office I needed. This helpfulness is going to take some getting used to.
This weekend I plan on finishing unpacking and just relaxing before orientation starts on Monday. Good luck with that.
Whenever a tragedy happens, usually a celebrity death, there is always someone who will chime in "it always comes in threes." It always bugs me, because it really is a matter of when you start counting. For example, someone on my Twitter list grouped the three of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. One of these things is not like the other...or the other. Really, aside from the fact that they are eligible for Ghoul Pool points, there isn't all that much that connects them.
That is not to say I'm not superstitious...
Let's discuss some of my major events in life, as punctuated by major events.
After my first week of high school, we had a three-day weekend for labor day. Nothing much happened to me that weekend because I was glued to the TV watching the coverage of Princess Diana's crash scene.
My second full week of college began on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
A couple weeks ago I was wondering what would punctuate my start of grad school. Michael Jackson was not on my radar. I have to wonder how this impact on the world of popular culture will structure the curriculum in the coming months.
All I can say at this point is...wow.
I am slowly starting the process of preparing for the move to Syracuse. I'm not actually moving until July, but I know how slow I can be when packing all my earthly belongings and I really would like to avoid the inevitable situation on June 29th where I look around and say "hmm, maybe I should pick up some boxes tomorrow?"
Right now most things seem easy to condense and move, but I'm not sure what to do with some of my books. Academic books and the fiction will either go with me or get stored at my mom's new place (oh yeah, my mom is getting a new house, woo!) but I have no idea what to do with what I like to call the "expired" books. A Leonard Maltin movie guide from 1995? Course catalogs from Oberlin? A GRE prep book from before the test changed formats? I don't want to just throw them away, but no library is going to want them. Are these sort of things recyclable? And what about the text books that I don't want and can't seem to sell online? I really don't want to continue schleping these things around, but I can't draw the line between discarding books and burning them -- it makes my soul say "ouch".
Any suggestions?
Why does ESPN allow you 10 brackets for March Madness? I realize I am probably the last person who should be complaining about this, given how much I hate basketball. But I like college basketball, I like choosing, and I like bracket formations, so this annual ordeal is perfect for me, I suppose.
This is only my third year of actually participating in the madness beyond "Oh, is it that time of year again?" My first foray I think has been and will be my best year. With so little knowledge about the sport I wasn't going to be biased by team loyalties or statistics. All I knew was that you never, ever pick the 16 seed to advance. However, the rest of my picks were based on the following criteria:
1. I considered going to the law school on the campus.
2. I recalled the school having some vague association with a good basketball team at some (not necessarily recent) point.
3. I knew someone who went to the school.
I think I actually made it to the Elite 8 with this strategy.
Last year I made the mistake of using prior knowledge and experience to factor into my picks. Granted, there were some early upsets, particularly in Tampa, that pretty much ruined me. It doesn't help if your Final Four pick from a section is knocked out in the second round. I have no confidence in any of my brackets this time around. For example, I called a UNC/Syracuse matchup before the selection process this past Sunday. All my biases are kicking in, as are my past experiences with bracket busters.
What I don't understand, though, is how anyone could fill out 10 brackets. I have my pool bracket, a secondary bracket which I think is at least 70% the same as my pool bracket, and then my experimental brackets. There's the bracket where you pick all the high seeds. There's the bracket where you select the team with the better win-loss record. I did a bracket where I picked the winner based on proximity to Detroit (surprise - Michigan won that bracket).
My favorite bracket, both last year and this year, is the Coin Flip bracket. Heads: Top line advances; Tails: Bottom line advances (exception: 1 seed advances to second round). This has led to a semi-bizarre Final Four:
*Pittsburgh (1) - The East is the most sensible bracket with Pitt, Xavier, VCU, and Duke in the Sweet Sixteen.
*Wake Forest (4) - Okay, this isn't that unlikely, and I have Wake Forest advancing to this point in at least one other bracket.
*Western Kentucky (12) - The South is the most bonkers section of the bracket. UNC loses to Butler in the second round. Western KY beats Akron in the second round. Clemson takes on S F Austin after unseating Oklahoma. The good news is if even half of this turns out to be correct, I will be raking in the points.
*Cornell (14) - Memphis out in round one, UConn out in round two, and that's just two results. The only reason the West isn't as insane as the South is because BYU, Washington and California make it to Sweet Sixteen. If the South is the Bracket Buster, the West is Upset Central.
The finals are between Wake Forest and Western Kentucky(!) with Wake Forest taking it all.
So how are your brackets looking? Are you using all 10? What sort of filler brackets are happening?
"Doc, my brother's crazy. He thinks he's a chicken."
"Why don't you turn him in?"
"I would, but I need the eggs."
So before you hear any wild rumors, I decided to start seeing a therapist again. I've been really stressed out lately and have been acting out in irrational, socially awkward/inapprorpriate ways. So for anyone avoiding me recently because of said acting out, would you consider this an early Christmas present?
I am seeing a different therapist this time around. My old therapist isn't covered by my insurance and, in retrospect, she wasn't as productive as I would have hoped. Her meeting room was rather poorly lit which contributed to a stifled feeling I would have in my sessions. I also felt like I wasn't a real priority on her docket. I very well could have been the least crisised of her clients, but for the 55 minutes that I am paying fully out-of-pocket for, I think it would at least be a professional courtesy to fake it.
