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Making Dummies Look Good
My girlfriend got me hooked on So You Think You Can Dance, and at first, it was more about watching the auditions at the beginning of the show, just like on American Idol, where you simply watch to see the bad people.
But with dance numbers like this, how can you not want to see what else they come up with?
Flickr 365 set
Testing this slideshow out on the blog.
Flickr MeMe, 6th Photo on the 6th Page
Found this on Flickr. “It works like this: if you use Flickr, go to the sixth page of your photostream and pick the sixth picture there, then post it to your blog.”
I took this picture on a photo walk over the summer. I really need to do another photo walk.
Found out about this on friendfeed. If you are on friendfeed, friend me here: http://friendfeed.com/lilwolfpro
I Didn’t Win, But I Feel Like A Winner
John August held a scene writing contest on this blog and I thought it was the perfect thing to get me back into writing so I entered. I didn’t win but, that wasn’t the out come I was hoping for. I wanted to just complete something that had a deadline.
For the contest you had to write a scene using three things: A Fork, A Photo and a Phobia. Easy right? Well I didn’t want to use the clichéd phobias, so I picked two, one being common and the other no so common. This by no means was a polished effort. I just wanted to get it done so I could enter. Now, on to bigger contests. Maybe I can finish a whole screenplay now. Anyway, here is the scene I entered. You can head over to John’s blog to see the other entries (110 in all).
FADE IN:
INT. PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL – RECREATION ROOM – DAY
BREE CAIN, early 30’s, sits at a checkers table playing against an empty seat. Her hair is in bad need of a “What Not To Wear” makeover. Her hospital gown drapes off one shoulder exposing her collarbone and has a permanently stained and faded. Her nails are bitten down a little too far but despite all this, she’s still attractive.
In the background an elderly man runs past her with both hands on a walker, with only the wheels touching the ground, clearly not needing it.
Orderlies and gaurds attend the patients, trying to get them to stop or start doing someting they have no interest in.
A HAND reaches from behind Bree and moves one of her checker pieces, jumping three black checkers -
MAN’S VOICE (O.S.)
King me.
The Man, DET. GERRITSEN, early 40’s, sits in the empty seat.
Bree looks up at him, then back at the board. She kings him.
DET. GERRITSEN
It’s nice to see you’ve assimilated yourself to the craziness of this.
BREE
It’s contagious, I think you should leave before you catch it.
DET. GERRITSEN
You don’t have to be here, you know.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a photograph placing it on the checker board, disrupting the game.
DET. GERRITSEN (CONT’D)
Now, let’s stop with the fake psycho racket. You’re only here for protection, you don’t have to act as if. Tell me everything you know about this photograph so I can move on with my case and you can return to your normal life.
Bree picks up the photograph, stares.
Det. Gerritsen reached across the table and grabs the photograph out of her hand, slamming it back down on the table. Checkers fly everywhere.
DET. GERRITSEN (CONT’D)
You’ve seen it enough times, you know what it is, now tell me!
Heads turn looking at the commotion, two guards step closer heading towards their direction but stop before reaching.
All the patients in the room erupt in laughter/yells. The orderlies and guards try to calm the room.
BREE
You know what I miss the most?
DET. GERRITSEN
I don’t give a shit. Tell me what the photo means.
BREE
The normal things. Like eating with a sterling silver fork and not the plastic shit they give you here. a shape knife, my own clothes...
DET. GERRITSEN
You can have all that, just cooperate. You being in this nut factory does nothing for either of us. I hate coming here as much as you hate being here.
BREE
I don’t mind it, it’s better than the alternative.
DET. GERRITSEN
How could you not? I think we’ve done a great job of protecting you up until this point. Why don’t you trust me?
BREE
It’s not that I don’t trust you. I have a huge case of Ballistophobia which doesn’t help my Necrophobia.
Det. Gerritsen blanks. Clueless.
