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My current song obsession is one I discovered watching Scrubs. I can't recommend the show 100%, but it does some things very well. One thing it does well is balance comedy and tear-jerking drama almost perfectly, all within the same 22-minute episode. There are many episodes that have caused me to tear up, and they are invariably my favorite episodes.

Another thing Scrubs does well is use music to not only advance the plot but also capture a particular mood.

While I was sick last week I started Season One and ended up getting through all of it and Season Two. One of the characters in Season Two, Episode 13, "My Philosophy," needed a transplant and prospects were grim. At one point J.D. (the main character) is talking to her about death and she says she hopes it's like a big Broadway musical. As sometimes happens, things go bad and she doesn't make it. At that point that show goes into "musical mode" and she and the cast sing this song:

Waiting for My Real Life to Begin

Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
I'll stand on the bow, feel the waves come crashing
Come crashing down down down, on me

And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart
Let the light shine in
But don't you understand
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

My real life to begin

But don't you understand
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

On a clear day
I can see
See a very long way

While I think the music is beautiful, the staging of it on the show made it more poignant. You might not feel as attached to the characters, but seeing it might still help you see why it makes me tear up:

There's something about that concept of "waiting for my real life to begin" that hits me. It's the idea that all of the mistakes I've made up to this point were just practice and that the real deal is starting any minute now, so I'll be able to start in on this plan I've got in mind.

I like the way the song makes me think. I've listened to it literally 20 times today. I'm sure I'll burn out on it soon, but for now I'll keep hitting replay.

I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

Labels: life, music, TV

17 comments

Yesterday we had an improv gig* 134 miles away. Google Maps says that's "about 2 hours 39 mins," and Google Maps was pretty close to being right on with that guess. The eight of us left around 3:30 p.m. in two vehicles, and for all my good intentions to read on the trip, I ended up napping most of the way there. I blame being sick this past week.

We do "away shows" several times a year, with "away show" being defined as "a show for a company or corporation or group or whoever hires us to come and do a show." Away shows can be a lot of fun but they can just as easily go horribly awry. The main reason I sign up for every possible away show is because away shows pay the best. A "normal" night of improv might get me $25, but a normal away show can sometimes pay three times as much. I don't do improv for the money (though I wish I could figure out a way to make a living off it), but it's always nice to make money doing something you love.

The places we perform are rarely set up with a sound system designed to accomodate an improv show, and the tables can be pretty spread out depending on the size of the company. Last night's show was in a museum, specifically the Kruse Automotive & Carriage Museum. There were somewhere between 100-50,000 people there (I'm terrible at estimating numbers of people), and the show took place in the main lobby area, a place with 20-foot ceilings and two speakers hooked up to a perfunctory microphone system. The stage itself was a portable one and not terribly solid. Not ideal, but we've been in worse situations.

The museum was a surprise to us -- we knew we were going to be in a museum, but we didn't know what sort. This museum had the oddest collections - there seemed to be no connecting idea between them. There was a room of James Dean paraphernalia, a room of old television sets and toys based on old TV shows, a huge room of World War II vehicles (including a plane hanging from the ceiling, a couple artillery placements, German vehicles, Russian vehicles, and a couple of scale-model battleships), and a whole room full of specialty cars.

By "specialty cars" I mean the following:

• K.I.T.T.
• the "Vanturian"
• the A-Team Van
• no less than three Batmobiles (from the TV show, the 1989 Batman movie (my all-time favorite Batmobile), and Batman Forever)
• the General Lee
• the Robocop suit on a mannequin (not a car, but still present)
• several carriages
• several race cars

I don't know that I would have liked traveling all the way there just to see the museum, but being able to see it for free along with getting paid to do improv was pretty cool. I took a couple of pictures and posted them on my Flickr account, but my cell phone takes fuzzy pictures, so you might be better off looking at the museum website.

The show was pretty good, too. I don't often try to explain the shows because I feel describing an improv show is like describing dreams - they make no sense unless you were there - but I'd like to pass along my favorite joke I did. You might not find it funny (well, Dave might), but I'm going to put it up anyway. Bear with me.

