Monday, October 31, 2005
Headed home
I head back to Little Rock on Tuesday afternoon after a very productive trip. The script isn't finished but it is currently in great shape--much funnier than I originally thought it could be. I'm really excited about it. More details when I get home. I hope everyone has an enjoyable Halloween night.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
L.A.: Two earthquakes and a thirsty homeless guy
The flight into Los Angeles was pretty uneventful, which is always good. I got an exit row seat for the whole trip so I had a little extra leg room, which is big for the knee and for me in general. John picked me up but he had to work pretty soon after that--right now he has a job working in the art department of a low-budget film that is supposed to finish shooting tomorrow. He can't wait to be done so we can really focus on our screenplay.
Apparently there were two earthquakes here today but I didn't even feel either one. I guess they were around 3.0 or 3.1, pretty minor. I went through a much bigger one when I lived here--big enough that I could feel it, at least. The other "event" of today was having a smelly homeless guy ask me to buy him a beer at the store. I politely declined, only to find him peeing in the parking lot shortly thereafter.
John has to work Sunday but we're still going over to officially sign our contracts in the morning. We will also receive our first check, which is nice. And then, umm...I guess we have to actually write this thing. Wish us luck!
Apparently there were two earthquakes here today but I didn't even feel either one. I guess they were around 3.0 or 3.1, pretty minor. I went through a much bigger one when I lived here--big enough that I could feel it, at least. The other "event" of today was having a smelly homeless guy ask me to buy him a beer at the store. I politely declined, only to find him peeing in the parking lot shortly thereafter.
John has to work Sunday but we're still going over to officially sign our contracts in the morning. We will also receive our first check, which is nice. And then, umm...I guess we have to actually write this thing. Wish us luck!
Thursday, October 20, 2005
California
On Saturday, I'm headed to L.A. for a paid gig to write a screenplay for a producer out there. It's a long, sordid story and I'm still curious about how everything will turn out but I'm definitely excited about the opportunity. My friend John Kinsman and I will be co-writing this one together, as we did with "Whiffleball." We're not getting paid a ton but we will see a decent chunk of change on the off-chance that this thing ever actually starts production. But for now, I'm just happy to be doing it. We plan to have a first draft done by around November 1, which is a little ambitious. Should be fun!
Also, I did appear on the ESPN WSOP coverage this week. It was during the second hour at around the halfway mark, and just as I predicted, I caught a little camera time because of the guy next to me in the red shirt and big red pimp hat. ESPN re-runs these all the time but it's certainly not anything to sit down and watch if you just want to see me, because if you blink, you'll miss it. There's a chance I could be on again next week during the coverage of day two but none of my tables got any heavy camera action on that day so I think that my 15 minutes of fame--or, in this case, one or two seconds--are up.
Also, I did appear on the ESPN WSOP coverage this week. It was during the second hour at around the halfway mark, and just as I predicted, I caught a little camera time because of the guy next to me in the red shirt and big red pimp hat. ESPN re-runs these all the time but it's certainly not anything to sit down and watch if you just want to see me, because if you blink, you'll miss it. There's a chance I could be on again next week during the coverage of day two but none of my tables got any heavy camera action on that day so I think that my 15 minutes of fame--or, in this case, one or two seconds--are up.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
WSOP Main Event on ESPN
ESPN began their coverage of the World Series of Poker Main Event last night, dedicating one hour blocks to each of the first two "day one" flights of the tourney, meaning that my day will be featured in their first hour of new programming next week, probably followed by an hour dedicated to day two when I got knocked out. I really don't expect to make it on TV at all, and if I do it will definitely be a "blink and you'll miss me" moment. It was fun and a little surreal to watch the tourney on TV knowing that I was there and that I was a part of it. There were also some crazy hands, like Jennifer Harman losing when her opponent caught a straight flush on the river to beat her. It was also informative to see Daniel Negreanu at the TV table--he admittedly had a terrible WSOP, blaming most of it simply on cold cards. Some people are quick to criticize him, saying that he had lost his focus at the tables and was becoming too concerned with his poker celebrity and other outside interests--a criticism also often aimed at Phil Hellmuth. Well, judging by the coverage, Negreanu has absolutely nothing to worry about. His reads were dead-on and he played nearly perfect poker but just couldn't catch the right cards. It happens.
