Moving Day . . .
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Dropkick Murphy's "Finnegan's Wake"

hello Internet Webbers!

for the past couple of months, i've been keeping up two blogs, this one here at Angelfire and one over at MySpace. i never thought i'd leave Angelfire as it does allow a few freedoms that MySpace doesn't, but with MySpace's built-in community, my priceless tirades are making more of an impact (and are actually being read!) over there so it is with a slightly heavy heart that i'm announcing that for all tenses and purposes, i'm moving to MySpace.

this site won't go away, i'll probably be back in a couple of months going "stupid MySpace, i hate that place!"

but if you'd like to keep tabs on Scottish Fogg and everything in his life, you're gonna hafta go visit http://www.myspace.com/scottishfogg. hope to see you there!

I LIVE!!
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Robbie Williams' "Sexed Up"

after being berated, "dude, you haven't posted in like forever," i have decided to return to Angelfire and say "whassup?"

whassup?

it's summer which means no-one wants to come by Olive Garden for some tasty, tasty Italian food. they, like me, would rather be outside enjoying the sunshine, inside enjoying the air conditioner, or (really like me) inside enjoying the air conditioner AND a good movie.

speaking of good movies, have you seen the line-up for this summer? my goodness, i'm going to be one poor bastard*. Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and . . . oh wait, that's really it. X-Men 3 already opened and i already forked over everything they're gonna get out of me for that (until the DVD comes out) and The DaVinci Code has already opened but i am boycotting that movie . . . until i finish the book, which i am halfway through and then i will go see it. i'm not looking forward to Cars, but i think that's the subject of a different blog.

Loren and i are in pre-production on a short film that's gonna be literally the culmination of every project i've ever worked on and three years of film school. it's gonna rock the socks of my sockless Birkenstocks.

speaking of rocking socks off, if you haven't gotten the chance to see Soapbox perform live yet, you haven't lived. they so rock.

anyway, i'm off to make dinner for my the love of my life, my best friend: Smallville, the DVD Collection. and if there's any left overs, i'll let my wife have some. ;)


* the writer uses the word "bastard" in the vernacular sense, as slang, not in the strictest of senses. he is not an illegitimate child. he is the child of a happy, happy marriage and at least one night of passion.

Pleasant Surprises
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: The Servant's "Cells" (instrumental)

last week, Kelly and i were cleaning out Spare Oom to make room for Loren, as he was coming down here to Chattanooga for a wedding he and i shot (on camera, ya' nerd). we found a roll of film that had been shot and decided to develop it (as is what you're supposed to do with a roll of film that's been shot).

imagine my very pleasant surprise when i found the roll of film was from the summer of 2004. the roll was filled with a trip Kelly and i took down to Atlanta to see our friend Kristi and pictures i took on the set of the summer blockbuster "Angel in Chains."

imagine my further pleasant surprise when i discovered that the roll of film i shot was slide film and the process of developing it in the Wal-Mart One-Hour Photo Center made the entire roll look like a Tony Scott flick. i've made me a collage so i can show off some of these pics:

Pessimistic Pixar Rant
Mood:  crushed out
Now Playing: Chris Gaines' "Right Now"

okay. i've been the biggest fan of Pixar (just like every one else in the world) ever since Toy Story hit the silver screen. i've loved, laughed, and cried with them. but now . . . now . . . now i'm just not sure.

i just got finished watching the second trailer for their upcoming flick, "Cars." it looks cute enough but . . . there's no snap, no pop. with every single trailer for their previous films, i walked away excited and looking forward to the movie's opening. but there's just something "ho-hum" about this trailer. and i don't know if it's because it's a crap trailer for what will no doubt be an awesome movie (see also "Superman Returns"), or if they just don't have anything to work with and so this is actually a pretty good guess as to how the movie will play (see also "The Break-Up"). obviously, i hope it's the latter or the former, i mean. whichever one means "the first choice."

here's also hoping this isn't a sign of things to come from Pixar.

Shopgirl
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine"

with my life taking on so many new changes, i've decided it's high time my blog reflect this change. so i've decided that, along with recording all my daring and adventurous exploits, i'm going to dedicate my blog to reviewing the books i'm reading. back in the early days of this blog, i would review the movies i'd watched but life and times distracted me from that endeavor and there were simply too many movies to review (some say i have time management issues).

the first book i am to review/recommend is Steve Martin's novella Shopgirl.

i picked it up, admittedly, because i had read interesting reviews of the film they've released based on this book. i found it at McKay's, a local used book store thinking it would be filled with Martin's trademark humor. i've been a long-time fan of Steve Martin, both on screen and off (one particular article about axes i read in the paper once i found especially hysterical) and i assumed the book would be something akin to a Dave Barry book, where you find yourself laughing out loud at least once per page -- if nothing else, i'd have a constant smile while i read the book.

but this was not the case. it was something much, much better. it was soft and gentle. it's humor was subtle and often satirical. it was a book that celebrated melancholiness and explored what it's like to be in a time and place in your life when the job you have has absolutely nothing to do with your passions and what catalysts it takes to break you out of this seemingly inescapable downward spiral and ultimately, what happens when these catalysts enter your life. the title and subject matter will probably attract more women than men (it is something of a romance book), but the heart and soul of this book is universal. it's also exceptionally easy to read and just short enough that one should be able to clip through it in a weekend. the only warning against it i give is there are some, how shall we say, love scenes that i know some people will be a little uncomfortable with. but it's all handled well, in good taste, and is never exceptionally graphic.

the book was so enjoyable i quickly plucked up Steve Martin's follow-up, "The Pleasure Of My Company," which, i assume, will be my next review.

Existencia
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Bare Naked Ladies' "One Week"

i did a bad thing yesterday. it had been a long, long day at Olive Garden and i hadn't eaten in about eleven hours. i was tired. i was hungry. i was cranky and . . . well . . . i incited a riot.

okay, maybe not a riot. it was a slaughter! all Chattanooga base are belong to us! the Hamilton Place Olive Garden is nothing but smoldering ash! MUW-WAH-HA-HA-HA!!!!

just kidding. but the slaughter thing. and the riot. and the ashes. there's no ashes. well, there's ashes, but only where there's supposed to be. not in Olive Garden. or in place of Olive Garden. that video you saw? that wasn't even me. that was from the cartoon "Samurai Champloo." really. i don't even own a sword. there's some people who keep calling me, trying to sell me a Xena or Highlander sword, but i keep telling them, "UNTIL YOU GET ME THE BRAVEHEART SWORD, I WILL NOT SPEAK TO YOU!"

but you know how that goes. anyway, it's off to work with me! ta!

projects GALORE
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: KT Tunstall's "Through the Dark"

it's some times a mystery to me why you don't hear about "tortured artists" as much you hear about "starving artists." i've been a tortured artist my entire life, but not once have i been a starving artist. honestly people, do i look like someone who has a hard time finding food?

"so what is a tortured artist" you ask?

someone who has so many ideas, they are pulled in a thousand different directions as they try to realize and pursue each one. let me let you in, for just a peak.

Alcoln and i are currently working on a graphic novel. we've just come up with a title for it, but i don't want to give away too much. i wrote it and he's drawing it. the following picture is a preliminary sketch of one of our main characters:

so i'm working on that. as i was writing that, i said to myself, "you know, this graphic novel is going to take at least a year to complete, maybe even longer to get it published. i need some kind of income (outside of the Olive Garden) between now and then. what would be something easy to write that i could publish and get my name out there with?

so i wrote this story. it's a memoir, actually. a memoir of what it was like to be a ten year-old living on an Air Force Base during the Persian Gulf War. i'm currently on my second draft of that.

while i was writing that, my friend Loren approached me about a series of short films. ten of them. i've created the outline for seven of them and am currently working on the other three outlines and trying to flesh out the outlines i have into full scripts.

as i worked on that, i was reminded of my play "Nighthawks," which i think still has a very large market of people who haven't been able to see it. so i returned to the script, re-read it, and am now currently working on a new outline for a "Nighthawks" film.

