Monthly Archives: March 2010

Project 365 3-29-2010 Is it just the moon or is it… Airwolf?!

Oh man, today was a looooooong day.  My brain is complete toothpaste.  I am very grateful that the kids were both well behaved and did good work tonight.  It actually feels like my brains are draining into my sinuses.  Rene tried, and I made a great effort toward, talking about wedding stuff, but eventually we have to submit to the fact that there was no way that my brain was going to be capable of taking in, thinking about, and then truly able to consider any information going to it.  She was also brain fried, so it worked out.  While she retreated to the comfort and joy of Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs and Fantastic Mr. Fox I dipped my toe into the internet and came out with a foot covered in geek.  Between io9.com and toplessrobot.com I caught up on all things pop culture and geek.

Maybe it’s the full moon (today’s picture):

Or maybe it’s just what you are drawn to when your brains are turned into toothpaste, but I was alarmed by this story of a massive half-ton lead coffin found outside of Rome that might contain ancient weapons, an unholy demon who will bring about the end of the world, or a shit ton of Roman candy.  Read it and shake in fear with me as we wait for that one idiot scientist who says, “Let’s open it!” on December 21, 2012.

I also started doing some pretty massive research on “Airwolf,” the old TV show from the 80’s.  It’s not worth telling you why yet, but I think that this link is a pretty good start.

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-28-2010

Today was the last day for Spadra brunch, the weekly brunch that we used to do on Sunday mornings with a rotating group of friends.  Due to the illness of his parents, the owner has sold the restaurant to have the time to care for them.  It is a good reason to shut down, but a place as unique as Spadra will be missed.

There aren’t many restaurants where you can go in at 10am, eat breakfast, have a few pots of coffee, get a beer and then spend the rest of the afternoon on the patio just chatting the day away.  Really those days have been hard to come by the last few months, but when we could have them they were thoroughly enjoyed.

Spadra was a true “scene,” a place where like-minded people gathered together and shared a common experience.  There aren’t many places left where you can actually have a “scene.”  In fact the manufactured “scenes” that so many bars, lounges and restaurants try to produce have watered down what the idea of a real scene is so badly that when you experience a real one it is a bit overwhelming.  And in my life the only scenes worth a damn are the ones that grow all by themselves.  Manufactured scenes are just really elaborate planned parties – not nearly as much fun or as authentic.

Today’s picture is of Rene and I at our last Spadra brunch:

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-27-2010

Old friends and birthday parties, it was a nice way to spend a Saturday night.  I have had the same two best friends for nineteen years now.  Wait, I was just thinking about this and I actually met Jeff in 1989 and Scott in 1990 – it’s been over twenty years.  Wow!  I just blew my own mind live writing this blog right now!  We have seen some amazing adventures together:

  • We played Dungeons & Dragons for over a decade – shockingly we all managed to find a way to date even though we participated in this notoriously “nerdy” past-time. 
  • We all watched each other get our driver’s licenses.
  • We went through high school.
  • Got accepted to colleges.
  • Followed our varied career paths.
  • We lived together on MANY occasions.
  • Fights, aurguments, and even one unfortunate “friend break-up” with a longtime comrade.
  • We went through our first marriages together…
  • …and we are still friends as we all embarked on our second marriages.

It’s been a really amazing friendship and I am very grateful that through it all we have managed to maintain it.

Today’s picture is of Scott, Jeff and I:

Here’s to another twenty-plus years!

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-26-2010 Progress progresses…

I was up in L.A. again today for a meeting with a director friend.  Now that things are starting to progress and I spend more time in town the reality of having to move up there is starting to hit home.  It is much different producing versus being talent.  You can be talent and stay in O.C., but doing all the work that goes into actually putting something together makes the commute a lot harder.  It’s something to consider as Rene and I decide on where to move.

Since there was more driving today I was able to get one of the pictures I keep forgetting to get when the opportunity arises:

As much as I may need to move to L.A. I’ll always be an O.C. boy.

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-25-2010

Checklist:

  • Morning Strategy Meeting?  Check!
    • Happen to run into two friends I haven’t seen in a long while?  Check!
  • Get the elements for poster key art?  Check!
  • Contact the lawyer?  Check!
  • Reach Business associate between meetings?  Gah!
  • Teach?  Check!

It was a very full day today and I got almost everything done.  When things start moving they start moving fast, and I love that!

There was also a lot of driving to do today.  Enough driving for my ass to fall asleep.  All the driving inspired today’s picture:

This is a stretch of road near the end of the L.A. part of my day.  It was a welcome sight after traffic.  Now I need to read a script for a meeting.

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-24-2010

Yesterday’s blog we were able to announce the new show that we are developing with the Syfy Channel, today began the long road that is “the deal.”  It’s all lawyers and agents from here on in, then show bibles and meetings with the other creatives.  It’s good work, it’s fun work, but there’s a lot of it before there’s a show actually broadcasting.  That being that, I’m really excited to get started!

But let’s not forget that there’s still a movie to be made!  Cheerleaders Must Die! is still going and we’re doing all that we can to get that up and shooting by the summer.  That stuff is with the lawyers too.

