Movie: Rock Haven (2007)

I’ve been on a spree, renting some gay themed films from Nextflix over the last few weeks. Mostly okay coming out stories and few that star Matthew Montgomery, an actor I work with on our web series Star Trek: Odyssey.

One of the last ones was Rock Haven, and illustrates what can go wrong when a writer/director David Lewis puts its heart in the right place, only to bring it off in an unsatisfying way, with way too little dialogue and endless views of the Pacific ocean and the wild flowers that cover its coastline.

The story is a bout 18 year-old Brady (Sean Hoagland), who lives with his mother in the seas-side town of Rock Haven. Both are strongly religious and Brady is quickly preparing himself for Bible College in the fall. That is until he meets Clifford (Owen Alabado), a 19 year-old kid living with his very liberal mother.

There is an immediate chemistry between the two, though Brady is so terrified of Clifford, he tries to go out of his way not to see him.

While Clifford is openly gay, we do -later in the film - get a sense that Brady was aware of his growing attraction to men, which explains his jitteriness. The rest of the story is fairly predictable, but the film is well paced and the great chemistry between Hoagland and Alabado is ultimately what makes the movie watch able. The rest of the acting, well, its okay but never rises above a standard cable TV movie.

Plus, I don’t know what possessed the director Lewis to cast himself as priest/reverend/pastor of Rock Haven’s small Church. His performance is oddly out of place in a story about religion and homosexuality. His role as the gay understanding reverend in a small town just strikes as false.

The films message about being gay and Christian is an interesting subject, one that I think could make an even interesting movie, but Rock Haven falls flat towards its conclusion, and we are left with an unsatisfying ending and a mixed message.

Pushing Daisies: Season Two

Cut short by last winter's writers strike, the second season of one TV's best shows returns this September.

This is not to be missed, as this trailer for the first three episodes of the new season, shows.

Love me some Bryan Fuller

Size 14 feet. It's all I'm saying

Warners delays Half-Blood Prince until summer 2009

When the WGA strike ended this past winter, Paramount announced they were delaying the release of the big screen reboot of Star Trek in order to take advantage of much needed re-writes. And while the film could’ve still made its Christmas Day release, the studio felt some extra time was needed to make sure Star Trek would cross over its already cult status and pushed the film to May 2009.

Now Warner Bros. is getting into the act by pushing the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from its November debut to July 2009. Now you could play devils advocate with this, saying the delay could be cause the film is in trouble and rescheduling is needed to save it. Or, as Warner seems to be saying, the WGA strike caused them to have no real tent-pole film for 2009 and because The Dark Knight has done so well for the studio (it’s bound to be Warners best year in years) they don’t need the extra money.

They also are saying the Harry Potter films do better in the summer, though only two of the five have been released during that time, 2004's Prisoner of Azkaban (the lowest grosser of the five) and 2007's Order of the Phoenix (which was the second highest grossing Potter film behind the first). Together they’ve raked up $1.7 billion, while the three released in winter, 2001's Sorcerer’s Stone, 2002's Chamber of Secrets and 2005's Goblet of Fire have grossed $2.7 billion.

While I can’t believe a studio can make too much money, I kinda buy into the idea the WGA strike effected their 2009 schedule more than they were willing to admit at first. So by moving Potter 6 to summer next year seems practical. Still, there is a niggling idea in the back of my mind that Warners is using the strike as a stall tactic to help save a troubled film -even though there’s been no suggestion Half-Blood was in trouble to begin with.

Still, if Warners believes the films do better in summer, then what will prevent them from releasing the final film, or at least part one of the final film, The Deathly Hallows, in summer 2011 instead of the already announced November 2010, thus pushing part two to summer 2012?

Meanwhile, Summit Entertainment took advantage of Harry's move to summer and pushed up the highly anticipated teen vampire-romance Twilight, based on the hit best seller by Stephanie Meyer, to November 21 from its original December 12th day.

Mmmmmmmmmm Michael Phelps

Yep, you just cannot help but fall for this guy.

Adam and JayTee

On Friday, August 8th, at a few minutes past 8 pm, my friends Adam and JayTee were married under a starry sky in West Los Angeles.

The ceremony was at a friend of theirs, in her backyard. Our friend Andrew, who took courses to be able to marry them, officiated.

And guess what, the world did not end and the gates of Hell did not open up (except at Darth Cheney's house) but two men who've been together for 7 years, finally were able to express their love for each other, in front of nearly 80 people. It was a sweet, heartwarming event and one that I was proud to be at.

Getting gay-married is not about making a political statement and is not about ruining anything connected to straight marriage. It's about love, plain and simple. I've known both of them for the last 2 1/2 years, and have spent many hours with them, working with them on both Hidden Frontier and many social events. They are, in an old cliche sort of way, the perfect couple. They compliment each other in the way many couples do, and like many couples, are complete opposites in many things.

But somehow, it works.

To Adam and JayTee, I commit you to our future, one filled with much laughter, and as little tears and pain as possible.

Love, like life, finds away way. It matters not that its love between two men. And Adam and JayTee prove that every day they walk God's green Earth.

Book: Attack of the Theater People by Marc Acito

The wacky crew from How I Paid for College is back in this entertaining and even more silly sequel, set two years later. Edward has been kicked out of Juillard for being “too jazz hands” for them. Doing what anyone without a job, a home or a future, he lands a gig as party motivator.

From there, he gets caught up with Chad, who uses him to get information from the parties he goes to. Before you can say insider trading, Edward must figure out how to save himself from the SEC, his father, his ex-stepmother and a cute (but way gay for Edward) Asian named Hung.

The second trip into the 1980's world of Edward is much more richer than the first, as the story becomes a near classic screwball comedy, laced together with an even zanier musical theater.

Acito weaves an even better story here, giving you a wonderful trip back to the eighties when Starliner Express was considered the best musical around. All the characters seem to grow a bit, including Edward, and the often silly plot never falls into parody. The bright spot includes Edwards continued love for Doug, and at 13 year-old stalker who thinks he’s aa Veejay from the British MTV (which did not exist).

Post 'quake stuff

The epicenter of the quake was in Chino Hills, which is fairly close by, maybe 7 miles away. Most of the area was just shaken, though there were scattered power outages, and some damage here and there.

After the quake, I was working in the stockroom and heard helicopters going all over the place, looking for damage. Since there was little, beyond a handful of broken water lines, had some thrown garbage into the street, I'm sure they would've covered it.

Granted, its been 14 years since the last quake in an urban area, but I don't think we need the coverage.

Talked to my mother to calm her, back in Chicago. Told her also I'm planning a trip home in September. She was happy. I've not seen here since April of '06, so I guess it will be nice to have her nagging me for a few weeks.

The Breaking Dawn release party is scheduled for Friday. BW is the 4th book in the Twlight series by Stephanie Meyer. It's a vampire love story that is basically Buffy without the the girl being a superhero. Anyways, while I'm not working the August 1/2 release night, I'm thinking that all the people who are going to be there is goth girls in their black clothes, tons of black eye make up and their closeted homosexual emo boys, with thier hair pressed flat, wearing girls pants.

Jebus, I'm getting old. I just don't understand them.

5.4 Earthquake rattles the IE

In the three years I've lived here, this was my first quake that I was awake to experience. I've felt a few, low Richter scale ones, like someone kicking a chair or slamming a door.

I was at work, sitting in the break room. At first it sounded like the garbage people dropping off an empty container. When they drop it, it makes a terrible noise, plus shakes the store.

But this went on and there was one good tug, and then it ended. All in all, for about 10 seconds. It didn't scare me, but it was, interesting. A few things were knocked off the shelf at work, but beyond that it was uneventful (beyond knocking the land lines out in IE for about an hour, causing the mobile phone's to then take the burden of people calling everyone).

The local news loved it, though. After all, at 5.4, it's the first quake of this size in an urban area since 1994's Northridge. So, yeah, KTLA devoted 6 hours of coverage - a bit overkill, but you know, what else where they doing?

Starbucks test markets Sorbetto

Here in LA county, Starbucks is test marketing more things that seem designed to get them further away from their roots.

It's called Sorbetto, an icy, Italian drink. Okay, whatever.

While in some dark part of my mind, I think this is a bad idea -because all it really is a gourmet Slurpee in an Starbucks cup - I'm puzzled by the company's strategy. Retuning CEO Howard Schultz wanted to get the coffee chain back to its roots, and get out of all non-coffee related business. But he continues to do the opposite of it.

Anyways, the store I frequent has advertising all over it, hyping up Sorbetto. The store is decked out in mostly pink splotches -decals on the floor and windows. It looks horrible, as if someone hosed the place down with Pepto-Bismol (woo, a Steel Mongolia reference). The decals on the window look like some kid with a paint gun shot at them. Or, for you Star Trek geeks out there, the pink splotches also remind me of the scene in The Undiscovered Country, where after the gravity has been restored, the Klingon blood floating splashes to the ground, the table, the walls.

It looks sort of like that.

On Wednesday, they're having a party to officially launch the test program. For a free drink, I guess I'll go there and mock it.

Movie: The Dark Knight (2008)

While never a huge Batman fan -as in one who read the comics and the graphic novels - I’ve appreciated the vision of Tim Burton, who brought a stylish version of the DC franchise to life back in 1989. And even though Batman Returns was a some what derailing of what he did in the first film, the franchise went off the rails with Batman Forever (due to the horible performance of Jim Carey) and Batman and Robin (just the whole thing, really).

Then in 2005, Christopher Nolan brought the franchise back in a slick, well made piece of eye candy. But beyond the action and mechanical effects, Nolan brought a sense of psychology to Batman, that in a sense, the Caped Crusader had to be bit off his rocker, just like the villains.

Now three years later, The Dark Knight offers us an even deeper, darker look into the mind of a killer and hero out to get him. Writer/director Christopher Nolan along with his brother Jonathan, unwind a complex drama about a corrupt city and the few willing to risk it all to save it.

The film is wonderfully layered, often ambitious tale with its many mind games and characters that also features a bravo performance from the late Heath Ledger as the psychotic Joker - a role that is bound to get him an Oscar nomination - while Christian Bale as Batman and Bruce Wayne must decide that classic Star Trek motto of the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.

Batman, unlike the Spider-Man franchise or even X-Men, is set more in the real world, thus more believable. He has no super-powers, thus he must use wit and brawn to succeed. This makes the audience feel a more part of the story. That The Batman makes his battle with The Joker more personal, forces him to look at his own beliefs and even forces the audience into asking what they would do when confronted by such a moral dilemma.

As noted, Heath Ledger’s performance elevates him beyond the cartoon aspects that became Batman’s nemesis’ during the earlier film series, with the exception of Nicholson's role as The Joker. His audacious take on the role, dark and full of menace makes The Joker one of the best villains a super hero franchise has ever created. The fact that The Joker has no moral dilemma, no soul makes Ledger’s performance even more impressive.

Perhaps, looking into your dark side, looking into a pit of nothingness that is The Joker, was Ledger’s downfall. Jack Nicholson had warned Ledger of the power of The Joker. A creature with no soul, is bound to consume you.

Meanwhile, Maggie Gyllenhaal does fine, in what amounts to a small role here, as Rachel Dawes, but even here, she surpasses Katie Holmes wooden performance in Batman Begins. The rest of the cast elevates the film also, with a bigger role for Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon and the evolution of Harvey Dent from White Knight of Gotham City to Two-Face. The always reliable Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine could read the ingredients to rat poisoning and make it sound brilliant.

And while Nolan only spent three weeks in Chicago filming Batman Begins, he spent three months for this film, giving the city a chance to shine, even though we never really see any of its classic landmarks, with the exception of Lower Wacker and the Chicago River. And that blowing up of the hospital in Cicero was way cool.

I’m curious now, where the franchise will go from here. Ledger’s performance and tragic death is bound to haunt the next film, and it will be hard to top. Whether Nolan returns to direct or not, when that third film gets made, it will need to honor what Nolan has started with these two films, and not let the franchise become the sad, silly, and overproduced, with over the top villains that would eventually kill the franchise the first time around.

Rant

I was reading a story about Dark Knight star Christian Bale about the hullabaloo this past weekend in London. In the article, the writer says Bale is a very private person, and has yet to reveal the name of his daughter to the press and the public.

It struck me odd that either of these groups needed to know this. Who the fuck cares? Why do we have this bizarre fascination with celebrities? Why do we need to know everything about them? Why do we throw money at People, Us Weekly, OK Magazine to learn all the stuff we don't need to know?

Some claim (like TMZ), as public figures they leave all private matters behind, and that the public has a right to know, say, what the name of Bale's daughter.

Errr.....what?

I can careless (as a matter of fact, while I knew he was married, I was unaware he had a daughter, and I've lived a blissful life, not worrying a night away because I did not know it) about the private lives of any celebrity. At times, I feel the press does go out of their way to get photos and "create" stories to sell to magazines and so-called "entertainment" shows like Extra and almost everything on the E! Network. They hound people, wrapped in the American flag, and think its alright to talk to people like they're the best buds in the world.

American’s who watch reality shows like Tori Spelling and the Kardashians are pathetic, inhuman creatures, getting off on soulless, questionable morality, dysfunctional stars who have way too much money and time on their hands. And why that ugly-assed Paris Hilton is even considered a celebrity is beyond me.

These fools have never worked for a living, have been sheltered from the real world, and have no idea how to interact with normal people.

And American's think this is cute, and fun.

You all are a bunch of morons.

