Reading, writing and keeping up with all my great friends all over these United States. I enjoy watching movies at home more than I do the cinema these days. I like walking (for health as well as "head clearing"), and I'm truly enjoying the Fall this year. I like NFL over college football. I also root for the Cubs and enjoy live Hockey. There was also a time I REALLY watched the news and stayed on top of things in the world. Now, I fall into 90% of the population and stay oblivious.
I'm always open to hearing the new stuff, but a lot of it sounds the same. I listen to 80's music more for nostalgia than for it's orginality, but I still think it's better than most of the over produced bubble gum crap coming out these days. Top bands to me are The Police (of course), Rush, Van Halen (Dave was the shiz-nit, but I like Sammy as well)Talking Heads, Zeppelin, Floyd & Steely Dan. I'm also a fan of Trance. Mostly, for writing. Keeps the mind moving....can't explain it. It's also a great soundtrack for driving through the deserts of New Mexico. Last but not least, I love Jazz. Coltrane, Miles, Brubeck and Mingus... just to name a few.
I did two days on this, and it stars Ron Fitzgerald and Lizzie Strain. It was written and directed by John Lechago. (Check out his profile, as well as his art work, under my "friends" section.) There's a trailer and a poster. Check it...Poster:And the trailer. Look for me... I'm in it for a frame or two getting fried! WITHIN is finally in the last stretch. I just watched a cut of it in September. Very promising. Ross has done an outstanding job with the edit. As of the end of October, it's being shopped at the Hawai'i Film Festival. For those that don't know what "Within" is, it's the first part of a trilogy. "Within: Terror Resides..." is a horror movie. "Within: Revenge" is gonna be an action flick, and "Within: Origins" is a prequel that takes place in the Old West, 130 years before the first film. Three Stories, Three Genres.Check out our "unofficial" Trailer...For those that were asking, "Christmas Chaos" is still in post. This was written and directed by the multi-talented Jeff Roy. This is gonna be a great movie. We had a great time filming it too. This starred Ross Seymour, Aja Evans and yours truly as "Shorty The Elf".And Jeff's trailer kicks ass....check it...I'm always looking to get involved in any film scene around Knoxville. I'm also always looking for actors, writers, grips, and artsy folks. But please, remember: Just because no one understands you, doesn't mean your an artist. Ok?Here above, you can see a picture of Thomas Townsend and I having a very serious meeting. This was taken in the summer of '98. We've written a script called "Guys", that deals with friendships and heartaches in life. We've had a reading in Chicago, and it went over like gangbusters. The actors who participated in the read through wanted us to do it there. It could happen. I love that town. I also have a few LA peeps saying they'd like to get involved. If anyone is interested in financing, helping out, ETC...let a brother know.I also should have mentioned this above, but the first draft of "Within: Revenge" is done. Roxy will return in the sequel, and stars a woman who has become a great friend and my "muse" over the past couple of years: Eva Derrek.
I say read as much as you can. I read magazines, blogs or novels. I don't care. Lately I've been reading novels that deal with families from the mountains in the 1940's, aristocrats in England from the 1890's, and Stephen King collections that take place in an apocalyptic future. I'll read whatever. Anything to keep the mind active. I never take money with me to a bookstore because I know I'll spend all of my cash. I'm slowly going back and reading some of the "classics", but I'm also reading graphic novels. Again, I'm all over the place.As money allows, I'm collecting original hardbacks of The Three Investigators. I loved these as a kid. So much better than the Hardy Boys... They're currently making a movie based on their 6th book, "The Secret of Skeleton Island". It's either gonna be great, or it's gonna fall apart at the seams. But, that seems to be the case 99.7% of the time anyway, eh?
Obviously, I should put down our military first. They deal with things on a daily basis that we can't even fathom. They're out there fighting for our country while we sit and whine and bitch about "the world" while sipping a soy latte at Starbucks in a safe neighborhood. The other folks I want to mention is my parents. They've stood by me, and encouraged me all my life. I love them and thank them. Check out my dad in Germany in '66:(You just WISH your dad was this cool!)And here we are at my uncle's place during the holidays of '03. I don't have access (at the moment) to any pictures of my mom. Those will come soon. But while I'm thinking of it, I should also throw my grandparents into the mix. I loved mom and dad's parents. They were amazing human beings. Above is a picture of my grandmother and I in December of '74. This is my mother's mom. I never knew my maternal grandfather. But I want to mention my grandmother specifically because she was what makes a true "hero", I believe. She lived with mental illness and a lack of hearing all of her life. Yet, she was the proudest and most "feminine" woman one could ever hope to meet. She always stood erect, always dressed wonderfully, and had an amzing singing voice. She was also a "mother" ALL the time. She provided and and worked hard for my mom and her siblings. We lost her in August, at the age of 83. I never mourned her death... I celebrated her life. And continue to do so today. All that being said, she is truly missed.