Well When This Train Ends I'll Try Again

This post first appeared in my eNewsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP.

It seems quaint now, but a week ago I was really debating about canceling the first weekend of shooting for my new movie HIS WIFE MY KILLER.  I was having a number of cast and crew people from Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and Dayton reaching out, including someone whose family member was currently being tested for Coronavirus at an area hospital.  I went ahead and pushed the button on canceling and felt pretty low about it.  But so much closing in rapid succession afterwards really overshadowed that, obviously.  I really thought we could get the first weekend in, but that things would change so rapidly we wouldn't be able to get in the second, and I was right.

I don't talk much about my day job in my newsletter, only my side hustle, but I work at a regional university in communications and marketing, with about five percent of my job in emergency management.  Suffice to say that changed to 95 percent emergency management overnight and I am finishing my first week of working from home for the near future and being on Zoom and Skype calls five or six hours a day.  There's a lot to talk about and think about but I don't know if I have anything to add that hasn't been said, but would just say be safe and be careful, all.

When you make a b-movie you go to war with a group of people and can really bond with them, and I have seen very little like it, except when I have been in a play, or worked in live television.  But maybe working with my day job team on this has been close, though not by choice.  I hope you can rally your own squad, personal or professional, whoever they are.

On the other side we will reschedule the shoot, and you'll be the first to know.  Best wishes you to all.

Run, Red Wolves, Run

Taping "Red Wolves Rundown" at the WCTV studio on the IU East campus with my video production class.

Leading the Pack

Corrupting the minds of the next generation of television professionals in the control room of WCTV, taping "Red Wolves Rundown" at the IU East campus.

St. Nick and Me

Me kickin' it old school with Mr. Claus on our live "Talk to Santa" phone in show at the day job last night. We also had a few live guests in the studio, only half of which cried and ran away.

Further Day Job Adventures

Live election returns until 2 a.m. Tuesday (What's up, Blue Indiana!), then five live basketball and volleyball games Friday and Saturday surrounding IU East's Homecoming (What's up, Red Wolves!), then fifteen pages of the new (nondisclosure) sci-fi script on Sunday, makes a long week; and yes, I woke up feeling old and creaky Monday morning.

On Location with the Red Wolves

Me, influencing the youth of today, teaching video production at Indiana University East. This is a field set-up at the Graf Recreation Center for the "Red Wolves Roundup" TV show.

The Girl With The Faraway Eyes

Four out of the last five weekends I have been on the road, through ice storms, snow storms, hail storms, rain storms, and haven't updated my blog like I should.

First I went to Bloomington to check out the Indiana Festival of Independent Film and Video with my brother (reviewed earlier, just scroll down), then the following weekend I was off to Cincinatti visiting a media center in Over the Rhine for day job work, seeing the great effort those folks are leading their to empower residents with community media and cable access. A worthwhile trip though I got snowed over there and spent more time in the Queen City than I intended (though I had some really good Cincy BBQ, almost as good as Cincy chili).

Regular readers know I went to Pennsylvania the next week to pay my respects to the family of b-movie filmmaker John Polonia, who passed away suddenly. On the way back I hit a heavy snowstorm and ended up stranded with a lot of other folks at a hotel somewhere in Pennsylvania, a welcoming little town whose name escapes me at the moment.

Since I had an extra day of travel I stopped at the Small Press and Comics Expo on the way through Columbus Ohio the next day. I don't know if the inclement weather played a role, but the show didn't seem as well attended by visitors or vendors. However, I was glad to see fellow Hoosier Pam Bliss, as well as Matt Feazell, Tom Scioli, and Pat Lewis, whose work I enjoy. A group I hadn't seen there before was Sparkplug Comics, and I ended up buying a big stash of their stuff as they were carrying a lot of indy people I like. I am still chewing through my swag from the show, but I picked up the most recent pair of King Cat Comics from John Porcellino and the latest You Don't Get There From Here from Carrie McNinch, two of my favorite creators of independent comics. From people I was less familiar with I got Clutch McBastard's autobiographical Clutch 16 and Jeremy Massie's superhero adventure The Deadbeat, which I enjoyed.

Last night I got home from Athens Georgia, where my brother-in-law lives, and I got my first taste of actual sunshine in 2008, though a series of Georgia tornadoes damped our enthusiasm, so to speak, towards the end of the week. But I ate really good pizza at the Mellow Mushroom and got to visit Bizarro Wuxtry, a legendary independent record store/comic book store.

Though I do enjoy road tripping, I hope to be done for a bit. I'm going to update the blog soon with some changes, methinks. Until then, give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Santa, Baby

People seem to enjoy the little peeks into my day job, so tonight, on the brink of potentially a major winter storm, here is a screen cap of Santa and I doing a live phone-in show on TV a week before Christmas, in happier times.

Hoop Dreams

Directing live college basketball at the day job. The audio guy slipped away and snapped this shot from our perch above the scoreboard in the arena.

Deck the (Day Job) Halls

Me directing the live television side of a local traditional Christmas show simulcast on radio and television in our area.