Monday, October 03, 2005
ALDS thoughts
The ALDS begins on Tuesday and I think that the Red Sox are in remarkably good shape, considering the shaky state of their pitching staff until now. One huge move that should not be overlooked is Bronson Arroyo's move to the bullpen for this short series. Rookie Jonathan Papelbon has emerged as a solid set-up guy, filling the role that Mike Timlin vacated when he became the closer. But the big hole in the bullpen has been the huge, sucking void in the search for any reliever that can get people out before the 8th inning--enter Bronson. The White Sox have a predominantly right handed line up, which helps even more, as lefties have been giving Arroyo fits lately. Papelbon has been a stud in September and he can easily handle 2-3 multiple inning appearances in this series, if needed. Same for Timlin. But having Arroyo out there to quell any early fires is a dynamic that we've been missing all season.
I also think that despite Matt Clement's second half struggles he has a chance to do really well in game one. The White Sox hitters aren't patient, so Clement's penchant for walks--the one things that gets him in more trouble than anything else--won't be as big a factor. If the Red Sox can take early leads, they can get the White Sox out of their small-ball mindset, and I think they'll do just that in game one against Jose Contreras, a pitcher that the Red Sox have historically lit up. I like the Bosox in game one, and to win the series, probably in four games.
I also think that despite Matt Clement's second half struggles he has a chance to do really well in game one. The White Sox hitters aren't patient, so Clement's penchant for walks--the one things that gets him in more trouble than anything else--won't be as big a factor. If the Red Sox can take early leads, they can get the White Sox out of their small-ball mindset, and I think they'll do just that in game one against Jose Contreras, a pitcher that the Red Sox have historically lit up. I like the Bosox in game one, and to win the series, probably in four games.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Wasted Saturday
Saturday was a complete waste of a day. It all started with the donuts.
At about 11 AM, Beth asked if I wanted some donuts for breakfast before the Sox game started. Of course I did, but I was already in pre-game mode and really didn't want to leave the house. I just turn into a hermit and have no desire to be "out with the people" when I get locked in like that. But we're talking about donuts, so I relented and agreed to make a quick trip with her to Shipley's, which is right down the street. We arrived there and their shelves were absolutely bare, although the sign indicates that they are open until 2 PM, so I'm not exactly sure what they plan to sell for the next three hours. "Come back tomorrow," implores the shopkeeper, as if they are purveyors of some exotic, hard-to-find item. No thanks, we'll go to Krispy Kreme. That trip was pretty uneventful, aside from Beth's fruitless attempt to purchase a gallon of milk there, ordering one at the drive through window. "Do they have gallons?" I asked. Before pulling off, they had forgotten our milk entirely. Beth reminded the girl at the window and then was handed the standard, small bottle of milk. Which is all I figured they had. But whatever.
Sadly, we were not out of the house long enough to kill the entire FOX Sports pre-game show. I'll save most of my venting about the FOX baseball broadcasts for subsequent posts, assuming that I'll be watching more of their horrific product in the weeks to follow. But they are awful. The Red Sox themselves weren't great either, and I could tell from the first inning that we were in trouble. When Tim Wakefield's knuckleball is on, it floats and dances through the strike zone, causing many missed swings by batters. That just wasn't happening. From the top of the first, the Yanks were getting good wood on the ball. The Sox battled back a couple of times but just couldn't break through against Randy Johnson when they needed to, and thus we're left with a shot at the wild card berth. We can wrap that up with a win on Sunday or a Cleveland loss. It won't be as satisfying as winning the division would have been, but I'll take it. And thankfully, Sunday's game will be on NESN. Last one of the season.
Game two of my personal double-header was the ASU-USC game. I had the mildest of hopes that the Devils could actually pull off an upset against the Trojan juggernaut, and obviously I really wanted to see the game. It featured the number one team in America, the two-time defending national champs, playing a top 20 opponent on the road...so, of course, the Little Rock ABC affiliate elected to show us Nebraska-Iowa State. Absurd. The move would be defensible if the choice involved even a single team with the slightest regional interest--any team from the SEC, for example. But Nebraska-Iowa State? Give me a break.
The only alternative is the Game Plan, an option through the satellite that allows users to purchase out of market games. We went with that. Beth did it, actually, in a very kind gesture, going to the computer and signing up for it without even telling me, knowing full well that I was already annoyed beyond belief by the Sox loss that was nearly over.
So we buy the game...and it doesn't come on. There are an array of channels featuring these pay-per-view contests and none of them have the ASU game on, even the single channel dedicated solely to that game. Oh, but two channels have the Nebraska game. I'm not even joking. And to make it worse, they even had different feeds of the game. For some inexplicable reason, the ABC affiliate here elects to show afternoon games on a slight tape delay if they get to them after they have started. This is a practice that used to be commonplace...about 20 years ago. Hello, 2005 called, and they say "hi." Are you kidding me? In the information age, exactly what is the point of, say, a 10-15 minute tape delay? It's absolutely insane. In this instance, it resulted in us getting the Nebraska game on ABC local with a feed that appeared about ten minutes behind the one we were getting on the ASU-USC channel on the dish.