Christian Bale's problems are his own and I don't care, or even think, we need to know them. We certainly don't need to know the name of his daughter.

Movie: Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild (2008)

After filming finished for the day on Star Trek: The Helena Chronicle episode I'm directing, Letter of the Law, I went to JT and Adam's place. On Thursday, JT had called to ask if I wanted to a preview of Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild, the obvious sequel to 2006's Another Gay Movie.

The first film was a parody of the American Pie films, and the other gay "coming out" movies. While the film had some funny stuff, it's dependence on gay stereotypes got annoying. It's cast was appealing, and very pretty, but ultimately it was more miss than hit.

The sequel offers some of the same raunchiness of the first film, though there was some attempt to go beyond the usual sequel style, which director Todd Stephens said last night was to basically remake the first film. But again, the film has more misses than hits.

Only Jonah Blechman as Nico returns for this film, with the rest of characters recast. His off-the-wall performance is perhaps the best part of the film, and he really shines in the one of the two (in my opinion) inspired sequences in the film: the "watersport" scene that turns into a song and dance number which highlights Blechman's roots as ballet dancer.

And while there is a terrible "crab" scene, there is a brief animation sequence which is so odd, it none the less, is pretty funny and creative. There is a gentrification joke given by RuPaul, which I also thought was pretty clever, if only because its very truthful.

Gossip queen Perez Hilton appears as Mario Lavanderira, who after a bump on the head while trying to give head to a priest, pops up in the movie at the most random times, preaching God's love and telling everyone to stop being gay. And while I hate everything he stands for, I was oddly surprised I liked him the movie. Maybe it to do with him just appearing out of no where, through out the overlong film or that he was playing such an opposite character.

Go figure.

The film was also heavily product placed, and while it was intended to be a joke about films that use that style to help finance the films, it also becomes overused, and eventually runs out of gas.

One the reason's JT asked me to come was to support Brent Corrigan, who has a small role as Stan the Merman in the film. Brent is attached to star in JT's feature film debut, Judas Kiss. This is the second time in the last few months I've met the utterly charming, genetic lottery winner Corrigan.

After the film, we had a late dinner with Corrigan, his manager and Jody Wheeler, who directed JT and Brent in the short In the Closet, which was showing at Outfest today. Corrigan is a really nice kid, with a great head on his shoulders and shows a lot of maturity for a 21 year-old.

And such a glamours life, we ate at IHop in West Hollywood.

He's kinda of shy in some ways, as much as he's open out his entire life. Of course, he's unbelievable gorgeous, but he's very down to earth and its very easy to have a conversation with. His life has been fairly rough, and while some the porn media want to portray him in some sort of dark light, he's far from the horror they've painted him. He's smart, knows what he wants and is willing to work hard for it. He's a rebel, in some ways ,within the porn industry, in the sense he trying to do things his way, fighting a well-oiled porn machine that does not want one of the pretty boys knowing more than them.

Anywho, back to the film.

Supposedly, the print we saw was "incomplete." The film does need to color corrected, as there are some beach scenes which are totally washed out. In the crab sequence, you could easily see the wires they attached to the creatures, and those should be digitally removed before the film is released -in theory, this Labor Day in theaters. My guess is the film will never see a theatrical release, beyond its showing at festivals like Outfest.

But it will clean up on DVD, which is where the real money is anyways.

Time for Some Campaignin'

Love this

Lost on an Empty Sky

So, Brit Hume is reducing his workload at FOX News by the end of the year, when his contract is up. He is quoted as saying that he's "been doing this a long time, and it's just not as fascinating to me as it used to be. Look, journalism is a lot about enthusiasm. You have to have it. I find I am no longer as interested in politics as I was."

I can actually understand that, but apply it to my work. I've been working retail and the book business for far too long, and it has lost all of its appeal. I find it harder and harder every day to get up and go there. And I'm no longer interested in what my company says anymore, and no longer care what my RM's and DM's say.

I'm bored and feel that I no longer can be challenged. I've learned all that I can, but to achieve anything more there, I need to sell my soul to the Gods of Demographic Numbers.

And that is something I'm unwilling to do.

Oy!

I need to win the lottery and open my own business.

Thoughts

This Saturday marks the fortieth anniversary of the passing of my father. It astounds me every year when this time comes around, and I realize how much time has slipped away.

I have very little memory of him, though he is kept alive in pictures that I have of him. I have an uncle who keeps his memory alive when we get together. He can tell many tales of my father.

But it astounds me that I've lived nearly all my life without him. Its bizarre to think that 40 years has gone without him here. And I wonder, a lot now, what life we all would’ve lead had he not died on that July day in 1968. I know its silly, and ultimately pointless, but I still would like to see a "what if" version of my world.

I cannot say that not having him here would've been better, but deep down in my brain, I believe it would've. And despite the many rows I heard they used to have (from my mother), I still think that would've stayed married.

Anyways, I miss him.

Washing the car and paying for gas

I've never been one of those guys that washed his car every week, or every other day. A car has always been a means of travel for me, not a status symbol. So, it's not very often that I do wash it. When I was living in Chicago area, I would wash it a couple of times during the winter, but it was only to get the corrosive salt they used on the roads to melt the snow and ice. During the summer time, I hardly washed it at all.

Since moving here, I've sort of got in the habit of not washing it. Mostly because of the dust that gets blown around here. Living in a near desert area, dirt is an everyday annoyance.

So today, on a whim, I decided to wash my car. To be honest, I cannot remember the last time I actually washed the beast. Had to be sometime in 2007. Really, sometime in 2007. It took all of about half hour, and I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Late this afternoon, I decided to go for a walk. I was bored, the house a bit warm. So, I leave and pass by my car parked out in the back. I notice were the water ran down hill, the dirt has left mark on the pavement, like a ring in a tub when washing a particularly dirty child.

It made me realize how dirty my car was. Maybe I should wash it more than once a or twice a year. Plus, I've heard, keeping you car clean prevents drag and thus save money on gas.

Speaking of gas, I paid 4.35 a gallon on Friday. Three weeks ago, I paid 4.49, one week later I paid 4.45, and this week 10 cents less. So, it went down nearly 20 cents in three weeks. Pretty good, but its bound to rise again.

Book: How I Paid For College by Marc Acito

It's 1983, and in a sleepy New Jersey community 17-year-old Edward Zanni is breezing through a carefree summer and rehearsing for his high school's production of Grease. However, the fun comes to a screeching halt when his father refuses to pay for Edward's forthcoming term at acting school.

Edward's in a bind and, proof that he's destined for a life in the arts, incapable of holding down a job. So he turns to his loyal (but immoral) friends. Disguising themselves as nuns and priests, they merrily scheme their way through embezzlement, identity theft, forgery and blackmail to get his fees. Along the way, Edward learns the value of friendship, work and how you're not really a man until you can beat up your father, metaphorically or otherwise.

