Ok, I've scrapped the previous two entries under this heading.
The first one was ridiculous and going nowhere.
The second one was my usual rant about how I'm tired and angry.

This one is going to be different.
Let me preface that I'm on day 6 of a 10 day run here at work because I need a weekend off. Apparently that's the only way to get a weekend. So I'm pretty much done with people. 6 straight days of dealing with idiots who can't master the black magic of technology, for anyone that asks, is one day too many for me.

We move on. Mikie is in good health, if not a little too spoiled, for the time being. It's weird using his name. I have no idea why. I'm that way with everyone, not just my own son. I can't seem to stop calling him "the kid."

This might not be with everyone, but it's come up with a few co-workers so I'll explain it here.
Say you have an alarm clock that wakes you up every day with that buzzing sound. Well in your awake status, if you happen to hear that sound, doesn't it send some weird chill through you? Maybe a chill isn't the right way to phrase that, but for me, I get this twinge in my nerves whenever I hear it.

Now, it turns out, whenever a small child is in the store screaming, I get that same feeling as the alarm clock. It twinges the nerves.

One of my socks has blown a gasket. I think. I mean, I've got no heel to it. Walking around like a transient. Well, like a transient that just started. Like two days ago I decided to say goodbye to the capitalistic regime of society and live the life of a proper pauper. (Yeah, I totally set that up that way.)

Day two: Blew out a sock. I've noticed that when I walk I pull to the right now. Also got urinated on by a stray dog last night.

That's me and my judgmental eyes assuming that were I to live on the street, the odds of a stray dog urinating on me would increase by at least 70%. So in all honesty, the sock thing wouldn't be that bad in comparison.

So maybe I'm not that much like a hobo after all. Though if I were a hobo, and I was presented with a ham sandwich, I would be ALL OVER IT. Even if I wasn't hungry. Just so that analogy can hold true.

Whilst I contemplate the pros and cons of going from full time employee to man of the world (Read smelly homeless Dbag) I'll adjourn for the time. Adieu.

I was commissioned today to write a politically correct holiday song.
I say commissioned, but I'm pretty sure that implies that I have or will be at some point compensated for my drivel
that I and I alone find amusing at best.
No, I was more begged by a company of my peers to do it.

Well, not begged so much as sought after.
And not a company so much as a direct report.
And not really peers so much as one guy.

Well if I'm honest, it was one guy, making an off handed remark about the whole thing moments before he dismissed it altogether and
got on with more important thoughts about his real job which my caffeine induced sense of "humor" was keeping him from.

I've simply lost you haven't I?
Well, I'll be perfectly honest, I'm not all that sure I know exactly where I am myself.

I've been propped up by soda all day (32 oz Awesome for $.75? Joo crazy thinking I'm not all over that) after getting about 3 1/2 upwards of 4 hours sleep last night. And here it is again, midnight...ish and I'm still awake.

I want to have a proper post as its been too long, but the more I write, the more you realize why its been too long.

The Dark Knight comes out on Tuesday, so that's what I'll be doing up until about the 23rd, with a 2 day intermission and then back to it on the 26th.

I have an idea for something for the kid. I'm not going to go into it now because to describe it would be too inane and lose so much of the amusement.
It came to me in a vision one day (I was not hanging any kind of clock at the time just to be clear*)  when Patti was discussing something.
I thought of it only in jest, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it to really happen. And now, I do not intend on continuing life without it. I simply have no idea if I'd be able to cope.
Once I have a better idea of what it looks like, (and how in the world I can get it together) I will post a full entry on the matter.

For the time being I think I'm going to adjourn.



*Not that I should have to mention this but that's a movie reference. My first for these particular 24 hours. Need to see how many I can legitimately make by midnight tonight...

As I'm prone to get on this LJ and moan incessantly about work, I thought I'd take a break from all that
and give a full blown dissertation on why I think everyone in charge of entertainment has gone "Full Retard" as Kirk Lazarus once said.

Now, perhaps it isn't everyone. Maybe that's a sweeping generalization that's a little further reaching than I'd like to make. You'll have to excuse me as I'm fresh from a look through the TV guide magazine thing Patti picked up for me because its got some of the cast of Heroes on it.