The game was "185," and it's a standard joke that goes like this:

185 _______s walk into a bar and the bartender says, "Hey! We don't serve _______s here!" And the 185 _______s say,"_________________."

The first three blanks are a suggestion from the audience and the last is some sort of pun on the suggestion. So if the suggestion is "accountants," the joke might go like this:

185 accountants walk into a bar and the bartender says, "Hey! We don't serve accountants here!" And the 185 accountants say,"Oh, well, then - Calculator!" ("calculator" said in the same cadence as "Catch you later," therefore making a pun.)

We also change the joke up a bit to fit our punning needs, but that's the basic idea. If you don't like "A guy walks into a bar..." jokes, change "bar" to "deli" or something, and you'll get the same idea.

So we're playing the game and we get the suggestion of "superheroes." As an avid superhero fan, this is the sort of suggestion I could go all night about. We do a few jokes and then my teammate does an Aquaman joke, something about him sticking his face in a bowl of water. I see an opening and do this:

So 185 Aquamen walk into the bar and the bartender says, "Hey! This joke is supposed to be about superheroes."

Ba dum bum.

(See... Aquaman's totally lame. See?)

After the show we went to Cracker Barrel and I ended up getting home around 12:30 a.m. We'll get paid for the show next week most likely, but I'm guessing the per-hour rate after figuring in the 9 hours involved won't end up being too good. Oh, well. Like I said, I don't do it for the money.

I do it for the fame, baby.**

*I am required by Performer's Law to refer to any sort of performance as a "gig."
**This is also laughable.

Labels: improv

6 comments

There's hardly anything I like better than getting my hair cut. I don't know why that is, but it is. I got a haircut today and it had been almost two months since my last one, just about the longest I've ever gone without one.

I noticed two things upon walking out of the place:

1. It seemed colder out.
2. My head weighed less.

And now I don't need to use as much shampoo. Yay!

2 comments

First of all, thanks to everyone who responded to the roll call - there were a lot of familiar names but there were also some new names and some surprises. It was great to hear from you all, so thanks!

Second, I'm sick. I started getting a sore throat yesterday and it got progressively worse as the night wore on, then the stuffy/runny nose kicked it, and the overall weakness and soreness and... well, I pretty much haven't moved from the couch today. I played a little World of Warcraft and watched a lot of TV (finally finished ALF Season Four, which ended up not really being that good and actually kinda soured me on the first three seasons which I liked a lot).

But now I'm hungry. I had a bowl of cereal this morning and the only thing left in that box is the crumbs. Problem is, I have NO other food in the house. Literally. My fridge has half a gallon of milk and some condiments... and that's it. I wish I could say it's because I'm at the end of my grocery schedule and being sick caught me off-guard, but I can't. This is pretty much Standard Operating Procedure around here. The only cooking I do is frozen pizzas and the occasional microwaveable meal, so I don't tend to keep food here.

So now, even though I want to stay right here on the couch, I have to go get some food. I am not looking forward to this at all - last I remembered, it was cold outside. This should teach me to keep food on hand, but it probably won't.

Labels: food

16 comments

Okay, this might sound weird, but bear with me.

I don't tend to get many comments on my posts these days. It's a combination of writing entries that people don't feel they can respond to and writing entries that don't call for responses, I think. Because I've not been getting many comments, I don't really know who visits any more.

So I thought I'd ask this: if you read this, would you leave a comment? The comments are set up so you don't need to have a Blogger account to leave one. And if you don't want to comment in such a way as to leave a link to your blog, you don't have to. In fact, if you'd rather not admit to other people that you read, just leave a comment that will somehow let me know who you are but doesn't necessarily let other people know (except for you, Dave - none of this "Al J. Schmickfoonsie" business).

This experiment could go totally awry when nobody leaves a comment, but it might also lead me to blogs I'd like to be reading but don't even know about. I've done a risk/reward assessment and decided to take the chance.

