Justice By The Slice (Super-8 Silent, 1986)

So many people have told me that the movie Super-8 reminds them of me, and this might be why.  For your modest enjoyment, the saga of a vigilante pizza deliverer, shot on Super-8 Silent film stock in Muncie Indiana in the summer of 1986, later projected on the wall and taped on SVHS, recently encoded for its 25th Anniversary.

Uncensored Heroes (Super-8 Silent, 1986)

An old plastic Batman helmet from my childhood and a renewed love for comic books spurred on this short, filmed on Super-8 in Muncie Indiana in 1986 (with a long gap and some rewrites due to a case of mono). Still wishing I had filmed the poker scene featuring the Golden Age Flash and the Golden Age Sandman, but alas.

Accepted By Rejected!

There is a pretty cool site called Covered where artists do covers (music style) of their favorite comic book covers; there is also Rejected By Covered, which still has a lot of talented people on it, all of whom draw better than me.  But it struck my fancy nonetheless so I whipped up a few covers of comics that struck a chord in me as a youngster; and, shockingly, they took them all.  Whether this foretells a rise in my cartooning skills, frozen since about 1979, or a thinning of the talent pool on Covered, is for the viewer to decide.

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fumetti

For the few that missed me, I was out goofing off in Europe.  This is Rome, a great city with history on every corner.  For my hometown, history means going to the McDonald's where they have the neon sign from the 50s, so this was quite a culture shock.  As you can see, they have let things get a little run down, though.  Would some asphalt and a few Starbucks hurt anybody?  Just saying.

Check, Please

A statue in Italy commemorating how hard it is to catch a waiter's eye to bring you your bill at any local restaurant.  Around tourists, Italians seem aggressive and in a rush, but when you catch them in their own element you learn they prefer to chill out, drink wine, eat pizza and have leisurely lunches; basically how I spent my first few years of college in the mid 80s.

The Touch of a World That is Older

Grave of Marconi, the dude that invented radio, Florence, Italy.  This church also has Machiavelli, Dante, Michelangelo, and some other big names who had big honking statues and other huge monuments dedicated to them.  Meanwhile, my brother here looks like he got put in the pet cemetery.  AV nerds always get the short end.

Johnny Stecchino

In Florence, the outside of the church where Marconi is taking the long dirt nap.  I sort of figured out if you know how to say "Scusi" and "Grazie" you can pretty much make your way across Italy.

Said I Shot A Man Named Ray, Took His Wife To Italy

This big shack is the Parthenon.  Half of Rome looks like a movie set.  Besides the obvious Sergio Leone and Mario Bava and Dario Argento movies I would recommend "The Bicycle Thief" and "La Dolce Vita" and "Big Deal on Madonna Street" for the classics; some good contemporary movies include "Cinema Paradiso" and "Johnny Stecchino" and "I'm Not Afraid."

Statuesque

Me:  "I think I compare favorably to the statue of David."  Wife:  "You must have been looking at a statue of Socrates."

Rock On, Romans

I like how in Rome the buses run wherever and whenever they damn well please, you better be ready to tuck in to a hearty meal all the time, and you can buy Dylan Dog and Nathan Never comics at every newsstand.  But my favorite thing was these posters plastered all over the city advertising an upcoming rock concert by showcasing an old man shushing people.

London's Calling

Crazy statue in the Tower of London, England.  Everywhere you look there are ideas for new D&D adventures. 

Holidays in the Sun

British Museum, London.  Where they keep all the stuff they took when they conquered the world, once upon a time.  London is a great city, which I felt very comfortable with since I have watched a lot of Doctor Who and read Harry Potter.  What you might not know is that the food is better than you'd think and the Tube is a great invention.  Even more surprising was that Obama was there at the same time and didn't invite me to the barbecue at Downing Street.

She Wouldn't Have A Willy Or A Sam

Where Anne Boleyn was beheaded at the Tower of London.  Didn't see Natalie Dormer around anywhere.

BBC 1, BBC 2

One of my favorite areas of London, the South Bank.  Tons of good little shops and restaurants and hipsters and buskers.  Stalls full of paperbacks.  Found some good British hardboiled stuff here.  Big Ben dead ahead, the Eye behind.

The Runaway Bride

Speaking of Doctor Who:  Yes, my brothers, I saw Doctor Who's David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing in London's West End. (Photo borrowed from somebody who thought to bring a camera to Leicester Square). This show was sold out but they had a lottery to sell twenty returned tickets for ten pounds each (face value 50 pounds and up) the morning of the show. I stood in a block-long line and thought I wasn't going to make it but got drawn second to last. Then they had a few more available at face value so I queued back up and managed to get a second ticket. Strangely my wife and I were only a few seats apart in the same row and some nice ladies swapped with us so we could sit together. My nerd karma rolled all that day. After I nabbed these two tickets I walked down Charing Cross Road and finally found the latest issue of 2000 AD that I had been searching for. Good night, sweet London town, good night.

You Thought The Leaden Winter Would Bring You Down Forever

Commemorating our first win (in four tries) playing the D&D board game "Castle Ravenloft."  Recommended.

It's A Thousand Pages, Give Or Take A Few

Whenever I talk about my attempt(s) to read 50 books a year I typically get asked for book recommendations.

Right now I am pretty much always recommending The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson to people who like to read, as kind of a good safe bet.

Historically my favorite novels include Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer.

My favorite genre authors historically are probably Philip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delany, Ursula K. LeGuin, Mickey Spillane, Chester B. Himes; and contemporary probably Michael Connelly, Chuck Palahniuk, Jonathan Lethem, Jennifer Egan and Michael Chabon.

So that’s where I’m coming from, otherwise.  Below I have listed 25 books that I have read over the last few years that pretty much make up my current contemporary recommendations.  Enjoy!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold

The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

The Painter of Battles by Arturo Perez-Reverte

Lunar Park by Brett Easton Ellis

The Keep by Jennifer Egan

The City and The City by China Mieville

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

Missing by Karen Alvtegen

Real World by Natsuo Kirino

The Wandering Ghost by Martin Limon

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon

The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Ericksson

Sun Storm by Asa Larsson

Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason

Four Kinds of Rain by Robert Ward

London Boulevard by Ken Bruen

#100factsaboutme

For those of you who didn't see me blowing up your Twitter feeds and Facebook walls over the last few weeks, here's a meme that I did.  (Bonus Fact:  The first time I heard the word "meme" was when I read F. Chong Rutherford's script "Meme" on TriggerStreet).

100. Met my future wife on a blind date in January 1987 and got married that October.

99. Majored in TCOM (Film) with minors in Humanities and History at Ball State, so I'm really good at Trivial Pursuit.

98. Made about 30 short films on Super-8 between 1980-1987.

97. The first time I ever heard the term "homeboy" used was via Johnny Depp on 21 Jump Street.

96. I think the best overall dining experience I've had on the planet was at Joseph Decuis. http://www.josephdecuis.com/

95. Married the Valedictorian of Blue River Valley High School Class of 1983.

94. On our honeymoon, we made the mistake of going to see the new Michael Douglas movie--Fatal Attraction.

93. Got married in the Kitselman Center at Ball State University in 1987. #100factsaboutme

92. Had a recurring nightmare all through the 80s (Reagan Era) that a nuclear flash goes off outside my bedroom window.

91. I made an unbreakable vow to call my daughter Sarah every time I hear "Sarah Smile."

90. The first date my wife and I had was at a health food place on the Ball State campus called Kazoo's.

89. Was active in Boy Scouts on into high school. Rat Patrol, represent!

88. My earliest memory in life is my dad riding me around the Ball State Duck Pond on the back of his bike.

87. Have kept a blog detailing my attempts to read 50 books/yr for the last 3 yrs: http://www.onthebookbeat.blogspot.com/

86. Played clarinet in the Anthony Elementary School band (but never learned to read music).

85. The older I get the more I like hotter and rarer food.

84. My favorite article of clothing is the big comfy green sweater my wife knitted me; second, my Carhartt jacket.

83. Somehow developed shellfish/seafood allergies as an adult.

82. Probably my favorite long-running D&D character I gamed was a Fighter/Magic User/Thief half-elf named Pollux.

81. Have had pneumonia twice and still not sure how to spell it.

80. The first book I ever bought for my Kindle was Shepard Rifkiin's "The Murderer Vine."

79. I played outfield and sometimes pitched for the Anthony Aces Elementary School baseball team in Muncie, IN.

78. I think the first time I was in Fangoria Magazine I reached the first pinnacle of my screenwriting career.

77. Screenwriters are in either MovieMagic or Final Draft camps; I use MovieMagic but also think Celtx is pretty good.

76. The first screenplay I got paid to write was the spy thriller "Player in the Game" which never actually got made.

75. I've completed two 24 Hour Comics Day events. http://www.24hourcomicsday.com/

74. Although Dr. Strangelove is my favorite movie ever I bet I have seen When Harry Met Sally more times.

73. That being said, I think my favorite album of all time is Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks.

72. When I need creative energy I like to listen to The Fifth Dimension Greatest Hits on Earth and ELO's Out of the Blue.