BREE (CONT’D)
My fear of bullets and death. Look officer...
DET. GERRITSEN
Detective.
BREE
...I’m not going to tell you while I know the man who gave you that is alive. I’d rather stay here.
DET. GERRITSEN
Fine.
Det. Gerritsen stands up
DET. GERRITSEN (CONT’D)
Guards!
Three guards run over, grab Bree from her chair and slam her on the ground.
DET. GERRITSEN (CONT’D)
You want to stay here? Then you will get treated like the kooks.
One of the guards pulls a needle out, while the other two try to hold Bree still. She struggle as much as she can, but it’s hopeless.
BREE
What the hell are you doing? What is that?
The guard sticks the needle in her hard as she violently tries to stop them.
Her movement starts to slow. She losing what little power she has until she’s still and we
FADE TO BLACK.
Testing [scrippet]
I’ve been keeping an eye on John August’s development of his Scrippets plug-in for WordPress since he announced it. I’ve always been envious of his way with code that made script excerpts show up on his website in proper format. Now everyone can do it.
EXT. HOME OFFICE – NIGHT
CECIL is sitting at his desk reading his feeds in Google Reader.
CECIL
Ah, John August’s WordPress plug-in Scrippets is available for everyone to use.
He gets up and does a little dance.
EXT. HOME OFFICE – NIGHT – MOMENTS LATER
Cecil stares at the screen with the biggest grin on his face.
CECIL
I’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time. Curse John August for being a talented writer and uber geek. No one man should have that much power!
I’m excited this works. Now I can show some of my work for people to tear apart. Checkout the plug in here and here.
Eagles Predictions
It’s early Sunday morning and I can’t wait until 1:00pm so I can watch the Eagles play there first game of the season. I still have to do a few things with my fantasy league, and make my picks for a weekly betting pool I’m in.
I just wanted to get a post up predicting what I thought would happen this season with the birds. Here are my predictions:
Record: 11-5
I know I’m being optimistic here, but I don’t really think that 11 wins is out of the question. Hopefully the receivers can get healthy and be productive. I’m not asking for T.O. numbers, just the usual crap they’ve put up throughout McNabb’s career.
Finish in the NFC East: First
If I think they are going to be 11-5, they have to finish first. I’m still not sold on the Cowgirls yet and the Giants will underwhelm. Everyone will be gunning for them and their injuries will play a big factor in them finishing 3rd followed by the redskins.
Will McNabb start the whole season: Yes
At least I hope so. He seems to be as healthy as he’s was in their super bowl run. Hopefully the O line can protect him.
Will Westbrook gain more yards than last year: No
While I think he will have a good season, It’s highly unlikely he will put up bigger numbers than he had last year. They brought in Lorenzo Booker to help with the work load and if McNabb is really healthy, they will be throwing the ball more. Plus, hopefully L.J. Smith will contribute at the at the TE position.
McNabb touchdowns: 21
This includes rushing TD as I think with him being healthy, he will have at least 2 to 3 running the ball.
Westbrook touchdowns: 10
I think 7 rushing, 3 receiving sounds about right. I hope I’m wrong and this number is more like 15, but that would be asking for too much.
DeSean Jackson touchdowns: 4
3 receiving and one punt return. I hope they don’t have to lean on him the whole season, if so, then I don’t think anything I’m predicting will come true.
LJ Smith Touchdowns: 3
I think 3 would be a good number, 5 would be better.
Asante Samuel Interceptions: 5
One of the areas the Eagles need to improve in is takeaways if they want to make the playoffs. I’m not that big on Samuel but he has been good at intercepting the ball. I hope this number is low.
How far will they go: Superbowl
A guy can dream right? I’ll just stick with Sports Illustrated in saying they will make it to the super bowl. I’m just hoping that SI got it wrong and they will win the whole thing.
I hope I’m right on most of these but we will have to wait and see. GO BIRDS!