When you've left a comment, put something like this up on your blog so I can come by and tell you I've been reading, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Labels: friends

35 comments

My videogame boss (the guy who runs the site, not, you know, Bowser) said once that he doesn't make New Year's resolutions - if he decides to make a change he does it no matter what time of year it is. That's a good philosophy. Trouble is, I get stuck in this mindset that beginnings must coincide. Going to start brushing my teeth with my left hand instead of my right one? Can't do it until February. (I did this a little over a year ago, by the way. Now I can't brush my teeth with my right hand because it feels weird. Might be time to switch back.) Trying a new route to work? Can't do that on a Thursday. Beginnings of weeks, months, or years: these are the appropriate times for behavior changes. For me it's because it's easier to keep track of progress. If I started something at the beginning of the year, I can easily tell how long it took me to fail at it. "Let's see, it's January 7, so... one week!"

Labels: friends, life, new things

8 comments

My latest review is up.

I've enjoyed the Rainbow Six series for a long, long time, and this one was pretty good. Too much swearing, though.

A preview of the review: I mention Celine Dion.

Labels: game review

1 comments

We live and die by the choices we make.

-David Lingle

A boss I use to have used to say this to me all the time - usually after I'd made a less-than-good decision. Sure, it's a variation on "you've made your bed, now lie in it," but for some reason, this one sticks in my head and I think about it at least once a week.

Labels: it's been said

2 comments

Here's what my 2006 looked like, according to my blog:

January

• Created webcam archive site
• Mom and Dad's great cat Zumba put to sleep because of health problems.
• Announced intentions to start School Memories series

February

• Started School Memories series with a bang: Kindergarten through Fifth Grade

March

• Went to Lansing, Michigan, went to a Chocolate Festival there.
• School Memories: Sixth and Seventh Grades
• My third collaborative comic with Joerules was published at Theater Hopper.
• Went to Wisconsin for my Dad’s 60th birthday.
• Sold my minivan (The entry title, "Call Me Vincent," was a pun on "Vincent Van Gogh," as in "van go bye-bye," but this went mostly unnoticed. It was probably for the best.)
• Started driving my mom’s Cadillac

April

• Got an email from GV from Partners In Kryme! about my post on the lyrics to his group’s song from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. There's no guarantee it was the actual guy, but I like to think it was.
• School Memories: Eighth Grade and Elementary Wrap-Up

May

• Turned 34
• Watched my 153rd movie of the year (Serenity)
• Used Crest Whitestrips in preparation for Mike & Meags’ wedding
• Had a bird in my server room at work.

June

• Bought an iPod (but didn’t talk about it until July)
• Went to Canada for Mike & Meags’ wedding. LOVED it.
• Had Tim Hortons hot chocolate in Canada. LOVED it.
• Met my 20-year friends Dave and Josh in Sturgis, Michigan for dinner
• Went to a Sheryl Crow concert in Indianapolis. LOVED it.
• School Memories: Ninth Grade
• Watched Superman Returns, felt it was the best Superman movie I’d ever seen

July

• Recorded my Snakes on a Plane song
• Ed Horn passed away
• School Memories: Tenth Grade
• Met some THorumites in Indianapolis, including Brian (for the first time), Angela (for the second time), and Andelyn (for the first time). Didn’t actually talk about it until August, though.

August

• Overdrew my stupid checking account.
• Bought Steel Magnolias and got made fun of for it
• Ran with scissors
• Bought a moleskine. I still haven’t written a single word in it. Anyone surprised by this?

September

• Read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and was completely fascinated by it.
• Went to Dallas, Texas, to meet people and watch a Cowboys game
• Met Brian (for the second time) and his wife Lisa (for the first time). Brian's one of my best friends and it was great to meet him twice this year and get to meet Lisa, too. I hope there'll be many more meetings in years to come.
• Went to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and learned a bunch about the JFK assassination
• Met Teri, the Cynical Tyrant. There are some people you meet that you immediately wish you could be friends with. Teri's one of those people.
• Watched the Cowboys beat the Redskins, 27-10

October

• Got new glasses
• Made up a Norman Bates joke
• Bought a new travelin’ bag. The entry title, “Call Me Papa," was a callback to the song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," but this, too, was mostly overlooked. This, too, was probably for the best.
• Started to think about moving

