Last Night of Freedom (for Kelly)
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Young Rascals' "Groovin' (On a Sunday Afternoon)"

well, school's back in session. not for me, i've graduated. i've moved on to the purgatory of an 8-5 job. but not Kelly, she's still trapped on campus. she pretends she's excited, she's such a little trooper, but i can see her eyes screaming for the freedom that comes with graduation. in due time, my dear, in due time.

we celebrated her last night of freedom with a trip to McKay's Used Books, DVD's and CD's. exciting stuff. i picked up a copy of "A Clockwork Orange," and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." i'm looking forward to reading both, though i am disappointed i couldn't find anything by Chuck Palahnuik. his book "Fight Club" was absolutely amazing and i'm eager to read something else by him. ah well. another time, perhaps. after our field trip to Discarded Book Land, Kelly and i swung by Sonic for a Good-Bye to Summer Milkshake.

i took Kelly back to my apartment where she raided my DVD collection for her parents, who, when they have a spare hour, pop in a DVD or go to an R-rated comedy to be offended.

after Kelly went home with her bundle of my DVD's, i sat down and enjoyed "Layer Cake," a gritty British gangster movie. if you dig any of the following: "The Usual Suspects, "Snatch," or "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," you'll enjoy this. i can see why Matthew Vaughn was offered the job of directing X3. very dark, gritty, and moody. two thumbs up. but then again, i have a soft spot for British movies. and nobody does British gangster movies like the British.

but don't watch it if you don't like "four-letter language." the British excel at that.

Movies, Movies, Movies
Now Playing: Kanye West's "Jesus Walks"

a life draped over a toilet bowl is not a life at all. that's what i discovered Tuesday (which, by my watch, was yesterday). i ate something that got so angry at me, it made me throw it back up and then it sent me to bed for most of yesterday. in the words of Dwight McCarthy, "yeeeesh."

but yesterday wasn't all bile and vomit. Soapbox had their first concert, it was a lawn concert, a block party, for Tennessee Temple's "Welcome Back" Party. they rocked my socks off. okay, that's a lie. i wasn't in socks. i was in my Birkies, but had i been wearing socks, they totally would have rocked them off.

today, as i spit-shined the IVF DVD, i visited Apple's trailer site. there's a lot of really great movies just around the corner, by the looks of it.

Scott's Must-See Movie List of 2005

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe
Elizabethtown
Jarhead
Serenity
The Brothers Grimm
Domino
Thumbsucker
Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
Everything is Illuminated
The Corpse Bride
Proof
Transporter 2
Little Manhattan
King Kong
Into the Blue
Rent
Aeon Flux
A History of Violence

V For Vendetta (though rumour has it, it's been bumped to next year)

so, if you're ever not able to find me, you now know where to look!

Sex, Puritans and Wedding Crashers
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: the theme to "Knight Rider"

a lot of right-wing Christians get offended when you call America "Puritanical" as if it were a bad thing. when i call America "Puritanical," i mean it in the most perplexing way possible. it truly confounds me.

example #1: when an American movie is exported to any other country in the world, it is reviewed and edited slightly. every country has different rules and regulations concerning what makes an R-rated movie. we have our guidelines, they have theirs. what i find most interesting is American movies, if they are going to be re-edited, nine times outta ten, they are re-edited to take violence out. when an international movie is brought into the US, nine times outta ten in order for it to have an R rating, sex has to be cut out.

while the rest of the world is worried about violence, America is worried about sex.

example #2: being a life-long comic book aficionado, i have always found it most interesting that when a non-comic book junkie picks up a comic book, the first thing they comment on is the figure most super heroines have. "Is her superpower that she can fit into that suit?" as one Calvin & Hobbes strip put it. people's eyes are drawn to the female form and people are offended. they don't notice what the female is doing (tearing apart a villainous robot limb from limb, completing obliterating existence, etc.). they notice what she is (or isn't) wearing. very few people look at the men in comics and go "egad, could that suit be any tighter?!" despite the fact that the superdudes wear just as tight, just as revealing outfits as the superchicks do.

why is this? why do we, in America, care more about who's sleeping with as opposed to who's killing who? why do we care if my next door neighbor prefers boys over girls? why aren't we more concerned with how many automatic weapons are roaming the countryside? why aren't we more concerned with how easy it is to buy any given weapon and any amount of ammunition? why do we support the separation of church and state only when it goes along with our personal beliefs?

i think its because Americans are delusional. we've been deluded into thinking America was founded by Christians. we've been deluded to think that the right to bear arms is the right to own enough weapons to arm a third-world country.

a little something about the founders of America: the closest thing to a Christian we had on the founders' committee were deists, people who believe God created the world and then shoved it into His heavenly closet -- something He checks on from time to time but never gets involved with.