Who’s Going To Be My Emily Valentine?
Every fan of 90210 TOS (The Original Series) has their moment. Maybe it was Donna Martin graduates, maybe it was Kelly joining a cult or when the noxzema girl died in Dylan McKay’s arms. How about when the kid blew his head off and we all learned a valuable lesson? Maybe you just liked the Peach Pit. Well for me, it was 12 illustrious episodes that showed me what a bad girl really was.
Enter Emily Valentine.
As soon as she showed up on screen with her short hair cut and too cool for this shit attitude, I got the feeling she was going to be trouble, and I liked it. Every guy likes the crazy girl but in this case, she didn’t start out that way. She had a whole other element that attracted guys like flies to sticky stuff – she was the new girl.
If you were a guy who watch 90210 and are willing to admit it, Emily Valentine was the best additon to the show. Not only was she cute, she was smart and could sing! Then she became a druggy, and tried to kill Brandon, but I forgive her.
As I sit here waiting for the new 90210 to come on, I wonder, can it even come close to moments like this? I doubt it. What was your favorite 90210 TOS moment?
How I Plan To Spend The Fall TV Season
Image credit
After a hot summer, it’s almost time for the leaves in the keystone state to start turning colors and then die. I love this time of year more than any other - although, spring is a very close second. The crunching of leaves under your foot, the smell of Fall staples like, pumpkin and apple pie,Starbuck’s Gingerbread Latte, etc. It’s all the sights, sounds and smells of the best season of the year.
But what I’m really looking forward too, is the start of the Fall TV Season. I’ve always enjoyed watching TV shows, but the last few year have been especially enjoyable. Maybe it has to do with getting older and appreciating TV more, or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve come to understand what it takes to write great shows every week that keep people coming back for more.
With last season being a strike shorten season and missing whole shows like 24, or getting, what could be called water down versions of the shows I love like, House and Grey’s Anatomy, this season will hopefully see these shows and others back in their old form. Some might argue that some shows lost their greatness before the strike, but that’s a whole other post.
So here are the shows I’m looking forward to returning in all of their glory, and some new ones I hope can be great.
MONDAY:
8:00 – Monday Night Football.
If the Eagles are on, I’m there or pretty much any other team. I might get to watch the other Monday shows live if the game isn’t that good, but most of the time Monday’s shows will be watched on Tuesday afternoon.
8:30 – How I Met Your Mother.
I really like this show. I’ve thought about doing a spec for it. Last season I missed a bunch of episodes because something came on in it’s time slot, I can’t remember what. This is pure fun, I’ll pick it up when I can. It’s not a must watch but I do enjoy it.
9:00 – Heroes.
While season two was eh, there is still enough there to keep me wanting more. It’s a world full of super heroes, how can you not like it?
10:00 – Weeds.
This will be ending soon, but it’s been a great season so far. I’m a little weirded out by one thing that has happened during the season, but I still love it. Mary-Louise Parker does a great job, and is quite the MILF.
TUESDAY
8:00 – House.
This is my favorite show on TV. Gregory House is one of the best characters on TV and Hugh Laurie one of the best actors. After last seasons shorten run and the way it ended, I can’t wait to see what the shows writers come up with. What will come of House and Wilson’s relationship? What will happen with the new team members? I get paresthesia just thinking about it!
8:00 – 90210.
I’ll give it a try, but as someone who loved the first show, I can’t see this being good. I mean come on, they couldn’t even come up with a new name for it? How about the new generation? Or, 90210-08. At least it comes on before all the other shows so I can ditch it early if I have too.
9:00 – Fringe.
OK, you got me Mr. Abrams. As someone who just caught up to Lost before the beginning of last season, watching the first 3 seasons over a span of two months and enjoying season four and now, just starting to watch Alias, I’ve become a huge J.J. Abrams fan. Cloverfield helped too. I even want to see Star Trek just because I’ve become a huge fan boy of his. I’ve only seen a few previews of this show and have no idea what it’s about. That doesn’t matter, I’m in.
