Enjoying the little things.

I haven't blogged in months only because I have been focusing on my Final Cut projects and that we are in full swing at the part time job, and the holidays and well you get the point. Anyway I just share just another example of how small the world wide web has made the world...in a good way.

A while ago I did a review of the movie OC Babes and the Slasher of Zombietown. It was a What the Frak! film which I try to feature weekend budget, under ground, or just plain weird b-movies. This one was a doozy and I really kicked it through the dirt. Well just last week I get a comment on the video post I did and it basically said that it was a good review and how most people just say they hated it, but my review was well thought out, etc. I was surprised at the compliment on a review that basically said the movie was bad with bad frosting. Turns out the comment on my video came from the writer and director of the movie. Talk about your small world.
Now I know its not like George Lucas or anything but I thought it was really cool to hear from the actual maker of the movie. I messaged back and forth a little and he told me a short "making of " story about the movie and the problems they ran into. Also why some of the things looked the way they did.

Needless to say I was giddy the rest of the day and thinking about it now still brings a smile to my face. It also has helped keep me motivated to doing what I have been doing with the Final Cuts and also start putting some true effort behind my bigger planned projects. Who know maybe he will be a resource I can turn to later on. It is indeed a small world.

bloaaarrg!!!

Ok so I am walking down the street the other day. Now when I say day I really mean night and by street I mean ally. Anyway I walked past a half open doorway and I see two rather hot women making out...or at least I thought they were making out ...damn this itches....I slowed down because you know, hey free show right, so I noticed that one seemed to be enjoying it more than the other. The one faceing me seemed to have this glazed, wide eyed lifeless stare and the one with her back to me was moaning in a approvement apparently of her own actions....can't stop scratchin shit maybe infected..Anyway,I noticed a pool of liquid by their feet. It ....damn that itches and hurts...Where was I oh yeah the pool. I thought maybe one of them had spilled their drink or something but then the light reflected on it and it had a reddish tint.....damn arm going numb....so I was thinking blood right. as I went to approach the couple the one who had her back to me and had been kissing the other girls neck turned around.
Now I have seen some cracy.....i mean crazy,...damn hard to concentrate...I have seen some crzy shit in my day but never seen a woman eating another womans layrnx before....I am thinking there is probably some weird person out there where thats their fetish ...now that I mentioned it, it will be a fetish site on the web...dmmit brain foggy...getting hungry to.. To make my point larynx eating hottie cam after meee. I Well I assumed sheeeee was cause of the pale skin and ...umm brains...I mean cloudy eyes and all....anyway ....damn hungry now....any she chased me...fast little bitch but I got away...shhhiitt aarrh...fuck what did I just say oh when I say got away I mean she caught me once but only biitttee my arm.....stomach reallg hurtazz hed fuzzzzzweeee.....hunnnngrrree arrrrrrrvggh btt I think shhe marrrrr ha ben zom......

Fall is definitely here

Well fall came like a bat out of hell. But it usually does for Wisconsin so its not a big surprise. The leaves turned all kinds of fantastic colors which makes this place a very pretty place to live for a couple weeks before the colorful leaves decide to leave their planet tree to explore the ground that is my lawn. Its not that I do not mind raking, its a normal part of this time of year when you leave in a city that has a large amount of trees, its just the amount of raking that needs to be done.
It would be nice if the trees dropped all their leaves at once like the one tree in our backyard. One day the tree will have all of its color, the next you find the leaves all decided they had had enough and commited mass suicide, leaving the tree looking like a skinny naked old man. Wow that's a visual I didn't need. Anyway the rest of the tress around here aren't so nice, in fact they are cruel. You could rake all the leaves off your lawn mid day and by night fall they will let just enough leaves go so that it looks as if you never raked.
Don't take it like I am a lawn fanatic, I am not by a long shot, just ask my buddy Jim or the Wife. I do like having the feeling of accomplishment and the trees dropping their leaves in small batches really puts the kabosh on this feeling.
Soon snow will be here and I will be cursing myself for never taking the free snowblower that doesn't work in to have it looked at.
Snow is alot like the fall leaves. You could shovel your walk free of snow and clear of ice and you turn around to put your shovel or unbroken snowblower away and find a fine layer of snow covering where you just shoveled. Guess its the price you pay for living in midwest, but I can't imagine myself living anywhere else. Its worth the price.

Just What am I missing?

OK confidence in what I do has never been my strong suit since I was a teenager. I have been doing a number of movie reviews and while they are not in depth as a Roger Ebert I hope folks find them entertaining. I could go more in depth, I can be a deep guy that is more than foreign torture movies and b-horror. So what am I missing with the movie "Girlfriend Experience".

For those of you who don't know the movie it stars Sasha Grey in her first "non porn" film. Now the fact she is a porn star and the movie is about a week in a call girl's life is not why I rented the film...ok its not TOTALLY the reason why I rented the film. I had heard a lot of good things about the movie from critic sites and it got a lot of hype at Cannes. Its a movie direct by Steven Soderbergh, the one who brought us Erin Brockovich(which I really enjoyed) and the Oceans franchise ( which I really liked the first one). It a docu film style of movie where its shot like a documentary but not a documentary which I enjoy as long as the writing is decent.
The movie scenes are shot out of order which can be a little unsettling but it does make you have to pay attention and it does give you those "A HA! so thats what happened" type of moments but on the whole I didn't think this movie was very good. All the other critics in the world seemed to disagree.
The movie definitely dates its self as the subject discussed by all of the call girl's clients is the economy . This makes sense since they are supposed to be rich guys. It is set just before the most recent election so there are alot of Obama/McCain debates discussed as well.
The problem I had with this is I have/had heard soooooooooooo many of the same damn discussions in real life that these parts of the film really turned me off to the movie. I hear enough of it during the elections and now I am getting it in the movie. Please enough.
I am all for being topical but it was monotonous in real life and it was the same in the movie.

You do really feel bad for this young girl and some of the decsions that she makes in the film but on the whole I just felt the characters were plastic and the main actress seemed bored. I know thats how her character was supposed to kind of be ...this really blocked off girl but the actress herself seemed just dulled by what she was doing.

So I will keep on keeping on and reviewing like I review, I am just wondering what I am not seeing that the critics are. Maybe its why they are the famous one I don't know.

Girlfriend experience gets one stub.

Yes folks I am crazy....but don't tell the others in my head

So I have decided to do something kind of crazy. I plan on doing 5 final cuts a week BUT they are only going to be one movie each show. This gives me a little more flexibility in time which seems to help my ADHD tendencies. Now some may ask...wow that comes to 260 movies a year to review. Yeah I got plenty I can give my opinion on so no worries about running out.

I applied to a web site to be a horror movie movie reviewer for them. It would be text which is probably why they have not contacted me back. My grammar isn't the best as most, if not all of you may have noticed so that would be my downfall. I did also link them to my youtube page which may have been a mistake. I could see them worrying about me promoting myself on their web site more than reviewing a movie, not that I would do such a thing but I could see their concerb. I am going to follow up with them but I think I know their answer if they have not contacted me so far.

Which makes me think perhaps I should put forth a bit more of an effort in lookin for sites that might want movie reviewers, video or written. Maybe look up some video contests but that means showing a little more ambition than I normally do. I just know I gotta do something.
Thats why I am going to try and stick to doing so many movie reviews a week. Practice makes perfect and it will keep me motivated to want to do more. At least thats the plan

"Ah ha!" & WOW moments and slaps to the head

So I am catching up on my episodes of the Fringe, which is by the way a show that definitely got better with age, the show is a lot different than it was when it began but that is a good thing. The last episode of the first season truely surprised me. I won't give away any details but there was a major "Ah ha!" moment and also a "Wow" moment. A moment I didn't see coming. Now I have never claimed to be the brightest bulb on string but usually I can catch where things are going but the show threw a curve. I liked it.

I will admit that 6th Sense caught me off guard, laugh all you want but I got so into the story I didn't really think about it. I have no problems admiting it. There have been many movies that I did figure out way before hand and while I enjoyed those movies I felt a little let down. Its not the movie's fault I had seen soo many movies that I was able to predict it.
Saw was another one of those movies that surprised me. Never saw the ending coming and neither did alot of my fellow movie maniacs. IT was a WOW moment.

The slap of the head comes from Hollywood thinking they could build a franchise off of these movies or the director thinking he had to do the same thing over again because it worked the first time. Why do they think that? I mean the more they repeat these formulas the more predictable they become which I think tarnishes the original.

6th sense wow'd and ahha'd people and the movie took off. M Knight I think then thought that was how he should make all his movies. The problem is it seemed forced with some of them and made them less of a movie than they could have been. The first Saw movie was very creative and ending out of no where, They developed a great character and brought horror to a different gory level but then they decided to rinse, wash, repeat with the next movies. Those sequels could have possibly been better had they not tried to be the same as the first.

Look I am not a major movie maker I know that. I have not made a major motion picture, but I got to think there has to be a better way to go about these movies. I understand doing a franchise and all that but who says the movie has to be the same as the first , course we the movie watching audience is a bit at guilt as well. We continue to pay for the movies because we hope the next movie will be something new and different. Nothing wrong with that I guess, we can always look at the money spent gives us the right to call a crap movie crap.