America never has been nor ever will be "Christian America." it was founded NOT on the principle of being able to worship God but on the principle of not having to worship God if you don't want to. it was founded to protect the deists who were tired of the king or queen being able to execute them if they didn't believe Jesus died for their sins.

it was founded by Puritans. remember "The Scarlet Letter?" remember the witch hunts? remember people being burnt at the stake or stoned or crushed or drowned? yep, that's your friendly neighborhood Puritans. moralistic hypocrites who would gladly kill someone who didn't believe the same way they did and then claim it was for their better good.

sounds like America today to me.

<*/ end rant *>

this weekend was full of laughs and giggles! i curled up with season six of "The Simpsons" and laughed till i was nauseous. season six has gotta be one of their best, if not THE best.

the Easley family (Kelly's mom's side) had their "August Birthday Bash" on Saturday, so we went down to Fort Mountain and joined in. fun was had by all. i'm finally known as "Scott" to them (as opposed to "Chris" or "that guy who was locked in the motor home's bathroom when Dora began driving away"). and Kelly's twenty-one now. and that is just stinkin' hot, i'm sorry.

i took Kelly to see "Wedding Crashers" on Saturday night. it was the second time i've seen it, and i laughed just as hard this time as i did the first time. much to my delight, Kelly enjoyed it to, though found the "boobie montage" at the beginning to be "superfluous." i'm just happy to see Vince Vaughn back to being his amoral self.

last night i watched Robert Altman's "The Player," which really is the best anti-Hollywood film Hollywood has ever made. i think it was supposed to be a thriller, but it was really more of an extended Hollywood in-joke (though never really funny) with more cameos than you can shake a stick at. if you don't follow Hollywood news, this is a movie i don't think you'll enjoy, as it really requires that you have more than a passing knowledge of the industry.

this week i hope to begin work on Rachel's music video, tighten up the script for Kelly's and my mockumentary, and send the Puritans to Guam (as it's as good a place as any for them to start a new colony).

Favorite Simpsons Memory #37

Groundskeeper Willie: It won't last. Brothers and sisters are natural enemies. Like Englishmen and Scots! Or Welshmen and Scots! Or Japanese and Scots! Or Scots and other Scots! Damn Scots! They ruined Scotland!
Principal Skinner: You Scots sure are a contentious people.
Groundskeeper Willie: You just made an enemy for life!

Waste of Human Flesh
Mood:  d'oh
Now Playing: Bon Jovi's "Nobody's Hero"

i enjoy days like yesterday. i completed all my work early and was able to sack out. but it's also days like yesterday that make me wonder about my time management.

i hate that phrase. it was repeated so many times when i was growing up that i almost cringe when i hear it now.

but days like yesterday make me feel like a waste of human.

why? because as soon as i completed my work for the day, i opted to watch some movies. four. i watched four movies yesterday.

first i watched "Waiting for Guffman," which is a fun movie, especially if you're a fan of Christopher Guest films. you either are you aren't. his movies tend to be exercises in improvisation, and this one was no different. i finished that, said, "gee whiz, i have some free time on my hands, let's pop in another movie!"

so i watched "Sin City." that's a movie i know people are going to watch, if for no other reason, for the cast and they're either gonna totally dig it or totally hate it. i knew what i was getting into because i own all the Sin City books. it's dark, twisted, and really far from redeemable, but i like it. it's like a deconstructionistic film noir flick about modern chivalry. that might be a stretch, but it's a fun yarn. Robert Rodriguez is my hero.

