Charlie and the Ghostbustin' Appleseed Factory
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band"

me and my crazy film addiction. last night i watched the little Japanese visual treat called "Appleseed." four outta five stars. if you like(d) Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, The Matrix, any sci-fi action film ever created, you'd dig this. it's what the Final Fantasy movie wished it could have been. i woke up this morning and popped in that American comedic treat known as "Ghostbusters." my mom wouldn't let me watch it when it first came out, when it was big and popular, because it was too demonic. now it's just silly. funny thing is, despite them not letting me watch the movie, it was the first soundtrack i ever bought (on record!). actually, they let me watch it a couple of times, but it always elicited very long discussions which resulted in me not being allowed to watch it for a couple of more years. today i met my mom and Marshall at the theatre for Tim Burton's latest romp through the weird and Johnny Depp's latest romp through a fascinating character called "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

i just finished cleaning the fertility center and i smell strangely of Lysol. not that it's strange that i smell like it, but it's an odd smell of Lysol. not your typical Lysol.

now i'm off to head into the weekend. tootles!

Born on the Fourth of July . . . in Knoxville
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Liz Phair's "Johnny Feelgood"

i'm only two-fifths done with my violence -vs- silence video and i'm already sickening and offending people! i dub this project a success! Rachel (upon viewing it) said "holy shit, i think i'm gonna throw up." Michelle's mom watched it was offended and, in the words of Michelle, "got pissed."

good. if you enjoy watching this, there is something seriously wrong with you. that was my intent from the beginning.

i watched Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" last night. Oliver Stone is kind of writer/director where he either makes the most amazing movie in which you cannot imagine a different (or better) way to tell the story, or he makes incredibly boring CRAP. this film belongs in the first category. if you've seen "Platoon" and liked it, this is the perfect follow-up, almost a sequel, to that film.

this morning i drove up to Knoxville (any other mortal it would have taken an hour and a half to two hours to get there, me, i made in one hour! my return trip was even shorter as i reinacted my favourite scenes from "Smokey and the Bandit!"). i went up there to shoot some B-roll for the IVF DVD . . . and was done in 20 minutes. filmed all of 10 minutes of footage. got some good stuff, just seems an exhaustive process for 10 minutes of footage. actually, in the film world, that ain't bad at all. three hours of work for ten minutes of usuable footage? that's got to be called a successful day.

i'm currently burning a CD, as i typically don't listen to the radio and need some new music to listen to. don't worry. i purchased most of the songs completely legally. kinda.

i better head off. i need to think of new ways to offend people.

Amanda the Betrothed
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together"

i gots to throw all my grammar lessons to the wind and throw out a fat ol' shout out to Amanda B Herod who has joined the cultural elite known as "the engaged."

but i have to ask you a question, and i'm sure you'll be offended by it, so i'm posting it on my site as opposed to your site. does it bother you that you had absolutely no reason to go to Southern, when you didn't mean the man of your dreams in school? i mean, that's gotta be frustrating. what's a woman going to do with an education? it's off to the kitchen with you now. no point at all. all those tests, all those quizzes, all those dollars (and British pounds!) for nothin'.

but from my understanding, in Canada, women are at least allowed to vote, so that's cool, right?

editor's note: moments after posting this blog, T Scott Fogg was killed by a group of feminists, led by his own fiance', who can apparently smell men with male superiority tendencies. i wish i could say he'll be missed, but let's face it. he won't.

Fake Blood, Virgin Suicides, Rape, and Finding Neverland
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Weezer's "Beverly Hills"

what a day, what a day.

i began shooting my as of yet untitled film that explores violence and silence (to quote "Stand" by Jewel, "so much violence ends in silence"). it's the most uncomfortable film i've ever shot, and i've only done two scenes. i look forward to its completed . . . ness. completedness? is that a word? it is now!

if you're going to join my cult, you have to pick up the dialect. Scottonics. completedness: the state, time or place in which something has been completed.

the first scene we shot was a rape. possibly a date rape, we're not taking the time to see what leads to the rape, simply that it happens. the point of the picture is if you've lived through something (good or bad) if you don't spread the word, the bad has no option but to happen again and the good has no option but to disappear.

if you have lived through something traumatic, you need to tell somebody. not only for your own good, but you might be able to prevent it happening again. education is the key, people.

the second scene we shot was a very, very bloody suicide. i know, i know, suicide is such a cliche. the first film i ever shot was a tale of suicide. but, did you know that . . .

Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for
all U.S. men? Suicide rates are highest among
Whites and second highest among American Indian
and Native Alaskan men. Women report attempting
suicide during their lifetime about three times as
often as men. Suicide is the third leading cause
of death among young people ages 15 to 24. In
2001, 3,971 suicides were reported in this group.

the shoot went well, though my bathroom is still pink. a little bleach will fix that tonight, though, hopefully.

after the shoot i reported to the baseball diamond for a spirited game of softball. we skunked the other team and the game was called five innings in. i made the last run in (but don't let that fool you, i really suck).

after the game Kelly and i went back to my apartment and watched "Finding Neverland," which is absolutely the best film i've seen in a while. have i said that before? seems like i have, and recently, too.

but it was heart-warming, funny, imaginative, and tear-inducing. it's movies like this that i love and i hate. it's the kind of story that's been in the back of my mind for a while. i'll be trying to figure out the best way to tell it, figure it out, and someone beats me to the punch and does it better. i love films about artists and writers. i just get the biggest kick out of them (see also "Amadeus").

anyway. it's off to editing i go. see ya' in the funny papers.

Missing Coyotes
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Alise Schram's "Dear SPA We Love You (San Pasqual Academy's School Song)"

a bout of melancholy has struck me recently. i've always been one to be more melancholy than not, but for some reason, this one seems stronger and has lasted longer. and you wanna know what it revolves around?

if you knew me you need not ask.

SPA.

no, not my last visit to the spa. i can't even look at the work "spa" and read it as "spa." i see it as initials: S.P.A. San Pasqual Academy.

the school closed during the summer of 1997, right after my sophomore year. and i have spent the rest of my life since then chasing SPA. it's nowhere to be found. i've never found anywhere like it. the closest thing to feeling at home like i did at SPA was my year in Ireland and any moment in Kelly's arms.

so if you're reading this and you're an SPA alumist or, like me, an almost SPA almunist, contact me, yo. i miss ya'. i might not even know who you are, but i miss ya'. drop me a line here or IM me, i'm on Trillian every day:

AIM - DooWahDiddyFogg
YAHOO - ScottishFogg
ICQ - 316830871
MSN - tsfogg@southern.edu

i'd love to catch up with ya', maybe swap some photos, laugh about O'Neil's chalkline, you know, the usual.

Engagement Photo Extravaganza!
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Cake's "The Distance"

the weekend began normally enough. i watched "The Jacket" and "Love Me If You Dare," both of which i would recommend to others. "The Jacket" is for those who love a good thriller that will keep them guessing until the end and "Love Me If You Dare" for anyone who speaks French or who enjoys reading subtitles of a quirky, Amelie-esque French romantic comedy.

Sunday after Kelly got off work we got together with Larry Turner for our first of (probably) several engagement photo shoots. it was fun, but it's weird to be on the other side of the camera. the pictures turned out well (or "good," depending on your level of education), but as i said, we'll be taking more -- probably on a less humid day, as Kelly's hair gets big in the humidity (we're talking "park a bench under the shade of this tree" big). here's a sampling of the pictures taken:

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: