And they were turned into a Subway. Not sure when this happened, but it must have been awfully quickly. Did find one down the street with uncomfortable stools. Will probably go to the bookstore across the way more frequently.
I know what you, the astute reader is asking, did Joe start drinking coffee? No. But I do appreciate a good hot chocolate and like the act of setting aside time to get productive, which is what I did today. Read about 3 act structure and plot diagraming today. All cool stuff that I'm itching to dive into. I think I'm zeroing in on a way to tell the story that would be of interest to people. It's becoming more than just a Clerks knockoff. I like that.
I've lost over 7 lbs. since I started spin classes 2 weeks ago. I'm real happy about that too. Down to 236 according to the gym scale. Nearing the magical 50 lb. mark total, again, real happy.
Deleted that girls number from my phone today, so I can't proceed with the long, drawn out plan that I had to call her, literally once a week until I either got ahold of her or had the police tell me to stop. Much healthier to delete and move on. Still a cunt tho.
MotD: Two movies today: Ghost World
I would do awful, awful things to Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansen. Things that would get me arrested in some states and make me a folk hero in others. Delicious. Movie was also good, a bit smug, but that was the point. Still haven't read anything by Clowes, but I imagine I'll do that one day. That and Chris Ware are on my hipster comic to do list.
Thelma & Louise:
Loved this movie, plays very early 1990's, but quite enjoyable. Sarandon is one of my favorites and Geena Davis got me to like her a lot, which says quite a bit. A bit misandrystic, it plays fairly obvious that the FBI guy, Keitel, doing the worst southern accent ever, has to believe in their innocence, because EVERY other male in the movie is a pig. However, the fact that the other males were portrayed pretty realistically, kinda proves the point. I didn't realize it was a Ridley Scott film until today, which makes me love him and it more. He really puts some strong, badass women on the screen. He should get an award from NOW or something. The Golden Labia Award.
P.S. I had to look up the opposite of misogynist, which is misandrist. How telling is it that I've heard the word misogyny a MILLION times in print, speech and conversation, yet have NEVER ONCE heard anyone use Misandrist. EVER. I think that deserves it's own blog. Maybe tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
In the Beginning...
Today was the first day of writing class. I can't say I had a great start, got caught up in bed this morning, but around 11 got the Ya Ya's out and made the right moves. Showered, lunched, then went to the Library to get away from the distraction of my condo.
Was the right move, but wasn't really necessary. Not much to do this week, a basic intro and the homework assignment was to decide on a topic. I had that pretty much in mind, so it was good and easy. I need to read more into the book and start a synopsis next. I've decided to flesh out Ushers. I think that's the right move, but I have Football Fantasy and Monkey Bars in mind if I need to change.
I think I'm most interested in finding the economy of words. That's always been a weakness of my communication and I think this will help that.
MotD: Gangs of New York
FINALLY got this from Amazon. Worth the wait, that's for sure. A bit lengthy in telling, and it felt like is suffered a bit at the end from this. Not due to attention span problems, but they seemed to lose Amsterdam in the story after he was attacked. One could look at it as a parallel with the underlying story of society marching on and moving past the petty arguments of the gangs. The movie had to move past Amsterdam and into the city. It just didn't feel 100% successful there, it just felt like it had too much story to tell, so it fast forwarded a bit, in the process it felt dragged out because we no longer had a connection to the post attack Amsterdam. Not sure if that makes sense, that the movie felt longer because it picked up the pace, but there it is. Recommended nonetheless, Scorsese is brilliant.
Was the right move, but wasn't really necessary. Not much to do this week, a basic intro and the homework assignment was to decide on a topic. I had that pretty much in mind, so it was good and easy. I need to read more into the book and start a synopsis next. I've decided to flesh out Ushers. I think that's the right move, but I have Football Fantasy and Monkey Bars in mind if I need to change.
I think I'm most interested in finding the economy of words. That's always been a weakness of my communication and I think this will help that.
MotD: Gangs of New York
FINALLY got this from Amazon. Worth the wait, that's for sure. A bit lengthy in telling, and it felt like is suffered a bit at the end from this. Not due to attention span problems, but they seemed to lose Amsterdam in the story after he was attacked. One could look at it as a parallel with the underlying story of society marching on and moving past the petty arguments of the gangs. The movie had to move past Amsterdam and into the city. It just didn't feel 100% successful there, it just felt like it had too much story to tell, so it fast forwarded a bit, in the process it felt dragged out because we no longer had a connection to the post attack Amsterdam. Not sure if that makes sense, that the movie felt longer because it picked up the pace, but there it is. Recommended nonetheless, Scorsese is brilliant.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Why give the number?
Here's what I don't understand. What kind of asshole, guy or girl, gives you a phone number, looks you in the eye and says "I hope you do call!" and then doesn't call you back when you do!
