My filmmaking chum Joe Sherlock has lept into the blogosphere right here. When you get sick of reading me, go there.
I have finally decided, in the spirit of being fair and balanced, to put up links to all of the reviews for AMONG US and PETER ROTTENTAIL that I know of. And here they are:
My favorite, a good review from Cinescape Magazine, available online:
A less agreeable one from dvdtalk.com (scroll way to bottom of page):
http://dvdtalk.com/cineschlock/light4/index.html
This review starts with “Ugh.” From the website “Creature Corner”:
http://www.creature-corner.com/reviews/petterrottentail.php3
From CultCuts Magazine in Seattle. Thought one movie stunk and the other was okay, so I’m batting fifty percent:
http://cultcuts.net/reviewsmovies/a/amongus.htm
http://cultcuts.net/reviewsmovies/p/peterrottentail.htm
Same with the people of England:
http://www.sexgoremutants.force9.co.uk/amongus.html
http://www.sexgoremutants.force9.co.uk/rottentail.html
Here’s a guy who runs a site called “Wheels of Terror” which is about disabled horror fans. He reviewed PETER ROTTENTAIL here:
http://wheelsofterror.com/Reviews/Movies/PeterRottentail.html
From a site called “Ultimate Horror Collection”:
http://www.ultimatehorrorcollection.com/movies/a/amongus.asp?t=70
From Kristy Langford at “The Gates of Gore:”
http://www.freewebs.com/peter_rottentail/
I know imdb.com is unjuried, but I like this most recent review from James Lisk here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360361/combined
Of course others have had their say at amazon.com and other places where customers can put their thoughts.
Enjoy!
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Monday, November 29, 2004
Red Women's Detachment
Thanksgiving passed painlessly enough, and by painlessly enough I mean nobody peeled out of the driveway with their middle finger sticking out of the driver's side window.
The post-Thanksgiving fugue is when you think you want to do better. You want to like listening to NPR, read more of The New Yorker besides the movie reviews, rent important movies from Netflix instead of Shrek 2, to not eat M&Ms out of the candy dish two handfuls at a time.
Speaking of Netflix, last year this time Peter Rottentail was in post, now you can see it for yourself. Time marches on.
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
The post-Thanksgiving fugue is when you think you want to do better. You want to like listening to NPR, read more of The New Yorker besides the movie reviews, rent important movies from Netflix instead of Shrek 2, to not eat M&Ms out of the candy dish two handfuls at a time.
Speaking of Netflix, last year this time Peter Rottentail was in post, now you can see it for yourself. Time marches on.
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The Lurking Fear
Strangest spam I got ever, and here is the entire text of the message:
delphi subsistent loggerhead arlen arragon froze logic alabamian pliers redstart
If this was a Robert Ludlum novel, this email would send me off on a world-spanning adventure to uncover a government conspiracy formed in the darkest days of World War II.
Or if this was an H.P. Lovecraft story, a gate to an unknowable dimension would pop open and rob me of my sanity.
Speaking of fantasy stories, have you noticed that a lot of them start with some farm boy in a backwater somewhere who is actually destined to marry a queen and be a great ruler and all the politics and machinations of the entire planet have secretly been revolving around his arrival for a few centuries or so? This would be like me somehow meeting Chelsea Clinton and becoming the president. I'd love to write a novel where the old wizard shows up and says, "Eh. You're just a farm boy. Now take my steed to the stables."
This weekend I went to see an excellent staging of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" at Ball State University. It was an offbeat adaptation, with nods to surrealistic painting, and done with a techno music backbeat. Nicely done, and makes me think about reverse engineering my Shakespeare adaptation back to a play from a screenplay.
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
delphi subsistent loggerhead arlen arragon froze logic alabamian pliers redstart
If this was a Robert Ludlum novel, this email would send me off on a world-spanning adventure to uncover a government conspiracy formed in the darkest days of World War II.
Or if this was an H.P. Lovecraft story, a gate to an unknowable dimension would pop open and rob me of my sanity.
Speaking of fantasy stories, have you noticed that a lot of them start with some farm boy in a backwater somewhere who is actually destined to marry a queen and be a great ruler and all the politics and machinations of the entire planet have secretly been revolving around his arrival for a few centuries or so? This would be like me somehow meeting Chelsea Clinton and becoming the president. I'd love to write a novel where the old wizard shows up and says, "Eh. You're just a farm boy. Now take my steed to the stables."
