Thursday, February 24, 2005
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12:55 p.m.
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Just when you think my blogging will approach anything sort of regular, I end up in a near-coma state passing the hours and days as I will in my own strange ways.
This week involved more work, but not the kind I'm continuously hoping for. At the very least it all keeps my head above water, but it could be more fun.
The point of this post is to enquire about this weekend. Everything looked primed for last weekend, and things were postponed, allegedly, to this weekend. I have no idea if Josh or Paul or Jamie or Nic or if anyone is coming down.
The last time I saw Jer was on the weekend when we spent money to go see Constantine. While I was primed to dislike this movie, I have to admit it wasn't that bad. Jer is firmly in the camp that Keanu Reeves should have been recast with a more grungy looking actor like Bruce Willis, but I didn't mind Reeves at all.
And for reasons I can't begin to fathom (well, I can, I suppose... I wanted a special kind of gun), I've almost completely played through Resident Evil 4 again. This time, however, it's at less than half the time it took me the first play through. It's still a whack of change.
Next week sees the release of my newest and likely last game (though the next Zelda game looks great) for the Gamecube, Mortal Kombat: Deception (MK6).
Friday, February 18, 2005
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12:02 p.m.
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If the world gives you lemons...A struggling playwright named Greg Kotis was homeless in Paris, surviving on $4 a day. He slept on park benches and often had to choose between eating and using the city’s pay urinals.
...Make lemonade: One rainy afternoon while making such a choice (he chose food), a thought occurred to him: What if a single evil corporation controlled all of the pay urinals in a city? Inspired, Kotis wrote a play called Urinetown: The Musical. After a sold-out off-Broadway run, it opened on Broadway in 2001. Highlight: a song called “It’s a Privilege to Pee.”
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
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1:34 p.m.
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Angel: Season 5 
"You have to initial here concerning your immortal soul." - W & H employee
You have to admire the guts it took to move the final season of Angel into the offices of the series' major villains. What could easily have blown up in the faces of the cast and creators was embraced by fans and the result is an incredible season. And how on Earth can you top turning Angel into a puppet?
My copy came in the mail today thanks to a pre-order off of Amazon.ca nearly two weeks ago. I had a coupon for $5 off, so the whole thing only cost me $50. Now, as it happens, my Angel collection is complete. I even have an extra sleeve for season 5 as it came in a bilingual wrapper. Heh, if anyone wants a copy of the season I can burn one and even give you a proper sleeve.
My madness doesn't stop there, however. I picked up season 3 of Buffy last week used for a song, and then last night as a Valentine's Day present, the ever-wonderful Catherine picked up a used copy of season 5 for me.
That just leaves 4, 6, and 7 left to go.
I'm probably insane, but that's okay by me. I'm enjoying myself and getting every drop of pleasure of out these DVDs that I can. Now I just have to wait for Firefly to find it's way back to me after being on what seems like permanent loan to friends and family and I can have a Joss Whedon party.
PS. Firefly is selling used across the street for $35.
I'm sure I've gone nuts now.
There's also been no comment from Paul or Jamie about this weekend. I'll have to begin bugging in earnest.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
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7:49 p.m.
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I love these calendars, I really do. Though I think I may be one of the few out there who do. Today, I bought one (featuring dogs) for Catherine purely so I could have my year-long online access back to the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader version. It was such a pleasant way to begin a day of being anchored to a computer, so I didn't want to pass it up again.
Here are a few highlights I've discovered so far:
"In 1946 the following ad appeared in several southern California newspapers: “Wanted: Congressman candidate with no previous political experience to defeat a man who has represented the district in the House for 10 years. Any young man, resident of district, preferably a veteran, fair education, may apply for the job.”
The ad had been placed by the Republican party. The young man who answered the ad was awarded the job and did in fact defeat incumbent Jerry Voorhis after a dirty campaign. So who kicked off his political career by replying to a want ad? Richard M. Nixon (born on this date in 1913)."
And another good one:
• In 2003 televangelist Jim Bakker paid a $3.7 million settlement for defrauding his followers. Lawyers got $2.5 million of it—and each victim got $6.54.
• In a 2003 settlement between Sears and customers with improperly done wheel balancing, lawyers got $2.45 million—and customers got $2.50 per tire.
