So I work in the domestic securities industry in Dallas. So the market closes at 2pm here, and most deadlines officially end at around 3pm. The problem is that I can only leave as soon as my overseas friends are done for the day, and they send me an emailed report (which I then reformat and send back out). That usually comes between 5pm and 5:30pm.
There are certain things that I can do between 3 and 5, but there's only so much. So I (and don't tell anyone) spend certain time on the Internet. There are only so many things that I can wikipedia (and I'm pretty sure I've read everything on there), so I'm starting to have to be creative.
Blogging at work, for example?
One of the things I did between February and May was listen to the offical LOST podcast, which is archived at Lostpedia. I'd always stay 2-3 weeks behind so that no spoilers ever affected me (and there is the occasional spoiler), but it's very entertaining. For a couple of dorks, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are pretty cool. They don't offer a whole lot of answers, but they do give a lot of insight into the way things are done.
And since I ran out of season 5 ones, I started listening to earlier ones. I started listening to season 3 ones (they started in season 2, but none of them are archived), and it's actually pretty interesting. And what's really funny is that they reference a lot of things, often in jest, that actually happen on the show.
- They make fun of time travel being on the show. That happens.
- They reference the Island "moving." That happens.
- They reference certain characters dying that end up dying.
And that's just a few podcasts in.
And it makes me think about the whole question of whether or not the writers are coming up with things on the fly or not. When they joked about time travel in 2006, did they know it would eventually make the show in 2009? Or were they really joking about it?
I've always trusted the LOST writers because I believe they know what they're doing. I can't imagine writing a show like LOST without having some of the big answers in mind...so I trust that they're telling the truth when they say the show is planned.
But Carlton and Damon admit that they had a road map in place with certain milestones. So they know Points A, B, C, and D...but they don't know points A1, A2, A3, etc until the season is actually getting planned. And that makes sense...the whole show is mapped, but all the blanks still have to be filled in.
So I'm guessing they knew the Island would move way back when. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
The other really interesting thing about the podcasts are the fan questions. A lot of fans guessed correctly on a lot of things, and I'm pretty impressed. The "moving the Island" joke came out of a fan question that guessed as much. A fan asked a question that indirectly referenced Jacob before he was ever mentioned on the show.
Stuff like that really impresses me because this show is pretty darn creative, if you ask me. I feel like I understand the show, but there are still things that surprise me. So when someone guesses something that I never would've thought of, I think that's cool.
So if you have time to kill and love LOST as much as I do, it's pretty fun to give them a listen. And even if its all old information, it's still pretty entertaining.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Some Rangers Thoughts
1. Ian Kinsler is really making me mad. He has to stop trying to hit home runs if he's going to be a leadoff hitter. And if he's going to be in a different part of the lineup, he has to mostly stop trying to hit home runs. I would institute a "Willie Mays Hayes" program with him - he hits the ball in the air, he has to do push ups. That way, he'll either stop hitting fly balls, or he'll be strong enough to get those last 10 feet that he can't get.
2. If Rudy Jaramillo isn't telling Kinsler what I just told him, he needs to be fired. That used to be Dallas heresy, but it's starting to get a lot more accepted.
3. If you would've told me that we would've gotten 15 innings out of Tommy Hunter, Dustin Nippert (Dusty Nipples), and Doug Mathis against the Red Sox...I would've said we would've been swept. We swept them. That's awesome.
4. I high-fived Michael Young by proxy. That's really awesome.
5. This team's will be there when it ends. But they're battling a red-hot Angels team and then the Boston/New York juggernauts for the Wild Card. It's going to be tough, but it should be fun.
2. If Rudy Jaramillo isn't telling Kinsler what I just told him, he needs to be fired. That used to be Dallas heresy, but it's starting to get a lot more accepted.
3. If you would've told me that we would've gotten 15 innings out of Tommy Hunter, Dustin Nippert (Dusty Nipples), and Doug Mathis against the Red Sox...I would've said we would've been swept. We swept them. That's awesome.
4. I high-fived Michael Young by proxy. That's really awesome.
5. This team's will be there when it ends. But they're battling a red-hot Angels team and then the Boston/New York juggernauts for the Wild Card. It's going to be tough, but it should be fun.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sunday Odds and Ends
1. I watched the end of the British Open today. Probably the most golf I've ever watched because I really wanted to see Tom Watson pull it off. At his age to do what he did was pretty amazing. I think, deep down, you have to feel sorry for Stewart Cink, though. The guy celebrates his championship, but everyone was rooting against him. He pretty much played the villain even though he seems like a good guy. Congrats to both men.
2. While I was watching the British Open, I noticed that SlamBall was on. Two fun things about that. One, I wasn't sure that SlamBall still existed. Second, it was on the Cartoon Network. For those of you who don't know, SlamBall is a version of basketball with trampolines so that almost every basket is made via the dunk. It's a bit funny because SlamBall isn't animated. But it is so ridiculous that it makes sense that it be on the Cartoon Network.
3. Speaking of golf, I noticed that Tony Romo was playing. Imagine that. I wonder if he'll be sad at the end of the month when the golf season ends, and he'll have to go back to his other job. Oh well, I hope he gets through it alive so that he can start golfing in early January.