This weekend I went to see an excellent staging of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" at Ball State University. It was an offbeat adaptation, with nods to surrealistic painting, and done with a techno music backbeat. Nicely done, and makes me think about reverse engineering my Shakespeare adaptation back to a play from a screenplay.
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Daikaijû Sôkôgeki
Man, those Indiana Pacers--the biggest story in my Hoosier Home probably since 9/11, with just as much dawn-to-dusk coverage. To fully understand the gravity of the situation, here is how people worship in Indiana:
1. Larry Bird.
2. Bob Knight.
3. Jesus.
4-10, depending on where you live in the state, will include some or all of the following: Steve Alford; many Muncie Central Bearcats including Bill Harrell, Chandler Thompson, and Ray McCallum; anybody who ever played for Milan; John Wooden; Oscar Robertson; Slick Leonard; Isaiah Thomas before he coached the Pacers; Reggie Miller; and on and on and on.
If you don't live in Indiana, you don't understand: the feeling of hearing "The Star Spangled Banner" at the beginning of a high school basketball game in a packed gym on a snowy night is the greatest feeling in the world.
In political news, how come the Republicans want to allow foreign-born people to run for president when they were afraid John Kerry was going to turn over the keys to the U.S. government to the United Nations?
Once upon a time I wrote a lot about screenwriting in my blog. And I will again. Many know that largely because of some family issues I've had a long drought on freelance work and am just trying to get back on the horse. I had a dinner meeting late last week with an old friend who did the L.A. thing and came back, and that is a good start. I think it's a bit more of a personal crisis than a professional one. I was saved from my last professional crisis when I stumbled across a William Goldman book called "What Lie Did I Tell?" by accident when browsing the stacks. I woke up this weekend humming Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" and then turned on the radio and found it playing. Strange but true! A sign? I do believe in them. I'm going to peruse the library stacks again.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
1. Larry Bird.
2. Bob Knight.
3. Jesus.
4-10, depending on where you live in the state, will include some or all of the following: Steve Alford; many Muncie Central Bearcats including Bill Harrell, Chandler Thompson, and Ray McCallum; anybody who ever played for Milan; John Wooden; Oscar Robertson; Slick Leonard; Isaiah Thomas before he coached the Pacers; Reggie Miller; and on and on and on.
If you don't live in Indiana, you don't understand: the feeling of hearing "The Star Spangled Banner" at the beginning of a high school basketball game in a packed gym on a snowy night is the greatest feeling in the world.
In political news, how come the Republicans want to allow foreign-born people to run for president when they were afraid John Kerry was going to turn over the keys to the U.S. government to the United Nations?
Once upon a time I wrote a lot about screenwriting in my blog. And I will again. Many know that largely because of some family issues I've had a long drought on freelance work and am just trying to get back on the horse. I had a dinner meeting late last week with an old friend who did the L.A. thing and came back, and that is a good start. I think it's a bit more of a personal crisis than a professional one. I was saved from my last professional crisis when I stumbled across a William Goldman book called "What Lie Did I Tell?" by accident when browsing the stacks. I woke up this weekend humming Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" and then turned on the radio and found it playing. Strange but true! A sign? I do believe in them. I'm going to peruse the library stacks again.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Mosura Tai Gojira
On Fridays I like to do memes, and this isn't exactly one, but my scriptwriting pal Gary Lumpp put it up so I thought I would play along. Gary once gave me the best coverage I ever had on a script, and he didn't even like it.
1. PICK ONE OF YOUR SCARS OUT, NOW HOW DID YOU GET IT? I
Once I was lighting a set early in the morning at a TV station I worked at. I accidentally brushed against a large, heavy set piece, which fell over and drove me to the ground, ripping the shirt off my back in the process. I got knocked out when my head hit the concrete of the studio floor. I have been told I have a long, thin white scar down my back where the hinge of this set piece scratched me. I have been knocked out at every job I have ever had except this one I have now, where I just passed out one time.
2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
Family photos and a framed print or two.
3. WOULD YOU RATHER PLAY FOOTBALL OR WATCH IT?
Watch.
.4. WHAT SPORT WOULD YOU SAY YOU ARE BEST AT?
Tennis.