71. I think my favorite song over the longest time is probably Strawberry Letter 22 by The Brothers Johnson

70. Started my blog on August 19, 2003: http://johnoakdalton.blogspot.com/2003/08/i-have-been-told-for-while-that-i.html

69. I never thought CDs would catch on because they just seemed to me to be little records.

68. I want to go to the Macy’s Parade before I die.

67. Was once very adept at the Video Toaster.

66. If I go to Hell, it’s likely because I stepped in a puddle then cussed in front of a priest on the Notre Dame campus.

65. Probably the most surprising person who ever sent me an email was Michael Tolkin. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0866062/

64. Told everybody I voted for Mondale but secretly voted for Reagan.

63. Have never figured out how to blow a bubble with gum.

62. Didn't start liking football until I played the 1983 San Francisco 49ers on the Statis Pro football boardgame.

61. A lot of people don't believe I don't know how to play Solitaire, but I have never been alone long enough to learn.

60. My brother and I stayed up late to watch the start of MTV in 1981. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw6xesXLIAA

59. The first Doctor Who episode I ever saw was "The Androids of Tara" and that was an awful good place to start.

58. Once almost cut the ball of my thumb off opening a can of tuna. 8 stitches closed it up.

57. I was at Six Flags St. Louis the day the gondola crashed in 1978.

56. I think the only comic I still wish I had was a Suicide Squad #1 John Ostrander wrote a personal note to me in.

55. The first DVD I ever owned was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

54. When I first learned to shave, Aqua Velva was my aftershave of choice.

53. The last time I cried reading a book was Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo (though I did have pneumonia at the time).

52. The last time I cried was when I heard Johnny Cash's cover of Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face."

51. A bird once pooped on my head when I was riding a bike. What are the odds of that?

50. Given a hard hat as a gift when I left my last job because I had gone several years without being knocked unconscious.