2. While I was watching the British Open, I noticed that SlamBall was on. Two fun things about that. One, I wasn't sure that SlamBall still existed. Second, it was on the Cartoon Network. For those of you who don't know, SlamBall is a version of basketball with trampolines so that almost every basket is made via the dunk. It's a bit funny because SlamBall isn't animated. But it is so ridiculous that it makes sense that it be on the Cartoon Network.
3. Speaking of golf, I noticed that Tony Romo was playing. Imagine that. I wonder if he'll be sad at the end of the month when the golf season ends, and he'll have to go back to his other job. Oh well, I hope he gets through it alive so that he can start golfing in early January.
The Douchebag Bowl
I'm not sure if any of you knew this, but Crocodile Hunting is an official sponsor of the Douchbag Bowl. Don't know what that is? Well then, let me tell you a bit about it.
(The top part of this blog could've been cool. The rest is about video games...so if you think I'm cool, please stop reading)
Ashley bought NCAA 2010 the other day, and EA Sports brought back create-a-team. I decided to make my team the Douchebag State Anus Patrol. EA apparently disapproves of that, so my team ended up being the Bluetooth College Awesome. Yes, the team name is the Awesome.
Some Awesome facts:
Location - Beverly Hills, California
Team Colors - Blue, Navy Blue, and Other Blue. But they also have a gold jersey because gold is awesome.
Head Coach - Tony Romo ('nuff said)
Unofficial Name - DSAP (see above)
Bluetooth College's rival is Ashley's create a school, the Prada State Guidos. They're purple and gold from Atlantic City, New Jersey. That's right, it's West Coast D-Bags against East Coast D-Bags.
We put ourselves in the WAC, replacing two of the top schools in that conference (Hawaii and Boise State) so that it's even more pathetic than it usually is.
Bluetooth University had a pretty successful inaugural season. After starting the season 0-4, they had two bye weeks in a row. I assume the entire school went to Cancun to chill with chicks. After that, they went 6-2 to earn a spot in the New Mexico Bowl. Where they were promptly destroyed by Cincinnati.
But don't worry about that. The biggest game of the season was the Douchebag Bowl. Bluetooth College vs. Prada State at Gucci. Ashley forgot to put "Stadium" after Gucci so we assume it's just a huge Gucci store that happens to feature a football field.
Anyway, Bluetooth College took a nice 10-3 lead into the half. After expanding their lead to 17-10, they promptly scored a touchdown to go up 24-10 with just three minutes left. Prada State scored late to pull within 7, but Bluetooth held on for the 24-17 victory.
I'm sure everyone's as interested in the results as we are. So I'll keep track here so that everyone will be able to see.
Seasons : 1
Bluetooth College Awesome - 1
Prada State Guidos - 0
(The top part of this blog could've been cool. The rest is about video games...so if you think I'm cool, please stop reading)
Ashley bought NCAA 2010 the other day, and EA Sports brought back create-a-team. I decided to make my team the Douchebag State Anus Patrol. EA apparently disapproves of that, so my team ended up being the Bluetooth College Awesome. Yes, the team name is the Awesome.
Some Awesome facts:
Location - Beverly Hills, California
Team Colors - Blue, Navy Blue, and Other Blue. But they also have a gold jersey because gold is awesome.
Head Coach - Tony Romo ('nuff said)
Unofficial Name - DSAP (see above)
Bluetooth College's rival is Ashley's create a school, the Prada State Guidos. They're purple and gold from Atlantic City, New Jersey. That's right, it's West Coast D-Bags against East Coast D-Bags.
We put ourselves in the WAC, replacing two of the top schools in that conference (Hawaii and Boise State) so that it's even more pathetic than it usually is.
Bluetooth University had a pretty successful inaugural season. After starting the season 0-4, they had two bye weeks in a row. I assume the entire school went to Cancun to chill with chicks. After that, they went 6-2 to earn a spot in the New Mexico Bowl. Where they were promptly destroyed by Cincinnati.
But don't worry about that. The biggest game of the season was the Douchebag Bowl. Bluetooth College vs. Prada State at Gucci. Ashley forgot to put "Stadium" after Gucci so we assume it's just a huge Gucci store that happens to feature a football field.
Anyway, Bluetooth College took a nice 10-3 lead into the half. After expanding their lead to 17-10, they promptly scored a touchdown to go up 24-10 with just three minutes left. Prada State scored late to pull within 7, but Bluetooth held on for the 24-17 victory.
I'm sure everyone's as interested in the results as we are. So I'll keep track here so that everyone will be able to see.
Seasons : 1
Bluetooth College Awesome - 1
Prada State Guidos - 0
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Script 2 - Finished
Last night, around 11pm, I finished my second script. It's a story about a baseball player with immense talent, struggling to find his way to the major leagues. Right now, I've titled it Knuckle Ball.
I'm not really as satisfied, at this moment, as I was with the first script. Of course, the first is a shorter and "neater" comedy...so I think that's to be expected.
