Goooooooool!

With just a scant hour before the official end of the operation and with me seemingly not in any big rush to put any big push of work into the effort, I'm going to officially call it. With an unofficial (but what I'm calling final) count of 108 pages, I hereby claim victory in the month long crusade that was Script Frenzy. A winner is me.


After some initial trepidation over the whole thing, I have to say that it was much easier to settle into the pace of Screnzy, and overall I'd say that the goal of 100 pages was much more workable a goal than the 50,000 words that are NaNoWriMo. Although honestly, I think I have love for both projects. It's probably just that I think it much more likely that some off script that I write will get produced somehow over a novel being published. But life is odd and strange, and the exercise isn't necessarily about making something producable anyway.

Still, I will persist in torturing the wary few that come here by sharing some odd snippets here and there. But given the response I've had from when I've shared before (namely none), that may well be an exercise for the sake of doing it, too.

But enough of that. I dedicate this victory to the late Sam Johnson, who I still think about every time I sit down to write something here. I'm sure he'd enjoy this victory, as well as this victory tune, provided courtesy of Earth, Wind, and Fire:



(And yes, I realize the song has no bearing at all on anything. But I already used Kool and the Gang's Celebration for my NaNo win, and I've had this song stuck in my head for most of the day. Best Elite Beat Agents level... ever.)

The Origins of Friendship

I'm sure that everyone has a story or stories involving Sam Johnson. And much like people's perceptions, every story will be different. I've struggled to try and figure out just what my story would be concerning him, and I'm inevitably drawn back to the first time I met the man a scant six years ago. It was a meeting that left me with one inescapable thought about him:

What a jerk.

But you have to understand the nature of the story to see how it got to that point. At the time, I was a curious, somewhat timid lad of twenty some odd years on one of what would be many an adventure at the Comic Box. It may have even been my first trip there (I honestly can't recall it that deeply). But the dispute was born as many a nerd-based dispute is: through a technical misunderstanding.

See, I saw a Heroclix booster box on a shelf that featured Superman clone gone wrong Bizarro, who was wearing a stone tablet that said "Bizarro #1".I made the idle comment to Sam (who was behind the register) that I thought it was hilarious that he'd wear something like that, to which Sam flatly and almost condescendingly replied, "He's been wearing that for years."

I want to tell you that I'm not so petty a person that when someone puts me in my place for not knowing an item of geek-lore, I'm fine with it. But something about the attitude with which the comment was offered just set me off. Not in the, "It's on now, time to kick some @$$!" kind of way but the, "You're on my s*** list, good luck getting off of it," kind of way. Really, how dare he? How was I supposed to know that? And so what if I didn't? Needless to say, I was miffed.

And as I am want to say during many a story, if it had ended there, that would be that. But no, it wouldn't be much of a remembrance if that's the note I left it on, would it?

No, the story here is what happened after that. See, I want to tell you that Sam and I had some long winded feud that went on for years before finally being resolved, but it never happened. I may have been a little indifferent the next few times I saw him, but the truth is I can't remember it. In all honesty, I can't remember one bad thing that the man said or did after that point. Now I'm not saying he's a saint or anything, but after that specific moment in time, I can't recall him ever getting on my bad side.

If nothing else, it means the man got on my good side again, which he must have done by just being the funny, personable guy he was most of the time. I don't know what might have been wrong with him that first day. Maybe he had gotten up on the wrong side of bed, or he had a headache, or maybe he was just defending his geek territory as we all are wont to do some days. But at any rate, the whole thing became so irrelevant over the course of time that I only actually remembered the first incident after being reminded that Sam used to work at Comic Box. That's how far removed it was from me.

So I guess if there's any lesson to be learned here (and there doesn't have to be, but let's pretend there is one here), it would be that shutting people out based on one or two rough meetings isn't always the best idea. It's a bit cliche, but life really is too short for holding petty grudges and pushing people away based on trifling issues. Give people a second chance, or at the very least let them know what they did to offend you. You may find that they never really meant anything by it, and you might just have a chance to make a friend that you never would have.

More later.

At a Loss for Words...

Considering that most of the people who have seen my page no doubt either came from his page, at some point visited his page, or just knew him personally, there's no doubt in my mind that I don't have to tell most people that visit here about the passing of Sam Johnson. I'll be the first to admit that we weren't horribly close, but through our web adventures I feel like we had established a kinship of sorts.

I'm still trying to find the right set of words to say on the matter (and believe me, I will have many more words about the man), and I almost don't feel like saying much until I do have those words, but I felt like I needed to say something in the meantime. So I'll leave you with these two things regarding the man. First, his encouragement is one of the things that prompted me to get this old page up and running. And secondly, his joy of life and his embracing of his own mortality is one of the things that keeps me working on my writing, both here and in what passes for real life.

So if at any point in time you've garnered any semblance of joy, amusement, entertainment, enlightenment, or just blind distraction from anything you've seen here at the old House Rules! site, you can offer a small measure of thanks to Sam Johnson for it.

Abstract Thought of the Day

"Julie Chen is having my baby! Sorry, Les..."

Short, dangerous thoughts like that? That's the reason I don't use Twitter.

Screnzy: Day 20 Update

Good news all around on the Screnzy front. For starters: my page count is unofficially at 71 pages. That puts me ahead of pace for the first time since Script Frenzy started. Woo!

And for individual project updates: the first draft of the script for episode one of FraK is now complete. Woo! And no, you can't read it. Not now, anyway. It's a bit rougher of a draft than I intended, and there are about four or five things that I have to go in and fix before it makes complete sense, not to mention actually polishing a few minor items on top of that. That, of course, will need to wait until I finish another script. Or at the very least until I reach my page goal for the month.

And yes, I am still working on Hardcore. I plan for the big metal hero to get some solid attention during the last week of of the event (where hopefully, I'll just be padding my victory total).

Screnzy: Day 17 Update

Okay, so I surged ahead to 50 pages, but then I stalled out a little. So I'm still sitting at just around 50 pages, which is a little off pace but I'm fine with it. Normal pace means you write a little over 3 pages a day, and I generally write more than that on a good day. So if need be, I can just push extra hard to finish things off.

The tricky part is working on two projects at once. Most of my page count is from Frak. Sorry, but I just find scripting a show easier than scripting a comic. That, and a comic script requires detail, something I can skimp on a little when doing a TV script (although I know I'll need to get back to it at some point). Someone at the Script Frenzy site suggested that people create a script for a commercial or trailer for their work, and I might do something like that if I get a chance. Now back to work with me.

HouseTV: Who for the Holidays: Part 2

It's like Speed, only slower and with more aliens.

(Note: This review of Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead may contain minor spoilers. I don't think it's anything that would wreck your viewing, but you've been warned.)

Call me crazy, but I've never bothered to double check when the Doctor Who specials were set to come out this year. I just occasionally check to see if there's any buzz about them anywhere on the interwebs. So imagine my surprise when a few scant days ago I realized that Easter was the set date for the appearance of my second favorite self-repairing, time and space bending hero. The first, of course, is mentioned by the Doctor himself in the opening moments of Planet of the Dead.

(Although honestly, I'm terrified just what the first Easter would be like in the Who-verse. But it's best not to think of such things, and just move on.)

So this holiday's adventure gives us David Tenant's Doctor stopping to catch a bus. This self same bus is occupied by the elusive and mysterious Lady Christina de Souza, played by Michelle Ryan. The bus, of course, makes an odd detour, and hilarity ensues.

Well, actually the entire episode plays a bit straight. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I know that I was especially critical of this year's Christmas special, almost to the point of feeling like it was phoned in. But even though the story here is hardly full of twists, it still manages to be entertaining.

The reason is no doubt due to the cast. Tenant is given much more to work with in terms of the scifi, and the Doctor as a character has more opportunity to interact with characters in this adventure. In truth, he seems much more like his old, quirky, unpredictable self (aside from a few heavy moments along the way).

Michelle Ryan's Christina is a refreshing change of pace. If you're like me, you'll play a game of, "Don't I know you from...?" before realizing that Ryan was A) in the BBC show Jekyll and/or B) played the titular character in the US remake of The Bionic Woman. Christina is a bit of a shift from companions past. Rose and Martha could be considered capable assistants. Donna openly challenged the status quo of the universe. Minogue's Astrid and Morrisey's "Doctor" were worthy a tagalong and a bizarrely effective leader respectively. And then there's Jack. Oh, Jack.

Christina certainly best fits with the final member of the list. Like Jack, Christina is a bit of a rogue that appears to be essentially good at heart. And when she seems to have everything a person could possibly need if stranded on a deserted island (or planet) in her backpack, she seems like a perfect companion for the Doctor. In theory, anyway. We all know that there's only so much leeway a companion is allowed to have before the Doctor considers them more trouble than help (just ask Adam).

If there's any fault with Christina, it's that she's forced a little too eagerly into a pairing with the Doctor. This isn't necessarily her fault, I guess. Not having multiple episodes to work with, I'd imagine that there just wasn't time to dance around the issue. And of course, it sets the table for the conclusion, which really ends up being inevitable.