this is about the time when Marshall (my brother) came over. we usually play GameCube or Xbox when he comes over, but last night we decided to watch one of my latest Netflix arrivals, "The Addams Family." i hadn't seen it in thirteen years, and he had never seen it and we both enjoyed it immensely. it has very dark (read, "macabre") sense of humour, but is just about the most absurd and wacky thing to hit the screen since the Muppets. you can definitely see how this guy went on to direct "Men in Black."

after the movie was over, i took Marshall home. upon returning home, i realized i had another couple of hours before bedtime. i decided i needed to do some writing, so i busted out Final Draft and wrote a four-page monologue that had been rambling around in my head all day and celebrated this by watching the very mediocre "Human Traffic."

it could have been something great. i liked a lot of the ideas in it, but it simply tried too hard to be every other successful British film (Trainspotting, Lock, Stock . . . ) and ultimately second-guessed itself as a film and ended up just being a movie with a thumping techno soundtrack, marginally witty banter about the minutia of pop culture (with several not-so subtle Kevin Smith references -- including, but not limited to, a large "Clerks" poster), and some creative editing. i also had the nagging feeling throughout the film that they had "Americaned" it up, replacing British dialog and references for more acceptable American ones.

disappointed and realizing i had just spent the last eight hours watching movies, i retreated to my room, brushed my teeth, said my prayers, read the next chapter of "V for Vendetta" and went to sleep, wondering if this is the existence God created me for.

i'd like to think not.

Tombstone
Mood:  sharp
Now Playing: Okay Dragon's "Mozart Remix"

Kelly had never seen "Tombstone!" i can't marry someone who's never seen the greatest western ever, so i made her watch it last night. it is now my goal in life to create a character like Doc Holliday in that movie. such a great character! Val's performance steals the show! i wonder if, when they were making the movie, they had any idea how high they were raising the western standard? granted, westerns aren't Hollywood's cup o' tea any more, but i can't think of a western that has come out since "Tombstone" that even comes close to comparison. "Open Range" is the only one that comes to mind, but i consider that more of a drama that just so happens to take place in the west, not so much a western (though it does have one of the coolest gun fights to ever be put to celluloid in it).

life at the office has slowed down considerably and i can breathe again, which was much needed. i have a massage scheduled for an hour from now, so i'm about to bust me out some lunch.

i've begun some pre-production work (conceptualizing, mostly) on a music video for Soapbox, something i hope to be shooting in the next week or so. more details to follow. ;)

-=S

Exhaustion -vs- My Existence as a Reverse Oreo
Mood:  suave
Now Playing: part 1: Raju Ramayya's "Ask DNA," part 2: 8mm's "Nobody Does It Better"

Part 1

it's done (for the most part). totally never have to look at it again (not counting all the tweaking i have to do to it probably over the next week). the night before last i stayed at the office until 9pm to put the finishing touches on the IVF DVD. by 9, i was wiped and could barely see straight so i went home, only to return the next day to try to have it finished by lunch time. come 11am, it was presentable. that stupid five-minute video represents about 170 man hours of work, and more stress and frustration than i care to get into (i recently read an article about a woman who complained about her "incompetent boss" on her blog and was fired for it, so i'm not going to complain about my incompetent boss here).

so last night, after my crazy, mad-dash to the finished line for IVF DVD completion, i was totally wiped. i sacked out, watched "Kung Fu Hustle," which is like an old Warner Brothers' cartoon amalgamated with a martial arts movie, wrote a three-page short film script, watched "X-Men 2," and was in bed by 11:30pm.

but now i'm wide awake and ready to go! i have to fine-tune this video a little and prepare for class this afternoon, so i still have much to do. thankfully, i'm jazzed on java and can tackle any problem!

avast!

Part 2:
(parental discretion is advised)

for those of you who know me really well, you know there's only two things to really know about me. three, okay, there's three things to know about me. four. five. danggit. okay, there's a lot to know about me but here's the five -- six! the six big things:

1.) I do my best to serve my God.

2.) I possess an unnatural (and unholy) love for all things Kevin Smith.

3.) I really do swear like a f#ckin' sailor (and am confounded by why there's such a thing as "bad" words and why, in said "bad" words, only their vowels are offensive, except for in the case of "shit," then it's the T, because for some reason, "ship" isn't offensive at all).

