"I feel like a quote out of context."

If you ever need to question, for some unknown reason...well, for the sake of argument, let's say you are a moron... if you ever need to question whether a show is worthy of being tagged with an "oh my GAWD!! This show rawks!!" handle, and you simply have no other evidence to prove otherwise, then just use this little test: eat crackers throughout the show and if it makes you stop, mid-bite, unable to complete eating, for fear that you might interrupt the amazingness happening in front of you, then chances are you are watching a pretty damn great show.

And of course, the whole reason I bring this up, is that this is what happened during a Season 5 eppy of "The West Wing" not moments ago. And you may be asking yourself now, "did he just use the term 'eppy'?". Well, yes. Yes he did. But does he care??...actually a little. Oh well. It stays.

I actually haven't watched that many episodes of it over the last few days. I have spent my time doing other things. Like I mentioned previously, I was cleaning for two days straight, and only fit a fix of Sorkin in every once and a while, and then all last night, and today, I was trying frantically to finish a novel for a test I had today. If you were wondering, I finished half of it, skimmed the rest, and read the final chapter. The test went pretty alright I think. It was really short though, so who knows.

Anyway, being the "new" student that I'm trying to be, I spent from about 3 o'clock onward attempting to be studious, and I began one of the many novels that I should have started for next week. Without a word of a lie, this is the first time I have started reading a book in advance over the last 3 semesters of school. Yeah. It's been bad.

The book that I have to read is really three stories. It's Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy, so I started the first of them, "City of Glass". It wasn't until about 6pm did I realize that I hadn't been able to put the book down. It was fantastic. The best thing I have read in I can't remember when. Maybe, in fact, the best book I have ever been assigned to read. That's saying very little considering I rarely read anything I'm assigned, but still. It's an oddity to find something that I am actually engaged in that is somehow school related, especially if I didn't choose it myself.

So, that was my day. Full of a lot of reading and awesome "West Wing" eppys. (Yes. I did it again. So sue me.)

"Her hair was green as seaweed, her skin was blue and pale."

Would you believe that it has taken me almost two days to clean the whole apartment, and I'm not even done yet??

I decided that it would probably be a good thing if I got my life in order, as far as my habitat is concerned, and hopefully this would translate into wondrous things to come in my academic world. Considering I have a test tomorrow, on a book that I haven't read past the 2nd page, it is safe to say that there has been no reaction to the cleanliness quite yet. I have patience though. I foresee some good things coming from this impulse to spritz the place up a tad.

The whole reason that the apartment actually needed a good once over was due to the frantic first weeks of the semester and a little thing called the FR!NGE Festival. How did it go you ask?? Well, it went great. I already touched on it a little bit, but it was already two weeks tonight that we premiered and I never really went into any sort of details, so I will oblige with a couple.

It felt really great to be back up on stage again. It was something that I really missed since high school. My movie, despite still having my reservations about it (it just did not mesh into what I wanted it to be), went over great with the audience. I was so unbelievably shocked at this. I was actually backstage, wanting nothing to do with the premiere of it because I was too embarrassed, and Kate (the stage manager/producer) comes in and tells me that I'm an idiot because my movie was killing out there. I called bullshit, and ran out to the lobby. Sure enough, they were laughing. It wasn't hysterical laughter, but it was laughs where I was expecting to hear crickets. I was shocked. I still am not a fan of my movie, but I guess it was better for anyone who knew what my original vision was. So, I'll take it, sure.

It was a massively stressful week, but everything ended up going off without a hitch. The play was great and the movie was better than I thought, so everyone's hard work was well worth it. There was controversy afterwards once the "press" reviewed everything, but that's a story for another time (meaning, if you wanna hear it, ask me about it...tooo much to type).

It's actually pretty amusing that a lot of us who were involved in the festival this year are all jonesing to get back into the swing of things. I've already started writing my piece for next year. I'm doing a play though instead of a movie. I don't want to have to be put through editing the whole thing two days before the festival. Too. Much.

"Can't dig out of the hole."