• When a bank settled a lawsuit over improper interest charges, the lawyers got $8.5 million. Each bank customer got less that $10...and then had to pay the bank $91 to reimburse its court fees.
And finally (for today at least):
"In 1990, 14-year-old Lisa Reid went blind as the result of a brain tumor. The doctors told her it was permanent. Then one night about 10 years later, she bent down to kiss her guide dog goodnight and accidentally smacked her head on a coffee table. Amazingly, when she woke up the next morning, 80 percent of the vision in her left eye had been restored. The first thing she did: telephoned her mother and read her the health warning on a packet of cigarettes."
Other than that, I had a job interview last week that either went really well or I botched completely. I've decided there's no such thing as in between seeing as how you either get the job or you don't.
Catherine and I are enjoying an extended 'Valentine's Day Weekend' with trips for breakfast, gonig to a movie (Million Dollar Baby), a proper dinner on Tuesday night followed by a performance of Mamma Mia.
Personally, I think it's fantastic that after 5 1/2 years of being together that she and I still go out on dates. She's gotta be the most romantic person I know (after myself of course).
PS. This weekend Josh is coming to Toronto to hang out. I'm putting out the call now for Paul, Jamie, Nic, and whomever else is interested to take a little trip into this damn city for a good time.
Friday, February 04, 2005
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11:12 a.m.
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As most of you know, I met with the Toronto Tonight host about a week and a half back (jeez, nearly two now) about a possible career in television. The intention at the time was to get advice for my SPACE pitch, but Ben wound up suggesting something else entirely.
"We have an associate producer job that's come open," he told me. "It entails watching the wires, gathering press releases, and then presenting them, along with any original ideas, to story meeetings each day. The rest of the day is meant to gather guests for the show, and maybe do a bit of tagline and editing with a video editor."
Needless to say, I kind of liked that idea. What' s more, Ben said that he thought I'd be really good at it.
This is the kind of encouragement a 'starving artist' such as myself needs when first trying to get something going. There's nothing definitive here, but it doesn't hurt.
Then Ben told me to retool my resume and send it to him. Now, Ben's name isn't the person on the contact information, but I took it to mean that he'd give me his stamp of approval and you can't do much better than that.
He asked me to have to him within two or three weeks.
So I sent it in on Wednesday, adding about 6 or 7 story ideas, nailing the concept of who the station was (thanks to Catherine for her help with everything), and waited patiently. While NOTHING is set in stone, this email reply I just got gives me a lot of hope for the future...
Hey Brian,
Zev and I looked at your resume. Ronke is the one doing the hiring for
this position...but it doesn't hurt that Zev and I are both impressed.
He'll tell her that. As I said, there's somebody already doing the job
on a temporary basis -- nothing's guaranteed for him, but
he is doing a very good job. But it definitely bodes well for the
future for you, even if things don't work out this second.
I'm not sure what I can add to your presentation. As Zev said, "This
is very smart." We get a lot of resumes. We rarely say that (if ever).
Great first page, great 'branded' look, and excellent last page. The
story ideas are great, but beyond that, you really nailed who we are
and why you'd fit.
I wish I could offer you a job right now. Can't. But keep in touch.
Ronke will be calling you soon to get you in for an interview.
All the best,
Ben Chin
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
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3:34 p.m.
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Ah, how I do love chocolate milk... and how I love that it became headline news yesterday that Sealtest put out a bad batch of it. How is it that protests, murders, and all the other events in this city was spoiled by some fun loving chocolate milk gone bad?
Have we all gone nuts?
Well, whatever. All it did was make me want chocolate milk. So I went out, bought three bags and a bottle of Quik (TM). No worries, it wasn't THAT big of a craving as Catherine and I bought the rest of our groceries then as well.
How is it that between the two of us we managed to rack up $70 worth of food? It certainly doesn't seem like that much when you spread it out.
It beats eating out, though. That was costing us HUGE amounts of money but it appealed to our lazy side. It also means I need to start getting back into karate as my bulge is beginning to obscure my belt. I wish I had more local overweight friends. We could band together and fight. Who am I stuck with? My girlfriend is in amazing shape, and the two closest best friends are freakin' rails.
Ah, the irony.
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