4.) I am, in fact, a Reverse Oreo. A fact I have very well kept hidden (as I live in the south, I feel I don't need to compound my fear of the hangman's noose, I'm already a "yankee"). If you at all doubt this fact or are confounded by its meaning, you can look up my college roommate who was, and continues to be, black.

5.) I am a fan of Bon Jovi.

6.) I love lists about myself.

so, naturally, when i discovered Kevin Smith's online diary, i was instantly hooked and have enjoyed reading his sometimes daily updates.

but today when i visited, i found an entry that made me laugh, made me think, and made me reflect on my own life. it's because of ponderings such as what follows that i connect to this cat in the ways that i do. i understand what he's saying and it's cool to have someone like that (especially when that someone is a "real someone," you know, a Hollywood-type).

the following is an excerpt from his online diary and relates the story of a Q&A he recently attended.

(this is where the parental advisory kicks in)

"In the course of telling a pretty funny story about working on ?Catch & Release?, I use the phrase ?nigga? to refer to a Tim Olyphant, in the phrase ?Nigga, this ain?t ?Deadwood? and you ain?t the sheriff.? Too much Chapelle-watching for me, it would seem. While I obviously didn?t intend it in any kind of racist context and no hush fell over the (largely white) room when I uttered it, I still feel badly. Dave Chapelle I ain?t, nor do I - who?s never been at the receiving end of a profiling, never been discriminated against, and never took any shit because of the color of my skin ? have the right to employ the ?N? term as even a colloquial term of endearment. Sure, I?ve been profiled, discriminated against, and took shit all my life because I?m overweight (which is still something of minority in the aesthetic-obsessed culture of the U.S.), but let?s face it: fat ain?t black. At the end of the day, I?ve prospered plenty in white America, and being white certainly didn?t hurt.

"The gay community co-opted ?fag? as a means of taking the malicious power out of the term when used against them by homophobes, but I don?t use ?faggot? loosely either. Just because some of the black community has appropriated the ?N? word for much the same reasons doesn?t mean that I can use it too, even in a non-racist fashion (if there?s even such a thing).

"Sometimes I get carried away with my deep love for all things black and forget that I?m not black myself. Saying Jesus was black in ?Dogma? doesn?t make me black. Being called a ?whigger? throughout high school because of my unfashionable early embracing of hip-hop (particularly Run DMC and Public Enemy) doesn?t make me black. Wearing Fubu doesn?t make me black. Identifying with black folks doesn?t make me black. Wanting to be black most of my life doesn?t make me black. Nothing will ever make me black (although, when I first learned that my Mother had been adopted and learned, further, that she had no idea who her birth parents were, once the initial shock wore off, I immediately started fantasizing that, somewhere in my bloodline, I might have some black in me, as it would explain a lot).

"So, to anyone in attendance at the Q&A that day, whether you were offended or not, I apologize. Rest assured, it?ll never happen again.

"I will, however, continue to use the term ?Motherfucker? as liberally as I can, even though it, too, is a term I got from the black community (from Chris Rock, particularly; Rock?s use of ?motherfucker? makes it sound like the most poetic adjective/noun ever invented)."


'nuff said

-=S

[Michelle] Swing
Now Playing: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's "Go Daddy-O"

friday there was no post. to my readers (both of you), i apologize. it shan't happen again. unless there's nothing to report, 'cos then i'm just pulling stuff outta my ass, and no-one wants to read that. i bet i offended some people simply with that last sentence. so yeah, there'll be none of that.

friday after work and what-not, Michelle Sanders got together and after [Michelle] complained that [Michelle] was not mentioned enough on my website, i told [Michelle] that i'd see to it that [Michelle] got mentioned more times on my website [Michelle]. then we went out and took pictures until my camera ran outta juice. here's (more or less) what [Michelle and I] were able to get before the battery when kaput.

saturday night, Kelly, myself, Alexa, and Amos [not Michelle] went swing dancing. there's nothing quite so entertaining, energetic, and enjoyable as a good night of swing -- and nothing makes my honey look better, so a night of swing is just full of perks for me. i'm still learning, but i'm getting to a place where i can begin to learn new steps as i've finally mastered the "basics." it can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be and i highly recommend if you haven't tried it, DO IT NOW! old swing friends where there, so that was cool too (Kim, Dannon, Larry).