I just wish movie makers would look past the dollar signs once in a while.

Rediscovering the magic of the 1st Doctor.

My wife and I have begun to watch the first Doctor who's. I Have successfully converted her to a Who fan. So much in fact she did the research to find out what Dr episodes were on DVD, and when those shows original release dates were. Then updated her netflix Q accordingly.
In watching the originals it made me realize again how actually ground breaking the series was with what was done in the way of F/X writing, characters, etc. They did some cool things with the budget they had. Now while I have watched many a series of the Doctor I am still green in the way of back story for the show. The going ons as it were. I know they worked on a limited budget, very limited and I imagine they stuck with the TARDIS being a police box because it was cheaper to use the same prop then coming up with new ones every story. Now this may not have been why they kept it a Police Box but I am sure it may have had influence.

They then write this reason into the story. What I thought was most interesting is the difference in the Doctor between the Pilot and the 1st Episode. IN the Pilot he was alot harsher, meaner and just basically alot more old cranky guy. In the 1st Episode while the Doctor still had some attiude he was lighter in tone.
We have watched "The Unearthly Child" and "The Daleks" which were still badass bad guys even back then. Its funny on how consistant they have kept their shape all these years. Again unusual for a sci fi series that has gone this long. Sure they have gotten upgrades but there really is not a huge difference between the 60s and the Aughts Dalek. I like that.
We also watch by far the two weirdest episodes, at least in my opinion, that we have seen "The Edge of Distruction" two parter.
We have started to watch the Aztecs which is shaping up. It is a shame there are so many episodes missing from that time. I even sat through the half hour material they have been able to salvage of "Marco Polo" that one would have been fantastic to see in its entirety.
I look forward to watchin more as they come in.

Alas poor ....ah skip it

I am happy lately with the progress I am making with my video projects. After doing four episodes of Final cut in almost as many weeks makes me feel like I have a real project and that it is something i can keep up with. Its that damn hurdle thats always hard to get over. I have decided to just edit a whole bunch of sides before posting more or for those that may have been actually interested in the project I can send you the first final draft of the story.
I have a couple of video projects that may need to wait until next spring due to the fact they are rather involved music videos that will include props and such. Until then I keep plugging away at work and enjoy time with my family.
Turns out that I had a massive amount of vacation days left that I had to burn before the end of the year so I have planned them out. Spacing them by taking a friday and the following monday off so as to have a four day weekend and only use two days. During these days off I hope to make some progress on the video projects. I have a plan to use my time wisely. But also just have some fun veggin on games too.

Football is here

Watched the first preason Football game last night of the Pack. Yes I realize it is preseason but its almost a game for the first quarter when all or most of the starters are out. This was the case last night and I was pleased with what I saw. Our Defense did well in keeping the Browns scoreless and for the first quarter when the starters were all playing, the Offense looked to be in top form. Almost gone are the talks of Favre altogether which I am happy about. Rogers is almost completely out of the shadow of the Gunslinger in the media's eyes which should help him focus even more.
The new 3-4 Defense I think is gonna work out well. The players are still finding their feet with it but overall I like the look. They have more pressure on the QB and while guys are still getting passes completed our defenders are more on top of them before.
Granted its only game one of the preseason but if it is even a little indication of what is to come. It could be a good year.
I have rather limited myself to enjoying one sport. Its not that I feel the other sports are not worth my time, baseball has become a bit more exceiting than the past but as hard as I try, I just can't seem to get into it as much as most here. As a kid I enjoyed it alot more but then again I was born and raised in Milwaukee and in the 80's the Brewers, for a short while, were the shit. They are close to that again but unfortunately they seem to stay hot until when it really counts near the end.
IF you think figuring out the playoff schedule for NFL can get complicated, Baseball is almost worse, I think its because there are so many games played that there is a lot more opportunity to screw up.
Football...your one game away from getting into the Playoffs and you have only one game to play, no problem. Baseball, your one game from the playoffs but you have 8 games to play, alot more pressure there.
I have a lot of good memories about baseball as a kid, perhaps next year I will give it a chance again. Though thats all I need is one more distraction...ooo shiny.

Long week

So I saw in the new that the Wisconsin State Fair made national new for its...Chocolate covered Bacon...on a stick. I love it. Especially the idea of it. Unfortunately I will not make it down for that this year. In fact if has been a long while since I have been at the State Fair. Living up in cow hump Wisconsin its hard to make it down there well that and my workaholic habit. Anyway. Going to do a final cut tomorrow hopefully. And finally get to writing some more Sides. Its not that I do not like doing my projects. Its an engery factor and all.
Anyway look for some new stuff soon.

Turning over a leaf that's sort of new

I had hoped to blog last night but alas my final cut episode took up my night, as it usually does. Not that this is a bad thing. I try not to just throw something together for the sake of posting, thats probably why it takes me longer than it should to get things up on a regular basis. Mind you I am not looking to become the next internet sensation, they come and go in the night, I would like to think I am able to gain a following of steady watchers who are brave enough to watch my projects.
I posted the final cut episode last night at like midnight and by damn if it didn't have 20+ watchers when I checked it mid day. Now the Lisa Novas, or Mr. Saftey or even the chocolate rain guy may say chump change but for me...I am happy with those numbers even if no one watches it again. I know at 20 some people took the time to at least click the link lol.
I may come out with one near the end of the week. I have been watching a lot of cult and b- movies lately so I may dedicate a show to the art of the low budget film.
I am just trying to build some consistancy in my creative well creations. Its been rough at my jobs and I it helps me escape that by doing projects I want to do instead of ones I have to do.
Anyway I also want to try and cut back and lose some weight. I am getting old and my metabolism is rebelling against me. Time to suck it up and do something about it. I am thinking I may use a tape recorder and possibly toss out ideas as I work out...mind you I do not have a work plan yet but its getting there. I want to make this new month a time when I break out of my habits and create more productive habits...course there will be a day or two a vegging ..you gotta have those.
Anyway again with the rambling. Tomorrow look for more sides . Alot more.

August first and stuff to do

SIDES by Mark Krawczyk

sorry I don't have more than a couple more pages of Sides. Again Feedback is welcome.
So another month has arrived and this month for work is going to be as fraking busy as the last but whatcha gonna do.
Got to enjoy the day with some friends from Jill's side of college. It was a fun time at the park and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I unfortunately did not finish a project this week but I still have Sunday so next week I will post two. I want to do 1 a week to keep me in form on video editing and also to keep working at it to lead to the music video I want to shoot...that probably won't happen until next Spring but hopefully sooner. Lots of year left.
You know when I was in college I never pictured me being where I am at today but thats not a bad thing. In college you think you know it all....and I don't think its being college that does it, I think its just that age. Takes you a few years to realize you know nothing and that what you have done up until that point has been preperation for what is yet to come. Life is always changing and you can either be accepting to change or resistant to it. We naturally are resistant to change because it takes us out of our comfort zone but it is something that needs to happen to keep us going in life and to keep us out of the rut we usually put our selves in. I know there are some things I need to change and I plan on doing it over the next month or two. Its something that I must accept rather than resist If I want to accomplish what I want to. These next months will be interesting .

Also I have made my first of what will be many Movie reviews on the MovieMans Manic Movie Musings. Check it out if you get a chance.

Look up in the sky....

You know no one looks up anymore and I think they should. Now before the wiseass remarks come in , I am not talking about looking up when driving, or walking, or operating heavy machinery etc. I am talking about at times say on your break if you are able to go outside or even when leaving work.
I try to do this everytime I leave work. Its amazing how relaxing it is. Especially on sunny days...not so much on rainy days but still. We plow ahead through life constantly looking forward, gotta get to the car, gotta get home, etc. I think we get tunnel vision and forget how big the world out there really is and how small our part is.
I am sure I have written about this subject before but I felt like bringing it up again because of how stressful things have become at my job as of late. I come out of the building still wound up by the days events but if I just stop , look up and at times take a deep breath, much of the day melts away.
Anyway I just wanted to say that maybe everyone should just stop and not smell the roses but instead look up. Unless its high noon in which case you may want to wear your shades before you do it.

What to write hmmm

I have been very neglectful to my blog but its nothing personal to it. Just busy. In a good way, Last week I finished an episode of my Final Cut Movie review show I use to do on YouTube. I broke away from it for about a year or so. Not sure why just did. But now I am a bit older, wiser and through lonely trooper a little more experienced I dare say in doing a short show. Anyway I have gotten good feed back from it and plan on doing one a week at least. It is after all a show about something that I just don't shut up about. Movies.
The challenge is that I want to present it like a real show but don't want it too long for it is a youtube audience who are looking for short bits.
I also try to do it like a real show...well as real as I can make it with the production tools I have. I don't want it to just be a "Yeah I am in front of my web cam here's what I think." I am striving for the show to be a little bit different. I get soo passionate about movies and I want to convey that through the show...share some of it. The first episode went well and I think I was able to reach my goal. Hopefully I can achieve that every week. I am always looking for feed back and have gotten good stuff back from those who have watched it. I have graphics in there but they look rather primative because well I have not the experience or the equipment to make really cool graphics. Mostly the expereince. So here's hoping I can keep it going. This I then hope will help build momentum to lead to doin other video projects. We will have to see. All I know Is I need to do something to help keep my work work from over taking me.
Anyway I have rambled long enough
I will say this Puberty was very kind to Hermonie Granger.