*************************************************************************************

It's a wildy campy novel filled with, at times, unbelievable occurrences. I loved the era he set in the novel, as he also makes social comments on family relationships, sexuality and pop culture.

But even as a comment on the 1980's, one can also look at the novel as maybe too campish, and certainly never real. All the things that happen in the book comes from a fantasy world of TV and movies where the heroes get away with outlandish plots as the ones presented here.

But you don't read this novel for any real thoughtful commentary. It's a fun, beach read of a novel.

Matthew Montgomery and his films

After months of Netflixing TV shows I've missed, I started to rent some gay themed films. Shelter was nice, and did a brief review of it on the blog. East Side Story was another. Then I rented two flicks that starred Matthew Montgomery, an actor friend who played on the web series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier as a Klingon that I worked on. Now he plays Own Vaughan on the HF spin-off, Star Trek: Odyssey.

The first was the horror thriller Socket

I liked it very much, despite the film resembling an even lower budget David Cronenberg film (writer/director Sean Abley used Videodrome as template). Still, Matthew Montgomery showed his acting chops (among other things) and now I know why HF cast him. He's very good.

I then rented Long-Term Relationship, a romantic comedy that once again showed me what a find Matthew really is. His range between drama and comedy is near perfect, and I began to wonder why he is not doing more films, even though he's found a rewarding career in indies.

I've qeued up Back Soon, the film he did after LTR, from the same writer/director and most of the same cast.

According to his IMDB posting, he's completed four films in 2008, with another currently getting close to production.

In a recent interview with AfterElton, Matthew explained why he's not gone mainstream:

AE: Do you have an agent? Are you auditioning for studio movies? Network roles?

MM: I’m still a non-union actor. So everything I’ve done up until now has been without representation, without being in a union. It’s all been on my own. Most of the network stuff, I’m not eligible until I’m in the union. And a lot of reps don’t feel comfortable representing an openly gay actor or someone who does primarily independent gay cinema, and I have no interest in changing how I represent myself.

So, yeah for Matthew. Yet, despite knowing him sort-of well, I think he's a brilliant actor who should be doing movies or network TV shows.

And he's really good on Odyssey.

Hancock sucks, but movie studios claim its "fresh" and "different"

I love how movie studios spin things. They should be working for Bush, cause they can make even crap look good. Take, for example, Hancock. It opened on Wednesday, and made a $107 million in five days. Pretty good, but the film got horrible reviews.

"Will Smith, Mom, apple pie and the Fourth of July. It doesn't get any better," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "People just so relate to him and the characters that he plays. They totally embraced it as something different, something fresh."

Oooookkkkkkaaaaaay. If you say so.

Then there's this: "Hancock did not get great reviews, but it doesn't matter. A guy like Will Smith is arguably the most-bankable star in the world," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. "He's utterly likable and he's real, and that permeates from the screen to the audience."

I like Will Smith, but I find his films to be nothing but empty set pieces. I cannot "relate" to him, if only because he is a movie star and I'm not. He's less rich than Oprah, but he's richer than I'll ever be. And "something different, something fresh" is not in a studios vocabulary, so I wonder where this Sony guy got that idea.

All Hancock proved was that people will go see anything, even if its shit. And the studios know this, so there is no attempt to make anything that will have legs beyond its first week. Expect Hancock to have a huge drop off is ticket sales, next week if only because no one will pay to see it again.

Hell, if these guys can say this about Hancock, just think what they could do for W and his War on Terrorism (TM).

Doctor Who 4.13: Journey's End

There is many things to praise in the final episode of the season, but there is equal number of things that make Journey' s End the weakest of the three episode arc.

First I must comment on the TARDIS pulling the Earth back to its orbit. Beyond it being just illogical, its just plain dumb and takes you "out of the story" so to speak. I mean, this past week, Charlie Jane Anders of the science fiction blog io9, called Davies "the gay Michael Bay." And lives up to that motto after the whole tow truck pulling of the planet.

I was really anxious to see this episode after last week's outta nowhere cliffhanger, but I felt cheated with this finale, if only because the entire episode appeared to be written by a fanboy. It's fanfic to the max, and that's its problem. I give RTD props, as he brought back an aging show in need of fresh blood and a new direction. The first season is perhaps the best, if only because it attempted to break out its tired formula that doomed it by the late 1980's.

But over four years, the show has quickly fallen back into the same tracks that John Nathan Turner made with 6th and 7th Doctor's.

But the show was crammed with too much companion angst and too much Davros going on and on about destroying the universe -a distracting thing, despite the actors performance. And while I love continuity, RTD just seemed to go over board with it in this episode. Nothing brings a action sequence to a halt more than pointing out that Gwen Cooper from Torchwood resembles a maid from season one's The Unquiet Dead (of course, they were played by the same actress).

The best part of the episode was Catherine Tate, who for my money, became the best companion in its four year revival. She resembles Sarah Jane in many ways, which is logical because of RTD's love for Elizabeth Sladen's portrayal of Sarah (who is the second best thing about this episode). So I was disappointed at the way she was shoved out of the series. Tate seemed to be having the time of her life as the hybred human/Time Lady. But like Rose from her final scenes in season one's The Parting of the Ways, Donna could not "handle" being the hybred. I was disappointed that RTD went back to the well for this one. Donna deserved to stay, but if she had to go, then in a much better way than she did. It was too Star Trek Vulcan like the way the story was written.

Plus, I hated being manipulated like this. We were told a companion dies, and just like Doomsday, it happens only metaphorically. It's suppose to be a clever McGuffin, only it turns out to be a rehash of a show done two years ago.

One last thing, while I liked the idea that it took "three" Doctors to solve the problem, the fact that the second 10th Doctor must "pay" for the genocide of the Daleks is plainly ridiculous. The Doctor -the real one - has let aliens die before, and seemed to carry no guilt. Why second 10th Doctor must pay for destroying the Dalek menace once and for all just makes no sense. Of course, it sets up the even more ridiculous ending: Rose living with the second 10th Doctor that she loves. Everyone must have a happy ending, I guess.

I suppose with Doctor Who taking 2009 off (beyond a handful of specials so series star David Tennant can go off and play Hamlet), it could be a good thing. With Steven Moffat taking over from RTD, they may need a year just to regroup and see where they went wrong after season one. I like Tennant a lot, and hope he stays beyond the 4 specials in 2009. When given a good script, like Moffat's Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead from this year and Paul Cornell's Human Nature/Family of Blood from last year, David Tennant really shines. It's like he knows these are good scripts, unlike some of RTD's by-the-book episodes.

Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps is just plain hot. As someone once said, his body is built for swimming.

He should be the best thing at this summers Olympic Games, considering most of the Americans have already been eliminated in the early trials of the most popular, most viewed sports.

As a matter of fact, the only games American's have the most prominent is swimming. So, for Phelps, he becomes America's best chance for taking home some gold.

