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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Hardcore
So a bunch of us saw X3 on Friday, which was pretty good. We bought tickets a week ahead of time because Grauman's Chinese Theatre is pretty much the best place to see a big movie like that, and we knew other people know this too. I'm hardcore about movies, which -- I'll just say it -- is awesome. I mean, you can't kind of love something. If you're not a little embarrassed by your level of passion, then what's the point?

This is why -- I realized Friday -- there's a fine line between Normals and Extremes. What separates me, really, from the guy who buys tickets way in advance AND gets dressed up in X Men costume?

It reminded me of when Marah, Matt Drdek and I were walking through a desolate part of Williamsburg, and we stumbled upon two Civil War re-enactors. In an empty parking lot, they were changing out of costume into civilian clothes. Matt asked, 'who won?'.

One guy innocently replied, 'Oh, we didn't fight today'.

His supposed friend hit him in the arm. 'He meant historically!' He got really embarrassed. I guess he wanted to keep his hobby a secret... Or maybe he was embarrased that they were changing costumes together in an empty parking lot.

But if you're going through the trouble (joy?) of putting on a costume, which is probably authentic and therefore expensive, what's there to be shy about? Trumpet that shit! If I was that hardcore about the Civil War, or Lord of the Rings, or Star Trek, and that immune to mockery, my costume would cost a million dollars. It'd be the shit.

Side note. Seven years ago, while we stood in an endless line at the same movie theatre on the eve of the release of the first "new" Star Wars, the Extremes were out in full force. It seemed like every other person was in costume. A few Boba Fetts tangled with the Luke Skywalkers, but it was mostly peaceful. It only got ugly when a Spock showed up. Not to see the movie, just to make fun of the Star Wars fans.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Goodbye, Sweeps
The other night I saw a commerical for this hard-hitting news story.

[in an ominous voice]
It's in your home...

Could it kill you?...

Fox 11 presents...

DUST!


Tonight is the Lost finale, which I believe coincides with the end of sweeps until next fall. The sad part, aside from missing awesome news exposes like this one, is the end of new TV. At least I've got a load of Sopranos and Big Love to catch up on, half of season 2 of Arrested Development, all of Twin Peaks, and why not, Rescue Me. But it's not the same as new. New is better. It's not old.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

David Shea's Nightmare
I've been pretty busy, yet there isn't much worth posting about. Oh, I'm pretty tired lately. Really tired. Like, all the time. Ironically, I've also been drinking more coffee than ever before. I won't win any coffee-offs or anything, but I can brag. I'm also writing a lot. 3 different things. Let's call them "projects", because that sounds legit. Some days I write write write, and the exhaustion is worth it. Some days I just sit there and stare at the paper. Or the ceiling. Or my shoes.

Consequently, I feel even more out of it. Spacey. I have a habit of letting these legit-sounding "projects" consume me, for better or worse. The up side: I'm producing a lot of material. Most of it is good, or at least more focused than anything I've done before. The down side: the tired thing. But it's paying off in small ways. I hosted a reading of a sitcom pilot I'm writing with Ali (yes, I'm writing a pilot. I am officially an LA cliche). It didn't go horribly. In fact, I'd even say "well". I can't say more. Not because I don't want to brag. I do. Oh, I'd love to brag. I'm just superstitious. I'm kicking a black cat as I write. Not because I'm superstitious. I'm just cruel. Guess that's a down side too.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Dark Comedy
I finally saw Grizzly Man. I'd heard some things, but nobody told me it was a comedy. I mean, sure. It's hard not to see Timothy Treadwell
as a kind of tragic hero with a tragic flaw, or at the very least, as a really passionate, mixed up guy. But the whole time I couldn't help thinking that Grizzly Man was a Christopher Guest movie. Treadwell scolds bears like children, befriends a fox, hosts a TV show on his video camera, and wonders why girls don't like him because he's really good in bed, even though it'd be easier to be gay "because gay guys just meet in truck stops and do it, but nope, not gay, not me -- sorry!". He's almost a real-life Corky St. Clair.

And then there's the Harry Shearers and Eugene Levys -- the guy with the droopy moustache, the coroner, the pilot who thought Treadwell "got what we deserved" (he was mauled by a bear, if you didn't know -- you find that out right away.) I'd even say this movie is actually better than a mockumentary, because of Werner Herzog's narration. I don't know much about Herzog. Apparently, he is from the same country as our governor.
In voice over, he narrates the documentary with insights and opinions that only sounded like a more gentle Terminator.

Yeah, so I'm probably a jerk. It's cool. My sense of decency was checked by the other movie I saw over the weekend, Hard Candy. It's not that it wasn't "good". The acting was incredible (this girl will go really far), the script was really good to a point, and the directing, save for a shakey camera at times, was also great. But that movie is f'd up. I'm all for f'd up as long as there is a good reason for the f'd up. I actually recommend seeing it. It will certainly be good fodder for conversation and/or venting.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Quick Vent
The other day I was cleaning my windows at a gas station while talking on my cell phone, and this guy came up and asked for change. I told him, without really looking at him, "sorry, I'm busy". Nice. I really couldn't have been more of an ass. Oh wait. If my car was a Hummer, and I wasn't cleaning my windows, but tazing a homeless guy while he cleaned them for me, then yeah, I guess that would've been worse. Lately, I catch myself feeling more cynical and more impatient with people. Not with friends or people I know, necessarily. I think it's more of a general resentment of the rat race (and specifically the homeless, apparently). I know life isn't fair. I know I am no more entitled to special treatment than anyone else. I don't want to become jaded. I don't want to be a cliche. And now, because I am writing this rather than doing what I should be doing -- using company time to work on my pilot -- I am done. (Just kidding, company. You know I'm 100% efficient at all times).

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