WTF?
Obviously, this is stemming from an experience I had this week, details aren't important, but I met a girl, called her a couple days later, never called me back. I tried again a week later, nothing. Yes, it stings a bit when someone doesn't call, but that's not the point here.
The point is what kind of asshole doesn't have it together enough to either...
A. Call you back simply to say, over the phone, "You know, I'm not that interested".
or
B. Not even give you the number in the first place.
or
C. Give you the wrong number on purpose!
I've had all 3 happen to me over the years, and as demoralizing as any of those may be, all of them are more respectable than the complete ignore. The optimist would look at that and say this isn't someone you want to get inolved with in the first place, because they're irresponsible assholes. The pessimist would look at this and say "You are so imposing when meeting someone, they feel compelled to give you their number, but as soon as you're out of arms reach, they realize how grotesque you are". The realist would simply look at this and say...
Cunt.
MotD: Haven't watched on today. Will update tomorrow.
WTF?
Obviously, this is stemming from an experience I had this week, details aren't important, but I met a girl, called her a couple days later, never called me back. I tried again a week later, nothing. Yes, it stings a bit when someone doesn't call, but that's not the point here.
The point is what kind of asshole doesn't have it together enough to either...
A. Call you back simply to say, over the phone, "You know, I'm not that interested".
or
B. Not even give you the number in the first place.
or
C. Give you the wrong number on purpose!
I've had all 3 happen to me over the years, and as demoralizing as any of those may be, all of them are more respectable than the complete ignore. The optimist would look at that and say this isn't someone you want to get inolved with in the first place, because they're irresponsible assholes. The pessimist would look at this and say "You are so imposing when meeting someone, they feel compelled to give you their number, but as soon as you're out of arms reach, they realize how grotesque you are". The realist would simply look at this and say...
Cunt.
MotD: Haven't watched on today. Will update tomorrow.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Billy Jack, protector of the Red Man, just 100 years too late...
I'll jump right to the point today, this morning I watched BILLY JACK!
For those not familiar, it's a classic 70's "action" film but that's not really doing it justice. Picture one man, a white man mind you, in a sweet Indian hat, cleaning up a town of racists so that the hippie, pot smoking, theater loving American Indians can go into town for ice cream without being harrassed. Oh, and there's raping.
It's like Easy Rider fucked Roadhouse while Steven Seagal sat in a corner jerking off.
Yes, it's that entertaining.
I need to follow it up with Walking Tall, but for now I'm basking in my Billy Jack high. Love it.
2 of my screenwriting books came in the mail Friday, excited about digging into those. Class starts Tuesday. I tried reading some yesterday, but was so wiped out from my drinking binge on Friday, I couldn't focus. Which sucked, because I couldn't get it together to hang out with my friends, who made another day of it on Saturday.
I don't know if it's pharmacological, or I just was literally that tired, but I don't like the place I found myself in yesterday. Not just hungover, but wanting the day to be over. It's odd, I knew of multiple events to do, all day long in fact, but something in me just told me to shut it down and not go out. Self pity's not the right word, but maybe it's self preservation?
I do know this, when I shut it down and stay inside the house, I may not be doing "healthy" things, but I'm not getting into trouble either. I just wished I could find that happy medium. Maybe one day.
Hey, Bears won! Whoo Hoo!
For those not familiar, it's a classic 70's "action" film but that's not really doing it justice. Picture one man, a white man mind you, in a sweet Indian hat, cleaning up a town of racists so that the hippie, pot smoking, theater loving American Indians can go into town for ice cream without being harrassed. Oh, and there's raping.
It's like Easy Rider fucked Roadhouse while Steven Seagal sat in a corner jerking off.
Yes, it's that entertaining.
I need to follow it up with Walking Tall, but for now I'm basking in my Billy Jack high. Love it.
2 of my screenwriting books came in the mail Friday, excited about digging into those. Class starts Tuesday. I tried reading some yesterday, but was so wiped out from my drinking binge on Friday, I couldn't focus. Which sucked, because I couldn't get it together to hang out with my friends, who made another day of it on Saturday.
I don't know if it's pharmacological, or I just was literally that tired, but I don't like the place I found myself in yesterday. Not just hungover, but wanting the day to be over. It's odd, I knew of multiple events to do, all day long in fact, but something in me just told me to shut it down and not go out. Self pity's not the right word, but maybe it's self preservation?
I do know this, when I shut it down and stay inside the house, I may not be doing "healthy" things, but I'm not getting into trouble either. I just wished I could find that happy medium. Maybe one day.
Hey, Bears won! Whoo Hoo!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Am I the asshole here?
Pardon me for stealing a page from one of my favorites. As Adam Corolla says, people are just ASSHOLES. I may have worn that hat last night, but I'll let you judge.
