Happy Halloween!

Sorry for not blogging much, but I've been kind of busy. With what? With this:



Let the screams begin!!!

So THAT'S What it Feels Like?!

My sense of wonder may seem strange to some. I'm not saying I'm weird or anything, but maybe I am. Okay, how about this? Have you ever wondered when someone knew, without a shadow of a doubt, they were destined to be [blank]? Insert whatever you want in the [blank] part of that question. For instance, when Chuck Yeager first played with a balsa wood airplane, did he knew he was going to be a pilot?  Or when Stevie Wonder first put a harmonica to his lips, did he KNOW he was going to be involved with music?  Those are kind of extreme examples.  How about this one?  My sister, Angie, is a college professor.  Everything she did, willingly or not, all led her to her eventually becoming a teacher of some kind.  She LOVES school and everything about it and she's had a 4.0 GPA since birth.  But WHEN did she KNOW she was going to be a college professor?  Probably not the first time she got straight A's, or the first time she graduated with honors.  I'm guessing it was possibly after she went to college and met that one professor who inspired her and then she realized why The Universe's Grand Plan was for her to become a college professor.

After this past weekend, I now KNOW I was meant to be involved in film. All the choices I've made in my life would eventually lead me to this moment of realization. I'm destined to be a filmmaker or involved in the movie making process for the rest of my life. Kind of like how Chuck Yeager realized he was going to be a pilot the first time he did a barrel roll on a solo flight, or how Stevie Wonder realized he was meant to be a musician when he heard and felt people applauding and cheering to a song he just finished singing.  It is these moments where you say to yourself, everything I've learned and experienced and have lived through is for me to be a...

...filmmaker

Of course, NOW it all makes perfect sense.  I've always loved movies.  The first film I remember ever watching?  Star Wars.  The first time I remember crying in a movie was E.T.  Everything about movie making amazes me.  Logic would dictate at some point in time, I would be directly involved in making movies in some form of official capacity.  Not saying, I haven't been doing that for years now, but I've officially traversed the line where my dream is becoming reality.  And it isn't done for fame and fortune, but just for the sheer joy of doing it.

Yes...I am happy.

Still Playing With Picnik

A while ago, I blogged about a cool "cloud" app called Picnik. Well, it still gives me pleasure, and here's a few more pics I've picnik'd...

Another sky:


EVIL!


Bearing the burden...I'm going to burn for a lot worse than this...trust me:


This is a cool pic taken by a co-worker, Bryan's brother-in-law who works for NASA. It's of the Ares I-X test rocket and I put some Picnik stank on it:


Keep creating you crazy kids!

When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Writer/Director!

And here's one of the reasons why:

Find Your Wild Side

As I get older, memories of my childhood become more faint. I can recall specific incidents in vivid detail, but I can't remember everything. The realities of growing up seem to shove the innocence of you being a child out of the way. It is the natural progression of maturity. Eventually, you give up almost all of your childish ways to make room for responsibility, rules and taxes. It sucks actually.

Jemara and I watched Where the Wild Things Are, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I gracefully bow to Spike Jonze's vision and ability to thrust me back to the magical time of my childhood. When my waking hours were limited only by my imagination. When instead of using punctuation when telling stories, sentences were joined by the word "and". When I could be an astronaut and I was launched into space on a special spaceship and I got pulled into a black hole and I went to the other side of the galaxy and I crash landed on a planet made of cheesecake and I ate the cheesecake because I was hungry but the aliens on the planet got angry because I was eating their homes and I tried to apologize and they were cool and I asked them if I could use their bathroom because I had to pee bad because I held it since I left earth and they said we don't have bathrooms and I said well I gotta pee and they said what's pee and I said it's pee and I couldn't hold it anymore so I peed on the ground but the ground was cheesecake and it was like special to them so they got mad again and I ran but the cheesecake ground was sticking to my feet and they were like you peed on our ground and that's not cool and I said I was sorry again and I gave them the gold I brought with me because I took like a lot of gold with me from earth so I could take it to space but it was heavy and that's why I got pulled into the black hole in the first place.

As the movie ended, the experience of me reliving my childhood also ended and I realized just how much I missed certain aspects of it. Kudos Mr. Jonze. Go remember what it's like to be a kid and watch Where the Wild Things Are.



Jemara LOVED the movie, by the way. In her words, "My new favorite best movie ever." Before Where the Wild Things Are, her favorite movie was Disney's Aladdin. Looks like she's growing up too.

Was it a Hoax?

So, there's speculation the "Balloon Boy" incident, involving the Heene family, was an elaborate hoax. Check out this hip-hop video Papa Heene did with his family and you tell me if the whole balloon event was staged:

You say, "In the attic." I say, "Behind the sofa."

Stop me if you've heard this one. A family of five, who's been on Wife Swap a couple times, decide to make a big mylar balloon as a family experiment and somehow it flies away...

So, they find the son in the attic. Five hour search across 50 miles with a huge number of eyes looking for him. The military had a Kiowa in the air and they were getting a Blackhawk ready to join the search. Yes, the same helicopter in Blackhawk Down. They had a military chopper with it's own movie in the search...and they found him in the attic. Countless man and woman hours, gas for vehicles, and donuts were invested in the search for this kid. A crazy amount of tax dollars spent looking...and they found him in the attic. I'm not even including the hours wasted across the country as people were glued to their TV's or the internet watching the live news reports of this silver, UFO-ish balloon floating across cool autumn air of Colorado. When you add in that parameter, the scope and scale of this search and rescue effort is immeasurable. Probably priceless.

And they found him in the attic.

Am I upset? Not at all. If anything, I'm jealous because the same thing happened to me when I was about his age, but my search didn't get as much noteriety. Before I start this story, let me turn back the clock to when it occurs:



When I was 5-6 years old we were living at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. One day I decided to hide from my mom. I didn't mean any harm. I was a kid and kids do harmless things purely because they make us giggle. And boy was I giggling as I hid behind that sofa, a little after lunch. My mom was doing mom stuff and I was going to hide until the perfect moment. [giggle] I'd wait here patiently and eventually she'll call my name. "Willie?" But I wouldn't answer. [giggle] No I won't. [giggle giggle] I'll wait until she gets a little frantic, almost screaming and THEN I'll pop out. [giggle yawn] That's what I'll do and it'll be awesome to see her face as I surprise her. [giggle yawn yawn] And then she'll be shocked and she'll scream in fear at first [yawn] but then she'll be happy to see me. [gigaYAWN yaaaaaawn] And then she'll give me ice cream [yawn] for being so silly and fun. I just have to make myself a little [yawn] more [yawn] comfortable. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

When I woke up it was nighttime and a stranger in a military police uniform was shaking me awake as others pulled away the sofa. The living room was completely filled with people and all of them were looking at me. My mother screamed alright. She screamed and rushed towards me and held me tighter than I've ever been held. And then I think she whipped my butt. I'm pretty sure after the hugging and the love and the magic of the reunion wore off, there was some butt whuppins.

Turns out I took an excitement-from-hiding-induced nap for over six hours. Totally true story. Next time my mom is in town, she'll be happy to confirm it. When ever we relive this story, we both laugh so hard we're always brought to tears. Both out of the re-experience and because it was the best possible outcome during those very punishing hours for my family. Those six, very short, hours of my life must have been several lifetimes for my parents. Sorry, mom and dad.

So, I tip my hat to Falcon Heene. He definitely showed me up.

I Believe

Those in the know, know Neil Gaiman is my boo. Once I read American Gods, I was officially hooked. Brilliant book and I've read it cover-to-cover five times. I am Shadow. I am Wednesday. I am Mr. Nancy.

I'm currently listening to the audiobook. As a side note, when working out audiobooks are the absolute best. Anyway, I'm listening to to the American Gods audiobook and it got to one of my favorite parts. Sam is talking about what she believes in:

I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen–I believe that people are perfectible, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones who look like wrinkledy lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women. I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline of good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like the Martians in War of The Worlds. I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's aerodynamically impossible for a bumblebee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there's a cat in a box somewhere who's alive and dead at the same time (although if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself. I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck. I believe that anyone who says that sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies too. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.

I believe we're significantly insignificant.

Another Great Idea Slips Through Your Fingers...Literally

How many times have you watched TV and seen a commercial for something you KNOW you should have invented? The Snuggie. A damn robe worn backwards. How many times have we done that as kids for just kicks and grins? Well someone decided to take such a simple idea and make zillions of dollars with it. The Pet Rock. DAMMIT!!!!

While watching CNN this morning, I was shown another BRILLIANT idea someone else has capitalized on and I'm sure he/she is going to buy an island with all their earnings:



I hope they choke on the lobster they're eating at their candlelit dinner at their beach on their private island in Dubai.

It's All in the Grip

Ken gave me a great book to read. Based on the Movie is the first novel by Billy Taylor and it is the story about a grip, Bobby Conlon, on the set of a feature film and all of the terrible and wonderful things that happen to him in the process of trying to help get this movie done. I LOVED the book. Mr. Taylor really knows how to tell a story. Granted, if I was given this book a couple years ago, I would have been lost in all the film production lingo. He gives some brief explanations of some of the terminology, but this book was written for filmmakers and people who help make film possible. What do I mean by film lingo? For instance, he'll lead some of the chapters with a joke. Here's an example:

What's the difference between a PA and a roll of gaffer's tape?

You can't make the roll of gaffer's tape cry.

If you know what a PA and gaffer's tape is, that joke is HILARIOUS. I mean laugh out loud funny. Through the process of osmosis I've learned what a PA and what gaffer's tape is. In fact, I've been a PA once or twice, and I've even used gaffer's tape. Thanks so much Ken for the complimentary Full Sail education. ;-)

The other thing I loved about the book is it tells the story of someone who lived for movies. To the main character, Bobby, every definition of the word 'happy' had to involve movies in some fashion. He was a grip for a lot of years, but he always aspired to be a writer/director (even though he's never written a screenplay). Reading it has injected my spirit with a sense of creative enthusiasm. I don't know when I decided to be a director. I'm pretty sure Ken made the decision for me and pointed me in the right direction, but once you've occupied the chair it is like a drug and I'm in constant need of a fix. There will be plenty of opportunities to score some primo stuff here in the near future. You all need to keep a look out.

Think I'm kidding? Below is a picture of Ken's camera. The camera Cloudy Logic Productions will be using to bring visual bliss to as many audience members as possible. Take a good look at it:



I DARE any of you to say we don't take this sh*t serious.

Cuz I'm Half Asian...

This is how I roll when I make ramen...



Don't hate...salivate.

By the way, I've tried a LOT of ramen in my many years of existence, but Neoguri Spicy Seafood is one of the best!

Skies

I saw on the news 1 out of 3 Bostonians, both male and female, would give up having relations for a whole year instead of giving up their cell phones. Seriously? And to think Boston was on the short list of places I was considering relocating to in the future. Sounds like the list got a little shorter.

I'm really not that attached to my phone, but I do like having a pocket sized camera on hand. I recently went through my stored photos and noticed I have quite a few pictures of skies. Here are some for your visual enjoyment...













Make sure you look up every now and then.

It's that Most Wonderous Time of the Year!

I'm pretty certain I was a Pagan in a past life, because I LOVE Halloween. Even when I was a little kid and I would dress up to go trick-or-treating. When you're 2-3, your parents always got a kick out of dressing you up like an adult (cop, firefighter, burglar) or they'd make you wear something that made you look like a fruit or pumpkin. When you I got old enough to make demands, I always got one of those box Halloween costume kits. You know, the thin plastic mask and a faux-cloth-like material bodysuit that tied in the back. Both of which seemed to make you sweat like a heifer in a slaughterhouse. I remember getting the bottom of the barrel costumes because mom & dad would buy it right on Halloween because it coincided with payday. So, all of the cool costumes (Boba Fett, Darth Vader and Han Solo) were already gobbled up and I was usually stuck with being a Storm Trooper or not getting a box costume at all and wearing a brown cape to be Lando Calrissian. Yes, when I was a kid EVERYTHING was about Star Wars.

Anyway, Halloween was a time to dress up and be someone else. Even though that someone wasn't necessarily your first choice, or fifth, but you were just stuck with it because mom & dad had to hit K-Mart on Halloween itself to find your costume. You can be someone else for a while and all you had to do was ring a doorbell and say trick-or-treat to get free candy...or pennies...or Jeebus fliers. Then you'd come home and your parents would sort through your haul and toss out all the "suspicious" candy which translated to any candy in an already open wrapper, or no wrapper at all. Seriously though, if someone went through the trouble of putting a razor blade in my Snickers then why would they leave it in an obviously tampered wrapper? Silly parents. In the end you were left with a bunch of candy and you had to follow strict rules as to when you can have it and how often. To kids we wanted it now and all the time. By Thanksgiving you're normally left with black candy corn and root beer candy.

The fun and intrigue of Halloween has carried on to my adult life. Now, instead of candy, I feed off screams. There is something truly rewarding when scaring the crap out of someone. If you've done it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. For more than a few years now, The Lowrie's and others have helped to pull off some of the best Halloweens of my life. We do a haunted house in the grandest scale, and have a lot of fun in the process. In years past we've done different themes. I think the first was a haunted castle-like thing. The past two years have been the haunted pirate ship. This year? Zombie church. Here's a few clues to help whet your appetite:

TOOLS!



Some assembly required...


EVIL!


Ken measuring his "stick"...


Shingles (the roof kind, not the skin kind)...


Nothing says holy like stained glass...


Is it real or is it Memorex?


Stay tuned!

Pixelgasms...

If you've read my previous blogs, you might have gotten the hint I was a bit of a video game connoisseur. Especially of the first person shooter nature. The most amazing thing about video games is they get more and more realistic. Just when you thought it wasn't possible for a game to have more detail, the next one does and so on and so on. It's crazy to think this was top of the line gaming 10 years ago:



Move over bacon, here comes something meatier. Here are a few of the games I'm looking forward to getting my controller-induced calloused fingertips on:









Check out how awesome this looks!



I'm wondering if this chick likes to partay:



And when you thought there wasn't anymore ODST to give...



Happy hunting you crazy kids...

Consider Yourself an Intellectual?

I think I'm a pretty smart guy. Okay, I haven't received any form of college degree, but I feel higher learning isn't mandatory in order to be considered an intellectual. I think I'm pretty well spoken, depending on my B.A.C. level and there are certain things I consider extremely intriguing, like a "The Universe" marathon on The History Channel. Maybe a better term for me would be "geek". Well the geek in me says you should really watch "FlashForward". I love shows that make me ask the questions only reserved for the deep recesses of my mentals:



What questions will you ask? Aside from, "Did I just see Seth MacFarlane?"