Oh! Sweet Nuthin'

As of today I am officially off sugar for at least one month.

I'm not trying to be all healthy or natural or anything, I just think I've had too much of it lately and it has adversely effected my health.

After eating a ton of ice cream, drinking a ton of soda, and delighting on a ton of candy one day I had the worst stomach ache and I think I actually went into sugar shock. It was a terrible feeling. This little incident didn't inspire my newfound resolve, but it sure enforced it.

What is sugar anyway?

Edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple (in maple syrup), and in many other sources. It forms the main ingredient in candy. Excessive consumption of sugar has been associated with increased incidences of type 2 diabetes, obesity and tooth decay.

I don't want diabetes, obesity and definitely not tooth decay (I'm weird about my teeth). So it is best if I just cut the sinfully delectible compound all-together from my diet.

Substituting it with chemicals like Saccharine, Aspartame or Xylitol is not the answer either. If it isn't naturally sweet like strawberries, then it probably doesn't belong in your body (I'm just sayin'). I've never liked artificial sweeteners or chemicals in my food anyway, it's always felt a bit fraudulent and fabricated. It gives things a plastic-ey feel (have you ever eaten at McDonalds?*)
And so I ask you for your support in this decision. If I'm with you and we are deciding on a beverage, please keep my non-sugar diet in consideration and don't offer a soda or lemonade. Same with dessert options - feel free to eat delightful sweets in front of me, but know that I will want it and will most likely be eying it the entire time.


*I totally love their Big Macs, McChickens, and Double Cheeseburgers. Also, when you get the fries fresh with just the right amount of salt... I'm hungry now.

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Vacation All I Ever Wanted, Part 2

Part two of the vacation travelogue series. This time in an even more charmy town than Sonora.

Jamestown, California is home to fewer than 500 people, an old-towne rustic look, and "Railtown" which is a state historic park/museum showcasing a wide variety of older trains and train related memorabilia.

We had a fun time riding in the traincars and watching the scenery go by. My father-in-law is a total train nerd and he goes nuts over everything that has to do with the rails. He was the most enthused one of the trip, which made it fun for us all.

I walked the trainyard and took some pictures. (they had a fully functioning roundhouse, I used to watch Shining Time Station and that roundhouse was my favorite part). Some of the pictures turned out really well, they look so artistic and cool.

My favorites are: Coil, Hook, Glass Bulb, and Rusted Metal 001.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

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NSFG

Some of you may be familiar with the term "NSFW" which means that the link/text/photo/video that you are about to click on is Not Safe For Work. Or to put it lightly - it's pretty bad, don't look at it at work or with children present.

I propose to you the following term to be spread out and used throughout the interwebs: "NSFG" or more simply put; Not Safe For Googling.

These things are better Wikipedia'd or asked about in the confines of your own home. Better yet, just don't bother with them at all because the less you know the safer you will be and the happier your life will progress.

DO NOT GOOGLE THEM. I am warning you now.

Some prime examples (but definitely not the only examples that could be used) are as follows:

3. Jessica Biel (Apparently most links are viruses)

2. Casting Couch (especially don't do Google image)

1. Duck Butter (Thanks a lot Zach)

Now that you have been sufficiently educated, go forth and tell the webiverse about your knew found terminology. You are now smarter and more "in-the-know" than your roomate.

You're welcome.

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Vacation All I Ever Wanted, Part 1

It's been a very odd but equally fun few weeks. Tiffany's parents were in town for a while for a little vacation so we were given the chance to do some fun touristy stuff.

Rather than drone on with a travelogue of everything that we did, I'm going to just split it up into the most interesting things that have happened (including photos so you can imagine that we're sitting on your couch with a slide-projector and I'm droning on about each slide.)

Sonora
Sonora, CA is a small town that came to be when the golddiggers of '49 came through the state. It is a really quaint and really small town.

We had the privilege of driving up there (about five hours away) to spend the night in a small bed and breakfast type motel. It bled olde towne charm all over the place.