So let me start there. With Heroes.
I haven't read the article about the show. I might still or I'll wait until after tomorrow night because Patti said it had a spoiler alert in it.
So I haven't read it and as such don't have a clue as to what might come, but I have to say I am very hesistant to say the least. Hesistant and anxious.
How could I not be? After season 2. After realizing Nikki is still alive. (Seriously?) After watching the Mexican crying chick come back to life at the end of 2.
After watching someone kill Nathan, which that made me sad because I really like the character, but then to see promos where he's still alive for season 3...that doesn't make me happy. That enrages me.
You killing him was kind of a cliffhanger. And now he's up and walking around.
What?
I don't care how great of a character he is, you don't just BRING HIM BACK.
I know they set up the precedent where you can die and be brought back to life by some blood. That's at best a one off. You don't use that to bail out of a plot point you don't like.

WHY THE HELL IS NIKKI STILL ALIVE?! WHAT PURPOSE HAS SHE EVER SERVED ON THIS SHOW BESIDES BEING THE ONE THAT THEY CAN DRESS IN LINGERIE FOR 5 SECONDS?! WHO CARES! ITS NBC! THEY AREN'T GOING TO SHOW ANYTHING! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL!!!

...
So the tagline is GOOD WILL BATTLE EVIL.
And that's fantastic.
The only problem, like so many times before, is that Good always wins. Ultimately. Bad will win a battle or two but the war goes to the good guys.
And that's retarded.
I know we're in a new climate where good winning all the time is corny, and maybe the Dark Knight will give these people the balls to make the bad guys BAD.
Especially Sylar.
I want the first episode (i'm willing to settle for half) to be about him going around murdering, stealing, vandalizing, destroying on his way to becoming the strongest superhuman of all time. That's what I want. I want to watch as he slices the top if Nikki's head off and then sets fire to her body and scatters the ashes so that there's no returning for her.
I want him to trim away all the excess fat on the show within the first 20 minutes. That means Nikki, Mexican girl, Katrina sympathy vote girl, and anyone else that's just wasting our time. (You better step up your purpose Cheerleader...)
Although there seems to be something thats going to happen to Claire and that's awesome.
What I'm getting at is, the bad guys are always so much more interesting to watch. They have no rules. No restraints. And to have them lose is stupid.
Unless you do it right. Unless there's a genuinely GOOD excuse as to how they lost. Not some contrived business where they're powers are turned against them. Stupid.

Another thing, come to think of it, is that they ALL need to step up their purpose.
They need to quit wasting our time and start USING these powers instead of pissing and moaning about them.

And that's the Show I LOVE.
Lets move on.

PRISON BREAK.
I told myself that even though I didn't watch the season finale (big shock they BROKE out of PRISON again) that I was going to give it a chance. I was going to watch the 2 hour premiere.
It took me, I kid you not, 7 minutes. Commercial breaks included.
Michael hunts down the person that killed Sara.  (Reminding you that on a previous interview one of the creators stated that 'when someone dies, you know they're gone.') And as he cocks the trigger, she informs him that Sara's not dead. Not dead. NOT. DEAD.
At that point, I was over it. All the wacky suspenseful adventures that I'd gone on with them, they were all dead to me.
Why is heroes different then? If you know they're alive. Because like I said, they set that precedent and gave themselves a get out of death free card. Prison Break, I was told, had no such card as it was grounded in reality. (ish)
So now Sara's back alive and who gives a damn? The 13-17 year old Teenage girl demographic at which the show is apparently now aimed. 
I've washed my hands of it.


Smallville
Speaking of washing my hands of things...
Even though I should have stopped watching this around the end of season 5, I kept on for some stupid reason.
I wasn't as faithful with viewing last season because what they've done to Superman's early years should almost be a crime.
Well, the other night, I turned on the DVR to see what I had and it seems that my series recording of Smallville picked up the season premiere.
Lex has left the show because you don't hang around a sinking ship> You get a life preserver, make a few cameos on Gilmore Girls to re-establish yourself as NOT Lex Luthor and you get the hell out of there.

Patti was right when she said that without Lex, what's the point? See? My wife, with zero clue on all subjects superpowered gets it. SERIOUSLY.

Well, NAY! said they in charge. Superman has a wealth of villains to fight! Lex Luthor is just one of many in the Rogue's gallery! We've covered (ie destroyed) Zod, Brainiac and Bizarro! And we've still got a bunch to go! We'll pull from that endless font of over 70 years of material!!