With all the hoops and minutia that anyone has to go through it’s easy to see why it can take literal years for a movie to get off the ground.  It seems like everything takes longer than I think it will.  That can be frustrating, but a little frustration when you get to do what you want for a living is certainly a cross I’m happy to bear.

Today’s picture is of my computer:

It is of some very nice comments from some very nice people on my Facebook page.  I’ve had the very good fortune to have a few really great life moments happen back to back what with my engagement to Rene and then the show and some of the other stuff that I can’t go public with yet.  It is really nice to have all of the support and congratulations, makes me feel pretty special.

Thank you all very much!

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-23-2010 The Big News I Couldn’t Talk About… But I Can Now!

I’ll keep it simple – we sold our reality show to Syfy Channel!

There are still details to work out, the agents are on it, but the long and the short of the exciting news I had to be so vague about is that we sold the show and it looks like it will start when we are scheduled to be finishing up Cheerleaders Must Die!

Today’s picture?  The Syfy logo from the website, cuz they’re cool.

More details will be on the Wiggy VonSchtick blog as they come.  Now’s the time to subscribe to that blog as well as the Wiggy twitter account. /blatant plug

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-22-2010 Like Avril Lavine said, “Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?”

It’s hard to blog about today because it was a really good day, but I can’t really talk about what happened today yet – at least not on a public forum.

But it was good!  REALLY GOOD!

And I’m excited!  REALLY EXCITED!

And then I did some other stuff that I can’t talk about either… I’m sorry for being this cryptic.  Blogging everyday about the stuff that happen in my life is great until you hit days like this where discretion is the better part of valor.

Did I just use that phrase right?

Anyway here’s today’s picture that I can only say was in celebration of stuff I’ll be able to talk about later:

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-21-2010 Surprise Brunch and Congress

Today was a pretty uneventful day.  The biggest news of the day, the news heard around the world, is that the United States Congress passed the Heath Care Reform bill.  It took over my Twitter page and filled up the Facebook news feed.  I don’t even know where I fall on the debate.  I know I agree with the idea of heath care reform, but I have not been able to keep up with the changes to the bill nor have I been able to cut through the bullshit both sides have been shooting at us for the last six months.

Political rant: I do not care for either party, Republicans or Democrats.  As far as I’m concerned they are all doing the exact same thing, spending my money on their pet projects, but they choose to spend it on different stuff.  I do not support or endorse anyone who is a career politician nor do I want to hear from someone who has ever listened to a lobbyist.  I just don’t like it. 

All that being said, if HCR means that Rene is no longer punished for being a woman when it comes to getting insurance then I’m for that.  If I can get decent insurance that costs less than a quarter of my annual income then I’m for that too.  I look forward to hearing about what was actually passed today.  I have a feeling neither side really knows what that is yet.

Speaking of sides, have the lines been drawn on Facebook!  The arguments are getting fierce and this is just the first day.  Hard core Republicans are calling this the downfall of the country while hard core Democrats are calling it the salvation!  If we’re lucky it might fall somewhere in the middle and might just be the first step toward a real solution.

OK, no more political talk!  Today’s picture is of this:

We went to brunch at the last minute after thinking we weren’t going to brunch.  It ended up being really fast, but really nice.  We’re going to miss Spadra when it’s gone, but we’re enjoying the experience while we can.  Today I got the breakfast quesadilla.  It was delightful.

Ugh, after reading this I’m dreading the possible comments that I might get, but I’m never one to back away from a good debate.  What are your thoughts on HCR?  Help convince me one way or the other.

See you tomorrow!

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Project 365 3-20-2010 Yay! Saturday!

There is a lot that I could talk about today and I’m having a problem deciding on both a picture for the day and a theme.  I actually woke up this morning a bit overwhelmed and over-thinking.  It took most of the morning and a good part of the afternoon to get past, but I did.  The less talk about that the more comfortable I am.

One of the things I wanted to talk about, even though it could technically fall under the blog for yesterday, is how much I enjoy the podcast The Tobolowsky Files from /Film.  Stephen Tobolowsky is a very recognizable character actor who’s worked on more shows than are currently on television.  He is a great story teller and I realized last night, after midnight so it totally qualifies as a “today” thin
when I looked at my recently updated iPod and saw that there was a new episode how much I look forward to each new episode!  If you enjoy filmmaking listen to this podcast.  If you are a new actor listen to this podcast.  If you just like a good story listen to this podcast.  I highly doubt that you’ll be disappointed.  I should probably copy and paste that last paragraph into an iTunes review for the show.  Dave Chen, if you are reading this, first of all congratulations on becoming an American citizen and second I will totally add this as an iTunes review when I’m back at my desktop on Monday.

Rene and I had a great evening together.  She had a craving for a huge Cobb salad so we went to Rutabagorz where she got exactly that.  I got the garlic chicken pasta and I feel bad for all of the people in a twenty-five mile radius who can smell the garlic pouring out of my pores.  It was delicious, but SO garlic-y!  Officially my picture for today is this:

I thought it was a neat picture of a sign.  Rene was pretty sure that it would come out blurry, but I totally got it!  But we took a few other pictures that we liked tonight including this:

Then we got sticky toffee pudding and beer and cider at The Olde Ship.  We took a picture of that too:

Now I’m goign to bed.  All this typing is making me sleepy.

See you tomorrow!

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