Misery and Woe = Torchwood

Ok so I just realized that in the last 20 days I blogged 4 times. I just thought I had my birthday but it was two weeks ago already. Anyway I gotta work on that, among other things. Though I did acomplish one thing and that was watch the entire Torchwood series as it is so far. We had the privelage of watching the BBC releases. I know they are currently being showed in the US so I will not give away spoilers. I will say this. Russell T Davies knows Misery and woe and man do his characters suffer because of it.
Torchwood, the more mature doctor who spin off, has always seemed to be about misery and woe. Every episode though had been resolved ended up in some part of it being very bitter sweet, teetering on the unbearable.
Now we get a 5 part miniseries that takes it up a notch. I will say this about the miniseries is probably some of the best written episodes written for the show. On the other hand Russell T Davies pisses me off. Almost as much as he did with the Doctor Who Series. Please please please don't get me wrong , I love the fact that he managed to bring the franchise back AND write it in a way to where it wasn't just for geeks anymore. But the scope at which he liked to do some of his episodes really make you go "Oh Come On." I know I have commented on this before when I talked about the last Doctor who episode he wrote for season 4.
This man has a thing about having his characters unhappy. Now I am all for grit and dirt and yes even misery and woe with the characters I fall in love with in shows I watch but for fuck sake I also love when the after they go such things they get a happy ending for all the crap they suffered. Instead they just get more crap. I enjoyed Battlestar Galactica, the new gritty no holds barred version that came out but damn even those characters sometimes got a happy ending to their episode.
Davies just didn't seem to want to do that with the shows he did . I won't tell you if he has changed his ways or not for the 5 part miniseries. I will just say he pisses me off and not just now but has for a while.
I know they are his characters and yada yada but come on a show is supposed to make you forget your misery and woe in real life for a while....not add to it.

Anyway thats all I got. Still recovering from the series and hope they make more Torchwood. Now I just gotta wait for the Sara Jane Adventures to start up again.

Been gone awhile

Hi all. Can't believe I have not posted in almost two weeks. I had been doing so well until now. But it is that time of year . Busy busy busy. I had a good birthday. everyone invited showed up surprisingly and people didn't die from my cooking so all is well.
So whats been going on the last two weeks...work work work work work ...sleep torchwood work.
Yeah that about sums it up. Work has been running me ragged this month. So much so that when I get home my mental energy level is nil and about all I have the energy to do I enjoy some TV time with the wife or kids... Mostly the wife.
I work too much and I know it. I have an excess of vacation days and running out of months to use them. We just lost a guy in our dept. so time off will be even harder. The workaholic in me that I have managed to subdue is all for this while the rest of me goes "oh boy!".
I have been working on some more sides and will post soon. And once again I make the promise of doing the movie review show this week. One of these weeks I will actually do it. along with other projects in the wings. Ah well thats enough mental dump for the day. I know I am probabyl repeating myself but when you do nothing but work there ain't a whole lot to say.

Busy week kinda

LAst week I was so fried that I vegged all weekend. Even had a whole day where I was not on the computer. Instead I read through the Stephen King Novel Cell....interesting book. It caught me right away and I was compelled to see it all the way through. Its a lighter read for King but still had the gore and carnage of his other horror books. I also went to the fireworks with the kids.It's taken me a long time to enjoy fireworks again. I think it was having the kids be interested in it the helped me get over them.
Saw Transformers 2....and that's all I have to say about that ...for now. I will be reviewing the movie in full tonight as I finally record a Final Cut episode. Plus I am going to start populating the Moviemaniac's Manic Movie musings with some past reviews and such. Not that I will get a lot of hits and I doubt I will become an internet movie review sensation...there are so many nowadays. But its something to just share my opinions on movies to those who are interested.

The kids are at camp for the next four days. I am sure they are having fun. House is almost too quiet with out them. On one hand its great but on the other hand their is that "something is missing feeling".

And tomorrow I turn ....34!!!!! The day is unavoidable so I guess I should just face it like a good soldier.

Short but ....ok just short.

Had a plesent day off. Not really productive at all but I guess a day off doesn't really have to be does it. I was completely fried from this past week from work and I know more is coming. So today I just spent hanging about and oh yeah watched some more Who with da wife. She really is getting the hang of sci fi lingo. Its rather attractive to state how the Master is dead only until they find a hole to a parallel universe or another rift appears in the fabric of space in time or some other timey wymie thing happens that will allow the master to return.
Anyway.
Tomorrow is the fourth. Americas indpendence. My friend and I plan on seeing the 2nd transformers movie. Expectation level is not that hi so should be fairly enjoyable. I hear they upgraded the CGI Megan Fox for this one.
Well off to watch more doctor. may end up writing another who story ...but Sides is calling me to work on it some more. Hope you all enjoy it.

Been a while

Yes it has been a while since posting. Been busy busy busy busy busy with work which has drained me so. My job seems to be getting tougher and I know I could be doing better at it than I have been but I think it could be burn out. MY yearning to do something different for a living that would flex my creative muscle more doesn't help either. Part of the reason I have not posted as of late. Its also that whole "time flies" thing. It is true that time seems to fly by. Here I think its Tuesday and its actually thursday. I think Its only been a day or two since I posted and its been a week.
Been rough but there have been some bright spots in the past week or so. Been watching the Doctor Who series with the wife. the new who or the 2005 doctor who. She says I am forcing her to watch them yet she is the one saying "ah just one more". IT fun watching them again and catching things I hadn't before. Also fun seeing her reaction. I have been trying like hell to control the ..turn your head to see how they react to something you knew was coming ....thing. You know when you have seen something cool and are watching it again with a new person who has not seen the program.
Anyway its been a fun time and she is enjoying it. She made mention though the now my buddy Doc's stories make way more sense. Between her watching that and buying trade books of the Buffy comix the geekization of the wife is coming along nicely.

Movie Note...GO SEE THE HANGOVER. Funniest movie I have seen a the last few years. One of those where you are laughing about it 10mins after you left the theatre or you meet someone else who has seen it, they quote or you quote the movie and both laugh out loud. Its that good.

On another note I am trying to put forth the movieman's final cut AND also start a blog here that will just feature movie reviews by me. I will post when I have it in some assmeblence to read. I hope people read it and all. I wouldn't mind being recognized as one of those fairly well regarded Movie Review personalities but thats probably reaching too hi.

Welp off to more dr who watching with the wife.

Post if your interested in more sides or not. I plan on posting more this weekend, but if it is not of interest I will not bug ya all.

Dog on Pixar and stuff

Gonna keep it short. Been missing alot of days this month but it has been a busy month. In any case went to see UP with the little one , Ethan, today. His brother had seen it over the weekend. Eric was at his friends for a sleep over and they went to see the movie...he said it was kinda good and kinda not. This is because he was a kid, UP is definitely made for grown ups in mind as well as kids. Pixar once again does that excellent balance and walk that fine line of making a movie with mature enough elements that grown ups really get it and enough elements for the kids to laugh at the animals.
Now I am sure many have read the critic reviews and all and know the first 10 mins or so of the picture...might be less but who is counting minutes when you are watching... and the montage sequence that pretty well sets up the main character. I admit I got a little watery eyed which doesn't really happen to me at movies. This one some how got to me in spite of myself. That's how I knew Pixar had another winner on their hands.
Pixar still puts out the best animated material out there. Though Dreamworks is close behind. They mostly have the Shrek franchise which unfortunately they have run into the ground. They are showing promise though with their most recent pic Monsters vs Aliens. That was near Pixar level. I really enjoyed that one as well though they did more of the 3D schticks that you see in a 3D movie , still Monsters vs Aliens did make me laugh out loud more times than expected which is good thing...at least for me not sure if the other audiences liked it.
Anyway if they are still in theatres go see both movies. Better than most of the remakes and sequels and Comedies that have come out this year. Hell even some of the Dramas don't match up to UP and aren't nearly as funny as Monsters vs Aliens. I hear the Hangover is quite good but its not exactly kid friendly, even if it does have a baby in it.

Just another Saturday...and some more sides

SIDES by Mark Krawczyk

I updated the page for Sides...for the curious. I may actually get ambitious and dust off the old HTML editing and come up with a whole like site for Sides. I have some great ideas just need to relearn things. Though everything now is in Java, I am not looking to go that fancy...yet. Also wrote a couple pages on the script and am putting together my thoughts for a music video. I hope tomorrow to record a final cut episode and script out the next LT. Yeah sounds like a lot but I am finding I work better with self applied pressure than just goin eh. I am so far able to keep the projects seperate but it is fairly easy considering each is unique.

I did watch PotC:The Curse of the Black Pearl again today. Not sure why, probably because I enjoy that movie alot. Alot more than I should for a disney film but it is such a fun adventure film that I can't help but enjoy it. What does help is Johnny Depp's character that had definitely become a classic character already, Capt. Jack Sparrow. You can tell that this is a character Johnny loved playing, even if you didn't watch the interviews where he said he loved playing the character. Sparrow is supposed to be the bad guy, and he is a bad guy who lies, cheats, steals, double crosses his way through life but you can't help but cheer for him when he succeeds in escaping and feel bad for him an his terrible luck. That's why he is such a great character that truely could only be played by Johnny Depp who really helped carry the movie. Sure they had a great supporting cast and effects and real pirate ships, etc but what people come to the movie for the most is Capt. Jack. Johnny just can't help but steal every scene he is in with that character. I also think he had one of the greatest entrances that a character could have. In the first two minutes we see of Capt Jack, he says one line while bailing his sinking ship but by the time he has reached the dock we know exactly what kind of character he is. From how he holds himself to his attitude towards the dead priates hanging at the entrance of the cove, you can tell at least a little of what is in store for this character. I mean he is sailing into harbor on a sinking ship yet you would think he had the best vessel in the sea by how he handles the situation.

Sorry really didn't have much of a point other than that characters like Captain Jack aren't as easy to find in the movies of today. It is refreshing when you do get one. I hope to be able to write a part like that for a talented actor who will be able to sell the part like that. But only time will tell.

On a roll, 100th post

SIDES by Mark Krawczyk

Ah and so here it is. I am only 400 behind my good friend the Doctor. I would spend time reflecting on the blogs of old but the old montage show is just so played.
Some sappy song like "Through the years" by Kenny Rogers and...oh dear lord did I just make a Kenny Rogers reference. I feel so dirty now.
Anyway I did update the sides web page with a few more pages of writing for any curious folks.
Its been a good run and I have somethings on the horizon I plan on sticking to. So since this is a blog lets talk about my day

I ate three meals.
Went to the bathroom.
Went to work.
Worked my ass off
Drove in my car home.
Made Blt's
and currently I am writing a blog on Blogger. I am writing this Blog about it being the 100th Blog. In it I mention about my day. I will give you the highlights
see I talk about eating three meals a day, going to the bathroom and working, and some other things like my friend Doc who has like 500 blog postings. You should check it out.

Wow I need to follow my son's advice when says.

"Stop Staring into the Future."

Whats funny is one could get philosophical about it if one wanted too.

Anyway I quoted Clue the movie today and it got me thinking about that movie and it still makes me laugh. I think thats why I consider it a classic comedy, just like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankstein (that's frankenschtein). Those are three movies that I have fairly memorized and when I watch them I laugh my ass off. Litereally not a pretty sight but Duck Tape fixes everything.
Actually I think these movies are even funnier now because I anticipate the jokes. I find my self laughing before the joke is played. The jokes don't really get old to me. Now some people may disagree but these jokes in these movies stand the test of time and are very often quoted. Much like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Clerks and Clerks II. These comedies sit up there with the classics of the Marx brothers and yes I shall even envoke the Three Stooges. Which gets me to my point,yes I did have one.
DON"T REMAKE THESE CLASSICS.
Not that Hollywood would listen to me. They are after making a movie based on Battleship.
I am too late in this matter though. Yes Virginia they are making thinking of remaking Clue and it has been greenlighted , THE THREE STOOGES. Nothing is truely sacred they even have a cast. No its not Seth Rogen as Larry, Steve Carell as Moe, and Anthony Anderson as Curly. no no instead of this group of talented comedians who I think would actually make this remake tolerable They have
prepare yourselves
Sean "I have done nothing but drama most of my career" Penn as Larry.
Benicio Del "Yeah I have done even more drama then Sean Penn" Toro as Moe.
and
Jim "I am one of the skinnest comedians out there who needs a new boost in his career" Carrey...who I am assuming will be in a fat suit.

I shit you not ...its on IMDB ---> Say it aint so Moe!

Why why why why why would they they risk choosing two drama boys who decided to stretch their acting chops to be such classic characters as the Larry and Moe. And Jim carrey, while he is a talented comedian, is about the skinnest guy in hollywood to play the large source of comedy Curly. I mean whats next a movie about Monopoly the board game...Oh Dear god no

Sides the first couple pages.

SIDES by Mark Krawczyk

So we will try this. The link above is to the first couple pages of a Story I started a long time ago. It is one of the many incomplete projects I have I want to finish. It is a war story. I would just like to add that I have never been in the military. I have complete respect for the men and women who serve in the armed forces. If my descriptions of battles are over the top or a bit unrealistic it is just cause my frame of reference for such things have been Documentaries on war and Hollywood. When I write I imagine it as more of a movie then text so that is why some elements may seem a bit, well Hollywood'ized. I do hope you enjoy the story as I post more pages and again feedback is always more than welcome. This one was intended to be quite long but I hope you stick with it. Hell I hope I stick with it. Posting pages up will help with that motivation.
Again sorry for the extra link but its the only way I can avoid retyping everything I have written and keep my formatting. As A geek my web posting skills are lacking but its just one of many things I hope to change this year yet.

damn my hair is too short to pull out.

SO I wanted to post some pages from a story I started but abandoned about 3 years ago, but it appears Blogger and MS word do not get along when it comes to formatting. Never mind the fact that the Blogger editor it self doesn't like to keep the formatting I tell it to use when I retype it into the compose window. I think this thing hates me. I am working on a another way to post but it may involve dusting off the old HTML knowledge which is really rusty.
Anyway 1st day back from vacation and I wish I could say that I was re energized and ready to sally forth into the work routine with new vigor. But I can't because I am not. Still same old same old. Don't get me wrong vacation was great but it did not help me look at my job in a different light.
I had a great time with the family in Green Bay except for the driving. As some of my friends can attest too, I do care much for driving in the larger cities anymore. Fine call me a pansy, wuss, what have you but I just don't like it. I thought there were crazy drivers here in cow hump wisconsin but when you get into the city its increased by a factor of 10. I think I would be a little less bothered by the driving if it was just me but the fact I have the kids and wife in the car make me a bit more cautious. I use to be a more agressive driver or at least concerned driver when I lived in Milwaukee but not so much now.
What also through me off were the roads in Green Bay. That town was a bit tough to naivgate in if you did not stay to one of the three highways that cut through town. Course it didn't help that one of the bridges was closed and there was construction taking you on detours. Then the maps printed off the internet weren't exactly correct either. Big surprise I know.
I am usually very good at navigating but damned if the city didn't challenge me. Guess I just don't get out enough or something. I just had a tough time getting through that town when it didn't involve the main roads. Ah well everyone made it home fine which is the important part.
I am compiling in my head the events of the past three days and thinking of putting the account here for all to see, for those who might possibly be interested that is.
My goals for this week are to get some pages posted of the new fiction I am writing, A lonely trooper episode posted, a Final Cut episode posted, and work on the script. A tall order but I think it is doable. I do have my 2nd job this week but its only till 9 at night so I have time afterward. I may have to do this take time off thing again sometime. It was rather nice.

English be damned

Ok so my grammar is far from perfect as is my spelling. I apologize to all for this but I believe it is genetic. My parents were not exactly english majors. I am far from one. I should probably go back to school for it, that is if I think I could actually make a living with my writing or videos for that matter. That is still my dream job. I would love to have video production as my main job, but unfortunately a number of factors enter into that option that make me realize it is a dream that will have to wait.
Until then I shall subject people to my videos on you tube for free. Perhaps I will post on facebook as well, who knows. I would love to be a writer as well but, as people have seen, my English writing is not so good.
But enough about that, lets talk about birds.
I had a rather close encounter with one on Saturday. Real close. Like on top of my head close.
See we were at Bay Beach amusement park enjoying an ice cream snack. When we were done we decided to head inside the common building where the restrooms were so the kids could wash off the stickiness from their summertime treat. On our way to the building, I saw a bird flying very low along the bushes. It waited until I was just heading up the stairs before it flew at me. It was at head level and got three feet from me before it decided to go back into a tree. I waited for the family to catch up and as they got to me the bird had returned. It flew low towards me and then landed in a bush in front of me. I went up to it to say a few words to it when I felt something scratch and slap my head. I ducked down in time to see a red wing blackbird fly off into a tree. The bird had divebombed my head and got close enough to smack me with its wings. It was a bit traumatic. Since that time we have joked about the birds having it out for me. At the sanctuary and the zoo. Even the high flying seagull seemed to have their eye on me. Kinda creepy.
Anyway when I return to the Batcave I will be posting pages of a story I have been working on for a while, a long while. Too long actually. I hope you all will enjoy. Is it something I would like to see published, you bet, one of my dreams. But before that would happen I would probably have to go back to school for English lessons. Also work my ass off at it alot harder. Same could be said for the video work.
Such is life. For now I shall try an enjoy my day off from work, tough to do when you are a workaholic, and spend time with the Brothers Krawczyk and da wife.