5. WHAT WAS YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE?
As a teen I used to have a recurring dream that a nuclear bomb went off, and I saw a white light and my skin was peeled back. This was of course during the Reagan years.
6. HOW DO YOU EXERCISE?
Stairs over elevators.
7. APPLES OR ORANGES? Apples.
8. GRAPES OR WATERMELON?
Watermelon.
9. WOLVES OR TIGERS? Tigers.
10. WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
70s soul, old country, classical, blues, bluegrass, a little of everything else.
11. HAVE YOU EVER WRITTEN POETRY?
Yes, I once wrote a bad poem about seeing a grisly car wreck when I was a TV photog up in Minnesota.
13. DO YOU REMEMBER BIRTHDAYS?
Mostly.
14. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
I believe it was 7:30 p.m. I know my mom has told me there was a window open in the room, somewhat unlikely today.
15. DO YOU HAVE A BIRTHMARK, WHERE?
I have a brown freckle on one of my butt cheeks.
16. WOULD YOU CALL YOURSELF A ROMANTIC PERSON?
Oui.
17. WHAT IS THE WEIRDEST THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE?
Pass.
18. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU STARTED FILLING THIS IN?
Eating a microwave lunch at my desk.
19.. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GUM?
That baking soda gum.
20. FAVORITE CHOCOLATE?
Anything mint.
21. FAVORITE CANDY (NON CHOCOLATE)?
Anything carmel.
22. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA ICE-CREAM?
Chocolate, or why bother?
23. DO YOU OWN ANYTHING LEATHER?
Never, I don't think. Shoes.
24. FAVORITE COLOGNE?
Nomad.
25. FAVORITE PERFUME?
Dandelions.
26. DO YOU OWN AN INSTRUMENT?
A big-ass piano we bought from an auction.
28. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SMELL?
Baking bread.
29. FAVORITE SOUND THAT YOU HEAR OFTEN?
My teakettle whistling.
30. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING RIGHT NOW?
That my hands are getting tired.
31. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
Just flashes.
32. COULD YOU EVER SEE YOURSELF MOVING FROM WHERE YOU LIVE NOW?
Sure, to southern Indiana, or back up to Wisconsin or Minnesota.
33. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE OF ALL TIME?
The Barefoot Executive, one of the first movies I remember seeing.
34. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG OF ALL TIME?
Right now I think "Day after Day" by Badfinger or "Tangled up in Blue" by Bob Dylan or "Driver's Seat" by Sniff N the Tears or "Daddy Sang Bass" by Johnny Cash.
35. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR WHEN YOU WERE TEN?
Purple.
36. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES?
Brown.
37. HAVE YOU EVER SLEPT WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
Don't remember, not sure.
39. WHO WAS YOUR FIRST CRUSH WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE?
A girl everyone called Oyster Crackers.
40. MOST EMBARRASSING CHILDHOOD MOMENT?
Accidentally pulling some hair out of a neighbor girl's head.
41. WHAT KIND OF HAIR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
No visible bald spots.
42. WHO OUT OF YOUR FRIENDS (SAME SEX) HAVE YOU KNOWN THE LONGEST?
Dan, who is the curator of the Dan Quayle Museum, which is a real place on the Highway of Vice Presidents in Indiana.
45. SUNRISE OR SUNSET?
Sunset in Panama City, Florida.
49. WHAT ARE YOUR FIVE FAVORITE MOVIES?
Dr. Strangelove, Manhattan, Sunset Boulevard, The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Stalag 17.
51. CAN YOU PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?
Never really. I tried clarinet in elementary school but never learned to read music.
52. DO YOU SPEAK A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE?
I wish I did--I still remember a smattering of Chinese from when I was an exchange student there one summer.
53. WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIFT SOMEONE EVER GAVE YOU (OF THE OPPOSITE SEX)?
The Police, Synchronicity, on vinyl.
54. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SINGER?
Johnny Cash.
55. FAVORITE BAND(s)?
The Fifth Dimension, ELO, tons more.
56. WHAT KIND OF BOOKS DO YOU LIKE TO READ?
I alternate between good literature and then some genre trash, then switch it up again.
57. DO YOU LIKE POETRY?
Sure, and my favorite line is, "I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, I have seen the eternal footman hold my coat, and snicker, and in short I was afraid."
58. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR COFFEE?
Lots of cream and sugar.
60. DRAGONS OR DINOSAURS?
Dragons, cuz of D&D.
63. CHOOSE A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
23.
64. BLONDES, REDHEADS OR BRUNETTES?
Raven-haired beauties.
65. WOULD YOU PREFER TO GO ICE SKATING OR ROLLER SKATING?
Neither, though I have done a lot of roller skating in my youth. Favorite roller skating song: "Undercover Angel."
66. WHAT IS THE ONE NUMBER YOU CALL OFTEN?
Home.
67. WHAT ANNOYS YOU MOST?
Rudeness.
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
1. PICK ONE OF YOUR SCARS OUT, NOW HOW DID YOU GET IT? I
Once I was lighting a set early in the morning at a TV station I worked at. I accidentally brushed against a large, heavy set piece, which fell over and drove me to the ground, ripping the shirt off my back in the process. I got knocked out when my head hit the concrete of the studio floor. I have been told I have a long, thin white scar down my back where the hinge of this set piece scratched me. I have been knocked out at every job I have ever had except this one I have now, where I just passed out one time.
2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
Family photos and a framed print or two.
3. WOULD YOU RATHER PLAY FOOTBALL OR WATCH IT?
Watch.
.4. WHAT SPORT WOULD YOU SAY YOU ARE BEST AT?
Tennis.
5. WHAT WAS YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE?
As a teen I used to have a recurring dream that a nuclear bomb went off, and I saw a white light and my skin was peeled back. This was of course during the Reagan years.
6. HOW DO YOU EXERCISE?
Stairs over elevators.
7. APPLES OR ORANGES? Apples.
8. GRAPES OR WATERMELON?
Watermelon.
9. WOLVES OR TIGERS? Tigers.
10. WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
70s soul, old country, classical, blues, bluegrass, a little of everything else.
11. HAVE YOU EVER WRITTEN POETRY?
Yes, I once wrote a bad poem about seeing a grisly car wreck when I was a TV photog up in Minnesota.
13. DO YOU REMEMBER BIRTHDAYS?
Mostly.
14. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
I believe it was 7:30 p.m. I know my mom has told me there was a window open in the room, somewhat unlikely today.
15. DO YOU HAVE A BIRTHMARK, WHERE?
I have a brown freckle on one of my butt cheeks.
16. WOULD YOU CALL YOURSELF A ROMANTIC PERSON?
Oui.
17. WHAT IS THE WEIRDEST THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE?
Pass.
18. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU STARTED FILLING THIS IN?
Eating a microwave lunch at my desk.
19.. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GUM?
That baking soda gum.
20. FAVORITE CHOCOLATE?
Anything mint.
21. FAVORITE CANDY (NON CHOCOLATE)?
Anything carmel.
22. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA ICE-CREAM?
Chocolate, or why bother?
23. DO YOU OWN ANYTHING LEATHER?
Never, I don't think. Shoes.
24. FAVORITE COLOGNE?
Nomad.
25. FAVORITE PERFUME?
Dandelions.
26. DO YOU OWN AN INSTRUMENT?
A big-ass piano we bought from an auction.
28. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SMELL?
Baking bread.
29. FAVORITE SOUND THAT YOU HEAR OFTEN?
My teakettle whistling.
30. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING RIGHT NOW?
That my hands are getting tired.
31. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
Just flashes.
32. COULD YOU EVER SEE YOURSELF MOVING FROM WHERE YOU LIVE NOW?
Sure, to southern Indiana, or back up to Wisconsin or Minnesota.
33. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE OF ALL TIME?
The Barefoot Executive, one of the first movies I remember seeing.
34. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG OF ALL TIME?
Right now I think "Day after Day" by Badfinger or "Tangled up in Blue" by Bob Dylan or "Driver's Seat" by Sniff N the Tears or "Daddy Sang Bass" by Johnny Cash.
35. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR WHEN YOU WERE TEN?
Purple.
36. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES?
Brown.
37. HAVE YOU EVER SLEPT WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
Don't remember, not sure.
39. WHO WAS YOUR FIRST CRUSH WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE?
A girl everyone called Oyster Crackers.
40. MOST EMBARRASSING CHILDHOOD MOMENT?
Accidentally pulling some hair out of a neighbor girl's head.