"Oh. Alright." We said. "You're executive producers and writers and are making all this money to make the show, so you have an informed decision making process. WOW us with the next big thing. Who is next?"
"..." The group looks at each other.
"Metallo?" I ask.
"No."
"Parasite?" I offer.
"No."
"Darkseid? That'd be awesome."
"Who?"
"You aren't going to go with the Toyman are you?"
"No!"
"Then who?"
"Oh you'll like this!" they pause for dramatic effect. "A girl that works for LutherCorp. She's like, Lex's top lady."
"..."
"She's like a less bald, more sexified Lex." They wait with their stupid smiles on their faces.
"Are...you...Is this a joke? You're messing with me right? There isn't going to be another season, you're just toying with us."
"No. There's another season!"
"And the best you can muster is the female version of Lex Luthor?"
"It'll bring a new angle to the Clark/Lex dynamic."
"By adding sexual tension? For all the One Tree Hill fans right?"
"We've got the Green Arrow!" He says desperately.
"In Smallville. With Clark Kent. NOT Superman."
"I see that's not going to be enough for you!"
"Its retarded so far!"
"How about this fanboy? How about...wait for it...Doomsday."
"Excuse me?"
"That's right. Doomsday."
"Doomsday Doomsday?"
"Precisely!"
"The same Doomsday that's buried in the Earth, and has been for a millenia, lying dormant until that one fateful day he wakes up and finally KILLS. Effing. Superman. Him?"
"YES!"
"We're going to put a new spin on him!"
"I'm listening." I say not listening, but looking around the room for a length of cord to strangle the life out of them.
"Ok." One of them rolls up his sleeves and starts his pitch. "In our version, Doomsday is a “hot bartender” at a club called the “Ace of Clubs” who has “something inside of him that he can’t control”. Lois will, apparently, be a regular at this club, and will somehow be involved with the character."(DIRECT QUOTE)

I stop winding the lamp cord around my fists. "A bartender."
"A HOT one. Yes."
"A hot bartender that Lois is going to get involved with." I clarify.
"Yes. And he's got rage issues. Think the HULK."
"Why? Why would I think the HULK FOR F****ING DOOMSDAY! WHY WOULD THE HULK EVEN CROSS A PERSON'S MIND WHEN THINKING OF DOOMSDAY?! WHAT THE **** IS HAPPENING?! WHY HAVEN'T THEY FIRED YOUR WORTHLESS ASSES?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE?!"

And that was when I woke up screaming. Breathing heavy, the sheets twisted around me, my body shivering as I glistened in a cold sweat.
"A dream! Merely a dream!"
Patti comes into the room and asks me if I'm ok.
I shake my head and try to catch my breath.
"Here." she says, laying a magazine on the bed next to me. "Its the new TV GUIDE. It's got Sylar on the cover."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

My sales manager Bob is a pretty great guy. On top of that, over the course of us getting to know each other I've learned that he is incredibly well connected either through previous employment or people he knew in college.
Well, about two weeks ago, amidst all my revisioning whirlwinds, I took a chance and reached out for a bit of help.
See, there's only two people here that know I've written a book, and Bob is officially the second. The first was informed about 3 days before Bob. I asked Bob, amongst all the people he knows, did he happen to know anyone that's been published, of someone that might know some tips about doing so.

He had a guy in mind. He hadn't talked to him in a while, but he said he'd send him an email and see what he could find out. I thanked him and went about my business.

Well these weeks have passed and Bob and I haven't really had a chance to get back to the subject. He went on a weekend...for lack of a better word, "bender" where he spent 4 days with about 30 guys and, I'm pretty sure according to his agenda prior to leaving, planned to spend the majority of the time off his tits drunk. I mention this only, because he said he knew another guy who had been published that was going on this excursion and he would talk to him as well.

Well, yesterday, Bob sent me this email that I've only this morning checked.

Mike -I had gotten an e-mail from David in response to your request for some tips about publishing. I had asked for some clarification, but won't be getting a response. This is the second time this month I have read about a friend's death on Yahoo news. I hope it is the last. I'll see you Monday. Bob

Now , I'm not the type that wants to take a tragic loss of life and make it all about me, unless of course I was directly responsible for that person's passing. (Come to think of it, if I was responsible, I'm thinking I'd be even LESS likely to make it about me...) 

That being said, What the hell? What kind of luck is this I have?
I know what you're thinking, "Mike you're a selfish insensitive prick."
First of all, relax. Its a joke. I don't genuinely think that. Now.

I'd be lying if I didn't for the briefest (is that a word?) of moments think about myself and what this means for
getting published. You won't begrudge me for that, because YOU would be lying if you said you wouldn't do the same were you to find yourself in this situation.

