If You Can Dodge A Wrench, You Can Dodge A Blog

So, dejection time again -- it comes at least once a week, usually about the same time I'm blogging.

I question what percentage of the human race get paid to do a job they really love. That's a nice way of saying, I wonder if I'm inevitably doomed to never work professionally at a career directing films. That's a sobering thought. Won't my life be largely wasted if it's spent contributing in ways the world doesn't really need?

That sounds dumb, coming from a guy crusading to make escapist motion pictures.

I wrote a short this week, being shot by Matt and I tomorrow. It's very simplistic and nothing special, but it's an opportunity to make something, work on execution, and generally play with a bit of creativity. I'm hoping to keep this a regular practice, because as frenzied as I often am about securing work and a paycheck, I've done very little since moving here to progress and evolve my career ambitions. As a matter of fact, I've mainly sat on my talents and squandered them (with the single exception of a couple cute animations).

If I want to be directing films sooner than 20 years from now, I should already be getting started. Shoot! Write! Animate! Edit! Faster!

It's a tough balancing act, to fret over making rent and fret over not making movies. Somewhere in that space, people tell me I need to work on not fretting so much. Huyeah. That's not gonna happen.

Blog Like The Wind, Bullseye!

Today's one of those days where I have so much to do, and no interest to do it.

I think the primary culprit is Zelda, which has sucked me in and drained away my life since I began a new file. We're not talking new Zelda or current Zelda, mind you, but the SNES epic from 1991. *That* Zelda. How can little 16bit characters with swords and arrows eat so much of my attention away? Assortments of pixels and little menus, and idiotic little decisions -- should I keep my boomerang out, or risk a few arrows on these scumbags... Of course, I *do* have the Hookshot now...

The thing is, I can either go about my day and take care of business as usual -- do some writing, do some animating, do some craigslisting -- or I can venture forth into the medieval land of Hyrule, save another princess, scour a haunted dungeon for lost keys, upgrade my magical powers, warp into the Dark World, defeat the evil Prince of Darkness, and save the fate of the universe.

Little wonder I don't feel like browsing craigslist.

Because Of What You've Done -- What You Plan To Blog!

Well, spirits aren't high, but they really can't be when you're unemployed and industry jobs are being replaced with no-pay internships and going to film students instead of recent graduates. Not that I'm bitter -- internships are an important stepping stone into the industry, and are great learning experiences. I, for one, really appreciated my internship and found it massively rewarding in a lot of respects. That doesn't mean they're always a song and a dance, with rainbows and cupcakes, but it means that I wouldn't wish them away by any means, even if it steals from my job market. But it is getting tougher, and the economy doesn't look to be getting better.

I've found my way temporarily onto the set of CBS's Medium, which has been so far a good experience over all, if not an intensive one. The first thing I noticed was that my role as a PA was massively downscaled. For the first time, craft services was NOT my problem. For the first time, nobody expected me to be making coffee. For the first time, nobody was asking me to drive someone anywhere, and for the first time, nobody told me to run over to Starbucks. Maybe that stuff does happen still, but on this show, in this context, I've done nothing but really solid PA-ing. And that includes loitering, handing out papers, trying to find missing people, answering questions, and hissing loudly at people being too noisy during rehearsals and shots. Which I still don't get. It's like they show up to do their part, but could care less once the actors step in and the cameras start recording. Eh, it's just a movie I'm being paid to make successful. Who gives a rip if I ruin the takes by loudly telling crude jokes off screen, now that the lighting is good?

Maybe I'm just hyper sensitive and a little anal. But gosh darn it, picture's UP and we're ROLLING. And whenever we cut, I want nothing more than to yell, "IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANY MORE NOISY CRAP TO DO, NOW'S THE FRICKEN TIME."

I'm really gonna be an all-star PA by 2011. Like the kind legends are made of. The disgruntled and angsty kind, with violence issues and a dark sarcasm built upon broken dreams.