49. Kicked out of AV in high school for drawing (and taping to the wall) a comic strip called “AV in Space.”

48. Had a pet tarantula as a kid.

47. Kept stats for my daughter’s basketball team for six years.

46. Can be heard on DVD commentary tracks for “Among Us” and “Peter Rottentail.”

45. Probably have re-read Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” more than any other novel.

44. Did not learn to type until I took a course in college.

43. Wrote a fan letter to President Jimmy Carter in sixth grade.

42. Earned my first actual paycheck in high school videotaping varsity wrestling matches.

41. The first TV show I ever worked on was camera on "The Phipps Gospel Sing” on WIPB-TV.

40. I was an active member of the Pen Pal Club on PBS' Big Blue Marble throughout the 70s and early 80s.

39. My first car was a 'vette. A 1979 Chevette we bought from my gym teacher. I shared it with my brother.

38. I have never watched the final episode of "The Prisoner" because I never wanted to end.

37. Played a pawn in a human chess game at a Renaissance Festival.

36. The first song I ever called a radio station to request was “Telephone Line” by ELO at 990 WERK in Muncie IN.

35. I have seen a lot of famous people but only asked for one autograph (from Carl Erskine, for my son).

34. My daughter and I were both born at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie Indiana.

33. Since I didn’t have a bank account as a kid, I used to keep all of my money in a copy of Spillane's “I, the Jury.”

32. I was named Big Brother of the Year for east central Indiana in 1993.

31. I have been active in Big Brothers/Big Sisters more or less continuously since 1987.

30. The first song I played through without getting booed off stage on Guitar Hero was Fascination Street by The Cure.

29. I have had two gold teeth (one of them I finally had to pull).

28. Until my mother retired from hairdressing, nobody else had ever cut my hair.

27. The first D&D module I played was White Plume Mountain.

26. The first movie I watched on HBO was The Last Remake of Beau Geste.

25. For whatever reason the Golden Age Flash has pretty much always been my favorite superhero.

24. Have stood in the DMZ and looked into North Korea.

23. Was in New York to watch a taping of Late Night with David Letterman in 1988.

22. I was brushed with a foul ball and knocked down at a Reds game last season.

21. I was at the first Pacers game ever at Conseco Fieldhouse, with my dad and brother.

20. Stood on the Great Wall of China.

19. Took a square dancing class in college.

18. Wrote the script for, and appeared as a suicidal Nazi, in the direct to DVD "Black Mass."

17. Wore a bigfoot suit in the direct-to-DVD movie "Among Us" which I also wrote.

16. I am mentioned in the acknowledgments for Haven Kimmel's novel "The Used World."

15. In college, I was a DJ for a carrier-current radio station in a dorm at Ball State.

14. Several times I was the guest host for "Now Showing," a movie review show on WIPB-TV.

13. I won a David Letterman Telecommunications Scholarship in 1987.

12. I was Freshman Writer of the Year for the Ball State Daily News in 1985.

11. Characters in the short films "The Hook" and "The B-Team" are named after me.

10. I used to host a public access TV show about comic books in Muncie, Indiana.

9. The first movie I remember seeing was The Barefoot Executive.

8. My first R rated movie was Alien.

7. I was an extra in the movie Hoosiers.

6. I "sang" in a punk band called The Johnnies in high school.

5. M first CD was Pearl Jam Ten.

4. My first cassette was Bryan Adams Cuts Like A Knife.

3. My first 8-track was Wings Greatest Hits.

2. The first .45 was "King Tut."

1. My first concert was Adam Ant, opening act The Romantics.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

Photographic evidence that I actually finished a 5K, and with people behind me (albeit mostly old ladies).  I tell people I finished 64 out of 100 without mentioning 30 people didn't show up day of because of cold and rain.

On the Book Beat Again

My quarterly column for Pomp and Circumstantial Evidence, the magazine of the Magna Cum Murder Mystery Conference at Ball State University.  You can read all of my reviews on every genre at www.onthebookbeat.blogspot.com.

The Devil's Star by Joe Nesbo

Harry Hole is a brilliant cop who fights alcoholism and other personal demons; Tom Waaler is his partner, the ace detective in the Oslo police force.  But Hole also believes Waaler is the murderous crime lord Prince, although nobody else believes him.  In a blazing Norwegian summer, these two cops must team up to find a serial killer in Jo Nesbo's The Devil's Star.

Nesbo's first Harry Hole novel translated into English, The Redbreast, is one of my favorites from the large spate of Scandinavian mysteries that have landed on these shores in recent years.  I thought the second in the series, Nemesis, was good but not up to the first one; but The Devil's Star is close, a dark, delirious crime drama chock full of odd characters and colorful writing. 

I think Nesbo compares favorably to one of my other must-read crime novelists, Michael Connelly, although Nesbo does not have the body of work yet.

For better or worse, Nesbo writes in a more American style with plenty of action, and doesn't often dwell in the gloom and doom of his Scandinavian brethren. 

Nesbo also injects a lot of quirky humor, a welcome respite from these frequently wintry novels. Recommended.

Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason

Morose Reykjavik cop Erlendur becomes fascinated with a depressed woman's suicide as tragedies in his own past resonate, ending with him taking up an unofficial investigation that uncovers more family trauma in Arnaldur Indridason's Hypothermia, part of his long-running police procedural series set in Iceland.

This is one of my favorite authors in the batch of gloomy Scandinavian imports that have reached U.S. readers over the past few years.  Each novel features great characters that grow and change along with complex crime drama.  The philosophical underpinnings of most of the mystery novels from Scandinavia offer a welcome change of pace from American crime fare. 

And it's not often you see a U.S. detective/protagonist tuck into a boiled sheep's head in jam.

The dead of winter probably wasn't the ideal time to pick up Indridason's latest, but when I see the newest one on the shelf I can't resist.  This series starts with Jar City, recently made into a movie, and all entries so far come recommended.  I thought this one was perhaps the best yet.

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

A doctor in a chaotic hospital ends up with even more stress than usual when he is outed as a former hitman hiding in the Witness Protection Program in Josh Bazell's darkly comic debut Beat the Reaper.

Beat the Reaper is fairly outlandish, penned in a cinematic style, and is quite funny throughout (and rather oddly provides footnotes for the medical terminology and other asides).

