TGIF
Now Playing: Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl"

ah, the weekend is here. sweet, sweet weekend.

i'm sitting in a sound-proof room waiting for the talent to show up (Rachel "I'm Sorry I'm Late" Komorowski). as i sit and wait, i study the walls. apparently you can sound proof a room by spraying oatmeal all over the walls and letting it dry. that's exactly what the builders seem to have done . . . i'm hungry . . .

oh, whaddaya know, she's on time.

Rent: The Off-Broadway Chattanooga Existence That Is My Own (And Not a Musical)
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Flying Lizard's "Money (That's What I Want)"

i got paid today, which is good because i'm not broke anymore, but all the money is already spoken for, which sucks. it wouldn't be all spoken for, but Sallie Mae thinks i'm loaded (if there's some large vault of wealth i have they're not telling me about, i'm going to be very upset). rent is around the corner which means for the next two weeks, call me "Minnie the Moocher."

best time to play Resident Evil 4: 2:30am
worst time to play Resident Evil 4: 2:30am

just finished tweaking two scripts. one for the Fertility Center and one for me. i'm recording the voice over for the IVF DVD tomorrow and holding a rehearsal for my short film tonight. news at eleven. or on Monday, which ever sees me closer to a computer.

can someone please, seriously, tell me what the point of the electoral college is?

and in similar but completely unrelated news, i found this today and connected to it in ways i never have before.

Sallie Mae: The Actual Cerberus
Mood:  irritated
Now Playing: Crystal Method's "She's My Pusher"

for those of you not up on your Greek mythology, Cerberus (or Cerberos or Kerberos) was the three-headed hound that guarded the door to Hades' place. its job was to see to it that the living (me, you, anyone else you might know who's walking, talking, eating, and/or breathing) from entering the land of the dead (incorrectly regarded as Hades, who actually ran the place -- i'm talking about Hell, the Place of the Damned, Collegedale). i once thought this little mythological tale was cute and full of its own masochistic charm.

but now i realize the truth. the founders of Sallie Mae were directly inspired by this hound of Hades' and have based their entire corporate identity on this creature and have even taken to adopting some of the canine's less charming characteristics.

this month i received a bill from Sallie Mae, saying i needed to pay this month and last month's payment and that was overdue. a little befuddled that i hadn't received a warning about this, i paid the 107.06$ -- sent them a check and went on with life. a couple of days later, my bank statement let me know that the check had cleared.

goody.

yesterday i went into the bank and deposited some money. today i checked my balance and to my shock and horror, the account balance was in the negative. how could this be? well, because Sallie Mae has made ANOTHER 107.06$ deduction.

how?!

why?!

i called Sallie Mae and Chuck (presumably Chuck Norris, whose career had long died before Walker Texas Ranger) informed me that "you've sent in two payments this month."

SIX DAYS APART.

why, oh why, would i send two DOUBLE PAYMENTS to Sallie Mae six days apart? what money do they think i've come into? so not only do i get to pay them an additional one-hundred and seven dollar and six cents i don't have, i get to pay the bank thirty-two dollars in over-draft fees that i don't have.

the bright side to this is i don't owe Sallie Mae money until October.

i don't know who these twats think they are, but they need to get their three heads screwed on straight and do a little logical deduction: "wait a minute. this is a kid who JUST graduated from college. he doesn't have money!"

i will not rest until i have my face on the one-dollar bill, i have written at least one published Spider-Man book, i have one academy award, and Sallie Mae lay at the bottom of the River Styx.

There Goes My Hero
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Nabuo Uematsu's "The Brink of Time" from his score to "Chrono Trigger"
i haven't received our pictures from Nashville just yet, so in the mean time i've decided to post a little Spider-Man collage.

why is every girl i know rolling her eyes as she reads this?

i've been a long time fan of Spider-Man. when i was nine, i began collecting comic books. first it was just Disney stuff like "Uncle Scrooge," "Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers," and "TaleSpin." but then my friends introduced me to Marvel comics and the likes of "GI Joe," "Spider-Man," and "Daredevil."