You know you have been watching a lot of Aaron Sorkin when you have an entire night in which you dream exclusively about characters in his shows and how you are in apparently one of them. Last night I was involved in a number of different plot lines that revolved around the "Sorkin Universe", having a number of personalities from his series appear within my dreams. It was kind of... awesome. A lot of it involved the same fast paced dialogue that he has become synonymous with, and there were a couple of great bits of drama interspersed with some high end comedy as well.

I hope this becomes a common thing, just as long as I keep watching "The West Wing" on an almost addicted basis.

Things That I Love Today: Biff's Question Song

Jeez. So many things that I love over the past few days... This one was just too amazing to not post though.

Things That I Love Today: Say Anything Puppet!!

I'll let this video speak for itself.

Things That I Love Today: The Critic's Choice for Best Actress

...it was a tie...could you tell??

"Mama mia, here I go again."

I am through two our of three days of FR!NGE.

So far?? It has rocked.

I don't know how, or why, but people legitimately liked my film. I am amazed. Like, beyond amazed really. I was backstage, unaware of anything taking place (because I was too embarrassed to watch it with an audience) and the stage manager came back and told me that "my movie was killing out there." So, I had to see for myself, and sure enough, they were laughing. And they weren't laughing at the bad cuts, or sloppy editing. They were laughing at the parts they were supposed to be laughing at. I could do nothing but let out a massive sigh of relief.

I still think it is pretty bad, but I guess it's only because I knew what I wanted and what I wanted wasn't what I gave. Make any sense?? I don't even know any more...

"Cause señoritas don't care-o, when there's no dinero..."

I have neglected my blog yet again, and so quickly after my last absence as well. I vow to try and not wait this long again. I would say my excuse is valid enough though, for having not been on in a while. You see, FR!NGE is this week, and I have been furiously finishing filming my movie as well as attending dress rehearsals and such for the play I'm in too. It is a busy week in which I haven't been to a lot of class (I think I will try and make a couple tomorrow though) and have just been consistently frustrated with my movie. It is definitely the worst one that I have ever made. The more I edit it, it gets a little bit better, but unfortunately I just didn't end up with enough footage to put my original version of the screenplay together, and a LOT was lost in the chopping process. It's a frustrating thing, and it isn't even because the lost footage doesn't work with the overall story. It's just continuity errors. Having to film before the break and then after the break, and having it all be rushed in order to finish on time, and just wanting to be done as soon as I could have been... I ended up with so many sequences that didn't cut together at all. Hell, the "good" stuff I am working with right now is barely holding together.

It's funny too. Everyone I tell that my "movie is a piece of shit" keeps going "No, you are crazy. It's probably a lot better than you think it is!!". And then I show it to them, and they can see how true my statement was. I appreciate their support though, it's just difficult to accept their compliments when my fault is just so blatantly apparent.

The worst part of the whole situation is that there are some scenes that work exactly how I envisioned them. Like, they work perfectly. So, knowing that I have half of a good movie, and half of a terrible one is a huge pisser. I really liked my script, and this final product just doesn't do it justice. I am just going to tell the audience this when I have to introduce it to them. I'll just say, "Hey. This is my movie. It's balls. Enjoy!!" There is no way I am sitting and watching it with them either. I will be taking a bathroom break at that point. Too embarrassing to sit through.

I want there to be something I could do to change the situation, but I can do nothing but deal with what I've been given. The thing that is getting me through it all is the fact that I MIGHT be able to redeem myself in a month when they plan on showing all the films again during the "FR!NGE Film Fest" they want to hold, so by that time, I may be able to re-shoot what I need and have my original vision back again. Here's hoping that is okay anyway. I need to make up for this one, because I know I can do better work, and don't want this to reflect my capabilities.

From what I know too, the rest of the pieces for the Fest are pretty great. Mine will be the stinker. Luckily, LUCKILY, I am also in that play, which is going to be pretty great I feel. So, I at least have some sort of positive contribution to the show. That is also something that is getting me through it all.

Anyway, it will be nice when this layover stress exits my life after this weekend. I am so looking forward to performing again, but really, I just want to not have to think about FR!NGE for a little while.

P.S. Poppy, as you can read, I've been busy... I will email you back when I find a minute next week!!

Rant: Why 2009 Sucked...A Lot.

