Final Four

So last year Pastor Bill invited me to join the 'Ganza NCAA Tourney pick 'em. Out of about 400 entrants I finished pretty much dead middle.... and ahead of Pastor Bill. Which of course means this year I was feeling a little cocky. So when Bill offered up that he had all 4 number 1 seeds heading to the Final Four, I felt smugly justified in criticizing the picks. After all, no tourney has had all 4 number 1 seeds reach the Final Four. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.   

Which means, of course, that this year is the first time ever the 4 No. 1 seeds have made the finals. Which means, of course, that Pastor Bill was... right and I was... wrong. Plus he now has bragging rights for a whole freaking year...... I really need to learn not to smack talk about sports. 

Trailer Review

A critic, Christopher Orr, at The New Republic felt like the trailer to the new film 21 gave away everything about the movie. So he reviewed the movie after watching just the trailer. Then, he updated the review after seeing the film.

Interesting as an exercise and as fodder to those of us who feel trailers give away waaaayyyyyy too much of the movies they promote. I wonder though, if you critiqued trailers and movies like this on a regular basis how often would you find the trailer gave too much away and how often the trailer misrepresented the movie entirely.

Deathtrap and The Boss

Friday night Trish's new play opened up - (Well, ok, it is a 30 year old play and Trish has a part, but really, it is Trish's new play.) - Deathtrap, directed by our good friend Todd Downing. A little murder, a little mayhem, a little comedy. It is a fun play. And it is just so much fun to watch Trish on stage. Those in the Seattle area this weekend, check it out (limited run, so this weekend is that last weekend).

Saturday night was my Christmas present. Trish gave me tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in concert. (Sadly, she got cast in Deathtrap and could not join me. Stupid play. Stupid Todd Downing.) Only one thing to say about the concert:

THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!!

Happy Birthday, Gary!

Gary Pope's birthday is today. For those who do not know Gary, I met him the summer of 1991 when he and Chris Wrenn worked together. Soon Gary and I were working together and since then there have been many many many many nights drinking beer, playing video games, pool, darts and watching all sorts of bad movies (for whatever reason whenever he, Chris and I would go see a movie at least two of us would hate it passionately).

More importantly, Gary is the kind of friend who will cheerfully come and pick you up across town at 2:30 in the morning because you are too drunk to drive home. The kind of friend who will encourage you when you take risks and give you whatever support he can. He is the kind of friend who understands that his friends screw up from time to time and doesn't hold it against them, just asks they return the favor.

Now that you know what a great guy he is, go check out his band's my space page and groove to their sounds.

Happy birthday, man.

Wrist Switch

Had to switch the ole' rubber band last night.

Trish and I were talking about her geek tendencies and how I bring them out. She mentioned an old boyfriend who would have mocked her for it (the geek tendencies) and I gave my standard response whenever his name is mentioned -- "That's because he's an idiot."

An insult is not necessarily a complaint, but for my purposes it counts the same. Really no reason for that, especially since this boyfriend is far in the past. Time to let it go.

So that's 2 days the first time out..... 2 days..... Out of 21..... Oh crap.

No Complaints

How long can you go without making a complaint?

One of the things I love about my church is its emphasis on creating a strong community. One example is life groups, essentially small groups that help each other with the struggle of what it means to be a Christ follower. I am currently part of a group that is studying the book of James. Last night we were working through Chapter 3 which, among other things, is about how easy and dangerous it is to let your mouth run off. So in our group last night we started talking about all the times we end up griping instead of taking any kind of positive action.

It reminded me of this article that I stumbled upon last fall. An attempt to live 21 days complaint free; use a rubberband on your wrist as a reminder and when you stumble, switch wrists and restart the clock. I gave it a whirl. Could not make it past 7 days (and there were probably a couple of times I let one slide) over a two month period. It was an eye opening experience, especially when I realized how often I complain about myself (to myself, of course).

Last night's conversation made me think that I gave up too easily. So I pulled out a new rubberband today and am starting the clock all over again. I will post updates when I have to switch wrists and when I make 21 days. Wish me luck!

Geek!

I am way too much of a geek if I am really as excited as I think I am about this. Sigh. I really am that excited.

Looking Back

Apparently Slate interviewed people who supported the war five years ago about how they went wrong. I would rather see interviews with people who were right about the war and what do next. Case in point, Paul Krugman five years ago (free registration required).

UPDATE: And Mr. Krugman makes a similar point in his blog.