on sunday we did a little pre-birthday celebration for Kelly and went down to the Cheesecake Factory in Atlanta. it was my first time, and i'm going to see to it we do it again! obviously, the attraction to the CF is the , but their food in general is GREAT. if you have one in the area, you will not be disappointed. huge selection, just absolutely huge!

anyway. it's just about 11am here, which means it's just about 8am in California, which means i might be able to get a hold of the people in charge of licensing Alan Silvestri's "Forrest Gump Suite," so i best be off.

have a good one!

Another Coyote Found!
Now Playing: Train's "When I Look Up To the Sky"

my search for Coyotes grows more successful! i found Michelle (Grozdich) by doing a little search on the Internet. she's the first i've been able to hold somewhat of a conversation with (via e-mail) and it's good to hear from her again. we were on the volleyball team together, worked in the gym together, and staffed the yearbook (she was assistant editor and then editor the following year, i was a lowly photographer and section editor). the only picture i have i can share is from Tadasana's website (the yoga & pilates studio where she now works):

i've been lined up to take Michelle Sanders' senior pictures, which is very, very exciting. i used Michelle (not the Michelle pictured above) for a black and white photo shoot a while back and she was so happy with the way they turned out, she wants me to take her senior pictures -- which is, if you're reading this Michelle, an honour.

Kelly and i went and watched "The Longest Yard" last night at the two dollar theatre (which actually costs $2.50 and is called Regal 10-17, weird, i know). i can't compare it to the original, all i can say is it was what i needed. i recommend it for anyone who likes laughing, especially laughing at people being abused on the football field, and anyone who likes sports movies. it excels as both or as either.

now i need to go find a place where i can rent a kilt jacket from, so i'll be seein' you later.

-=S

Standing on My Soapbox
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: Tenacious D's "Tribute"

okay, i'll be honest. i've never considered myself much of a photographer. i've just always enjoyed taking pictures. but recently, people have been asking me to take their pictures, which is cool, i love it, it's just a new thing for me.

anyway, last night's photo shoot was for an up-and-coming band called Soapbox. it just so happens i'm friends (and/or family) with each of them, so that made the shoot that much more enjoyable/special/fun. they had a lot of their own ideas and i brought a few to the table. but here's how the shoot turned out (more or less):

all of the "inside" pictures were their idea, i brought nothing to that but my camera and my lights. the "outside" shots are 100% T Scott Fogg though, and i think they're my favourite outta the bunch.

Too %#(%!$& Early . . .
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Danny Elfman's "Augustus Gloop" from his soundtrack to "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory"

my alarm went off at 6:00 this morning. i didn't know there was life at 6:00am. not a clue. but i had to be in to work by 7:00am to reshoot some stuff for this IVF DVD i'm working on. i'm capturing it right now and it looks pretty good, but that's by the grace of God. there's no way i shot good looking footage at seven in the morning. not when i went to bed at one in the morning because i was so wrapped up in reading "V For Vendetta" and beating "Resident Evil 4."

but on the bright side, i didn't watch a movie yesterday.

Kelly has built a website to record all the in's and out's of our wedding preparation. check it by clicking HERE! they grow up so fast . . . look at her, with her own blog now. it seems just like yesterday she was threatening my life because of my sexist comments . . .

for the record, i'm not sexist. i believe in equal opportunity for everyone.

seriously, every guy should have a girl. they're wonderful for keeping the apartment tidey, getting the wrinkles out of clothes, have supper ready for you when you get home . . .

i'm getting in touch with so many people thanks to MySpace! i've gotten in touch with five (six, once Marques gets back in touch with me!) former SPA-ers, it's crazy! the funniest thing is no-one recognizes me. "Holy cow, is this little Scott Fogg?"

i have never been called little before. i love you, Carmen.

i think i feel a collage coming on . . .

these cats went to San Pasqual with me. my, haven't they grown. we've all grown -- we haven't all grown up. ;)

peace, love, and chicken grease,
Lil' Scott