28 July 2006

Good and Bad

One of my favourite things about writing is that moment when the quiet guy in the back of my head speaks up. When I'm writing sometimes there are a lot of voices in my head, all looking to be heard, as if a group of people are in a room shooting out ideas. In that group, there's always a quiet guy that waits until everyone else is done and says one line that blows everyone away. This morning while I was driving, the quiet guy spoke up. I think what he said will work for the character involved and is incredibly clever.

One of my least favourite things about writing is that I want to tell someone else this clever idea but I don't want to spoil any future stories for them. Additionally, this twist isn't something I can use straight away; it might take years for it to be the right time.

It's no fun being clever if you can't tell anyone that you're clever...

27 July 2006

Almost forgot...

The cable tech came today and replaced the cable from the house to the pole. Apparently there were signs of squirrel related damage. I now have FOX again. Hooray for the cable company!

I'll try to explain but it might not work

I own 'The Horror of Party Beach' on DVD. Allow me to try to explain why that means something to me.

When I was a child, I spent most of my summer vacations going to the library and getting books to read. I love reading. I also love movies. As a result, I liked getting books about movies, mostly horror movies and the history of horror movies. For whatever reason, this stuff fascinates me. As a child, I never expected to be able to see most of the movies I read about. I didn't get a VCR until high school and cable TV came after that. The only hope I had to see movies was on TV and I didn't expect that most of the movies I read about would ever be on normal TV.

Now, with DVD, most of the movies I read about as a kid are available to buy or will be soon, often remastered and with extras, treated more lovingly that they were upon release decades ago. This is one of the reasons I love life.

To return to my point, 'The Horror of Party Beach' was one of those movies I read about as a kid. Despite never having seen it, the concept stayed with me. I based part of one of my stories on that movie. Now, I own a copy.

I first read about this movie because it was one of the world's 'worst' movies. An interview with the director on the DVD notes that this movie was a parody of beach and horror films. If true, it's another reason why the book in question is inaccurate and has been since it was published.

Anyway, owning a copy of 'The Horror of Party Beach' makes me feel like part of my childhood has been returned to me.

I guess I'll have to find the time to watch it, hmm?

Please pardon the pimping as it is not for me

I do things out of order at times. I mentioned Kurt and Kevin's comic in the last entry before I checked my email and, behold!, a link to their website mentioning the same book:

http://www.imaginarytales.com/

Go. There isn't much on the site but what is there is fun. I'm sure the book will be as well. If you're going to Wizard World Chicago, go buy a couple copies.

I'll try to refrain from doing the whole 'pimp' thing a lot in the future. This was something of a special occasion. I'm all excited and stuff...

26 July 2006

Pardon the brevity

Missed a day so there is slight guilt. Tired, late, this is what I got for you.

I called the cable company Monday night and went through the 'leave your number' thing again. This time they called back so I'm of the opinion I did screw up on Sunday. My work and home exchanges are off by one number so I do mix them up regularly. Any way, they decided something's wrong with the box so a tech is coming to look at it tomorrow.

Kurt and Kevin's comic is printed up and ready for next week's Comi-con. Pete bought the first copy today and hopefully I got a picture of it. I'll find out once the film is developed because that picture was either the last one on the roll or that picture the camera half takes at the end of a roll.

Yes, I still have a film camera and the pictures need developing. Oh really? Well, if all you can do is taunt me for not having a digital camera yet then I'm done for today.

24 July 2006

Why again?

So last night I check my cable for FOX again. Now it's completely black, not even a hint of trying to connect, even after unplugging the cable box for a half-hour. I call up for service. If I don't want to hang on the phone, I'm given the option to leave my number and they'll call me back in '33 to 34' minutes. So I gave that a shot. I'm pretty sure I inputted the number correctly but I may have failed. That was about twenty after eight.

An hour later they've not called back. I call again. I receive the option to leave my number again and this time the wait is about a quarter of an hour. I don't bother.

Fifteen minutes later I call back. The wait is now 9 minutes. I go to bed instead.

I wonder if there was only one person answering the phones last night. Could be. If so, I feel bad for him/her because I've been in that position before. Still, I've now called in four times and never spoken to a person. Not cool.

Round three tonight...

23 July 2006

That settles that

I ordered my pass for the upcoming Wizard World Chicago (an event I continue to refer to as the Chicago Comi-con for some reason) so I guess I'm going. I've talked myself out of going the last year or two but have been very looking forward to this year's event for some reason. It should be fun. Currently I'm planning to go on Friday and Sunday (I've a wedding to go to on Saturday).

I like looking at the tv and movie stars that will be attending as it amuses me to get autographs at these events. Some of the names made sense to me: Dirk Benedict ('Battlestar Galactica' and 'The A-Team') and Richard Kiel (Jaws from the Bond films) for example. Joyce DeWitt and Pricilla Barnes from 'Three's Company' confused me a bit. Pricilla (I know I must be spelling that incorrectly) at least was in 'Mallrats' so there's a geek connection there but otherwise, huh? Thomas Jane is scheduled to be there as well. I generally don't like queueing up at the Comi-con but, if I'm going for two days, perhaps I will in order to meet the Punisher.

Decisions, Decisions...