Spider-Man was the one that stuck.

collecting comics has been an on-again, off-again thing that is currently quite on. i don't collect individual comics as much as i now collect trade paper backs (TPB's), which are bundled collections of particular story arcs. usually about five comics per trade, but each varies.

as a fan of comics and something of an artist (or so i like to call myself), a couple of months ago i decided it would be really cool to collect original pieces of art from comic book artists. so i was rooting around on the Internet and found some artists' websites, and many of these artists are more than willing to do commissions, where you ask them to draw something, and for a (reasonable) fee, they will draw it for you.

i found Joe Pekar's website and connected with his style. i just really dig it. it's a little cartoony but retains a certain amount of stylized sensuality that i just dug. so i contacted him and gave him my idea.

i wanted something in the vein of the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #500, which is my all-time favourite cover (done by J Scott Campbell). i have this cover as a lithograph in my bedroom right now, signed by J Scott Campbell and waiting to be framed. i wanted something like that but a little more personal. with my wedding coming up (December 18th, mark your calender!), i thought it would be really cool to have Spider-Man swinging off with his bride Mary Jane. i told Joe this and he really dug it. he asked what kind of dress my fiance was going to be wearing, and i had no idea. Kelly won't let me see it (and the suspense is damn near killing me). but she described it for me and i conveyed to Joe everything she conveyed to me, so, until December 18th, this picture is the only clue i have to what the gown will look like.

anyway. he sent me an initial sketch, which i approved, and then he penciled it out, coloured it in Photoshop (i think), and mailed it to me. i have the colour version and the original penciled version hanging in my apartment and i thought it was high-time i shared it with you guys -- especially after i found it on another website's board (SuperHeroHype!) and credited as someone's favourite picture of Spidey and MJ. how cool is that?

the picture of discussion:

$134.57
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Nobuo Uematsu's "Frog's Theme" from his score for "Chrono Trigger"

one-hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty-seven cents. repeat that with me. one-hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty-seven cents. that's how much i spent on lunch today. okay, i was buying lunch for twenty-one people. okay, i wasn't buying lunch inasmuch as i was picking up the lunch my office paid for. but it was pretty cool handing over the plastic at Plaza Del Sol (a Spanish phrase that means, literally, "Down With Whitey") and knowing that i had never spent that much money on Mexican food before. and i still haven't, actually. oh well.

in other news, i will never vote again!

okay, "never" is a strong word.

i won't vote again until the utter destruction and abandonment of the American electoral college.

so, yeah, probably never.

Making Ripples in Nashville
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Eli's "Now the News"

on Saturday morning, Kelly and I made the journey up to Nashville to join our Ripple team members. despite reports that it would take longer, it only took us two and a half hours to get there (thank-you Smyrna!). the way up consisted of music provided by Sara Groves and Jars of Clay (via our CD player, we couldn't fit them all in the backseat as had been the plan). i read to Kelly her book of the week, "My Sister's Keeper," which was actually really interesting, i'm going to have to go find myself a copy of it. it's about a girl who was born, more or less, to provide organs and blood for her leukemic sister. very intriguing, very funny, very sad, very well written.

we get to Nashville and assemble at the Madison church. once all the actors arrive (all five of us) we go through a very simple practice of the play. then we chill out, are fed an exquisite meal, and prepare to act. 6pm hits, curtains raise, and the improv begins. that's not to say we don't have a script to go by, we just choose not to. at least that's my story. i think the other actors fear their scenes with me, as they have no idea what i'm going to pull. Sunday night's performance, for example, involved me going into the front row and stealing a pitcher of water from an audience member and drinking out of it and crunching ice throughout the rest of the scene (did i mention it was a dinner theatre performance? it was.). the show goes well, despite some botched lines (as writer, i claim any "botched lines, changed lines, or forgotten lines" are simply mid-performance re-writes).

after the show we go see "The Island," which i thoroughly enjoyed, despite Bobby's complaints of wasting two hours of sleep "on that?!" the film elicits conversation for the next twenty-four hours.