41. WHAT KIND OF HAIR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
No visible bald spots.
42. WHO OUT OF YOUR FRIENDS (SAME SEX) HAVE YOU KNOWN THE LONGEST?
Dan, who is the curator of the Dan Quayle Museum, which is a real place on the Highway of Vice Presidents in Indiana.
45. SUNRISE OR SUNSET?
Sunset in Panama City, Florida.
49. WHAT ARE YOUR FIVE FAVORITE MOVIES?
Dr. Strangelove, Manhattan, Sunset Boulevard, The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Stalag 17.
51. CAN YOU PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?
Never really. I tried clarinet in elementary school but never learned to read music.
52. DO YOU SPEAK A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE?
I wish I did--I still remember a smattering of Chinese from when I was an exchange student there one summer.
53. WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIFT SOMEONE EVER GAVE YOU (OF THE OPPOSITE SEX)?
The Police, Synchronicity, on vinyl.
54. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SINGER?
Johnny Cash.
55. FAVORITE BAND(s)?
The Fifth Dimension, ELO, tons more.
56. WHAT KIND OF BOOKS DO YOU LIKE TO READ?
I alternate between good literature and then some genre trash, then switch it up again.
57. DO YOU LIKE POETRY?
Sure, and my favorite line is, "I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, I have seen the eternal footman hold my coat, and snicker, and in short I was afraid."
58. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR COFFEE?
Lots of cream and sugar.
60. DRAGONS OR DINOSAURS?
Dragons, cuz of D&D.
63. CHOOSE A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
23.
64. BLONDES, REDHEADS OR BRUNETTES?
Raven-haired beauties.
65. WOULD YOU PREFER TO GO ICE SKATING OR ROLLER SKATING?
Neither, though I have done a lot of roller skating in my youth. Favorite roller skating song: "Undercover Angel."
66. WHAT IS THE ONE NUMBER YOU CALL OFTEN?
Home.
67. WHAT ANNOYS YOU MOST?
Rudeness.
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Gojira vs Mekagojira
I really enjoyed this article on independent filmmaking at backstage.com. I poached the link from my buds at Cinema Minima. I especially like when James Cameron says you have to quit being an "aspiring" filmmaker and start doing it. And it's the hardest part--actually doing it.
Since I'm feeling all linky, it's been a while since I mentioned Christopher Sharpe's filmmaking journal about SEX MACHINE, and there is some new, cool stuff up there. I hope he shakes and bakes out a trailer soon.
Today I am thinking about podcasting, as if I don't have enough to do.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Since I'm feeling all linky, it's been a while since I mentioned Christopher Sharpe's filmmaking journal about SEX MACHINE, and there is some new, cool stuff up there. I hope he shakes and bakes out a trailer soon.
Today I am thinking about podcasting, as if I don't have enough to do.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Alexander Nevsky
My wife made one of my deepest fantasies come true this weekend.
When I was in high school the cafeteria served a dish that nobody I talk to believes was served, or that anyone I met has heard of. It was, simply, a hot dog, with a perfectly sculpted round scoop of snowy-white mashed potatoes on top, and a bold yellow square of melted cheese over that. I believe this savory delight was called the One-Eyed Jack.
My wife fried some italian sausage, then threw in some pierogies and at the last minute sprinkled it wit a cheese blend. The minute it passed my lips I realized: it was a One-Eyed Jack. One for a more sophisticated era, but one nonetheless. My offer to dub it the One-Eyed Beth was declined.
Another of my deepest fantasies is to build my own low-power TV station, and that could be filled right here. Everything's coming up roses.
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
When I was in high school the cafeteria served a dish that nobody I talk to believes was served, or that anyone I met has heard of. It was, simply, a hot dog, with a perfectly sculpted round scoop of snowy-white mashed potatoes on top, and a bold yellow square of melted cheese over that. I believe this savory delight was called the One-Eyed Jack.
My wife fried some italian sausage, then threw in some pierogies and at the last minute sprinkled it wit a cheese blend. The minute it passed my lips I realized: it was a One-Eyed Jack. One for a more sophisticated era, but one nonetheless. My offer to dub it the One-Eyed Beth was declined.
Another of my deepest fantasies is to build my own low-power TV station, and that could be filled right here. Everything's coming up roses.
Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Friday, November 12, 2004
El Santo Contras Las Mujeres Vampiro
On Fridays I like to do blog memes; here's an unusually chatty one from Four for Friday, with answers off of the top of my head:
Q1: If you were given the opportunity to perform in the circus, and you knew ahead of time that you would not fail, what would you do?
Drive the tiny car.
Q2: You've just been hired to a promotions position at a major breakfast cereal company. What would you put in a new cereal box as a gimmick?
A Mego action figure.
Q3: Who is the most famous or well known person you've had a face-to-face encounter with?
Probably Richard "Riff Raff" O'Brien from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," whose son Linus worked for me when he was a college student, and I met the weekend of his college graduation. The first time I went to England, I turned on the TV after a long plane ride and there he was, in a show called "The Ink Thief." Linus is now a popular DJ and one of the most talented people I've met.
Q4: Can you comfortably eat alone in a restaurant with nothing to do at the table but eat, i.e., nothing to read, no earphones to hear music thru, no one to talk with, etc.?
No, it's a bit difficult, perhaps because I've never really been single or been alone much. As an example, I have never learned to play Solitaire, on a PC or IRL.
Oh, and the verdict's in--my daughter has a fractured nose, so the play is still in but the home opener against the Union Rockets tomorrow morning is out.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Q1: If you were given the opportunity to perform in the circus, and you knew ahead of time that you would not fail, what would you do?
Drive the tiny car.
Q2: You've just been hired to a promotions position at a major breakfast cereal company. What would you put in a new cereal box as a gimmick?
A Mego action figure.
Q3: Who is the most famous or well known person you've had a face-to-face encounter with?
Probably Richard "Riff Raff" O'Brien from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," whose son Linus worked for me when he was a college student, and I met the weekend of his college graduation. The first time I went to England, I turned on the TV after a long plane ride and there he was, in a show called "The Ink Thief." Linus is now a popular DJ and one of the most talented people I've met.
Q4: Can you comfortably eat alone in a restaurant with nothing to do at the table but eat, i.e., nothing to read, no earphones to hear music thru, no one to talk with, etc.?
No, it's a bit difficult, perhaps because I've never really been single or been alone much. As an example, I have never learned to play Solitaire, on a PC or IRL.
Oh, and the verdict's in--my daughter has a fractured nose, so the play is still in but the home opener against the Union Rockets tomorrow morning is out.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Santo En El Museo De Cera
I have had a surprising burst of emails about me closing the door on contributing to National Novel Writing Month. Unfortunately too much real life has intervened, but there's always a next year. Thanks to everyone who chimed in.
I have a couple more comic book reviews up at Pretty-Scary.com, a site for women but since they couldn't find any female comic book nerds they asked me to write up some stuff.
My daughter took a hard elbow to the nose during a high school basketball scrimmage and may have broken or at least fractured it. Of course, she is appearing in the school play Friday and Saturday night. Hard to be a Renaissance woman in this day and age. Actually kind of reminds me of that "Brady Bunch" episode when Marcia takes the football to the nose before the big dance.
These plays are put on in the high school "cafetorium" and are always debuted to packed houses. Say what you will about DV, but the power of live theater is still with us. Check out the documentary OT, about the first play put on at Compton High School in thirty years, if you don't believe me. Last year the high school put on "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and the magic of it was all there. This year's is something about some cowboys buying a salon instead of a saloon and having to dress like women, a slight comedown from Shakespeare. But every parent will be cheering along.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
I have a couple more comic book reviews up at Pretty-Scary.com, a site for women but since they couldn't find any female comic book nerds they asked me to write up some stuff.
My daughter took a hard elbow to the nose during a high school basketball scrimmage and may have broken or at least fractured it. Of course, she is appearing in the school play Friday and Saturday night. Hard to be a Renaissance woman in this day and age. Actually kind of reminds me of that "Brady Bunch" episode when Marcia takes the football to the nose before the big dance.
These plays are put on in the high school "cafetorium" and are always debuted to packed houses. Say what you will about DV, but the power of live theater is still with us. Check out the documentary OT, about the first play put on at Compton High School in thirty years, if you don't believe me. Last year the high school put on "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and the magic of it was all there. This year's is something about some cowboys buying a salon instead of a saloon and having to dress like women, a slight comedown from Shakespeare. But every parent will be cheering along.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Das Geheimnis der schwarzen Handschuhe
I've decided to pull the plug on my National Novel Writing Month blog. I only wrote two thousand words the first week, and needed about ten thousand to stay in the game. Too much going on right now, and two new projects in the hopper made me decide to keep GHOST SCREAM for another day.