Highlights: A teddy bear on our pillows, swimming in the pool late at night and looking up into the stars, writing my pre-script-tion on my iphone and sending it to Spencer to post, eating at a small barbeque place across the street and recieving poor service (which gave my mother-in-law the opportunity to not tip), delicious Belgian waffles for breakfast, and sitting outside on the balcony in our pajamas and talking.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

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Happy Birthday Spencer

Today is my best friends birthday. Since he insists on not living closer than 697 miles away from me, this is his birthday present!


In the winter of 2005, during the first semester at Brigham Young University for a young budding film student, it was important to find people to connect to and combine interests with.



It was in this vulnerable state that I met a certain young man from Murray, Utah who had signed up for not one, not two, but three of the same classes that I had signed up for.



For the next three and a half years Spencer and I were near inseparable. We took a lot of the same classes, made a lot of movies together, decided on a plan of action to take over the world and came up with a flawless buntcake recipe.


We wrote and directed and acted. We even animated together. Things couldn't have been more wonderful (or homo-erotic)...until senior year.

During senior year we were busy working on our final projects. I was grateful for Spencer's input and help and I did my best to be Spencer's 1st AD on his film Box of Rain. We also came up with the website Adventure Time Theatre where we post (and try to continue to post) our wacky videos and hilarious sketches.

He continues to be a great friend and confidant throughout the many years that I've known him.

Happy Birthday Spencer, I hope it has been a great and wonderful day for you.

...and he also starred in my Sophmore directing project The Fridge:

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Avatar Day

Friday was officially dubbed "Avatar Day" by geek/fans all around the world. Some ask "what is this new thing called Avatar? What does it have to do with me? Why can't I get a decent pomegranate in the summer?"

Well the answer to all these questions is that Avatar is the first feature film being directed by James Cameron in over a decade. He finished filming this little independent film called Titanic and we haven't heard from him since.

A few days before, if you went online you could put your name in to RSVP for tickets to a special preview screening. There were only a limited amount of screenings and even fewer cities that they were screening at. I had submitted my RSVP and received an email confirmation that I printed out. The theater that I was able to reserve tickets at was CityWalk AMC at Universal Studios Hollywood.

When the day came, Tiffany and I decided to travel down and make a date of it. We planned to get our tickets and then go eat. We found the table where they were giving out the tickets and I handed the lady my printout. Oh crap...they had sent a second email telling me that the system had crashed and I needed to re-RSVP for a time. I had no idea since I hadn't checked that particular email. We're screwed right?

Fortunately the woman was extremely nice and she got us into the next available showing which still had seats. But we had to run because it was starting soon. We arrived right after the announcement and found our seats in the dark. As we sat, the awesomeness began.

***Movie Spoilers***
The film is about a group of military personnel that find themselves volunteered for the scientific task of having their minds transfused into the bodies of a humanoid (and blue) alien race called the Na'Vi. Once inside the alien body, Jake (who was paraplegic) is sent to the Na'Vi's home planet Pandora. Once he has become acclimated into the group of alien beings, Jake finds himself involved in a conflict that includes groups of humans and the Na'Vi. What takes place is what I am guessing will be totally epic and dazzling sequences of battle during the war. Oh and there will also be a love story with Jake and a young Na'Vi that he meets.


So this here is what I saw on Friday:
This is all from my memory, which might be a bit rusty. But if you couldn't make it then you could never know if I left anything out.

The first thing we saw on a giant IMAX screen (with 3D glasses) was a large cafeteria-like room filled with military personnel. Jake (played by Sam Worthington) wheeled in on his wheelchair (he is paraplegic) during a heartfelt speech by a commander.

Next was a medical bay. Jake was asked by Dr. Augustine (played by Sigourney Weaver) to lay down. He positioned himself in a catscan-like pod where Dr. Augustine was trying to get him to lie still while she affixed him with a crazy mind trap-thing.