The ASU game finally kicked in with about six minutes left in the first quarter. I won't rehash the game itself, as I'm sure anyone who cares at all already knows what happens. But I will add that we lost the game feed for no reason at all in the 4th quarter, and during the time it was out we missed the two teams exchanging touchdowns and two lead changes. So that wasn't worth watching at all. Of course, it kicked back in just in time for me to see the Devils completely melt down at the end of the 4th. After the game, Beth called DirecTV to bitch and she rightfully got the charges for the game refunded.
So that's how my Saturday went. Pleasing.
At about 11 AM, Beth asked if I wanted some donuts for breakfast before the Sox game started. Of course I did, but I was already in pre-game mode and really didn't want to leave the house. I just turn into a hermit and have no desire to be "out with the people" when I get locked in like that. But we're talking about donuts, so I relented and agreed to make a quick trip with her to Shipley's, which is right down the street. We arrived there and their shelves were absolutely bare, although the sign indicates that they are open until 2 PM, so I'm not exactly sure what they plan to sell for the next three hours. "Come back tomorrow," implores the shopkeeper, as if they are purveyors of some exotic, hard-to-find item. No thanks, we'll go to Krispy Kreme. That trip was pretty uneventful, aside from Beth's fruitless attempt to purchase a gallon of milk there, ordering one at the drive through window. "Do they have gallons?" I asked. Before pulling off, they had forgotten our milk entirely. Beth reminded the girl at the window and then was handed the standard, small bottle of milk. Which is all I figured they had. But whatever.
Sadly, we were not out of the house long enough to kill the entire FOX Sports pre-game show. I'll save most of my venting about the FOX baseball broadcasts for subsequent posts, assuming that I'll be watching more of their horrific product in the weeks to follow. But they are awful. The Red Sox themselves weren't great either, and I could tell from the first inning that we were in trouble. When Tim Wakefield's knuckleball is on, it floats and dances through the strike zone, causing many missed swings by batters. That just wasn't happening. From the top of the first, the Yanks were getting good wood on the ball. The Sox battled back a couple of times but just couldn't break through against Randy Johnson when they needed to, and thus we're left with a shot at the wild card berth. We can wrap that up with a win on Sunday or a Cleveland loss. It won't be as satisfying as winning the division would have been, but I'll take it. And thankfully, Sunday's game will be on NESN. Last one of the season.
Game two of my personal double-header was the ASU-USC game. I had the mildest of hopes that the Devils could actually pull off an upset against the Trojan juggernaut, and obviously I really wanted to see the game. It featured the number one team in America, the two-time defending national champs, playing a top 20 opponent on the road...so, of course, the Little Rock ABC affiliate elected to show us Nebraska-Iowa State. Absurd. The move would be defensible if the choice involved even a single team with the slightest regional interest--any team from the SEC, for example. But Nebraska-Iowa State? Give me a break.
The only alternative is the Game Plan, an option through the satellite that allows users to purchase out of market games. We went with that. Beth did it, actually, in a very kind gesture, going to the computer and signing up for it without even telling me, knowing full well that I was already annoyed beyond belief by the Sox loss that was nearly over.
So we buy the game...and it doesn't come on. There are an array of channels featuring these pay-per-view contests and none of them have the ASU game on, even the single channel dedicated solely to that game. Oh, but two channels have the Nebraska game. I'm not even joking. And to make it worse, they even had different feeds of the game. For some inexplicable reason, the ABC affiliate here elects to show afternoon games on a slight tape delay if they get to them after they have started. This is a practice that used to be commonplace...about 20 years ago. Hello, 2005 called, and they say "hi." Are you kidding me? In the information age, exactly what is the point of, say, a 10-15 minute tape delay? It's absolutely insane. In this instance, it resulted in us getting the Nebraska game on ABC local with a feed that appeared about ten minutes behind the one we were getting on the ASU-USC channel on the dish.
The ASU game finally kicked in with about six minutes left in the first quarter. I won't rehash the game itself, as I'm sure anyone who cares at all already knows what happens. But I will add that we lost the game feed for no reason at all in the 4th quarter, and during the time it was out we missed the two teams exchanging touchdowns and two lead changes. So that wasn't worth watching at all. Of course, it kicked back in just in time for me to see the Devils completely melt down at the end of the 4th. After the game, Beth called DirecTV to bitch and she rightfully got the charges for the game refunded.
So that's how my Saturday went. Pleasing.
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