Iced in

We were stuck in the house all weekend due to a wintry storm that left the entire city pretty much covered in ice. It's a new phenomenon for me--I've seen hurricanes, blizzards, and such, but this "ice storm" deal is a little different. There was a little bit of snow, but then some rain and the whole result gets frozen over. Saturday seemed to get the worst of it, as the streets outside the house were very quiet, although we did get one run from a sand/salt truck. Things are thawing a little bit today and it looks like everything should be back to normal in a couple of days.

Great TV show

I've been watching episodes of a ten year old TV show called Murder One on Netflix lately and they are really good. I remember watching the show a few times when it originally aired on ABC and I enjoyed it then, but they idiotically scheduled it against the juggernaut that was ER...and this being pre-TiVo, keeping up with two shows in the same time slot was just too much. But the show is great and it holds up really well. Check it out if you're looking for a full season of shows to rent.

My nephew arrives in less than a month...crazy! I still think of my little brother as, well...my little brother, so wrapping my mind around the concept that he is now 30 with a real job and (soon) two kids is pretty wild sometimes. But I can't wait to meet "the little guy," as he is being called until he gets a name.

Sox are in the middle of a brutal road trip but I think they'll be in great shape in a couple of weeks. Finishing up with a ton of games at Fenway will be a huge advantage for them. They will probably win the division for the first time since 1995. Bring on the playoffs.

It is absurdly hot here. Over 100 degrees with humidity is just cruel. I keep hearing that Arkansas has an actual change of seasons and I really hope I see something like that happen soon.

Whiffleball first draft

We finished the first draft of the "Whiffleball" screenplay. It clocks in at a beefy 111 pages and the first thing I need to work on is cutting it down a bit. In screenwriting, there is a vague but generally accepted rule that movies time out to one minute per screenplay page on average. So 111 would be fine for an action movie or a drama, but it's definitely a little long for a comedy. I'd like to trim at least 5-6 pages, which might be tough. Other than that, we just need to whip it into shape and get it as funny as it can be before we check in with that producer. It was really fun to write--Johnny and I had an absolute ball with it, continually e-mailing and text messaging back and forth with notes, comments and jokes. And if the angle with the producer never works it, we really could strip it down some and make it ourselves.

I'm scheduled for my last week of physical therapy this week. I'm hoping that the three sessions are all that I'll need but I should get the definitive word from the doctor on the 29th. But right now, I feel good. I can walk without the crutches and I'm sure I can bend it enough to fly, although it starts to hurt and get pretty stiff after a while. But that's nothing that will hold me back.

Other random thoughts to start off the week ( in classic, cliched writer/dot dot dot style): we've been watching season one of Alias on DVD and it's fun and entertaining. A lot of the plots are pretty goofy but you just have to have an active imagination, suspend disbelief a little, and buy into everything they are selling. From what I've heard, the storyline of the show takes lots of big, broad turns so it will be fun to be able to fly through those on DVD, as opposed to waiting all summer to see how things turn out...(*cough*..."Lost")...my favorite show on TV this summer has to be "Entourage" on HBO. I loved season one and season two is off to a great start. Jeremy Piven as Ari the agent is one of the best characters on the tube right now...conversely, the worst show I'm watching is "The Comeback" on HBO with Lisa Kudrow. I love the idea of the show a lot, and the format. But her character is just brutal to watch and it makes the entire show painful and annoying. And yet, I'm still giving it a chance...I predict that the Red Sox will be in first place before I get dealt my first hand at the WSOP...I still haven't pre-ordered the new Harry Potter book yet because I don't know if I want to go get it at midnight or just have it mailed to me. I must be getting older. That, and just being in bookstores now feels different after B&N...Robert Horry is pretty damn clutch...I think it's going to be dreadfully humid here in Arkansas this summer, and that's something I haven't had to deal with lately. Although it probably won't hit 120, either.

That's it from me for now. As usual, nothing exciting going on.