I went to visit my brother-in-law Sunday and my ten-year-old nephew drew a picture on a napkin of "the food chain" that I just had to keep. It showed a kangaroo being shot by a man with a gun, who was being attacked by a vampire bat, who was about to be stung by a giant bee, who was about to be bit by a snake. And they say elementary schools are on the decline.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
I went to visit my brother-in-law Sunday and my ten-year-old nephew drew a picture on a napkin of "the food chain" that I just had to keep. It showed a kangaroo being shot by a man with a gun, who was being attacked by a vampire bat, who was about to be stung by a giant bee, who was about to be bit by a snake. And they say elementary schools are on the decline.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Friday, November 05, 2004
Ritorno di Zanna Bianca
I am not big on advice, except what I've already given, which is to keep your mouth closed while changing the cat litter or refilling the water softener. But perhaps I have a bit more, for young aspiring writers out there:
Always bring your best game. Because if you don't, there are 100 people behind you who would like to have your job.
I woke up today thinking about my first job out of college, at a TV station in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where I knew nobody and had never in fact visited the state. The first night I was there way back in 1988 I stayed with a couple of guys from the station who were kind enough to put me up until I could find my own place. I found out after a fashion that the weekend news director had applied for my new job as field producer but had been passed over in favor of me, a guy from a far-off land called Indiana. And by 'after a fashion' I mean he got drunk and busted out the window above the couch I was sleeping on and wanted to fight me. So he got fired and I decided to take his job too.
So for a while in my youth I directed local news cut-ins on "Good Morning America" from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., then from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. shot commercials and spot news and whatever, then worked Saturday and Sunday nights for no extra money to learn how to direct news. So when the weekday director began suffering from a chronic illness I filled in for her, which meant I went home at 2 p.m., came back at 5 p.m., directed the 6 p.m. news, went home and came back at 9 p.m., directed the 10 p.m. news, got home by 11 p.m., got up around 4:30 a.m., and this went on for about a year. And yes, it was uphill in the snow (in the wintertime, on top of a bluff outside of town). And because I did this I had a chance to return to my hometown and work at my alma mater, and have had three jobs there since, and am still waiting for that warm flush of money and power, but am doing okay.
You can't sit around and wait for the door to ring, and expect Spielberg, Coppola, Scorsese, and the ghosts of Hitchcock and Welles to be standing there waiting to take you on as a right-hand man. You have to feel some hunger, some spark, even if you don't know what it's for yet, how to articulate it, how to achieve what you want. Because if you don't, there are lots of people standing behind you that do, and will want/take what you have.
Don't get into the industry if you don't feel it down in your bones, because there are too many ups and downs, sometimes long stretches of bad and only brief sputters of good. And sometimes the other way around.
Did I mention not to open your mouth while changing cat litter?
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Always bring your best game. Because if you don't, there are 100 people behind you who would like to have your job.
I woke up today thinking about my first job out of college, at a TV station in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where I knew nobody and had never in fact visited the state. The first night I was there way back in 1988 I stayed with a couple of guys from the station who were kind enough to put me up until I could find my own place. I found out after a fashion that the weekend news director had applied for my new job as field producer but had been passed over in favor of me, a guy from a far-off land called Indiana. And by 'after a fashion' I mean he got drunk and busted out the window above the couch I was sleeping on and wanted to fight me. So he got fired and I decided to take his job too.
So for a while in my youth I directed local news cut-ins on "Good Morning America" from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., then from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. shot commercials and spot news and whatever, then worked Saturday and Sunday nights for no extra money to learn how to direct news. So when the weekday director began suffering from a chronic illness I filled in for her, which meant I went home at 2 p.m., came back at 5 p.m., directed the 6 p.m. news, went home and came back at 9 p.m., directed the 10 p.m. news, got home by 11 p.m., got up around 4:30 a.m., and this went on for about a year. And yes, it was uphill in the snow (in the wintertime, on top of a bluff outside of town). And because I did this I had a chance to return to my hometown and work at my alma mater, and have had three jobs there since, and am still waiting for that warm flush of money and power, but am doing okay.