As I said before, the story here is pretty straightforward. Honestly, you can't get more direct than this tale. The plot itself is so direct, in fact, that I'd argue that it's a good example of Plot 101. But there are worse things inthe world than a simple plot, and the fact that I enjoyed it as much as I did is a testament to how much I enjoy everything else about the show and the collective effort it puts forth.

Speaking of those other elements... did we go old school here or what? Looking at the backdrops for the various scenes, you'll realize that there were only a handful to be had. Street, desert, ship interior... that's pretty much it. Okay, there's a few more, but you get the idea. But the series has never been about the big effects or lavish sets, so that's hardly a complaint. What visual effects there are serve to complement to episode, but there's no doubt in my mind that many people will find one in particular a bit corny. Such is life.

As far as actual complaints, I only have a few. First, there was a disturbing lack of TARDIS here. Granted, I understand that this is the type of story that doesn't work if the Doctor has any access at all to his ship, but we don't even get a token fade in/fade out from it. You could have at least blinked the light on top of the call box for us. Something. Anything.

Also, how is there not a UNIT series of some type already in the works? They're proving themselves to be horrifically entertaining in small doses, and if someone would produce some episodes, I'd be all over them. Come on. Let the little red berets have their fun, too. It'd be nice to see what they were up when they're not bowing down at the altar that is the Doctor's feet.

All in all, Planet of the Dead came right when I was about done with wondering when there'd be new Who and gave me exactly what I was looking for. If The Next Doctor was on the good side of mediocre, then I'd have to say that this adventure was on the average end of good. It did everything I expect of the show, and managed to drop in a handful of extras that I enjoyed. Now back to reality, and the return of my inevitable Who withdrawal.

Rating: 7.5/10 (It's good Who, but it can't quite break the awesome barrier.)

"Run That Through Your Clicker... Boom!"

AP is now reporting that long time sportscaster and gaming franchise leader John Madden is retiring. Madden notes that it was time to go and that he wanted to spend more time with his family. Makes sense to me, but let's translate it to Madden speak:

"See, what this means is that he's old, and his anniversary is coming up, and he wanted to spend more time with his family. So he's going to retire so that he can do that."

Yeah. Pretty much filters out there, too.

Of course, EA Sports has yet to announce if this will have any effect on their long running Madden NFL series of games. The only serious negative consequence so far has been the announcement that Cris Collinsworth will replace Madden in the booth for Sunday night games, finally giving all of America a reason to watch The Simpsons.

Oh, yes I did say it. Collinsworth is a hack. I'm not afraid to say it.

"That's Tatiana!"

AP (and no doubt various other sources) has reported that adult star Marilyn Chambers has died at age 56. Now granted, I shouldn't care about this. The majority of her "work" was before my time, I can honestly say that I haven't seen much of it at all, and even the later, less racier stuff occurred mainly during my teen years.

...

And I clearly wouldn't have seen that then, either. And that's the story I'm sticking to.

Still, the woman was heralded as one of the groundbreaking stars of her genre. If anything, she helped make ye ol' pR0n more mainstream, and there can't be too many people that are upset about that.

(And yes, I realize that there is, in fact, only one person I know of that might get the quote I used in the title of this post. But if you happen to, then you realize exactly why I used it.)

Abstract Thought of the Day

Two straight weeks of waking up early Monday morning at the exact time The Mighty Boosh airs on Cartoon Network.

Two straight weeks of inexplicably being drawn to watch The Mighty Boosh.

Two straight weeks of not loving the show, but not finding any reason to hate it, either.

Darn crazy Brits and their weird shows that I barely understand but still find entertaining.

Why the Nerve of Some People...

I'm so pissed right now!

I was on hold, because someone called my cell phone and told me that my factory warranty on my car was about to expire. But this song that was playing while I was on hold was so cool that I was really jamming to it. But then the lady answered the phone. And when I asked to be put back on hold, she had the nerve to act like I was crazy.

And then on top of that, she said I would definitely be called back. And I bet that song won't be playing at all when they call me back...

I mean seriously... can't she understand my need to groove?

I'll explain when they call back. I'm sure the next person will understand...

Scrubs Dance Madness!!

I'm mad at this for two reasons. First of all, even thought I want to be offended, it's funny as all get out. And secondly, I swear I had this bit written up in my head at one point.



And who knew Sarah Chalke could break it down on the regular? She even still does the, "I told you so" dance.



And because three clips are better than two, here's an oldy with a gone but not forgotten legend.

Legends Never Die

I didn't catch many pranks floating around the interwebs this April 1st, but I found this one incredibly entertaining. The only thing is that there's no way to believe that that would be an XBox 360 game.

If they had claimed it was for the Wii, though...