Thursday, March 31st, 2005 - Ehhh...the end of March. Excited? Nah...

Work on "Wayside" continues. I think I'm on page 41 or 42 right now...almost half done. The killer's about to embark on the big "hack and slash" killing spree, so I'm guessing the writing will go more quickly from here on in... Hapless kids. Will they ever learn?

The boys and I are planning to see Sin City tomorrow during the day (to beat the crowds). I'm not familiar with the comic series, so I'm going in with zero "fanboy" expectations. That said, I expect it to pretty much kick ass. Expect a full review of the movie this weekend. If I like the movie, the review won't be much fun, so I'll try to hate it just a little...for your sake. =)

Tuesday, March 29th, 2005 - The job search continues. I met with a recruiter on Monday and it went pretty well. I'm expecting to hear back from her and her associates on Wednesday or Thursday about several jobs they're considering me for. I'm optimistic.

Writing continues on "Wayside." I'm about at the 40 page mark and things are sailing along. The killer is just about to embark on his killing spree. Once that starts, it should be smooth sailing until the end of the script. I'm glad things are finally moving...

Guys might find the Solar Death Ray an interesting, humorous little experiment. It definitely seems like a "guy thing" to do. I suggested a certain human target for the machine, but he didn't seem to think that was such a good idea. Oh, well...

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, March 27th, 2005 - Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you had a good one. I went to see my family today, so that was cool. I only get together with the entire family twice a year...Easter and Thanksgiving. As usual, there were more kids running around this year than last year and the ones who were there last year are all much bigger now. Time has a funny way of slipping away, doesn't it?

Thanks for checking in...

Thursday, March 24th, 2005 - It is truly a sad day... Just yesterday I learned of the passing of one of the gaming industry's truly original personalities... Billy "Wicked" Wilson died on March 14th at the all too young age of 33.

I can't tell you how sad this makes me... Billy was a stand up guy. Sure, he was quirky as hell, but in the seven plus years I've known him, I can't think of one bad thing to say about him. He was passionate about games and gaming news. I read Billy's VoodooExtreme and GamingGroove sites every day while I was at Raven Software. He interviewed me several times and constantly promoted Raven and its games.

You can read more about Billy here... Billy is remembered here...

Billy, you were a class act...and you will be missed. My condolences go out to your family and your friends. God bless.

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005 - I'm an alcoholic. Did you know that? If you're a close friend of mine, you probably do. If you're a family member, you probably do. If you've been to a bar in Middleton in the past 17 months, you DEFINITELY do. Well, this is it... I've decided to quit drinking. Wish me luck!

For the next month or so (maybe more), I'll be updating the page as a sort of journal of my attempt ( and success!) to quit drinking. It's kind of like Super Size Me, only it won't suck nearly as bad... =)

Back to my screenwriting...and my Diet Coke. Oh yeah...

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005 - Just a quick note to wish the legendary William Shatner a very Happy 74th Birthday... That's about 14 years longer than I expect to live myself, so I consider it quite an achievement.

As Doctor McCoy said in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, "Happy Birthday, Jim."

Friday, March 18th, 2005 - I went to Best Buy on Tuesday and I saw Flight of the Phoenix on DVD. I knew the film was a remake, so I thought it might be the original version. Upon closer inspection, however, I realized that it was the new version, starring Dennis Quaid. "How can that be?," I ask myself. Was it ever out in theaters? I checked The Numbers for the answer. Ouch! A $75,000,000 budgeted film rakes in a whopping $25,000,000 at the U.S. Box Office. Big, big, BIG fumble for Fox... And it's all because of the trailer, just like I said.

On a lighter note, I watched the Sci-Fi original picture Mansquito (no shit!) last night and it was actually quite entertaining! I had given up on Sci-Fi after Terminal Invasion, but they really rebounded nicely. If you get a chance to see it while it's running in the next few weeks, check it out. It's really worth the laugh... Thanks to Entertainment Weekly for their blurb on the movie. They give it a "B." Naturally... =)

"He's more Mosquito by now, than man..."

Finally, Happy Birthday, Stu!