as i worked on "Nighthawks," i began to wonder about some of the other projects from my past that might be able to make the transition from stage to film and i remembered a film script i wrote called "Happy Valley." it could be years before this film is made, so why not in the meantime turn it into a book? that's the project i'm putting most of my time into right now (besides this blog).

then, on top of all that, there's another project. a super-secret project that i think could be really, really, big. but it's not anything i want to give away. i know, i know, there's like three people reading this blog (but you never know). but i'm so excited, i have to leave you with something, so i'll give you this, a collage of some of the inspirations behind the project:

the little, tiny choleric in me commit hari kari a looong time ago, but that doesn't stop me from just mentally shutting down sometimes. the scary thing is, no matter what i'm doing, i will put serious brain time into each of these projects each and every day.

so. screw the starving artists. how 'bout them tortured artists?

Do Not Fear Conversation!
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Antony & The Johnsons' "Bird Gurhl"

question: why do we fear conversation?

and i don't mean, why do we fear conversing with complete strangers in Wal-Mart -- though that would be an interesting subject of debate.

i mean, why do we fear conversing with people who believe and/or think differently than we do? so many times, we surround ourselves with people who believe as we believe, think what we think, enjoy the same movies as we do, listen to the same music we do and generally behave in public the same way we do.

why?

what would be so bad as having a conversation with someone that has beliefs that directly contradict or conflict with ours? what is the danger in partaking in a debate with someone from "the other side of the fence?" what is the problem with watching a film that brings to our attention a different world view?

are we so fragile that anything that causes ripples could and would completely destroy our system of beliefs? are we scared that someone might challenge us and that would make us re-evaluate ourselves and why we do what we do?

what is the harm in challenging a "liberal" with "conservative" ideas or vice-versa? why do Christians fear existentialists?

let's come together and talk! otherwise we grow complacent and stagnant and no-one wants that!

or do they?

Nighthawks - The Movie?!
Now Playing: Robbie Williams' "Ain't That a Kick In The Head"

there's a lot of junk on the Internet. it's true. and i'm not just talking about porn. i'm talking about blogs. i'm talking about all these opinions people have that we, the readers, are supposed to care about. you could take my blog as an example. i'm writing this stuff, expecting you to read it and care about it. knowing this, i'm trying to write responsibly and not just update you daily (because let's face it, my life isn't that interesting). so i'll just update you when something big happens or there's something interesting to talk about.

like Nighthawks the movie. over a year ago, i, with Ripple Productions, wrote and directed Nighthawks, a musical adaptation of the Book of Hosea set in the 1940's. in my humble opinion, it's the best thing i've ever written. now that theatre is pretty much a thing in my past, it's high time i brought Nighthawks to the silver screen. i'm getting to flesh out the characters more. i'm getting to fix plot holes and character inconsistencies. i'm getting to answer questions the audience had the first time around. it's so exciting!

so, if you saw Nighthawks, and have an opinion about the play you'd like to share with me, please do!

McFarland Family Reunion
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Gwen Stefani's "What Are You Waiting For"

early Saturday morning saw Kelly and i driving down to Montgomery, Alabama for a family reunion/grandpa's 80th birthday/Aaliyah's dedication. the four hour drive down there flew past, as i was asleep the entire time. for those of you who have never been to Montgomery (or anywhere else in Alabama, for that matter), all you need to know is that it is a hot, hot place.

the baby dedication was . . . interesting. i'm only related to the child (Aaliyah, not named after the singer but because the name means "Ascend," apparently) through marriage and i think the mom (Pam or Pamela) is Kelly's second cousin, but that didn't stop them from calling me up on stage with all the other men of the family, a tradition i have never seen before. it was sweet though.

the McFarland family reunion, like any family reunion, was very educational. i now know everything i never knew i didn't know about Kelly --
but i thought it was cool. the Foggs haven't had a family reunion since . . . well, before i can remember. i occupied my time trying to hear every embarassing story about Kelly's childhood and terrorizing the children that were present. a very productive Saturday, if i do say so myself.

the drive back home was longer than the one down simply because i was mostly awake for this one. i think i'll post some pictures from our journey into the deeper south -- but i'll have to wait to get the pictures from Arlene and Kelly's mom.

tootles till then!