This was a story that I think begs to be told. I put some personal experiences in there, and I also included some aspects of the lives of people I knew playing baseball in high school. I'm not sure if I told the story correctly, but I think there's definitely a good story in there somewhere.
I think it needs a lot of work, still. Wanting to get into the head of the protagonist, I used a narrator. And, honestly, I think I relied on him way too much. A lot of that "inner monologue" is going to have to turn into dialogue at some point, and hopefully a lot of the rest can be transitioned into picture when/if the movie is ever filmed. I just don't think a narrator can have as big a role as he has in my movie.
I also struggled a bit with some of the B-story elements...my protagonist's life off the field. How much to go into it, and frankly, how that would work. There are parts that I would like to add, but there are probably parts that really need to be cut.
But it's 180 pages long...almost exactly. That's 3 hours, and this movie shouldn't be 3 hours. That probably means that 40 or so pages would need to go...but I'm sure a lot of it can be removed. One aspect I struggled with was repetition...there were milestones that I wanted to hit, and the "filler" might have become repetitive. Honestly, I don't know.
So now I come to the rough part, where I let some of my close friends read it and critique it a bit. While it's rough (and even cheesy at parts), I'm hoping they can see some value in it. Because, like I said, this was a story I've wanted to tell for a while. And I have a feeling it's the most marketable thing that I've written so far.
So here's to Knuckle Ball. Or whatever it eventually gets titled.
I'm not really as satisfied, at this moment, as I was with the first script. Of course, the first is a shorter and "neater" comedy...so I think that's to be expected.
This was a story that I think begs to be told. I put some personal experiences in there, and I also included some aspects of the lives of people I knew playing baseball in high school. I'm not sure if I told the story correctly, but I think there's definitely a good story in there somewhere.
I think it needs a lot of work, still. Wanting to get into the head of the protagonist, I used a narrator. And, honestly, I think I relied on him way too much. A lot of that "inner monologue" is going to have to turn into dialogue at some point, and hopefully a lot of the rest can be transitioned into picture when/if the movie is ever filmed. I just don't think a narrator can have as big a role as he has in my movie.
I also struggled a bit with some of the B-story elements...my protagonist's life off the field. How much to go into it, and frankly, how that would work. There are parts that I would like to add, but there are probably parts that really need to be cut.
But it's 180 pages long...almost exactly. That's 3 hours, and this movie shouldn't be 3 hours. That probably means that 40 or so pages would need to go...but I'm sure a lot of it can be removed. One aspect I struggled with was repetition...there were milestones that I wanted to hit, and the "filler" might have become repetitive. Honestly, I don't know.
So now I come to the rough part, where I let some of my close friends read it and critique it a bit. While it's rough (and even cheesy at parts), I'm hoping they can see some value in it. Because, like I said, this was a story I've wanted to tell for a while. And I have a feeling it's the most marketable thing that I've written so far.
So here's to Knuckle Ball. Or whatever it eventually gets titled.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I really like sports, so I think this is okay
So I saw a trailer the other day for a chick flick, and I have to admit that I actually want to see it. This is a rare occasion...I've never seen The Notebook or Love Story or anything like that (I've never even seen Bull Durham).
It's called The Time Traveller's Wife.
And maybe it's because it's a sci-fi-ish chick flick? I don't know...Tucker seems to think my man card should be taken away. But my man card was probably taken away a long time ago if we're being really honest.
I'm interested in this movie for four simple reasons.
1. Rachel McAdams looks amazing. Check out her hypnotizing picture on the link below (next to the trailer) and tell me you aren't in love. I dare you.
2. The plot is pretty interesting. Well, if you get passed the "genetic disorder" part. It sounds like a better version of Benjamin Button. Which I also didn't see.
3. Eric Bana is really cool. One of the best actors out there if you ask me.
4. It will give extra incentive to go find a girl to see it with. Because its not like I can go see it with the guys or anything.
Anyway, here's a link if you want to check out the trailer and Ms. Adams' picture.
http://www.thetimetravelerswifemovie.com/
Okay, guys, do your worst.
It's called The Time Traveller's Wife.
And maybe it's because it's a sci-fi-ish chick flick? I don't know...Tucker seems to think my man card should be taken away. But my man card was probably taken away a long time ago if we're being really honest.
I'm interested in this movie for four simple reasons.
1. Rachel McAdams looks amazing. Check out her hypnotizing picture on the link below (next to the trailer) and tell me you aren't in love. I dare you.
2. The plot is pretty interesting. Well, if you get passed the "genetic disorder" part. It sounds like a better version of Benjamin Button. Which I also didn't see.
3. Eric Bana is really cool. One of the best actors out there if you ask me.
4. It will give extra incentive to go find a girl to see it with. Because its not like I can go see it with the guys or anything.
Anyway, here's a link if you want to check out the trailer and Ms. Adams' picture.
http://www.thetimetravelerswifemovie.com/
Okay, guys, do your worst.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Famous Words From Our Favorite Disenchanted Con Man
"See, (people) are like dogs. You knock them around enough; they'll think they did something to deserve it."
- Sawyer, LOST
- Sawyer, LOST
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