Playing shuffleboard at Toons, my friend Finny and I just won control of the table and a 3rd party crew took the next game. A guy on my end, girl on Finny's end. She says to Finny, "We want to be red". "No.", replied Officer Finnegan. She asks him again, "But I want to be red." "Great, but no, we won the table, we choose, we're staying red."
At this point, she ropes me into the conversation, perhaps thinking I'm a soft touch. That was her first mistake. "Hey, can we be red?" Without missing a beat, I reply "No."
So let's be clear here, this idiot with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement, just asked TWO people, THREE times and was told NO. So what does she do?
"C'mon, I want to be red!"
Without missing a beat, and may I say with a bit of alliteration, I reply...
"Just because you BLEED red doesn't mean you get to BE red."
Which was, quite frankly, a funny way of saying you don't get what you want just because you have a vagina.
You'd think I just pulled out a picture of her Downs Syndrome sister and jerked off on it with her mother watching.
She was livid and Finny and I proceeded to SMOKE them on the shuffleboard table, only allowing 2 points. I apologized, even though I shouldn't have, but this humorless bitch wouldn't let it go. According to Finny, she wouldn't talk to him, calling us "dicks" and she even tried to get us kicked out!
WTF!
Anyway, that set the tone for the evening and my dander was up. Good times tho.
MotD: Dreamscape, going to watch it now. Midnight Meat Train was yesterday, and a "shocking" enough movie, but Jesus Christo, Clive Barker needs some therapy. I think every movie I've seen based on his stuff, has involved some otherdimensional cabal. One note, one talented note, but throw me a bone of variety here.
Playing shuffleboard at Toons, my friend Finny and I just won control of the table and a 3rd party crew took the next game. A guy on my end, girl on Finny's end. She says to Finny, "We want to be red". "No.", replied Officer Finnegan. She asks him again, "But I want to be red." "Great, but no, we won the table, we choose, we're staying red."
At this point, she ropes me into the conversation, perhaps thinking I'm a soft touch. That was her first mistake. "Hey, can we be red?" Without missing a beat, I reply "No."
So let's be clear here, this idiot with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement, just asked TWO people, THREE times and was told NO. So what does she do?
"C'mon, I want to be red!"
Without missing a beat, and may I say with a bit of alliteration, I reply...
"Just because you BLEED red doesn't mean you get to BE red."
Which was, quite frankly, a funny way of saying you don't get what you want just because you have a vagina.
You'd think I just pulled out a picture of her Downs Syndrome sister and jerked off on it with her mother watching.
She was livid and Finny and I proceeded to SMOKE them on the shuffleboard table, only allowing 2 points. I apologized, even though I shouldn't have, but this humorless bitch wouldn't let it go. According to Finny, she wouldn't talk to him, calling us "dicks" and she even tried to get us kicked out!
WTF!
Anyway, that set the tone for the evening and my dander was up. Good times tho.
MotD: Dreamscape, going to watch it now. Midnight Meat Train was yesterday, and a "shocking" enough movie, but Jesus Christo, Clive Barker needs some therapy. I think every movie I've seen based on his stuff, has involved some otherdimensional cabal. One note, one talented note, but throw me a bone of variety here.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Didn't even have to use my AK
None of my homies got smoked, so today was a good day.
Pretty productive.
1. Went to a spin class, had a special instructor that let us use Heart Rate monitors to judge our workouts. Never used one before, but thought it was pretty cool. Not $220 worth of cool, but cool nonetheless.
2. Completed two writing samples and sent in a resume for an internship at the AV Club. Feel accomplished here for because A. It's the first "application" I've sent in for a position since I've been laid off. B. I had to write a couple things, nothing groundbreaking, but you have to flex the muscles, so I did that.
3. Had $50 knocked off my monthly cable bill by calling and asking them.
Which brings me to my point.
Motherfuck Comcast and ALL companies that sit on their hands and allow customers to pay more than they need to. You know you have a "deal" in place that applies to X% of your customers, so TELL them about it or just put them on the plan.
AOL did this a few years ago, when they switched from a pay service to offering free subscriptions. I know this because I was in the industry. They did not tell the paying subscribers that they were offering free service, if you were just someone who signed up and paid the bill without giving it thought, you might STILL be paying them, and this was 3 years ago.
It just smacks me of deceptive practices and that gets my dander up.
But the good news is I'm tying one on tonight, and that should also be productive, but I am missing the season premiere of Smallville.
MotD: Midnight Meat Train
Watching this as I type, so no real opinion on it. Instead, I'll reach into the archives.