The next part was pretty cool, 3-D-wise. It was the transference of Jake's brain into the large Na'Vi body. Several floating screens were flicked around and picked up. It was very cool looking.

And then, Jake wakes up. He starts to get used to his new body. It is very exciting for him even though it is a bit new. He stumbles around the room despite the pleading from everyone to lie down. He finally decides to go for a stroll and escapes out the door.

This next part took place on the planet of Pandora. It was an action-packed scene where the newly avatared group of marines were confronted by some strange beasts. For some reason my mind traveled to the first time I saw Jurassic Park...

Next was Jake being overtaken by a group of ravenous dogs. A lovely Na'Vi woman came to his aid - Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). Yup, you guessed it - she becomes the love interest. She then continues to fight with him about having to kill one of the dogs to save his life. She insists that the dog did not need to die.

The next scene was really cool, it was Jake becoming acquanted with a dragon-like creature that he was able to infuse himself to in some mystical way. The creature then took off flying and he had to learn to control it while it spun out of control down a deep ravine. Very intense.

Finally was a group of quick cuts supported by a booming soundtrack. Fight scenes, romance scenes, and other various clips. Basically what you can see in the teaser trailer.

***End Spoilers***

It only lasted about fifteen minutes in total which was disappointing but not surprising. The bass was booming and the audio was perfect. The 3-D effects were impressive but a bit difficult to adjust your eyes to. I believe that if we were sitting in better seats (3/4 back, middle of the row) than it would have been much clearer.

They did however give us a coupon for movie tickets at matinee prices. Since we had nothing else to do and we had already paid for parking, we decided to go see 500 Days of Summer. We got some Panda Express and then headed to the movie.

The movie was excellent btw, even if the audience was absolutely terrible. I hate that theater.

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Short Story: Part Three

Now the thrilling conclusion of my three-part series. The first chapter involved two young kids who sought a different future where they could be free and live as they wished. The second chapter was a short script that shared their exploits in robbing a convenient store.

The third chapter involves what happens to these two young lovers after the heist.
Play this song:

It is best to listen while reading, or just before if you prefer silence to concentrate.

The next chapter is called:

GETAWAY
Chapter Three: Consequences

The cold steel doors of the prison cell came to a close. Sheriff Johnson of the county Sheriff’s Department locked the door, and then put the keys back on his belt. With a crude smile on his busted lip he looked to Becky. Becky had a deer-in-headlights look and was on the verge of crying.

Trying to be firm, Sheriff Johnson spouted out what he thought to be comforting words, “We called yer pa. Should be here in a bit.” And with that he left to do whatever business that Sheriffs do.

This made Becky feel worse. Tears already formed.

Through the bars, she looked into the cell which held the unconscious James - splayed out on a bench. In a whisper, Becky attempted to rouse James from his bludgeon-induced coma - “James.”

James groaned and then shifted on the bench.

“James!” she insisted.

Only a few words could be muttered from the groggy young man.

“What?” she said in a panic. “James, are you okay?”

James slowly sat up. He held his head with his hands. His face looked worse for wear, several cuts and bruises lined his eyes and mouth. A particularly large lump rested on the left side of his forehead. He touched it with caution, reacting to the pain.

More groaning - then, “What happened?”

“You got knocked out by the sheriff’s department,” Becky said bluntly. “They got you pretty good. You were knocked out.”

“Well duh.” he replied to himself.

James got up slowly and headed to the door. He put his arms around the bars to prop himself up.

“Did they call our parents?” he asked not really wanting an answer.

“They definitely called my dad.” her words settled in the air for a bit. “I don’t know about your mom.”

“Great. Fantastic.” he said, not welcoming the news.

Approaching his cell, Becky resorted to her false courage routine, “James, we have to figure out what happened and get our stories straight.”

“Why bother, they know it was us.” he replied curtly.

Offended she returns the pessimism, “I’m not going to burn for this. It was your plan, you held up the store. Your problem.” she hesitated, but then added a particularly stinging comment; “Nothing you’ve ever done has ever worked. I don’t know why I went along with you.”