You can't sit around and wait for the door to ring, and expect Spielberg, Coppola, Scorsese, and the ghosts of Hitchcock and Welles to be standing there waiting to take you on as a right-hand man. You have to feel some hunger, some spark, even if you don't know what it's for yet, how to articulate it, how to achieve what you want. Because if you don't, there are lots of people standing behind you that do, and will want/take what you have.
Don't get into the industry if you don't feel it down in your bones, because there are too many ups and downs, sometimes long stretches of bad and only brief sputters of good. And sometimes the other way around.
Did I mention not to open your mouth while changing cat litter?
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Paura Nella Città Dei Morti Viventi
Four more years (of turning the channel really fast when I see George Bush on TV)!
On the way home yesterday I saw a political sign which read "hope" that had been knocked over, presumably by the icy wind, and splattered with mud. It sounds like allegory, but it really happened. Thus ends my political discourse.
I updated Ghost Scream over at my National Novel Writing Month blog. I am glad I started it. I feel my modest writer's block that I was starting to feel trapped by beginning to thaw.
Yesterday I was matched with a new Little Brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. Harold is my third little brother. Oddly, I found out that his mother was a high school classmate of my second little brother Anthony. It made me realize how much time has passed since I got involved in the program, way back in 1987. I believe my first little brother from the program, Brian, is 30 years old. Funny how the world spins 'round. Harold is a really nice, big-hearted kid who gave me a Matchbox car to memorialize the first day of our match. It is sitting on my desk at work.
A long-time reader asked if I had found an agent yet, as I posted a while back. Unfortunately the floating world has intervened a bit and I have yet to embark on that rocky path. But thanks for reminding me!
Hopefully I can talk about some potential new projects soon. Until then I am at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
On the way home yesterday I saw a political sign which read "hope" that had been knocked over, presumably by the icy wind, and splattered with mud. It sounds like allegory, but it really happened. Thus ends my political discourse.
I updated Ghost Scream over at my National Novel Writing Month blog. I am glad I started it. I feel my modest writer's block that I was starting to feel trapped by beginning to thaw.
Yesterday I was matched with a new Little Brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. Harold is my third little brother. Oddly, I found out that his mother was a high school classmate of my second little brother Anthony. It made me realize how much time has passed since I got involved in the program, way back in 1987. I believe my first little brother from the program, Brian, is 30 years old. Funny how the world spins 'round. Harold is a really nice, big-hearted kid who gave me a Matchbox car to memorialize the first day of our match. It is sitting on my desk at work.
A long-time reader asked if I had found an agent yet, as I posted a while back. Unfortunately the floating world has intervened a bit and I have yet to embark on that rocky path. But thanks for reminding me!
Hopefully I can talk about some potential new projects soon. Until then I am at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Monday, November 01, 2004
Akage no Anne
I tried to go see Brian Flemming's musical play BAT BOY (about the Weekly World News character) at Ball State University over the weekend, even though all shows was sold out. I got on the waiting list Friday and watched as every person on the waiting list except me got in. The stage door swung shut and the music started up inside, and I was on the outside looking in once more. Such is life. It's too bad, as I really liked Brian's movie NOTHING SO STRANGE (which I reviewed here) and would have liked to see what he did with this odd topic.
I carved pumpkins Sunday afternoon and chatted with some friends from Ohio, a "battleground state" in tomorrow's elections, which means that they get recorded messages from people like Laura Bush and Bill Clinton while we in Indiana cling valiantly to the thought of the popular vote even though we know full well our Electoral College, whatever that is, is giving our state to Bush.
I started my NaNoWriMo Blog today, and the first sentence is: The debauching of the slave girls began at noon. I always thought that would be a good first sentence for a book. 1,098 words today.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
I carved pumpkins Sunday afternoon and chatted with some friends from Ohio, a "battleground state" in tomorrow's elections, which means that they get recorded messages from people like Laura Bush and Bill Clinton while we in Indiana cling valiantly to the thought of the popular vote even though we know full well our Electoral College, whatever that is, is giving our state to Bush.
I started my NaNoWriMo Blog today, and the first sentence is: The debauching of the slave girls began at noon. I always thought that would be a good first sentence for a book. 1,098 words today.
Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.
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