MotD: 10/04/08: Speed Racer
This movie was a ton of fun. It had a MONKEY in a SUIT. Let me repeat that, a MONKEY in a SUIT! And the racing scenes were crazy fun. I can't see this ever being a smash hit, but the drubbing it got was totally undeserved. And one half of the director brothers is now a woman, so that's funny.
Signing off.
Malone
Pretty productive.
1. Went to a spin class, had a special instructor that let us use Heart Rate monitors to judge our workouts. Never used one before, but thought it was pretty cool. Not $220 worth of cool, but cool nonetheless.
2. Completed two writing samples and sent in a resume for an internship at the AV Club. Feel accomplished here for because A. It's the first "application" I've sent in for a position since I've been laid off. B. I had to write a couple things, nothing groundbreaking, but you have to flex the muscles, so I did that.
3. Had $50 knocked off my monthly cable bill by calling and asking them.
Which brings me to my point.
Motherfuck Comcast and ALL companies that sit on their hands and allow customers to pay more than they need to. You know you have a "deal" in place that applies to X% of your customers, so TELL them about it or just put them on the plan.
AOL did this a few years ago, when they switched from a pay service to offering free subscriptions. I know this because I was in the industry. They did not tell the paying subscribers that they were offering free service, if you were just someone who signed up and paid the bill without giving it thought, you might STILL be paying them, and this was 3 years ago.
It just smacks me of deceptive practices and that gets my dander up.
But the good news is I'm tying one on tonight, and that should also be productive, but I am missing the season premiere of Smallville.
MotD: Midnight Meat Train
Watching this as I type, so no real opinion on it. Instead, I'll reach into the archives.
MotD: 10/04/08: Speed Racer
This movie was a ton of fun. It had a MONKEY in a SUIT. Let me repeat that, a MONKEY in a SUIT! And the racing scenes were crazy fun. I can't see this ever being a smash hit, but the drubbing it got was totally undeserved. And one half of the director brothers is now a woman, so that's funny.
Signing off.
Malone
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Searching for a Purpose
So, what does Late to the Party mean?
It represents a lot of things, in no particular order....
1. It's 2009, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the internet and I'm just finally starting a blog.
2. I've never been an early adopter. Game systems, technology, exercise, all these things I've always sat back and waited until I was comfortable enough with their promise that utilizing them would be safe enough for me. Still skeptical about that whole Twitter thing.
3. Most importantly, right now, it means I'm getting older and feel like I missed a window. I need to change that.
For various reasons, none of which I'll get into now, but maybe in future posts, if you ask nicely, I felt like I was put on hold around age 17 until about 27. These are the 10 formative years of a person's life, where they are meant to make those mistakes that you can recover from and in all great coming of age stories, embark upon their great adventure.
Well, to paraphrase Mike Ditka, "I'm 34 years old and I'm not gonna get a hell of a lot better."
The blog starts today, my screenwriting class starts on Tuesday and in October, I start Improv classes at 2nd city. The future is now.
Movie of the Day: Garden State
A year ago, when I was laid off, I started watching one movie every day. I've kept up that pace and kept a log of the movies. I'll be including those movies as part of the blog here, as my MotD. I'll try to include a little write up and if I decide on a pithy rating system, that will be included as well.
I enjoyed Garden State a lot more than I thought I would. I was prepared for a smug, hipster coming of age movie and that's what I got, but surprise surprise, it worked for me. If only we all could meet our Princess Amidala like that.
So long fools.
-Malone
It represents a lot of things, in no particular order....
1. It's 2009, I spend an inordinate amount of time on the internet and I'm just finally starting a blog.
2. I've never been an early adopter. Game systems, technology, exercise, all these things I've always sat back and waited until I was comfortable enough with their promise that utilizing them would be safe enough for me. Still skeptical about that whole Twitter thing.
3. Most importantly, right now, it means I'm getting older and feel like I missed a window. I need to change that.
For various reasons, none of which I'll get into now, but maybe in future posts, if you ask nicely, I felt like I was put on hold around age 17 until about 27. These are the 10 formative years of a person's life, where they are meant to make those mistakes that you can recover from and in all great coming of age stories, embark upon their great adventure.
Well, to paraphrase Mike Ditka, "I'm 34 years old and I'm not gonna get a hell of a lot better."
The blog starts today, my screenwriting class starts on Tuesday and in October, I start Improv classes at 2nd city. The future is now.
Movie of the Day: Garden State
A year ago, when I was laid off, I started watching one movie every day. I've kept up that pace and kept a log of the movies. I'll be including those movies as part of the blog here, as my MotD. I'll try to include a little write up and if I decide on a pithy rating system, that will be included as well.
I enjoyed Garden State a lot more than I thought I would. I was prepared for a smug, hipster coming of age movie and that's what I got, but surprise surprise, it worked for me. If only we all could meet our Princess Amidala like that.
So long fools.
-Malone
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