She knew this was too much, she backed off. James just stood there speechless.

They stayed in their respective cells not communicating for over an hour.

Soon enough, Sheriff Johnson approached the cells with unwelcome news; “Miss Van Neel? Your father is here.”

Becky ran up to the doors as quickly as James ran back to the benches. The Sheriff unlocked her door and opened it.

In walked Becky’s father – Mr. Van Neel. Mister corn processing plant owner and millionaire. He stood tall in his cocky manner, dressed in his night clothes and trenchcoat. He did not look pleased with his daughter, but more than that, he did not look excited to see who she was with.

Becky ran to him and hugged him tight, “I’m sorry daddy. It was all a big mistake. I’ll never do it again.”

Mr. Van Neel looked her in the eye, “Did he force you into this?”

James rolled his eyes.

Becky looked back at her ex-love. “I had nothing to do with it daddy. He didn’t force me into anything.”

This didn’t convince him, so Mr. Van Neel approached the cell and stared down at the young man.

“I think we can safely say you will never talk to my daughter again,” he said coldly. “If you so much as approach her…wave hello to her, I will make sure you go away for a very long time.”

James didn’t flinch. He didn’t move. He sat there and stared right back at the pompous man.

“So then it is agreed.” Mr. Van Neel turned back to his daughter and escorted her out of the room. “Sheriff, I think the young man needs to think about his decisions,” he said vaguely. “Keep him as long as you need him.” The Sheriff nodded and smirked at the permission.

Becky looked back at James with pathetic eyes. She had either made the smartest, or the dumbest decision of her life.

James looked back at her. Those great big blue eyes piercing her soul.

Outside of the station, Mr. Van Neel escorted his daughter into the lovely Mercedes parked out front. He opened the passenger door and made sure she was seated safely in the car. He then turned to the Sheriff and began to discuss the releasing of his daughter from the incident.

Becky sat in the large luxurious car. Leather seats with silver inlay. Her attention was distracted by a pair of shiny keys that her father had left in the ignition. They swung back and forth, tantalizing her imagination.

Inside the jail, James bundled up from the cold. He had lost everything in a matter of a few hours. His heart was so heavy that he couldn’t cry. He could only sit there and wonder what had happened.

In Mr. Van Neel’s car, Becky was starting to realize how big of a mistake she had made. Did she really love him? How could she tell? She looked up to her father and the Sheriff who were busily arguing about something important. She looked back at the keys.

At this moment, it suddenly became clear who she really was. She had been fighting so hard to do what was pleasing to other people. She had gone along with James in this crazy fantasy of a plan; she had complied with her father unquestioningly. She had wanted to please others so much that she had forgotten what had made her happy.

Slowly, she slunk from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat. She started the car. Mr. Van Neel and the Sheriff instantly stopped arguing and stared at the young woman behind the wheel. She locked the doors.

With a flick of the wrist, she had put the car in reverse. The car peeled out and lunged backward into the parking lot. Mr. Van Neel ran after the disobedient child, “Young lady come back this instant!” but it was too late. She had put the car in drive and revved the engine. Mr. Van Neel approached the car and tried the door. He smacked the window, “you stop this car right now!”

Becky looked up at her old man. She was no longer his young baby girl. She was a free-thinking, beautiful, rebellious teenager and she was going to do what she wanted.

She let go of the brake and slammed down on the gas. The car fishtailed out into the open road. The Sheriff stood there in wonderment while Mr. Van Neel cursed under his breath. He turned to the Sheriff and instantly became upset, “Well go after her!” The Sheriff jumped into action and they both hopped into the squad car. They sped off towards the young runaway.

In his cell, James was lying down trying to get some sleep. This had been the worst day of his life and it’s not that easy to fall asleep after such a one.

As his mind drifted off to vacant places his eyes began to droop. He had just touched upon a restful state, when a faint honking started to grow.

Lights started to flash into the cell, bouncing off the walls. The honking grew louder. James opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. He climbed up to the window.