4th of July

After complaining about work so much, I decided today I'll just say this: It's getting harder and harder to get up each morning and go there.

It's just not fun anymore, you know?

So, anyways, went to work -and for a company trying to cut costs, why have me work today is beyond me. It's just I'll get paid 8 hours for working, plus 8 hours for holiday. Work 8, get paid for 16. While I'm not complaining, it seems rather loopy. But that's Borders Books and Music for ya.

Got home and saw people already setting up to watch the fireworks. I guess the one advantage to living here, is that I can watch the fireworks display right from my front porch. So I made myself some hot dogs, pulled the folding beach chair and sat outside.

A very nice lady named Debbie knocked on my door and asked to sit on my front lawn with her family. And since the people to the left and right of me cordoned off their front lawns like some scene out of CSI, I said yes. Now, I can understand somewhat why they did this -after all, you don't want a bunch of people laying around causing all sorts of problems on your front lawn. Still, none of these people actually own the property. It's a gray are, so I'll give to them. Just does not seem American, what ever that really means.

I brought out housemates boom box, this 1980's style thingy that would've not been out of place on the shoulders of some white kid from the suburbs trying to look cool walking through the local forest preserve. I plugged my iPod into it, and jammed to some tunes.

All in all, a nice display of fire works (look below).

It is also the first weekend since the end of May that I have nothing to do. No place to go, no gas to lose (though I paid 4.41 on Wednesday, which was 4 cents cheaper than last week and 8 cents cheaper than a fortnight ago. Don't know if it means a damn thing, but ya for David).

Suppose to be hot this week, really hot. So I might get up early and go bike riding before the sun starts baking like pancake on a griddle. Otherwise, I need to read. I've barley picked up How I Paid for College.

But there is the season finale of Doctor Who. I'm really curious how Journey's End will top last weeks episode.

Happy Birthday, America

James Bond 22: Quantum of Solace teaser trailer

Wall-E (2008)

The crew at Pixar have had nine successful films, and its mostly because they know how to tell a story. This is what, in my opinion, has failed parent company, Walt Disney for years. Pixar's films are made with imput from everyone, and everyone gets a chance to shine.

Disney animated films of late are sad little pictures put together by demographic team who see profit in toys than telling a story kids and adults can enjoy.

And I think only Pixar could tell a story mostly empty of dialogue, and still get across the emotion needed to follow it. The visuals are wonderful, the CGI almost real looking , with some wonderful set pieces including a scene where the robots run wild that had me thinking of Monsters, Inc.

The enviormental message is there, and while it does not hit you over the head, I can see some people on the Right calling it very leftist.

Anyway, the film is rather brilliant and another flower in the hat of Pixar.

Doctor Who 4.12: The Stolen Earth (part 2 of 3)

Picking up moments after Turn Left, where Donna's revelation that she met Rose Tyler and told her to remember two words, Bad Wolf, the Doctor and Donna arrive on Earth. But all, it seems, is right. But moments later, the Earth and 26 other planets are transported to an unknown area of space. Realizing he needs help, he takes Donna to the Shadow Proclamation (first mentioned in Rose), a universal police force manned by the Judoon. As the Doctor begins to unravel several perplexing ideas that have run through the entire fourth season -like bees vanishing from the planet (mentioned in Partners in Crime, Planet of the Ood, The Unicorn and the Wasp and Left Turn),- he trails some radiation signals to a rift in time near the Medusa Cascade (Last of the Time Lords). But there the trail ends, and the Doctor cannot find the path to Earth.

Meanwhile, on Earth former companions Martha Jones, Captain Jack Harkness and Sarah Jane Smith, along with Torchwood members Gwen Cooper and Inato Jones and Sarah's adopted son Luke are confronted by the Daleks. As Earth is subdued, each of the them realizes they must contact the Doctor, but they know nothing of Rose Tyler's arrival.

Also around is former disgraced PM Harriet Jones, who uses an unknown, untraceable sub-wave signal to contact former Doctor companions, and through the use of Martha's phone, try to reach the Doctor. While this proves successful, and the Doctor discovers what is happening on Earth, he also finds his old enemy, Davros, creator's of the Daleks, is behind this all.

The Doctor breaks communication after learning how Davros survived the Time War and how he created these new Daleks from his own flesh and blood. The TARDIS lands on Earth so he can reunite with his friends. Rose and Jack teleport to the Doctor's location, with Rose arriving first. They start to run to meet each other, but a lone Dalek manages to shoot the Doctor before Jack teleports in and destroys it. Rose, Jack, and Donna race the Doctor back to the TARDIS, but both Jack and Rose recognize the signs that the Doctor is about to regenerate. The episode ends in a cliffhanger as the Doctor's body begins to regenerate, while Gwen, Ianto, and Sarah Jane are facing Daleks bent on exterminating them.

************************************

In his swan song as show runner, RTD has written the final three (and probably next week's season ender, making that 4) episodes. Now, while he's proven through the first three seasons to write uneven stories, he seems to have left his best for last. The Stolen Planet brings the revived series full circle, as he ties all the events (and some from TOS) together. It's packed and some roles -like Rose - get shoved away a bit, but it is one the best of the season.

This episode is also the first fully-fledged crossover betweenDoctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures with Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Luke Smith and Mr Smith all appearing in the parent program for the first time.

And while Harriet Jones showing he ID does get old, there is a wonderful site gag when she is about to be killed by the Daleks. Apparently even the Daleks are annoyed by it. Then there is the gag with Mr. Smith and Sarah commenting on "theatrics" of his arrival. Pretty funny, if you watched her show.

If indeed the Doctor regenerates in next week's Journey's End, who is the 11th Doctor? Or will RTD pull an old Star Trek: Voyager trick by pushing the magical candy-like reset button? I mean, if only because we all know (maybe) that David Tennant is attached to play the Doctor in this years Christmas special, plus four other specials in 2009 -really, if this is the end of Tennant's run, why skip a year only to return in 2010 with season five?

Candy Everyboys Wants

Man it was hot

Summer began on Thursday last week, and here in SoCal, it came in like a lion. From Thursday until today, we baked under triple digit heat in the valleys. I spent most of Saturday near the ocean, the first time I've been there since I moved here nearly 3 years ago. The pic above was taken by Adam's mobile phone, and me at the waters edge on Santa Monica beach.

Anyways, we Adam and I hooked up with Michelle and Stephen and headed to Studio City for a movie -King Fu Panda - dinner and long conversation.

But it was hot. After getting out of the movie, you felt the heat of the day. It was like someone had turned on their oven to 500 degrees and left the door open. Waves of heat just poured over you. It was 106 here, but got even hotter in valleys and like 118 in Palm Springs.

Sunday we filmed The Helena Chronicles 1.03, Letter of the Law. It was so fucking hot at the studio, that it made for a very unpleasant day. And it's bound to get worse.