Good Friday

Nothing to add to this.

Random Linkage

Understanding the Sub Prime Crisis
I have been incredibly confused about how sub prime mortgages have had the kind of disastrous ripple effect on the economy. Thank goodness there is a web comic to explain it all. It's funny and enlightening.

In Memoriam
A sci-fi author I greatly enjoy, David Brin, pays his respects to Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke's work influenced more than just the sci-fi genre and I certainly respect him and his contributions. Cannot say I love his writing, though.

Dune Re-Make
And we learn that another Dune film is in the works. Not a huge fan of Dune, either. The David Lynch film was flawed but had some great moments. The Sci-Fi Channel mini-series delved deeper into the ideas in the book but was hamstrung by some truly terrible acting. I doubt this can be successfully adapted in a single film.

Sequels

Interesting post from Cinematical this morning concerning Judd Apatow's musing about an 'Anchorman' sequel. I have appreciated that Apatow has so far not taken us down a sequel path, but it was this comment that caught my eye...

"Methinks sequel territory for Judd might be a sign of his decline."

Would a sequel signal the beginning of the end for Apatow? Does that hold true for any filmmaker?

It seems to me the most artistically viable sequels are when there is still more of the story to tell. Most comedies stand alone and comedy sequels tend to stink -- Ghostbusters and Austin Powers spring to mind. (In fact, at the moment I cannot think of a truly solid comedy sequel. Anyone?) The only reasons to create a sequel for most comedies is to milk the cash cow or because you are tapped for ideas.

So does heading down that road automatically doom successful fimmakers?

Happy Birthday, Julie

Happy Birthday, Julie Lucas. (UPDATE: ummmm.... oops. It is the 21st not the 18th. Happy Early Birthday.)

Julie is a friend I met back in the old AHA! Theater days. We spent many a rehearsal in the tech booth (and when I say booth I mean a platform big enough to hold 2 chairs, and a small table with a dimmer switch and a reel to reel tape player) talking out whether she should or should not date my roommate at the time, Chris Lucas. They've been married, what, coming up on 10 years now? With two great boys (see below).

Have missed you both since the day you moved to Texas. Have a great day, Julie.

Obama's strength

One of the reasons I am impressed with Obama the candidate is that instead of running and distancing himself from a potential problem, he turns and confronts it and brings it into the open. He gave a speech today about race and the comments made by his pastor. It is will worth the time to read.

A more perfect union

And in case you missed it, he had been linked to a corrupt Chicago businessman named Rezko. Instead of prevaricating and playing to the soundbites, he went to both major Chicago papers and told them he would answer every question they asked.

Can you imagine if the Clintons had done that when Whitewater first became an issue? The time and energy and money that would have been put to better uses?

A blast from the past

I don't know how many of you have seen this yet. Our first foray into self produced short films was part of the 2006 Tacoma 72 Hour Film Festival. We were given three days to incorporate various elements into a short film. We were runner up on the audience favorite award. Still bummed our use of the magnifying glass did not win best use of object. Ah well. Casey's "awesome" at the end of the first date continually cracks me up.

Take My Date Please

My only directing credit to date. Working on changing that.

Portland Bound

We are off to Portland this morning. Treating ourselves to a splurge at Powell's Books. But the true reason for the trip is to see my niece Madeline in the school musical. Plus, it is her 17th birthday. ("Here comes that oh-oh-ld feeling/deep in my heart.") We do not see my niece and nephew as much as we would like. Should be easier to make trips to Portland, but... stuff keeps getting int he way. Anywho, check out Madeline when she sang at one of her friend's party on New Year's Eve. (That is my brother, her dad, on piano.)

Madeline's New Year Eve

Happy Birthday, Madeline.

A long lost feeling

It has been many a year since I have felt anything approaching pride in the federal government. This helps stir up that long lost feeling.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/183528.php

Oh great. What did I do now?

I cannot believe I talked myself into starting this. This is going to be just like the whole cell phone fiasco. Held out as long as I could because I knew I would get hooked and now I wear one on my belt. I am going to regret starting this aren't I?

I have a day job as a paralegal in Seattle which is fine as day jobs go. Helped start a production company, The Acting Syndicate, because I wanted to create more opportunities for the talented people I trained with to act. So now I am trying to get funding on 2 different feature projects, help produce two different short films and helping a friend develop a short film into a t.v. series.

And I start a blog?

Yes. I am that kind of nuts.