Wednesday, March 15th, 2005 - I went out yesterday and picked up The Incredibles on DVD along with the Special Edition of Star Trek: First Contact...the only Next Generation film that didn't suck.

Possibly the worst of all the Trek films was Star Trek: Nemesis. Why? I think this guy sums it up nicely in...The Star Trek: Nemesis - Pictorial Plot Synopsis. The first time I saw it, I nearly wet my pants. Why? Because it's ALL true!

Now if you want to see "New" Star Trek done right, check out these guys. They just released their second episode, "In Harm's Way," for download and it KICKS ASS! If you've got a high speed connection and want to watch a classic "old Trek" episode, I highly recommend the download. Great, great stuff...

On a personal note, over the past year, my writing has really suffered. I have TONS of free time, yet I seem to spend it doing everything other than writing. I'm going to try to change that... I'm 23 pages into a new horror screenplay...a classic formula "slasher" film called "Wayside." Here's hoping I can finish it up in the next month... Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by...

Wednesday, March 8th, 2005 - I just wanted to wish my brother, Patrick Jon (P.J.) a Happy 30th Birthday! Shit...that means I'm going to be 32 this year! Yikes!

Happy Birthday, Bro!

Tuesday, March 7th, 2005 - I was really surprised (and very pleased) to see KISS appear on the Ellen Degeneres show last week (and in a flashback this week) to surprise 10 year old David Dingman-Grover on his birthday. The young boy was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and his life was saved by a neurosurgeon his mother located on the Internet. KISS is his favorite band and they flew in from all over the world (at their own expense) to appear on the show in full makeup with a huge birthday cake and a brand new guitar signed by all four members of the band.

Ellen read a bunch of letters this week in reaction to the show (the highest rated Ellen of the season) and several of them were apologies to KISS from parents who had bad-mouthed them to their children over the years. It was classic! It was nice to see (again) that KISS truly is the greatest band in the world. Rock on, guys!

In other news, I was saddened to hear about the death of writer/producer Debra Hill at the much too early age of 54. Along with John Carpenter, Debra Hill was involved in making many of my all time favorite movies, including "Halloween," "The Fog," "Escape From New York" and "The Dead Zone. Debra, you will be missed... =(

My rant for the day is directed at Domino's Pizza. Hey, I dig your "555" deal (three one topping pizzas for five bucks each), but PLEASE...your commercials for it are so freakin' annoying! The guy answers the door and says, "Three pizzas with whatever I want... If I want olive, I can order olive. If I want pineapple, I can order pineapple... If I want mushroom..." etc. The look on the delivery driver's face (one of pure annoyance) is the SAME look your target AUDIENCE is giving you! For Christ's sake, pull those commercials... Or at least stop showing them six times an hour on TBS during the day. You are killing me...slowly and painfully.

Advertising Rant #2 goes to Quizno's Subs... I refused to eat at Quizno's until they pulled all of the stupid commercials with the annoying, unintelligible singing, guitar playing rat things that were all the rage on the Internet a year ago. Finally they wise up and get ride of them, but now? BABY BOB???? Oh my God... Mark my words...I will never, ever, ever, ever, EVER eat at Quizno's again. Ever.

End rant...

Tuesday, March 1st, 2005 - Happy Birthday to my sister Carmen! Truth be told, I don't know how old she is today and I'm sure she wouldn't want me posting it. *laughs* Happy Birthday, Sis!

Can I just rant for a minute about how shitty the job market is right now? Oh, there are thousands of jobs available in the greater Madison area, but most of them are entry level or otherwise complete crap. I can't even get a "thanks for applying," a formal response or an interview these days. And do you know why? It's because these jobs I see advertised online and in the newspaper aren't really open. They're just "courtesy postings" put forth to comply with state law. In reality, the job has already been handed to an internal applicant, but the employer is posting the job because they HAVE to, by law.

You know the old saying, "It's not what you know, it's WHO you know?" Truer words were never spoken when it comes to finding a "real" job in 2005. Oh, well... Something will come along eventually, right? Let's hope so...

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