Doctor Who 4.11: Turn Left (Part One of Three)

With Doctor Who taking a break in 2009 (though four new episode's will be produced and aired in 2009, one airing Christmas this year), it seems the show will go out in a big bang to leave viewers wanting more.

Turn Left marks the second week in a row that show runner Russell Davies has written a taught, well plotted script, the first of the three episode season finale.

While enjoying time on the planet of Shan Shen, which has an ethnic Chinese culture, Donna is offered a free fortune reading. The fortune-teller presses Donna to reveal her past and focuses on a point in her past on modern-day Earth where she was driving to her temporary job at H. C. Clements, despite her mother's wishes to take up a permanent job nearby. As a large beetle climbs onto Donna's back, the teller convinces Donna to change her mind in the past, taking a right at the intersection per her mother's wishes instead of a left.

Thus, we see an alternate version of Donna's life, one far bleaker had she not met and helped the Doctor. Basically, the episode lays out a Dickens style universe were the Doctor died during the Racnoss attack on Earth, as seen in Donna's first episode, The Runaway Bride. From there, the rest of the last two seasons of Who play out differently. Martha Jones and Sarah Jane Smith, along with her companions from The Sarah Jane Adventures ( Luke, Clyde and Maria) were killed during Martha's first adventure, Smith and Jones. We also have mentions of Torchwood and Captain Jack Harkness and, for the first time, mentions of Gwyn and Ianto from that series, who defeat the Sontarans from Posion Sky episode.

Oh, and London was destroyed by the Titanic from Voyage of the Damned.

But through out Donna's alternate universe, one thing is constant: Rose Tyler.

Though Donna never learns her name, Rose knows Donna is the key to all of this, and must convince Donna that history is not right. That the alternate Donna, must die to set the universe, and time itself back to normal.

After everything reverts back, Donna explains all of this Doctor, and tells him two words that Rose spoke to her: Bad Wolf.

Got to hand it to Davies, as he weaves a wonderful, complex story that connects the entire new series, and its two spin-offs (Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures). Once again, Catherine Tate shines as Donna, one of the most compassionate, three-dimensional character created for this, or even the classic, series.

And next week's trailer looks to bring back old companions (Sarah Jane, Martha Jones, Jack Harkness) along with Gywn Cooper and Inato Jones from Torchwood. And Luke from Sarah Jane Adventures and the return of the Daleks.

Plus, it seems, a villan that pops up more than the Master.

Shelter (2007)

Until the major studios decide to produce a major gay love story, they’ll remain the dominion of the independent circuit. I’ve seen many gay related films -mostly the staple of them, the coming out stories - and have listened to the director/writer/cast commentaries on the DVD’s. One of the many things that comes across is how quickly these films are shot, mostly in three weeks or less. So you hear the director bemoan missed coverage shots, filming in natural light and chasing the sun to complete them; single takes that they wished they could’ve re-done.

Its all about compromise in many of these small budgeted films.

Now most of these stories work, like Eating Out, Beautiful Thing, Edge of Seventeen, Trick, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green and even to some extent, Another Gay Movie. But to be honest, there are many more that fail to capture the real relationship between the two male leads. It’s about sex, most of the time.

Shelter, written and directed by Jonah Markowitz, does try to correct this and, in my opinion, gives us a truly romantic gay love story without falling into the stereotypes that have befallen other films of this ilk.

Zach (newcomer Trevor Wright) puts his future on hold so that he can work to support his young nephew Cody because his family is fractured, a dead mother, a father who barley survives with some back injury and a sister who seems to make many bad decisions. In his free time, he spends time with his nephew (Jackson Wurth), his friend Gabe (Ross Thomas), his girlfriend Tori (Katie Walder) and riding the waves surfing. When Gabe's older brother Shaun (Brad Rowe) comes back home searching for a cure for writer's block, he and Zach start hanging out, mostly surfing. But their friendship blossoms into love, leaving Zach confused and worried about how people will react. Once the relationship is discovered, Zach is once again put in the position of putting his family first and suffer for it or he must fight for what he wants, as Shaun and Tori want him to do.

What makes this film work is the chemistry between Rowe and Wright. Despite the short, three week shoot, the actors worked well together. On the commentary, writer/director Markowitz mentions he filmed the kisses between the two actors linearly, in hopes of creating a natural flow for Wright’s character of Zach. And while there is sex between the characters, this film is about intimacy and even romance between the two males leads.

Trevor Wright shines as the put-upon young man who seems to be the only adult in his family, even though at times you wonder how much more crap Markowitz will throw Zach’s way. But Wright comes across as believable; a typical young man confused as to his sexuality, his place in the family and what he’ll need to further give up in life to take care of his nephew.

There are also strong performances from Tina Holmes as Zach’s sister, Jeanne. Her character comes across, at times, unappealing. She’s a horrible mother, forcing her younger brother to become a father to her son. Yet, at times, you have sympathy for as well. And Katie Walder is great as Tori, a girl hurt by Zach’s distance even before Shaun’s return, and the only one who realizes sooner than anyone that she knows why.

Among some of the many great scenes in the film comes late, when Gabe visits Zach at his job to talk to him about why he never told him he was gay. Zach tries to change the subject, but Gabe presses him, and only appears to be weired out that Zach is having sex with his older brother. Gabe informs him that nothing changes in their friendship, and I love the fact that here is this straight guy telling his best friend that. It’s a touching scene.

Not a great film, but it sure is a good one. And if more independent films can be made like this, one can hope a major studio will some day produce a grand, epic gay romance without fear of reprisals from conservative groups.

Self Pic's

Last Week, Part 4

Everyone comes out when they feel its the right time. And it's really hard to judge them -as if you should, but it is human nature - when it seems that they hide it longer than they should've.

Now, I have only known him for the 2 1/2 years I've worked on the HF Productions -Hidden Frontier, Odyssey and The Helena Chronicles. As noted in part three, after a great day at Universal Studios and dinner at Planet Hollywood, a few of us discovered a co-worker on our production had outed him self on the HF forums.

I kinda pride myself on having good gaydar. I sometimes can even detect really closeted guys. But I got to tell you, I was a bit surprised when he wrote about it. I never suspected for one minute the Woz was gay. Nope. Sorry, did not see that coming.

He had his reasons for not telling his friends at HF, but I pondered the idea that if there was one place Woz could come out, it was at HF. Most of the crew is gay, along with a few actors on Odyssey and Helena Chronicles.

And while I'm curious at what made him finally say those words, I know its none of my buisness. He's a great person, and I like him. He's smart as a whip, and loves all the straight guy stuff like explosions and movies that make little sense, script wise.

And shock of all shock, he's never seen Steel Magnolias. Oh well, that's another stereotype shot to hell.