In the distance, a large stolen Mercedes Benz started to barrel down a field towards the prison.

“Oh shi…” he couldn’t finish the expletive before having to jump out of the way of the speeding car. He grabbed onto the prison bars and braced for impact.

The heavy vehicle plowed into the walls of the Sheriff’s Station, spitting brick and mortar into every direction. James screamed like a little girl as the debris rained upon him.

The vehicle came to a stop and the dust settled in the small cell. The tinted window of the car hummed as it was lowered. Becky sat in the driver’s seat - smiling large.

“Are you freakin’ crazy?!” James said in shock and relief.

“Need a ride?” she answered coolly, “I’ve got a full tank of gas.”

Without a second thought, James jumped down from the bars and slid on top of the hood to the passenger side. He hopped into the seat.

A group of people from the station came to investigate the loud sound; a few Deputies realized what was going on and scrambled to get out their guns and keys.

Becky slammed the car into reverse and hit the gas once more. The car didn’t go anywhere, it was stuck on debris. She revved the engine, the tires spun in place. James used his weight to rock the car back and forth, trying to break free. One of the Deputies had found his key and had opened the cell door when…

The tire connected with the ground projecting the car out of the jail and into the field. Becky adjusted the wheel to correct and then threw the stick into drive. They zoomed out of the grass and onto the road. They left the Sheriff Station in the dust.

On the road once more, the two rogues sat and smiled. They didn’t say a word until…

James turned to Becky and gave her the biggest kiss of her life. Becky smiled and tried to concentrate on the road.

James squeaked out a pathetic “Thank you.”

“Do me a favor,” Becky said firmly. “Don’t do anything stupid like that ever again.”

James sat back and laughed, “Okay Becky Van Neel, never again.”

“Unless it involves a wedding ring.” she retorted.

He nervously chuckled in response. She noticed his squirming.

“Not now!” she said to his relief.

They sat in silence once more as she approached the interstate.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“Now?” he calmly stated. “Now we live.”

They sat back and focused on the road ahead. The car sped down the interstate into the rising sun.

THE END

There are several things I learned while doing this little exercise:

- It is extremely hard to switch between different forms of storytelling. Script/short story, first person/third person, stream of consciousness/narration. It is all very confusing and difficult to switch between writing styles.

- Characters do what they want to do and say what they want to say. Sometimes I will write a line that I think is perfect, but when re-writing I will discover that the character doesn't want to say that or wouldn't say that. It is very interesting to see what personalities come out of the characters we create and to see what they want to say.

- I love to write. I kind of knew this before, but it was solidified in my trying to write something new. It made me appreciate the screenplay form for its familiarity, but also the short story or novel form as well because it is much harder than it seems.

Thank you all for being willing to read and I hope you enjoyed this little story. Please feel free to leave comments on how you felt about the story or what you think should happen next.

Until next time, keep those ideas moving!

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Short Story

A while back I was thinking that I should post a short story on my blog. Then today while trying to come up with an idea for my script on Pre-Script-tion I came up with a great idea that I wanted to explore further than a one-page script.

So I decided to do a cross-pollination of my ideas. I will be posting the first part of a story here on my blog, then I will post the second part in script form on Pre-Script-tion by the end of the night, and then finally I will post the conclusion on my blog tomorrow.

This way you can get the full story and enjoy it in three different ways.

Each chapter of the story will be accompanied by a song that I was listening to while writing. I think that all three stories fit very well with the songs that I happened to be listening to at the time so I will post them along with each part of the story. Hopefully this will add to the ambiance and mood of the story.

Here is the first song. Play it, read and enjoy:


The story is called:

GETAWAY

Chapter One: James and Becky

JAMES

The future.

Depending on your situation it could be optimistic and wide-open, or bleak and discouraging. I’ll give you one guess which one mine is.

Fifteen minutes until the bell. Mrs. Flack is giving me the stink eye again. What did I ever do to her? Sure I slacked off in class, argued with her every point and protested every assignment. But at least I never skipped class! All damn year I have come to class on time and prepared. Never missed an assignment, no matter how poorly presented or useless they may be.

Becky is handing me a note. That’s why I’m getting the stink eye. Not now Becky, we’re going to be talking to each other in like thirteen minutes. Put a lid on your horny self. I’ll just text her.

“James. Put away the cell phone please.”

Shoot, I thought I was being covert enough.

It’s okay, I’ll give Becky the old ‘hang on a sec’ nod.

What was I talking about? Oh ya, I’ve been plotting my escape from this ridiculous one stop-light town for a few years now. There’s really no future in it. What are my options? Loser teacher at Cornbread Podunk High School, labor slave for one of the nearby environment-destroying factories, hermit? I like that one. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about the constant buzzing of the bland townsfolk and their mediocre lives. Problem is I would most likely end up blowing myself up with homemade fertilizer bombs from sheer lack of something to do.

London. I need to get to London. Becky says they are always looking for new talented musicians in London. Plus, all the greatest bands in the world have come from the depths of the UK. Beatles, Clash, Sex Pistols, Stones, Smiths. I could go on.

Okay so now that we have a plan, what should we do? Beg our unsupportive parents for money? Get a summer job and end up forgetting our plans? Rob a convenient store?

BECKY

Just one time I would like to get his stupid ADD attention. For one second you hummingbird! This is really really important. I’ve been trying to tell you all morning that I was accepted at Cornell.

Ugh. Don’t pull out the cell phone, you’ll get Flacked again.

“James. Put away the cell phone please.” Told you sooooo.

A nod. Classy. Whatever, I’ll just wait the twelve minutes for the stupid bell.

Ten.

Five.

RING! Finally!

I’ll need to intercept him from Flack, they can argue for hours. I need to get him out of here, otherwise he would get distracted by something shiny.

JAMES

She’s never going to buy this.

“I had an idea.”

“First I need to tell you something.” Uh oh. That doesn’t sound good at all.

“I need to tell you something about our plans.”

“We’re still going to London right? Tell me you’re still going to London Beck.”

“Well, see it’s not that easy anymore. There’s my father… listen, we had a dumb dream and we thought it would be fun, now reality is setting in and there’s not much room for that sort of thing.”

“Beck, what are you talking about? We had a plan.”

She can’t be serious. What is she doing? There has never been any other plan. I would die without her.

Tell me you’re dying of cancer; tell me you’re secretly a lesbian. Just don’t tell me that you don’t want to be with me and change the world.

“I’ve been accepted into Cornell and I plan to go.”

Shit.

BECKY

Don’t give me that face, I hate that face.

Oooh, you jerk. What am I supposed to do? My father went there, my grandfather went there. I have been getting the ‘Cornell would be good for you’ speech a thousand times in the last few months. Besides, I would pretty much be disowned by my parents if I just ran off now. They are counting on me and they want what’s best for me…I think.

“Say something.”

“Two-thousand, three hundred.”

“What does that mean?”

“That’s how much we need to make it to London. After that we can probably just wing it. Find a job, crash at someone’s place. Get back on our feet you know.”

“James…”

“We could work during the days and then at nights I can play and you can go to art school.”

“James…I don’t think it’s a good idea anymore. Where are we going to get that kind of money?”

Don’t be silent again. I hate that. Whenever something bad happens or we get in a fight you just close down. TALK TO ME!

“We’ll steal it.”

“Dammit James. We can’t do it.”

“No…we can. I’ve got it all figured out.”

Don’t hug me right now. I don’t want to be near you right now. Okay, maybe just a little hug.

“This is our life baby. We only get one shot at it. Do you really want to look back and say that the only thing you ever did was follow what other people said you had to do?”

“…no.”

“We have got to do this. We need to get some money and then get out of here. We need to start living our lives.”

He’s got a point. I don’t care about Cornell. That’s my dad’s dream, not mine.

But it’s just so stupid. Isn’t there something else that is equally freeing but not as equally stupid? I mean, we are only seventeen for hell’s sake. I can’t let them run my life anymore! I want out just as bad as he does, but I’m not sure I’m prepared to go through with something as stupid as this.

Maybe it’s not that stupid. Maybe we can get in and get out and never be seen again. We’ll be in a whole different country. And it’s not like they would prosecute minors for something as small and petty as this. If anything they would just charge our parents. And they deserve to pay for the way they raised us. Generation Y my ass. They just didn’t know how to handle a bunch of kids who were faster and brighter than them. It’s the technology’s fault. With information so easily accessible, we were bound to become smarter.

Screw this town and screw our lives.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Really!”

“Really. But only once. We’ll get the money, and go. But you must promise me that we will never turn back. Never miss it. Never want to come home.”

“What home?”

To find out what happens next, visit Pre-Script-tion...

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Exposition

Recently relived the glory days by watching the pilot episode of Sliders on Hulu. I loved this show! Usually my brother and I would dominate the television for primetime when it was on.


There was a moment in the pilot where they had to wrap up a few storylines but didn't really have the time. How did they accomplish this seemingly impossible task? That's right -- EXPOSITION.

Exposition is that funny little agreement that we all make with film and television to let certain lines of dialogue slide. No one likes it, but everyone will excuse it from time to time. Writers will completely deny the use of it, even to the death. And no one will recommend it, unless that person's job is Executive or Producer.

Soap Opera's are notorious for using exposition to float along their wild and exotic themes and push their over-run storylines along. Here's some great examples we came up with in the car today:

When something needs to happen that they don't have the money to film, they use powers of exposition to create a picture for the audience. For example "You know I can't leave the house, not after the terrible car crash I was involved in last month."

When they need to change a storyline because of a missing castmember or because of current events, they just change the dialogue to incorporate it. For example "We can't make love right now, Jimmy is stuck in that well and that's all I can think about."

When they switch castmembers because an actor quits or gets something better, they change their sex or say that they died. For example "I am Johnny, I became a woman from a sex change operation that I purchased with the money from my dead wife."

But is it really all that bad? I admit Soap Operas are pretty bad. I can't stand to watch more than a few minutes at a time, if anything. In the case of Sliders it wasn't inadmissible, in fact it fit right in with the rest of the show. We didn't need to see all that stuff, it was perfectly okay for us to just hear it from the characters.

Sure we should avoid writing it into our scripts at all costs. But when the chips are down and we have no time to present our readers/viewers with the complete story - exposition is our hidden ally.

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Darkened Glass

I've been working on a new website. Well actually a website for my websites.

In the past few years I have taken an interest in developing and creating my own websites. In truth I've been doing this since I was a freshman in high school. Advanced Internet and Advanced Graphic Design classes were my second favorite classes (Video Production was my first favorite). I did pretty well in these classes and I think the reason was I could express myself creatively, but I was also given tasks that interested me enough to apply all my efforts towards it.

I don't have a sample of the very first website I ever created. I'm actually afraid to find out what it looks like. I do have a bunch of graphic work from High School buried deep within the basement of my parents house. It would be fun to dig in and try and uncover some of them to share... maybe next time we visit Utah. I actually won few school contests with my designs in High School, some of which profited me greatly. (I forgot to mention that Drafting was one of my favorite classes as well, I did really well in that class too.)

Anyway - because I have been working on developing these websites I decided to create my own company that would specialize in doing that sort of thing. It has mostly been myself and my friends creating websites for ourselves, but I am hoping that I could expand into creating New Media and Web content as a business. Just need to supply the clients.

The name of the company is DARKENED GLASS. Mostly it's just a really cool name, but it also has some personal beliefs mixed into the meaning.


So check out the site: http://darkenedglass.com/ Any suggestions or comments are fully welcomed.

And if you need or know of someone in need of web content, media for a website, or a website of their own, feel free to contact me and we'll talk business.