Family videos and such

I was rather tired last night by the time things wound down on our first day to post so I figured I take a moment quick and post this morning. This is the first family vacation where I took a video camera along. Which is weird considering I am a video head. My problem with shooting family videos is 1) since your behind the camera your not always right in on the action sometimes and 2)Its a family video. The movie guy in me can't just shoot whats going on. I am looking for interesting angles to shoot things at or try to shoot it as a narrative to the point of trying to get the kids to enter the building then have them go out and come in again so I have an outside shot of them going into the building and then the shot of them coming in and continuing on.
I try to fight it but I can't. Just the video guy in me or something. Also the fact its a family video and once transfered to DVD will probably be watched once every so often or when we want to humiliate the kids when they are teens.
Anyway coming to a home theater near me will be our GreenBay Vacation 2009: The Brothers Krawczyk Attack.
Today we head to "the Zoo". Can't wait to shoot them getting eatin by a goat.

Comics how I miss thee

Yes folks the other day I took my kids to the comic book store and they bought a couple of comices. As I looked down the rows of comics I realized that I am very much out of touch with the world of comics now. I use to follow number of them but as years went by I feel more and more behind and I finally didn't buy any because, well I couldn't really follow some of the story lines while others were just plain dumb. This was during the Early to mid 90's. I think one of the issue I bought was the issue where Batman had his back broken by Bane. The comic was well written and though I knew the moment was coming I still yelled "NOO!!!" as I turned to the full page panel of Bane breaking my beloved superhero. So now I have started my children on the slow path of comics which they are interested in. The only problem I ran into was the fact that the majority of the comics out there are no longer written for the ages 7 to 12 years of age group. At least none at the small comic store that we have here in town. Or at the book store either for that matter. A good chunk of the material out there is written for the more mature audience.
I guess our generation held on to those tried and true comics and the ritual of going to the comic store to get the latest issues.
I wonder how many kids nowadays are actually into comics, well that aren't derived from the latest japanese fad toy that is out. While some of those do pose to be interesting at the start they really seem like graphical instructions for the games themselves. I think more adults are buying comices than kids and not just because of one group has money over the other.
I welcome the fact my kids would rather read than stay plugged into the games. Yes we geeks love our video games but there is soooo much more of the geek world to explore.
I nearly wept when my children said they wanted to learn how to play D&D. sure they are a bit young but its the thought that matters.
But getting back to the subject matter, I have no problems with myself reading the comics but many of them have a lot more mature story lines.
Lucky enough we did find an issue of Batman The Brave and the Bold #5 featuring Batman and Captain Marvel, DC Super Friends #16, and a comic from free comic day called DC Kids Mega sampler. Not bad reading ....so my kids tell me ...not that I read them or any...yeah I read them.
Hey they are comics how could I not.
My friend awhile back mentioned a zombie themed comic. I finally got around to reading it recently and I am sorry I did not catch it sooner. "The Walking Dead" is definitely not for kids but is a fantastic zompocalypse story. They have done things with the story I didn't think they would do. Just when it seemed to get cliché, they would surprise you with something out of left field. It has yet to get campy or predictable. Good traits for a comic to have. I am nearly caught up and can't wait to see what happens next. In fact I think I will go read some more right now.

Ooo Shiny.

So last night I got distracted by the Left 4 Dead editor I downloaded. It was officially released less than a month ago and when I learned of it I knew I had to have it. My running history with level editors has been extensive yet also fleeting. Course I was younger and a bit more impatient then. I remember getting the level editor for Doom 2 and sitting for hours working with the less than user friendly tools. I then took the deck plans my friend jim had of a starship he designed and tried to recreate it, to scale with the doom engine. I got one level done kinda. Then the interest drifted. Then I dabbled inthe other editors out there like the starcraft one but never finished the level, free space, delta force, dungeon siege and recently Company of Heroes....all left unfinished...you see the pattern. Before I had the motivation to do a level but then lost intterest or took longer than expected or I just got distra...oooo shiny.
Sorry where was I.
I am easily distractable when it comes with projects. i know I have probably covered this ground before about my not finishing projects but its still occurs though I am fightening through the urge more now then in the past...now that I am aware and fully acknowledge my one of many flaws.
Also I recently came into possesion of all of the episodes of the 1966 Batman series.
We watched the first episode of the first season with the kids last night. The kids got a kick out of it while Jill and I laughed our asses off over the dialog. Dripping with cheese complete with Adam wests over acting... and over course there was Batman doing the Batoosie dance.
I remember watching it constantly as a kid. I look forward to reliving those memories and burning them into the minds of my young children in the near future. in between designing a L4D level. Hey its Zombies so its gotta keep my interest longer. I was so damn giddy when I got to shoot zombies in the very basic level I made going through the tutorial. The editing tools are still in beta but there is so much promise. I know I am probably behind many diehards out there but I also have a life and that sometimes takes priority over any project.
I am looking forward to the trip this weekend and hope the weather is good.

"Chief O'hara I want you to stake out that warehouse like a circus tent" Commissioner Gordon.

Riddler: "Three men are stuck in a boat with four cigarettes, how did they all smoke?"
Robin: "They tossed one cigarette over board and made the boat a cigarette lighter"

Ah good times

We Digdigdigdigdigdigdigdig dig the whole day through

Ah yes gotta love when they keep your department lean. We have one guy on vacation this week and then today I had my other coworker stay home. He had to have removed a fleck of rust that had attached itself to his cornea. I told him stay home and rest. but it did mean a 13 hour work day for myself. I got some things done. Not as much as I like but never is. It does make for a long day though. Part of me doesn't mind. That would be the workaholic part of me. Work is like a second home if you think about it. Depending on your hours your with the co workers more than your family during the week. Kinda weird how that works out.
Anyway I actually have started the script. I am just going to continue writing it and when I am finished go back and tweak it. I know it will need it ...at least a few times but I have actually started on it which is a good sign.
Other than that not much to say tonight.
Hope its nice for this weekend.
Been long day...time for some nachos.

Hey look up in the sky its a bird, its a plane, no its a Monday

Ah so Had a soggy weekend. This still put a damper in my plans for my location shooting for Lonelytrooper. I know I could do blue screen but its kind of fun doing a location shoot plus it is quicker, cleaner and hell just looks better. Besides is very fitting for the way the story has progressed so far. Hopefully I can shoot it today in between downpours.

Had a decent weekend otherwise. My day off Friday was better than I thought, Saturday spent a good chunk of the day with the boys watching Batman The Brave and the Bold. We all enjoyed that. I really didn't get to any writing. Did get two movies in the mail we need to watch yet, Yes Man and Bedtime Stories. More mainstream than most of the movies I have watched recently but still something I thought I may enjoy. Gotta balance the Italian cannibals and zombies movies with something...other than porn.

Anyway I may use them for my movie review comeback which yes I have yet to film as well. I don't have my 2nd job this week so I have time. Its not like I don't want to do these projects, far from it. Just the energy is been lacking.

We have a weekend family trip coming up next weekend which should be fun. Going to Bay Beach and probably The Zoo in greenbay and if there is time I will be taking my boys on the Wisconsin right of passage, Lambeau field. I don't have season tickets or any tickets so for now its as close as they can come to being there for a game. Hopefully we will check out the hall of fame and maybe lunch at Curlys' I would like to take the tour too but those tickets are almost as hard to get as well any tickets that have Lambeau's name on it.

I do feel bad I will not be able to join the rest of the Lenny Lane Army for the wrasslin in milwaukee on Friday but one can't do it all. There will be other matches to be sure.

well thats about it keep a sharp eye for a new story, yes I will post soon. I hope people liked the poem Parody. Its something that just popped in there a few years ago and had to write it down. Funny how those things work out.

The Vader (A Parody of the Raven)

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style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The Vader
(A Raven parody)

By Mark Krawczyk

 

 

Once upon a Planet Dreary,
as I practiced, sore and weary,

With my light saber and book
of Jedi Lore.

I suddenly heard class=GramE>a breathing, like someone softly seething,

Seething
outside my blaster door.

"Tis
some alien" I did mutter "that's seething at my blaster door"

Quote the Vader "Open
the door."

 

My head it started reeling
and my heart was swiftly beating,

Not prepared for the dark
figure outside my door.

My arms were a class=GramE>quiver, my back gave a shiver,

While my fear extended into
my very core.

I chopped him up, this class=GramE>man who brought fear to my core,

I Left a head and torso,
nothing more.

 

I knew I should not have
stayed, should have gone far,far

away,

Hid out on
Dagobah or on Yavin Four.style='font-family:Arial'>

But stupid I had become, to the
Jedi temple I did run,

Hoping to
find one Jedi and maybe more.

In my search I had found
just 2 droids and little more.

It was R2D2 and R4.

 

The troopers, how they came
to enforce the Emperor's Reign,

With Ani's
help, they killed the Jedis by the score.

He use to be my friend but
that soon came to an end,

When the class=SpellE>Darkside pulled him through its blackened door.style='font-family:Arial'>

"You were the chosen
one," I screamed to my blaster door.

Quote the Vader
"Nevermore."

 

Out the window, I thought
I'd jump, on the bed my leg did bump,

Spilling
me out on to the metal floor.

From my hand the saber flew,
my chance to flee it did go too,

As my weapon went under my
chest of drawers,

I got up and as I reached
under the chest of drawers,

Quote the Vader "I'll
wait no more."

 

Then there came the humming
of someone swiftly running,

Running a class=SpellE>lightsaber into my blaster door,

Through the door I knew he'd
cut, to come in to kick my butt,

Right through the hole he'd
made in my metal door.

I tried to plea to him but
knew he wouldn't hear me through the door,

He wanted revenge, nothing
more.

 

My saber I did find, the
memories came and filled my mind,

Of all the brave Jedi
written in our lore,

My weapon I did light, took
my stance, prepared to fight

To Fight like I never had
before.

His red saber I could see,
as it came through the badly damaged door.

Fight with Anakin, I would
once more.

 

 

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Part of the door, it did fall, his name is
what I called,

As the dark lord came
through the hole in the door,

He was dressed all in black
and swift with his attack,

Nearly killing me before the
battle had begun,

I countered, blocked, and
jumped, through the door I did run.

Quote the Vader, "You
are my teacher no more".

 

His powers he did use, as he
continued the abuse,

And used
the force to push me to the floor.

I held off his attack,
though I was on my back,

My own
powers coming to use to me once more.

I pushed him back into the
wall and he came at me swinging more.

Anakin was stronger than
before.

 

On and on we did fight, down
the halls of dark and light,

Until we
found ourselves at a Hanger door.

Our sabers they did clash,
with sparks that made a splash,

Shorting out the controls
and opening the door,

As we continued the fight I
knew that I soon could take no more,

I then saw the sky, and
nothing more.

 

Through the open door I did
jump, and soon landed with a thump,

Death would have to wait for
me once more,

A little droid, I can say,
had come to save my day,

In my fighter that was
driven by R4,

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I asked, if the Jedi could ever be as strong
as before,

Quote the Vader
"Nevermore"

Friday yep still there

So I took the day off today which was weird for a workaholic like myself. Now I did end up checking my work e-mail twice and talking about a work related item to my co worker but I wasn't physically there. My mind was a bit. I did have a good time going to the kids family picnic thing and then the Wife and I walked around for a couple miles around town. IT was a fun. I got the audio recorded for Lonelytrooper and installed some more games on the new HD
All in all a good day off.
I hope to finish the lonely trooper episode tomorrow and play some games with the kids and start posting a new story soon that I really hope people will like.
Thats about all I got.

A Workaholic note

Yes its been a long week but today is my Friday, I know its Thursday but I took tomorrow off so this is the last work day of the week.Well ok theoretically it is. I most likely will check my work e-mail twice tomorrow and message my co-work "how's it going, anything going on, anyone looking for me."
What can I say I am a work a holic...another thing that tends to cut into my doing projects mostly because even though I may leave work my mind has a harder time of leaving work at work. Then I become mentally exhausted and well a bit lazy. The term Burnout comes to mind which would probably be most fitting for how I feel at the end of the day. Also the fact that my job requires me to use my brain doesn't help. It keeps it interesting to be sure but its a whole different way of thinking than the free flow of creative thought I use when working on my projects.
I realized I had only taken one full day off since January so it was about time for another one. I have more than enough days to burn. The fact that I have a 2nd job helps in my workaholism. Feeds the flame so to speak. I am working at trying to leave work at work but alas it has not gone well....I am getting better to be sure but its still tough.
On a side note I did get the script for the next lonely trooper done and hope to record it during my day off. Hell I may record two and work on writing or I may veg in front of some illuminated monitor . At least its not work

Poor Poor Monday.

Monday was a rough day. Long and bit stress ful but most Mondays are. Its funny how we give Monday a bad rap. I mean its not its fault its the first day after the weekend. Some people say I wish we could jump to Tuesday, not realizing they will dislike Tuesday just as much as Monday because it would be the first day of the work week. Sure you could go to Wednesday but then you are off of work more than you are working and then would complain you don't get enough money working 3 days a week and wish you had another work day.
Its not the fact that the day is Monday that makes it less tolerable than the rest of the days, it just happens to be the first day of work after having two days of not work. If you want to blame any day blame Saturday and Sunday for making Monday so bad. They are the ones that get you just relaxed and use to not being in the work environment before they run away on you. Leaving you standing there with Monday like the last two kids in the line to be picked for kickball teams.
Now it can be calculated that more work needs to be done on Mondays then the other workdays but again its not really Monday's fault. Saturday and Sunday are the ones that let things go to hell over the weekend so when its Monday's turn more things need to be fixed. So try to go easy on Monday when it comes around. It just happens to get the bad spot on the calendar.
Tuesday is a day that understands Monday's troubles the most. Usually Tuesday is just another workday but occasionally it becomes a Monday on those Holiday weekends were we have off on Monday. Tuesday then catches the brunt of the disdain. In fact sometimes when the Tuesday becomes a Monday its worse because Monday really lets things go to shit when its a day off so there is an extra day of stuff that can go wrong that needs to get fixed. Tuesday really doesn't like those weeks too much.
Wednesday is a day that is quite happy where it's at. It knows its place in the week is a coveted one. Why? well for one it is far enough away from the weekend where people are use to working by now. They come into work and things are fairly routine, plus Wedneday marks the halfway point to another weekend, so people are happy the week is half over. Wednesday is also a very happy day because at least once year it gets to feel like a Friday. So Wednesday is probably one of the best positioned days of the work week.
Thursday is more lucky than Wednesday in that it gets more chances to feel like a Friday but it also has the rep of making the work week long. By Thursday everyone really really wants the weekend to be there , so Thurday is more of a lamenting day. Its a day that people work hard to try and get things done before the weekend and a day people only look at as a bridge to Friday. Thursday is the day that most wants to be Friday and is happy when it gets its chance but wishes it got its chance more often.
This then brings us to Friday. This is the mover and shaker day. Friday is the day that is probably the happiest of all the days. Everyone usually looks forward to it, can't wait for it and when it finally arrives, people are generally in a better mood. Plus the fact that it gets to share the status of the Weekend the most out of the other workdays. Friday is also very content in its position like Wednesday is.

Of course there are those floating holidays that all the workdays love because every four years or so they get to be "the Day off" . Again Friday benefits the most out of this occurance just because it has the regular holidays that makes it part of the weekend and then the floater holiday too. We could talk about Saturday and Sunday but those two I think are rather self explanitory.

see what happens when I let my mind wander.

Alas I was doing so well

Ok so I have not posted in a couple of days. In my kinda defense I got my father's day present early...a 1.5TB drive plus I got a media server going so I can play video and music files on the PS3 as well as the other PC's without them having the files locally stored. Yeah I am a geek. Speaking of Geek the wife forced me to sit down and watch the first disk of the first season of the Big Bang Theory. Yeah I avoided for as long as I could ...not sure why ...maybe to just give the wife a hard time or maybe cause the show hits too close to home. I of course loved the show about 4 geeks who deal with a hot chi....a very attractive member of the opposite sex. Anyway the show is quite fun. I and my friend Jim laughed quite hard. Partly because these characters have bits and pieces that remind us of people we know or our selves. Not in a bad way, just in a way. Also because the actors just rattle the geekdom off so naturally you would swear this is how they are in real life outside of the tv world.
I could tell that the actors have real chemistry. Its funny but you can usually tell the shows where actors in a TV sitcom are just doing their thing and they don't really work well off each other. Their coversations seemed like they are reading from the script and the relationships are just scripted. With the principles in the Big Bang Theory this is not there. These characters feel very natural in a sense and the actors play off each other. Its fun to watch one try not to laugh while the others are performing. The geek banter these actors have in converstaions roll naturally off the tounge and it reminds me of conversations my friends and I have had.
All in all I enjoy the show and will be watching the rest.
I have been slow again in my video projects but I have the script for two lonely troopers completed and know what movie I want to review for the Final Cuts return. I just got to get off my butt and do them which is harder than one may think.

Fae'th in Time---the alternate ending

Hey if movies can have them why can't the written word. Anyway after chewing on it for a day, and some feedback from a few folks who have actually read the story, I decided to give it a different ending. I know its a Doctor Who story but it is also a Fae'th story so here is a different ending for the story. Try it on and see if you like it.

"The Doctor and Julie, really?” Donna-Lé asked. Shaden just shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘it happens’. He led them towards town as they started to walk.

“I know but hey we had one hell of a ride, wouldn't you say Points. How about I get you guys a drink on me?” Shaden asked.

"On you huh and how do you plan on purchasing said drinks? With the money you still owe us I bet." Bernard asked suspiciously.

"Who said we were buying the drinks?We'll just steal em." Shaden asked with a smile.

"Well we are theives are we not." Donna-Lé answered. Bernard looked at the tool as he shook his head and then added as he cracked his knuckles.

"It is our Specialty"

Fae'th in Time...the final pages

The group gathered outside the TARDIS. The Doctor opened the door and Shaden motioned to his two fellow thieves to enter.

“I don’t see how were all going to fit in there but if you insist. “ Donna-Lé said as she and Bernard entered the TARDIS. The moment the two were inside, the Doctor put the collars on them and then returned the Time Vector Generator to its rightful spot. The control room to the TARDIS was once again at its larger size. Julie and Shaden entered as the Doctor stepped out.

“Excuse me there is something I need to take care of.” The Doctor said as he drew his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor walked away before the other two could ask what he was going to do. He walked over to the Rani’s TARDIS which was still disguised as a pillar. He pointed the screwdriver at the machine when there was a flash of blue light and the Rani appeared between him and her TARDIS.

“Oh no you don’t” The Rani stated as she pushed a surprised Doctor to the ground. He grabbed her right boot but she managed to pull it out from his grip. She ran for the entrance to her TARDIS as Draconis burst through the front of the Palace. The Doctor scrambled to his feet ran to his TARDIS. Both machines dematerialized as Draconis shot a massive stream of fire out at both time machines. He roared in frustration and slammed his fists down, creating two large craters in the stone steps of the palace.

“Well that went well don’t you think?” The Doctor stated with a smile.

“You know I think your definition of well and mine are a bit different chief but I will say it could have gone worse. “ Shaden replied as walked over to a coat rack he did not remember seeing before. The Doctor answered Shaden’s unasked question about the rack.

“Oh I had that brought out especially for you. I thought you might enjoy looking at them.” Then the Doctor walked over to Julie.

“I am sorry I did not get to you sooner. Let me look at that cut.” The Doctor softly said as he looked Julie’s wound.

“Oh it’s just a scratch really Doctor. As far as the speed of my rescue, I knew you would come eventually. You always do.” She said as she smiled that smile that the Doctor enjoyed seeing. They stood there and shared a quiet moment. It did not last long as Shaden yelled from over by the coat rack.

“So what do you think, Chief?”

The Doctor and Julie turned to see Shaden wearing a black duster that seemed to fit him quite nicely. He spun around in place once for the Doctor and Julie to get the full affect, also Shaden liked how the jacket bellowed as he spun.

“I must say you do look quite dashing in it.” Julie said with a bit of a chuckle. Shade bowed in her direction.

“Why thank you m’lady?”

“Ah yes I remember that jacket, I have three or four others just like it. I picked them up from a little shop on the edge of the galaxy. The makers claim that it will never wear, fade or tear. It can withstand temperatures hotter than the sun and I have yet found a weapon that could penetrate it. Well there was one weapon that could but unless you plan on visiting Centrax 7 I think you will be safe in it.” The Doctor said as he leaned against the console. Shaden’s eyes got large. He went over to the Doctor to shake his hand.

“Thanks Doctor. I don’t tell many people that but you definitely deserve it.”

Shaden looked over at the console as the cylinder in the middle slowed and there was the sound of the TARDIS coming to a stop.

“I guess this is where we get off.” Shaden stated as he walked over to Julie. The thief moved a piece of her hair from in front of her face and looked deep into her eyes. There were two small tears trailing down her face and her eyes were full of water.

“Oh Dollface don’t cry. I wish we have more time too. Of all the times, in all the places, in all the universe, you had to come into mine. But see you gotta stay on this ship because if you stayed with me, you may not regret it tomorrow, or next week, or next year but someday you would and I don’t want to be the reason for that.” Shaden said as he touched her chin. He then turned to his two partners in crime who were still in a daze and moved them towards the door. The Doctor came over to Julie and put his arm around her.

“I didn’t think you cared for him that much my dear,” he commented as the two watched Shaden move Bernard out the door.

“I don’t actually, but the fumes coming from him made my eyes burn. Seriously can we go throw him in a shower, or bath, or say a river.” Julie said with a chuckle as she wiped here eyes. The Doctor got a look on his face as if he just remembered something and went through a door in the back of the control room. He emerged again just as Shaden had gotten Donna-Lé through the door.

“Here you are Shade, payment for you and your partners.” The Doctor said as he placed a hand sized pouch in the thief’s hand. He bounced the bag in his hand and smiled.

“On behalf of my partners I thank you. I also personally thank you. See I had spent the money from the last two jobs on one wild night with these two cat wo…” Shaden stopped as the Doctor looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He looked over at Julie who had her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

“Take care Blue Eyes,” Shaden said with a wave to Julie and quickly he gave the Doctor a big hug. The thief broke the embrace as fast as he had given it, “Sorry... Anyway safe travels Doctor. I don’t have many people I can truly call my friends but you and Julie can count yourselves as ones.”

Shaden exited the TARDIS and the second he closed the door, the TARDIS began to dematerialize. When the TARDIS had completely disappeared Shaden pulled out the sonic screwdriver he had just stolen from the Doctor and gave it a little flip in his hand. That’s when heard the sound of the TARDIS rematerialize behind him. The door to the TARDIS opened and a hand appeared from it with its palm open. Shaden placed the screwdriver into the hand which disappeared back into the TARDIS, followed by the slam of the door. Shaden chuckled to himself as the TARDIS once again disappeared into time and space. He then turned to his companions and removed their collars. Before they could say anything, Shaden put his arms around both of them.

“Can you believe that guy and his girl, knocked us out, disappeared and stiffed us our money.”

“You’re putting me on” Bernard said.

“The Doctor and Julie, really?” Donna-Lé asked. Shaden just shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘it happens’. He led them towards town as they started to walk.

“I know but hey we had one hell of an adventure, ay. How about I buy you guys a drink on me.”

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

“So where to now Doctor.” Julie asked as she took a seat on the love seat she had been on before. The Doctor checked a small monitor on the console and then flipped a couple switches before he turned towards Julie.

“I was thinking we go could go after the Rani.” He said with a smile.

“What? How?” Julie asked as she got up and walked over to the Doctor.

“ Slipped a small tracking beacon to her boots when she knocked me over. The TARDIS is working on locating it now.” The Doctor stated as he leaned against the console with his all knowing smile on his face.

“You think the TARDIS can find the Rani Doctor?” Julie asked.

“It’s her specialty.” The Doctor replied.

FIN

Thank you to any and all who have actually followed my little story. I know there are grammar errors and spelling errors abound but that's why I am going to be drafting it again to tighten it up. Please message me or e-mail or leave in the comment section of this post feedback, likes, dislikes and if you would like a copy of it when I am finished. I plant on posting a new story soon so stay tuned. In meantime I am actually working on a script of a movie I hope to shoot with in the next year. I have made some progress on it...not much but a start.

Grilling and the modern man

What is it exactly about grilling that makes it so enjoyable. Is it some primal instinct of man that comes to the surface when ever meat meats a grill and open flame. I can tell you its something I throughly enjoy, the fresh smell of burgers on the fire..or brats...or steak if you are so privelaged. I love the taste of grilled meat, there's some added element of the outdoors maybe. Something that gives it that extra kick. People grill out at tailgate parties and that tastes totally better than the more expensive burgers in the stadium. Some stadiums even use open grills but they just aren't the same.
Maybe its all just psychological in our brains that associates grilling with summer and vacation and good times. The brain becomes so happy that the food just tastes better not so much because it is but rather our brain thinking it is cause its feeling just so damn good.
Whatever it is that makes grilling special, I like it.
I am going to try and grill as much as possible this summer, because well to coin a phrase from Mr.Food. " oooo its so good."

I'll be Back: A quick review from a Devout T2 fan

OK so the finale for Fae'th will have to wait until tomorrow. I instead headed out with my good friend Jim to go see Terminator Salvation. Now I went into the movie with not so high expectations. Considering what a catastrophe the third movie was and the fact the McG was directing this one, lets just say I was very worried on how the movie was to play out. I was happily surprised.
I have always been a T1 and T2 fan, the multiple copies I have or should say had of T2 on vhs and DVD speak for themselves. When the 3rd movie was made you could tell it was something they slapped together to try and cash in on the franchise and failed miserably.
Then I heard the rumblings of them making a fourth movie and I was like,"They just are trying to milk the franchise more. Run it into the ground like Paramount did with alot of their other movies. I went in expecting another Indiana Jones and the Crystal skull, what I got was more of a respectable sequel to the first two films.
You can usually tell when a sequel is made just for the sake of making it and when it is made because someone actually took the time to come up with more story to tell. Terminator Salvation is the latter of the two. They put effort in keeping as much continuity as they could with out getting too confusing with the whole time travel aspect. McG made you care about the character and the pacing of the movie was very well done considering the amount of action sequences there were. This movie fit so much better into the time line of events than the third one.
Sky net still is on its rise to conquering the world after judgement day and the resistance is a hell of alot more organized.
They added a pleasant new twist to the story line with the introduction of the character Marcus Wright.
I don't want to give much away about the story but lets just say I was happy with the way events progressed.
The music made me happy and not just because it was Danny Elfman, my favorite composer, well ok maybe that had a little to do with it but it was decent even without that factor.
Danny's music is great during the quiet moments, I am sure the action ques were good as well but you couldn't quite hear it over the special f/x, which is normal for a high action film.
You could also tell what was going on in the action scenes for the majority of the film which was a nice change of paste from the close up Michael bay wTF just happened directing of action sequences we have seen as of late.
Sure there are some plot holes and some "Why didn't the robots just do this" moments but you have that in every movie.
On the whole Terminator is an excellent action film that takes itself a hell of alot more serious than the third film. They do a better job of tying it into the mythology and also keep it entertaining. It is at least worth the price of admission.