Sunday morning Kelly and i give ourselves a tour of Vanderbilt, which is the most beautiful campus i have ever seen. we take dozens of pictures (some of which i'll post once i download them off Kelly's camera) and talk excitedly about the possibility of Kelly going to Vandy.

second performance of "That You May Believe" goes better than the first, with more ad-libs but fewer mid-performance re-writes.

Rachel, Kelly, and i jump into Kelly's car, find melted chocolate in it (how many times can a guy say he's sorry?), and peel outta Nashville. we make it back to Chattanooga in just over two hours (thank you, Tennessee police, for your blind eye or your thunderous sponsorship of Krispy Kreme).

back at work and ready for the next project.

-whew!- that should be everything. for now anyway. talk at ya' later!

Animation at SAU
Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: VeggieTales' "I Can Be Your Friend"

over the past year or so, Southern's animation department has been working on a CGI project on the life of Christ. they recently completed the baptism of Jesus and have begun work on the Wilderness Temptation. they've posted their work on the Internet and i think it's worth checking out. top-notch stuff here.

Southern Adventist University's School of Visual Art & Design -- Animation

Frailty
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: Eminem's "Mosh"

last night i was just in the mood for a thriller, so i popped in Bill Paxton's directorial debut, "Frailty."

as thrillers go, it was excellent. it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time (despite some corny dialog). but the further it went, and the lasting impression i have from the film, the most disturbed i became.

i won't try to spoil to much of the movie for you (should you choose to see it), but essentially, the movie about a father who receives a vision from God (an angel, actually) who tells him he has been chosen to be one of God's hands in the war against the devil and that he will be responsible for destroying demons. the kicker is these demons will look just like humans. God will send this father a list of people's names who are actually demons, and it's this man's responsibility to destroy them (typically with an axe).

the movie takes its twists and turns, the entire time, asking the audience, is the father doing God's will, or is he just crazy? what bothered me is that they never answered the question. are we supposed to salute this man or are we to fear him? are all Christians really just lunatics? is faith something that demands the abandonment of all logic? are we supposed to do anything God tells us, even if it means the abuse of our children and the slayings of our neighbors and random strangers?

these are all questions the movie raised and never answered. i suppose what disturbs me the most is that it's the antagonist who displays these character traits. he's the only overtly religious person in the movie. everyone else has nothing to say on the subject.

why do Christians always have to come off as crazies in a Hollywood production? Christianity, when on screen, has either come off as completely unfounded, or completely Catholic (and sometimes both). and it's really frustrating sometimes, going into a movie and seeing that. being a fairly liberal Protestant, i'd like to see a little cinematic representation, if you don't mind.

Ripple's going to Nashville this weekend! we're taking That You May Believe up there for two performances. we haven't performed this since the week after Easter, so everyone's a little nervous. it should work out fine, but that doesn't stop people from stressing.

i'm off, have much to do and less time to do it in. have a good weekend!

Death to the Narrator!
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Thievery Corporation's "Lebanese Blond"

watched "The General" last night, which is the true story of Martin Cahill. such a sad story (is there a happy Irish story?). but watching the movie made me better understand why is he is still talked and whispered about in Dublin to this day. the man was a living legend.

i've re-read several of my last blogs and got depressed. i'm sorry. i've just been narrating events in my life. well no more. i'll tell you the fun and important stuff, but i'm simply not interesting enough for anyone to care about all that piddly stuff (like what song is playing on Winamp at this very moment).

maybe this blog will become something of a philosophical debate. maybe i'll rant about my frustrations of the American political system.

anyway. as Bob Dylan says, "the times, they're a-changin'."

ooh, the B-52's "Love Shack" just came on.

Love shack!
Love shack!
Baby, love shack!

The Blog of Gwen Stacy's
Mood:  loud
Now Playing: Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

found this really nifty blog site. someone is kind of doing this role-playing thing where they post a blog as if they're Gwen Stacy.

for those of you who aren't complete comic geeks (you're forgiven), Gwen Stacy was the first love of Peter Parker (aka The Ultimate, Amazing, Spectacular and Sometimes Adjectiveless Spider-Man).

it's a fun little site, i'll be visiting it.