It does suffer a bit from a somewhat rushed, slam-bang ending which seems to segue into a sequel. 

The novel is written in a pretty unique voice (with undertones of other mafia and hospital stories) with lots of temporal distortion (and roller-coaster reveals) and recommended for a fast, fun read. 

The Painter of Battles by Arturo Perez-Reverte

A former war photographer has isolated himself in a lighthouse on the Spanish coast, painting a giant mural; soon he is joined by a former soldier who was the subject of one of his most famous photographs and now wants to kill him.  Their conversations about life, death, war, art and love make up the center of Arturo Perez-Reverte's The Painter of Battles.

Although the description makes it sound as if the novel has the barest wisp of a plot, it is a dense, cerebral novel with rewards for the patient (including a surprising, chilling ending). 

I am more familiar with Perez-Reverte as the author of the swashbuckling Captain Alatriste series and the memorable, whacked-out The Club Dumas (filmed as The Ninth Gate). 

This book is a departure from what I have read into a more literary bent but is quite a good read.

Sunday Morning, Coming Down

First Mailbox of 2011

New reader Scott writes:

Question for you, I have written a collection of horror scripts and I'm trying to sell my first one to break into the industry.  How did you get your funding for the movie, SEX MACHINE?  I'm trying everything and getting nowhere, from investors, production companies and even tried an agent.  I'm open to any suggestions that you might have.  

Thanks for asking.  I actually was the co-writer on that, not the director/producer.  I have primarily been a screenwriter and not involved much on the production side. But it seems like what you are asking is how to break in.

When I was trying to break in about ten years ago I started by going to some conventions and just trying to meet people.  There is the Flashback Horror Con in Chicago, as well as the Wizard World Comic Book Convention, Gen Con down in Indianapolis, Cinema Wasteland in Ohio, and many others.  I would recommend just introducing yourself to people and not pitching scripts.  Relationships are important because a director/producer/distributor needs to know you are easy to get along with and reliable before they commit to you, because the screenwriting process can be a few months to a year of collaboration (and then another year or so of production which might include some rewrites). 

At some point they will want to know you have skills but frankly it is rare for someone to buy a spec script, in my opinion.  I have written a few over the years but in the last ten years I have been hired to write 20 scripts and none of them were from my script ideas.  Most were rewrites of somebody else's script (that includes Sex Machine) or written to somebody else's specs, either what the director wants or what the distributor wants or so on.  I think it has nice to have some to show you know the basics of screenwriting, structure and terms and so on.  I use Movie Magic Screenwriter but many others like Final Draft and there is the free Celtx which is a good platform if you don't want to spend money yet.

I have never had an agent and have always been able to negotiate my own contracts (and you should always have a contract).  If an agent would take you on, I think it is worthwhile, but I have always done my own thing and have my own network now.  I think to get to another level obviously you need an agent, though I am happy with where I am now.

I hope this answers your basic question, but feel free to write back if you have more questions.  I am at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Best of the Book Beat 2008-2010

Somehow I have read over 150 books in the last three years.  As it may be my last serious attempt to read 50 books a year (which takes a lot more concentration than you might think), here is my highly subjective list of my favorites since 2008:


Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delany

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami 

Lunar Park by Brett Easton Ellis

The Keep by Jennifer Egan

The City and The City by China Mieville

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

The Murderer Vine by Shepard Rifkin

On the Book Beat 2010

For three years running I have managed to make my goal of reading 50 books a year; so I guess I have that one knocked down and perhaps it's time to try some new challenge (although I will continue to keep counting on this blog).  I did vow to read a little smarter this year, though I still read a mountain of trash and pulp.  But I read some really good books, and here are my favorites:

1.  The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno

2.  The Keep by Jennifer Egan

3.  The City and The City by China Mieville

4.  Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

5.  The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie


6.  Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks

7.  Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

8.  Clans of the Alphane Moon by Philip K. Dick

9.  Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem

10.  The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

As always, happy reading!

Who Draws The Crowd and Plays So Loud

Showing off my axe skills to thunderous boos on my new Wii, the first game system of my own since my beloved Atari (and even that one I shared with my brother).  I have been playing this game with the family for several straight days (which seemed like half an hour) and I think it might catch on with people--it's called "Guitar Hero."  It's no "Asteroids" but it might have some staying power.  Happy Holidays!