WEDNESDAY
9:00 – Private Practice.
Dr. Addison Montgomery Shepherd was a main draw once she entered the Grey’s world. Now let’s hope this show picks up speed and gives its fans a reason to watch besides Kate Walsh. I look froward to seeing what Shonda Rhimes has up her sleeve.
THURSDAYS
9:00 – Grey’s Anatomy.
One of my top five favorite shows. I still think season two was the best this show will ever get, I really hope I’m wrong and this season will be better than that one. What I love about this show is, a lot of people don’t like the main character. I’ve even hear people go as far as saying they wish they’d kill her off. While I don’t mind Meredith Grey, I can see how people could not like her. Will she ever make up her mind about anything? We shall see. Once again, I believe in Shonda. Really interested in seeing where the Torres and Erica “put the lotion in the basket” Hahn relationship goes. How will Meredith and Derek stay together and not effect the show. Are they each others lobsters? Hmm?
9:00 – The Office.
One of the best shows on TV and possibly the funniest. Some people just don’t get it, but this is my type of humor. It’s gotten funnier with each season and you get a sense of who the characters are which makes it even better. For someone to just try and watch it randomly, they might not get it or if they do, they don’t get the whole story. This show, while made to be able to stand on an episode alone, really needs to be seen intact with all episodes watch to really get the show. At least, That’s what she said.
FRIDAY
10:00 – Life.
Out off all the shows I was hoping to get picked up, this was the one I most wanted to see again. Journey Man was good, but I could live without it. I even liked K-Ville, but I can deal with that being gone. You can read how I feel about this time slot, but I’m hoping that it won’t hurt the show and maybe even help it. The end of the show was a little bit of a let down because of the strike but it really pulled me in. I’ve talked to everyone I could about this show, I hope more people start watching it. Too bad NBC didn’t run reruns of it during the summer, which makes me think they don’t care about it at all.
SATURDAY
None: I have to have some kind of life.
SUNDAY
9:00 – Dexter. This is my second favorite show following House. The writing and acting are great and I’m excited to see where this show goes in season 3. They’ve added some new characters and the first two season were outstanding. It will be hard to top those.
10:00 – Californication. A really underrated show that I don’t think many people saw. I thought it wasn’t coming back on because of the trouble with its name, but that must have been settled and it’s back which makes me happy. The show is so good David Duchovny has become Hank Moody.
Those are the shows I’m looking forward too. I’m sure a few new ones will pop in somewhere. Other shows I’m looking forward too are, the return of 24 and Lost. I’ll write about them in another post. What shows are you excited about?
The Kiss Of Death For Life?
Of the few new shows that came on BTWS (before the writers strike), one that I really liked and was looking forward to coming back on ATWS was Life . The show follows Detective Charlie Crews who, after being convected for a crime he didn’t commit, returns to the force. He gets a new lease on “Life” after being given “Life” in prison. He has to deal with all the people who turned their backs on him including his ex-wife and former partner, while trying to find the person who actually committed the triple murder he was sent away for.
It was recently reported in early April that Life would be coming back for a second season but was given and the dreaded Friday time slot. While NBC is touting this as a move to get people to watch TV on a Friday night, I highly doubt this is the best strategy. Shows like Life, which is procedural based, but has an over all mystery that must be played out over the season, haven’t done good recently. The show Journey Man comes to mind. The shows are billed and promoted as big mysteries that cover spans of time (think Lost), which makes the person who might have missed the pilot or the first few episode not want to even bother trying to catch up.
Luckily, there are ways with sites like Hulu, to keep up or catch up on what you might have missed. I just hope Life gets the push it deserves and this Friday placement wasn’t just a, “If it keeps it’s audience, we’ll keep it, if not, oh well” move. Either way, checkout the pilot below on Hulu.