In my most recent session the subject of romantic relationships came up and it was a bit of an eye-opener. It was the first line of questioning that poked that ooey-gooey spot, causing me to pull it together before continuing. We talked about it in generalities with a few specifics thrown in, but time ran out before we could prep for the full dissection. The subject has weighed on my mind since the end of my session Wednesday afternoon.
The timing of this realization was semi-optimal. On the one hand, I feel like I'm making some progress. On the other, it did put a bit of a pall on my weekend. For starters, I think it prevented me from fully enjoying Margaret Cho when I saw her Friday night. I didn't have as many belly laughs as I would have hoped, though the potential was certainly there. However, when she was talking about Proposition 8 (which she is PISSED about, as you might imagine) she spoke about how gay people really need to get over themselves -- we have enough obstacles thrown our way without creating our own. She was talking about this in the context of her being considered a Goldilocks in the Bear community. It reminded me of how RuPaul would sign off on her short-lived VH1 talk show: "If you don't love yourself, how the hell can you love anybody else?" I am fairly certain this will be the only time I will quote RuPaul on this blog.
As I slowly picked at this food for thought as I moved it around my plate this weekend, I started evaluating my process for dating. Ummm, the process needs an overhaul. I'm not a fan of the club scene for several reasons. First, geography is currently an obstacle as Cleveland and Sandusky are both a significant drive away. I think there are places in Lorain, but just the idea of that seems sketchy and makes me feel the need to shower. I'm intimidated by the meat market mentality that pervades the clubs -- I feel like I'm ranked somewhere between prison grade meat and the stuff hot dogs are made of. The bravado and success rate of the club scene requires confidence, which that last sentence shows could use some improvement. Also, I feel weird about going by myself when I am a complete wallflower. I can stand in the corner and look at my watch repeatedly at home, thank you very much. If there were people I could go with it would be easier, but again I don't have the confidence yet to interact with complete strangers, so I would just stay with my friends and not accomplish what I set out to do in the first place.
So my only real recourse is online chat rooms. Here I have a little more control of the process. The wallflower strategy, which I implement like a pro, has mixed-to-poor results here as well. Sitting around waiting for someone, anyone, to IM is not the best way to spend an evening, let me tell you. So this weekend I've been a bit more proactive and attempted to start conversations. This is not without challenges. Sometimes, people just don't feel like chatting and trying to force a conversation just doesn't work. Other times, people are freak shows and the conversation shifts from bland pleasantries to figuring out how to permanently ignore the person. The biggest difficulty is the people who seem perfectly nice but are challenging to converse with. Against my better judgment, I'm slowly getting over the use of internet shorthand (how I loathe "how r u? kewl") and the overuse of "lol" ("I'm John...lol"), but there are a lot of people out there who haven't realized that telling me that you're bored is not conducive to a good conversation. Granted, "bored" is usually code for "me want sex", but since me no want sex at this point in our soon-to-be-truncated relationship, there's really no point in continuing to try to talk. But I have been persevering and things are going slightly better. So far I inadvertently hit on someone who might be a colleague (I didn't ask for confirmation since that would have been extra weird at that point) and have had a few decent conversations with some Clevelanders and central New Yorkers (might as well prep for next year).
I won't get into the actual dating part now, since this post is far longer than I anticipated, but I will offer a bit more clarification before I go. I TiVo'd Annie Hall last week and got around to watching it this morning. Each time I see it, I find more parallels to my own experience and identify more and more with Alvie Singer. I'm not sure if that is a positive or an inevitability for the viewer. Anyway, the movie ends with the joke that began this post and this hypothesis:
"I guess we keep going through it because most of us need the eggs."
It has been a long summer already and we are still in June. This is not a good sign. So much of my time has been spent waiting, waiting, waiting, and I'm getting a little stir crazy. I had to wait for James to get back from Arizona to do job training. I had to wait for the schools to let out so that the summer programs would finally get into full swing. Right now I'm desperately waiting for July 1 to roll around.
On July 1, two very important events happen. First, my job switches over to a real position meaning benefits, sick days, vacation days, and all those bells and whistles that are supposed to be part of a job you get after graduating college. More importantly, I can finally say to people that I am starting my grad program next July instead of the wordier "not this July but July 2009." I'm still not regretting my decision to defer because I so could not afford or handle moving right now. But now I can't stave off boredom by pretending to buckle down to write that personal statement or researching programs. Instead I just get to think about what I could be learning now and will now have to wait twelve months. Not exactly boredom reducing.
The boredom and stir craziness is starting to get to me, though. I saw this article last week and I'm honestly a little spooked. My initial reaction after reading this was, if the findings of this study are consistent with my biology (since I have not had a brain scan) and the hypothesis presented is correct, then I have wasted so much time. I was told a few months ago that the switch for sexual preferences flips on at the age of 8 or 9, and my reaction when I heard that was remarkably similar.
I feel like I'm losing the passion for the things in my day-to-day life. And as much as I wait for something to jump start my enthusiasm, it just isn't happening. It's a long time until September.