Oh, but here's the light in my life: ANIMATION. Because no sets are required, no cameras are needed, no lights have to be rented, no crews need to set up, and no call sheets need to be issued. There's no such thing as a location shoot in animation, and there's no need for a soundstage. All we need to make animation is me, sitting at my computer, and enough attention span to stop checking my email.

I can't animate the rest of my life, because I enjoy swordfighting and blowing stuff up too much. And plus, costumes and fake stonework is too much fun not to use. But I may thrive on cartoons for as long as I can, because they know my pain and know best how not to cause it.

You're Garbage Who Blogs For Money

First order of business is to wish the Simpsons a happy 20th anniversary. Second order of business is to gush about them. What a swell bunch with a mercilessly nostalgic, feel-good funny show. Given the number of child chokings, beers guzzled, and bad life decisions in each and every episode, you can somehow count on feeling all warm and fuzzy inside by the end.

Speaking of animation, schoolmate-turned-housemate Matt pitched me an interesting challenge in the kitchen earlier tonight. Write another simple animation, he said, but rather than animate it, let's shoot it live action this weekend. Hmm hmm hmm! The plot thickens!

Naturally, my brain started somersaulting the moment I stepped outside to go back to my room. An animation at heart, but shot with people? Oh man. Does that even work? Animation allows for much more destruction and injury than live action, and it also has that ever-present Get Out Of Jail Free card: cuteness. Live human beings just can't compete with hyper-adorable creatures, if for no other reason than a lack of novelty.

Nevertheless, it's a good solid challenge, and one I'm excited to take up. Several of us have been itching to bust a camera out, and I'm exercising my writing chops a bit more every week. I'll be certain to post a link to the outcome of this challenge, for better or worse.

In the meantime, Fungus-Ridden website is up! Lots of old videos to look through, and plenty of current faves, too. Go take a peek. I double-dog dare ya.

The Sheriff Is A Blogger!

Welcome to the first post of the new year on my fresh and timely blog.

2010 has officially kicked off with back-to-back flight failures, effectively trapping me in New York and waiting desperately for a plane back to LA. The good news is, it's still vacation, and nobody's really doing anything at home, anyway. The bad news is, they're gonna start back up sooner or later, and I'd kind of like to be there when the city revives.

I did enjoy the opportunity to spend New Year's Eve at home in NY, because it enabled me to make an unexpected crashing of the traditional New Year's party my friends hold. It was that or wander around empty Los Angeles, so losing that flight ended up being a pretty decent trade, minus the inconvenience it caused others back in CA (I'm supposed to be dog-sitting for a friend, but long-distance dog-sitting is a trick I haven't learned yet).

There's a plane leaving for Chicago and then LA later, so I'm waiting at the airport (again) for that. Honestly, the worst thing about trying to catch planes every day is having to go through security again and again. I'm really, really sick of throwing jumbled messes of wires onto the counter to dig out a DVD binder, and I hate even more trying to cram it all back in neatly without busting the seams on my bag, or holding up the line for hours. I have nothing but carry-on, so sometimes it feels like I need to literally pounce on my bags and stuff everything in with my feet to fit it. Shirts, shorts, games, headphones, instant mashed potatoes, and underwear were not meant to be stored in an occupied laptop bag.

I'm meeting somebody for lunch here, since the alternatives are starving and airline food (bleagh! Give me death!). I should probably wrap up so as not to keep him waiting, especially since delaying lunch means delaying getting back to the airport, which delays getting me through security and, therefore, potentially delaying me from making my plane. I'm bringing my collection of movie tickets back to LA, where I have other ticket stubs stored, so I can put together my traditional Yearly Movie Review. Yay.

Best thing about 2010, mates, is that Nicolas Cage is in no fewer than FIVE movies this year. Bam, instant win. In the wise, wise words of Harrison Ford: "I've got a bad feeling about this..."