I have indeed discussed with several people, and even mentioned it on this blog a time or two, why this past year of 2009, was not one of the better years that I have experienced in my life. It was filled with very little enjoyment and not enough positives for it to be deemed anything but one shitty year. So I figured, as a reminder to myself and nothing more, that I would recount my year of crap, if for nothing else than to feel good about the times that I hope to have in the newly born, 2010.

This will work best chronologically, so that's how I'll start. After a rather enjoyable New Years in which four of us took in some luxurious martinis at Josh's mom's restaurant followed by some hanging out at the Toronto abode, the 365 days that were to follow looked promising. It was a low key night, nothing overly spectacular, but it felt nice to bask in the preciousness of the time being spent amongst friends. And you know what?? That feeling lasted for a pretty good amount of time. I was writing consistently for the school newspaper. I was doing alright in my classes. It was a pretty average, not quite discontenting time (if discontenting is not a word, who gives a shit, this is a blog.) When the year began to take a huge turn for the worse, was around the beginning of April. I received a series of phone calls from my brother, seeking me out, but as I had been at a friend's house and without my cell phone, I was unable to be contacted.

After midnight that night, I came home to a bunch of "missed calls" on my cell and a few unanswered MSN messages on the computer. It turns out, while at a hockey tournament in St. Catherines, my dad's car was broken in to. So, I phoned my mom, assuming she would want to know that I was still alive, and I was informed that after his morning game that day, my dad walked out to the car to put his equipment away while my mom waited in the arena, chatting with the other players/wives and girlfriends who had come to watch the game. As he made his way closer to the parking lot though, he noticed that the back window had been smashed open. Upon further inspection, he discovered the theft of both my mom's briefcase, which included a list of all contacts and addresses of family and friends plus some of my own graduation pictures, as well as my dad's own briefcase, which happened to include his iPhone, his watch, his wallet and his wedding ring. So THAT was a fun day for everyone!!

From that day in April, the tone of the rest of the year was pretty much set. I had to deal with dropping a class during the last few days of the year. My birthday was spent alone in the apartment here at school due to exams running late, and no one being around any more because they were all done. Leading into the summer, after some fairly crappy grades on my finals, my grandpa went in to have surgery to remove cancerous tumors in his colon, a standard procedure, what could possibly happen, right?? Well, complications ensued, and what followed was a month in two separate hospitals, five surgeries, 10 different hospital rooms and one night on life support. Luckily he walked out of what turned out to be a rather incompetent hospital and is doing okay since then. But what a lovely beginning to the summer, right!?

The summer for friends ended up being more of a bust than anticipated, resulting in a few feuds at various restaurants and basements across the city. Starbucks would never be the same. Oh, and actually during a hang out in the summer, what happened again?? Oh that's right, the car was broken into for a second time. Yeah, this time under MY watch. Well, luckily this time the only thing they took was my mom's phone charger. Apparently those are really valuable on the streets. A lotta people looking to charge their cells but can't afford the plug that was supposed to COME with the phone, apparently.

Everything else was just little things that accumulated to a pretty substantial list of crap. In no particular order: Having an unbelievably stressful and unsatisfying first semester to third year in which the whole 4 months were a complete bust in the end (This was worse than it sounds). Having a less than fulfilling Christmas break. Having more than one close friend's parent diagnosed with Cancer. The untimely death of my mom's cousin's common law husband. Having to spend a second straight year alone for the Oscars, when I would normally hold my Academy Awards gathering. Failing to achieve my New Year's Resolution of getting a girlfriend for the umpteenth time.

In short, 2009 made me feel like I was trapped on the side of a mountain, having no strength to continue going up and had to succumb to gravity, making me slip a little bit every day. 2010 cannot be worse than that. It simply can't.

So here's hoping.

Things That I Love Today: TheKidFromBrooklyn

If I was in control of youtube, and I had to make a commercial promoting my product, I would just start putting this guys videos up with the youtube logo in the corner. He is the best. A loudmouth idiot who thinks that people care what he says... but he sounds like Fred Flintstone if Fred Flintstone had starred in Goodfellas. It is the best!! Check some of these golden nuggets out: