no story? no problem

-Back in the day, a friend of mine and I made a fever-dream of a movie entitled "The Vaults Were Empty." The basic "premise" was that the narrator of a Masterpiece Theater-type show had simply run out of stories to tell. Sometimes I wonder if that was somehow prophetic on a global scale. Specifically when I read things like this. Seriously, a Marvin the Martian movie? About Christmas!?!? Wow.

-Speculation about VP picks is rampant, because there really isn't anything happening right now with the campaigns. Personally I don't think there is a home run pick for Obama. Clinton comes with a lot of baggage. Dodd, Bayh, Biden, Reed, Nunn may each have some upside, but none of them are particularly exciting, and they're all Senators. Sibelius and Kaine are at least Governors, but neither is very exciting either. None of those are BAD choices, I just don't see any of the possibilities as being a boon to the ticket.

-Now this is a story that I can't wait to watch unfold.

a little bit of everything

Happy May Day everyone. Its an important time to remember the days when we had 24 Hour Filmmaking Contests.

Music! I've had the new single from a group called The Submarines stuck in my head for many days now. Its catchy. Also the Flight of the Conchords finally released their full length album, and although it was too crazy at Amoeba last week for me to catch their show, I still highly recommend their album (and their HBO show).

Movies! Forgetting Sarah Marshall is, to me, the most endearing of the onslaught of Apatow-produced comedies. Of course he only produced it, leaving the writing to star Jason Segal and the director to rookie Nicholas Stoller. The movie feels a lot more similar to Apatow's TV shows than Knocked Up or 40 Year Old Virgin. Also, Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis are, um, easy on the eyes.

Sports! I love Rick Ankiel. He went on a tear these last few days which has my fantasy team off and running. Cardinals are off to a great start, although they haven't really played any really good teams, except for 3 against the Brewers. This weekends series against the Cubs should tell us a lot.

Books! I don't really read comic books, but I have a lot of friends who do. Every now and then I get into a good graphic novel, and the other day I borrowed a copy of the Batman: The Killing Joke. Its a very quick read, and a great story that offers some insight into the background of the Joker.

There's a whirlwind tour of the various entertainments in my life. The rest of it is just keeping the house clean and getting ready for some travelling. Life is good.

february filler

I've said it before and I'll say it again...is February over yet?

It hasn't been a particularly BAD month, its just been a lot of filler. Sadly this year we even get an extra day of it, which will just be annoying.

There have been a few nice things about this month. Its good to be working again, we celebrated the birthday of the greatest President, Spring Training is underway, and the Oscars happened. Lets discuss.

Working is good, for lots of reasons. Today I enjoyed getting a little historical perspective from my boss. He's a good ol' 'SC alum, and it was interesting, if not a little sad, to hear how little had actually changed in the time between his tenure there and my own. One things I love about my business is that people who have been it for a long time have some of the best stories, and they love to tell them. Which works well for me because I like stories about which Producers or Editors liked to sneak of to whichever watering hole and get plastered before, during and/or after a mix/edit session/shoot day. Ahhh Hollywood.

Lincoln's birthday was a couple of weeks ago now. Since he and I share a hometown (he's still there) I feel a particular sense of pride in his Presidency. He was a complicated and troubled man who was, quite possibly, the only man for his time. He was more concerned with preserving the Union than with freeing the slaves, which is sometimes glossed over in History class. If you're ever in my old stomping grounds you should make it a point to check out his house, and the new Presidential Library and Museum there.

Spring Training is underway, and while we won't get a real sense of what the 25 man roster will look like until after the exhibition games get underway, I find this news of Anthony Reyes' newfound command encouraging. I'm a fan of Reyes, despite his awful season last year. He's had a series of obstacles including a manager and pitching coach who've tried to tinker with his pitching style, and undermine his confidence. I was pretty surprised he wasn't traded, but I hope he finds his way into the rotation. It doesn't hurt in my book of course that he's also a fellow Trojan. Scrimmage today, exhibition against SLU tomorrow..."games" start Thursday.

And finally, the Oscars were this past weekend, a mere two miles from my house. They really mess up traffic for several days by closing Hollywood Blvd, but thats just life in this town. I thought the show was really well done. Stewart did an admirable if not spectacular job of hosting, the show was brief, the winners were deserving, and the speeches were mostly short and heartfelt. The feel good moment of the year is seeing Stewart bring Marketa Irglova back out after the commercials to finish her acceptance speech, and her making good use of the extra time. I was rooting for There Will Be Blood and PTA, but I won't complain much.

Its a beautiful sunny day in Southern California. And, for February, life ain't bad.