So, anyways, got home last Monday from Universal and went online to forums to read what Woz had said. I posted a supporting comment and finally crawled into bed at about 1am. Slept pretty good, and was up at 6 to get ready to go to Disneyland.

At first, it was awkward. Woz was there, and I certainly did not want to make a big deal out of it, but you could tell ow -but some noticed at Universal - that Woz was much more relaxed, as if announcing his gay thing, he had lifted a burden. Which, in a way, he did. Most gay men who do this, usually feel better; the weight of the world type crap, you know.

It was a fun day at Disneyland. There was a feel things that went wrong -tons of standing deciding what ride we were going to do next - and a few high school style issues of who was the cool kids, but overall an entertaining day.

I like Disneyland, and should get a year-round tickets, as I'm less than half-hour away from the place.

So, that was June 3 through the 10th. 7 days of little sleep, some surprises and a week I'll never forget. We finished filming Operation Beta Sheild, started work on Star Trek: Federation One and a few people started some relationships.

Gotta love living here.

Last Week, Part 3

The behind of us as we started out at Universal

Star Trek: Intrepid leads Nick Cook and his lovely wife Lucy
Andrew and boy stud Will

With Alex stashed in the spare bedroom, I went to bed about 10:30 on Sunday. I told Alex that due to the typical LA traffic, we needed to get up early for the first of two Away Missions. So while it was nice to sleep in my own bed, and I was tired, I still slept fitfully. I was up at 6, but layed in bed until I heard Alex get up and shower.

Scheduled to met the cast and crew from HF and the fans who stayed after the convention at 9am at Universal City Walk, Alex and I got under way a little before 8 am. We ran into some traffic, but we got going in the carpool lane and made pretty good time on the 210 to the 134.

Alex and I eventually got there and met up with Rick. And while it took more than a half-hour plus to get all of us together, we ventured into Universal Studios for a fun day. It had been a way since I was last there, but I didn't mind. We went on the new Simpsons ride, which I liked a lot, though I was not impressed with other rides like Shrek 4D. The studio tour is always interesting and going when all the shows are in hiatus means we see more. They took us by the fire damaged New York Street area, though you could see very little of it, as a fence with green mesh hid most of it.

We traveled down the european streets and the block built for War of the Worlds -the scene where a plane crashes into a suburban block. We traveled done Wisteria Lane, which has been used for many streets in TV history.

Anyways, the day was a blast and as the park began to close at 7 we all headed over to Planet Hollywood for dinner. I called Stephen before he left and he came over to join us for dinner as well (along with Rob and Beo and Heather with baby Jayden).

Things were fine, and it was getting late, so as we headed out, I ran into Rob, Beo, Stephen and Heather talking about something. It turned out, after Stephen pulled it up on his i Phone, one of our crew members had outed himself on the boards. A guy everyone assumed was straight.

So, after that bomb shell, I tried to fin my car. Yep, I lost my car in the car park of Universal Studios. After almost an hour, I found it where I left it, got home and quickly fired up the computer to discover why this crew member had outed himself.

It was surprising, yet not. Tomorrow at Disneyland, I thought, was going to prove interesting.

And sleep that night, would prove to be elusive as the previous night.

To be concluded....

Straight Boys?

Candy Everybody Wants

Book: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Remember in the old Star Trek episode City on the Edge of Forever? Kirk saves Edith Keeler and some how Earth’s timeline is altered. It’s not until Spock discovers that Edith was a sort of lynch pin in time, that she had to die so Earth could go on its normal way. In The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the always entertaining Michael Chabon, takes a real historical idea - a-pie-in-the-sky proposal in 1940 to open up the Alaska Territory to European Jews.

While Congress killed the real plan and in the book, a character named Anthony Dimond is the divergence point, Chabon takes on the classic What if scenario and spins a wonderful tale of alternate Jewish history. Added on is a glorious, hilarious Raymond Chandler style detective story.

We are introduced to Meyer Landsman, an alcoholic homicide detective with the Sitka police department, examining the murder of a man named Emmanuel Lasker in the Zamenhof, a fleabag hotel where Landsman also happens to live. Landsman notes how professional the murder looks; the man was shot in the back of the head execution-style, the gunshot silenced by a pillow. Landsman notices syringes, packets of heroin, an open cardboard chess board in mid-game, and a beat-up copy of Siegbert Tarrasch’s book, Three Hundred Chess Games.

From there the novel unfolds like a flower, as Meyer navigates his way through red herrings and his failed marriage with fellow officer Bina, who is no his superior. Chabon takes us down this brilliant alternate history filled with appealing -and not so appealing -characters right out of the golden age of film noir.

A triumph.

Doctor Who 4.10 Midnight

There are some who love Midnight, the tenth episode of Doctor Who’s fourth season, and there are others who’ll hate it. It is a bottle episode, taking place, more or less, on one set. Russell T Davis wrote the story, and while his writing can be uneven, he does create good ideas. But the ideas here, are lifted from The Twilight Zone.

The Doctor and Donna have stopped off for a little R&R. Donna wants to stay and get a suntan, while the Doctor wants to explore the planet. There's a lot of scene-setting about how dangerous it is to go out onto the airless, highly irradiated surface... so we know that something is going to happen, and that the cliched group of people are going to trapped together.

Midnight is not bad, and I’m assuming there is a message in there some place, but the passengers are so badly drawn, you really don’t get to know them, to feel anything for them. Of course, as a guest star on any show, you generally don’t get much into their history, but there are actors who can take these small parts and create someone memorable.

Lesley Sharp as the lonely, just split from her girlfriend, is the only person who shines in this story, as she takes on what was probably the toughest part of the story.

There are attempts to explore some of the Doctor’s fascination with humans, and the potential problems that arise when the humans are cornered, but most of that is lost in endless shouting. Still, as always, David Tennant shines. He proves you can take a somewhat muddled script and still come across as fascinating.

Rose makes another cameo, and in next week’s trailer we see her fully again, as the three-part season finale begins.

Last Week, Part 2

Excelsior Ball III began on Friday, around 1 pm. Due to the lack of sleep and just having no energy, I did not get to the Raddison until after 4. There I saw some fans who were at the Studio and a few who came on Friday.

Conventions on a whole no longer interest me. I could go into a long, and very winded discussion as to why, but then I would probably piss off a lot of sci fi guys and girls. Just to say, that some of the fans are a bit clingy.

Dinner was at Subway down the street from the hotel, where me, Tobey, Michael, Ryan, Will, Richard, Alex, Andrew, Sharon, and Adam all enjoyed our meal. We headed back to the hotel for some episodes of HF and ODY, and then, eventually, bed.

Two things happened that night, one which I missed, and another I whish I missed. It seems, apparently, later on in the evening a group of people -fans and some cast - got around the piano in the lobby of the hotel and sang half the night away.

Not knowing of this, I went to bed and tried to sleep. Tried, being the word in only the vaguest sense. Alex, whom I shared a room with, snore like he was cutting half the forest in upper Washington state. And since I still have problems sleeping outside of my own bed, I could not get to sleep. I was so tired, yet even with ear plugs, Alex's noise kept me awake most of the night. Sleep came, but only in fits, at around 4 am. I was then up at 7.

So, Saturday came early for me. Stephen and I ventured out to I Hop for breakfast. I enjoy being with Stephen, and we seem to have many things in common. But while I would not mind spending a whole lot more time with him, he seems not to see me in that way.

So, God laughs at me again. I find a guy I'm willing to be open with, who is actually only 5 years younger than me, and he seems only midly interested. Then agian, maybe I'm pushy.

Anywho, Saturday's events went with out a hitch. And after a long day, we all went to Cozeymel's for "dinner with the stars." It was a nice, fun dinner with the fans and cast and crew.

We got back to the hotel at a little after 10, where people went various places. Some headed back to the piano and eventually -with more people - we sang more showtunes and gospel tunes while Beo or Andrew played the piano.

About an hour or so into the singing, a really handsome guy came out of the elevator and saw us. He smiled at the group and I sensed he wanted to join in, but he vanished a few minutes later. Only to turn up a few minutes later with a bottle of vodka.

It turns out this handsome, hot guy was named David, from New Zealand. He was an army guy passing through the LA area on his way to the UK. He saw us having fun and he wanted to join in the games. The vodka he poured around was awful, some kiwi stuff. But, oddly, you could not stop drinking it.

The party in the lobby went on until I could no longer stand up -not from drink, but just tired. Alex had gone up to bed already, and Jason (for member of the USS Angeles series and Hidden Frontier's predecessor) was sleeping on the floor of our hotel room.

As we got ready for bed, Jason and I got a talking about Jason's relationships. He seems to have broken up with his last two boyfriends mainly because he said he felt trust was lost. He was unclear on what that meant, but I gather from his talking that Jason thinks he needs to be successful in life - a career, money and all those things that go with it - before he can really settle down. It's like he wants to be the traditional husband, but in the gay way.

We talked on and on for about two hours, before I realized it was 20 minutes to 4. Sleep was not going to come easily for me again, and I must've only gotten something close to two hours before I got up at 8:15 to shower and grab a bite to eat over at Subway.

The final day of EBIII was slow, as most people -both cast and crew - did not get going until after 12 pm. The convention wrapped at 5 with a heartfelt speech from Rob (who hates getting up in front of people) and dedication plaque Jonathan had made up for Federation One - the next spin-off from Hidden Frontier.

It was there, I learned two things. My name was included on the plaque and Rob had shown the opening credits to Fed One. Apparently, my name is in the opening cast list. I knew I was playing Selek, the Vulcan Admiral, but I did not know it was going to be part of the cast. I thought it was just a "guest star" role.

So, EBIII came to a close. But the week was not over, and as I headed home with Alex (who was to stay over two-nights at my house), I pondered the Away Missions planned for Monday and Tuesday. I also wondered if I was going to get any sleep.

Can we say no way?

To be continued....

Tila Tequila

Reality twit, and all around reason to have your head examined if you watch this shit, Tila Tequila is taking credit for the legalization of gay marriages here in California.

"It is because of me. I definitely think my show has helped the movement. Before it came out, everyone was still a little apprehensive about it. Then they realized, ‘Wow, everyone is really into this stuff, and it is fine.’ The next thing you know, gay marriage is legal."

Yeah, I got nothing else to say about this.

Well, maybe...who the hell is she and why does anyone care about this train wreck of a person?

Last Week, part 1

On June 3rd, I began a week's vacation from my real job to work on my non-paying part-time job that, as times, can be a full time job.

After a few months of filming Star Trek: Operation Beta Sheild on various weekends (and occasional weekday) with the current cast from Hidden Frontier, the cast from Scotland's fan created series, Star Trek: Intrepid arrived to film their scenes for the feature-length epsiode.

Nick, Lucy, and Bobo (and Alex, though he was not playing his Intrepid character) filmed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both were very long days, starting at 9 am and ending on Tuesday just before ten and a little after 11 on Wednesday. Thursday turned out to the longest, with filming on various scenes for OBS and our third spin-off, Federation One.

Becky came down from Seattle to film her scenes as Vindenpawl, the leader on Vrijheid. Becky Woods is a brilliant actress, having played three very important (and different) roles during Hidden Frontier's seven season run. Her return as the beguiling leader of Vrijheid who is thrust into the limelight she likes, is a true test for an actress. The fact that she's returning to the LA area next year fill me with happiness.

Anyways, we finished just before midnight. And I was happy it was over. I was tired. During that 72 hour period, I probably slept about 12 hours. I'm a lite sleeper, and never been one of those people who can sleep anywhere they lay their hat, so I more or less cat slept then any actual deep, sound sleeping.

Plus, during those three days, various fans from around the US came to the studio in preparation for the up coming Excelsior Ball III to be held at the LAX Raddison Hotel on the 6, 7 and 8th of June. Some helped out during the shot, Donald and Ryan both handling slating, while Chris ran tape.

Some just sat around the studio's talking to various members most only know from the weekly chats.

Anywho, I got home at 1:05 am on Thursday/Friday and quicky went to sleep. However, sad as it may seem, I was up at 6am. Don't know why -beyond that being the usual time I would get up if I was working on a Friday - but I could not dfall back to sleep.

So, I got up, and sat in front of the computer, checking email, looking at porn and, you know....

I had zero energy for most of the morning, and by the time the housemate got up to go to his adult porn show in LA, I finally decided I better get my ass in gear to actually go to the EB III convention.

I needed a shower, gas and money.

Oh, and more sleep. But sadly, again, the up coming EB III was not going to be hours filled with sleep.

To be continued...

Universal Fire

Images I took this past Monday when I visited Universal Studios. Click to embiggem them.

Well, ain't this a bit of a hoot?

I'll be back tomorrow. Tales to tell to come.

Fire rages through Universal backlot

A massive fire swept through Universal Studios Hollywood today, destroying The Back to the Future Courthouse, and damaging the clock tower from the same movie and the King Kong Exhibit. The fire also destroyed three blocks of the New York City Street facades and the town used by the CBS series The Ghost Whisperer.

Roughly 40,000 to 50,000 videos and reels were in the video vault, but there are duplicates stored in a different location, said Ron Meyer, NBC Universal president and chief operating officer, so nothing irreplaceable was lost. No actual films prints were lost.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and no initial damage estimates were given.

In 1990, a fire broke out on a Universal lot. During that event, Santa Ana winds were instrumental in the overwhelming damage done to the New York Street facades. That particular blaze was ruled as arson. The 1990 blaze resulted in more than $50 million in damage and required a major undertaking to rebuild each of the sets.