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A Story

I woke up to a lovely email from my friend Steve:

A phone text conversation that took place last night between 10:40 and 11:38 PM MDT between ME and "YOU":

ME: I think you should fess up to your creation of socialist Obama Joker posters.

"YOU": Who is this?

ME: Steve Aaron. How the heck are ya?

"YOU": Im fine. Are you looking for someone?

ME: Is this not Eric Anderson? Cause that would be awkward.

NOT YOU: Well then I guess this is awkward. This isn't Erics phone anymore.

ME: My apologies.

NOT YOU: Your not the only one who has done this. Who is Eric?

ME: I was in film school with him at BYU. I guess I need his new number now. Sorry to bother you.

(That's me trying to end the conversation again.)

NOT YOU: I think he must have been popular. No need to opoligize.

(I figure I'm done now texting NOT YOU.)

NOT YOU: Just curious how old are you guys?

ME: 26

(I don't dare ask how old NOT YOU is.)

NOT YOU: Figures...lol


And there you have it. What I'm really trying to say is...what's your phone number?

Kisses and love,

Steve

I laughed for a solid 14 minutes.

To all of you that have found yourself in this situation, please email me before texting or calling and I will send you my real phone number. I hate to think what the "other ME" is thinking at this point. Maybe I should apologize?

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Things I Need to Share

My friend Nick Stentzel is an amazing photographer. He is also a very decent filmmaker. He posts some of his photos on his blog, which I encourage you to check out.

This is a photo he featured on his blog recently. I absolutely love this photo. I'm a pseudo passive/neat freak. Which means I love to have things absolutely spotless (especially kitchens) but I am pretty lazy about making them that way. Not totally lazy, I still clean a lot. Just not spotless clean.

Which is funny about this particular selection in his group of still lifes, It is titled "Sloth"; I want it to be clean but I am too lazy to work at it.

Color Sloth

I have recently discovered the band Love. Here's some info from their Wikipedia page:

Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur Lee and the group's second songwriter, guitarist Bryan MacLean. One of the first racially diverse American pop bands, their music reflected different influences, combining elements of rock and roll, garage rock, folk and psychedelia.

Take a listen to "Alone Again Or":

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Most Memorable Moments

[scrippet]
INT. ANDERSON APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - MORNING
ERIC sits alone in the apartment pondering life's ultimate questions and infinite realities.

ERIC
I have nothing to do today, therefore I will work on everything that I have imagined to work on for many a fortnight.

THE DEVIL
Sounds good to me...but before you do, could you flip on the TV while I adjust to the morning (I've never been a morning person).

ERIC
I don't see any harm in this. I will turn it on while I complete my calorically proportioned Apple Jacks and then be off to work at the computer to the many whiles of fancy that have been swimming in my brain.

INT. ANDERSON APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - MUCH LATER
Eric sits at the computer. He has checked Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and all Emails. He sits and wonders what to do next.

ERIC
Hmmm...I'm having trouble getting started. Maybe I can get inspired by perusing the internets.

THE DEVIL
That sounds like an amazing idea. In fact, here's a list of websites that are good at wasting time...I mean they are very important.

INT. ANDERSON APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - EVENING
Eric has successfully NOT done the dishes NOR made dinner. In fact, he's done nothing.

ERIC
If I didn't know any better, I would say that something fishy is going on.

THE DEVIL
Hurry and get your work done in a quick and sloppy manner. Maybe by the time your wife gets home you can get everything done that you need to.

ERIC
Okay, that's it. Enough's enough. I haven't been able to get anything accomplished and now I feel even worse than I did last night. Is there any possible way that I can redeem myself?

INT. ANDERSON APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - TWO MOVIES AND DINNER LATER
Eric sits at his desk in his underwear.

ERIC
Crap.

THE DEVIL
You know you could write something on your blog...

Eric thinks about this.

ERIC
Why not?

FADE TO BLACK:
[/scrippet]

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Music Test

I'm using my blog to test something.

Let me know if you can hear the song posted below and that the player works properly.

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