It turns out that the guy, David Foster Wallace, hanged himself on Friday. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080914/ap_en_ot/obit_wallace

So that's kind of crazy don't you think?

Well, being the person I am, and from what I know of the creative types consistent with their nature, I've temporarily set aside my work and taken up something else because as most of you know, I've always wanted my own action figures. 

So I typed, "Make your own..." into google and found a site promoting such things as sculpting your own.
And I said, "WHAT?" More specifically I asked...anyway. 

SO I went and bought said materials and set about making Karen; one of the main characters in my book.

Well, I got the body and such down...mostly...but the face...troublesome. 
As you'll notice from the very very first attempt ever. 


Notice her arms are too wide apart. Whatever. Also when it baked, the edges of her arms cracked. Eh.  



The face I'll get eventually. For a first attempt I'll take it!

Second time around I went smaller scale.
Naive as I am, I thought the face would be EASIER to sort out. It took at least 5 tries and by the end I was like "good enough!"

After I baked it I pulled it out and accidentally snapped her feet off. Oops. 
Then I left it on the coffee table and Patti came back from the 'Sconse and busted off her hand. Oh no big deal. Thanks for that....*shakes fist*
So with busted legs, broken hand and off looking face, I decided on a rush job for the coloring and just used some markers. 

Here's no. 2. 



Annnnd, that's all I got. 
It ain't much, but these are essentially rough drafts.


Oh and its better than YOUR action figure.

Mike's appearance today at US Cellular is brought to you by Darvocet and Motrin IB.
Seems that the indestructable might of one Charles J Weewax has an Achilles' Heel. Except its not my heel so much as it is a somethingorother joint in the lower part of my spine. I all but made my own schedule this week so that I could properly hang out with Mr. S. Harvey whilst he was in town, only to have my back suddenly change its mind at the last minute. Thus forcing me to spend my day off in all manner of twisted contortions to ease the pain that would shoot from spine every couple of minutes.
It wasn't until I couldn't stand up straight that Patti decided we were going to the Urgent Care place, thus forcing a postponement of festivities.

Why am I here? Because I could get out of bed today with lesser pain. And I need the friggin' money because I can't help but get hurt and have bad teeth.

I was going to say more, but I just made a phone call to Herr Bruniga and it threw off my point.


Friggin' mini-cup of yogurt! Every time I open one it spits bits of yogurt at me! I get angry at it every time, but does it stop me from doing it again the next time? No! I just shot it all over my shoulder! Tiny flecks that clean up easy enough, but that's not the point!
What would happen if I did that to customers?!

The answer of course is that I would laugh. All the way to unemployment.

Anyway, that's what I got. Cheers

So I'm at the jorb. Finally a moment's peace to really get out there and put my feelers on the internet!

I'm trying to figure out places to post about the First Chapters thing, but know that this is a futile effort here on the LJ because my loyal band of LJ readers has already made their mark on the contest as loyal bands should.

RIGHT?!
*shakes fist ominously!!*

I don't know. Been sitting on 6.4 for 3 days. Which is nice because its not 6.3. But I also haven't had anymore votes or comments. Whatever right? I knew I wasn't going to win. And 6.4 is a MUCH better response to it than a 1 or 0.5.
We merely proceed through other channels.
But that's work! And I don't like work.
I want it for free and now!

Alas, that's hardly the way its going to work.

Trying to think of who else I need to tell...

Ok, get over it.

Sorry. Anyways, um...going to go um...think about closing this place down. Got about 45 left.

Anyways, thanks you 4 for doing your best to get the word out there!!
When the world is mine you will find favor.
And even if it isn't, you will find a dollar. Or 150 free minutes if I can swing it.

So Mike sent me 5 tapes of footage from the movie we did called ROPE.

Little did I realize we don't have an edited together version of the movie on ANY of those tapes.

The first time the movie was edited, Mike spent the majority of 2 days piecing it together by himself.
Then I came in on the 3rd day to make the DIRECTOR'S CUT.
We were in the editing lab at ISU from around 11 pm to about 6 am.

Now I have to sort through all that to redo it and make a "Assistant Director's Cut."
I'll probably give it a better name than that...

And I might get to finishing it by the end of the year.

So instead, I decided to play around with music in videos today.

The following are the results:

Lost Montage Music Test #1
Lost Montage Music Test #2
Lost Montage Music Test #3
Lost Montage Music Test #4

The exact same scene, a montage I put together for the still "shelved" movie LOST, with 4 different types of music.

Give them a once over and see what you think.
Pick which one you like best.
Let me know.