OY! damn me and my ways

SO my procrastination in movie making has let another IDea slip away. Just read about a guy who made a movie for 70 bucks. Its a Zombie film and its getting talk at Cannes. A japanese company is looking to buy the rights to it. He is looking to make major bank and possibly jump start his career. His movie is a Zombie movie told from the Zombie's perspective. Funny thing is I have had that idea for quite awhile but never got to shooting it. Now I would just be an imitator instead of an innovater. Ah well look for the Finale of Fae'th in Time tomorrow. Good night and good luck.

Fae'th in TIme....not quite the end.

The Doctor slid over to Julie’s body, in a bit of a panic fearing the worse. As he reached her she began to move. He was face to face with her when her eyes opened.

“It’s about time you showed up.” She stated groggily.

“You know how I am about schedules.”

The two shared a smile but immediately were reminded of the situation they were in. Draconis walked over to the two and sighed.

“Oh well, guess we will have to start with the elf.” Draconis said as he threw a fireball toward’s Donna-Lé.

“NO!” The Doctor and Julie yelled as they watched the fireball head towards its target. A moment before the fireball connected, there was a bright flash of blue light above Donna-Lé and two bodies fell on top of her, knocking her out of the way. The fireball connected with the Noc that had been holding the elf and the guard immediately turned into ash.

“Well that was new.” Shaden commented as he picked him self up off the Rani who was in a daze. Donna-Lé was also dazed and made little effort to move. Bernard stepped on the foot of the Noc holding him and then elbowed the beast between the legs. The Noc howled and loosened its grip just enough for Bernard to slip out. Shaden threw Smite and it cleaved the Noc’s head in two. The Doctor and Julie attempted to get up and run but were knocked back across the room into another pile of treasure by a large hand. Draconis had returned to his true form and did not look happy.

“I tried to be civil about this but you just don’t want to play nice. I guess I will just have to dig through your ashes later to look for that precious key.”

The Doctor and Julie tried to retrieve the air that had been knocked from their lungs as Draconis spoke. Bernard made a run in vein towards the two. Shaden made a motion with his hand and a large jewel flew from the ground and hit Bernard in the head, knocking his friend out cold. Though Draconis had his back to Shaden, the thief knew Draconis was about to strike. The Doctor pulled Julie close as Draconis released a large stream of fire from his mouth towards the two. They closed their eyes preparing for the pain to come but it never came. The Doctor opened his eyes immediately to see the stream of fire curling away from them and back towards Draconis. The Doctor saw Shaden on one knee with both hands stretched out at the fire, he was manipulating it. Draconis stopped for a moment with the fire trying to figure out what was wrong with his flame. The Doctor and Julie tried to get away but Draconis pinned them with his right hand.

“I don’t know what part of your science is protecting you, Doctor, but I will show you your science is no match for magic. Draconis used his free hand and a gigantic ball of purple energy appeared. Draconis threw it at the Doctor and Julie but the ball no sooner left Draconis’s hand when it flew back into the dragon’s face. He held his head in both hands as purple electricity arched around his eyes and mouth. The Doctor and Julie made a run towards Shaden. Draconis shot a stream of fire out blindly. Again it curled back into his face, causing him scream in pain and this time collapse to the ground.

The Doctor managed to reach Shaden before Shaden fell, the thief was covered in sweat and very pale.

“You can move things with your mind?”

“Its my secret …specialty…sssssh” Shaden replied wearily as he put his finger to his lips. Draconis had managed to clear his head and stand up again. At that moment a Noc Guard grabbed Julie by the arms and lifted her up in a reverse bear hug while the Rani had snuck up behind the Doctor and pulled the Time Vector Generator from his pocket.

“You lose Doctor.” The Rani said in the Doctor's ear as she pointed the TVG into the back of the timelord. The move made the Doctor lose his grip on Shaden, who slumped to his knees. Shaden looked for Donna-Lé but she too was restrained and Bernard was still out cold. Draconis’s voice snapped Shaden’s attention back to the dragon.

“Well done the Rani. I must say you have proven yourself most useful. Now if you could search the Doctor for his key, Shaden and I have some unfinished business.”

Draconis went to grab Shaden. The thief managed to get a hand up in front of himself.

“WAIT!!!!” He yelled.

The move was so sudden Draconis pulled his hand back for a moment as if he had touched something hot. Shaden then reached into the pocket of his leather armor and pulled out the recorder crystal he had put there earlier.

“Draconis … the Rani is going to double cross you.”

The Rani suddenly looked very nervous but did not move

Draconis just smiled as he went to grab the thief, “Now Shaden. You know I don’t trust anybody and suspected one day she would double cross me. Its one of her more appealing attributes. Now where were we.”

“But did you know that the double cross involved your death at the hands of science.” Shaden replied as he was grabbed by the dragon. Draconis paused for a moment and looked in the direction of the Rani with a raised eyebrow.

“Really?” Draconis asked.

“I am not Draconis. Don’t listen to him it’s just another one of his tricks. Now hurry up and fry the little fish.” The Rani replied in a bit of a panic.

Shaden smashed the crystal against Draconis’s finger.

“The crystal never lies”. Shaden said calmly.

A pink smoke floated in front of Draconis’s face. A picture suddenly appeared in front of him. Julie and the Doctor watched as well. The picture was not clear, like a video, but reminded Julie of an oil painting where the colors are slightly smeared. You could not see sharp detail but could tell what was going on. That’s when the hall echoed with the conversation the Rani had with Shaden about killing Draconis and then killing magic and using the world as her own personal lab. The scene ended at the point Shaden had just been pulled into the tunnel by the carpet.

Draconis looked down at the Rani and smiled.

“My you are full of ideas. When we are done dispatching these fools, you and I are going to have to have a talk my dear about how to destroy your vessel and your new role as palace slave. Isn’t that grand.”

The Rani’s face went flushed with anger and she pushed the Doctor out of the way.

“No one touches my ship, especially not some over grown salamander.” The Rani shot a beam from the Time Vector Generator at Draconis chest. The blast knocked the beast back and he let go of Shaden. The thief managed to roll as he landed and pop back up on his feet. The Doctor got to his feet and used the sonic screw driver to knock out the Noc holding Julie. The guard holding Donna-Lé was distracted by the commotion. The elf took advantage of the opportunity and elbowed the Noc in the nose a couple times, then she pulled out one of her daggers and drove the dagger through the Noc’s eye and into its head. She then grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows that had been tossed to the side. The Rani ran past Shaden with the TVG extended. Shaden promptly grabbed it from her hand and tossed it to the Doctor.

“Heads Up chief.”

The Doctor managed to look up and catch the TVG just before it hit him in the face. The Rani took a swing at Shaden, who ducked and spun around sweeping the Rani’s legs out from under her. He saw Draconis start to get up. Shaden looked above Draconis and notice a large iron chandelier hanging above from the ceiling. Shaden threw Smite into the air. The boomerang sliced the chain holding the fixture up. The large, heavy object fell instantly. Draconis caught the chandelier square in the head and slumped unconscious onto a pile of gold.

Shaden tried to run towards the Doctor, Julie and Donna-Lé, who was helping Bernard to his feet. The thief took two steps before he was tripped by the Rani and he tumbled down the mound of gold. The Rani picked up a large silver mug that was near her and slid down the mound after Shaden. Shaden was in the process of getting to his feet when the Rani reached him. She held the mug in the air, in preparation to strike but was not able to complete the action. She instead slumped to the floor, knocked out cold. Shaden looked down at the Rani and then up to see Julie holding one end of a golden scepter in her right hand while bouncing the other end in the left. Julie just smiled at Shaden and walked away.

“Right well we’ve had our fun but I think its time to leave.” The Doctor stated.

They nodded in agreement and the group ran to the large door way of the lair. They stopped just before the door way and stared at the sight in front of them. The fountain room was filled with Noc Guards, all with their weapons drawn and looking mighty pissed off.

Shaden armed himself with Smite, Donna-Lé readied her bow, Julie held her scepter like a bat and the Doctor took aim with the Time Vector Generator. Just as they were about to scream a barbaric yalp and rush into the fray, music suddenly filled the air. The Noc seemed to become entranced by it.

There’s a story you should know from a hundred years ago

And a hundred years we’ve waited now to tell

Now the Yankees come along and they’ll listen to this song

And they’ll quake in fear to hear this Rebel Yell

Yeeeeeeehaw! Oh the South’s gonna rise again!

As Bernard hit the cord on the last note green mist swiftly poured from his instrument and appearing between the group and army of Noc stood a 35 foot tall ghost soldier on his ghostly steed. Julie thought it looked like General Lee. The Ghost looked down at the Noc and gave a loud roar. From its mouth smaller ghost flew out and attacked the Noc. Most of the Noc ran in terror. The few brave Noc that stood their ground found themselves on the ground dead. Bernard made a motion with his hand.

“After you.”

“Teach him that one too did you?” The Doctor asked

“Yeah, for some reasons the songs I teach him seem to have more potent affect than any of the other songs.” Shaden replied as they walked to the back of the room. The Doctor used the Time Vector Generator to carve another hole and the group hastily exited the Palace.