November

• Created an “about me” crossword puzzle
• Got a new-to-me car, gave Mom back her Cadillac
• Sold my iPod, bought a Zune (didn’t talk about it until December, though)
• Got locked out of my Yahoo!/Flickr accounts for a couple of weeks
• Filmed a commercial which never aired (didn’t talk about it until December)

December

• Finished School Memories series with Eleventh and Twelfth Grades
• Attended art shows
• Used a review of Grosse Pointe Blank as a plea for a second chance
• My next-door neighbors moved out
• Traveled to Wisconsin for family Christmas
• Watched my 371st movie of the year

In some ways, 2006 was a huge year for me - traveling all over and meeting new people isn't my usual cup of tea. In other ways, seeing everything boiled down to bullet points like this makes it seem like not much happened. I either need to blog more or do more. Maybe I should do more and then blog more.

I hope your 2006 was good and I hope your 2007 will be even better!

Labels: life

3 comments

Do not watch the following clip if you don't want to see me rocking out.

I have two things to say in my defense:

1. I did not know we were being taped.
2. It is difficult to sing and play at the same time.

Thank you.

Labels: friends, music, video

5 comments

Snakes on a Plane came out on DVD today, but I didn't buy it. There are lots of reasons not to - it's violent, it's foul, it's gory, it probably won't hold up to repeat viewings, yadda yadda yadda - but there was only one real reason I didn't buy it:

I didn't have to.

The fellow over at Snakes on a Blog put up a post saying New Line had given him ten copies of the DVD to give away to his readers, so he had people submit an "If I were on the flight..." story of 500 words or less, with the top ten stories winning a copy. I was "Winner #3," a place I was more than comfortable with. There were about 40 entries submitted, so I had a 1 in 4 chance at winning. Pretty good odds, so not really an entry for the "Big Win!" column. Still, winning stuff's always fun and I haven't done much of that in my life.

Anyway, here's my entry. You don't have to have seen Snakes on a Plane to "get" it, but there is another movie you will have needed to see. And if you haven't seen that movie, you need to get crackin', as it's a classic.

I am tired – bone-tired. This trip hadn’t gone like I’d planned and my future wasn’t looking so bright. This time yesterday I was looking forward to going home, but after the voicemail I got last night… well, now I’m not so sure what I’ll find there. If my key still works in the lock I’ll take it as a good sign.

I stow my carry-on bag in the overhead compartment and sit down. I don’t like aisle seats, I like windows seats even less, and just thinking about the idea of sitting in-between two other people makes me claustrophobic. The fellow in the brown leather jacket by the window is already asleep, by the look of his fedora pulled low over his face. I’m jealous, as I know I’ll never be able to get to sleep, even as tired as I am. After all this time, I am still hyper-aware of every noise and movement, sure that every one signals the plane’s doom, and there’s no way to shut my brain off and fall asleep. It’s days like today that I seriously consider taking up drinking.

I’m halfway done with my crossword puzzle when there’s some sort of commotion up by the bathroom. We’ve been in the air for a while, so I figure it’s just someone feeling cooped up and needing to vent a little. Then I notice the lady on the other side of the plane slumped over in a weird-enough way to suggest she isn’t sleeping. I’m about to call for a flight attendant, when the lights go out. I’ve got an LED flashlight in my bag, so I stand up to get it.

When I open the overhead compartment, something falls on my shoulder. I figure it’s a strap to someone’s bag, so I pick it up to put it back in the compartment. It’s right about the time the end of the strap is on eye level that I realize it’s no strap. Staring me in the face is a green mamba, today’s answer to 32 Down. I’m surprised enough to be seeing a snake on a plane that when it hisses and strikes, I barely have time to dodge and it’s not enough. I feel the fangs sink into my ear. And then again into my cheek. And then my neck.

I fall into my seat, stunned that this is happening and no one seems to notice. I can’t speak, and I’m flailing my arms around like an amateur semaphorist, and in the process I smack my sleeping seatmate fairly soundly. He comes to with a “Hey, buddy…,” sees the snake attached to my neck and scrambles to flatten himself against the window.

“Why snakes? Why did it have to be snakes? Anything else,” he says.

He reaches under his jacket to get something, and I have just enough time to wonder how he got that bullwhip through security before everything goes black.

Labels: movies

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